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Double Issue: From October 24 to November 6, 2011
National & Social Affairs
Current Events Snippets Important for the IAS Preliminary
Examination & 2-mark and other short questions in the IAS
Main
Examination |Words in bold are key terms or facts
Schemes for Naxal affected district
As a strategy to ensure swift development in Naxal affected
areas of the country, the Centre
has planned to provide jobs to three-lakh youth in the 60 left
wing extremist affected districts in the
country. In adition. The Government also plans to carry out
immediate appointment of 18,000
panchayat development officers and about the same number of
junior engineers.
Other measures have also been taken as part of the Integrated
Action Plan (IAP) under Planning
Commission recently.
They are as follows.
1.For better implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MNREGS), each panchayat will appoint one panchayat development
officer and a junior engineer
for a period of 10 years from within the district.
2.All these districts would be covered under the National Rural
Livelihood Mission (NRLM) by March
2013 with the objective of training and providing jobs to three
lakh youths over the next five years.
3.To ensure a better return to the tribals, a public-private
partnership (PPP) pilot project in non-
timber forest produce will be launched in one district each of
Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
4.Private companies will add value by training women self-help
groups (SHGs) and marketing the
non-timber produce.
5.The district administration is to construct houses under the
Indira Aawas Yojana (IAY) for the
disabled, widowed and old age pensioners.
6.Irrespective of socio-economic standing, the Government would
provide a house under the IAY to
those whose house had been damaged in a Naxalite attack.
Collapse of a wooden footbridge in Bijanbari area of Darjeeling
district
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Recently, there was an unfortunate collapse of an old wooden
footbridge in Bijanbari area of
Darjeeling district under the weight of the hundreds who had
gathered on it on the concluding day
of a five-day cultural festival organised by the Gorkha
Janamukti Morcha (GJM). A total of 32 people
were killed in the incidence. The victims include 19 women and
three children. The State
Government has announced a financial assistance of Rs. 2 lakh to
the next of kin of those who died.
A compensation of Rs. 50,000 will be given to those seriously
injured and Rs. 25,000 to those with
minor injuries. The State will bear the medical expenses of the
victims.
Collapse of a wooden footbridge in Arunachal Pradesh
A second deadly footbridge collapse took place within a week of
the Bijanbari incident in Darjeeling
district of West Bengal state, leaving 31 people dead.
This time a wooden foot bridge collapsed in Arunachal Pradesh in
the town of Seppa is 40 feet (12
meters) above the Kameng River. The Kameng River is rocky with a
swift current in the area, which
contributed to the casualties. Two bodies have been recovered
but 30 other people were feared
drowned, mostly women and children.
Townspeople had crowded onto the bridge to cross into a forest
to hunt for a seasonal insect, ateri,
which is eaten as a delicacy locally.
One Crore Women Registered Under Mother and Child Tracking
System
The Mother and Child Tracking System is an e-governance
initiative of the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare started in 2010.
The MCTS collates information of all pregnant women and infants.
Under MCTS, an online
registration system has been developed for the purpose, in
collaboration with the National
Informatics Centre. It ensures delivery of maternal and child
health services. It covers mothers from
conception till 42 days after delivery. The infants are covered
up to five years of age. Thus, the
pregnant women and all new born receive full maternal and
immunization services respectively.
The total number of pregnant women registered in MCTS recently
crossed the one crore mark. The
number of children registered in the system is also expected to
cross 50 lakh soon.
Scheme for creation of National Optical Fiber Network for
Broadband
connectivity of Panchayats
The Union Cabinet has approved a scheme for creation of a
National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN)
for providing Broadband connectivity to Panchayats.
The objective of the scheme is to extend the existing optical
fiber network which is available up to
district / block HQs level to the Gram Panchayat level.
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In economic terms, the benefits from the scheme are expected
through additional employment, e-
education, e-health, e-agriculture etc. and reduction in
migration of rural population to urban areas.
As per a study conducted by the World Bank, with every 10%
increase in broadband penetration,
there is an increase in GDP growth by 1.4%. NOFNwill also
facilitate implementation of various e-
governance initiatives such as e-health, e-banking, e-education
etc.thereby facilitating inclusive
growth. It will also provide high bandwidth connectivity for
electronic delivery of services to citizens.
Setting up of National Institute of Mountaineering & Allied
Sports at Dirang in
Arunachal Pradesh
The Union Cabinet recently approved setting up of a National
Institute of Mountaineering & Allied
Sports (NIMAS) at Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh as an autonomous
institute under the Ministry of
Defence.
It would be a training institution for multifarious adventure
activities relating to land, air and aqua to
attract adventure enthusiasts.
This Institute would be first National Institute of its
kind.
Nargis Yadav becomes the worlds 7 billionth baby
Nargis Yadav born at 7.20 a.m. on October 31, 2011 near Lucknow
became the world's symbolic
seven billionth baby. Her parents, Vineeta and Ajay Yadav are
farmers from Dhanaur village on the
outskirts of Lucknow.
Countries around the world have been marking the demographic
milestone in a variety of ways. The
Philippines was the first country to declare a seven billionth
baby, a little girl named Danica May
Camacho. In Sri Lanka, the country celebrated the arrival of
Wattalage Muthumani, who was born at
the Castel Street Maternity Hospital, as the seventh
billion.
From 238.4 million in 1901, India's population has increased
more than four times in 110 years to
touch the 1.2 billion mark, according to the provisional figures
of the 2011 Census, accounting for a
17.5 per cent of the world's population. The country's
population is almost equal to the combined
population of the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Japan.
Statistics suggest that India is now made up of two contrasting
demographic nations: Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - have already
achieved the replacement level fertility of
2.1 children per woman required to initiate the process of
population stabilisation, while the four
large north Indian States - Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh - have a long way to
go.
Manipur blockade enters 100 days
The Issue: Since August 2011, Manipur has been under an economic
blockade called by the Sadar
Hills Districthood Demand Committee (SHDDC). This and a
counter-blockade by the United Naga
Council (UNC) on the national highways have caused severe
shortages of food, medical supplies, fuel
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and other essential items. As a result, hospitals are running
short of medicines. Petrol, diesel and
LPG are in short supply, and are being sold at exorbitant
prices. Onion, potato, rice and other food
items are similarly scarce and expensive.
So far, no concrete step has been taken for dealing with this
crisis.
Reasons: Blockades in Manipur have been driven largely by ethnic
politics and the geographical
circumstances. The polity of Manipur is seen to be largely
driven and controlled by the Meiteis.
Thus the blockades either have the character of of
majoritarianism by the Meiteis against the other
communities, or a protest against the Government of Manipur
mostly target the Meitei population.
The Sadar Hills Issue: In the recent blockade, the Sadar Hill
issue has also come to the fore. The
blockade on the national highways 53 and 39 was first imposed by
the Sadar Hills Districthood
Demand Committee (SHDDC) from August 1. Its demand was the
creation of a separate district of
Sadar Hills out of the current Senapati district of which it is
a part of. This otherwise simple
administrative procedure is extraordinarily complicated in the
context of Manipur. Senapati district
happens to be inhabited largely by different communities of the
Kukis, the Nepalis, and the Nagas.
Within the district, Sadar Hills is dominated demographically by
the Kukis. A demand for a separate
district of the Sadar Hills is resented by the Nagas. They fear
it would jeopardise their claim for a
greater Nagalim.' Therefore, the United Naga Council (UNC)
called for a counter economic
blockade on these highways from August 21 onwards fearing the
possibility of Senapati district being
bifurcated.
Given the history of ethnic clashes between the Nagas and the
Kukis in the hills of Manipur
beginning in the early 1990s when Senapati district was one of
the worst affected, the atmosphere
has been tense.
Supreme Court rules that the Centre has complete Powers to
decide the Terms
and Conditions for Telecom Operators
The Supreme Court of India ruled that the Centre has absolute
powers to decide the terms and
conditions for telecom operators as neither the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI, nor the
Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, TDSAT, can
overrule it.
The apex court ruled, though TRAI was conferred with the
statutory power to recommend the terms
and conditions of the license and the Central Government was
bound to seek its recommendations,
yet, the same was not binding on it.
Supreme Court of India directs Accident Tribunals to award
Adequate
Compensation to the Victims
The Supreme Court of India directed Motor Accident Claims
Tribunals to award just and adequate
compensation to the victims. The bench ruled that in cases
involving partial or total disablement, the
term compensation used inSection 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act
will cover not only the expenses for
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immediate treatment but also for future medical treatment.
Indian Railways launches Real-time Train Information System
(RTIS) for 12
Important Trains which passengers access from running
information
The Indian Railways on 19 October 2011 launched a real-time
train information system (RTIS) for 12
important trains through which passengers can access the
accurate train running information.
The GPS-based train tracking system was jointly developed by the
Research Design and Standards
Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow and Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT), Kanpur to overcome the
limitations of the existing Train Running Information
System.
This facility has been provided for certain Rajdhani Expresses
and Shatabdi Expresses.
Delhi's Per Capita Income at Current Prices Third in the Country
behind Goa &
Chandigarh
According to the Delhi Statistical Handbook-2011 released by
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on 3
November 2011, Delhi's per capita income at current prices was
Rs 116886 during 2009-10,
recording an increase of Rs.13446 over 2008-09. Delhi therefore
ranked third in the country behind
Goa at Rs.132719 and Chandigarh at Rs.120912.
On an average, a Delhiite earns Rs.1.16 lakh a year, owns 2.5
mobile phones, watches nearly two
movies annually, gets a supply of 50 gallons of water each day
and consumes over a case and
quarter of liquor in a year.
Andhra Pradesh Government launches One Rupee a Kilo Rice Scheme
in the State
Andhra Pradesh Government on 1 November 2011 launched one rupee
a kilo rice scheme in the
state. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy launched the scheme
at a special programme held in
Hyderabad on the occasion of the 56th State Formation Day.
The scheme would benefit about 7.50 crore people in the state.
With the new initiative, the subsidy
burden over the state Government will go up by 600 crore rupees
to a total of 2600 crore rupees.
Uttarakhand State Cabinet Clears Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill,
2011
Uttarakhand state cabinet on 29 October 2011 cleared Uttarakhand
Lokayukta Bill, 2011 with the
objective of curbing corruption in the state. The Chief Minister
of the state, all ministers, MLAs and
lower judiciary will be under the purview of Lokayukta. It is
important to note that judges of the
Uttarakhand High Court will not be covered under the purview of
Lokayukta. Former chief ministers,
former ministers and retired officers will also be within the
purview of the Lokayukta.
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The Features of Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill
As per the bill, the Lokayukta will have a chairperson and five
members. The number of members
could be increased to seven as per the requirement. The bill
envisioned that the members of
Lokayukta should have legal background and should possess
integrity and outstanding ability.
The bill says that once the investigations are over, the
chargesheet will be filed by the Lokayukta in a
special court set up under the Prevention of Corruption Act for
a speedy trial. The bill further adds
that the period of investigation should not exceed twelve
months. The Lokayukta will be empowered
to recommend punishment of dismissal, removal or demotion
against government servants after
giving them full opportunity of being heard.
In-Depth Current Affairs Important for the descriptive questions
in the IAS Main Examination; also helpful for Interview
and Essay Preparation |Words in bold are key terms or facts
The AFSPA Debate
Possible Question/s for Main Examination
Question 1 | (250 Words): Discuss the Armed Forces Special
Powers Act and its necessity. Why has
this Act been in news lately?
The AFSPA & its need
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was passed on
September 11, 1958, by the
Parliament of India. Itconfers special powers upon armed forces
in disturbed areas in the states of
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland
and Tripura. It was later
extended to Jammu and Kashmir as The Armed Forces (Jammu and
Kashmir) Special Powers Act,
1990 in July 1990.
The State Governments can declare a state of emergency due to
one or more of the following
reasons:
1.Failure of the administration and the local police to tackle
local issues.
2.Return of (central) security forces leads to return of
miscreants
3.The scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large
for local forces to handle.
In such cases, it is the prerogative of the State Government to
call for central help. In cases of
continued unrest, like in the cases of militancy and insurgency,
and especially when borders are
threatened, the State Government seeks the deployment of armed
forces.
By Act 7 of 1972, this power to declare areas as being disturbed
was extended to the Central
Government. For declaring an area as a disturbed area there must
be a grave situation of law and
order on the basis of which Governor/Administrator can decide
that in such a disturbed or
dangerous condition that use of Armed Forces in aid of civil
power is necessary.
The Powers under the Act
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According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in a
disturbed area, an officer of the
armed forces has powers to:
1.Fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of
death, against any person who is acting in
contravention of any law against assembly of five or more
persons or possession of deadly weapons.
2.To arrest without a warrant and with the use of necessary
force anyone who has committed
certain offenses or is suspected of having done so
3.To enter and search any premise in order to make such
arrests
4.It gives Army officers legal immunity for their actions. There
can be no prosecution, suit or any
other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law.
The Act has been employed in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990. It
was withdrawn by the Manipur
government in some of the constituencies in August 2004 in spite
of the Central government not
favouring withdrawal of the act.
AFSPA recently in controversy
Certain NGOs and rights organizations have argued that AFSPA has
led to gross violations of human
rights. In Manipur, Irom Sharmila has been on fast for years
protesting against the Act.
The Act came in news recently, when the Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Mr. Omar Abdullah
called for partially lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
(AFSPA) from the State especially
from such areas, where armed forces intervention has not been
required for long.
The proposal has evoked mixed responses across the political
spectrum in Jammu and Kashmir as
well as on a national level. Rights groups both within and
outside the State of J&K has welcomed the
proposal.
However, the Army has responded in a guarded manner. The Army is
of the opinion that lifting the
AFSPA would create terror sanctuaries in the state. It fears
that terror sanctuaries may come up in
areas where the Act is lifted.
According to the Army, no area in Jammu and Kashmir can be
designated safe because the situation
can turn volatile any time. It has given examples of three
violent summers.
The Army also pointed that Armed Forces Special Power Act was
the only law that provided
protection to the soldiersin the Valley.
Amid the differing perceptions on the matter, the final decision
on this proposal is yet to be taken.
On Death Penalty
Possible Question/s for Main Examination
Question 1 | (250 Words): The legal provisions and procedures
governing death penalty in India
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are fraught with room for subjectivity and they need urgent
review. Comment.
India is one of the countries in the world where death penalty
is still practiced. According to an
estimate, Indian courts handed out 105 death penalties in the
last year. Internationally, 96 countries
have abolished death penalty while 34 countries are being
abolitionist in practice by observing
official or unofficial moratoria on executions.
Lately, there has been an argument against death penalty
especially from the rights groups within
the civil society. On this matter legal opinions have tended to
differ.
However, in the recent months there has been a growing legal
opinion that the provisions and
procedures governing death penalty in India are fraught with
loopholes and room for subjectivity
and they need urgent review. The main issues identified are as
follows.
1.The law does not prescribe how long the President should take
to consider the pleas for clemency.
There have been many instances where inordinate delay in
deciding on the pleas for mercy has
taken place. It took almost 12 years since 1999 before mercy
petitions were finally turned down in
2011 for the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. All
the four accused having already
spent the last 20 years in prison.
2.The law also does not require the President to cite reasons
for the decision to commute death
sentences into imprisonment for life.
3.It is also not clearly laid down whether the President is
bound by the advice given in such matters
by the council of ministers, essentially the Home Ministry.
4.The courts are also being called upon to resolve if long
delays in disposing mercy petitions violate
human rights and canons of justice.
5.Political considerations and subjectivity cannot entirely be
ruled out if the President and the
executive are left to take the final call.
6.In some cases, the courts have not cited reasons for each
individual while giving the death
sentence, for example in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination
case.
7.The law has not kept pace with technology and is yet to
mandate that confessions be video
recorded in the presence of independent witnesses and possibly
the defence lawyers, so that
possibilities of intimidation and use of force are ruled
out.
8.There is no clarity if death sentence can be justified for
people who stand accused of giving shelter
and food to the actual perpetrators of a crime; or those who
allegedly knew of the diabolical plan of
the criminals. It may be argued that those who played a
peripheral or a minor role need not be
awarded capital punishment.
9.Tardy investigation by the police is a major factor that
vitiates trials. But many courts appear
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tolerant to the omissions and commissions of the police.
Considering the above factors, it seems very reasonable to call
for a comprehensive review of the
provisions and procedures governing death penalties in
India.
Economy & Business
Current Events Snippets Important for the IAS Preliminary
Examination & 2-mark and other short questions in the IAS
Main
Examination |Words in bold are key terms or facts
India signs Convention on Global Tax Cooperation
India recently signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative
Assistance in Tax Matters, developed
jointly by the Council of Europe and the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD).
It was opened for signature by the member-states of both
organisations on January 25, 1988. All
members of the G20 have now become signatories to the
Convention. The Convention will have to
be ratified by the Indian Parliament to become law.
The convention aims at checking tax evasion and illicit flows,
which have become a serious problem.
Over the last two years, in order to check this trend, India has
negotiated 19 new double taxation
avoidance agreements and 17 new tax information exchange
agreements.
Main Features
1.The Convention facilitates international co-operation for a
better operation of national tax laws,
while respecting the fundamental rights of taxpayers.
2.The Convention provides for all possible forms of
administrative co-operation between states in
the assessment and collection of taxes, in particular with a
view to combating tax avoidance and
evasion.
3.The Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative
Assistance in Tax Matters offers a wide
range of tools for cross-border tax co-operation. It includes
automatic exchange of information,
multilateral simultaneous tax examinations and international
assistance in the collection of tax due.
4.The Convention imposes safeguards to protect the
confidentiality of the information exchanged.
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MSP increases for rabi crops
The Union Government has recently announced an increase of Rs.
115 in the minimum support price
(MSP) of wheat, which has been set at Rs. 1,285 a quintal for
the 2012-13 rabi marketing season. The
MSP for the previous year was Rs. 1,170 including a bonus of Rs.
50.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs meeting. The
meeting also approved the Agriculture Ministry's proposal for an
increase in the support prices of
barley, gram, masur (lentil), rapeseed/mustard and
safflower.
Cabinet approves 15 more mega food parks
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) recently
approved the setting up of 15 new
mega food park projects in addition to the 15 ongoing projects
under the Infrastructure
Development Scheme.
These food parks will have state-of-the-art infrastructure with
efficient supply chain management
from farm gate to retail outlets. The projects will bring about
substantial reduction of wastage, value
addition, employment generation and increased income for
farmers.
Under the guidelines, each mega food park must benefit at least
6,000 farmers / producers directly
and 25,000-30,000 farmers indirectly and generate about 40,000
direct and indirect jobs. The
estimated investment in each project will be about Rs.100 crore
in common facilities is expected to
leverage an additional investment of about of Rs.250 crore. The
annual turnover of each project
should be Rs.500 crore. In each project, an estimated number of
30-40 food processing industries
must be set up.
The scheme is expected to operate in hub and spoke model under
which there will be farm
proximate Collection Centres (CC) and Primary Processing Centres
(PPC) which will set up cleaning,
grading, sorting and packing facilities, dry warehouses,
specialised cold stores, including pre-cooling
chambers, ripening chambers, mobile pre-coolers and mobile
collection vans.
Cabinet approves hike in India's IMF quota
The Union Cabinet recently approved a proposal to increase
India's contribution to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) to make it the eighth largest shareholder in
the multilateral lending agency.
Now, India's quota share at the IMF will increase from 2.44 per
cent to 2.75 per cent, making it the
eighth largest quota holding country at the IMF.
Significantly, while India's gain in terms of quota share is the
seventh largest in the 14th round of
quota review, in absolute terms it will mean an increase from
SDR (special drawing rights) 5,821.5
million to SDR 13,114.4 million.
In keeping with the demand of emerging nations, including India,
for a greater say in the IMF
following their increased economic clout after the global
meltdown in 2008, all the BRIC (Brazil,
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Russia, India and China) nations will now figure among the 10
largest quota shareholders in the IMF.
Food inflation rises to 12.21 %
In a fresh spike, despite the recent monetary and other measures
to contain the price spiral, food
inflation surged further to 12.21 per cent for the week ended
October 22 from 11.43 per cent in the
previous week owing to soaring prices of various edibles such as
vegetables, fruits, pulses, milk and
all other protein-rich items.
World Bank to provide loan for Eastern Dedicated Freight
Corridor
The World Bank recently committed to finance the Eastern
Dedicated Freight Corridor by signing a
$975 million loan agreement with Ministry of Finance and
Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of
India Limited (DFCCIL).
The World Bank has decided to finance 1,130 km out of the 1,839
km length of the EDFC in three
phases and the recent agreement covers the construction of 343
km of the section between Khurja
and Kanpur, which would not only raise the axle load limit but
also enable the freight trains to gain
speeds upto 100 km an hour.
Government e-Payment Gateway (GePG)
Government e-Payment Gateway (GePG) is a fully secure government
e-payment system that will
enable the Centre to directly credit dues into the accounts of
beneficiaries.
It has been developed by the Controller General of Accounts
(CGA). GePG serves as middleware to
facilitate paperless transaction, thus reducing the overall
transaction cost and promoting green
banking.
The system aims to usher in transparency and expedite direct
payments from Central paying units
with respect to subsidies to users and consumers of fertiliser,
kerosene and cooking gas - which is
already a declared objective of the government.
The e-payment system will save both time and effort in effecting
payments and also facilitate the
elimination of physical cheques and their manual processing.
Reserve Bank of India gratified Property transaction Norms for
NRIs
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently permitted Indians who
have non-resident accounts in the
country to hold them in any currency which is fully convertible.
The move is expected to help
NRIs/Persons of Indian Origin as it will give them more options
in the holding of accounts, and lessen
the risk from fluctuations in major currencies. In another
relaxation, the RBI specified that any citizen
who was earlier residing in a foreign country can own or
transfer property or other assets in that
nation if it was acquired during the time of his residence
there.
Earlier, Foreign Currency (Non-Resident) Account (Banks)
(FCNR(B)) account holders were allowed to
hold accounts in only certain currencies such as the Pound
Sterling, US dollar, Japanese yen, euro,
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Canadian dollar and Australian dollar.
The Committee to Review the Facilities for Individuals under
Foreign Exchange Management Act
recommended that FCNR(B) accounts may be opened in any freely
convertible currency.
TRAI establishes that 3G Roaming Agreements between Telcos
violated Licence
Conditions
A probe by telecom regulator TRAI established that 3G roaming
agreements between telcos violated
licence conditions.
Mobile phone companies had earlier explained to the regulator
that the telecom department, prior
to the 3G auctions, had clearly specified that roaming policy is
applicable to licences and not specific
to spectrum bands.
In their defence, telcos had also provided copies of the
clarifications provided by the department on
this issue before the 3G auctions. The clarifications quote the
DoT's response to operators' queries
on this issue as stating that roaming will be permitted.
The DoT had asked the regulator to examine the 3G roaming
agreements between telcos. With no
telco bagging pan-India 3G airwaves in 2010 auctions, the
leading GSM operators - Bharti Airtel,
Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular had entered into an alliance
that enables them to offer high-end
data services on a pan-India basis (except Orissa). Bharti,
Vodafone and Idea had won 3G airwaves in
13, 9 and 11 circles, respectively, and their roaming pacts
ensured that customers of these
companies can access high-speed data services even in the
regions where they don't hold 3G
airwaves.
The GSM operators had informed TRAI that 3G roaming agreements
would augment the customer
experience by allowing users to access high-speed data services
on a pan-India basis, while also
ensuring better utilisation of national resources and increased
revenues to the government. Besides,
they also added that these deals would help improve broadband
internet coverage.
RBI eases Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Procedures to
encourage Global
Investors
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 November 2011 announced
that transfer of shares between
Indians and non-resident Indians (NRIs) would not require its
permission in several key areas such as
financial services. RBI initiated measures to ease foreign
direct investment (FDI) procedures with an
objective to woo global investors.
The central bank Amended the Foreign Exchange Management
Regulations. It mentioned that prior
permission would not be necessary where the company whose shares
were being transferred was
engaged in any financial service.
The RBI permission had also been done away with for transfer of
shares between residents and non-
residents in cases where the Foreign Investment Promotion Board
(FIPB) had already given its
clearances and the SEBI guidelines were met.
However, RBI clarified that the transactions would have to
comply with the SEBI regulations, FDI
sectoral caps, and the pricing guidelines as specified by the
RBI.
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FDI inflows shot up by 95 per cent to $17.37 billion between
April and August 2011. The government
and the RBI want to maintain robust foreign exchange reserves as
volatility in the stock market has
led to outflows.
Oil Companies raise Petrol Prices by Rs 1.80 per litre marking
13th increase since
June 2011
State-owned oil companies on 3 November 2011 raised petrol
prices by Rs 1.80 per litre at a time
when the nation is already battling high double-digit food
inflation. This is the 13th increase in petrol
prices since the fuel was decontrolled in June 2010. Petrol
prices were last raised by over Rs 3 a litre
on 15 September 2011. With the latest price rise, the fuel's
price has risen 33.5% since it was
decontrolled in June 2010.
The latest rise in petrol prices came after Brent crude oil fell
for four consecutive days before rising
about half a dollar on 3 November. The sharp rise is due to high
crude prices particularly Brent as
well as rupee deprecation. As per RBI reference rate, $1 was
equivalent to Rs 49.3748.
The India crude oil basket for the fortnight ended 31 October
was recorded at $108.59 a barrel.
A litre of petrol now cost nearly Rs 28 more than diesel. The
gap was barely Rs 11 in the middle of
2010 but the government controls diesel prices and has not
raised diesel rates. Diesel prices have
risen barely 2% sice June 2010 thereby accelerating sales of
diesel vehicles and dampening demand
for petrol cars.
SEBI ordered All Mutual Funds to Disclose Names of
Distributors
In order to improve transparency, market regulator SEBI ordered
all mutual funds to disclose names
of distributors, who receive commission in excess of Rs 1 crore
annually, on their respective
websites.
Fund houses, according to a Sebi circular, will have to disclose
names of distributors who have their
presence in more than 20 locations or those who have received
over Rs 1 crore commission in a
year. They would also have to disclose the amount of commission
paid to distributors.
The disclosure, which would also be uploaded on the MF industry
body AMFI's website, was made
mandatory from 10 November 2011.
SEBI board decided that as a first step towards regulating
distributors of MFs, selected distributors
will be regulated through Asset Management Companies (AMCs) by
putting in place the due
diligence process to be conducted by AMCs.
In 2011, World Food Day observed on 16 October with Food Prices
- From Crisis
to Stability as Theme
-
World Food Day is observed every year on 16 October. In 2011,
World Food Day was observed with
the theme- Food Prices - From Crisis to Stability. Food
Priices-from Crisis to Stability was chosen as
the 2011 World Food Day theme to shed some light on what can be
done to mitigate its impact on
the most vulnerable.
World Food Day 2011 was observed with an objective to look
seriously at what causes swings in food
prices, and do what needs to be done to reduce their impact on
the weakest members of global
society.
Since 1981, World Food Day has adopted a different theme each
year, in order to highlight areas
needed for action and provide a common focus. Most of the themes
revolve around agriculture
because only investment in agriculture together with support for
education and health can ensure
food security.
The objectives of World Food Day are to:
encourage attention to agricultural food production and to
stimulate national, bilateral,
multilateral and non-governmental efforts to this end
encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing
countries
encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women
and the least privileged
categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living
conditions
heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the
world
promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world
strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle
against hunger, malnutrition and
poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and
agricultural development.
Union Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Textiles Approved 21
New Textiles
Parks in India with a project cost of 2100 crores
Union Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Textiles recently
sanctioned 21 new Textiles Parks under
the Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks with a project cost of
2100 crores rupees to be
implemented over a period of 36 months. The approval came in the
4th week of October 2011.
Among these 21 new Textiles Parks, 6 were sanctioned in
Maharashtra, 4 in Rajasthan, 2 each in
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, 1 each in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat,
Tripura, Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal.
Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma as
Chairman of the Project Approval
Committee under the Scheme accorded approval. Earlier, Inter
Ministerial Project Scrutiny
Committee which examined 55 proposals for new Textiles Parks in
the country gave its
recommendations for the setting-up new textiles parks. Proposals
received were scrutinised by an
inter ministerial Project Scrutiny Committee on the basis of
project cost, land size, net worth of
investors, employment generation and value chain to be developed
by the industry. Government
also sought to ensure balanced regional development, promote
textiles industry in North Eastern
-
States and in States where the industry is in a nascent stage of
development and promote textiles
parks in cooperative & handloom sectors. Government received
a huge response to the roadshows
held at Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Mumbai for
seeking proposals for Textiles
Parks under the Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks for
development of common infrastructure and
the Technology Upgradation Funds Scheme (TUFS).
About Textiles Parks
The product mix in these parks would include apparels and
garments parks, hosiery parks, silk parks,
processing parks, technical textiles including medical textiles,
carpet parks, powerloom parks. The
focus of Government has been to ensure value addition through
aggregation to best utilize Indias
raw material surplus in cotton and cotton yarn for enhanced
labor employment and export earnings.
The Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks seeks green field
investments in textiles sector on a public
private partnership basis with the objective of setting up world
class infrastructure for Textiles
industry.
The Union Cabinet approves the proposal Prasar Bharati Amendment
Bill, 2010
The Union Cabinet of India on 1 November 2011 approved the
proposal of the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting for pursuing the Prasar Bharati
(Broadcasting Corporation of India)
Amendment Bill, 2010. The Cabinet also approved the action taken
on the recommendations made
in the Eighteenth Report on Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting
Corporation of India) Amendment Bill,
2010 of the Standing Committee on Information Technology.
The Cabinet further approved the amendment to section 11(2) of
the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting
Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010 pending in the Rajya
Sabha by the addition of the words
and until their retirement at the end of the section. This will
make the status of the employees
recruited between 23 November 1997 and 5 October 2007. It makes
the status of employees on
deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati until their retirement,
absolutely clear and unambiguous.
The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment
Bill 2010 was introduced in the
Rajya Sabha in August, 2010. The Bill is for making amendments
to the existing section 11 of the
Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, regarding Transfer of service of
existing employees to the Corporation,
which deals with the transfer of services of employees to Prasar
Bharati upon its creation as a
Corporation in the year 1997.
In-Depth Current Affairs Important for the descriptive questions
in the IAS Main Examination; also helpful for Interview
and Essay Preparation |Words in bold are key terms or facts
National Manufacturing Policy
-
Possible Question/s for Main Examination
Question 1 | (250 Words): Discuss the objects and provisions of
the National Manufacturing Policy.
Immediate Context
The Union Cabinet recently approved the revised proposal of the
National Manufacturing Policy. The
revised proposal was finalized after the differences in some
inter-ministerial positions with respect
to the policy (notably relating to Ministry of Labour and
Employment and the Ministry of
Environment and Forests) were resolved in mid- October 2011.
Need for a National Manufacturing Policy
The contribution of the manufacturing sector at just over 16% of
India's GOP is much below its
potential. It is also a cause of concern especially in the
context of other Asian countries in similar
stages of development. This also has its socio-economic
manifestations and prevents India from fully
leveraging the opportunities of globalization.
India is a young country with over 60% of its population in the
working age group. With over 220
million people estimated to join the work force in the next
decade, the manufacturing sector will
have to create gainful employment for at least half this number.
With a view to accelerating the
growth of the manufacturing sector, the Manufacturing Policy
proposes to create an enabling
environment suitable for the sector to flourish in India.
Objectives
The major objectives of the National Manufacturing Policy are to
(1) increase the sectoral share of
manufacturing in GOP to at least 25% by 2022; to (2) increase
the rate of job creation so as to create
100 million additional jobs by 2022; and to (3) enhance global
competitiveness, (4) domestic value
addition, (5) achieving technological depth and (6) securing
environmental sustainability of growth.
Main features
The policy envisages specific interventions in the following
areas.
1.Industrial infrastructure development
2.Creation of large integrated industrial townships called
National Investment and Manufacturing
Zones (NIMZs) with state-of-the-art infrastructure; land use on
the basis of zoning; clean and energy
efficient technologies; necessary social and institutional
infrastructure in order to provide a
productive environment to persons transitioning from the primary
to the secondary and tertiary
sectors. The land for these zones will preferably be waste
infertile land not suitable for cultivation;
not in the vicinity of any ecologically fragile area and with
reasonable access to basic resources.
3.Improvement of the business environment through
rationalization and simplification of business
regulations
4.Development of appropriate technologies especially green
technologies for sustainable
development
-
5.Skill development of the younger population
6.To ensure compliance of labour and environmental laws by
introducing procedural simplifications
and rationalization
The interventions proposed are generally sector neutral,
location neutral and technology neutral
except the attempt to incentivize green technology for
sustainable development.
No subsidies are proposed for individual units or areas.
RBI hikes key rates yet again to control Inflation
Possible Question/s for Main Examination
Question 1 | (250 Words): What are the measures taken by the RBI
to curb inflation in its Second
Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2011-12?
In its Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2011-12, the
Reserve Bank of India increased
the short term indicative policy rate (repo rate) by 25 basis
points, with immediate effect, from 8.25
to 8.5 per cent. Accordingly, the reverse repo rate under the
LAF gets calibrated to 7.5% and the
MSFrate to 9.5%. The RBI is hopeful that a further rate hike may
not be warranted as inflation is
likely to fall in December 2011.
The RBI has also deregulated the savings bank deposit interest
rate with immediate effect. With the
decision on deregulating the savings bank deposit interest rate,
banks are free to determine their
rates. However, the RBI said, each bank would have to offer a
uniform interest rate on savings bank
deposits up to Rs. 1 lakh, irrespective of the amount in the
account within this limit. For savings bank
deposits over Rs. 1 lakh, the banks can provide differential
rates of interest, if it so chooses.
This is the 13th hike in policy rate since March 2010. As a
result of this, the lending rates offered by
banks will go up further. (Note: Repo rate is the rate at which
the banks borrow funds from the
central bank. Thus, increasing the Repo rate makes funds
costlier.)
Comment: The RBI has chosen to raise the Repo rate in a move to
contain persisting inflationary
pressure.
These measures have been considered necessary by the RBI,
especially in the light of the fact that
price rise has continued to be a major macroeconomic concern.
Inflation has remained quite high, at
an average of 9.6 per cent during the financial year so far.
Inflation has been broad-based, and
driven by all the three major groups, primary articles, fuel and
power, and manufactured products.
The continued raising of the policy rates has led to a money
supply tightening, which has affected
growth prospects of industries. The RBI has also revised the
projection of growth rate for 2011-12
downwards to 7.6 per cent from 8 per cent announced in the May
Annual Statement and the July
-
Quarterly Review. This is because, investment demand has
slackened, reflecting slower clearance
and execution of projects, concerns about inflation and rising
interest rates.
India & the World
Current Events Snippets Important for the IAS Preliminary
Examination & 2-mark and other short questions in the IAS
Main
Examination |Words in bold are key terms or facts
Pakistan grants India most favoured nation status
Pakistan recently extended the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status
to India which implies that the
two nations can now have normal trade relation. This move is
seen as a significant step towards
improving the bilateral trade between India and Pakistan.
India had granted MFN status to Pakistan in 1995 and World Trade
Organisation (WTO)
commitments mandated that Islamabad reciprocate.
Under MFN, a country agrees to treat another country equally
with all the other countries with
which it trades, as part of the agreement in the World Trade
Organisation on non-discriminatory
trade practices.
As a next step, Pakistan would have to replace its positive list
for trade with India with a negative list.
New Delhi too has agreed to address the Pakistani grievance of
Indian non-tariff barriers against its
exports.
Earlier, both countries had granted the status to each other
after ratifying the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in July 1948. This regime continued
till 1965. Between 1947 and 1965,
Pakistan and India signed 12 trade agreements. The trade
relations were suspended in the wake of
India-Pakistan war of 1965. Trading relations between the two
countries resumed after the Shimla
Agreement. Later in 1995, India granted MFN status to Pakistan
when WTO replaced GATT.
Simplified Russian visa rules for Indians
Russia recenetly notified simplified visa procedures for
Indians, giving effect to a bilateral visa
simplification agreementsigned last year. The simplified visa
rules apply to tourists, students, official
delegations, businessmen, persons involved in scientific,
cultural and creative professions, and sister
city exchanges.
The simplified visa rules allow the following:
1.Indians travelling to Russia do not need to prove good-faith
intentions
2.Individuals and organizations are no more required to produce
an invitation or a tourist voucher to
-
obtain a six-month visa for a 90-day stay.
3.Issuance of multi-entry one-year and five-year visas subject
to certain conditions
So far as the Russians visiting India are concerned, the number
of Indian visas issued to Russians is
expected to increase by 25 per cent to more than 127,000 as
India becomes an increasingly popular
destination with Russian tourists.
U.K. further tightens visa norms for Indian students
The British government recently made obtaining student visa to
UK all the more difficult by banning
nearly 1,900 Indian banks for the purpose of verifying
applicants' maintenance funds. These are
mostly small regional cooperatives.
Under Tier 4 of the points-based immigration system, all
applicants are required to submit a financial
statement as a proof that they have enough funds to support
themselves and pay for their course in
Britain.
The British Home Office also published a list of 85 financial
institutions operating in India whose
financial statements would be accepted for student visas.
The British officials have clarified that an applicant would
score no points for maintenance if their
supporting documents showed that their funds were held in a
financial institution on the banned list.
France not bound by new NSG restriction on nuclear sales to
India
France has recently clarified that it is not bound by new NSG
restriction on nuclear sales to India. It
is noteworthy that earlier this year, the NSG had imposed ban on
the sale of enrichment and
reprocessing technology to countries that have not signed the
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
France has said that it considers the agreement of 2008 - when
the NSG made an exception for India
- still in vigour. France also supports the membership of India
to the NSG.
Regarding nuclear safety
After the Fukushima catastrophe, France has launched a process
of stress tests on all its nuclear
installations. When the Agency for Nuclear Safety delivers its
report, France promises that it will
circulate it to all their nuclear partners, especially India.
France is keen to continue its cooperation,
and participate in the construction of new European Pressurised
Reactors (EPR) if the Indian
government decides to go further.
In-Depth Current Affairs Important for the descriptive questions
in the IAS Main Examination; also helpful for Interview
and Essay Preparation |Words in bold are key terms or facts
Recent shift in India - Nepal relations
Possible Question/s for Main Examination
-
Short Question 1 | (150 Words): With respect to the ongoing
political changes in Nepal, there has
been a marked shift in Indias approach towards Nepal too.
Comment.
Nepal has lately been going through political flux and recently
Sri Baburam Bhattarai emerged as the
Prime Minister after a political deal between the Unified
Communist Part of Nepal (Maoist) and the
Madhesi parties of Nepal. After this political development,
there has been a significant rise in trust
between the two countries.
So far, there has been a perception in Nepal that India was
leveraging its influence over the Madhesi
parties of Nepal to keep the Maoists - the legitimately elected
biggest party in parliament - out of
the power structure. This perception led to a phase of
stagnation in the bilateral relationship. It also
prolonged the stalemate over constitutional issues, deepened the
instability, and generated
resentment against India.
However, in the recent months, there has been a policy
course-correction. India encouraged the
election of Mr. Bhattarai as Prime Minister by using its
leverage with the Madhesi parties. India
has also expressed its support for the integration of a certain
number of Maoist combatants into the
Nepal Army.
In the wake of these positive developments, Nepal appears to be
on the verge of achieving a
breakthrough in its peace and constitutional process. Its
political parties are close to an agreement
on the issue of the integration of Maoist fighters, which is at
the core of the peace process. There is
also a power-sharing proposal among the political parties. India
continues to play a supportive role,
as it did in 2005 when the 12-point agreement was forged.
The visit of Nepal Prime Minister to India & BIPPA
Recently in late October 2011, the Prime Minister of Nepal Sri
Baburam Bhattarai was on visit to
India, during which he held meetings with the President, the
Prime Minister and business delegation
as well.
During the visit, the two countries also signed a Bilateral
Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreement (BIPPA).
Explanation: What is BIPPA?
BIPPA is a legal instrument for the purpose of protecting
foreign investments against discriminatory
measures (i.e. policy inconsistencies) by the host state. To
ensure protection and promotion of
investments, and to encourage capital flows along with the
commitment to credible liberal economic
policies, countries typically enter into investment protection
agreements like BIPPA. It guarantees
rights of foreign investors and ensures them fair and equitable
treatment, security, and dispute
resolution mechanism.
Nepal-India BIPPA
While Nepal has already signed BIPPA with six countries
(including India), India has signed such
agreement with 80 countries (as of May 2011), out of which 70
BIPPAs have already come into force
-
and the remaining are in the process of being enforced. Nepal
signed its first BIPPA with France on
May 2, 1983.
According to the BIPPA, the investments should not be subjected
to nationalization, expropriation or
any other measure having similar effects except for reasons of
public purpose in accordance with the
law, on a non-discriminatory basis and against fair and
equitable compensation.
Furthermore, in case of losses because of war, armed conflict,
emergency or insurrection or riots,
Indian investors should be treated and compensated at par with
Nepalese investors.
The Nepal-India BIPPA remains in force for ten years and will be
automatically extended thereafter
unless one of the countries intends to terminate it.
Pretoria Meet of IBSA (An In-depth Coverage) - From the last
issue
What is IBSA?
IBSA is the acronym for India-Brazil-South Africa
Trilateral.
It is a developmental initiative involving India, Brazil and
South Africa to promote South-South
cooperation and exchange.
History
IBSA came into existence in 2003 after discussions between the
Heads of State and/or Government
of the IBSA countries at the G-8 meeting of 2003.
The Foreign Ministers of the three countries met in Brasilia on
June 6, 2003. At this meeting, the
launching of the IBSA Dialogue Forum was formalized through the
adoption of the Brasilia
Declaration.
Objectives
The main objectives of the IBSA Dialogue Forum are:
1. To promote South-South dialogue, cooperation and common
positions on issues of international
importance
2. To promote trade and investment opportunities
3. To promote international poverty alleviation and social
development
4. To promote the trilateral exchange of information,
international best practices, technologies and
skills, as well as to compliment each others competitive
strengths into collective synergies
5. To promote cooperation in a broad range of areas, namely
agriculture, climate change, culture,
defence, education, energy, health, information society, science
and technology, social
development, trade and investment, tourism and transport.
-
The IBSA Dialogue Forum has regular consultations at Senior
Official, Ministerial and Heads of State
and/or Government (Summit) levels. It also facilitates
interaction amongst academics, business and
other members of civil society.
Relevance
The India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum brings
together three large pluralistic, multi-
cultural and multi-racial societies from three continents, i.e.
Asia, South America and Africa, as a
purely South-South grouping of like-minded countries committed
to inclusive sustainable
development, in pursuit of well-being for their peoples.
The principles, norms and values underpinning the IBSA Dialogue
Forum, i.e. participatory
democracy, respect for human rights, and the Rule of Law are
relevant globally, especially in the
current context, when the world economy is faced with serious
challenges and where democracy is
being sought after in areas such as the Middle East and North
Africa.
The importance of the IBSA Dialogue Forum as an instrument to
promote coordination on global
issues is very high, pertinently during the historic occasion of
2011 when all IBSA Member States
serve as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security
Council.
Latest Meet at Pretoria (South Africa)
The President of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Mr. Jacob
Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, the Prime
Minister of the Republic of India, H.E. Dr. Manmohan Singh, and
the President of the Federative
Republic of Brazil, H.E. Ms. Dilma Rousseff met at the
Presidential Guest House, Pretoria, Republic of
South Africa, on 18 October 2011 for the 5th Summit of Heads of
State and Government of the India-
Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum.
The joint declaration has the following important points:
Collaboration in the UNSC and other relevant international fora
such as the UN Specialised Agencies
and groupings such as the G20, G24, WTO, WIPO, BASIC, BRICS, and
G77 + China.
Commitment to increase the participation of developing countries
in the decision-making bodies of
multilateral institutions
The need for urgent reform of the United Nations (UN) to render
it more democratic and consistent
with the current geopolitical reality
The need for urgent reform of the UN Security Council, including
an expansion in both permanent
and non-permanent categories of its membership, with increased
participation of developing
countries in both
IBSA to continue to work together in relevant multilateral fora
to enhance macro-economic policy
coordination for sustainable recovery and continued growth
-
Emphasised the importance of the G20 development agenda, with
its focus on the contribution to
sustainable growth in developing countries, especially in low
income countries
A call for the early implementation of the targets for the
reform of the International Monetary Fund
relating to the mandate, representation, scope, governance,
responsibility, responsiveness and
development orientation of the Fund, in order to ensure that the
Fund is democratic, responsive and
accountable
Concern at the ongoing deterioration of the global economic
scenario, which presents particular
challenges for the economic policy and growth prospects of
developing and low-income countries
Need to increase policy coordination amongst G20 nations, with a
view to avert a new recession and
to promote a robust recovery in order to ensure strong,
sustainable and balanced growth of the
global economy
Reaffirmation that people must come first and should participate
in the formulation and
implementation of public policies, allowing for fair, equitable
and sustainable development
2015 remains a fundamental target date, by which MDGs must be
met. The leaders reaffirmed that
with just four years to go for the target year, global efforts
for attaining the MDGs by 2015 must see
accelerated action. The successful achievement of the MDGs; as
encapsulated in the Millennium
Declaration requires strong political will and commitment;
adequate funding at the national,
regional and international levels; and strengthened
international cooperation.
The current impasse in the negotiations around the Doha
Development Round negotiation is a
source of serious concern. The distortions caused by the high
levels of protection and subsidies in
agriculture in the developed countries continue to undermine the
development prospect of many
developing countries, especially the least developed
countries.
The Leaders reiterated the need to re-affirm the integrity of
the mandate that launched the Round,
and to build on the convergence already achieved.
The Leaders of India and South Africa pledged their support for
Brazils hosting of the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012 in Rio de
Janeiro (Rio+20 Summit) to secure
renewed political commitment to sustainable development.
The Leaders agreed that Rio+20 should renew political commitment
to accelerate the
implementation of the sustainable development agenda as defined
by the Rio Principles and taken
forward through the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPoI)
in pursuit of global sustainable
development.
South Africa as the host of the 17th Conference of the Parties
(COP 17) to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th
Conference of the Parties serving
-
as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol,
which will be taking place in Durban
from 28 November to 9 December 2011, appreciates the support of
India and Brazil towards a
successful outcome in Durban. The outcome of Durban should be
comprehensive, balanced and
ambitious.
The Leaders, also as members of the Group of Like-Minded
Mega-diverse Countries appreciated the
initiative of India to host in October 2012, the eleventh
Conference of the Parties to the UN
Convention on Biological Diversity (COP11 of CBD) and the sixth
meeting of the Conference of the
Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP 6) to the
Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety. COP11 of CBD will consider among other, the status of
the Nagoya Protocol on Access to
Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits
arising from their Utilization, the
implementation of the Strategic Plan 2011-2020 and its progress
towards the Aichi Biodiversity
Targets and the agreed process to adopt indicators and targets
for the Resource Mobilization
Strategy.
Concern about the continuing challenges that developing
countries are facing regarding food and
nutritional security, such as negative consequences of food
inflation and food price volatility. The
Leaders expressed their support for the UN food based
institutions in Rome, and other regional
organisations that could increase the capacity of developing
countries to deal with the issues of
increased agricultural production, food security and nutritional
feeding.
The Leaders undertook to continue to advance the agreed
principles underlying South-South
Cooperation. The Leaders affirmed that South-South cooperation
is complementary to, and not a
substitute for, North-South Cooperation.
A commitment to implement the provisions of the political
declaration signed by Head of States and
Government onWorld Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance (WCAR) +
10, held in New York, on 22 September 2011.
The Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the goal of the
complete elimination of all nuclear
weapons within a specified timeframe, in a comprehensive,
universal, non-discriminatory, verifiable
and irreversible manner.
The Leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations, committed by whomever,
wherever and for whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the
most serious to international peace
and security.
The Leaders welcomed the UNGA resolution A/RES/65/230 on the
Twelfth United Nations Congress
on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which endorsed the
Salvador Declaration on
-
Comprehensive Strategies for Global Challenges: Crime Prevention
and Criminal Justice Systems and
Their Development in a Changing World.
The Leaders welcomed the adoption of the 2010 United Nations
Global Plan of Action to Combat
Trafficking in Persons which will contribute to the promotion
and protection of the rights of women
and children, as well as enhance cooperation and better
coordination of efforts in fighting trafficking
in persons.
To take into consideration the Salvador Declaration
Emphasized the need for an equitable and balanced international
system of rules governing
intellectual property, allowing among others, for the protection
of indigenous knowledge systems
against abuse and for preventing the misappropriation of genetic
resources, and associated
traditional knowledge.
The Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to working together
towards a people-centered, inclusive
and development-oriented Information Society and their agreement
to continue to coordinate
positions for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS)
follow-up mechanisms, as well as in
the other fora and organizations related to the Information
Society and Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Emphasized Internet Governance as a key strategic area that
requires close collaboration and
concrete action. In this context, it recommended the
establishment of an IBSA Internet Governance
and Development Observatory that should be tasked to monitor
developments on global Internet
Governance and provide regular updates and analyses from the
perspective of developing
countries.
Besides the above, the leaders also discussed and developed
consensus on matters like:
Energy
Gender
Children
Persons with Disabilities
Youth
-
Regional Issues
Libya
Arab-Israel Peace Process
Syria
Sri Lanka
Afghanistan
Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan
Somalia
Haiti
IBSA Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation (IBSA Fund)
Sectoral cooperation and People-to-People Fora
IBSA Satellite Project
-
International Affairs & Institutions
Current Events Snippets Important for the IAS Preliminary
Examination & 2-mark and other short questions in the IAS
Main
Examination |Words in bold are key terms or facts
Istanbul Conference for Afghanistan
Representatives of 27 countries, including India, recently met
in Istanbul, Turkey to discuss the
situation and the way ahead in Afghanistan. This conference came
ahead of the expected
withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.
The main aim of the conference was to evolve a consensus-based
mechanism to ensure stability and
prosperity in Afghanistan.
The delegates examined three core issues: (1) preventing
Afghanistan's emergence in the future as a
battleground for regional rivals; (2) national security of
Afghanistan which is under threat of
destabilisation from the Taliban; and (3) ensuring that
sufficient number of jobs were created in the
country so that young people of Afghanistan were kept away from
taking up arms or indulging in
terrorism and drug-trafficking.
At the conference, India proposed economically linking Central
Asia with the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as a critical confidence
building measure.
India also argued that it was well placed to assist Afghanistan
because it was involved in all three
critical requirements of that nation - security, good governance
and development. But to achieve
this, India pointed out, there must be an end to external
interference in its internal affairs. India
drew attention to the continuation of safe havens and
sanctuaries for terrorists beyond its borders.
UNDP - Human Development Report 2011
The UNDP Human Development Report 2011 was released recently.
This years reports theme
is Sustainability and Equity.
The study has ranked India at 134 out of 187 countries in terms
of human development. In the 2010
Human Development Report, India had been ranked at 119 out of
169 countries. The main reason
for which Indias position has dropped is a change in methodology
adopted by the UNDP to calculate
human development indicator values. These changes have been
brought about from this years
report only.
The report observes that life expectancy at birth in the country
has increased by 10.1 per cent a year
over the last two decades.
-
India's Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2011 was 0.547 -
positioning the country in the
medium human development category'.
Pakistan was ranked at 145 (0.504) and Bangladesh at 146
(0.500).
Between 1980 and 2011, India's HDI value increased from 0.344 to
0.547, an increase of 59 per cent
or an average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent.
However, the HDI of 0.547 was below the average of 0.630 for
countries in the medium human
development groupand below the average of 0.548 for countries in
South Asia.
Explanation: The HDI is a measure for assessing long-term
progress in three basic dimensions of
human development: a long and healthy life; access to knowledge;
and a decent standard of living.
2011 G-20 Summit at Cannes, France
The 2011 G-20 Summit was held in Cannes, France. It was the
sixth meeting of the G-20 Heads of
Government in a series of on-going discussions about financial
markets and the world economy.
The G-20 forum is the avenue for the G20 economies to discuss,
plan and monitor international
economic cooperation.
The main issues considered at the Summit were:
1.Coordinating economic policies and reducing global
macroeconomic imbalances
2.Strengthening financial regulation
3.Reforming the International Monetary System
4.Combating commodity price volatility
5.Improving global governance
6.Working on behalf of development
The Summit was attended by the Indian Prime Minister. India made
the following important points
at the Summit.
1.The global economy faces exceptional uncertainty. The G20 must
deal with financial instability
emanating from the Euro zone periphery.
2.India welcomes the initiatives taken in the Euro zone to
evolve innovative mechanisms to raise
resources for the European Financial Stability Facility and to
strengthen fiscal discipline through
intensive surveillance.
3.Prolonged uncertainty and instability in the Eurozone
countries can hurt all the G20 nations.
4.The IMF must keep the situation under close watch as part of
regional surveillance. India strongly
-
supports the IMF playing its part in restoring stability in
Europe.
5.The Mutual Assessment Process needs to focus on structural
reforms in all G-20 countries to
increase efficiency and competitiveness over the medium
term.
6.Multilateral Development Banks play a key role in mobilizing
and deploying global savings. The G-
20 should therefore raise its level of ambition for these
institutions so that they can play the kind of
transformational role they played in the post war period.
Background of G20: The G20 was established in 1999, in the wake
of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis,
to bring together major advanced and emerging economies to
stabilize the global financial market.
Since its inception, the G20 has held annual Finance Ministers
and Central Bank Governors' Meetings
and discussed measures to promote the financial stability of the
world and to achieve a sustainable
economic growth and development.
Membership
The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank
governors of 19 countries and the
European Union:
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
European Union
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Republic of Korea
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States of America
To ensure global economic fora and institutions work together,
the Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World
Bank, plus the chairs of the
International Monetary and Financial Committee and Development
Committee of the IMF and
World Bank, also participate in G-20 meetings on an ex-officio
basis. The G-20 thus brings together
important industrial and emerging-market countries from all
regions of the world. Together,
member countries represent around 90 per cent of global gross
national product, 80 per cent of
-
world trade as well as two-thirds of the world's population.
Operation Linda Nchi (Kenyan Military Action against Al
Shabab)
Operation Linda Nchi is the Kenyan codename for a military
cooperative action of the Somalian
military, the Kenyan military, the French military, and
allegedly the United States military against Al-
Shabaab militants in southern Somalia. The operation began in
late-October 2011, when troops from
Kenya crossed the border into the conflict zones of southern
Somalia.
The soldiers are in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants who are
alleged to have kidnapped several foreign
tourists and aid workers inside Kenya. The operation represents
one of the final stages in the Islamist
insurgency of the Somali Civil War.
Russia and Georgia sign an important deal
Russia recently reached an agreement with Georgia on a
comprehensive trade and economic
cooperation. The dealpaves the way for Russias entry into the
World Trade Organization.
Russian entry into the WTO may take place by the end of the
year. It would come after 18 years of
negotiations and represent the biggest step in world trade
liberalization since China joined a decade
ago. Russia is the largest economy outside the WTO. It has an
economic output of $1.9 trillion, or
about 2.8 percent of the world economy.
North Korea and U.S. talks begin in Geneva
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea)
and the U.S. opened their second
round of direct talks in Geneva recently,following similar
discussions in New York in July 2011.
The talks focusing on North Korea's nuclear programme were
conducted at the U.S. mission in
Geneva.
A joint report by the World Bank and the U.N. Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC)
put focus on corporate corruption
A joint report by the World Bank and the U.N. Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC) published on
October 24, has urged governments to devote more resources to
training investigators in fighting
financial crime, including large-scale corruption, money
laundering and terrorist financing.
According to the Stolen Asset Recovery (Star) initiative of the
World Bank and the UNODC, most
large-scale corruption cases involve using legal entities to
conceal ownership (shell companies) and
control of corrupt proceeds - hence the need for greater
transparency to reduce opportunities for
wrongdoing.
Transparency International, together with other civil society
organisations attending the fourth
session of the conference of states parties to the U.N.
Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), are
calling for action to step up the recovery of stolen assets.
Under the banner: Return stolen public
assets now!, they are also demanding more robust anti-money
laundering measures.
-
President Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner of Argentina gets
re-elected
President Cristina Fernndez de Kirchner of Argentina has won
re-election in landslide 54 percent
votes. The victory margin of 36 percentage points over the
second-placed Hermes Binner of the
Broad Progressive Front is the second largest in the country's
history. It is exceeded only by the
legendary Juan Pern's win in 1973. This time, Ms Kirchner won
over 90 per cent of the vote in some
provinces.
Voting is compulsory in Argentina.
She is the first woman head of state in Latin America to win a
second successive term in office. These
votes display a continuing strong left and centre-left
commitments of Latin American voters for
almost a decade now.
Moderate Islamists win in Tunisia
Tunisia's moderate Islamists have triumphed in the first
elections held after the onset of the Arab
Spring.
The Islamist Ennahda party won 90 seats in the 217-member
Assembly, which will write a new
Constitution, appoint an interim government and prepare for
fresh parliamentary and presidential
elections, probably within a year.
The leftist Congress for the Republic (CPR) won 30 seats and the
centre-left Ettakatol won 21
seats. These elections saw 90 per of the registered voters
polling, followed a popular uprising which
ended decades of authoritarian rule led by Zine el Abidine Ben
Ali.
Analysts say Tunisia's election results are likely to resonate
in Egypt too.
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite
System Preparatory
Project (NPP) launched in the US
The U.S. space agency recently launched a first-of-its kind
satellite that will send back data on
weather and climate to help forecasters predict major storms and
other changes in the
environment. The satellite project is being calledNational
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental
Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP). It took off aboard a
Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air
Force Base in California.
The satellite will carry five instruments to study temperature
and water in the atmosphere, how
clouds and aerosols affect temperature, and how plants on land
and in the ocean respond to
environmental changes.
It is one of 14 Earth observation missions currently being
managed by NASA.
The NPP - which will circle the Earth at a height of 820 km in a
polar orbit - will help fill in data gaps
left by European weather observatories.
Atambayev voted Kyrgyz President
-
Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev emerged a winner in
Kyrgyzstan's recent presidential elections.
With 99 per cent of the votes counted Mr. Atambayev had more
than 63 per cent, well above the
50-per-cent minimum needed to avoid a runoff.
His rivals, however, claimed there were many violations,
including ballot box stuffing and repeat
voting. They found it incredible that Mr. Atambayev, a
northerner, could have won the same share
of the votes in the south as he did in the north.
UNESCO membership for Palestine
In a historic vote, UNESCO on October 31, 2011 granted full
membership to Palestine which, until
now, enjoyed only observer status at the U.N. agency for
education, science and culture.
The demand for full membership was made by the Palestinian
Authority and won the approval of
107 member stateswith 14 votes against and 52 abstentions at the
organisation's General
Conference. A 185 of UNESCO's 194 member states were eligible to
vote.
Full membership of UNESCO is a small but significant step
forward for the Palestinians in their
attempts to gain international recognition and statehood.
Higgins to be Ireland's President
A prominent left-wing poet and peace activist, Michael D.
Higgins is to be Ireland's new
President succeeding the incumbent, Mary McAleese, who has been
the President of Ireland since
1997 having won two successive seven-year terms, the maximum
permitted under the Constitution.
Seventy-year-old Michael D. Higgins contested on behalf of the
Labour party.
His rivals conceded defeat even before the results were formally
announced.
Mr. Higgins has been an MP for nearly 25 years and a former
Minister for Arts and Culture.
In-Depth Current Affairs Important for the descriptive questions
in the IAS Main Examination; also helpful for Interview
and Essay Preparation |Words in bold are key terms or facts
Brussels Agreement to avert Eurozone Crisis
Possible Question/s for Main Examination
Question 1 | (250 Words): Discuss the main features of the
Brussels Agreement arrived at recently
in order to avert the deepening of the Eurozone debt crisis.
Recently in Brusells, the leaders of the Eurozone arrived at an
emergency three-pronged deal to fix
the eurozone's debt crisis. The main features of the three
pronged deal are as follows.
On Greek debt
-
Private banks holding Greek debt will accept a write-off of 50%
of their returns. The move is
expected to cut the nation's debt load to 120% of its GDP in
2020. Under current conditions, it would
have grown to 180%.
Bailout fund
The main euro bailout fund - known as the European Financial
Stability Facility (EFSF) - is to
be boosted from the 440 billion euros set up earlier this year
to 1trillion euros.
There is about 250 billion euros left available in the EFSF,
which will be leveraged 4-5 times.
This can be done in two ways:
1.By offering insurance to purchasers of eurozone members' debt
- in principle making their bonds
more attractive to investors and thereby lowering governments'
borrowing costs.
2.By setting up a special investment vehicle which big private
and public investors, including
countries such as China, could contribute to.
Both means could be used simultaneously depending on
circumstances.
The framework for the new, increased fund should be in place in
November.
Bank recapitalisation
European banks will be required to raise about 106 billion euros
in new capital by June 2012.
This would help shield them against losses resulting from any
government defaults and protect
larger economies - like Italy and Spain - from the market
turmoil.
Conclusion
The emergency deal of Brussels is comprehensive and is hoped to
mitigate the rigour of the debt
crisis which has threatened the financial stability of not just
Europe but virtually the entire global
economy.
Peace deal in Nepal
Possible Question/s for Main Examination
Question 1 | (250 Words): Discuss the recent multilateral
political agreement in Nepal. How will its
provisions help in political transition in the country?
A historic agreement has been arrived at among the main
political parties in Nepal. This
agreement ends political deadlock that has lasted more than
three years since Nepal made a
transition towards elected democracy.
The agreement was arrived at among the Unified Communist Party
of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali
Congress (NC), the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist
Leninist), and the Madhesi parties.
-
The agreement covers three areas, namely the 1. peace process,
2. Constitution writing and
3. power-sharing.
The main agreed points are as follows.
1.The future of 19,602 Maoist combatants has been settled. The
parties agreed to integrate a
maximum of 6,500 fighters into the Nepal Army (NA) and provide
rehabilitation and cash packages
to the rest. Combatants will be integrated on an individual
basis, and will have to meet the norms of
the security force. To determine ranks, the norms of the
security organs will be taken into account.
There will be bridging and educational courses for the
combatants. Those combatants who opt for
voluntary retirement will get between $6,300 and $10,000
approximately, depending on their rank.
There will be packages between $7,600 and $11,400 for those who
prefer rehabilitation.
2.Maoist weapons will come under the government.
3.The Maoists have also committed to return property confiscated
during the insurgency.
4.A Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Disappearances
Commission, a high-level political
mechanism to oversee the peace and Constitution process, and an
experts' team to address state
restructuring issues would also be constituted.
5.The parties have also agreed to complete the process of
regrouping of combatants by November
23.
6.The parties also agreed to prepare the first draft of the
Constitution by November 30.
7.Though not in the agreement, it is being believed that a
power-sharing arrangement had also been
worked out, whereby the NC will lead the government which will
hold elections after Constitution
promulgation.
The leaders have expressed optimism that the agreement would
enable the successful conclusion of
political transition in Nepal.
Science - Technology & Environment
Current Events Snippets Important for the IAS Preliminary
Examination & 2-mark and other short questions in the IAS
Main
Examination |Words in bold are key terms or facts
India close to eradicate Polio
India has reached close to wiping out polio.
-
There have been no new cases for more than nine months, making
it the longest polio-free period
since the global eradication campaign was launched.
The only case reported this year was in the state of West Bengal
in January 2011. There were 39
cases reported over a similar period in 2010.
India is one of only four countries in the world where polio is
still endemic. The virus is also prevalent
in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh has been one of the worst-affected
regions in the world's fight against polio
with hundreds of cases reported until a few years ago. Of the
549 polio cases in India in 2008, 297
were in Uttar Pradesh.
India's efforts to reduce polio cases have been praised by
international health organisations.
Every year, India holds two national immunisation days in
January and February and