Gist of The Hindu Yojana Kurukshetra PIB Science Reporter January February 2013

Contents
GIST OF THE HINDU

U.N. Vote makes Palestine an Observer State
Complacency has no place in AIDS fight
WHO Clearance could Boost Vaccine Exports
RBI to Relax norms for Entry of Foreign Banks
India could face crippling heat waves
South Korean Election
Great hope for Science
Risky Futures that Banks can do Without
Justice Kumar is NGT chief
EU Promotes Potato to Replace Rice in Asia
China Opens Longest High-speed Rail Line
GIST OF YOJANA
Higher education at the National Level
Khasi Sacred Forests
Nitrogen Fixing Techniques of the Angamis
Recommendation of the High Level Committee
Approach of XII Plan
Perfromance of Farmers
Entrepreneurship Development in India
Developing Entrepreneurship in North East
Whats FDI?
North Eastern Rural Livelihood Project
GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
Lab-To-Land Initiative-An Introduction
Bharat Nirman Volunteers: A Cadre for Capacity Building
BNVS: Role and Functional Benefits
Need to Modernize Technology Transfer Tools
GIST OF PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

Steps to Strengthen Panchayat Raj System
Neutrino Observatory Project
Present Status of JNNURM
Inclusion of Western Ghats in UNESCO List
Steps for Regulating theWorking of Contract Farming
GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER

A Century of X-ray Diffraction
Indias First Indigenous AEW&C System Developed by Drdocabs
Photosystem III for Efficient Photosynthesis
Reprogramming Mature Cells to a Stem Cell State
Biochemical Approaches Shed Insight of Receptor Biology
Srinivasam Ramanujan
Methods of Algaculture
Environments for Algaculture
Glass Translator
E-Ball Concept Pc
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SCIENCE REPORTER
GIST OF THE HINDU

U.N. VOTE MAKES
PALESTINE AN OBSERVER S TATE
The Palestinian bid to become a nonmember Observer State at the United Nations has
been, as expected, approved by an overwhelming
vote of 138 to nine, with 41 abstentions in the
General Assembly. The vote implies global
recognition of the relevant territory as a sovereign
state and is a major step towards a two-state
solution for historical Palestine. The new status
amounts to less of an achievement than full U.N.
membership, which the Security Council declined
to consider in September 2011 on the grounds that
the members were unable to make a unanimous
recommendation, but the Palestinians can now
participate in General Assembly debates. In sum,
this is an important move towards Palestinian
statehood, which 132 countries have already
recognised. As for particular countries, one
former colonial power, France, voted in favour,
and the other state with a previous imperial
connection to the region, the United Kingdom,
abstained, as did Germany. Predictably, Israels
biggest supporter, the United States, opposed the
resolution, reconfirming its view that a negotiated
settlement is the only way to establish a
Palestinian state.
The U.N. resolution, however, could well be
the first of many momentous changes for West
Asia. The Palestinian Authority can now seek

membership of several U.N. agencies and, above
all, can apply to sign the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court, with the clear
implication that Israel may finally be held
accountable for crimes committed against the
civilian population of Gaza. Secondly, differences
have emerged between Washington and major
European countries over Israel-Palestine, even if
some European officials call criminal charges
against Israel a red line.
Thirdly, it is consistent with global public
opinion; even U.S. opinion polls show majorities
for a two-state formula. It also testifies to the
increasing confidence of Palestinian
representatives, who have said that continued
exclusion would strengthen support for Hamas;
the representatives, moreover, now know that the
regions peoples demand justice for the
Palestinians and can no longer be ignored. The
vote will be truly meaningful if it marks the start
of a new international resolve to ensure the people
of Palestine are able to exercise their right to
statehood and self-determination, just as the
people of Israel have been doing for years. The
first order of business has to be to stop the Israeli
stranglehold over occupied Palestinian territory,
including the monstrous policy of building
settlements. As long as the international
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GIST OF THE HINDU
community gives Tel Aviv a free pass on these

issues, peace and security in Israel-Palestine will
always remain elusive.
COMPLACENCY HAS NO PLACE IN AIDS FIGHT
New HIV infections now show a
declining trend globally. All 11 countries
in the World Health Organisations
(WHO) South-East Asia Region showed
a decline by 34 per cent in the past
decade.
The overall decline in the region is cause
for increased optimism. However,
complacency now could become our
greatest enemy. Those most at risk of
HIV are disproportionately affected by
the disease and are also among the least
empowered. They include youth, those
who inject drugs, female sex workers,
men who have sex with men (MSM),
transgender people and migrants. Zero
new HIV infections and zero AIDSrelated deaths by 2015 can be
achieved through greater efforts directed
towards at risk populations to
encourage increased testing. HIV
prevention services for these people need
to be expanded to battle the concentrated
epidemic found in this region.
In India, the estimated number of new
HIV infections has declined by 56 per
cent over the past decade and the total
number of people living with HIV is
estimated at 24 lakh (the range is 19.330.4 lakh). This is good news but it
remains essential to continue with public
awareness programmes on HIV/AIDS
and that messages are regularly
conveyed to remind people on the
importance to get HIV tested and to be
aware of their HIV status.

ADDING GLITTER TO PAPER GOLD
Burgeoning gold imports to meet the
seemingly insatiable appetite for the precious
metal by Indian consumers, though not new, have
grown to such major dimensions recently that
policy-makers are forced to take note. A check
on gold imports by way of physical controls over
imports or through fiscal measures to restrain
consumption (such as through a special
consumption tax) are impractical, and out of
question. Policy-makers are, therefore, forced to
look at ways of harnessing this phenomenon
of unbridled gold imports and consumption in
ways that will benefit the economy while
moderating its demand internally.
There are at least two important macroeconomic dimensions to this phenomenon of everrising gold imports even in the face of record gold
prices.
One, the immediate impact is on the external
economy as gold and energy imports contribute
to a widening of the trade deficit, and, hence, the
current account deficit, which was at a record
high of 4.2 per cent on March 31. According to
the World Gold Council, for April-June 2012, gold
imports stood at 181.3 tonnes.
The macro-economic problems associated
with running such a high current account deficit
have been highlighted several times before by
many official reports, including those of the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Needless to add,
the twin deficits, the high fiscal is the other one,
are a major threat to economic stability.
Two, the lure for gold among consumers has
a direct impact on the quantum of financial savings
by households.
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GIST OF THE HINDU
According to the Economic Advisory

Council of the Prime Minister (PMEAC) (in its
flagship publication Economic Outlook 2012-13
released in August), net financial savings of
households available for use by the rest of the
economy fell below 11.6 per cent of gross
domestic product (GDP) in 2007-08 to 10 per cent
in 2010-11 and likely to go below 9 per cent in
2011-12. (Net financial savings are calculated by
deducting financial liabilities such as mortgage and
personal loans from gross financial savings.
Gross financial savings are measured as an
increase in gross financial assets.) At around the
same time as the Economic Outlook, the RBI
released data which were even less upbeat:
household financial savings fell to 7.8 per cent in
2011-12, the lowest since 1989-90. During the
preceding three years, it averaged 11 per cent.
Certain broad conclusions are possible from
the above data:
(1) When the economy is faring well,
households tend to put more money in
financial savings instruments. The stock
market is likely to be bullish and mutual
funds will also look attractive.
(2) However, when the cycle turns and the
environment is less optimistic, households
tend to do the reverse withdraw from
organised financial savings such as bank
deposits, shares and mutual funds. The
availability of household savings for the
industrial economy gets reduced.
(3) It is in that context that the significance
of gold as an investment avenue and as
a hedge against inflation becomes
apparent.
Households withdraw money from financial
savings, and, to a large extent, invest in gold,
property and other physical assets. This is after
providing for the higher living expenses that are

characteristic of high inflation. Inflation outlook
and hardened inflation expectations prices of
essentials are unlikely to come down play a
large role in apportioning available savings of
households.
In that scenario, gold has emerged as a
clear winner. In India, as in many other countries,
the lure for gold is unmistakeable. The surge is
partly explained by increased availability of gold
and the growing realisation of its potential as an
investment opportunity, especially in pessimistic
times.
The task before the government is to find
ways to integrate the physical market for gold
with the financial market. Already this is
happening.
The oldest and even now the most popular
one is the gold loan, where banks/NBFCs (nonbanking finance companies) dispense money on
the pledge of gold /gold jewellery.
As propagated with great success by
several Kerala-based NBFCs, gold loans have
come under the scrutiny of the RBI, which has
imposed some stringent conditions to safeguard
the borrowers interests.
SETTING AN EXAMPLE
Convinced that the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
installation is safe, the French government
recently granted the fusion project the necessary
permission to start construction in Cadarache.
There are many firsts to the project. Maintaining
transparency has been one of ITERs most
significant features and organising an enquiry to
give the public an opportunity to formulate its
opinion has set a new benchmark for openness.
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GIST OF THE HINDU
Independent experts assessed the safety of the

fusion project and the public was not just taken
into confidence but made an integral part of the
project construction approval process. In effect,
the two-and-a-half-year effort fully met the
requirements set forth by Frances own 2006
Nuclear Transparency and Security legislation. If
the French government took a bold decision to
bring about more transparency and public
engagement before nuclear projects are cleared,
the clearance given to ITER tells us that it is
indeed possible to meet the stringent requirements
laid down by the law.
The ITER approval highlights the fact that
the public is not unreasonable or obstinate. All
people want is to be provided with facts, made
fully aware of the benefits and risks, convinced
that complete transparency is being maintained,
and that their opinion is being taken into account
on an important decision. Internationally, the
nuclear industry is well known for maintaining
opacity and for refusing to take the public into
confidence. In India, the situation is compounded
by the excessive secrecy surrounding all things
nuclear, and by the lackadaisical and hurried
manner in which environmental impact
assessments are often carried out. As for the
mandatory public hearings for large projects, both
nuclear and non-nuclear, these frequently
descend into chaos if not farce. The sustained
local opposition to the Kudankulam nuclear power
plant continues unabated even days before the
first two units are to become operational. While
many valid questions concerning the safety
aspects of the plant have not been clearly
answered, public apprehension to a great extent
has come from imagined fear, misconceptions and
an improper understanding of the technology-
intensive project. It is time the Indian nuclear

establishment realised that it can no longer
bulldoze its way. Winning public approval is not
only important but necessary for two reasons
the Chernobyl catastrophe and the 2011
Fukushima disaster are fresh in peoples mind, and
the government has major plans to construct many
power nuclear plants across the country.
WHO CLEARANCE
COULD BOOST VACCINE EXPORTS
In a major boost to the countrys private
vaccine manufacturing pharmaceutical
companies, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) has said that
Indias national regulatory authority
Central Drugs Standard Control
Organisation (CDSCO) and its
affiliated institutions meet the prescribed
international standards.
India is a major vaccine producer with
12 major vaccine manufacturing
facilities. These vaccines are used for
the national and international market,
reaching nearly 150 countries. Every
second child in the world is vaccinated
for measles using a vaccine produced in
India.
India is the first country in the 2012 round
of assessment to have passed the strict
levels of seven indicators which are
made more stringent every time in a
single round of assessment which is done
by a team of 12 international experts
headed by a WHO member.
Passing of this test means that 12 private
vaccine manufacturing units from India
are eligible and retain the prequalification status for supplying vaccines
to international bodies like the WHO,
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GIST OF THE HINDU
UNICEF and the World Bank. WHO

pre-qualification is a guarantee that a
specific vaccine meets international
standards of quality, safety and efficacy.
The clearance by the WHO is expected
to boost investment in the pharmaceutical
sector and push exports higher, which
touched $13 billion last year and is
expected to touch $26 billion this year.
Two-thirds of the vaccines produced in
India are exported.
The WHO has established benchmarks
that define international expectations for
a functional vaccine regulatory system.
It also conducts regular external audits
of national regulatory systems and
ensures they meet the necessary
standards. The regulatory functions of
Indias National Regulatory Authority
(NRA) the CDSCO and its
affiliated institutions were assessed for
compliance against the WHO indicators
and marketing authorisation and licensing,
post-marketing surveillance, including
adverse events following immunisation
and so on.
In 2007, when the CDSCO had failed to
meet the WHO-prescribed standards, it
had led to the WHO suspending
manufacturing licenses of three public
sector vaccine manufacturing units
Central Research Institute (CRI),
Kasauli; Bacillus Calmette-Gurin
Vaccine Laboratory (BCGVL), Guindy;
and Pasteur Institute of India (PII),
Coonoor, on account of non-compliance
of good manufacturing practices (GMP)
norms.
India had made up for the deficiency in
the 2009 assessment and the units were
re-started.
RBI TO
RELAX NORMS FOR ENTRY OF FOREIGN BANKS
The Reserve Bank of India is expected
to relax norms soon allowing opening of
more foreign banks.
At present, expansion of foreign banks
in India is on a reciprocal basis.
India and Pakistan are negotiating issues
with regard to opening of bank branches
in each others territory to facilitate trade
and commerce. As per the World Trade
Organisation agreement, India allows
opening of 12 branches of foreign banks
in a year. Last year, the RBI in a
discussion paper suggested that foreign
banks should be incentivised to operate
in India as wholly-owned subsidiaries, as
against the present system of having
presence through branch network.
At present, there are about 34 foreign
banks operating in India, with five major
banks, including StanChart, HSBC,
Citibank and Deutsche, accounting for
over 70 per cent of the total asset size of
overseas lenders in the country.
DOHA DITHERS
ON
EQUITY
The World Meteorological Organization

(WMO) times the release of its
provisional annual statement with the
U.N. climate negotiations. This year, it
dwelt on the Atlantic Basin experiencing
an above-average hurricane season for
a third consecutive year, with 19 storms,
10 of them achieving hurricane status,
the most notable being Sandy.
East Asia was severely impacted by
powerful typhoons, with Sanba being the
strongest in 2012, causing destruction in
parts of the Philippines, Japan, and the
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GIST OF THE HINDU
Korean peninsula. The years 20012011

were all among the warmest on record
and the WMOs statement highlighted the
unprecedented melting of the Arctic Sea
ice and multiple weather and climate
extremes.
The WMOs statement fell on deaf ears
at the Doha climate talks. As 194
countries dragged on with negotiations,
typhoon Bhopa was wrecking the
eastern part of the Philippines.
The U.S., along with Japan, objected to
the equity principle under the United
Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also to
equity being the basis of future
negotiations.
While the Durban platform clung on to
the principles of equity as enshrined
under the UNFCCC, the U.S. made it
clear that it was not going to accept it.
The climate talks have delivered less and
less since Bali where the two-track
approach was mainly geared to bringing
on board the U.S, which is not part of
the Kyoto Protocol. Finances, adaptation,
mitigation and technology transfer were
the key issues under the Bali Roadmap.
India, part of the G-77 group, plus China
had to object vociferously to the removal
of the key pillars of the talks from the
Long-term Cooperative Action plan. A
Philippine delegate quipped that this was
meant to be a paperless conference, not
a textless one.
Doha Gateway only urges the developed
countries to scale up finance to reach
$100 billion a year by 2020 and submit
plans by the next round of talks in Poland.
There also seems to be a complete lack
of ambition in the second commitment

period of the Kyoto Protocol, which is
now eight years.
The issue of carrying forward surplus
emissions was strongly objected to by
Russia, which was unhappy with the
proposal under the Kyoto Protocol to
cramp the carry-over of carbon credits
or surplus allowances which it had
accumulated during the Protocols first
commitment period. Money supply for
the Adaptation Fund suffered due to the
decline in the market prices of certified
emission reduction, and as a result, $301.1
million was collected.
With funds dwindling, countries lobbied
for a mechanism on loss and damage
since Cancun which finally was agreed
upon at Doha. Crumbs are doled out as
global temperatures rise and the poorest
countries face disaster.
INDIA COULD FACE CRIPPLING HEAT WAVES
The warning signs are already out there.
Global air and ocean temperatures have
risen in response to human-driven
emissions, particularly of carbon dioxide.
Oceans have become more acidic and
the sea level has gone up; the Arctic Sea
ice has melted faster than expected;
rainfall and snowfall patterns have
changed; and extreme weather events
seem more frequent than in the past.
Such changes, with the associated
consequences, are likely to worsen
considerably if emissions continue
unabated.
At the Climate Change Conference in
Copenhagen in 2009, the nations of the
world pledged to avoid dangerous
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GIST OF THE HINDU
climate change by reducing emissions.

They would ensure that the average
global temperature at the end of this
century did not exceed that of the preindustrial period by more than two
degrees Celsius. But as emissions
continue to soar and with no meaningful
global agreement in place to drastically
cut them, there is increasingly talk of a
temperature rise during this century of
four degrees Celsius.
A four degrees Celsius world would be
one of unprecedented heat waves,
severe drought, and major floods in many
regions, with serious impacts on
ecosystems and associated services,
warned a World Bank-sponsored report
published last month.
India has already seen its average annual
surface air temperature rise by about 0.5
degrees Celsius during the past century.
The warming had accelerated since 1971
and particularly so during the past decade,
according to the countrys Second
National Communication to the U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate
Change made earlier this year.
Although higher carbon dioxide levels
and more rain can help crops grow better,
higher temperatures and more erratic
rainfall are often detrimental. For
instance, the countrys wheat production
could fall by about four million tonnes for
every one degree Celsius rise in
temperature during the crops growth
period. Climate change, along with other
environmental stresses, poses significant
challenges for cereal production in
China and India, according to a recent
report from the U.S. National
Intelligence Council.
Climate change will bring along it with
new problems and challenges that must
be faced.
INDIA, SRI LANKA AND THE MALDIVES TO
SIGN AGREEMENT ON MARITIME COOPERATION
India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives will

soon sign a trilateral agreement on
maritime cooperation to pool resources
and share data for better control over
territorial waters and detect suspicious
movements.
India had also agreements with Royal
Thai and the Indonesian naval forces to
conduct coordinated patrolling in the east,
around the region of the Malacca Straits.
In an effort at ensuring better
coordination and shorten response
timings during a crisis, India has posted
a Military Attach (MA) in the Maldives.
So far, the MA based in Sri Lanka was
also in charge of the Maldives. Captain
R.S. Sunil, based at the Eastern Naval
Command
Headquarters
at
Visakhapatnam, took charge as MA last
week at Male. He is the first MA to be
based in the Maldives. India trains the
Maldivian National Defence Forces and
its police.
Only India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh and China have diplomatic
posts in the Maldives.
ASTRA
MISSILE TEST-FIRED SUCCESSFULLY
As part of its developmental trials,

Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile
(BVRAAM), Astra was successfully
launched from Chandipur, Odisha.
The launch was carried out against an
electronic target, although Pilotless
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YOJANA
Target Aircraft Lakshya was used to

check the effectiveness of systems such
as the ground radar.
The 3.8-metre long Astra is the smallest
of the missiles developed by DRDO.
It can be launched from different altitudes
and cover 110 km when fired from an
altitude of 15 km, reach 44 km when
launched from an altitude of eight km,
and 21 km when launched from the sealevel.
After completion of all developmental
trials, Astra will be eventually integrated
with combat fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30,
MIG-29 and the Light Combat Aircraft.
SOUTH KOREAN ELECTION
South Korea elected its first woman
President, handing a slim but historic
victory to conservative ruling party
candidate Park Geun-hye, daughter of
the former military ruler. As leader of
Asias fourth-largest economy, Ms. Park
will face numerous challenges: handling
a belligerent North Korea; a slowing
economy; and soaring welfare costs in
one of the worlds most rapidly ageing
societies.
NAVY GETS FIRST OF 8 P-81 MARITIME
SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT FROM BOEING
As part of $2.1-billion deal inked with
the American firm in January 2009. The
Navy received the first of the eight P-8I
maritime surveillance aircraft it is to get
from Boeing.
The first plane was handed over to Indian
personnel by the company in Seattle. It
will be used for training the crew there,
Navy officials said here. This aircraft,
along with two more will arrive in India
in May 2013.
P-8I is a derivative of Boeing 737-800
long-range maritime reconnaissance
aircraft and anti-submarine warfare
aircraft. It is expected to replace the
Navys Russian Tupolev Tu-142M
maritime surveillance turboprop. The
plane is an Indian variant of the P-8A
Poseidon that Boeing is developing for
the U.S. Navy. India requires aircraft able
to patrol the vast stretches of the Indian
Ocean. The Navys contract with Boeing
included an option for four additional
aircraft along with warfare, intelligence
and surveillance systems, as well as
training and maintenance support.
FIGHTING THE FIBROUS HAZARD
Even as the delivery of Indias second
aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, has been
pushed back towards the end of 2013 owing to
repairs in the malfunctioning boiler section,
activists and environmental advocacy groups have
expressed concern over reported use of asbestosbased insulation in the warship.
Given the health hazards that asbestos poses
and the fact that International Maritime
Organisation (IMO), of which India is a member
state since 1959, has banned installation of all
types of asbestos-containing materials as of
January 1, 2011, activists have expressed shock
and surprise over Indias willingness to accept
use of asbestos in the aircraft carriers insulation
in the boiler section.
In a letter to Navy Chief Admiral D.K.
Joshi, Occupational and Environmental Health
Network of India (OEHNI) coordinator Mohit
Gupta pointed out that IMO circular of 2011 was
binding on all IMO member states.
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YOJANA
Asbestos has been widely used in various

types of naval ships, including warships, aircraft
carriers, cruisers, destroyers, minesweepers,
frigates and submarines. Ships repaired or built
in the pre-1970 period were more likely to contain
the toxic substance. The glass-like asbestos fibres
were a major ingredient in many components of
the ship, from pipe insulation to gaskets, in engine
and boiler rooms, mess halls, navigation rooms
and even in sleeping quarters.
Today, the U.S. Navy and civilian
shipbuilders are eliminating its use and repair
workers are making efforts to eliminate asbestoscontaining materials found on current or older
vessels.
Scientific studies over the past three
decades have proved the dangers involved during
asbestos exposure. Pleural mesothelioma is the
most common form of cancer that attacks the
lining of the lungs when unprotected workers
inhale the asbestos fibres; they pass through the
lungs and get embedded in the pleural
mesothelium, a wall of tissue surrounding the
lungs.
GREAT HOPE FOR SCIENCE
The recent decision of the United Nations
General Assembly to grant Observer
status for the European Organisation for
Nuclear Research.
CERN is highly commendable. CERN
is the first physical sciences research
organisation to become an Observer.
The development comes a year after
CERN and the United Nations Office at
Geneva signed a co-operation agreement.
Founded in 1954 under the auspices of
Unesco, the research organisation has
till date lived up to the U.N. agencys
prime objective of international cooperation in the science and technology

sphere.
In fact, it has gone beyond its initial
mission of restricting its co-operative
activities to researchers from the Allied
countries and former Axis countries,
and has today taken on board other
countries as members and observers,
including India.
It has become a benchmark for other
large-scale science collaborative projects
involving many countries. The
fundamental difference between CERN
and other international projects is that
CERNs activities go beyond the core
area. Not widely known is the important
digital library tools it has been sharing
with several countries in Africa for
empowering and changing the way
people access information. The new
status and global platform will help the
organisation direct and set a course so
science and technology will ultimately
benefit people.
The U.N. decision comes at a most
crucial time when proprietary science is
proving to be a great stumbling block in
making the fruits of basic scientific
research available to all. The wall that
divides basic and applied science is
getting replaced with a thin line, with
certain promising fields coming up at the
intersection of basic research and
application. Molecular biology is one
such field. U.S. federal agencies,
universities and pharmaceutical
companies had to go to great lengths to
free up the human genome sequence
data generated by the privately-funded
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10
GIST OF THE HINDU
Craig Venter team. This is one

contentious issue that CERN can
probably try to tackle. It was at CERN
that the World Wide Web was invented,
and an early WWW was initially made
available to the small community of highenergy physicists. It also played a central
role in developing the Internet in Europe.
Today, it has the CERN Easy Access IP
through which it makes available some
of its technologies free of royalties,
provided they are developed to benefit
the economy and society. The latest is
its pioneering effort to make the entire
field of high-energy physics open access
through the Sponsoring Consortium for
Open Access Publishing in Particle
Physics (SCOAP3) initiative.
THORNY ISSUES IN
INDIA-RUSSIA ENGAGEMENT
Russian President Vladimir Putins visit
to India should dispel speculation about
hiccups in bilateral ties.
Russia was unhappy with Indias refusal
to waive civil liability for units III and IV
of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
(KNPP) and failure to secure Russian
telecom company Sistemas massive
investment in the joint venture, Sistema
Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL), while
India was concerned over a year-long
delay in the delivery of the Vikramaditya
aircraft carrier.
Russia remains Indias most trusted and
valuable defence partner. It reaffirmed
its readiness to share cutting-edge
weapons technologies, leasing out the
nuclear submarine Chakra and offering
to jointly develop the fifth-generation
fighter aircraft. The coming summit may
see the two sides seal multi-billion deals

for the supply of Su-30MKI fighters, Mi17 helicopters, aircraft engines and tank
missiles.
Mr. Putin is also expected to endorse
Indias efforts to expand its involvement
in the Russian energy sector, with talks
currently focusing on the development
of new oil and gas fields in Russias Far
East, Siberia and the Arctic region.
The perceived irritants in the relations
have been blown far out of proportion
by the media and interested parties.
Informed Russian sources said the liability
issue for Kudankulam III and IV will be
resolved by somewhat raising the price
tag for the Russian-built reactors.
Problems with boiler insulation on the
Vikramaditya are unfortunate, but should
not obscure the fact that overall, the
aircraft carrier demonstrated admirable
seaworthiness, manoeuvrability and
aircraft takeoff and landing capacity
during the trials.
The cancellation of Sistemas licences
for CDMA services is a more serious
problem. The companys $3.1-billion
investment, including $700 million of
government funds, should have been a
trail-blazing example of a successful
foray by Russian business in India, but
may end up discouraging other potential
investors. That said, the Kremlin is not
prepared to let the row mar Mr. Putins
visit.
If the disputes over Kudankulam and
Sistema have been pushed to the
forefront of the bilateral agenda, it is only
because of an unacceptably low level of
commercial links: trade hardly exceeds
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GIST OF THE HINDU
11
the combined price of two reactors for

Kudankulam, plus Sistemas investment
in Shyam Telecom.
This year, trade has posted a robust 30
per cent growth, but still amounts to just
$11 billion, and, with some luck, could hit
the $20-billion target set by the two
governments for 2015. By that time,
Indias and Russias trade with China will
be well above $100 billion for each.
Achieving a quantum jump in trade and
economic ties will be the biggest challenge
for Mr. Putin during his five-year term
till 2018 and for India. Without a solid
economic foundation, the two countries
would find it hard to sustain the current
high level of their special and privileged
strategic partnership.
RISKY FUTURES THAT
BANKS CAN DO WITHOUT
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposed
to add a new clause in the Banking Laws
(Amendment) Bill which was not a part of the
original amendments vetted by the Standing
Committee on Finance last year. It allows the
entry of banks in commodity futures trading in
India. After strong opposition by political parties
on the grounds of parliamentary impropriety, the
government dropped it from the Bill on December
18.
However, this clause would be incorporated
in the Forward Contract Regulation Act
(Amendment) Bill which is likely to be tabled in
Parliament next year. As allowing banks to trade
in commodity futures signals a major policy shift
in the banking sector with wider ramifications, it
should be discussed in and outside Parliament. As
per the existing regulatory framework, banks in
India are allowed to trade in financial instruments

(shares, bonds and currencies) in the securities
market. But the Banking Regulation Act, 1949
prohibits banks (domestic and foreign) from
trading in goods. Section 8 of the Act states: no
banking company shall directly or indirectly deal
in the buying or selling or bartering of goods,
except in connection with the realisation of
security given to or held by it.
However, banks are allowed to finance
commodity business and provide fund and nonfund-based facilities to commodity traders to meet
their working capital requirements. Banks also
provide clearing and settlement services for
commodities derivatives transactions. But banks
cannot trade in commodities themselves.
In addition to banks, mutual funds, pension
funds, insurance companies and foreign
institutional investors (FIIs) are not allowed to
trade in Indian commodity futures markets.
By and large, Indian banks (public and
private) lack the market knowledge and the
expertise to benefit from trading in commodity
futures. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
also expressed concern at the risks posed by
domestic banks that lack the expertise and skilled
manpower to deal with such risky trading
instruments.
The commodity exchanges are supportive
of this move as higher trading volumes would
boost their revenues. The real beneficiaries are
likely to be big foreign banks that have
considerable international experience and
expertise in dealing with futures trading. Unlike
small traders and hedgers, big foreign banks and
FIIs could also benefit immensely from algorithmic
trading and other advanced trading tools.
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12
GIST OF THE HINDU
Already, foreign banks dominate the

financial derivatives market in India. Most of these
products are financial in nature with no actual
bank lending involved. The off-balance-sheet
exposure of foreign banks (e.g., currency forward
contracts, interest rate derivatives) is currently
very high in India and should be a matter of
concern to policymakers. The off-balance-sheet
exposure of foreign banks as a proportion of their
on-balance-sheet exposure was 1,860 per cent in
2010-11. The entry of banks into commodity
futures trading could turn out to be a risky
proposition for several valid reasons. To begin
with, the commodity futures market in India is still
in a nascent stage of development. Therefore, the
existing regulatory environment cannot handle the
sudden entry of big financial players such as
banks and institutional investors.
In addition, the existing penalty provisions
are grossly inadequate and not in tune with the
current trading volume in the Indian commodity
derivatives markets. It may sound astonishing that
the FMC which regulates billions of dollars
worth of commodity trade does not have the
power to directly impose a financial penalty on
traders. Now, only a maximum penalty of Rs.1,000
can be imposed on market participants by the
FMC and through court orders on conviction.
A financial penalty of a mere Rs.1,000 (enforced
through a lengthy court process) does not deter
potential offenders in the commodity markets.
JUSTICE KUMAR
IS
NGT
CHIEF
Justice Swatanter Kumar has taken over

as chairperson of the National Green
Tribunal (NGT), to decide on cases
relating to environmental protection, and
conservation of forests and natural
resources.
Though Justice Kumars tenure as a

Supreme Court judge is due to end next
week, December 14 was his last working
day and he assumed charge of the new
office on December 20. He is the first
Supreme Court judge to preside over the
Tribunal which was, till now, functioning
without a full-time chairperson. Justice
P. Jyothimani, a retired Judge of the
Madras High Court, who has been
appointed a judicial member of the NGT.
PRIMARY NEGLECT
The large number of unfilled vacancies
in Primary Health Centres in many States
is proof that any plan to provide universal
health coverage in India is going to be a
major challenge.
Availability of human resources for
health, be it doctors, nurses, or support
staff, is far from optimal. In the WHOs
Global Atlas of the Health Workforce for
2010, India is 52 among 57 countries
facing a critical HR crisis in health. A
well-functioning health system should
have at least 23 health workers per
10,000 people, while the statistic for India
is 19. Even this national performance is
not uniform, as the statistics on PHCs
show. It is unconscionable that as per
2011 figures, some States have staggering
levels of vacancies of doctors at the most
basic access level. Chhattisgarh tops the
list with 71 per cent; West Bengal,
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and even Tamil
Nadu have significant number of vacant
doctor posts. These statistics strengthen
the argument that many more medical
and nursing colleges, and institutions for
health worker training should be opened
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GIST OF THE HINDU
13
on a war footing. It is true that legislation

in this regard is pending, and the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Health and Family Welfare has recently
submitted its report. The Centre must
now move forward through democratic
consensus involving stakeholders.
The litany of human resource shortages
is not peculiar to the PHCs. Vacant posts
are found in the even more basic unit of
Health Sub-Centres (HSCs), besides
hospitals at higher levels. What this
highlights is the patchy performance of
the National Rural Health Mission in
several States. Unfortunately, these
States have failed to grasp the
importance of PHCs and HSCs to
reduce the countrys notorious maternal
and infant mortality rates. Unless they
act with determination, it will be
impossible to achieve the growth in
primary care so essential to cater to a
much higher population just a decade
from now. The Planning Commissions
High Level Expert Group on universal
health coverage projects a need for 3.14
lakh HSCs (more than double the present
number) and over 50,000 PHCs by 2022.
To staff them with trained manpower, a
robust plan to augment human resources
must be pursued. Towards this end, the
National Commission for Human
Resources for Health Bill, 2011 provides
an enabling framework. Yet, it can make
progress only when all stakeholders,
including the medical community and civil
society, are agreed on the way forward.
What is unarguable is the need for a rapid
scaling up of training facilities for doctors,
nurses and auxiliary workers, and filling
up of vacancies in all States. Without this,

universal health coverage cannot make
much headway.
EU PROMOTES POTATO
REPLACE RICE IN ASIA
TO
The potato has a 12,000-year-old history

but an even brighter future as a crop that
is set to replace rice as a staple in the
Asian rice-consuming countries.
It requires less amount of water
compared to other basic food products,
without compromising the nutrition value.
Potato, therefore, is increasingly being
promoted, in the genetically modified
organism-free European Union (EU), as
the foremost solution for meeting the
increased food demand for an estimated
6 billion world population by 2030.
Dutch researchers from the famous
Wageningen University dedicated to
bio-based economy in food, feed and
chemicals produced from renewable
resources told a visiting press
delegation that if prepared in a healthy
manner and consumed in the right
proportion (balanced reduction of
calories), consumers can benefit from
the many nutrients and dietary fibres in
the tuber.
AMMONIUM NITRATE, AFTER LOOSE
IMPORTS, FALLS INTO REBEL HANDS
The ambiguous rules governing the import
of the chemical leave gaping holes in the
system Amid a persisting terror threat,
the handling of ammonium nitrate
imports, and the ambiguous rules
governing them, continue to leave gaping
holes in the system which ultras keep
exploiting. Even a naval base and an
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14
GIST OF THE HINDU
entire port are under threat.

Ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizers, is
also one of the ingredients of improvised
explosive devices (IEDs) that extremists
rig up to perpetrate terror.
India imports a sizable amount of this
explosive for use in its mines, but a
portion goes missing.The Visakhapatnam
Port, on the east coast, imports this
material; it handled 3.4 lakh tonnes in
2011-12. But the chemical is imported
unbagged, a practice that leaves ample
scope for spillage, and possibly theft.
CHINA OPENS
LONGEST HIGH-SPEED RAIL LINE
China launched services on the worlds

longest high-speed rail route, the latest
milestone in the countrys rapid and
sometimes troubled super-fast rail
network.
The opening of the 2,298-km line
between Beijing and Guangzhou means
passengers will be whisked from the
capital to the southern commercial hub
in just eight hours, compared with the 22
hours previously.
Chinas high-speed rail network was only
established in 2007 but has fast become
the worlds largest. The official Xinhua
news agency said China now operates
9,300 km of high-speed railways.
www.upscportal.com

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GIST OF YOJANA
15
GIST OF YOJANA
HIGHER EDUCATION AT
THE
NATIONAL LEVEL
The country presently (201112) possesses

634 universities and 33,023 colleges with the
student strength of 1,69,75,000 (girls 70,49,000).
The number of graduates coming out of technical
colleges was slightly over 7,00,000 in the last year.
However, 75 percent of technical graduates and
more than 85 percent of general graduates are
unemployable by Indias high growth global
industries, including information technology. In the
North-East states 40 universities and such
institutions are present with Nagaland having 3,
Assam 10, Meghalaya 9, Sikkim 5, Arunachal
Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura each
having 3. The small number of institutions in
these states can be due to the small size of the
states.
In the country out of the GDP, 3.77
percent was spent on education in 2011, 32.3
percent of the total amount went to higher
education.
Despite growing investment in education,
25 percent population still r emains to be
illiterate; 15 percent of Indian students reach
high school and just 7 percent college and
university. The quality of higher education is
significantly poor. Indias post-secondary
institutions offer only enough seats for 7
percent of Indias college-age population.
COMPONENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE
Infrastructure Development is a
fundamental prerequisite for realizing the vision
of progress towards peace and prosperity and for
creating an investment climate and market
development in the North East. In fact, this is a
basic prerequisite for development and has strong
complementarities with measures to improve
health and education as well as industry and
services are crucial for establishing a stable and
peaceful society and hence for the progress and
prosperity of the entire region.
Transport
Transport is a vital input for the proposed
shift from subsistence agriculture to cash crop
based farming, as well as the planned
development of industry and the service sector.
Most of the area in the region is hilly and
undulating with low population densities,
accompanied by low per area production of
goods. In the hilly terrain, what it is in the NER
(except in Assam and some parts of other states)
development of inland waterways is the most
expensive. Similarly, rail connectivity in such a
terrain is not only time consuming but would need
prohibitive investments, probably beyond the
means of the nation. It is road connectivity which
would play a dominant role in fulfilling the
transportation needs of the public. Air connectivity
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16
GIST OF YOJANA
would certainly play a role for a limited segment

of people and goods.
Roads
The main grid of transportation of goods and
passengers in the North East is the road network
of 82,000 Kms. This network is most developed
in the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The five
other main States in the region have networks
ranging from 5000 to 9000 Kms. The vast
majority of roads, around are unpaved roads,
which are generally unsuitable for transport of
heavy goods.
The Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways (MoRTH) has been paying attention
to the development of National Highways (NHs)
in the North-Eastern region and 10 percent of the
total allocation is earmarked for this region. The
total length of NHs in the NE, including Sikkim,
is 6880 Kms and these are being developed and
maintained by three agencies-the State Public
Works Department (PWD), Border Roads
Organisation (BRO) and National Highways
Authority of India (NHAI).
Special Accelerated Road Development
Programme for the North Eastern Region
(SARDPNE) is a flagship programme
implemented by the Mof Road Transport and
Highways (MoRTH) covering the improvement/
construction of 8737 kms road. Phase-A covering
2304 km had approved for implementation and
Phase-B the length to be covered is 4570 Kms.
The objectives of the programme are as under:
Connectivity of all State Capital towns
with NH through at least 2 lane road
To provide 2-lane connectivity to the
remaining 51 District Headquarter towns
of NER (there are in all 85 District
Headquarter towns of NER, 23 are
already connected by 2-lane road and

connectivity to l l District HQ is provided
under Phase-A of SARDPNE).
To provide inter-connectivity of all the
State Capital towns by at least 2-lane NH
To improve certain roads of strategic
importance
To provide improved connectivity to
remote and backward areas, and
To improve road connectivity to border
areas, Land Custom Stations and
neighbouring countries
The Asian Highways project covering a
road network of about 65,000 km. and passing
through 15 countries is lying dormant for more
than 40 years. The objective of this project is to
promote and coordinate development of
international road transport for connecting all the
capital and industrial cities, sea routes and places
of tourist and commercial interests in the Asian
region. The proposed roads in the Asian Highways
project would connect the NER not only with
Bangladesh but also with other East Asian
countries. This will give a big boost to the
development of this region. This project,
therefore, needs to be pushed through for
implementation.
Rail
The railroad network is limited to 2500 Kms
and lies almost entirely within the State of Assam
(2466 Kms), with short stretches in Nagaland (13
Kms) and Arunachal Pradesh (I Kms). Only 960
Kms of this network consists of standard gauge
track suitable for haulage of bulk goods and the
majority of the network is made up of narrow
gauge track suitable for small trains and
transportation of passenger and transportation of
smaller cargo.
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GIST OF YOJANA
17
Similarly, there is an urgent need for a rail

link to Meghalaya and Sikkim. The more
important issue from the long-term point of view
of the strategic planning is to develop a rail
network with the aim of increasing inter-state
connectivity. In addition, rail connectivity should
be integrated with developments in the other
avenues of transport being proposed for the NER
as a whole.
Air
The terrain of the region and very tenuous
land link with the rest of the country makes air
connectivity a sine qua non for trade and
commerce, tourism, realization of the potential for
horticulture and floriculture in the region,
promotion of higher and technical education and
even for reducing the image deficit that the region
suffers from.
The air connectivity was extremely
unreliable prior to 2002 as the limited traffic made
the use of Boeing jets uneconomical and led to
irregular flight schedules. However, since 2002
the introduction of smaller ATR planes has made
flights within NER somewhat more reliable
though Kolkata still seems to be the hub rather
than Guwahati. To make Air connectivity within
region and with India there is a need for
substantial investments and participation from
both the Government and private investors.
During 11th Plan, three Greenfield airports,
one each at Packyong in Sikkim, Itanagar in
Arunachal Pradesh, and Chiethu in Nagaland was
proposed. In addition, some existing airports in
NER also has taken up for expansion/modification,
to make them operational for scheduled flights.
Waterways
One of the key development constraints for
the Northeast over the past decades has been its
geographical isolation. Certainly the advances in

air flight have brought markets closer to the North
East, but the relatively high proportion of bulky
goods in the regions economy requires the further
development of a means of transport. Specifically,
the use of inland waterways as the main network
for transportation of bulk goods in the
Northeastern Region has a number of
advantages.
The main network of 1800 Kms of navigable
waterways of the Brahmaputra and Barak
system has been designated National Waterways
(NW)-2 which is currently used for the transport
of bulk goods, but expansion of the transportation
sector is limited by the lack of transport and
overhaul facilities and natural restrictions in the
river system due to sedimentation and shallow
water levels.
A number of infrastructure developments
have been proposed to expand the inland
waterway network linked to NW-2 and improve
port facilities. Such initiatives would enable the
further development of several cargo routes and
ferry service routes along NW-2.
There is also a range of other waterways
besides NW-2 that could be developed and
contribute to the economic growth of the
Northeast and promote Indo-Myanmar
crossborder trade.
The third major option for increased inland
water transport is the further development of the
international Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route for
water transport. The development of this route
would increase options for goods movement to
and from the Northeast and peninsular India
through the Sundarbans and Bangladesh,
improving the accessibility of the Northeastern
Region.
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18
GIST OF YOJANA
Information and Communication

Technology (ICT)
The teledensity of the North East is low in
comparison to the rest of India except Mizoram.
In addition to that the Internet usage is also low
in the North East is clear from the insignificant
number of connections in NER, being a low
15,303 in 2002, just 0.48 per cent of the total
number in the country. This increased since 2003
but was still less than 1 per cent (0.88 per cent)
of the total. It is thus reasonable to conclude that
the NER states have not been impacted by the
telecommunication revolution as much as the rest
of the country. The low Internet penetration is
particularly worrying given the long-term plan of
rapidly increasing the spread of IT services in the
region.
Cellular mobile services were introduced in
the region only in 2003 after a delay of eight years
than the rest of the country for security reasons.
There are still some restrictions in border areas
and no signals are allowed within 500 metres of
the international border. This restriction is
particularly harsh to the North East states where
a significant population lives in border areas and,
therefore, should be removed as early as possible.
To address the situation, BSNL declared the year
2007 as the Year of Development of Telecom
Network in NE Region.
In addition, major initiatives have been taken
to boost the ICT activities in the region by the
DoT are: (i) introduction of IMScompliant
functions into the existing solution, (ii) Testing is
in progress for the implementation of IMS-SSF
functionality, (iii) Development work for
implementation of IMS Gateway control
functions, (iv) BBWT system has been installed
at Agartala, Tripura for Proof-ofconcept and is
being evaluated for implementation of SWAN

(StateWide Area Network) and (v) it is also
planned to explore northeastern states for piloting
some of the new technologies developed.
Power
There is a huge potential for the power
generation in the region. Apart from this almost
every North Eastern state is a deficit in power.
This power deficit is a major constraint in the
economic development of the region which is
important for the growing state of industrial and
other economic activities based on power in the
region. The power generation opportunities
especially in the hydro power are there in the
states especially Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and
Meghalaya.
As noted in the Pasighat Declaration, the
total power potential in NER is about 50,000 MW.
According to NEC Vision 2020 the estimated
hydro-power potential of Arunachal is around
50,000 MW. The state is expected to generate an
additional 22,584 MW hydel power by 2020 in 166
hydel projects, of which only 88 MW is to be
created under state projects, the rest will be under
central and private projects.
Many policies like the 50,000MW hydro
initiative, Hydro policy 2008 have been
formulated by Central Government to promote
investment in hydropower in the north-eastern
region. Under the Mega Power Policy of the
Central Government, the qualifying threshold
capacity for setting up hydro power plants in the
region and for availing the special benefits thereof
is 350 MW, whereas for the rest of the country,
it is 500 MW.
As per the North Eastern Industrial and
Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP) - 2007
by Ministry of Commerce and industry, the whole
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GIST OF YOJANA
19
of NER has been declared as SEZ and many

subsidies, tax exemptions/ waivers are offered on
cost of infrastructure, transport, power etc.
KHASI SACRED FORESTS
Arguably, one of the best examples of
ancient wisdom in ensuring ecological
sustainability is the Khasi tradition of sacred
forests. Like many tribes in different parts of the
world, including central India, forests, rivers and
trees were considered to be the home of gods and
spirits. Hence these were revered, worshipped
and protected. Such forests were venerated,
protected and preserved. Under the belief system,
it was considered taboo to pick up even a leaf and
carry it out of the forest. It was believed that
disobedience of this led to punishments in the
form of ailments, which unless atoned for, through
prescribed rituals, could prove fatal. The forests
spirits were also appeased through rituals and
sacrifices and in turn the spirits ensured the
welfare of the people. Such beliefs, in the
industrial age, were often dubbed as animism and
superstition and under the relentless onslaught of
modernism, such belief systems are fast
disappearing.
With them are disappearing a way of life
that was instrumental in preserving the
sustainability of human civilization. As a case in
point may be cited the example of the sacred
forests in Meghalaya. In the not too distant past,
many forests of the state were designated as
sacred. In fact even the name Shillong is derived
from the hill U Lum Shyllong, where the present
day Shillong Peak is located. It was a sacred
forest, where resided the spirit of the guardian
deity, U Lei Shyllong. The Laitkor forest Range
which housed the sacred forests, are today
accepted as an important rain catchment area that
feeds the perennial springs that supplies crystal

clear water to a large part of Shillong round the
year. Today, with the denudation of this forests,
mountain springs are drying up and water scarcity
has become much more common.
APATANI COMPOSITE FARMING
The Apatanis are one of the major tribes of
Arunachal Pradesh. Predominantly occupying the
Lower Subansiri district, the tribe is renowned for
its skills in composite agriculture.
Their terraced wet rice fields are also used
to grow fish while the elevated borders or bunds,
that retain water in the fields are used for growing
finger millets. The millet plants not only bind and
hold the soil but reduces weed growth. Moreover,
the millet produced is highly prized for its use in
manufacturing the local brew. Normally fish
fingerlings are released in the paddy fields and
subsequently, the fish feed on the plankton and
other micro flora and insects. As they forage for
food, they release micro-nutrients from the soil
that is beneficial for the paddy. The fish grow
along with the paddy crop and sometimes the fish
is harvested as much as two times during the year.
In addition, the Apatanis have perfected the
art of nutrient management of the rice terraces
in a number of ingenious ways. Compost is
derived through decomposition of paddy straw by
inundating fields. A number of essential mineral
supplements are added to the fields through ash
derived from burning of straw and other
vegetation that remain in the fields and outlying
areas.
In addition, additional manure is derived
from animal droppings, rice husks and kitchen
waste. It was also observed that it was common
practice for Apatani villages which are normally
located at high elevations, to direct the organic
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20
GIST OF YOJANA
sewage generated in the villages, to the outlying

fields. This was a good source of organic manure,
useful for both the plants as well as the fish.
NITROGEN FIXING
TECHNIQUES OF THE ANGAMIS
The Angamis are one of the major tribes of
Nagaland and the village of Khonoma, near the
capital Kohima, is considered to be one of the
oldest inhabited village in the region. In and
around the hills of Khonoma can be found trees
that are hundreds of years old. Many of these are
Alder trees, a species extolled by agricultural
scientists for its nitrogen fixing capacity. The
ancient tradition of the Angamis seems to have
realized the value of the Alder in agriculture and
hence its preservation over the centuries. In fact,
they seem to have developed an alder based
system of shifting cultivation or Jhum, that gave
spectacular productivity. Under this system, while
the secondary foliage or the undergrowth is
cleared and burnt to clear the ground for
cultivation, the primary vegetation the Alder trees
are left undisturbed.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE
HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE
A High Level Committee comprising of Dr.
V Krishnamurthy, Chairman, National
Manufacturing Competitiveness Council
(NMCC), Dr. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime
Minister for Public Infrastructure, Information
and Innovation, among others had submitted a
report to the Prime Minister in 2010, to fast-track
the growth of the Electronics System Design and
Manufacturing (ESDM) sector. The Committee
made five key recommendations in their report.
One of the five recommendations specifically
related to promotion of R&D and innovation in
the sector. The relevant extract of the report is

as follows.
There is an urgent need for intervention to
promote and develop innovation, R&D, Indian
IPR and manufacturing within the country for
electronic products, which include telecom
products, especially those having security
implications. It is proposed to create a dedicated
`Electronic Development Fund with an initial
corpus of Rs. 5,000 crore for Innovations, R&D,
TPR and product development and promotion of
electronics equipment manufacturing. This fund
would also support seed, angel and venture
funding. The fund may be leveraged to acquire
foreign companies so as to shift the production
of products currently imported in large volumes,
into the country. Some of the PSUs which are
well positioned may take a lead role and venture
into such acquisitions. The fund would be
managed professionally and accessible to both
Government and private sector.
To take up a major programme for design
and fabrication of an Indian Microprocessor. This
would have multiple benefits such as (i)
elimination/reduction of licence fee/royalty paid
by the country for using foreign microprocessor
core (ii) develop systems for critical installation
with enhanced security. While the development
of microprocessor is likely to cost around Rs.
1000 crores, the detailed costing for the complete
ecosystem needs to be worked out, which is
expected to be around Rs.5000 crores.
NATIONAL POLICY ON
ELECTRONICS AND R&D AND INNOVATION
The draft National Policy on Electronics
2011 was released recently. It reflects the
Government emphasis on development of R&D
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21
and innovation capabilities in this sector. The goals

and targets of the Policy underline this thrust. The
relevant goals are extracted below.
To become a global leader in creating
Intellectual Property (IP) in the ESDM sector by
increasing fund flow for R&D, seed capital and
venture capital for start-ups in the ESDM and
nanoelectronics sectors.
Furthermore, creating an Electronic
Development Fund (EDF) to promote Innovation
and IP and R&D, commercialization of products,
etc. to facilitate IP development by Indian
industry, academic and R&D institutions is
recognized as a key strategy for achieving the
aforesaid goal. The Policy also envisages that the
EDF will be a Fund of Funds which will
participate in Daughter Funds for various
innovation and manufacturing stages. It also states
that all Daughter Funds are to be professionally
managed.
APPROACH OF XII PLAN
The draft approach to the Twelth Plan
points out that the R&D expenditure in the country
is only about 0.9 percent of GDP, of which about
three- fourth is in the public sector and only one
fourth is in the private sector which is simply not
adequate. The total expenditure in R&D is
required to be increased to 2 percent of GDP by
the end of the Twelfth Plan. This could consist
of about 1 percent in the public sector and 1
percent in the corporate sector, including PSUs.
It recognizes that the current practices and
policies for promoting R&D and innovation do not
promote this objective sufficiently. It states, we
also need to migrate from defensive decision
syndrome to trust based decision logic and from
risk averse to risk prepared social behaviour.
It is necessary to create a framework that

takes into account the entire life cycle of ideas
beginning with discovery/ creation to
commercialization, extension and value addition.
It is success in this area alone that can stimulate
appropriate innovation across the wider system.
Significant changes will have to be brought in
current interaction of publicly owned S&T
establishment with industry, both in public and
private sector. This should result in a significant
enhancement of the private sector R&D
expenditure, which is presently estimated at
around 25 percent of national R&D expenditure
to at least 50 percent in the Twelfth Plan.
The important elements which may play the
catalytic role in achieving this outcome are: first,
leveraging the Government grants and other
forms of financing, to secure private financial
flows and support around a demand driven R&D
development path. Industry, both public and
private, would also need to be incentivized to
invest at least 2 percent of their sales turnover in
R&D. The second is developing a workable
protocol for facilitating interaction amongst these
players. This would cover a range of issues, from
the nature of testing to that of the regulatory
framework and the facilitation of foreign direct
investment (FDI) in related R&D activity.
THE YOZMNA PROGRAMME IN ISRAEL
There are important lessons which the
proposed Electronic Development Fund
can derive from the Yojana programme
of Israel.
Yozmna created a solid base for a
competitive Venture Capital (VC)
industry with critical mass in Israel.
Yozmna created a solid base for a
competitive Venture Capital (VC)
industry with critical mass in Israel.
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GIST OF YOJANA
It is also created a network which

enabled entrepreneurs in Israel to learn
from foreign limited partners; and to
acquire a network of international
contacts.
Yozma was started as a $ l00M
Government owned Venture Capital fund
(with the same name) oriented to two
functions: a) fund of funds- investment
in 10 private VC funds (Yozma Funds
- 80M); and b) direct investments in high
tech companies-$20M (through the
Government -owned Yozma Venture
Fund).
PERFROMANCE OF FARMERS
The share of oil seeds crops in terms
of area [1.8 percent] and production [0.6
percent] in the total in 1961-62 went up
to 16.7 percent and 6.6 percent
respectively in the total in 2010-11.
While share of area under commercial
crops in the total increased significantly
from 5.1 percent in 1961-62 to 7.5
percent in 2010-11, their share of
production, however, remained stagnant
at 39.1 percent and 38.1 percent
respectively.
Area under all crops in rabi season
sharply shot up from 3,350 hectares in
1961-62 to 67,440 hectares [2013
percent] and production from 2,580
metric tons to 1, 14,950 metric tons[4455
percent] in 2010-11. Consequently yield
of crops also improved from 770 kg/ha
to 1,704 kg/ha [221 percent] respectively.
Cereals which did not find place during
the rabi season till 1970s covered 2,700
hectares in 1980-81 and increased to
6,500 hectares [240.7 percent] in 200001 and 10,330 hectares [382.6 percent]
in 2010-11. The cereal production

improved significantly from 4,000 metric
tons to 12,200 metric tons [305 percent]
and 19,480 metric tons [487 percent]
respectively. The yield of rabi cereals
increased from 1,481 kg/ha to 1,876 kg/
ha and 1,885 kg/ha respectively.
In 2009, out of the total geographical area
of 16,57,900 hectares, the gross area
under total agriculture was 3,87,860
[23.39 percent].
Between 2003 and 2009, share of
average area under jhum paddy, pulses
& oil seeds, and other cereals in the total
declined,from the level in 2003 whereas
share of average area under maize and
commercial crops increased.
Between 2003 and 2009, average area
as compared to the level in 2003 under
Jhum and TRC paddy marginally
improved to 104.58 percent and 104.22
percent respectively, followed by
significant rise in average area under
pulses & oil seeds [108.14 percent], total
agriculture [110.23 percent] and maize
[124.93 percent] and phenomenally
under commercial crops [200.40
percent] but it significantly declined to
82.23 percent under other cereals. Area
under jhum paddy and TRC paddy rose
to meet with the demand of the
population increase [from 18,06,844 in
2002 to 24,34,897 in 2010]. Area under
maize significantly increased in view of
farmers response to produce maize on
a commercial scale because of its high
demand in the market.
Commercial crops demonstrated shift in
terms of their share [7.86 percent] in the
total area as well as increase in
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23
percentage [200.40 percent] between the

level in 2003 and average of seven years.
Between 2003 and 2009 while the yield
of Jhum paddy per hectare increased
from 1450 kg to 1930 kg [ 133.10
percent] yield of TRC paddy increased
from 1810 kg to 2340 kg [ 129.28
percent]. The increase is attributed to
selection of higher yielding variety from
among the land races available within the
village by discarding low yielding ones
and better management practices.
Governments efforts in 200506 under
the programme Year of the Farmers
significantly boosted area under all
categories of crops except TRC paddy
during the said year.
The cropping pattern has been gradually
witnessing a shift from mono -cropping
to mixed and multiple cropping.
Average area, production and yield of
Jhum paddy during 2003-09 increased to
104.58 percent, 119.27 percent and
113.72 percent from the level in 2003
whereas projected Jhumia population
increased to 116.66 percent. Despite
area held per person declined to 87.5
percent milled rice per person marginally
rose to 102.03 percent.
The area and production per hectare
under terrace rice cultivation (TRC) is
increasing across the State. Perhaps
because of the increase in TRC, the
shortfall of rice from jhum is somewhat
mitigated. Innovative uses of TRC, such
as cultivating winter crops of cabbage,
tomato and potato cultivation and
incorporating fishes and snails as
supplementary activities are generating
income for the farming families.
AREAS OF CONCERN
Water: Agriculture is mainly dependent on
rainfall. However, because of hilly terrain there
is severe surface runoff leading to [i] low rate of
water absorption into the soil and [ii] heavy loss
of plant nutrients that are essentially required for
crop-growth. This phenomenon impacts
adversely on crop productivity. During
premonsoon and monsoon period more than 80
percent of the total rainfall is received. Most of
this water, however, flows quickly and drains out
into the streams as surface runoff. Small quantity
of rainfall gets stored in few farm ponds
constructed on the hill terraces but high seepage
rate does not allow the ponds to hold the water
for longer period. Scanty rains are received during
post monsoon and winter season which is also the
season for cultivating rabi crops. During rabi
season crops are not irrigated because of
inadequate storage structures for storing the rain
water being received during rainy season. The
Department of Irrigation and Flood Control has
been implementing program to create irrigation
potential which, however, is not adequately utilized
due to lack of leveled land and farmers pursuing
mono-cropping pattern. Erratic and heavy rains
often lead to landslide and damage irrigation
structures/infrastructure which are not restored
on time due to lack of sufficient funds.
Soil Degradation: According to the
National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use
Planning [2000], 60 percent of the total
geographical area of the state was affected by
different types of land degradation. Soil erosion
was the serious and major problem which is
followed by soil acidity and nutrients loss. Heavy
rainfall causes soil erosion which in turn makes
productive soil acidic affecting the quality of the
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GIST OF YOJANA
soil. This also leads to reduced availability of

Phosphorus to the plants that inhibits the growth
of rice plant. Soils in Tuensang and Kohima
districts are normally low in potash levels
adversely affecting quality of grains. Soils of the
state based on internal drainage are classified into
excessively drained and somewhat excessively
drained.
According to the Department of Soil and
water conservation, huge acreages are affected
by both these types of problems. Based on nature
of soil erosion significant acreages experience
soil erosion ranging from moderately steep to
severe.
Jhum cultivation: Above 52 percent of
land is under Jhum cultivation and this traditional
practice accounts for 70 percent of soil loss,
degradation of land and deterioration of water
resources. According to the ICAR in absence of
effective soil conservation measures the soil loss
under jhum cultivation area was estimated
between 40 tons and 90 tons per hectares in 2008.
Besides, other adverse effects of Jhum cultivation
include, inter alia, [i] polluting the air [ii] problem
in phosphorus fixation in the soil [iii] reduction in
water table and soil moisture [iv] increased floods
in the foot hills [v] increased sedimentation load
in rivers
Low productivity: Factors responsible for
low productivity include, inter alia, [i] incidence
of natural calamities and degradation of prime
agricultural land. The natural calamities include
landslides, higher incidence of floods near river
belts, high wind velocity and recurrent droughts.
[ii] grossly inadequate institutional infrastructure
to provide support services to facilitate a large
number of small farmers to adopt scientific
methods of cultivation, post-harvest management,
marketing services and transport.

Strategy: The State has the potential for
transforming traditional agriculture to commercial
agriculture, making Nagaland a leading State in
sustainable rainfed farming and promoting
organic agriculture. In this context, the
Government seeks to promote technically sound,
economically viable, environmentally
nondegrading, socially acceptable and sustainable
development of agriculture in the state through
optimum utilization of resources, such as the land,
water and genetic endowment, among others. In
the process, focus of agricultural growth is value
addition, promoting agri-business, creating more
employment opportunity in rural areas that can
reduce migration to urban centres. Field studies
and interaction with the farmers necessitate
following strategic actions to accomplish the goals
envisioned in the Vision 2020 document.
TECHNICAL TRAINING AND.
SCHEMES FOR KASHMIRI YOUTH
A projected honey output of over 500 tonnes, 7,500
beekeepers and growing, with 29,850 bee colonies
A between them. Beekeeping has been catching on
in Jammu and Kashmir, with production having
Limped from 300 tonnes in 2010 to 597 last year. Its
a trend that also creates job avenues for the
unemployed, say officials, pointing out that many
educated youths are among those setting up bee
colonies in the countryside because of its promise.
Honey has not only a local market but also
demanded nationally and internationally. In the last
six years, 1,067 tonnes was exported out of the
valley.
Beekeeping had once fallen into decline. In 1988,
a local bee became the victim of a disease, which
caused the death of all colonies throughout
Kashmir. It contributed to the decline of the
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25
beekeeping culture in the valley, and thousands left

this business, said Farooq Ahmed Shah, who has
been rearing bees for five decades. Shah, who never
gave up, has 100 bee colonies and earns about Rs
2,60,000 with a seasons produce. An Italian bee
resistant to that disease was introduced but Shah
says the local bee coped better with the conditions.
What attracted fresh beekeepers, mostly the
young, was the introduction of subsidies, schemes
and technical training. We provide beehives and
bee colonies on a 50 percent subsidy, said G M
Rather, chief agriculture officer. There are various
schemes and the subsidy is given on hives,
medicines, honey extracting equipment, besides
free knowhow. The states apiculture department
keeps 100 bee colonies for demonstration to
beneficiaries, besides holding disease awareness
programmes. The bee colonies are for the people
who come here; we train them in beekeeping. Last
year we produced one quintal of honey within the
department, said Imtiyaz Ahmed, a beekeeper in
the department.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

In India, Small Industry Extension Training
Institute (popularly known as SIET Institute,
Hyderabad), had first introduced the efforts for
developing entrepreneurship in the country in the
year 1962 in collaboration with Harvard
University. Dr. David Maclleland, Professor of
Harvard University who developed his Trait
Model concept in 1961 was invited to India to
experiment and apply the concept in India. He
along with SIFT Institute went on to first apply
the concept through training and research in a
remote place called Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh
and later in Tamil Nadu (Prof. D. Nagayya,
Entrepreneurship Development in North East,
Edited by Dr. D.D. Mali, 2000). Since 1962 to
till now, many Institutions in India have adopted
the concept with or without modifications from
time to time. The well known and experienced

Institutions like MSME-NI (Hyderabad formerly
known as SIFT Institute/NISIET), EDI
(Ahmedabad), NIESBUD, New Delhi (both the
organizations were started in 1983), IIE
(Guwahati1994) etc have also been applying
some new approaches on trial and error basis.
The post liberalisation industrial and
economic scenario in India makes it imperative
that a more dynamic and pragmatic approach be
adopted to create first generation entrepreneurs
on a large scale in the various parts of the country.
Such entrepreneurs must be compatible as per
international standard. The youths located in the
urban areas, however, can avail many facilities
offered by many organizations and institutions, but
reaching out to the rural youth is a big task and it
can be possible by involving various institutions
and organizations of repute including involving
some local level institutions/ agencies. In this
respect, the national level institutions like NIMSME (Hyderabad), EDI (Ahmedabad),
NIESBUD (Noida) and HE (Guwahati) are
involved in developing an entrepreneurial culture
by conducting Entrepreneurship Development
Programmes (EDPs) or similar programmes in
their own campus as well as across the urban and
rural areas. Various State level entrepreneurship
development institutions like CED/IED have also
been involved in developing entrepreneurship both
in urban and rural areas. Universities, Institutions
in India have also introduced the entrepreneurship
concept in their academic curriculums in the
beginning of the twentieth century.
In India, at present more than 2000
institutions, organizations, forums and associations
have been imparting various courses on
developing entrepreneurship. In addition, almost
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GIST OF YOJANA
all the universities and other institutions in India

like management, engineering, commerce etc
have introduced entrepreneurship development in
their academic curriculums. The dimensions and
focus areas have also been widened like general
entrepreneurship development, development of
entrepreneurship for rural youth, women
entrepreneurship, agri-entrepreneurship, techno
entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship,
corporate entrepreneurship (intrapreneurship),
global entrepreneurship etc. In addition some
Institutions like EDI, NIESBUD, EMPI Business
School, Nursee Monjee Institute of Management
etc have also introduced a few full time courses
on entrepreneurship development, rural
entrepreneurship etc.
DEVELOPING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NORTH EAST
In the North Eastern Region, the concept
of developing entrepreneurship was first
introduced in Assam in the year 1973 when
Government of Assam under the Chief
Ministership of Late Sarat Chandra Sinha
introduced a scheme called Half a Million Job
and which was entrusted to a new organisation
called the Entrepreneurial Motivation Training
Centre (popularly known as EMTC) under the
State Planning Board. The Government of Assam
also requested SIET Institute, Hyderabad to be
associated with EMTC mainly on training and
research in the field of entrepreneurship
development. Nine EMTCs branches were set
up in different places of Assam. Similarly in the
year 1973, the North Eastern Industrial
Consultancy Organisation (NEITCO) was
created by development financial institutions and
banks and it started its operation from Guwahati.
One of the functions of NEITCO was organizing
training programmes on entrepreneurship

development. In 1979, the SIET Institute,
Hyderabad set-up its NER Centre at Guwahati.
This SIFT Institute became NISIET (NER
Centre) in 1984 and the Indian Institute of
Entrepreneurship (IIE) in 1994. In 1987,
development financial institutions and banks
created another organization called the North
Eastern Consultancy Organisation (NECON)
with its headquarter at Imphal (Manipur).
Entrepreneurship development is one of the
activities of NECON. In addition, organization like
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Development Institute (MSMEDI), National
Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), Khadi and
Village Industries Commission (KVIC) have been
operating in the region for developing
entrepreneurship as well as micro and small
enterprises. Other organizations like NIRD,
RGVN, CAPART, and a number of NGOs,
Industry Associations/ Forums etc have been
engaged in developing entrepreneurship and small
enterprises in the region. Similarly, some state
level organizations like Directorate of Industries
& Commerce including its District Industries and
Commerce Centres (DICC), Directorate of Rural
Development (DRDA), State Industrial
Development Corporations (SIDCs) like ASTDC
and AIDC (Assam), NIDC (Nagaland), TIDC
(Tripura), MIDC (Meghalaya), MANIDCO
(Manipur), APSFDC (Arunachal Pradesh),
SIDICO (Sikkim) etc and also the State Institute
of Rural Development (SIRDs), State level
Handloom and Handicrafts Development
Corporations like NHHDC (Nagaland), AGMC
(Assam), MHHDC (Meghalaya), MIIHDC
(Manipur), SHHDC (Sikkim), THHDC (Tripura)
etc are involved for developing entrepreneurship
and enterprises in their respective areas and
states.
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27
In the North Eastern Region, a large

number of other promotional, developmental and
financial institutions/organizations like KVIC, DC
(Handicrafts), NSIC, NERAMAC, NEHHDC,
Spices Board, Central Silk Board, Tea Board,
Coffee Board, Coconut Development Board,
Rubber Board, Coir Board, APEDA, MPEDA,
NHB, TRIFED, NIRD etc have been organizing
a number of training programmes, research
studies etc for the development of
entrepreneurship in the region. Similarly, financial
institutions like SFCs, SIDBI, IDBI, NABARD,
NEDFi and Commercial Banks etc have also
been set up (or opened their branches/regional
offices) in the North-Eastern Region to help the
local entrepreneurs. A number of committees,
forums, associations like FINER, NESIA,
NEWEA, NECCI, ICC, CII, ASSIA, MEA, etc
have also organized seminars, workshops, training
etc and have forwarded their recommendations
to the central and state governments on various
issues from time to time for developing
entrepreneurship in the region. In-spite of all these
efforts, the results are still slow and not very
encouraging as it should have been. However,
there are many other reasons like geographical
isolation, limited infrastructural facilities, lack of
finance, lack of techno-economic information,
stiff competition from outside, high
manufacturing cost etc which are also
contributing to the slow growth of industries in
the region. But of all, the dearth of
entrepreneurship is regarded as one of the most
important factors for the slow growth of
industries in the region. Some of the institutions
in the region have also been trying to develop the
entrepreneurship culture by slightly changing the
techniques and approaches on trial and error
methods. The results are yet to be seen.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEVELOPMENT IN NAGALAND
Nagaland, one of the eight states of North
East India is a hill economy marked by agriculture
as the mainstay of all economic activities with a
small proportion of the populace engaged in the
rearing of livestock, weaving, black smithy,
handloom and handicrafts. The State is
predominantly rural with 82.26 percent of the
population living in villages. Over the last decade,
while the share of the primary sector has declined,
the share of the tertiary sectors has seen a steady
increase. This is owing to the fact that besides
agriculture, it is retail trade and public
administration which is generating the maximum
employment opportunities for the unemployed in
the state. According to live employment exchange
registers of the state, more than 66,000 youths are
presently unemployed. This is only a fraction of
total unemployed in the state which is presently
around 6.5 percent. Though unemployment rate
in Nagaland is steadily increasing self employment
rate has remained high. Employment in Nagaland
(released by NSSO) indicated that in the rural
sector, as much as 60 percent i.e. 596 per 1000
distribution of household by household type are
self employed in agriculture. While in the urban
sector about 44 percent of the population
accounted for regular wage earners but about 43
percent of the population were self employed.
In terms of self employment in the rural
areas, 565 per thousand are involved in the
agriculture sector and 8 per thousand in
nonagriculture sector. In the urban areas selfemployment accounts for 305 per thousand
households. Self employment based options in
urban areas relate mostly to simple bakery, fast
food, confectionary, restaurant, hotel, resort, car
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rental, tourism, stone crushing and other diverse

merchandising business largely in the service
sector. This covers repair and servicing of a wide
range of objects starting from house hold
implements, mobile repairing, photography, car
repairing and servicing etc and also covering even
hi-tech computers and other complex electronic
gadgets. It also includes typical modern services
such as developing website, software
development, computer accounting, DTP etc and
also tasks related to booking tickets, payment of
bills and arranging for licenses and permissions
etc. In the manufacturing areas, a beginning has
been made by setting up of small units like still
fabrication, wooden carpentary and furniture
making, handicrafts, scrap rubberized items etc.
Though self-employment has been the driving
force in overall economic development of the
state, but lack of entrepreneurial attitude has not
resulted in full utilization of the inherent potential
of the youths of the state. Recent developments
show youths coming forward with knowledge and
acumen. This has resulted in development of
Trading business (11 percent), Hotel and
Restaurant Business (3 percent), Transport
business (2 percent), Construction (1 percent),
Manufacturing (1 percent). These enterprises
employ 18 percent of the total workforce of the
state.
According to the Planning Department of
Nagaland, during last two years (2010-11 and
201112) nearly 3,000 Naga youth were sent out
for training in different vocations. Government
ofNagaland is supporting these trainees with the
idea that after returning these persons would start
their own business units. To supplement these
trainees the state government has also drawn up
special package for Rs.10 Crores to assist the
entrepreneurs as a part of the capacity
development initiative.
Though Nagalands young demographic
profile has made the State favourably placed in
terms of manpower availability, but for the States
dismal performance in the manufacturing sector,
it has failed to build up its capacity to absorb the
vibrant workforce. The severity of the
unemployment problem, therefore, is also on the
rise in the State. Coupled with high rate of pass
outs from universities and colleges and
compounded by lack of adequate employment
opportunities, the problem of educated
unemployment and its resultant effects is growing
exponentially. Needless to say, industrialisation is
an integral part of any development. However, the
remoteness of the State along with poor
infrastructure like road linkages and acute
shortage of power along with customary land laws
that restrict the transfer of land to outside
investors continue to deter industrialisation in the
State. Despite the prevailing constraints, efforts
at industrialisation continue in the State. The
Paper Mill in Tuli has been revived after being
sick for more than 15 years. The commissioning
of the Nagaland Pulp & Paper Company Ltd.
(NPPC), Tuli, with an enhanced capacity from
100 metric tonnes to 200 metric tonnes per day
is expected to generate both direct and indirect
employment. There has also been creation of
infrastructure for the growth of industries and
service enterprises in the state like the Industrial
Growth Centre and the Export Promotion
Industrial Park. With a view to promote and
develop bamboo and its potentials as a major
economic activity in the State, both as a resource
and as an enterprise, the Government of Nagaland
has adopted the Nagaland Bamboo Policy in
March 2004.
The handicrafts and handloom sector, the
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29
traditional selfemployment avenues in the state

has vast employment and livelihood potential for
growth due to availability of abundant skilled
labour and raw materials, as well as the rich
cultural traditions of its people. Organised efforts
and methodical interventions for holistic upliftment
of the sector for a competitive reach in the world
market can pave the way for larger sustainable
self-employment and also give a boost to the gross
state domestic product.
To take up entrepreneurship development
in a more streamlined manner, the Government
of Nagaland has initiated a series of capacity
building measures. This included declaring of the
year 201011 as the Year of Entrepreneurs in
Nagaland recognising the fact that Nagaland has
been a consumerist society and that it was time
to start production through micro, small and
medium enterprises -i.e. the MSME sector to
achieve self-sufficiency in the State. To make this
initiative successful, the Government of Nagaland
partnered with Indian Institute of
Entrepreneurship (IIE) and Nagaland
Entrepreneurs Association. ITE was mandated
with training up of 1,000 Naga youths during the
period so that they may take up entrepreneurship
as career.
Even prior to the declaration of the Year
of Entrepreneur in Nagaland, efforts at
developing the MSME sector were put into.
Institutions like the Indian Institute of
Entrepreneurship (IIE) had come up with a DCMSME cluster on cane and bamboo in Dimapur,
(Nagaland) in the year 2005-06. At the start of
the endeavour there were only eighteen volunteers
ready to join and form a part of the cluster but
with the passage of time, the membership steadily
increased and the total strength of the cluster
counted at eightytwo by the time HE made an

exit. The cluster later spread across a spatial area
of 100 sq km covering the districts of Dimapur,
Kohima, Longleng, Mon, Mokokchung, Jalukie,
Phek and Zunheboto. The cluster could
successfully provide handholding support to a
number of artisans in the cane and bamboo sector
by guiding them and providing with credit and
market linkages and product upgradation and
diversification.
Yet another area approach programme
under the SIDBI called the Rural Industries
Programme (RIP) has been implemented in
Dimapur, Nagaland. Under the programme, HE
has so far grounded around 97 MSME unites, out
of which 87 with Bank Finance and 10 with
proprietors finance. Around 900 beneficiaries
have been trained so far under this programme.
DO YOU KNOW
WHATS FDI?
Q. l. What is the objective of FDI?
It is the intent and objective of the
Government of India to attract and promote
foreign direct investment in order to supplement
domestic capital, technology and skills, for
accelerated economic growth. Foreign Direct
Investment, as distinguished from portfolio
investment, has the connotation of establishing a
lasting interest in an enterprise that is resident
in an economy other than that of the investor.
The Government has put in place a policy
framework on Foreign Direct Investment, which
is transparent, predictable and easily
comprehensible. This framework is embodied in
the Circular on Consolidated FDI Policy, which
may be updated every year, to capture and keep
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30
GIST OF YOJANA
pace with the regulatory changes, effected in the

interregnum. The Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce &
Industry, Government of India makes policy
pronouncements on FDI.
Q. 2. Who can invest in India?
A non-resident entity (other than a citizen
of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan)
can invest in India, subject to the FDI Policy. A
citizen of Bangladesh or an entity incorporated in
Bangladesh can invest only under the
Government route. NRIs resident in Nepal and
Bhutan as well as citizens of Nepal and Bhutan
are permitted to invest in the capital of Indian
companies on repatriation basis, subject to the
condition that the amount of consideration for such
investment shall be paid only by way of inward
remittance in free foreign exchange through
normal banking channels.
Q. 3. How will FDI in retain sector benefit?
Entry of global retail giants is likely to
see new investment, in the short run, it
has the potential to add 3-4 million new
jobs
Another 4-6 million jobs could be created
in logistics, contract labour, housekeeping and security
Expected to help develop logistics, cold
chains, warehouses
Government revenues could get an
additional $ 24-30 billion through various
taxes,
Help reduce wastage of vegetables and
other perishables and help in taming
inflation, For Consumers it could mean
savingsof5-10% ,
May help farmers get 10-30% higher
remuneration
Add to economic growth
Q. 4. What do the new rules say? What is

single Brand retail?
Government has allowed 100% FDI in
single-brand retail
The foreign investor should be the owner
of the brand
Products to be sold should be of a single
brand only
Products should be sold under the same
brand name in one or more countries
other than India
Sourcing of 30 percent of the value of
goods purchased will be done from India
preferably from small and medium units,
village and cottage industries, artisans
and craftsmen
Quantum of sourcing to be self certified,
to be checked by statutory auditors.
Retail trading, in any form, through ecommerce not allowed.
Q.5. What is Multi-Brand retail?
Government allows 51 % FDI in multibrand retail
Minimum amount to be brought in as FDI
by the foreign investor would be $100
million
At least 50% of total FOI to be invested
in back-end infrastructure in three years
At least 30% of the value of procurement
of manufactured processed products
shall be sourced from Indian small
industries which have a total investment
in plant and machinery not exceeding $1
million
Retail sales outlets may be set up only in
cities with a population of more than 10
lakh as per 2011 census and may cover
an area of 10 Km around the municipal/
urban limits of such cities
Retail trading in any forms, by means
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GIST OF YOJANA
31
of e-commerce would not be allowed

Fresh farm produce, including fruits,
vegetables, flowers, grains, pulses, fresh
poultry, fishery and meat products may
be unbranded
Government will have the first right to
procure farm products
Q.6 Why foreign retailers want to enter
India?
Large market, rising disposable incomes
and spending power
The estimated size of the Indian retail
market is about $450 billion.
MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL
Goal 1: Ertadication of extreme Poverty
and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Universaal Primary
Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equity and
Empowerment
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Material Mortality
Goal 6: Combamt HIV/AIDS malaria
and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environment
Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership
for Develop
SOME KEY RECOMMENDATIONS OF
13TH FINANCE COMISSION
Chaired by the distinguished economist
Dr Vijay Kelkar with Indira Rajaraman
and Sanjiv Misra as members, the report
outlining a roadmap for fiscal
consolidation in a medium-term
framework stirred up a hornets nest by
focussing on slashing fuel and food
subsidies, besides recommending the
rationalization of plan expenditures.
Pruning of fiscal deficit to three percent

of GDP by 2014-15.
The rationale for a credible and effective
fiscal consolidation postulated by the
committee is predicated on three major
rounds: the economy is in the state of
high fiscal stress, with a do-nothing
approach likely to result in a Central
government fiscal deficit of 6.1 percent
of GDP in 2012- 13; this could result
from a likely shortfall in gross tax
revenues by around Rs 60,000 crore and
higher than budgeted expenditures on
subsidies, out Rs 70,000 crore; (ii) this
fiscal stress is also compounding the
problem of twin deficits, with the current
account deficit at 4.2 percent of GDP
last year and possibly at 4.3 percent of
GDP this year, at a time when the global
market and capital flows are exceedingly
fragile and where financing of this
magnitude is creating huge risks for
macroeconomic an external stability an
... the gross borrowing requirement,
already high, is likely to exceed last years
level by a large margin (5.8 percent of
GDP versus 5.4 percent of GDP last
year), leading to crowding out of private
sector financing for investment. Foreign
exchange reserves are falling and the
currency is especially vulnerable, the
report cautioned adding that the
combination is reminiscent of the situation
last seen in 1990-91.
Referring to subsidies, it said subsidy on
diesel was a major contributor to fiscal
slippage in recent years.
The Kelkar Committee said polity goal
should be to eliminate the LPG subsidy
by a2014-15 by reducing it by 25 percent
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32
GIST OF YOJANA
this year with the remaining 75 percent

reduction over the next two years. For
kerosene, the aim is to reduce the subsidy
one one-third by 2014-15.
In fertilizer subsidy, it proposed an
immediate revision in the price of urea
not only to prune the high subsidy but
also cut down the unsustainable
imbalance in the current consumption
pattern of fertilizer.
On food subsidy, it plumped for an
increase in the central issue price (CIP)
supplied through public distribution
system, though it suggests that the
increase may be targeted to shield poorer
sections of the society by limiting the price
increase to consumers above the poverty
line (APL).
Alongside it also favoured more efficient
foodgrain delivery operations in the
medium term.
MECHANICAL
INNOVATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
UDDHAB BHARALl (48) is a serial
innovator who has designed and prototyped an
entire range of mechanical innovations since his
lust innovations in 1987. He has innovated around
eighty-five engineering devices for different
purposes. Out of these thirteen have found
commercial applications, albeit most being
individual custom orders from different parts of
the country. As of today, he has set up a research
workshop in his idyllic hometown of North
Lakhimpur. It is a small town, on the banks of the
Brahmaputra river and in the foothills of the
Himalayas, surrounded by lush tea gardens on
gentle slopes. He has set up a workshop to help
local communities and industries solve their
technological needs.
The Innovations
Since he first developed the Polythene
making machine in 1988, Bharali has developed
a number of machines, which he considers as his
main assets that have and will always help in his
time of need. Some of these machines are:
Pomegranate De-seeder: It separates
the outer cover and thin inner membrane without
damaging the seeds. It has a capacity of
deseeding 50-55 kg of pomegranate fruits per
hour. The machine has been exported to Turkey
and USA.
Arecanut Peeler: Annoyed by the injuries
caused while peeling the areca nuts manually, he
developed an areca nut peeling machine with a
capacity of peeling 100-120 nuts per
minute.Cassava peeler: It is a portable electric
machine that can process up to five kg of cassava
per minute. NIF facilitated the technology
licensing on nonexclusive basis to a Guwahati
based entrepreneur. One unit has even been sold
to a customer based in Kenya.
Bamboo processing machines: Bamboo
processing by hand is a time consuming and
difficult process. Bharali has developed an
assembly of machines that can perform
operations like splitting long lengths of bamboo,
sizing, surface finishing, polishing etc. These units
have been installed with the help of NIF in a CFC
(Common Facility Centre) of the NERCRMP
(North Eastern Region Community Resource
Management Project) at North Cachar hills in
Assam.
Bharali has also developed remi
recortication machine, garlic peeling machine,
tobacco leaf cutter, paddy thresher, cane stripping
machine, brass utensil polishing machine, Jatropha
de-seeder, mechanized weeding machine, passion
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GIST OF YOJANA
33
fruit juice extractor, trench digger, chopper for

cattle and fisheries feed and portable dheki.
For many of his innovations, the innovator
was supported under the Micro Venture
Innovation Fund scheme (MVIF) at NIF.
Facilitated by NIF, the innovator was also
supported from the TePP scheme at DSIR,
Government of India.
NAGALAND-A LAND
OF
FESTIVALS
Hornbill Festival was launched by

Government of Nagaland in the first year of new
millenium. Since then the Government controlled
festival is being organized in the first week of
December every year. Though, the weeklong
festival unites one and all in Nagaland and take a
shape of fair, people from all corners of the state,
neighbouring states and abroad gather together
to enjoy the colourful performances, crafts,
sports, food fairs, games and ceremonies.
Traditional arts like hand-paintings, wood carvings
and sculptures are also displayed in this festival.
In addition, one can enjoy flower shows, cultural
medley, songs and dances, fashion shows, beauty
contest, traditional archery, Naga wrestling,
indigenous games and musical concert. Unusual
events like climbing greased bamboo pole and
Naga King Chili eating contest evolve great
response. Finally, herbal medicine stalls in the fair
draw large crowd.
After enjoying the symphony of traditional
tribal cultures of different tribes and sub-tribes of
Nagaland, if you have interest in historical
artifacts, visit the Kohima War Cemetery. This
cemetery is a tribute to the soldiers who laid down
their lives during World War 11. The dead bodies
of around 1100 British and 330 Indian soldiers
were buried here.
The widely publicized Hornbill Festival is a

bit sophisticated compared to rituals in traditional
festivals of Nagaland. It does not follow the rituals
that are elaborate or spontaneous like festivals
celebrated in the villages. Specifically, festival in
particular times of the year when the entire village
participate in the rituals. Here, the rituals are more
compact as to make it look simpler and acceptable
to spectators from outside the state.
Aoleng Monyu is celebrated by the Konyak
tribe of Mou district to observe the traditional postsowing festival period. This six days long festival
is celebrated in the month ofAolengLee (MarchApril). Here prayers are performed to deities
Youngwan and Kaahshih for health, harvest,
safety and progeny and local delicacies i.e. pound,
chop and brew rice, meat and beer are served.
Fishing, hunting, and sports to singing, dancing and
feasting are regular phenomena. In earlier times,
Aoleng Monyu was also an occasion for settling
engagements and marriages.
Bushu is an eight day long festival observed
in last week of January by the Kachari tribe in
Dimapur district. To the Kachari, Bushu is music
for the soul. Kacharis celebrate Bushu with a lot
of singing, dancing and merry making are also part
of the festival and showing respect to the elders
as ritual. A Muree, bagpiper like local flute, is
played throughout the festival.
The Zeme and Liangmai tribe generally
known as Zeliang of Peren district observe the
postsowing festival, Meleingi n ChegaN-Khia
during March and October every year. With the
chanting of the village priest the festival starts with
lighting a fire as a symbol of protection to the
women and children from enemies and wild
beasts. Villagers take the holy fire to their houses
and to cook their own food. During this festival,
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34
GIST OF YOJANA
the women enjoy a recess from their daily routine

of weaving and household work. The festival also
gives opportunity for family get-together,
exchange of gifts, arranging community feast,
hosting drinking parties and other cultural
activities. Besides the young unmarried men as
a traditional practice go for invading the forest to
show their gallantry to their girlfriends.
Metum-Neo festival is observed in two
districts i.e. Tuensang and Kiphire by the
Yimchungru tribe. The harvest festival starts on
August 8 and continuous for five days. As per
local belief, the rice beer-loving god Arimpuh
wants his followers to take a five day break from
harvesting millets. After an announcement by the
priest that the festival is on, the healthiest animal
is sacrificed. Portions of meat are distributed
among the villagers. Other than seeking
prosperity, it is the time to forget enmity and
propagate friendship through a series of
community activities through sports, singing,
dancing etc.
The Ao tribe of Mokokchung district
celebrate Moatsu as a post-sowing festival during
May for six days. Tug-of -War sport is arranged
to mark the activities of stretching of paddy. In
fact, Moatsu means better harvest in the days to
come. During the festival the Aos try to appease
their god Lijaba by sacrificing pigs and cattle. The
cooked meat and rice beer are served by the
women to the dancing youth who move around
the village to expel the evil. Village head delivers
his advices on the issues that need to be addressed
in near future. Circulation of government policies
through Moatsu altar is a recent addition.
During September every year the Sangtam
tribe of Tuensang/ Kiphire district observe a six
days long harvesting festival known as
Mongmong. Six is a sacred number for the

Sangtam community. A baby boy is named after
six days of his birth. During the festival one
baberu (priest) announces a dummy festival for
the spirits of the dead and another baberu
declares the actual Mongmong for the living ones.
The actual celebrations starts after observing
Musuyangtap, a custom to pay obeisance to three
stones in the kitchen harth representing god
Lijaba. Monyu is a post-sowing new year festival
observed in the first six days of a peril of every
year by the Phom tribe of Longleng district.
Monyu means affection and respect to the women
and provides an opportunity for the male members
of the family to show their affection to their
married daughters and sisters by giving them the
best rice beer and specially prepared food. The
festival ends with the elderly people exchanging
meat and jugs of rice beers The Chang Tribe of
Tuensang district celebrates Nakyulum in midJuly every year to get rid of darkness. The oldest
man of the village takes the lead to decorate the
community dormitory and distribution of millet
cakes among the children.
Nazhu a sowing festival is observed during
February for ten days by the Pochury tribe of
Phek district. Nazhu is all about the spiritual
connection between the living and the dead and
between the people and their unseen protector.
Besides, Nazhu promotes a bonding within the
community. Apart from other functions, selection
of partners by the unmarried youth is also a
component of the Nazhu festival.
Sekrenyi is a ten day long harvesting festival
being celebrated by the Angami tribe of Kohima
district. The official festival day is February 25.
InAngami philosophy, a human body is a
combination of Umo (physical) and Euphu (meta
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GIST OF YOJANA
35
physical). So the human body warrants periodic

purification. Water is the best cleansing agent.
The festival starts with ceremonial cleansing bath
by the male members of the community in the
sacred well. Drops of sacred water are sprinkled
on two new shawls - one white and another black
which are to be worn by the young men during
the festival as a part of the ritual. Women are not
allowed to touch the purification well but they
have to clean their own houses before the festival.
Like Sekrenyi festival of the Angami, the
Chakhesang tribe of Phek district observe
Sukryunyi a ten day long harvesting festival in
mid-January. Here a specific day reserved for the
mothers to perform purification of their daughters
by the water of sacred well. The hunted animals
and birds are slung on tall bamboo poles outside
the main clan houses. Such a display indicates
prosperity of the village and the victory over
enemies in the year ahead. The rituals as usual
give away to social feasting for promotion of
better interaction within the community.
The Lotha tribe of Wokha district celebrates
Tokhu Emong, a nine day long post-harvest
festival during first week of November. Pieces
of meat, preferably in multiples of three are gifted
to friends and kin to express closeness. Boiled
rice, cooked liver and rice beer are placed on the
grave of the deceased for his or her soul. Unlike
other festivals Tokhu Emong is a festival of
resting and it bars villagers from any activities like
hunting, fishing indulging in trade and travel.
Tsokum is an eight day long harvest festival
celebrated by the Khiamniungan tribe of
Tuensang district. Worship and sacrificial
offerings to the spirit is a part of the festival.
Formation of a new Jhum field is also commenced
during Tsokum. By rule, the host cannot divulge
their proposed Jhum land to friends or members

of their community. The festival is an occasion
to infuse social discipline for promoting culture of
sharing of resources. An interesting part of this
festival is that some time is set aside for
discussions on village administration and
storytelling through which elders pass on
traditional messages to the youngsters. During the
festival the importance of the remembering the
dead are ritually observed.
NORTH EASTERN RURAL LIVELIHOOD PROJECT
The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs approved implementation of North East
Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) on 16th
November 2011 at an estimated cost of Rs 683.2
crore, comprising assistance as a soft loan from
the World Bank of Rs 614.8 crore and Central
Government funding of Rs 68.4 crore, in two
selected districts each of four States of Mizoram,
Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The North East
Rural Livelihood Project has become effective in
March, 2012. Recruitment process for Regional
Project Monitoring Unit and eight District Project
Management Units is in final stages.
The objective of NERLP is to improve rural
livelihoods especially that of women, unemployed
youth and of most disadvantaged; by providing
access to economic opportunities, improving
adoption of sustainable agricultural and natural
resource management through establishing
participatory and accountable community based
institutions. Targeted outcome indicators of
project development objectives are:
(i) At least 60% of women Self Help Group
members achieve minimum increase of
30% in income, in real terms by end of
project.
(ii) At least 30% of project-benefited
unemployed youths are employed.
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36
GIST OF YOJANA
(iii) At least 50% of disadvantaged

households achieve minimum of 30%
improvement in livelihood indices from
entry into the project.
The project aims at providing resources to
engage various private and public sector
organizations who in turn will assist Producer
Organizations and Self Help Groups to access
better market information and latest technology,
obtain higher returns for their produce and help
communities align their produce better with
market demands. Following strategies are

proposed for marketing and for establishing
marketing linkages around them:
support for production cluster
development, collective marketing,
market infrastructure development,
market intelligence collection, analysis
and dissemination;
value chain analysis and linkage support;
public-private partnership;
linkage with nodal agencies to facilitate
marketing;
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General Studies (Paper I, II, III & IV) Online 100 % Reading Material of the
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http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/courses/ias-mains-gs-combo

YOJANA
37
GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
LAB-TO-LAND INITIATIVE-AN INTRODUCTION
The government implements a wide range
of programmes for the welfare and development
of rural population. The Ministry of Rural
Development also has a large number of schemes
and programmes. The investment under these
programmes has grown at a compounded annual
rate of growth of 26.8% from Rs. 7169 crores in
2001-02 to Rs. 76376 crores crores in 201213.
These programmes aim to improve the quality of
life of rural households by providing them
infrastructure for roads, housing, drinking water
and sanitation, opportunities for income,
employment, skill development, social security
and support for proper management of natural
resources. Peoples institutions like Gram Sabhas/
Ward Sabhas are assigned a pivotal role in
planning and implementation of these
programmes along with the Panchayati Raj
Institutions.
AWARENESS
A plethora of measures are required to
educate the people about their rights, entitlements
and procedures to avail them under various
programmes, forge partnerships between the
people and government institutions, strengthen
inter-departmental coordination, prepare village
development plans, monitor and audit their
implementation in accordance with the provisions

of the programmes, and reinforce village unity
and harmony by eliminating barriers of caste and
class. It is also imperative to build the capacity
of the implementing agencies to expand their
outreach and become more responsive to the
needs of the people in order to make the utilization
of programme resources more efficient and
meaningful.
Department of Rural Development, Government of
India provides financial assistance to National
Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, 28
State institutes of Rural Development (SIRDs) and
89 Extension Training Centers (ETCs) in the States.
These institutions are responsible for training and
capacity building of the implementing agencies
including the Panchayati Raj Institutions, officials,
resource persons, members of Self Help Groups and
volunteers. NIRD conducts action research,
training programmes, both off and in campus, and
organizes workshops, conferences and seminars to
facilitate implementation of rural development
programmes. The SIRDs have five core faculty
members who are fully paid by Government of
India. Because of the progressive expansion of the
rural development programmes, the training needs
have grown considerably. NIRD needs to increase
its role in organization of off campus training
programmes in the States and work in closer
partnership with SIRDs to meet the training needs
of the flagship programmes.
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GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
BHARAT NIRMAN VOLUNTEERS

Department of Rural Development,
Government of India started building a cadre of
Bharat Nirman Volunteers (BNVs) under the
Labto-Land Initiative in 2010-11 in a few
selected Blocks/Gram Panchayats in order to
involve the people in the implementation of
programmes. In each village 30 to 60 adult
persons are identified as volunteers to take a
leading role in mobilization of people for effective
implementation of programmes. Each volunteer
is assigned 10 to 40 rural households to
understand their needs and facilitate their
fulfillment in partnership with government
agencies. The details of each volunteer along with
photograph are placed on website
ruraldiksha.nic.in that provides the facility for
free SMS to the volunteers. No payment is made
to the volunteers and the volunteers do not have
any expectation of pecuniary or nonpecuniary
return for their contributions.
This initiative is being implemented through the l
NIRD/SIRDs and select District Administration. Its
impact on the people has made it popular both
among the people and the District Administration
who have sought its extension in other areas also.
There is a need to expand this initiative in a phased
manner to other Blocks and Gram Panchayats so
that people are able to connect with the
government and assume greater control over
planning and implementation of development and
welfare programmes of the government.
Department of Rural Development is according
special focus on implementation of flagship
programmes in 82 districts affected by Left Wing
Extremism (LWE), also known as Integrated Action
Plan (IAP) districts. In order to involve the people
in these Districts in the implementation of
programmes, it has been decided to take up
mobilization of BNVs in large scale. NIRD has the
mandate to organize off campus training

programme, workshops, seminars and conferences
and conduct action research. They can play a
significant role in the expansion of the Initiative by
networking with SIRDs, ETCs, PRTCs, DTCs and
other allied institutions.
PURPOSE
Lab-to-Land Initiative aims at achieving
improvement in quality of life of the people by
bringing into fruition provisions of the programmes
for the development and welfare of the people in
rural areas. It seeks to secure greater
involvement of the people and make the
implementing agencies more responsive so that
the deficiencies in programme implementation are
diagnosed and removed, and programme
objectives are achieved.
OBJECTIVES
Specifically, it aims to achieve the following
objectives.
i. Generate awareness about rights and
entitlements among the people, in
particular landless labourers, SC/STs,
small and marginal farmers, rural artisans,
BPL families, beneficiaries of land
reforms, weavers, fishermen, tribal
communities, Forest dwellers, dalits,
women, old, infirm, sick and other weaker
sections of the society;
ii. Promote participation of people in
programme implementation by activation
of gram and ward sabhas and
strengthening of peoples institutions like
SHGs, user groups, pani panchayats,
forest management committees, mahila
mandals, youth clubs, farmers club and
other community based organizations;
iii. Develop a sense of ownership among the
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GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
39
people for proper implementation of

programmes;
Empower the people to act as vigilante,
motivators and facilitators for proper
allocation, distribution and utilization of
resources and social audit under various
programmes;
Inculcate in the people a common sense
of purpose and resolve for adoption of
the model of faster, sustainable and
inclusive development that ensures rapid
development of infrastructure, generation
of income and employment opportunities
along with conservation of land, water,
forests and wild life;
Enable PRIs, Line Departments and
Banks to share their responsibilities with
the people so that outreach of their
services is widened and extended to
remote areas, particularly in hill, desert,
forest and tribal areas;
Improve governance by enhancing
transparency and accountability in
programme implementation and forging
close relationships between the
government institutions and the
community;
Facilitate social audit, redressal of
grievances of the people, amicable
settlement of disputes and improve
communications between the people and
the government institutions;
Document success stories, innovations
and best practices and disseminate them
among all the stakeholders for their wider
adoption;
Identify and award persons and
institutions who have made significant
contributions in achieving the objectives
of the programmes;
xi. Build and manage knowledge assets to

facilitate learning and development and
to that end prepare, print, publish and
distribute manuals, guidelines and elearning materials, and maintain and
update
common
website
(ruraldiksha.nic.in);
xii. Organize workshops, seminars and
conferences for dissemination of
information
on
programmes,
improvement in coordination and
convergence
among
different
stakeholders and development of a
Knowledge and Innovation Community
(KIC) that may bring its expertise to deal
with challenges in programme
implementation;
xiii. Improve communications among the
stakeholders so that there is a common
sense of purpose, solidarity and cohesion
among them in implementation of
programmes;
xiv. Design, develop and deploy tools for Egovernance to disseminate information,
improve communication, facilitate
exchange of ideas, build networks and
partnerships, and expedite settlement of
grievances.
Aim: Land or Rural Development field
functionaries come to the Lab or Training institute
to get trained and develop their capacities. It is
expected that this training in turn would increase
the efficiency of the development process which
doesnt happen always because the functionaries
do not get training assistance continuously to
bridge up the knowledge gap and to solve other
implementation related problems in field. Training
institute would go to the field continuously for two
years and try to develop [1] the level of
awareness of the people regarding the functioning
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GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
of Panchayat system and peoples role in it and

regarding all the Rural Development programs
funds benefits and their planned utilization to
increase the standard of living of themselves. [2]
The knowledge and skill of the elected and govt.
official functionaries who are responsible for
providing services to the people through speedy,
efficient and planned implementation of the Rural
Development programs.
Key Points of Lab to Land: Lab to Land
initiative endeavors to [i] build a cohesive
Knowledge and Innovation Community
comprising policy makers, implementers,
academia, financial institutions, experts, NGOs
and international bodies and over all the end users
[ii] build collaborations to overcome the
challenges [iii] bridge the urban and rural
development gaps. The main point of Lab to Land
is access to information by all to ensure a vibrant
and efficient knowledge community and meeting
information needs of all constituents of the
community.
Strategies: Strategies to be adopted are [i]
Identification of Bharat Nirman Volunteers
(BNV) through Village Development Officers
(VDO)[ii] Identification of infrastructural &
livelihood gaps & needs [iii] Convergence of
different departmental schemes. [iv] Redressal
of public grievances at the doorstep of the people
through RATRI CHOU PAL. [v] Mobilization and
involvement of community for, benefiting
underdifferentgovt. schemes. [vi] Effective
implementation of all types of Govt. schemes at
the village level. [vii] Preparation of holistic village
development Plan.
Some Lab to Land Initiatives: Under
the initiative, 43 districts have been identified
from 28 states across the country wherein on
a pilot basis the effectiveness of program

implementation would be enhanced through
field level training. The initiative aimstobuild a
collabor ative knowledge and innovation
community and demonstrate full achievement
of the objective of all schemes of the rural
sector (Rur al Development, Agr iculture,
Watershed, Environment, Income generation,
Employment, Roads, Health, Education,
Sanitation, Drinking water, Electrification,
Food Secur ity, Land recor ds, Industr ies,
Ir r igation, Citizens char ter, Gr ievance
r edr essal mechanism etc.] Some of the
initiatives includes [a] District Fatehgarh sahib,
Punjab. Transfer the knowledge from lab to
land and demonstrate the achievements of the
entire poverty alleviation programs and get hold
of feedback for improvements in training,
communication and overall implementation
strategy, with the maturing of the intervention
in the selected one block in a district. [b]
Sasthamcotta Block, Kerala: [c] Thingdawl
block and Distr ict Kolasib in Mizor am:
Government of Mizoram constituted State
Level Committee on Lab-to-Land Initiative
under the Chairmanship of Minister, Rural
Development and Parliamentary Secretary,
Rur al Development Depar tment as Vice
Chairman. [c] District Bhilwara in Rajsthan [d]
Dimoria block, Assam.
BHARAT NIRMAN VOLUNTEERS:
A CADRE FOR CAPACITY BUILDING
UNDP Report-2002 has emphasized on the
importance of volunteerism that has enormous
scope for broadening participation in governance
and promoting more equitable outcomes of
people. The Ministry of Rural Development has
conceived Bharat Nirman Volunteers (BNVs) as
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GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
41
a part of Lab to Land initiative for better

coordination among the various schemes and
stakeholders and thus helps in reducing the gap
in implementation of various schemes.
If model government initiatives are to be
flagged off through a vital participative and model
citizenry then, the BNVs scheme is an ideal
flagship scheme to empower the citizenry to
participate in direct government to citizen (G2C)
initiatives, seeking to revive the interest of youth
and other deprived sections in matters of
collaborative, community capacity building and
inclusive development. By coming out such a
contemplative programme, Government of India
intends to bring in the rural youth in the
mainstream of governance at the grass root level
and hence entailing and crafting a significant
move for democratic participation at rural areas.
It will create wonders in the states where the
youth feels to be aloof and isolated from the
development process. BNVs schemes definitely
give an impetus to much talk about inclusive
development especially in the context of youth
and unprivileged sections.
BNVS: ROLE AND FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS

The Ministry of Rural Development,
Government of India started building a cadre of
Bharat Nirman Volunteers (BNVs) under the Lab
to-Land Initiative in 2010-11 and intends to train
and develop about 40 lakhs persons as Bharat
Nirman Volunteers (BNVs) to bring greater
efficiency and effectiveness in implementation of
rural development programmes. This massbased, decentralized capacity-building peoples
centered initiative is quite innovative and futuristic
too.
They will be engaged in creating and
spreading awareness and initiate peoples
involvement and participate in various

government programmes to make it very
much popular and successful. Beside it,
they will work for agriculture, livestock,
fisheries, SHGs, sanitation and literacy
etc. Without mass awareness, peoples
participation in planning, execution and
monitoring of any programme is difficult.
They will communicate the instances of
misuse of funds, irregularities and
corruption that come to their notice and
communicate the same to the local rural
development authority for action. This
scheme will certainty contributes to the
strengthening of vigilance and monitoring
of the rural development programmes.
They will create awareness for better
transparency and accountability in
implementation of government
programme by disseminating of
information and helps in speeding up
delivery of public services in the rural
areas.
Through improved access of
infrastructure and institutional services
and other resources, BNVs may enhance
the provision of benefits to landless
laborers, forest dwellers, artisans,
farmers, women and other weaker
sections like SC/ST too. They will
awaken them about their rights and
entitlement and help them to build
confidence to raise voice.
They will disseminate and build a sense
of purpose, solidarity and cohesion
among the local level for better and
effective
implementation
of
programmes.
The scheme no doubt enhance the status
of a definite group of persons by
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42
GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
inculcating the values of honesty, charity

and integrity and thereby making them
to work unitedly and voluntarily for the
development of their villages and for the
country too. This will develop the sense
patriotism among them.
BNVs are working to help poorest
among the poor and help the oppressed
classes to fight against social evils like
alcoholism, corruption, child labour and
any other discrimination which work
against social harmony.
These volunteers may assist the
government functionaries in shouldering
the responsibility in delivery of public
services and can improve administrative
efficiency in a cost effective manner.
There is a chance of propelling a level
participation of rural youth to see for
themselves governance in practice and
seizing their chance of brainstorming a
citizen led
community-based
innovation in carrying and this specific
rural development programme will
definitely enhance the G2C (government
to citizen) service delivery mechanism
for a better governance.
This BNVs programme is highly idealistic
and positivist in terms of providing the
BNVs a direct government insignia and
emphasizing on the well publicized
capacity building and decentralized
approach in spearheading lab to land
initiatives.
They should help in preparation of citizen
charters and its implementation by the
assistance of Gram Panchayat, Block
with
other
functionaries
by
communicating the expectations of the
citizens and help in preparing a workable
delivery standard for that purpose.

They sometimes work together to
neutralize and nullify the negative forces
which undermine the effectiveness of
Gram Sabha and implementation of
various programmes.
These schemes certainly motivate the
rural youth to contribute for the holistic
development of their village and their
neighborhood.
BNVs may create awareness and social
audit through which any deviation and
discrepancy in programme can be
highlighted and corrective measures can
be taken.
It provides a platform to the marginalised
and socially deprived population to
actively participation in the decision
making process and can raise their voice
against any malpractices in the
implementation of rural development
schemes.
Scheme meant for BNVs, may serve as
a training ground/internship for the rural
/ educated / interested youth for look out
to gain experience in term of conduct and
give an opportunity to these marginalised
group, to essay a pivotal leadership and
community-steering role.
The programme is set to be the stomping
ground of highly motivated individuals
seeking to establish their clout, reputation
and presence with the village
demography and using their presence
at the village level.
They will become harbinger of change
and initiative to chart a political route for
them via local self government
Panchayat level.
Bharat Nirman is a branded programme
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GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
43
launched by the Government of India in the year

2005. It is now 8 years old, taking huge strides
into rural development with flagship of
Volunteering. Its scope is divided into 6 + 1sub
areas like water supply, Roads, Housing,
Telephone, Electricity irrigation and capacity
building of rural youth, women folk etc.
Government has been launching some
programmes to uplift the rural poor, since
Independence. Every five year plan had some
allocation with regard to rural poor. ICDS scheme
is a first of its kind remarkable one which is meant
for the all round development of small kids(0-6)
and their nutritional food. But it lost its rudder and
became sulky. Midday meals programme is also
another programme could not attract the rural
children to break the stagnation and wastage. This
programme also could not yield 100% results.
Some parents due to less awareness could not
send their children to ICDS centres and also to
Schools. So, Bharath Nirman Programme is the
mixture of old and new schemes and flagship
programmes based on the philosophies of Gandhi,
Swami Vivekananda, Ambedkar, Rajiv Gandhi and
other leaders.
HOW BNVS
BEGAN IN THE
S TATE
The Institute participated in a series of

workshops /seminars organized by Department
of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural
Development, Govt. of India in New Delhi NIRD,
Hyderabad. The seminars provided basic ideas
of the Lab to Land Initiative to work with the
Bharat Nirman Volunteers. A core group was
constituted at the institutions to look into the
matter. All relevant documents and guidelines
provided by the Ministry has been translated into
the Assamese language for easy understanding
of the subjects. Various training and workshops
were organized for the B.D.O. and other Block

level officials. Different awareness generation
camps were also organized for the Panchayat
functionaries. PRIs have been helped a lot in
selection of the BNVs.
HOW PRESENT STATUS ACHIEVED
Several workshops and seminars were
organized for the PRI functionaries as well as the
B.D.O.s & Block level officials. Different
awareness generation camps were also organized
for the rural people of the selected blocks for
dissemination of information about the Lab to
Land Initiative and proper selection of BNVs.
This helps in selection of BNVs in the selected
blocks. These BNVs act as facilitator for proper
dissemination as well as effective implementation
of the govt. programmes. There are 4813 BNVs
in the State till Date.
NEED TO MODERNIZE
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TOOLS
Technology transfer in agriculture should
focus on key interventions at different stages of
the crop starting from land preparation to sowing
of the seed, crop protection, harvesting,
postharvest management and marketing.
Technology transfer need effective interactive
groups at grass root level in the villages. This
groups should become tool of disseminating
information about various government sponsored
schemes and these entities will help in liaising with
various Govt. departments for developmental
activities.
The key focus areas are:
A comprehensive Kisan knowledge
Management Systems (KKMS) should be
developed to provide and disseminate information
related to the modern technology, modern farm
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44
GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
implements, best agricultural practices and postharvest management including market

information. Dissemination of weather data and
agro climatic conditions, latest information on
prices of agriculture produce to farmers.
Imparting knowledge on diversification of
Agriculture to increase income per unit of land
and developing Farm-based Enterprises to
augment the income of the farmers from off-farm
allied sources. Farmers should be sensitized for
the judicious use of natural bio-resources like
water, energy and other resources. Financial
counselling of the farmers for better management
of their financial needs.
Engagement of the Self Help Groups,
NonGovernment Organizations and
other Farmer Organizations in
technology
dissemination
and
demonstrations.
Special emphasis should be given to
engage women in implementation of
various agricultural schemes.
There should be regular Farmer Scientist
Interaction programmes at State/District
level to reduce the gap between research
findings and adoption of technologies.
Exposure visit of Farmers/Extension to
technology demonstration models of the
State Agriculture Universities/ ICAR
Institutes/ State Agriculture and
Horticulture Departments
Regular support for training for
improving the technical competency of
extension functionaries.
Establishment of Community Radio
Stations in Agriculture Universities.
Engagement of private sector in
technology transfer.
Bring awareness about Central
Government Schemes like Rastriya
Krishi Vikas Yojana, National Food

Security Mission, Horticulture Mini
Mission and other important State
Government Schemes.
Sensitize different stakeholders (Public,
Private, Civil Society, trade, industry,
academics) towards challenges in
agriculture.
Get feedback from farmers about the
constraints, issues and successful
interventions.
Krishi Vigyan Kendras: Central
Government has taken number of steps to create
necessary infrastructure for dissemination of
agriculture technology in the country. Krishi
Vighyan Kendras (KVKs) have been established
in each district of the country and now these are
the backbone of technology dissemination in our
country. There are 589 KVKs in the country with
the mandate to function as knowledge and
resource centres of agricultural technology at the
district level which could increase the technology
adoption rate. These KVKs should work as
technology umbrella in the district and should
work in an integrated way with State
Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture and
other sister Departments in the district for
effective delivery of the technology and inputs in
an effective way. They should meet every six
months to discuss their input delivery and
technology dissemination strategies in an effective
manner to assess the past performance and plan
the strategy for the next season. But, there is
urgent need to equip these KVKs with necessary
technical manpower and technological
infrastructure. Technical manpower is also
important in the agricultural institutes and
development departments in the centre and the
states. State governments should fill up vacancies
of scientific and extension personnel in State
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GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
45
Agricultural Universities, and State Departments

of Agriculture, Horticulture and other allied
Departments without any time gap to tackle the
problem of manpower shortage.
Village Knowledge Centres :Village
Knowledge Centres serve as information
dissemination centre providing instant access to
farmers to latest information/ knowledge
available in the field of agriculture, starting from
crop production to marketing. Every VKC is
manned by a VKC Incharge who looks after
the operations of the VKC. Union Bank of India
has taken this initiative of forming these VKCs
which aims at impacting rural livelihoods to build
resourceful and progressive villages.
Farm Schools: To minimize the knowledge
deficit, village should be developed as the last
technology centre so that farmer has not to go far
away places to get the farm information. There
is need to promote the establishment of 50,000
village-based farm schools throughout the country,
mostly as private institutions supported and
supervised by government. Media can play an
important role in reducing the knowledge deficit,
whether it is visual, audio or print media. The
world has witnessed a revolution of information
and communication technologies and our farmer
too deserves to be benefited from it. A
communication system that provides information
about agricultural policies, markets and weather,
credit and crop insurance services is important.
Knowledge has to be synergized at the village
level through farm knowledge centres in which
Panchayati Raj institutions can play a critical role.
The recently launched India Development
Gateway Portal by the Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology
could be used extensively for dissemination of
information to all our villages.
Farmers Clubs: National Bank of

Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)
has taken a good initiative of formation of
Farmers Clubs and has facilitated formation of
about 25500 Farmers clubs spread over many
states. Their key role relates to dissemination of
locally appropriate technology. The bank also
provides support to these clubs for various training
programmes and exposure visits.
Kisan Call Centres: Call centres and Mass
media need to be harnessed for wider
dissemination of best practices. Free Call Centres
of the Central Ministry of Agriculture are doing
excellent job. Central Ministry of Agriculture has
started a toll free service to the farmers where
they can dial 1551 on their landline number directly
access the required information during the day
time and also through their mobile numbers by
dialling on 18001801551. These Call Centres have
been established in each state to cater to the local
needs of the farmers. Farmers can interact in
these call centres in their local languages. These
Call Centres coordinate well with the concerned
scientists and officers of the region to furnish the
information to the farmers. These Call Centres
should be further strengthened in technical
manpower and in their area coverage.
Radio and Television: Radio and
Doordarshan have made a great leap in taking the
technology rapidly to the doorsteps of the farmers.
The impact of this live media has certainly helped
the technology to disseminate rightly and exactly
with visuals and interactive live programmes.
Radio has a reach to more than 90 per cent of
our population and it has helped a great deal in
the last 60 years. Community Radio Station can
also be an effective and cheap tool for agriculture
development and it should be promoted in Public
- Private Partnership model. State Agriculture
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46
GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
Universities, State Agriculture and Horticulture

Departments
and
Non-Government
Organizations should come forward in
establishment of these Community Radios for
dissemination of the technology at local level.
Television has made technology dissemination
more effective with its visual effects.
Doordarshan has played a key role in this direction
in collaboration with Central Ministry of
Agriculture and State Agriculture and Horticulture
Departments. In recent past, Doordarshan has
started many innovative programmes like Live
Chat Shows, Crop Seminars and many other
programmes for dissemination of the innovations
and other crop and season based technologies to
the farmers.
Modern Vehicles of Technology
Transfer: Technology has revolutionized the
dissemination of information. Today, the people
have easy access to many such gadgets like
internet, mobile phone and satellite linkages which
can help in faster dissemination of the farm
technologies. The Central Ministry of Agriculture
wants to make extensive use of Information
Communication Technology and its infrastructure
would be a critical component of the strategy to
revitalize the National Agricultural Extension
Services. Government is under way in developing
infrastructure under the National e-Governance
Plan (NeGP) to link all the blocks by a wide area
network and provide connectivity upto the village
level through Common Service Centres (CSCs)
which would provide important support at all levels
in the extension set up. Space science can also
be put to effective use in dissemination of farm
technologies. To provide the space technology
enabled services directly to the rural population,
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
launched the Village Resource Centres (VRCs)
programme in association with the help of reputed

NGOs/Trusts and state/ central agencies and so
far 473 VRCs have been set up in 22 States/
Union Territories. In this scheme, ISRO has
provided the necessary infrastructure to the
selected organizations/ institutes in the field for
video- conferencing of the technical manpower
with the people in the rural areas. Farmers can
interact with the scientist by interactive video
conferencing from their villages. Technology has
many uses and in this direction, access of internet
has also made technology transfer very fast and
cheap. State farm universities and Central
Agricultural and Horticultural Institutes have put
the package and practices of fruit, vegetables and
crops on their website for easy access of the
farmers. Mobile is another effective tool for
dissemination of the technologies. In Himachal
Pradesh, mobile service provider Airtel has joined
hands with fertilizer giant IFFCO to provide
information through SMSs to the farmers on their
mobile phones. Some more developmental
agencies and individuals are using the service of
SMSs to disseminate the technology. Of course,
farmerfriendly personal approaches of the
scientists of the farm universities and officers of
the developmental departments also keep the
farmers close through their mobile phones and
internet. Village Knowledge Centres, and online
databases in local languages should be established.
Fast technology dissemination will certainly
reduce the knowledge deficit with the farmers and
will help in accelerating the stagnant growth of
agriculture, realizing higher potential of our land
and hard work of our farmers.
The Central Ministry of Agriculture has tried
to establish an institutional mechanism in the form
of the Agricultural Technology Management
Agency (ATMA) at the district level under the
Innovations in Technology Dissemination (ITD)
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GIST OF KURUKSHETRA
47
component of the National Agricultural

Technology Project (NATP) in 28 districts of
seven States from 1998 to 2005. In this project,
planning was made at the level of cluster of
villages keeping in view the needs and feedback
of the farmers. In this programme, extension
support at the village level would be provided to
the farmers through a Farmer Friend (FF) for
every 500 farmers or one FF in every village This
programme has been further strengthened on the
basis of recommendations of the National
Commission on Farmers (NCF) and the Planning
Commissions Working Group on Extension by
duly incorporating new provisions, strengthening
of existing provisions and implementation
mechanisms. In the technology dissemination set
up of the State Governments, Subject Matter
Specialistsand Agriculture Horticulture
Extension Officers are the key officials. These
officials will be responsible for operationalization
of Farm Schools; Front Line Demonstrations;
Training & Exposure visits and will assist the
Gram Panchayat in selection of beneficiaries for
implementation of extension as well as other

programmes.
Beyond these key areas, there is need to
revamp the research, teaching and extension
network of the state agriculture universities. Most
of the agriculture universities often face resource
crunch in funding their different research, teaching
and extension programmes. The funding to these
institutions should be increased linked with time
bound objectives and with a cap on need-based
scientific and other manpower. The central
government should also devise effective system
in inter-linking the institutes of Indian Council of
Agricultural Research and other institutes
engaged in agriculture research with the state
agriculture universities for pooling of the resources
scientific expertise in achieving common
objectives. We have the third largest pool of
scientific and technical professionals. Hence,
agriculture should continue to receive the first
priority and best and dedicated efforts of
everybody in the ladder of governance and
decision making in the field.
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48
GIST OF
PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU
STEPS TO STRENGTHEN PANCHAYAT RAJ SYSTEM
As Panchayats is a State subject, the
Panchayati Raj system is primarily the
responsibility of the States. The Ministry of
Panchayat Raj supports strengthening of
Panchayats through its various schemes. It
operates the Backward Regions Grants Fund
(BRGF) in some identified backward districts of
the country. Under the Scheme, untied funds are
given for meeting critical gaps in local
infrastructure and other development
requirements. BRGF also aims to strengthen
Panchayats through its capacity building
component. Under the Scheme of Rashtriya
Gram Swaraj Yojana (RGSY) financial assistance
is provided to the non BRGF districts for capacity
building and construction of Panchayat Ghars. The
e-Panchayat scheme strengthens Panchayats by
e-enabling. Panchayat Mahila Evam Yuva Shakti
Abhiyan (PMEYSA) focuses especially on
Elected Women Representatives.
Forum, a Swiss non-profit foundation based

in Geneva, India ranks 59 th amongst 144
economies in the Global Competitiveness Index
for 2012-13, as against 56th position out of 142
economies covered in 2011-12. The Global
Competitiveness Index (GCI) measures the
competitive performance of the economies
around the world for doing business. It is a
composite index that combines three component
indices covering 12 different parameters (termed
pillars). The details of the three components
along with the weights assigned to them and the
pillars are presented in table below:
Co mpo ne nts
We ig ht s
for India
Basic requirements (60%)
Pillar s
Efficiency
enhancers
(35%)
This information was given by the Minister

of Panchayati Raj Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo
in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
INDIAS RANK IN THE

GLOBAL COMPETITIVE INDEX
As per the latest Global Competitiveness

Report 2012-13, brought out by World Economic
Innovation and
sophistication factors (5%)
Institutions
Infrastructure
Macroeconomic
environment
Health and primary
education
Higher education and
training
Goods market
efficiency
Labour market
efficiency
Financial market
development
Technological
readiness
Market size
Business
sophistication
Innovation
www.upscportal.com


Giving this information in written reply to a

question
in
the Rajya Sabha today,
Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs,
said that computation of GCI for the year 201213 is based on 113 indicators. As the indicators
vary from year to year a comparison from
previous years is not feasible. However, Indias
performance with a GCI score of 4.32 (on a scale
of 1-7) in the year 2012-13 is an improvement
over last year score of 4.30. This country has also
improved its performance in respect of each
individual component of the index.
In the meanwhile, the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs has constituted a Committee for
Reforming the Regulatory Environment for Doing
Business in India under the chairmanship of Shri
M. Damodaran with the objective of making an
in-depth study into the entire gamut of regulatory
framework and come out with a detailed roadmap for improving the business climate in the
country that would help improve Indias
competitiveness.
MCA 21 PROJECT
ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTINUATION
The Government is implementing an egovernance initiative called MCA 21 Project to
ensure the efficiency of the core services
regarding company affairs. Giving this information
in written reply to a question in the Parliament,
Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs,
said that MCA 21 Project is a major eGovernance initiative covering all aspects of
incorporation and regulation of companies as
defined under the Companies Act and Limited
Liability Partnership (LLP) Act. The project is
outcome based and focused on improving the
quality of services to various stakeholders
concerned with the corporate sector in the
49
country. Shri Pilot said that the introduction of

MCA 21 has yielded remarkable results. In terms
of efficiency, the project achieved speedy delivery
of services and regulation of corporate
compliances through the use of modern
information technology. The project has been well
appreciated for end-to-end electronic service
delivery and authenticated electronic online filing
using Digital Certificate based authorization. The
existing contract with the operator for running this
Project is concluding on 16.1.2013. The Ministry
of Corporate Affaors has selected a replacement
operator to continue the MCA21 services and
implement the next version of the MCA21 with
improved business processes, application
enhancements and additional infrastructure
(network connectivity) along with coverage of
additional offices like Official Liquidators. Shri
Pilot informed Parliament that the continuation
cycle project is for eight and a half years from
January, 2013 to July, 2021 with a financial outlay
of Rs.357.81 crore to be met from the non-plan
head.
NAGOYA PROTOCOL ON
ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING
Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit
Sharing (ABS) is a new international treaty
adopted under the auspices of the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan in
October, 2010, after six years of intense
negotiations. As a megadiverse country rich in
biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge,
and with a rapidly advancing biotechnology
industry, India has contributed effectively in ABS
negotiations. The objective of the Nagoya
Protocol is the fair and equitable sharing of
benefits arising from the utilization of genetic
resources, including by appropriate access to
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50
genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of

relevant technologies. The Nagoya Protocol
provides a transparent legal framework on how
researchers and companies can obtain access to
genetic resources, and how benefits arising from
the use of such material or knowledge will be
shared. India has signed the Nagoya Protocol on
11 May 2011 and ratified it on 09 October 2012.
The number of signatories to the Protocol is 92,
and so far nine countries have ratified the
Protocol. These are Seychelles, Rwanda, Gabon,
Jordan, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic,
Mexico, India, Fiji and Ethiopia. There have been
several instances of misappropriation of genetic
resources and associated traditional knowledge
from the country, despite having taken necessary
action at the national level. Once the Nagoya
Protocol enters into force, the user country
measures enshrined in it would oblige all Parties
to provide that users of genetic resources within
their jurisdiction respect the domestic regulatory
framework of Parties from where genetic
resources have been accessed, thereby
addressing the concerns of misappropriation. The
above information was given by the Minister of
State (Independent Charge) for Environment and
Forests, Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan to the
Parliament.
NEUTRINO OBSERVATORY PROJECT
The India Based Neutrino Observatory
(INO) project is being set up in the Bodi West
Hills at the Pottipuram village in Theni district of
Tamil Nadu. The land for this project has been
acquired. The project aims at carrying out
research to study the properties of neutrinos
which are the second most abundant particles in
the Universe. Neutrinos are neutral particles and
weakly interactive particles which are very
difficult to detect. Therefore, they need a massive

detector. INO detector will be a multi layer stack
of magnetized iron plates. A large number of such
plates will be needed to build the INO detector
and with back up of electronics, these detectors
are expected to detect neutrinos passing through
them.
The INO will ultimately help in
understanding the evolution of universe. The
detectors developed for the INO project will also
have societal applications such as in medical
imaging. A proposal has been received from Steel
Authority of India Limited (SAIL) for the supply
of special steel for building INO detector. The
above information was given by the Minister of
State in the Ministry Personnel, Public Grievances
& Pensions and in the Prime Ministers Office,
Shri V. Narayanasamy to the Parliament.
PRESENT STATUS
OF
JNNURM
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban

Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was launched on
3rd December, 2005 with the objective of reforms
driven and fast track development of cities across
the country, with focus on bringing about
efficiency in urban infrastructure, service delivery
mechanisms, community participation and
accountability of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and
Parastatal agencies towards citizens. It has two
components, namely, the Urban Infrastructure and
Governance (UIG) and the Urban Infrastructure
Development Scheme for Small and Medium
Towns (UIDSSMT). 65 Cities based on
population as per 2001 census are covered under
the Urban Infrastructure & Governance (UIG)
component of JNNURM.JNNURM is a reform
linked Scheme for provisioning of urban
infrastructure and services in urban centers. In
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this, the second and subsequent installment of

ACA is released for projects subject to utilization
of 70% of grants and achievement of reforms
according to the timelines agreed to by the States
and Local Bodies. Due to reasons of noncompletion of reforms as per committed time lines
in the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed
by the State Governments, 10% of ACA has been
withheld as per schemes stipulation while
releasing the second or subsequent installment of
ACA for the projects which the State can get
reimbursed upon completion of reforms. The
Mission has completed its normal tenure on
March 2012.
Extension of two years has been given for
completion of ongoing projects & reforms only till
March 2014. This information was given by the
Minister of State for Urban Development Smt.
Deepa Dasmunshi in a written reply to a question
in Rajya Sabha today.
INCLUSION OF
WESTERN GHATS IN UNESCO LIST
The Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh
Kumari Katoch has said that 39 locations in the
Western Ghats in the States of Kerala, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have been inscribed
as a World Heritage Site in the UNESCO World
Heritage List during the 36th session of World
Heritage Committee held in July, 2012 at St.
Petersburg, Russia. In a written reply in the Lok
Sabha today she said, the Ministry of Environment
& Forests (MoEF) establishes National Parks,
Wildlife Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserves under the
Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972. Central
assistance is provided to the States. No statutory
authority is set up for the conservation of the
world heritage sites in the Western Ghats.
51
PRESS NOTE OLYMPIC MEDALISTS S AINA

NEHWAL AND M C MARY KOM ARE THE NEW
NATIONAL ICONS FOR ELECTION COMMISSION
Olympic Medalists Ms Saina Nehwal and
Ms M C Mary Kom are the new National Icons
of Election Commission of India to enhance
voters participation in elections. They are the first
female national icons to support ECI. They join
the galaxy of existing national icons namely
former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and
Indian cricket captain Shri M S Dhoni.
Promotional messages from these icons, in audiovisual formats, have been organised on the
direction of the Commission by the Chief
Electoral Officers of Andhra Pradesh and
Manipur with collaboration from Doordarshan.
The ready to use material were today sent to
various states for promoting both voter turnout and
registration. Messages of Ms Nehwal and Ms
Mary Kom will be used in Gujarat and all
subsequent elections for enhancing voter turnout.
There are separate messages from them for
promoting enrollment of voters in various states
and union territories, particularly among youth and
women. The two leading sportswomen have been
roped in as part of ECIs strategy to bridge the
noticeable gap in youth participation and also the
gender gap in electoral participation in several
areas. Commission has availed the services of a
large number of celebrities from various walks of
life in the last 12 general elections to the states
as part of its Systematic Voters Education and
Electoral Participation programme (SVEEP).
Sportspersons, Singers, musicians, actors and
other artists from the states and regions have
come forward to support the voter participation
efforts launched by the Commission which has
resulted in consistently higher turnout in recent
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52
Assembly elections and historic turnout in some

of them. ECI has also been getting enthusiastic
support of a range of Governmental and nonGovernmental organisations, Civil Society and the
Media in enlisting citizens participation in the
electoral process.
STEPS FOR REGULATING THE
WORKING OF CONTRACT FARMING
The Consolidated Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) Policy, 2012 provides FDI in
agriculture and animal husbandry, with certain
conditions, in (a) floriculture, horticulture,
apiculture and cultivation of vegetables and
mushrooms under controlled conditions, (b)
development and production of Seeds and planting
material, (e) animal husbandry (including breeding
of dogs), Pisciculture, Aquaculture, under
controlled conditions, and (d) services related to
agro and allied sectors. Besides these, FDI is not
allowed in any other agricultural sector/activity. In
order to regulate the working of contract farming,
the Ministry of Agriculture has framed Model
State Agricultural Produce Marketing
(Development and Regulation) Act, 2003 and
Model State Agricultural Produce Marketing
(Development and Regulation) Rules, 2007 for
adoption by States / Union Territories. The Model
Act, inter-alia, provides provisions for the
registration of contract farming sponsors,
recoding of contract farming agreements with the
Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee
(APMC) or a prescribed authority under the Act
and dispute settlement mechanism. It also

provides for protection of title or rights of the
farmers over the land under such contracts.
These are intended to protect the interest of
farmer. Since Agriculture Marketing is State
subject, the State Governments are persuaded to
adopt the provisions of Model Act in the interest
of farmers. This information was given by Shri
Tariq Anwar, Minister of State for Agriculture and
Food Processing Industries in written reply to a
question in the Lok Sabha today.
AMOUNT AND
AGE LIMIT OF WIDOW PENSION ENHANCED
The Centre has informed that assistance
under Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension
Scheme (IGNWPS) has been increased from Rs
200 to Rs 300 per month from 1st of October this
year. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha,
Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Lal
Chand Kataria said, the upper age limit has also
been revised to 79 years from the existing 59
years and hence IGNWPS now is applicable for
widow in the age group of 40-79 years and
belonging to household living below poverty line
as per the criteria prescribed by the Government
of India. He said, the amount of Central
assistance under pension schemes are revised
from time to time depending upon availability of
resources. Shri Kataria said that States have been
recommended to contribute at least an equal
amount from their own resources.
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53
GIST OF
SCIENCE REPORTER
A CENTURY OF X-RAY DIFFRACTION
The discovery of X-ray diffraction was a
central event in modern science. While the
technique of X-ray diffraction (XRD) began by
identifying the symmetries in the crystals of
minerals, it eventually evolved into a unique and
powerful method of finding even the molecular
structures in chemistry and biology. The
observation of X-ray diffraction by Friedrich,
Knipping and Laue is one of the most important
discoveries in the history of science, and one with
monumental consequences, It opened the path for
the development of modern solid-state physics and
materials science, including mineralogy, chemistry
and molecular biology. In fact, all the science
describing the material world around us has use
for XRD and there is hardly any field in basic or
applied research that has not employed XRD for
achieving its ends. It continues to widen its net
even today.
Though the mysterious radiation discovered
by Roentgen was named X-ray the debate was
on for a few years whether they were waves or
corpuscles (i.e. particles). A wave is expected to
provide diffraction. Roentgen worked hard to get
such an effect but could not.
DIFFRACTION
When a wave hits an object, they cannot reach the
region immediately behind that object. Shadows are

formed due to this. Since the waves of light are
blocked, the region immediately behind the object
is darker.
But shadows are sharper close to an object than
they are further from it. This is due to diffraction.
Waves that pass the object change their direction
of travel slightly. The wave that just missed the
object spreads in a circle or sphere. into the space
behind the object. This is why shadows become
more blurred further away from the object that casts
them. Eventually the spherically spreading waves
from each edge of the obstacle may even meet up.
BRAGG DIFFRACTION
To understand Braggs equation. let us look at an
imaginary lattice array with atoms as shown in the
figure here. Let a narrow beam of monoenergetic
X-rays fall on this array of atoms. Monoenergetic
signifies that the beam has only one wavelength e,
unlike the experiments of Lane where the X-ray
beam was a mixture of rays of various wavelengths.
This can be obtained by appropriate filters. For Xrays, wavelength and energy are related; thus a
single energy beam also means a single
wavelength beam.
Diffraction is a two-step process: first a scattering
and then interference of the scattered waves, either
constructively or destructively. The single ray AO
hits an atom and gets scattered in the direction
OB; the ray AO goes in OW direction. Notice the
small cut marks on these waves which indicate
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54
location of a crest of the wave; the distance

between two consecutive marks is wavelength a of
the x-rays. The way marks placed on AO and AO
show that both the rays are in phase - their crests
occur at the same time along the journey. Scattered
waves OB and OW are also in phase. This is
because the delay MO + O N is equal to one or
more integer multiple of a wavelength. So the phase
of the scattered ray is not disturbed and being at
same phase OB and OW add the intensities on the
way ahead. That gives a dark spot on the X-ray
film or a peak in intensity of X-rays in a meter.
APPLICATIONS
IN OTHER
FIELDS
This new and ingenious method of

crystallography found favour with scientists in
other disciplines also. From the results of the work
a realization was growing about the connection
between the structure of materials and their
properties as well as reactions. This was true for
metallurgy and chemistry; somewhat later biology
also joined the pursuit.
Cellulose structure was seen in 1920. The
first organic structure determined was
Hexamethylene Tetramine in 1923 (by Dickinson
and Raymond). The nature of bonds in molecules
could be understood from diffraction studies. The
Benzene structure was understood in 1928 by
Kathleen Lonsdale. C.G. Darwin (grandson of the
famous Charles Darwin) gave a method to
determine valency from the crystal structure.
Later, a separate branch in chemistry called
structural chemistry evolved.
Metallurgy has derived maximum benefits
from the application of XRD. Alloys could be
better understood if the crystal structures were
known. Graphical representations of alloy
compositions at different temperatures are called
phase diagrams; they are highly valuable tools to
understand an alloys behavior. These could be
generated with the help from the XRD. The

modern XRD units facilitate dynamic study of
structures by observing the changes in metallic
phases in real time with changing temperatures.
Even creating new alloys of desired properties is
possible with the help of XRD and electron
microscopes. If the material or a component is
under stress - applied or left over after fabrication
sequence - the lattice gets distorted. This results
in a change in parameter d and can be detected
easily by XRD. This is a popular application of
XRD in residual stress measurement in
engineering.
APPLICATIONS
IN
BIOLOGY
Bioscientists were the last to get on board

the XRD train. This is because XRD and
crystallography were synonymous in those days.
No biological substance, except bone, appeared
to be crystalline, though later it came to be known
that the X-ray techniques could be used for
amorphous materials also,
But biologists entered through a different
route. They worked on crystallizing the proteins
to study them. J.D. Bernal in England was the
first to get X-ray photos of proteins in 1934,
published in Nature (Vol. 133, p 794). Several
biochemicals in our body are actually proteins:
enzymes, hormones, haemoglobin or antibodies.
They are large molecules and finding their
structure was challenging. Sometimes it took five
to seven years after obtaining the X-ray pictures
to determine the exact structure in three
dimensions.
After Bernal, his colleague Dorothy
Crowfoot Hodgkin pursued this field of
biomolecules throughout her life, deciphering
Cholesterol, Penicillin and Vitamin B-12 etc. Her
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55
decoding of insulin came after she won the Nobel

Prize in 1964. Credit for solving haemoglobin goes
to John Kendrew and Max Perutz, whose efforts
were aided by improved instrumentation and
evolved mathematics.
In this chain of workers came Rosalind
Franklin at the Kings College London, as well as
James Watson and Francis Crick at Cavendish
Lab at Cambridge. The latter two gave the model
of the hereditary material DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid). The molecular model was built up based
on X-ray photos taken by Rosalind and Maurice
Wilkins, though Watson and Crick did not
acknowledge this fact till Rosalind was alive. It
is an old and lively debate in the history of science.
It is really a tribute to the long career of W.L.
Bragg that he was the Head of Cavendish Lab
when this most important molecule was
reconstructed using the technique he invented 40
years earlier!!
The major impact of XRD work on human
life has come through the achievements in
biological science more than any other branch of
science. The functioning of various proteins in the
body depends on their shape; they connect to
other chemicals at the open ends of the molecule
to give effect to many a biological process. Thus,
knowing their structure helps us to understand
many processes and enables intervention.
Take for instance drug design. Knowing the
physiological basis of any ailment, one can
construct a drug that has a molecular structure
of ones choice to go and nullify the malfunctioning
molecule. Scientists at Squibb Institute of Medical
Research were the first to collaborate with
crystallographers for drug development, by
targeting an enzyme for intentional latching. The
first drug to come out this way was Captopril in
1975, used to alleviate hypertension. A branch of

science called structural biology opened up to
determine target structures responsible for
morbidity, including enzymes, protein receptors,
zones of DNA, RNA etc. These days, many drugs
are designed in this way rather than invented by
an accident or iterative trials. This became
feasible because of better instrumentation for
XRD technique, mathematical tools such as
Fourier analysis and, above all, the progress in
computer technology that permitted scientists to
avail of the new theoretical concepts in a shorter
time span. While Vitamin B-12 (C63 H 88N14 014P
Co) with 181 atoms took eight years to resolve,
today molecules comprising thousands of atoms
can be resolved in a matter of months, thanks to
help from computers.
NEWS BRIEFS
A team led by a physician-scientist and

a chemist - from the fields of
dermatology and nanotechnology - is the
first to demonstrate the use of
commercial moisturizers to deliver gene
regulation technology that has great
potential for life-saving therapies for skin
cancers. Applied directly to the skin, the
drug penetrates all of the skins layers
and
can
selectively
target
diseasecausing genes while sparing
normal genes. Once in cells, the drug
simply flips the switch of the
troublesome genes to off.
Latest research has found that people
who consume fast food even once a
week increase their risk of dying from
coronary heart disease by 20% in
comparison to people who avoid fast
food. For people eating_ fast food two-
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56
three times each week, the risk

increases by 50% and the risk climbs to
nearly 80% for people who consume last
food items four or more times each
week. A diet heavy in fast food
increases the risk of developing Type2
diabetes and coronary heart disease.
Signals from natural intestinal bacteria
are necessary for an effective immune
response to various viral or bacterial
germs. Trillions of bacteria residing in
the intestines of healthy humans
contribute to digestion and metabolism
of vitamins and are of critical
importance for the host organism.
Research has shown that the intestinal
flora also plays an important role in the
formation of the immune system in the
intestines and that changes to it can
increase the risk of food allergies or
chronic inflammatory intestinal
diseases.
The first images of an upward surge of
the Suns gases into quiescent coronalP loops have been identified by
scientists. The discovery is one more
step towards understanding the origins
of extreme space storms. which can
destroy satellite communications and
damage power grids on Earth. The
observation will help to understand how
solar structures are heated and
maintained in the upper solar
atmosphere. Extreme solar activity can
lead to severe space storms that
interfere with satellite communications
and damage electric power transmission
grids on Earth.
Scientists foresee a time when medical
monitoring devices would he integrated
seamlessly into the huma body to track

a patients vita signs and transmit them
t/ his doctors. With current technology,
electronics are able to stretch a small
amount, but many potential applications
require a device to stretch like a rubber
band. Researchers at the McCormick
School of Engineering have recently
developed a design that allows
electronics to bend and stretch to more
than 200% their original size, four times
greater than is possible with todays
technology. The key is a combination
of a porous polymer and liquid metal.
Most people are fascinated by the
colourful and exotic coral reefs but
human civilization is the top danger
to these fragile ecosystems through
climate change, oxygen depletion and
ocean acidification. Now scientists
have investigated how and why the
cor als die when exposed to
sedimentation. According to their
findings, oxygen depletion, together
with an acidification of the environment,
creates a chain reaction that leads to
coral death.
INDIAS FIRST INDIGENOUS
AEW&C SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY DRDOCABS
The world is watching this programme
with bated breadth. Its success will put our
country into the elite group that can develop and
deliver such complex state-of-the-art systems,
said Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Scientific Adviser
to the Raksha Mantri, Secretary Defence R&D
and DG DRDO. He was speaking at a function
organized to commemorate the formal receipt of
the Airbrone Early Warning & Control (AEW&C)
aircraft by Centre for Airborne System (CABS),
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57
the DRDO laboratory spearheading the AEW&C

programme. The programme involves installation
of system on the aircraft, integration of these
systems and make the system perform to their
fullest capability.
OZONE LEVELS AROUND
DELHI PROMPT NEW COLLABORATIVE
RESEARCH PROJECT WITH INDIA
Researchers from the University of Birmingham and
TERI University are working together to identify
which emissions might best be controlled in order
to reduceharmful ozone production in New Delhi.
Ozone is a major air pollution problem in the Delhi
area, where levels exceed World Health
Organisation guidelines for around 50 days per
year. It leads to significant reductions in regional
crop yields and consequently has direct economic
impact. Ozone is also harmful to health, but as it is
a secondary pollutant the control of ozone levels is
not straightforward. Understanding the factors
controlling ozone, and therefore identifying the
optimum emissions reductions to reduce ozone
exposure, remains a key environmental challenge.
The Birmingham and TERI University researchers
will deploy a newly developed instrument to
directly measure the local atmospheric ozone
production rate in Delhi. This will enable better
understanding of the ozone production rate and
control regime. It will also begin to determine the
extent to which local ozone arises from local
emissions at all - compared with, for example, ozone
being blown into the area from elsewhere. Both
factors are critical for development of local and
regional policy measures to improve air quality.
Dr William Bloss, Reader in Atmospheric Science at
the University of Birmingham, said: As Delhi
grapples with air pollution, we feel this joint
research project with TERI University will provide
critical insight into one aspect of the problem,
regional ozone production. While this project is
limited to initially exploring the potential to provide
guidance for policy makers, it will provide the

proof-of-concept data necessary to justify future,
larger-scale measurements, which would have
significant evidential weight for policy.
Dr Nandini Kumar, Associate Professor at TERI
University, added: Ozone exposure leads to
significant reductions in crop yields across northern
India, so improved understanding of air pollution
and the factors controlling ozone formation in this
region is really important. This project will help
identify which of thesefactors are emissions
potentially within our control, to improve future air
quality.
PHOTOSYSTEM III
EFFICIENT PHOTOSYNTHESIS
FOR
The develop biomass-based renewable and

sustainable energy sources, photosynthtic
organisms, photosynthetic organisms need to be
further researched vis-a-vis increasing their
photosynthsis efficiency. Photosynthetic
organisms like plant and algae have a welldevelop solar energy harvesting system
commonly known as Photosystem I (PSI) and
Photosystem II (PSII). However, these
photosystems have certain levels of limitation in
trapping lilght energy because of specificity in
colour sensitivity, which is responsible for low
photosynthetic efficienty of these organisms.
GLOBAL DIMMING:
CONTRASTING GLOBAL WARMING?
The Indian subcontinent witnessed about a
months delayed arrival of monsoon in 2012.
During the first decade of this twenty first century
all the species of this globe are suffering from
extreme climatic impacts (heat wave, coldest
winter, drought, flood, water scarcity etc.).
Scientists are explaining these effects as a result
of Global Warming caused due uncontrolled
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58
burning of fossil fuels. But all the environmental

phenomena cannot be explained only by Global
Warming. Some of these events can be accounted
for by Global Dimming too. In 1985, an English
scientist Gerald Stanhill working in the Agricultural
Research Organisation, Israel had noticed about
22% drop in sunlight in Israel compared to that in
1950. This made Stanhill coin the term Global
Dimming, which contrasts interestingly with the
term Global Warming.
The amount of average solar energy
reaching the earths surface has been observed
to have dropped by more than 10% in the last six
decades due to blockage by suspended air
particulate materials. The effect of Global
Dimming varies from place to place; for example,
9% in Antarctica, 10% in the USA, 16% in parts
of British Isles, 30% in Russia (formerly Soviet
Union) and 37% in Hong Kong from 1950 to
1990.
Solar radiation is measured in different
weather stations throughout the globe using units
watt per square metre. Calculations by different
groups of scientists showed 7-14 watts per square
metre (4-8%) drop in solar power from 1961 to
1990.
The reasons for Global Dimming are air
pollution, particle-seeded water vapour present in
the cloud, contrails (vapour produced by
aeroplanes), smog formation, volcanic eruption,
meteorite hitting etc. Clouds and suspended
nanoparticles in the air block a portion of solar
energy before reaching the earths surface.
Scientists observed no heat reflection during
the aftermath of the U.S. 9/11 attacks, when all
the aeroplanes were grounded for three days. This
suggests that contrails are responsible for Global
Dimming. Temperature rose by about one degree
Celsius during those three days. It is to be noted

that the visible and infrared radiations seem to be
more affected than ultraviolet radiation.
Presence of excess air particulate materials
due to pollution causes formation of smaller
number of water droplets resulting in reflecting
back more sunlight into space (since same amount
of water is spread over more drops) and
simultaneously less rainfall (due to reduced
coalescence of smaller droplets).
A 3% reduction of solar energy every year
might cause complete darkness in about 330
years. Global Dimming is now being considered
responsible for the droughts in sub-Saharan Africa
during the 1970s and 1980s. Darkness due to
meteorite impact on earth even caused the
extinction of dinosaurs. Ripening of crops may be
affected in the cloudy areas and an equal
percentage of drop in productivity may take place
with the percentage drop of solar radiation.
Oceans get shielded from getting full energy from
sun and that might affect on the global rainfall
pattern.
Global Dimming is a surface and near
surface phenomena while Global Warming is an
entirely atmospheric phenomenon. Investigations
reveal that the effect of Global Dimming is half
as large as that of Global Warming. In the year
2005, it was reported by the Department of
Applied Physics and Mathematics of Columbia
University, New York that the apparently opposing
effects of Global Warming and Global Dimming
can occur simultaneously. One form of air
pollution due to Green House gases is responsible
for Global Warming while another form of air
pollution due to air borne particles causes Global
Dimming. Thus, Global Dimming may be the
effect of Global Warming and vice versa.
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59
BIOCHEMICAL APPROACHES
SHED INSIGHT OF RECEPTOR BIOLOGY
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year has
gone to Dr. Robert Lefkowitz and Dr. Brian
Kobilka for studies of G-protein-coupled
receptors. This selection of the Nobel Committee
is unusual in two respects. One, it is the first time
that a Chemistry prize has been awarded to two
researchers who have trained as physicianscientists (MD/PhD degree holders). Two, as it
may have struck you, it has been awarded to a
research field in the biological sciences - a class
of cell surface receptors that have been studied
extensively over the last forty years.
What explains this Nobel Prize selection?
The interface between chemistry and biology may
be a very small part of any full biological process,
but it advances the understanding of these
processes as well as therapeutic interventions
aimed at them. The research contributions of
Lefkowitz and Kobilka have been significantly
aided by novel biochemical experimental
approaches that did not traditionally come from
the biological sciences, but have revolutionized our
understanding of how a Ubiquitous class of
biological receptors work. This understanding has
led to the development of many medicines aimed
at G Protein coupled receptors to cure ailments.
The G Protein coupled receptors (GPCR)
are an important class of receptors, of which there
are 200 receptors whose function is well
understood and 600 receptors whose function is
yet to be understood. Many sensory, hormonal and
neuronal receptors belong to this category of
receptors. G Proteincoupled receptors comprise
of a protein chain that spans the cell membrane
seven times, and are connected to a G Protein.
Various downstream cellular effects of molecules
binding to the cells surface derive from a

contortion in the GPCR when an external
molecule binds to it, This contortion activates the
G Protein, orchestrating a sequential transfer of
chemical messages and energy to obtain specific
intracellular effects in various cells, The Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1994 was
awarded to Alfred Gilman and Martin Rodbell for
their discovery of G Proteins and their role in
signal transduction in cells.
SRINIVASAM RAMANUJAN
RAMANUJAN was born on 22
December 1887 to a poor family, at a place in
Tamil Nadu called Fu rte (In his maternal
grandmothers home), He was destined to be a
source of inspiration and a role model for many
mathematicians who followed him, According to
Ramoseshan, his life reads like a fairy tale, as
melodramatic as a bad Indian film. His interest
in mathematics became evident very early. As a
child, he was said to be curious about the distance
and shape of stars and calculated the length of
equator all by himself. There is no record of how
he did this. When Pamanujan was a year and a
half old, his mother gave birth to a son named
Sadagopan, who died less than three months later.
In December 1889, Ramanujan had smallpox and
recovered, unlike thousands in the Thanjavur
District who died from the disease that year. He
moved with his mother to her parents house in
Kanchipuram, near Madras (now Chennai). In
November 1891, and again in 1894, his mother
gave birth to two children, but both children died
in infancy. Some of Ramanujans class mates and
close relatives made some curious observation
about how the young boy set about making simple
discoveries in mathematics even at a tender age.
It is said that he was often seen lying on his
stomach on a mat with a pillow under his chest,
www.upscportal.com


60
writing on a slate (a writing pad which acted like

a scratch pad memory for poor students). He had
a peculiar mannerism of rubbing out his
calculations with his elbow. He was often seen
smiling and shaking his head. He would talk to
himself, and if convinced that he had made some
discovery, would enter his results into a notebook.
Thus, even at a tender age, he recognized the
importance of his discovery and the need to
preserve them. He was also very friendly and
gregarious, ever punning on Thamizh and English
words. P.C. Mahalanobis, the well-known
statistician who established the Indian Statistical
Institute in Calcutta, shared his room with
Ramanujan while they were in London. He one
day shared a problem with Ramanujan (about n
houses in a row with natural numbers) and
remarked that he was finding it difficult to arrive
at a solution. Ramanujan immediately gave the
solution in a totally unconventional way - in terms
of continued fractions! When asked how he
arrived at the solution, he answered- It is simple.
The minute I heard the problem, I knew that the
answer was a continued fraction. Which
continued fraction, I asked myself. Then the
answer come to my mind.
Ramanujans Attempted Suicide
It is now a confirmed fact that in a fit of
depression (we will come to the reason later),
Ramanujan attempted to commit suicide by
throwing himself on the railroad track of a London
underground station. But by a series of miracles,
like the switch being turned off by a guardsman
and the train coming to a stop just a few feet away
from him, he was saved. Ramanujan sustained
only superficial injuries in his legs. But since
attempted suicide was a criminal offence, the
Scotland Yard promptly arrested him. Ramanujan
called Hardy for help and through a series of
manipulations, Hardy bailed him out.

The story on Ramanujans attempted
suicide became known in India when Chandra
mentioned it in a lecture in Delhi. Chandra had to
face a lot of public wrath including much rebuke
from his paternal uncle, Sir C.V. Roman. Roman
accused Chandra of defaming Ramanujan by
publicly narrating this episode which was closely
guarded by Hardy. On his part Chandra declared
that there was nothing so bad about the incident,
except that t illustrated that even intellectuals like
Ramanujan can go through bouts of depression.
METHODS
OF
ALGACULTURE
Ways of culturing algae range from closely

controlled methods on the laboratory bench top
with a few litres of algae to less predictable
methods in outdoor tanks, containing thousand
litres in which production relies on natural
conditions. The rate of growth and division varies
with different types of algae and also depends on
how well the various culture conditions necessary
for growth have been met, There are three types
of culture methods generally followed;
1. Batch Culture: A batch culture is used
for small volumes of cultivation space, usually
upto ten litres. It is a system where the total
culture is harvested and used as a food.
2. Semi-Continuous culture: A
semicontinuous culture is a system where part
of the culture is harvested and used as food and
the amount taken is replaced with fresh culture
medium. After allowing 2-3 days for the
remaining cells to grow and divide, the process is
repeated. Semicontinuous cultures may be
operated for 7 to 8 weeks.
3. Continuous Culture; A continuous
culture is more long term, and is maintained by
www.upscportal.com


61
monitoring and keeping some factor constant, In

a turbidostat continuous culture, the number of
algal cells in the culture is monitored. As the cells
divide and grow, an automatic system keeps the
culture density at a pre-set level diluting the culture
with fresh medium. In a chemostat continuous
culture, a flow of fresh medium is introduced into
the culture at a steady predetermined rate.
ENVIRONMENTS FOR ALGACULTURE
Cultivation of Algae in Open Ponds
Open ponds can be categorized into natural
waters (lakes, lagoons, ponds) and artifical ponds
or containers. The most commonly used systems
include shallow big ponds, tanks, circular ponds
and raceway ponds. The ponds in which the algae
are cultivated are usually what are called the
raceway ponds, as the algae, water and
nutrients circulate around a racetrack in these
ponds. With paddlewheels providing the flow,
algae are kept supended in the water, and are
circulated back to the surface on a regular
frequenc. The ponds are usually kept shallow
because the algae need to be exposed to sunlight,
and sunlight can only penetrate the pond water
to a limited depth. The ponds are operated in a
continuous manner, with carbon dioxide and
nutrients being constantly fed to the ponds, while
algae-containing water is removed at the other
end, The biggest advantage of these open ponds
is their simplicity, easy construction (especially
compared to closed systems), low production and
operating costs.
Cultivation of Algae in Closed Ponds
As a variation of the open pond system, the
idea behind the closed pond is to close it off, to
cover a pond or pool with a greenhouse, While
this usually results in a smaller system, it does take
care of many of the problems associated with an

open system particularly better control over the
environment, Closed Pond systems cost more
than the open ponds, and considerably less than
photo bioreactors for similar areas of operation,
It allows more species to be grown, allows
the species that are being grown to stay dominant,
and extends the growing season, only slightly if
unheated, and if heated it can produce year round,
It is also possible to increase the amount of
carbon dioxide in these quasi-closed systems, thus
again increasing the rate of growth of algae,
Closed ponds are used in Spirulina cultivation,
Cultivation of Algae in Photobioreactor
A photobioreactor is a closed equipment
that provides a controlled environment and
enables high productivity of algae, As it is a closed
system, all growth requirements of algae are
introduced into the system and controlled
according to the requirements, Photobioreactors
facilitate better control of culture environment
such as carbon dioxide, water supply, optimal
temperature, efficient exposure to light, culture
density, pH levels, gas supply rate, mixing regime,
etc.
Cultivation of Algae in Desert
Algae can be grown cheaply in saltwater
ponds in the desert or even more efficiently in
proprietary photobloreoctors. It is conceivable
that the photobioreactors could be placed in a
desert environment, although one of the
challenges for growing algae is to keep the water
at a very consistent temperature of around 70
degrees Fahrenheit so that it will likely also
influence optimal placement of the
photoblorecctors. Growing algae is best
accomplished closer to the desert, where
seasonal sunlight levels and temperatures dont
www.upscportal.com


62
vary as much as they do further away from the

equator. Another possible strategy to maintain
temperature is to put the photobioreactors near a
conventional coal-burning electric plant and
harvest the significant amounts of carbon dioxide
generated by the plant. Attractive as this sounds,
the production of biodiesel should not depend on
a coal plant operating indefinitely, Algae strains
suitable for desert cultivation include,
Haematococcus pluvialis Microco/eus
vaginatus, Chlamydomonas perigranulata and
svrecrccvstis.
Cultivation of Algae in Sewage and
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Using algae for wastewater treatment
offers some interesting advantages over
conventional wastewater treatment including cost
effective treatment; low energy requirement;
reduction in sludge formation and production of
algal biomass, Algae can be used to treat both
municipal and industrial wastewater, Algae play
a major role in aerobic treatment of waste in the
secondary treatment process, Algae-based
municipal wastewater treatment systems are
mainly used for nutrient removal (removal of
nitrogen and phosphorous), Algae have the ability
to accumulate the heavy metals and thereby
remove toxic compounds from the wastewater,
In some cases, algae also play a role in the
removal of pathogens in the tertiary treatment
stage.
Cultivation of
Algae in Marine Environment
provided with all the water they need, which is a

major advantage over land production of biofuels
since water is the most limiting factor for most
agricultural expansion [especially with climate
change), Aquaculture systems based jointly on
microalgae and their animal consumers, which
can be considered as an indirect use of microalgae
in human food, have so far been much more
successful. The uptake of microalgal biomass by
commercially important filter feeders is very
promising from the energetic standpoint.
Microalgae are indeed the biological starting point
for energy flow through most aquatic ecosystems
and as such are the basis of the food chain in many
aquaculture operations. Flocculation is an
essential step in the concentration and harvesting
of microalgae from aquatic media. Salinity of
brackish water and seawater requires high
flocculant dosages and renders flocculation less
effective than in freshwater algal media.
GLASS TRANSLATOR
This gadget translator has a video recorder,
memory card, and can save all the data inside the
glass translator. It can translate all [tit languages.
Conversation is with the press of a button, record
it and send to a remote server where it is analyzed
and translated. The server then sends the
translation to the receiving users who can read
the word in their own language on the display unit.
With this gadget you dont have to think about
having to translate your own words.
DIGITAL PROTRACTOR
Salt water is more economical than fresh

water for growing algae as the main nutrients
needed for algal growth are already present in
seawater. Macro-algae are cultivated at sea
mainly by tying them to anchored floating lines,
Seaweeds do not require soil, and are already
Do you have a great love for mathematics,

and have an extreme partiality to measuring
angles? Well, no longer do you need to make a
guess for an angle ever again. This nifty little
device is said to be able to measure angles with
more accuracy compared to the plastic, clear half
www.upscportal.com


63
circle that one would normally use. The stainless

steel rulers are extremely durable and can lock
at any angle, and professionals need not worry
about it breaking. Those at school, too, are able
to make use of the Digital Protractor for their
work. In addition, the Digital Protractor works
miracles as it can lock down at any angle you
require, allowing you to draw lines at the exact
angle of your choice.
E-BALL CONCEPT PC
The E-Ball concept PC is a sphere-shaped
computer, which is the smallest design among all

the laptops and desktops. This computer has all
the features like keyboard, mouse, DVD recorder,
large screen display etc. E-Ball PC is placed on
two stands, opened by pressing and holding the
two buttons located on each side of the E-Ball
PC. This pc is the latest concept technology. It
has a laser keyboard that is visible when the PC
is working and also has an optical wireless mouse
that works very smoothly in any direction. E-Ball
concept PC doesnt have any external display
unit.
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Contents

GIST OF THE HINDU

GIST OF PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER

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GIST OF THE HINDU

Asia. The Palestinian Authority can now seek

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GIST OF THE HINDU

community gives Tel Aviv a free pass on these

aware of their HIV status.

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According to the Economic Advisory

providing for the higher living expenses that are

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GIST OF THE HINDU

Independent experts assessed the safety of the

intensive project. It is time the Indian nuclear

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UNICEF and the World Bank. WHO

The World Meteorological Organization

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GIST OF THE HINDU

Korean peninsula. The years 20012011

of ambition in the second commitment

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climate change by reducing emissions.

India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives will

MISSILE TEST-FIRED SUCCESSFULLY

As part of its developmental trials,

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Target Aircraft Lakshya was used to

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Asbestos has been widely used in various

prime objective of international cooperation in the science and technology

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GIST OF THE HINDU

Craig Venter team. This is one

see the two sides seal multi-billion deals

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the combined price of two reactors for

India are allowed to trade in financial instruments

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GIST OF THE HINDU

Already, foreign banks dominate the

Justice Swatanter Kumar has taken over

Though Justice Kumars tenure as a

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on a war footing. It is true that legislation

up of vacancies in all States. Without this,