central to green energy plan: U.K. climate change envoy Migrant camps near port cleared E-visa for Swedish nationals soon: Pranab India - Pakistan India, Belarus agree on road map

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FEATURED ARTICLE

TRANSFORMING CITIES INTO EFFICIENT URBAN LIVING SPACE

INDO-BANGLADESH RELATION

STATE ISSUES

Great Canara trails

Land purchase scheme

Nandini comes out with app

Alur Venkat Rao

New proposals for Bengaluru roads

Click to be part of BBMP restructuring exercise

From this year, Kannada to be first or second language in State board schools

State environment awards

Varsity launches certificate course for tourist guides

UNESCO State of Conservation” report on the World Heritage Site-- Hampi monuments

Karnataka to recover expenses from Tamil Nadu

Tamilnadu CM announces Rs. 41-cr. package for delta ryots

Suit against Karnataka for polluting rivers

Videoconferencing facility in State prisons soon

Telemedicine for Undertrials

Income limit of BC students raised to Rs. 6 lakh

Inter-district sand transport banned in DK

Mysore Silk saris

Calamity warning system

K B Koliwad Committee

Mysuru zoo

Presidential nod for essential services Bill

KSPCB reverts to one-year consent for red-category industries

Dandeli Elephant Reserve notified

Syllabus revision committee, headed by writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa

Shalege banni Shanivaara, Kaliyalu Needi Sahakara

Now, anyone can learn from IIMB

Teachers rate themselves high in self-assessment

Lok Adalat for vehicle accident claim cases

Remote sensing centre gets new campus

Now, Vastra Bhagya for BPL families

Traditional fishing begins in Malpe

MCC launches emergency response units

Mangaluru has become child-labour free’

Four suspected Bodo militants held in Bengaluru

Compulsory rural medical service to kick in Karnataka from current academic year


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Online blood banking networking project to be launched on June 18

Industrial park to come up in Chamarajanagar district

Kaiga nuclear power plant to get two more units

‘Krishi Abhiyan

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP)

Karnataka reaches out to global investors

Lingambudhi Lake in Mysore to be conserved as biodiversity hotspot

Efforts on to conserve Bandur sheep

State govt. issues orders to drop communal violence cases

Karnataka to get six smart cities

Three-member Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Restructuring Committee

Three tourist circuits identified to increase footfall in Cauvery basin

BSNL to offer free WiFi at tourist destinations

Lakes left high and dry: CAG report

NATIONAL ISSUES

Govt. issues controversial land ordinance for third time

RBI cuts repo rate

I&B Ministry asked to review DD News head’s appointment

The Rule of Law Index 2015

No interim maintenance for qualified woman, rules judge

Cattle smuggling sans borders

Ban on web app-based taxis remains in Delhi

Coal mines auction

New demand by States could hit GST rollout

Lead content in enamel paints high in the country

Prasar bharati regains its autonomy

Education loan default will affect credit score

River Ganga will show first signs of being pollution-free

Live Ink Character Recognition--technology eases evaluation

Konkan Railway takes the green route

Events on International Yoga Day

EPFO to invest 5% of funds in equity market

Dutch expertise for Mumbai’s coastal road project

RuPay

Ashobaa

Rs. 6,000-crore loan to help sugar mills clear cane arrears

Strategic debt revamp scheme

Army's clinical operation in N-E

Myanmar’s objections to Indian Army's opeartions

CCTVs to be installed at U.P.-Nepal border

PM reviews progress of Swachh Bharat Mission


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Ban to be re-imposed on NSCN(K)

Mansarovar yatra begins

Govt. accepts a proposal to experiment with a solar-powered goods train

Rs. 1,500-cr. nuclear insurance

Panel to verify implementation of RTE Act

4,300 from Afghanistan, Pak get citizenship

Fear runs high in enclaves

More housewives committing suicide, NCRB records show

Mandatory warning won’t make alcohol unsafe

Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)

Sakaar

One Rank One Pension

Government plans 20 million houses for urban poor

Revised minimum support price

Bandhan Financial Services to start bank on August 23

Panel on restructuring of the Indian Railways

Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2015

River board notifies Krishna water allocation

MEA to recruit experts from private sector

NALSAR university,Hyderabad issues gender-neutral certificate

Black money law to have compliance window

Free distance education for transgenders, visually challenged

Navy transfers Kiran jet trainers to Air Force

Sovereign Gold Bonds

Draft amendments to Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR).

MOM completes 100th orbit around Mars

Hackathon

India ranked best for investment

Eastern and western dedicated freight corridors

Rashtrapati Bhavan to get an AYUSH centre

New textiles policy aims at 35 million jobs, foreign investment

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

India-Bangladesh

India and Sweden

U.S.A. Patriot Act

Myanmar escorts 700 migrants toward Rakhine

India central to green energy plan: U.K. climate change envoy

Migrant camps near port cleared

E-visa for Swedish nationals soon: Pranab

India - Pakistan

India, Belarus agree on road map for stronger ties


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India raises with U.S. arms sale to Pak.

India signs pact on automatic exchange of tax information

Knowledge network to be open to all SAARC nations

NSA surveillance reform

Large Hadron Collider resumes atom smashing after two-year pause

Israel brands boycott movement a ‘strategic threat’

Political formation for Indian Tamils launched

MEA dismisses U.S. panel hearing on religious freedom

Modi wanted LAC clarified

Pluto’s moons are in a chaotic rhythm

India--Netherlands

China blamed for massive U.S. data breach

The China-India Line of Actual Control (LAC)

French Open

Nepal deadlock on a new constitution

Sri Lankan Cabinet clears new electoral system

Africa: 26-nation free trade pact signed

India ink four-nation Motor Vehicle Agreement

Pakistan violates ceasefire

India to attend Donors’ Conference in Nepal

Countries support India's labour inspection reforms

Yunnan, W. Bengal the key drivers for BCIM

INSTC members discuss dry runs along Caspian Sea

Saudi strikes hit heritage site

Agriculture a key area in Delhi-Colombo ties

Land pact rollout in next 11 months

Turkey allows entry to Syrian refugees

Greece Crisis

Pak.-Russia deal on Mi-35 copters

World gets ready for Yoga Day

India – Tanzania cooperation

Kanishka blast memorial

India moves to reset ties with Iran

BCIM economic corridor

Indo-Myanmar relationship

U.S. Supreme Court ruled gay and lesbian couples enjoyed a constitutional right to marry

India and Thailand

INS Teg/ India-Seychelles

Unmanned SpaceX rocket explodes after Florida launch

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)


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TRANSFORMING CITIES INTO EFFICIENT URBAN

LIVING SPACE

The Prime Minister launched three missions on Smart Cities, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, and Housing for All.

States and Union Territories will have a greater say in implementation of the three flagship schemes for urban development

Operational guidelines for implementation of Smart Cities, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All by 2022 in urban areas were released at the launch of these three mega projects.

According to the guidelines, the states and Union Territories will have full liberty and flexibility in formulation, approval and execution of projects under the three missions.

The Centre has virtually withdrawn from the earlier practice of appraising and sanctioning individual projects, thereby ending the scope for subjectivity and discretion.

Based on the learnings of implementation of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) that ended up in “sub-optimal physical and financial performance”, Urban Development and Housing for Urban Poverty Alleviation ministries have sought to ensure timely sanction and execution and certainty of resources for various projects and participation of citizens in identifying development needs under the new urban schemes.

The major new provisions incorporated in the guidelines and common to all the three urban missions include objective criteria for selection of cities and allocation of funds.

Smart City project aims development 100 Smart Cities while 500 cities are being identified under AMRUT. Housing for All renamed as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana envisages construction of 2 crore affordable houses for poor in urban areas.

According to the guidelines, potential Smart Cities and AMRUT cities are to be based on an objective and equitable criteria giving equal weightage to urban population and number of statutory cities in each State/UT.


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For smart city development, each selected city will be provided central assistance of Rs 100 cr per year while under AMRUT, allocation of funds will be as per urban population and number of cities/towns in each state/UT.

The guidelines allow States/UTs to appraise and approve individual projects unlike in the past when Union Urban Ministry to do so.

To avoid delays and non-completion of projects on due to lack of resources, States/UTs will now be required to firmly indicate resource tie ups under state level action plans.

To enhance urban governance, clear action plans for timely implementation of identified reforms need to be indicated and consultations with urban citizens made mandatory to ensure need based and bottom up planning of projects.

The public-private partnership model shall be the main resource of resource mobilisation and there will be involvement of MPs and MLAs in formulation and monitoring of projects.

Smart Cities

Rs 48,000 crore would be spent on creating 100 smart cities across India. Based on the population and area, a fix number has been allocated for each state.

Hence, Uttar Pradesh, the most populated state will get 13 smart cities, meanwhile Tamil Nadu will receive 12 smart cities. Maharashtra will get 10 cities, while Karnataka and Gujarat will get 6 each.

A ‘City Challenge Competition’ will be held among all nominated cities, to determine the most eligible of them for conversion into smart cities.

What is Smart city?

A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated sensor networks and data centres.

In a smart city, economic development and activity is sustainable and rationally incremental by virtue of being based on success-oriented market drivers such as supply and demand. They benefit everybody, including citizens, businesses, the government and the environment.

60 such cities would be developed in the first phase.

The Centre plans to link financing to the ability of each city to meet the mission objectives.

Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) will be created for each selected city and the respective states will be responsible to ensure that adequate resources are made available to the SPVs.


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AMRUT/ Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

A mission aimed at transforming 500 cities and towns into efficient urban living spaces, with special focus on a healthy and green environment for children.

Under AMRUT, states shall transfer funds to urban local bodies within 7 days of transfer by central government and no diversion of funds be made, failing which penal interest would be charged besides taking other adverse action by the centre.

Attributes

Cooperative federalism- Freedom to States/ULBs to design and implement.

Service Delivery – Focus on infrastructure that leads to delivery of services to citizens.

Reforms Incentivised – 10% incentive for Achievement of Reforms.

Capacity building strategy.

O&M of infrastructure built-in at Planning stage itself.

Focus on Planning before hand

Thrust Areas

Water supply

Sewerage facilities and septage management

Storm water drains to reduce flooding

Pedestrian, non-motorized and public transport

Facilities, parking spaces


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Enhancing amenity value of cities by creating and Upgrading green spaces, parks and recreation Centers, especially for children.

Coverage

Five hundred (500) cities will be taken up having a population greater than one lakh (100,000)

Funds Allocation

Formula for Allocation to States - total population and number of statutory urban towns (50:50)

State contribution to the project cost shall not be less than 20%.

Funds distribution – Project fund - 80% of the annual budgetary allocation (90% during first year). Incentive for Reforms - 10%

Schemes covered –

Water supply

Sewerage network

Septage management

Storm water drainage

Urban Transport

Green spaces and parks

Mission Management

National Level – Apex Committee (AC) chaired by Secretary (UD)

State Level – High Powered Steering Committee (SHPSC) chaired by State Chief Secretary and SLTC chaired by the Principal Secretary

District Level – Review and Monitoring Committee (DLRMC) cochaired by Member(s) of Parliament with the District Collector

City Level – ULBs will be responsible for Implementation of Mission

Reforms

The Mission mandates a set of 11 reforms which have to be implemented by all the States and Mission cities.

Each year some Reforms to be implemented and 10% has been set aside as incentives for States/ULBs graded on basis of each year’s reform achievement.

Technical and Financial assistance will be given for Reform implementation

The 11 reforms to be implemented in four years include:


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Promoting e-governance, improving collection of various taxes, fee and user charges, Augmenting double entry accounting, constitution and professionalisation of municipal cadre, preparation of GIS based Master Plans, devolution of funds and functionaries to urban local bodies, review of building by-laws, setting up financial intermediaries for pooling and disbursement of resources, credit rating of urban local bodies, energy and water audit and achieving Swachh Bharat milestones.

Action Plans should provide for operation and maintenance costs for assets created for at least five years based on user charges.

Instead of penalising States/urban local bodies for non-implementation of reforms by linking fund release with progress on reforms resulting in delays, the guidelines now provide for incentivising reforms by earmarking 10 per cent of annual allocation to be allocated to good performers at the end of each year.

So how are the two projects different?

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) has a wider reach in terms of the number of cities covered and therefore the funds available for each city would be proportionately less.

The mission takes a project approach in working towards improving existing basic infrastructure services like extending clean drinking water supply, improving sewerage networks, developing septage management, laying of storm water drains, improving public transport services and creating green public spaces like parks etc, with special focus on creating healthy open spaces for children.

500 cities and towns will be selected on the basis of population i.e. one lakh and above, while the other criteria of selection will apply for certain locations like tourist popularity, cities located at the stems of main rivers, certain popular hill towns and some select islands.

The centre is laying out guidelines on the basis of which states will be free to suggest cities that they wish to bring under AMRUT.

AMRUT is actually a new avatar of the existing JNNURM and will extend support to till 2017 to those projects that are at least 50% complete under the earlier JNNURM. Over 400 existing projects are likely to benefit from this.

The Smart Cities Mission

The Smart Cities Mission will focus on developing 100 select Smart cities by focusing on optimising efficiencies in urban services and infrastructure management, with proactive use of technology and people participation.

The Mission will support each selected city with Rs 100 crore per year, for a period of five years.


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Given the fact that each city and town is unique and has its own priorities for development, the Centre proposes an ‘area based’ approach to development that will cover retrofitting or redevelopment as per Local Area Plan.

While retrofitting will focus on removing deficiencies in existing local infrastructure, redevelopment will focus on re-building those areas where existing infrastructure cannot be converted or improved further due to limitations of space.

The Smart Cities Mission will also look at optimizing basic core infrastructure services like clean drinking water supply, optimized power distribution, introducing efficient solid waste management, affordable housing to cater to various sections, efficient and intelligent public transportation systems and active use of IT infrastructure to improve service delivery and management.

New cities planned will incorporate all aspects of urban infrastructure and ensure green and sustainable living.

How it incentivises the states?

Through both these missions, the Centre has taken a fresh approach by involving active participation by the states and giving the control to ‘shortlist’ cities and towns to be brought under the respective missions and take responsibility for their implementation and fund allocation

In addition, the state will undertake supervision and monitoring of project milestones, as per agreed guidelines.

Unlike earlier practice, the Centre will not appraise project performance and will leave that to the respective states. Central contribution of funds release will be linked to broad mission objectives being met.

The states will be free to ‘suggest’ cities as per selection matrix laid out by the centre. For instance, for the Smart Cities Project, a ‘Smart City Challenge’ competition will be launched for cities that wish to come under the mission plan.

Central funding to the states for each city will be released in three installments in the ratio of 20:40:40 and would be linked to milestones being achieved, as per State Annual Action Plan.

To promote early implementation by the states, the centre will incentivise the states by offering to release 10% of the budget allocation, based on reforms implementation in the previous year.

Challenges ahead

Till now central control over projects did not succeed in improving or incentivising state level involvement. With the new approach of extending central funding support and leaving it to the states to execute and monitor the projects as per their priorities and local needs, the centre has shifted the challenge and responsibility to the states.

The problem is that municipal functioning at the state level is heavily politicized and corrupt. The big question is – will the states be able to rise above petty politics and ensure corrupt free and efficient implementation of mission objectives?


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There cannot be a successful urban mission of transformation without establishing the requisite professionally run management structure, with necessary checks and balances built-in, and one that has the ability to adopt technology and deliver efficient services.

Both ‘AMRUT’ and the ‘Smart Cities Mission’ have come under criticism for being too ambitious and offering too little by way of funding.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)- Housing for All by 2022

The Prime Minister observed that a house would be a major turning point in the lives of the poor as it would motivate them towards higher goals like earning and saving more for further bettering their living standards.

The Government is committed to enable 2 cr urban poor own their houses by the year 2022, the 75 year of Independence of the Country.

According to current estimates, the urban population of the country, which has already seen a sharp increase over the past decade, is set to see a phenomenal growth in the years to come.

One of the biggest challenges faced by the country will be providing affordable housing, sanitation and development, and a safe environment to the city dwellers.

It is to address these issues that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Housing for All by 2022 scheme, also known as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) on 25 June 2015 at a launch ceremony in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Components/options to States/Union Territories and cities

1. Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using land as a resource.

2. Promotion of affordable housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy. 3. Affordable housing in partnership with Public & Private sectors 4. Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.

Scheme Details

According to the terms of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the government of India will undertake to construct about two crore houses by the year 2022.

Each house provided under the scheme will involve a central grant of about INR 1 lakh which may go up to INR 2.3 lakhs. This will come as part of a 6.5 percent interest rate subsidy scheme (previous schemes had an interest rate subsidy of about 1 percent).

Currently housing loan interest rates are estimated at about 10.5 percent. The subsidy should, therefore be a major relief to applicants. The ‘Housing for All’ scheme will replace all previous government housing schemes such as the Rajiv Awas Yojana.

According to preliminary estimates, the Housing for All by 2022 will cost the central government about INR three lakh crore spread over the next seven years.

Apart from the PMAY itself, the government has come up with a number of incentives and subsidies for the development of housing in urban areas. One of these is the grant of INR 1


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lakh per beneficiary to state governments for the development of housing projects in slum areas.

Transgenders and widows, members of the lower income groups and urban poor, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be granted preference when they try to avail the affordable housing scheme.

Apart from these groups members of society who often find themselves out of a home, seniors and differently-abled people shall also gain preference in allotment of houses.

It is also mandatory that while registering to avail the benefits of the scheme, the beneficiaries must necessarily mention their mother or wife’s name.

Conclusion

It must be seen in the context where most cities and towns in India have suffered years of neglect, with minimal investment in improving existing infrastructure or building new ones. This mission is a beginning towards initiating the much needed transformation.

After all, urban infrastructure development cannot stop with one government but must remain a part of an ongoing process. The fact that this government has initiated steps with active participation from the states, could well give much needed impetus to an overstressed and obsolete infrastructure

Through implementation of these missions, the Central government hopes to catalyze transformation of approach and functioning of the existing municipal corporations into professionally run efficient bodies.

For mission success, it is imperative to introduce professional staff that can introduce e-governance, transparency in project tendering and monitoring, reviewing existing Building by-laws, transparent and efficient funds allocation and management, efficient tax collection mechanisms, and most of all, inclusion of people participation and focus on people-centric services.

If successful, this will indeed be a significant step for India to seriously build a nationwide green and sustainable urban infrastructure.


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STATE ISSUES

Great Canara trails

The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Tourism Ministry have given the green signal to the Great Canara trails, the longest jungle trail in India.

The 270-kilometre-long foot trek trail, which will be open to people in November, was created by the Forest department for the Karnataka State Eco-Tourism Development Board (KSETDB).

It will be popularised and operated by the Tourism department along with Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR).

The 25-day long Great Canara trails will have 17 camps and will cover some parts of Eco-Trails (which offers smaller day-long 10 km treks).

Trekking is becoming a trend in India now and many in the State want to explore the Western Ghats. So far, people relied on private unregulated companies for the treks

The trail starts at Jog Falls and ends at Castle Rock passing through Katlekan - Garuda Jog - Unchalli, Devimane Ghat - Shivaganga Falls - Ganesh Falls - Bedti River Valley - Lalguli - Kali River - Shivapura in Anshi - Ulavi - Kumbarawada - Kuveshi - Diggi.

Land purchase scheme

State-run Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Development Corporation scheme for Scheduled Caste (SC) help landless SCs to purchase land.

Under this scheme only the landless agricultural labourers from the Scheduled Caste are eligible to purchase land from non-SC/ST landholders.

A committee headed by an MLA identifies beneficiaries. The land identified should be within five-km radius from beneficiary’s residence


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Beneficiary gets financial aid without much difficulty if land identified is located near the road besides having potential for growing commercial crops and being used for commercial purposes

Under the scheme, since its inception in 1990-91, two acres of dry land or one acre of wetland is purchased and registered in the name of woman beneficiary of the family. Fifty per cent of the subsidy and 50 per cernt term loan with six per cent rate of interest is given to the beneficiary, who has to repay the loan in 20 annual instalments.

Nandini comes out with app

On the occasion of World Milk Day Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which sells its products under the brand Nandini, has launched a mobile app “KMF Nandini”, which will allow customers to book milk and other products with the click of a button.

It assures customers of delivery within four hours and no booking charges. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched the app said that children studying in classes 1 to 10

and those in anganwadis will be served milk five days a week under the Ksheera Bhagya scheme “soon”, instead of three days a week at present.

Initiated in 2001, World Milk Day celebrates all aspects of milk, with particular focus on its usage to counter malnutrition.

Alur Venkat Rao

There is a proposal to rename Albert Victor Road or Alur Venkat Rao Road as Tipu Sultan Palace Road.

The initials A.V. stand for both Albert Victor and Alur Venkat Rao. The road was named after Prince of Wales Albert Victor to commemorate his visit to the city to inaugurate the Glass House in Lalbagh. It was probably renamed in the late 1960s and early 1970s when a number of roads that had Colonial names were rechristened

Known as Karnataka Kulapurohita, Alur Venkat Rao was the leading figure of the Karnataka unification movement. He was an eminent historian, a dedicated writer and journalist.

He made use of the press for the cause of Karnataka. When he started editing and publishing the newspaper ‘Jaya Karnataka’, he declared in its very first edition that the sole aim of the newspaper was to strive for Karnataka’s statehood.

How can the roads be renamed?

Names can be mooted by anyone, either the public or the BBMP council. The proposal for renaming is then published in newspapers and objections are invited. The objections are discussed in the council. In the absence of a council, the administrator takes a decision. The approved resolution is moved to the State Urban Development Department, which renames places in the city


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New proposals for Bengaluru roads

Skywalks--The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), after studying the feasibility for construction of pedestrian skywalks in 120 locations across the city, has now chosen 54 junctions.

As per the proposal, the skywalks will be managed on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis by private investors, who will pay ground rent to the BBMP. The investors will be able earn revenue by renting out space on the skywalks for advertisements.

City in-charge minister said that the new works should be completed by the year-end. He added that proposals for various works under Nagarottana Scheme (Rs. 1,000 crore for 2014-15 and Rs. 1,500 crore for 2015-16) and Chief Minister’s special grants (Rs. 1,000 crore) are ready.

Of this, road improvements will be taken up at a cost of Rs. 1,000 crore and will be executed by the Public Works Department.

With civic polls due in July, BBMP officials have been directed to immediately take up works already approved and begin tender process for works worth Rs. 3,500 crore.

He said that the heavy rains that lashed the city over the past few days have left a tell tale sign on the city roads. To fill potholes on major roads, tenders for Rs. 5 crore will be floated shortly. Emergency fund of Rs. 1 lakh per ward has also been set aside to fill potholes on other roads. He, however, pointed out that officials were not able to take up pothole filling due to incessant rains.

To ensure that construction debris is not dumped by the roads, special night squads would be formed. These squads will monitor certain areas where dumping of construction debris is common.

Each division would be given a 4G data card soon. This will be used to upload work-related documents online for verification by the Technical Vigilance Cell under Commissioner (TVCC).

Special teams have been formed to inspect quality of works executed already and submit the reports to TVCC for verification before the bills are cleared.

Click to be part of BBMP restructuring exercise

The current zones in BBMP are not tenable for the future, as

1. they are not scientific and 2. the zonal characteristics vary significantly. 3. There also is no balance in the zones in terms of the property tax collections, area,

population etc.

The BBMP Restructuring Committee has developed an app where citizens can select wards to be part of a zone. The committee is proposing 12 zones, instead of the current eight, for better administration.

Clearly, there is a case to rethink the zones. Through this app, citizens can create the zones by choosing contiguous wards


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Through trial and error, citizens can try to balance the zones in various parameters. Ideally, the area of each zone should be around 70 sq km and with a population ranging from eight to 10 lakh.

Irrespective of the number of corporations to be formed, it is imperative that there are 12 zones. Once the number of corporations is decided, the zones can be equally distributed among them. This way, there will be equitable distribution of resources.

From this year, Kannada to be first or second language in State board schools

State board schools that are teaching Kannada as the third language will now have to teach it as the first or second language for class 1 in the 2015-16 academic year.

This is one of the provisions of the Kannada Language Learning Act, 2015 that was gazetted last month and passed in the Assembly in April. On Tuesday, officials of the Department of Public Instruction held a meeting to frame rules for the Act.

To ensure that children who have come from other parts of the State are not affected, the government has taken a decision to introduce the basics only for class 1 this year.

The department has, however, kept Central board schools, including ICSE and CBSE, out of the ambit of the Act this year. Although the State government, while issuing a no-objection certificate which is needed to start a Central board school, states that Kannada should be compulsorily taught as a subject, many schools do not follow this clause.

State environment awards

State environment awards will be conferred on C. Lakshman, Harish Joshi, and Parimala at a function to be held in Bengaluru on June 5 to mark World Environment Day. The award carries a purse of Rs. 1 lakh and citation.

Besides this, the Solid Waste Management Round Table, Bengaluru; Bantanuru Village Forest Committee, Mudhol range, in Bagalkot district; and Eco-Development Committee Aurali village; will receive awards for their contribution to protecting the environment.

Varsity launches certificate course for tourist guides

Karnataka Tourism Department, in association with Mangalore University, has started a four-month free certificate course for preparing guides for the tourism industry.

On completing the course, the candidate would get a certificate from the university and licence as tourist guide from the department

It would be a mixture of classroom and practical learning. Of the four months, one month would be earmarked for practical training at different tourist destinations. Students need not pay any fee, including for examination, to pursue the course.

The training would impart knowledge and information pertaining to various aspects of the tourism industry with special reference to Karnataka and its coastal region.


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UNESCO State of Conservation” report on the World Heritage Site-- Hampi monuments

Commends the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority (HWHAMA) – which manages the site – for progress in numerous issues

Cultivation of paddy and sugarcane pose a threat to the conservation, Traffic close to the site and seasonal flooding of the Tungabhadra are challenges. The threat of agriculture, explains archaeologists, is water-logging that weakens the

foundation of minor monuments situated on farm land. There have been incidents of monuments sinking or damage caused due to dampness and wetness.

The HWHAMA had, in their submission to the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO in February, expressed the same concern and had even chalked out a broad plan involving awareness on sustainable practises to protect monuments and artefacts that might be lying buried in the area.

The UNESCO report, however, praises the efforts of the authority in clearing debris from the collapsed Anegundi bridge. It must be remembered that construction of the bridge had put the site in the “danger” category between 1999 and 2006.

Karnataka to recover expenses from Tamil Nadu

The Karnataka government has decided to recover all expenditure incurred by it during hearing of the disproportionate assets case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa from the State government.

Karnataka has decided to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka High Court’s verdict acquitting Ms. Jayalalithaa

Tamilnadu CM announces Rs. 41-cr. package for delta ryots

With no chance of opening the Mettur dam for kuruvai crop, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday announced a Rs 41-crore package benefitting farmers in the delta region.

According to an official release, the storage level at Mettur dam stood at 72.64 feet and the inflow was 7,058 cusecs. Even if Karnataka releases 10 tmcft of water as per the Cauvery tribunal’s final award, the storage will only be 79 feet at the end of June.

For opening the dam on the scheduled date of June 12, a minimum storage of 90 feet was required, the Chief Minister said ruling out such a possibility this year.

However, she announced a package to motivate farmers to take up kuruvai cultivation as the rainfall this summer has been good . As against the average rainfall of 128 mm during summer, the State has received 241.3 mm enhancing the groundwater table waiting to be tapped.

Suit against Karnataka for polluting rivers

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday moved the Supreme Court, accusing the State of Karnataka for dumping untreated sewage and industrial effluents in the Cauvery and Pennaiyar rivers, considered life-giving water sources for Tamil Nadu.


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In a suit for permanent and mandatory injunction, the government blamed Karnataka for “gross dereliction of duty as a welfare State under the Constitution” by denying the people of Tamil Nadu the right to access clean water.

Its inaction has become a threat to lives and crops in Tamil Nadu. The State has sought the right to claim damages from Karnataka for discharging polluted water into Tamil Nadu.

The State government has made the Union also a party in the suit, saying it failed in its legal and constitutional duty to ensure that Karnataka complied with its social obligation and responsibility to comply with the prescribed standards before letting effluents into rivers.

The Tamil Nadu government said no attempt was made by Karnataka to set up effluent treatment plants, reverse osmosis systems or drainage facilities to purify the polluted water discharged into the rivers.

Pinpointing the rapidly industrialising and highly populated Bengaluru as a major source of water pollution, Tamil Nadu said Karnataka's capital city was growing at an astronomical rate and the projected population would be more than one crore by 2020, leaving the rivers even dirtier.

The suit quotes Karnataka's own Minor Irrigation Minister as saying that around 889 million litres of sewage water enters Tamil Nadu through the Pinakini and South Pennar river courses and the remaining sewage water flows to Cauvery through the Arkavathi river on a daily basis into Tamil Nadu.

Videoconferencing facility in State prisons soon

Finally, in an effort to reduce the cumbersome exercise of escorting undertrials to courts and preventing them from escaping, the government will set up videoconferencing facilities in all 62 prisons in the State.

Through the facility, undertrials will not miss their hearing too, as prisons across the State are linked to courts.

The cost of the project is an estimated Rs. 30 crore. The State government will procure high-resolution cameras to ensure clear visibility of undertrials. A sub-committee comprising of officials from Law, Home and e-Governance has been constituted to work out the modalities.

The committee has been asked to submit its report in the next 15 days and it would placed before the State Cabinet for approval.

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra and Home Minister K.J. George told presspersons on Friday that the move is aimed at avoiding the cost and time consumed in escorting undertrials from the prison to courts and back.

Perhaps, Karnataka is the first State in the country to provide this facility in all prisons linked with criminal courts.

Telemedicine for Undertrials

While it may not be possible to avoid visits to hospitals for undertrials completely, the government will now work towards bringing telemedicine facility in all prisons to reduce such “medical visits”. The facility is at present available only in a few prisons in the State.


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“Many prisoners who do not wish to spend time in jail give medical excuses to get themselves admitted to jail wards in hospitals. They cannot offer lame medical excuses to escape from imprisonment hereafter

Income limit of BC students raised to Rs. 6 lakh

The State government has enhanced the income limit of candidates from backward classes to Rs. 6 lakh with immediate effect.

This means that the competition for the seats reserved for categories 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B is set to get fiercer.

Inter-district sand transport banned in DK

The Dakshina Kannada district administration has banned inter-district transportation of sand with immediate effect.

Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim issued the District Magistrate order to this effect on Saturday, stating that the construction industry in the district has been facing severe shortage of sand and hence the ban.

He further directed all officials concerned to sand-laden trucks and impose hefty fines if they were found violating the ban order.

The administration had allowed inter-district movement of sand a few months ago following directions from the state government to ensure sand supply to Bengaluru and neighbouring regions that had been facing shortage of sand.

Mysore Silk saris

The State government has given its nod to revamp the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC)-run factories in Mysuru and T. Narsipur for enhancing the quality of silk yarn and fabric.

The two units are engaged in the manufacture of silk goods — from raw silk yarn to silk fabrics. The T. Narsipur factory produces raw silk yarn which is transferred to the Mysuru factory for processing and producing quality silk products.

The silk weaving factory in Mysore, presently owned by KSIC, was established in the year 1912 by the Maharaja of Mysore province.

Initially the silk fabrics were manufactured & supplied to meet the requirements of the royal family and ornamental fabrics to their armed forces.

The unit was started with 10 looms and gradually increased to 44 looms over a period. The looms and preparatory machines were imported from Switzerland and was the first of its kind in India.

After India gained Independence the Mysore state Sericulture Dept took control of the silk weaving factory.


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Calamity warning system

A warning system to give alerts about natural calamities - especially tsunamis and floods - will soon be set up in the State’s coastal areas.

The Rs nine-crore project would be implemented with aid from the World Bank. The coastal sensors would have alert centres at the offices of the deputy commissioners in

the headquarters of the respective districts. These would be connected to the head office in Bengaluru.

K B Koliwad Committee

K B Koliwad Committee, constituted to inquire into the encroachment of lakes in and around Bengaluru

The panel is waiting for the completion of an ongoing survey of lakes in the City before finalising its recommendations.

Faced with a public outcry, the State government had recently decided to halt the demolition of houses on lakebeds in BDA layouts till it gets a report from the Koliwad Committee.

Mysuru zoo

The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has given its nod to Sakkarbaug zoo at Junagadh in Gujarat to spare an Asiatic lioness to Mysuru zoo under an animal exchange programme to speed up captive breeding.

Asiatic lions have been listed as endangered species, surviving only in the Gir forest in Gujarat. Sakkarbaug zoo is famous for breeding Asiatic lions.

Presidential nod for essential services Bill

The Karnataka Essential Services Maintenance Bill, which was passed in the Legislative Assembly in 2013, has now got the President’s assent

The Bill, popularly known as ESMA, is aimed at putting an end to employees working in service sectors such as water, power, health and transport, going on strike and causing inconvenience to people

The legislation allows for the police to arrest a striking employee without warrant. The definition under ESMA for essential services include any service connected with the

“production, generation, storage, transmission, supply or distribution of water or electricity, and any transportation service for the carriage of passengers or goods by motor vehicles”.

KSPCB reverts to one-year consent for red-category industries

Under severe criticism from civil society and from ex-officio members, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB decided to revert to the one-year consent period for red-category industries

In March this year, the board had increased it to five years.


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The KSPCB, in an alleged bid to cut red tape, had increased the consent period for large red-category industries that includes airports, tanneries, production of industrial gasses, fertilizers, pesticides, among others, to five years.

Dandeli Elephant Reserve notified

The State government has officially notified the Dandeli Elephant Reserve, spread over 2,321.119 sq km — including 475.018 sq km as core and the remaining as buffer areas, apart from notifying the expansion of Mysuru Elephant Reserve.

Similarly, the Mysuru Elephant Reserve, which was established in 2002 and is spread over 3,103.40 sq km, has been expanded by bringing Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and neighbouring areas under its ambit

Project Elephant was launched in 1992 as a Central-sponsored scheme to protect elephant habitats, including its corridors, and resolve human-elephant conflicts rampant in many States. Karnataka was one of the States included in the project in view of the high density of elephants. As per the 2012 census, there were an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 elephants in the State with a high density in Mysuru-Chamarajanagar-Kodagu belt.

Syllabus revision committee, headed by writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa

The recently constituted syllabus revision committee, headed by writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa, has taken the initiative to gather feedback from as many teachers as possible. For this purpose, the committee has sent out questionnaires to teachers, through several teachers’ associations.

The committee was constituted in May this year by the government, in the light of several complaints pertaining to errors in textbooks.

The syllabus revision committee will not only be looking at errors in the textbooks, but will also be taking up the task of revising some of the content.

Shalege banni Shanivaara, Kaliyalu Needi Sahakara

The scheme aims to improve quality of teaching and bring exposure to lakhs of students of 48,909 government schools across the State from July.

Programme to involve citizens as teachers in its schools, with the slogan Shalege banni Shanivaara, Kaliyalu Needi Sahakara (Come to school on Saturdays, help in learning).

Now, anyone can learn from IIMB

Starting this July, anyone anywhere in the world can log on to IIMBx through edX (a non-profit online initiative by MIT and Harvard) and learn one or more Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) any time.

it is necessary to upgrade the skills of a vast majority of workers to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’. This could mean having management programmes for small businesses and kirana store owners.


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Teachers rate themselves high in self-assessment

Various studies have expressed concern over low learning levels among students of government schools. But results of a teachers’ self-assessment exercise show that about 68 per cent of them have “met expectation” and about 17 per cent of them have “surpassed expectation”.

The Performance Indicators for Elementary School Teachers report has been compiled by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan based on the self-assessment conducted for around 1.74 lakh government primary school teachers in the State. Only 13.87 per cent of the teachers have not met the overall expectation.

Teachers have rated themselves highly on the seven parameters, and a majority of them have met expectation in areas such teacher attendance. The parameter which has the least number of teachers meeting expectation is professional growth.

The report was presented at a meeting of senior officials of the Department of Public Instruction on Wednesday. “The self-assessment analysis does not seem to match with the child’s learning levels. Teachers have overestimated themselves and the department is planning to conduct a test for teachers which will probably present a more balanced picture,” a department official said.

The Karnataka School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council (KSQAAC) report and the Annual Status of Education Report, among others, had pointed out low learning levels among children and had expressed concerns over community participation and innovative activities in schools.

Lok Adalat for vehicle accident claim cases

With over 65,000 motor vehicle accident claim (MVAC) cases pending, the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) has decided to organise an exclusive Lok Adalat to facilitate amicable settlement of such cases across taluks and districts on June 13.

Remote sensing centre gets new campus

The State is the first in the country to embark on an ambitious Karnataka Geographical Information System (K-GIS) initiative that will catalyse seamless planning across departments.

Mr. Patil earlier inaugurated the new campus of the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC) at Doddabettahalli, near Yelahanka, and also the K-GIS prototype portal. The Cabinet recently sanctioned Rs. 150 crore to implement it.

The State centre has provided images from remote sensing satellites and GIS data for over 100 development programmes in the State.

The K-GIS, when in place, will enable public to access details of government works. The portal provides 54 parameters.


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Now, Vastra Bhagya for BPL families

If all goes well, the State government will offer free clothes under one more of its ‘Bhagya’ series of schemes. It will go by the name of ‘Vastra Bhagya’, and will be for below poverty line (BPL) families in the next fiscal (2016-17).

Clothes would be given either free of cost or at subsidised prices during two or three major festivals.

All clothes will be purchased from State weavers. There are 1.25 lakh power-looms in the State and 10,000 weavers’ societies.

The Congress government has so far implemented Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya, Pashu Bhagya and Krishi Bhagya and Arogya Bhagya schemes to BPL and APL families in the State.

Traditional fishing begins in Malpe

It is once again that time of the year when one sees traditional boats off the Malpe coast doing fishing. The fishing season for the traditional or country-boat fishermen began after they offered prayers to the sea on Malpe beach

These zones have their own groups of traditional fishermen. The mechanised fishing boats do not go for fishing during this season as there is a ban on their activity from June 1 to July 31 (inclusive of both days).

Some fishermen were sore about the uniform fishing ban of two months announced by the government.

MCC launches emergency response units

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) on Thursday launched the Emergency Response Unit to handle rain-related havoc and assist the public.

Three such vehicles — one for each Assembly segment in the city — have been launched and will function day and night, in shifts. The units will be equipped with a 5 h.p. pump to flush out water, a mechanised axe to remove trees which collapse during rain, and other safety equipment to handle emergencies.

The emergency response units have the mandate to flush out water from low-lying areas during heavy rain and shift people to safe places; to clear the roads off trees and branches that may have fallen during the rain; to be mobile at night and crack down on illegal constructions in jurisdictional limits; and clearing encroachments, among others

Mangaluru has become child-labour free’

Labour Minister P.T. Parameshwar Naik said Mangaluru, in coastal Karnataka, has become child-labour free and he expects other cities to follow suit.

World Day Against Child Labour programme organised by the State government on Friday. The theme this year was: ‘No to Child Labour, Yes to Quality Education’.

Four suspected Bodo militants held in Bengaluru


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This is not the first time that modules of Bodo militants have been busted in the city. Eleven suspected Bodo militants have been arrested here since 2015.

Security agencies in Assam have been on a hot pursuit of militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), who allegedly perpetrated a series of ethnic riots in July 2012, and in May and December 2014.

Why Bengaluru?

After New Delhi, it is Bengaluru which houses the largest migrant population from the Northeast. So this is where they can easily merge within the community and remain out of the radar

Strengthening community policing in the city was the best way to put out such elements in the open.

Compulsory rural medical service to kick in Karnataka from current academic year

PRESIDENT INKED THE KARNATAKA COMPULSORY SERVICE TRAINING BY CANDIDATES completed medical course bill, 2012, on May 29.

His will help in addressing all the problems related to shortages of doctors in government hospitals and primary health centres.

The MBBS doctors will be posted in PHCS as junior resident trainees. The pgs and super-specialists will be posted in community health centres and taluk hospitals as senior resident trainees, he said.

While the MBBS graduates could get stipend of Rs 54,889/month, entailing an annual expenditure of Rs 440 crore, the PG diploma/graduates will get Rs 59,680/month, an outgo of Rs 214 crore. Likewise, super specialty graduates will get Rs 67,310/month, outgo of Rs 5 crore.

With a minimum of two MBBS doctors being posted to each PHC, there will be a surplus of such doctors,

This extra manpower especially will ensure that PHCs will henceforth work for 12 hours from 8am instead of 4pm they function now

Online blood banking networking project to be launched on June 18

Patients in need of blood can find the availability in various banks at the click of a mouse, starting June 18.

The Health Department’s blood banking networking project that had been delayed by over two years is set to be launched on Thursday.

All 178 blood banks in the State, which will be networked through this system, will regularly update availability.

Although the State requires over 6.5 lakh units of blood every year, the collection was 7.5 lakh in 2014-2015. However, only 68 per cent of this is through voluntary donations.

Mr. Shivshankar said voluntary donations had increased from 62 per cent in 2013-2014 to 68 per cent in 2014-2015. The national average is 62 per cent, he said. While there is no shortage, there is disparity in the availability of blood across the State and the main reason


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for this is lack of awareness among people about blood donation. The blood bank networking was to ensure availability and also minimise wastage of blood.

Scholarship programme for Other Backward Classes to pursue higher studies abroad

To enable students belonging to the Other Backward Classes to pursue higher studies abroad, the State government has decided to provide scholarship of Rs. 10 lakh each per year for 100 aspirants in 2015-16.

The scholarship named after D. Devaraj Urs, whose birth centenary falls this year, would be given to students going abroad for postgraduation (two-year) and Ph.D. (three-year) courses.

The eligibility is for students belonging to category 1, 2A, 3A, and 3B, with an annual income limit not exceeding Rs. 6 lakh. Candidates should be below 35 years and should have secured 60 per cent marks in their previous examination.

Industrial park to come up in Chamarajanagar district

To attract investments in the border district of Chamarajangar, one of the most backward districts of Karnataka, the government has decided to develop a new industrial park on 1,595 acres of land.

About Rs. 400 crore would be spent on creating infrastructure such as roads, water and power supply, and drainage system.

A sum of Rs. 175 crore had been spent on providing compensation to farmers whose land had been acquired, at the rate of Rs. 20 lakh an acre.

Most of the entrepreneurs in granite, textiles, leather, automobile, and agro and food processing business had shown interest in investing at the park

Kaiga nuclear power plant to get two more units

The Kaiga plant will get two more nuclear power generation units with a capacity of 700 MW each at a cost of about Rs. 6,000 crore. The good news for power-starved Karnataka is that its share from this nuclear power station will go up from 28 per cent to 50 per cent of the total energy generated, once the two new generating units begin operation.

We already have four generating units with a capacity of 220 MW each. Now the sanction is for the fifth and the sixth units with a capacity of 700 MW each

Environmental Survey Laboratory, an independent unit under BARC, Mumbai, which carries out environmental monitoring, had found there was no appreciable change in radioactivity in the region’s environment due to the reactor operation. Actual annual dose computed at exclusion zone boundary is only 0.1 per cent of Natural Background Radiation

Even the tests carried out by Mangalore University had revealed that there was no appreciable change in radioactivity in Kaiga environs due to the pre- and post-reactor operation. The study had found that radiation exposure to the public was negligible and insignificant


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‘Krishi Abhiyan

State government’s ambitious ‘Krishi Abhiyan-2015 was launched in Mandya Under the programme, officials, scientists and agricultural experts will visit all the 34 hobli

centres in the district and provide consultation services to farmers. Experts will interact with farmers and provide guidelines on cropping plans and resolving

agriculture-related issues, inform them about modern methods of cultivation etc. The officials will also explain the importance of various farm practices, including soil testing

and mechanical farming during the campaign.

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP)

To ensure their safety, the State government has decided to extend the World Bank-funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) to 15 more dams, including the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) in Mandya district.

The government was expecting an additional funding of Rs. 265 crore for 15 dams to

improve their safety and operational performance. Overall, the project will cover 17 dams of the Water Resources Department. Works will be

carried out to strengthen and arrest seepages and correct the alignments. New instrumentation for dam monitoring will also be set up and the staff will be trained, he said.

The DRIP is a multi-State project and Rs. 480 crore has remained unutilised with the Centre. To seek funds under the project, the State submitted proposals on five dams — Amarja, Bennethora, KRS, Hidkal, and Malaprabha. The Central Water Commission (CWC) is expected to clear the projects, which would cost Rs. 95 crore.

The project has two main components. First, it includes comprehensive rehabilitation and improvement of dams and institutional

strengthening for safety, along with hydrological assessments, preparation of asset


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management plans and emergency preparedness plans, development of emergency warning system, public awareness campaigns, and flood plain mapping.

The second component aims at improving the effectiveness of the department in overseeing dam safety from the structural and operational point of view.

The overall implementation of the project will be coordinated by the CWC.

Karnataka reaches out to global investors

The Congress government plans to attract investments from across the globe to Karnataka by organising its first ‘Invest Karnataka 2015’ in Bengaluru from November 23 to 25.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his Cabinet colleagues and officials will reach out to investors by holding road shows in India and abroad to attract investment in 11 major sectors, such as manufacturing, agro and food processing, tourism and smart townships.

Consultative meetings will be held with industry associations, industry leaders, global CEOs, embassies and consulates of various countries in India.

Road shows would be taken out to create awareness on the investments in Mysuru, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi and select locations abroad.

Lingambudhi Lake in Mysore to be conserved as biodiversity hotspot

The Lingambudhi Lake is a major bird habitat in Mysore. The Forest Department proposes to develop it on the lines of the Karanji Nature Park and

conserve it as a biodiversity hotspot. At Lingambudhi, the existing lake embankment will be strengthened and silt will be

removed. The bird islands would also be strengthened besides planting locally endemic tree saplings. However, Lingamubhi Lake has a problem of untreated sewage being let to flow into it

thus posing a major threat to its ecological integrity. Hence the Forest Department has urged the Mysuru City Corporation and the Mysore Urban Development Authority to establish a sewage treatment plant there.

Preventing untreated sewage from entering the lake is a must for its long-term conservation.

Lingambudhi lake

Lingambudhi has potential to be turned around to harbour local biodiversity. Its pread over nearly 220 acres with a water spread of about 160 acres, The lake has a catchment area of 40 sq. Lingamubdhi Lake is a major watershed and is full

to the brim during the monsoon, and more than 3000 birds of nearly 200 species – both migratory and local- come to roost here during winter.

Lingambudhi Lake has a history of citizen’s participation in its conservation. When the alignment of the Outer Ring Road was laid across the lake, it resulted in widespread protest following which the road alignment was changed and the lake was saved.


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Efforts on to conserve Bandur sheep

Concerned over the dwindling numbers of Bandur sheep, also known as Bannur sheep, the Department of Animal Husbandry is taking steps to conserve the breed, which is known for its special variety of meat.

The Bandur sheep is known for its meat that has fat in the muscle fibre. It is a premium variety and the pride of Karnataka

The Bandur sheep is being reared to increase their number at a farm run by the department at Malavalli in Mandya district.

The department will provide financial assistance up to Rs. 5 lakh to the Society of Shepherds to buy and breed the sheep.

The department will also provide training to shepherds. its dwindling count can be attributed to the gross mismatch in the number of sheep that

should be retained for breeding. Owing to increasing demand, sheep are not retained for breeding, which is leading to the decline in its numbers.

State govt. issues orders to drop communal violence cases

The State government has issued orders to withdraw the 175 cases of communal violence booked during April and July, 2009, in Mysuru and during 2010 in Shivamogga and Hassan.

The Government Orders follow a Cabinet decision to the effect earlier this month It cites Section 321 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for dropping the communal violence

cases. The gesture will promote communal harmony and help people belonging to different faiths

to live in peace and harmony

Karnataka to get six smart cities

In Karnataka, 26 cities will be selected for implementing infrastructure development under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut).

Selection of potential smart city is based on a two-stage competition — ‘City Challenge’ competition. First stage of competition is intra-state. This involves evaluating all cities and towns in each state based on a set of criteria evolved by the Ministry of Urban Development in consultation with all stakeholders including states/UTs

Cities nominated by each state will participate in the second stage of ‘inter-city’ competition. These 100 cities will prepare smart city plans for each city and they will be evaluated in the ministry by a panel of experts based on a set of elaborate criteria.

Twelve states — UP, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana and Chhattisgarh — would lead the urban transformation piloted by the Modi-led government

These 12 states account for 70 per cent of smart cities to be developed and Amrut cities to be rejuvenated.


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Three-member Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Restructuring Committee

A separate law to govern Bengaluru, bringing together all civic utilities for effective management after the city is reorganised into five corporations, has been proposed by the three-member Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Restructuring Committee

The special Act will replace the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, which currently governs 10 corporations, including BBMP

The committee has also recommended a separate town and country planning Act for the city

The current Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act cannot be uniformly implemented across the State as urban features differ. Bengaluru is a special case

The committee, which is expected to submit its report in the first week of July, has recommended a three-tier structure with strengthening of the ward, decentralisation and devolution through Ward Committees. The second tier is the five corporations, while the third tier will be the Greater Bengaluru Authority with the responsibility of planning for the city.

It has recommended formation of 400 wards, an increase from the current 198 wards, each with an average population of 25,000.

While a five-year term for the mayors of each corporation has been recommended, the government can decide later whether to have a mayor-in-council or a directly elected mayor

The proposed five corporations will be based on geography, population and finances among other things. Four corporations will get one tower each built by city founder Kempe Gowda, while the fifth will be at Yelahanka where Kempe Gowda hailed from.

Three tourist circuits identified to increase footfall in Cauvery basin

In a major boost to tourism promotion in the Cauvery basin — comprising Mysuru, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar and Mandya districts, and parts of Ramanagaram district — the newly constituted Cauvery Tourism Development Authority (CTDA) has identified tourist circuits for drawing higher footfalls.

The authority, which recently met, announced the circuits — Malai Mahadeshwara Tourist Circuit, Kodagu Tourist Circuit and Chamarajanagar Tourist Circuit.

The authority was constituted to develop a combined ‘Mysuru Tourist Circuit’ consisting of Kodagu, Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Kanakapura taluk in Ramanagaram districts. Incidentally, this was one of the recommendations of the Karnataka Tourism Vision Group.

ccordingly, the circuits — Kodagu, Chamarajanagar and M.M. Hills Tourist Circuits comprising prominent and lesser-known tourist destinations in all the five districts — Mysuru, Kodagu, Mandya, Chamarajanagar and parts of Ramanagaram district – were identified. The lesser-known spots were included to attract tourists and improve economy in the areas.


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BSNL to offer free WiFi at tourist destinations

Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited has decided to offer free WiFi at select tourist locations from July 1 to coincide with the inauguration of the Digital India programme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The first phase will see free WiFi at Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, MG Mall, Hampi and Brindavan Gardens.

The service will be free for the first 30 minutes in a day, for a maximum of three occasions in a month for a mobile number

Lakes left high and dry: CAG report

Various agencies, including the Lake Development Authority (LDA) and other bodies assigned the tasks of preserving of waterbodies, have become ineffective and have allowed encroachment and degeneration of lakes, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

The performance audit for 2009–14 of 56 lakes says conservation work was taken up in an “ad hoc manner” without prioritisation and coordination.

LDA operates with a skeleton staff and did not initiate measures for an integrated approach in planning and prioritisation of lakes for restoration and development.

Shockingly, of the 56 lakes checked, 47 were categorised as severely polluted, with sewage being the major cause in 30 of them. Municipal waste, construction waste, industrial waste and open defecation were the other causes.

Coordination among implementing agencies was deficient, resulting in works taken up without adequate prioritisation, construction of sewage and diversion channels, fencing without removal of encroachments etc

Action plan

1. Lakshman Rau Committee (1985) recommends constitution of implementing agency for lakes restoration

2. Lake Development Authority established in 2002 3. High Court of Karnataka appointed a committee headed by Justice N.K. Patil to examine

ground realities and prepare an action plan for restoration and preservation of lakes 4. Based on High Court decision, in April 2012, State government constituted various

committees, including an Apex Committee, to monitor the conservation and restoration of lakes in May 2013

5. ‘Adopt a lake’ scheme launched by the LDA in July 2004, wherein interested parties were given custody of lakes for restoration, was ineffective due to the LDA’s inability to redress problems such as dumping of construction debris, burial of dead bodies, and trespasses, faced by the adopting agencies. Six lakes of Bengaluru were adopted under the scheme. But the scheme was not implemented as planned


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NATIONAL

ISSUES

Govt. issues controversial land ordinance for third time

President Pranab Mukherjee re-promulgated for the third time the Land Ordinance that prescribes processes for acquisition of land for public projects

Despite Opposition protests, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday recommended to the President the re-issuance of the ordinance on the ground that it was necessary for maintaining continuity and providing a framework to compensate people whose land had been acquired

RBI cuts repo rate

The Reserve Bank of India cut the policy rate (repo) on Tuesday by 25 basis points, the third time this year, to 7.25 per cent from 7.5 per cent.

The move comes with a message that any further cut this year is unlikely. Governor Raghuram Rajan expressed fears that a monsoon shock could push up food

prices and challenge its control over inflation.


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I&B Ministry asked to review DD News head’s appointment

The appointment of Veena Jain as Director-General of Doordarshan News, without seeking the approval of the Prasar Bharati Board, has become a contentious issue with the Chairman of the Prasar Bharati Corporation, Surya Prakash, and Chief Executive Officer Jawhar Sircar taking up the matter.

What had irked Mr. Prakash was that the order was not marked to the Prasar Bharati Board, which, officials in the corporation say, has violated the spirit of the Prasar Bharati Act.

The Act states that appointment of the members of the corporation, including directors-general of All India Radio and DD, will be done by the corporation after consulting the recruitment Board.

It is also learnt that following Mr. Prakash’s intervention, the Ministry has been directed to issue a fresh order soon. This time, the Board will be informed of it.

The Rule of Law Index 2015

India figures in the top 50 countries in the world for an effective criminal justice system, according to a new study that ranks countries on how the rule of law is experienced by citizens.

The Rule of Law Index 2015, released by the U.S.-based World Justice project on Tuesday, analyses 102 countries worldwide using a survey of over a 1,000 respondents from three big cities, along with local legal experts, in each country. The data, collected in 2013, measures how the rule of law is experienced in practical, everyday situations using 47 indicators across eight categories — constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice.

India’s overall rule of law performance places it in the third position out of six countries in the South Asian region, 10th out of 25 among lower middle income countries, and 59th out of 102 countries worldwide.

The top overall performer in the WJP Rile of Law Index 2015 was Denmark while in the South Asia region, the top performer was Nepal.

Criminal justice-- it is placed at 44 rank globally

surveys analysed whether the criminal investigation and adjudication system is effective, whether it was impartial and free of corruption and whether the rights of the accused were protected.

Civil justice

looked at accessibility to civil justice, which includes general awareness of available remedies, availability and affordability of legal advice and representation, and absence of excessive or unreasonable fees and hurdles. It also asks if the civil justice system is free of discrimination and corruption and whether it is subject to unreasonable delay.


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Open Government-- placing it 37th globally

uses four dimensions to measure government openness — publicised laws and government data, right to information, civic participation and complaint mechanisms.

order and security-- placing at 90 worldwide

measures used for this category are absence of crime; absence of civil conflict, including terrorism and armed conflict; and absence of violence as a socially acceptable means to redress personal grievances.

Driving down India’s score are the perceptions of corruption, of the effectiveness of the civil justice system, the regulatory enforcement environment and the criminal justice system, all of which reflect that less than half of the respondents showed faith in these systems’ ability to deliver justice. India did comparatively better in people’s minds in terms of government freedom.

No interim maintenance for qualified woman, rules judge

A lady who is fighting a matrimonial petition filed for divorce, cannot be permitted to sit idle and put her burden on the husband for demanding pendente lite [during litigation] alimony from him during pendency of such matrimonial petition.

Section 24 [of the Hindu Marriage Act] is not meant for creating an army of such idle persons who would be sitting idle waiting for a ‘dole’ to be awarded by her husband.”

the court, therefore, ruled, “I hold that the wife is not entitled to interim maintenance. At this stage, she cannot claim permanent maintenance which can be claimed only at the conclusion of the trial.” Under Section 24, the court can, in its discretion, grant maintenance to a spouse with no independent income while the matrimonial petition is pending.

Cattle smuggling sans borders

Ever since the Border Security Force (BSF) intensified its operations against cattle smuggling syndicates along the India-Bangladesh border, there has been a spurt in attacks on security personnel, particularly in Angrail village in 24 North Parganas.

Situated on the banks of cross-boundary river Ichamati, Angrail is one of the major transit points in the South Bengal frontier for cattle smuggling to Bangladesh. The two-km Angrail stretch along Ichamati, recently visited by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, has 150 traditional exit points making way through the thicket to a road, furlongs away from the border.

According to BSF personnel, cattle smuggling is a purely economic activity across the border. A three-layer deployment involving spotters in plainclothes has now led to its sharp decline.

Elsewhere, the force has dug ditches on traditional smuggling routes and put up iron pipes along the fence to obstruct cattle movement


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Not far from Angrail, in Hakimpur — where a 40-feet-wide river Sonai forms the border — villagers from both sides jump into the watercourse every evening on the pretext of daily bath, and clandestinely pass on items ranging from spices and gold to bicycles.

Attempts to check smuggling are met with vehement opposition, from stone pelting to lodging of false cases of harassment, rape and torture

Over 90 per cent of the total cattle smuggling takes place along the porous, thickly populated and riverine border. While only 366 km of the 916-km border stretch is enclosed, 200 km of fencing is in a state of disrepair.

Bangladesh requirement

Bangladesh, which exports beef, also comes next to Italy in terms of quality leather goods. It has an estimated annual requirement of three million cattle, two million of which come from India. For them [Bangladesh], cattle smuggling becomes legal once a smuggler, claiming to have found the cattle roaming about, pays 500 Taka per cattle as customs duty.

The supplies are met through a wide network of operators who bring in the cattle by road, stuffed in trucks, from far-off places in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha.

While the per cattle price ranges from Rs. 500 to Rs. 3,000 in India, it fetches Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 in Bangladesh. However, reports reveal that the recent crackdown has led to 100 per cent increase in beef price there and a substantial decrease in customs revenue.

Ban on web app-based taxis remains in Delhi

In a major blow to all web app-based transport services pursuing daily operations in the Capital despite a six-month-old Home Ministry-issued ban, the Delhi government, on Wednesday, rejected their applications for registration under modified licensing conditions.

The Transport Department decided to reject fresh applications for registration under modified Radio Taxi Scheme 2006 rules by Uber, Ola Cabs and Taxi4Sure – made through separate front companies floated by each in late January -- mainly for non-compliance of the conditions of the ban on their services after the rape of a private executive aboard a Uber cab on December six last year.

Each of them had been directed to furnish sworn affidavits declaring that they were complying with the conditions of the ban in letter and spirit,” said a government spokesperson. “Since they failed to submit these affidavits, their applications have been rejected,” he added.

They were faced with two choices -- prove that they followed the provisions of the ban by suspending business between the date of the imposition of the ban and the date of their fresh applications or invite a case of cheating for furnishing false information through a sworn affidavit.


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Coal mines auction

The Supreme Court in September last year had cancelled allocation of 204 coal mines to companies without auction terming the same as arbitrary and illegal.

The government has so far auctioned 29 coal blocks in two tranches to private companies and garnered over Rs 2 lakh crore.

Government on Thursday said it will auction 10 coal mines in the third tranche with reserves of 858.19 million tonnes for steel, cement as well as captive power plants and the process will be completed by August end

There has been lot of demand from the unregulated sectors in the nature of industries in cement, steel and so on . So, these are the blocks which would be put up for auction

Of the total estimated geological reserves, these mines have extractable coal of about 356.245 million tonnes and they are located in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha

New demand by States could hit GST rollout

The States demanded on Thursday that the Centre compensate them fully for any loss of revenue during the first five years of transition to the new tax regime.

In the Constitution Amendment Bill for the introduction of the GST, pending before a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha, the Centre proposes to compensate the States fully for the first three years, followed by three-fourths of the losses in the fourth year and half during the fifth.

Mr. Mani, chairman of the empowered committee, said the States would present five broad concerns before the Select Committee on June 16.

They wanted power to levy additional sales tax over and above the GST on tobacco and tobacco products.

Some States wanted that the purchase tax be not subsumed in the GST. However, if it were to be merged, then they should be awarded compensation for 15 years.

Lead content in enamel paints high in the country

Lead content in enamel paints manufactured by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the country is hundreds of notches over and above the ideal limit prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), says a cross-country study by a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation.

By the study done by Toxic Link, which works on hazardous metal poisoning, over 45 per cent of 101 popularly used local brands of enamel paint in New Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat have lead content ranging above 10,000 parts per million (ppm). The ideal limit recommended by BIS is 90 ppm.

Of the samples of 17 brands collected from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, over 47 per cent had lead concentration of over 10,000 ppm.

Lead is used in paints for durability and colour enhancement.


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Side effects of lead

Excessive levels of lead cause health hazards such as stunted growth in children and lung, heart and kidney dysfunctions in adults.

Lead could get into human body by touch and prolonged inhalation. Once the heavy metal enters the body, flushing it out is difficult, researchers say

BIS should soon bring out legislation that bans the use of lead over 90 ppm. The government cannot expect manufacturers to stick voluntarily to standards

One-fifth of food samples adulterated--A large number of cases never reached conviction’

The Annual Public Laboratory Testing Report for 2014-15 brought out by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) says that of the 49,290 samples of food items it tested, 8,469, nearly one-fifth, were found adulterated or misbranded

However, convictions were secured in only 1,246 cases. Many food adulteration cases never reached the conviction stage. The report shows that Rs. 6.9 crore in penalties was collected from errant agencies. Data from only 14 States are available in the report.

The FSSAI is a public authority, formed under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, mandated to ensure that food is safe for consumption.

By available data, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were found to have the largest sample of food items violating safety standard norms. However, the number of cases reaching conviction in these States is not encouraging.

By the 2006 Act, all cases of food adulteration and misbranding are punishable. There is no information on food samples tested in States such as West Bengal. In New

Delhi, though 148 food samples tested were found violating norms, there is no information on whether any measures were taken against the companies that manufactured or sold the product.

There is also no information on what the tested samples were of and if any preventive steps were taken when they were found to be adulterated.


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Prasar bharati regains its autonomy

Under pressure to revise the May 29 order that breached both protocol and autonomy of the Prasar Bharati Corporation in the appointment of Veena Jain as Director-General, Doordarshan News, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has partially relented, informing the corporation of the appointment and making the official accountable to it.

The new order is a partial win for the corporation and the Ministry, which gets to keep its official from the Indian Information Service on her dual designation as Director-General, Doordarshan News, and Officer on Special Duty to the government, ensuring she is accountable to both.

The new order says Ms. Jain shall report for all operational purposes to the Prasar Bharati and to the Ministry as OSD.

As sources in the corporation said, it was the first time since the notification of the Prasar Bharati Act in 1997 that the Ministry was getting used to a full-time chairperson, though under the Act the post is for a part-time chairman, who is also a former journalist who enjoys the confidence and trust of the political leadership.

Education loan default will affect credit score

Non-repayment of education loan can now affect one’s credit score, a top official of Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIBIL) has said.

The education loans have to be paid once one completes his/her course and gains employment. Also, like any other loans and credit cards, education loans are also reported to CIBIL and get reflected in the borrower’s CIBIL Report and impact the CIBIL Trans Union Score,

CIBIL Trans Union Score is a key parameter relied on by banks while processing loan applications.

River Ganga will show first signs of being pollution-free

River Ganga will show first signs of being pollution-free by October next year and the first project on inter-linking of rivers (Ken-Betwa) will take off within a year, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said here on Thursday.

She said the “Namami Gange” project had been “delayed” as the Centre decided to bear the entire funding, instead of asking States to give a matching grant, and thus had to re-work its financial plans and approvals. A sum of Rs. 12,000 crore has been set aside for the project.

She said the government would have to enact a law or bring a policy that would ensure sustainability of pollution-free Ganga.

Asked about displacement of people that the rivers linking project will bring, Ms. Bharti said not a single person would be removed if he/she was not convinced about a better life and four-times the compensation.

Ground water management


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The Centre would send teams of young entrepreneurs abroad to study river and ground water management and how to do more irrigation from less water. The teams would be sent to Israel, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Live Ink Character Recognition--technology eases evaluation

The Council of Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) will now publish the Class X and Class XII results faster and with better accuracy, thanks to a new technology called Live Ink Character Recognition (LICR Solution), from the next academic year.

Under this system, the examiners would use a digital pen and a tablet while evaluating answer scripts

While examiners will continue using normal pens for evaluation, they will use the ‘Orion LICR Pen’ to fill in slots on the top sheet of each answer script against each question. The LICR process will provide an image of the entire top sheet along with the digitised marks instantly.

Examiners have to tap and confirm the marks (on the tab). Subsequently, the question-wise marks as well as grand total obtained will be transferred to the central servers of the CISCE which is a 100 per cent secure process

A successful pilot run was conducted this year, he said adding that the new procedure would eliminate the requests for re-evaluation.


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Konkan Railway takes the green route

Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) has replaced power-guzzling high pressure sodium vapour (HPSV) lamps in its railway tunnels with light emitting diode (LED) lamps, which were dedicated on the occasion of World Environment Day on Friday

It has also provided energy saver equipment in all its tunnels which controls current voltage so that the current drawn is less.

Besides installing LED bulbs, KRCL has taken up small initiatives such as phasing out all incandescent bulbs from railway premises and replacing them with more energy-efficient T5 fittings, and changing all resistance-type fan regulators to electronic ones.

Konkan Railway has switched over to green energy with the installation of solar plants at Ratnagiri and Karmali stations and installing solar geysers at all its running rooms and rest houses

It has also taken up planting saplings in a big way on an annual basis along the entire rail route which has given it a unique identification as “Garden Railway”. As many as 53,699 saplings of various types of plants were planted last year along the Konkan route, while 28,000 would be planted during this monsoon.

Events on International Yoga Day

University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has joined the International Yoga Day bandwagon by writing to affiliated schools to organise events on June 21 between 7 a.m. and 7.35 a.m.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself planning to lead a mega yoga event in Rajpath on June 21 morning, the government is keen to ensure widest participation in the hope of getting it a Guinness Book of World Records entry as the largest yoga demonstration at a single venue and also generate interest in this spiritual discipline

The first “International Yoga Day” on June 21 will see global celebration of India’s “soft power”, with New Delhi asking India’s missions around the world to organize events on that day.

EPFO to invest 5% of funds in equity market

In a major policy shift, the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has decided to park 5 per cent of its funds in the equity market.

the decision was in line with the suggestions made by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely that the EPFO invest up to 15 per cent of its funds in the equity market.

the investment would fetch higher returns and help raise the interest rate offered to employees’ contributions.

To start with, one per cent of the funds would be invested in the equity market this month and the amount would be gradually increased to 5 per cent by the end of the financial year.


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Dutch expertise for Mumbai’s coastal road project

The Dutch government is all set to share its environment-friendly reclamation technology with the Maharashtra government to execute the State’s much-hyped and pending coastal road project in Mumbai.

The State government on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Netherlands for the same. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte were present on occasion.

The coastal road project would be an integrated project which will include Metro line, existing fishing villages and green spaces. The project, which proposes a 35-km-long coastal road from Nariman Point in South Mumbai to Versova in the western suburbs, is estimated to cost Rs. 9,000 crore.

Combining the coastal road project and the proposed Nariman Point-Bandra-Seepz Metro III involves a new road meandering along the coast and touching it where road and Metro connections need to be made to the existing infrastructure

RuPay

It was recently revealed by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), a government agency, that RuPay-branded credit cards would be launched in less than 10 months from now

What is RuPay?

RuPay is India’s own card payment scheme. Like all other card payment schemes, notably Visa and MasterCard, it was created to ensure cashless transactions.

The scheme was conceived by NPCI, an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and an umbrella institution for all retail payment systems in the country.

RuPay is a play of the words rupee and payment. It was originally called IndiaPay.

Benifits of RuPay?

1. Provide affordable electronic transactions for local banks 2. Promote financial inclusion 3. Break the dominance of international majors such as Visa and MasterCard. 4. Transaction and customer data of RuPay users will stay in India. 5. Banks pay higher transaction fee in case of foreign cards such as Visa and MasterCard.

Since the transaction processing of RuPay happens domestically, it leads to lower cost for clearing and settlement of transactions.

Chowdary is new CVC; Vijai Singh new CIC

The government appointed former chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes K.V. Chowdary as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and Information Commissioner (IC) Vijai Singh as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC)


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The CVC’s appointment is subject to the approval of the Supreme Court, which is hearing a public interest litigation petition for transparency in appointments to the post and that of vigilance commissioners.

Ashobaa

The deep depression in the Arabian Sea has intensified into cyclonic storm "Ashobaa" and is expected to further develop into a "super cyclonic storm"

“Ashobaa”, centred over the east-central Arabian Sea, remained practically stationary for several hours about 590 km west-south-west of Mumbai.

Under its influence, rainfall will occur at most places, with isolated heavy showers over coastal Karnataka, Konkan and Goa, and south Gujarat during the next 24 hours.

Rs. 6,000-crore loan to help sugar mills clear cane arrears

The Union government on Wednesday approved a Rs. 6,000-crore interest-free loan to the sugar industry to enable it to clear cane arrears to farmers that stand at Rs. 21,000 crore

It also decided to bear the cost of interest subvention, to the extent of Rs. 600 crore, for the period.

Sugar mills will prepare a list of farmers whose dues they have to clear and banks will transfer the amount to the Jan Dhan accounts of cane growers

The CCEA also decided that the loans be given to units that cleared at least 50 per cent of their arrears before June 30.

This is the second time that the Centre has given an interest-free loan to millers to clear arrears. In December 2013, the government gave an interest-free loan of Rs. 6,600 crore.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association said this did not address the basic problem of surplus sugar and depressed prices.

The industry, which is demanding the creation of a two million-tonne buffer stock of sugar on government account to reduce stocks, said a government agency like the FCI or MMTC, STC or APEDA could instead buy out 2.5-3 million tonnes of surplus sugar from the industry to help it reduce stocks and pay up the farmers.

Centre had already taken several measures, including an increase in sugar import duty to 40 per cent, raising export subsidy on raw sugar and an increase in ethanol prices to promote its blending with petrol.

It had also waived excise duties on ethanol in the next sugar season to further incentivise ethanol supplies for the blending program. This would enhance the ex-mill price of ethanol and help to improve the liquidity of the industry

India’s sugar production is estimated to cross 28 million tonnes during the 2014-15 marketing year (October-September), against 24.3 million tonnes in the previous year. The total annual demand is put at 24 million tonnes.

Among the major sugar producing States are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Punjab.


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Strategic debt revamp scheme

In a move that would give banks an upper hand on promoters getting their loans restructured, the Reserve Bank of India

allowed banks to take control of a company if its restructuring fails and sell the stake to a new promoter to recover their dues.

Banks that decide to recast a company’s debt under the so-called SDR scheme must hold 51 per cent or more of the equity after the debt-for-share conversion

Army's clinical operation in N-E

Airdropped by Air Force’s Dhruv choppers, a crack team of Indian Army commandos struck at two camps of militants inside Myanmar two hours before dawn, inflicting “significant casualties” on North-East insurgents

The twin strikes that signalled a new approach in pursueing terrorists beyond India’s borders came after intensive planning that began soon after the massacre of 18 Army personnel of 6 Dogra Regiment in Manipur’s Chandel on June 4.

Myanmar’s objections to Indian Army's operations

PTI reported that a security alert had been sounded across the northeast after reports that militants had entered India for revenge attacks.

Myanmar government had conveyed its displeasure over statements from New Delhi about crossing into the neighbour’s territory to carry out an early-morning raid on terror camps, and Indian Ambassador was given a tough message during meetings with the authorities

The Union government backtracked on assertions that the Army went on a “hot pursuit” in the territory of the neighbouring country

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar refused to answer questions, saying only that the operations had been carried out “along the India-Myanmar border”

The claims have sparked strong reactions from Pakistan, whose Army chief warned India against “all forms of aggression”, which Mr. Parrikar dismissed as reactions of those who “fear India’s new posture”.

While the counter-terror operations were negotiated carefully by diplomats over the past few days, following the killing of 18 Army personnel in an ambush in Manipur, any indication that the Myanmar government allowed Indian soldiers into its territory would contravene its Constitution.

Khaplang in Yangon hospital

The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) leader S.S. Khaplang, whose outfit carried out the June 4 attack on the Army in Manipur, is believed to be ill and convalescing in a Yangon hospital.


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The 75-year-old Khaplang, suffering from age-related ailments, was shifted from his base in Tago, located along the China-Myanmar border, to Myanmar’s biggest city Yangon about four months ago, official sources said.

Myanmar had informed India about shifting Mr. Khaplang, who is a Myanmarese national, to Yangon in February and New Delhi had conveyed its ‘no objection’ to that, the sources said.

NSCN-K was then in a ceasefire agreement with the government. However, barely a month after his being shifted, the outfit ended the agreement.

CCTVs to be installed at U.P.-Nepal border

Close circuit TV (CCTV) cameras would be installed at vantage points in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh bordering, or in close proximity, to Nepal for keeping a close watch on human trafficking from across the border.

While the border intelligence units have been sensitized, the State Government on Thursday issued directives for intensifying patrolling in the nine districts.

These directives were issued following a review meeting through video conferencing on the steps taken to check human trafficking from on Indo-Nepal border in the State.

During the recent earthquake in Nepal intelligence agencies had alerted about human trafficking in the exodus following the natural calamity.

Stern measures had been taken by the security officials in the border districts against human trafficking, the IG ( Law and Order) told journalists.

1. He said 35 anti-human trafficking units are functional in the State and these have been provided with all the facilities by the Government for checking the menace.

2. Instructions were issued for better coordination between the district officials, police administration and intelligence agencies as well as for a quick exchange of information.

3. Active involvement of self-help groups (SHGs) is also to be ensured with the district administration directed to provide a list of organizations associated with remand homes.

PM reviews progress of Swachh Bharat Mission

During a review of the Namami Gange programme on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed officials to give priority to construction of toilets in habitations along the banks of the Ganga.

With regards to generating awareness and bringing about attitudinal change towards cleanliness, the Prime Minister said spiritual leaders should be associated with such efforts, especially during major congregational events such as the Jagannath Yatra in Odisha and the Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh.

He also called for leveraging the huge interest that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has generated among the Indian diaspora.

Incentives


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The Prime Minister said motivational incentives such as awards should be instituted to give a boost to flagship government schemes requiring people’s participation.

To promote awareness about these schemes in rural areas, he suggested that quiz competitions be held among students.

Ban to be re-imposed on NSCN(K)

Following the ambush and killing of 18 soldiers in Manipur last Tuesday, which is believed to have been orchestrated by the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang, the government on Friday initiated proceedings to once again ban the organisation.

Mansarovar yatra begins

The Kailash Mansarovar yatra, undertaken annually by hundreds of pilgrims, began on Friday. According to the KMVN data, over 13,500 people have undertaken the yatra since its inception in 1981. Last year, a record 910 pilgrims undertook the yatra.

However, with an alternative route to Kailash Mansarovar via Nathu La in Sikkim agreed upon by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last year, it is feared that the number of pilgrims undertaking the yatra from the Uttarakhand route will come down.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, police, and KMVN employees have been posted at various places along the route to ensure the safety of pilgrims undertaking the 22-day yatra

Govt. accepts a proposal to experiment with a solar-powered goods train

If its solar-powered train project is a success, Indian Railways can radically cut carbon emissions, doing its bit to address climate change concerns.

When the Union Science and Technology Ministry recently accepted a proposal to experiment with a solar-powered goods train, it marked the beginning of a series of research activities aimed at addressing major socio-economic concerns of the day.

Four months ago, S.P. Gon Chaudhuri, a Kolkata-based scientist, had submitted a proposal for the solar-powered goods train project to the Ministry, now being tested for feasibility.

Though the project was in its conceptual phase, it was likely to work. Large roofs were needed to install solar panels, which goods trains had. Since 95 per cent of the trains are connected to the grid, the solar power generated can contribute to the grid, when the train is stationary

However, this will be restricted to testing the viability of using solar panels to power electric devices such as air-conditioners and lights in the train and not in running the train itself, which was hard to achieve


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Rs. 1,500-cr. nuclear insurance

The government has launched an insurance pool to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore which is mandatory under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND) in a bid to offset financial burden of foreign nuclear suppliers.

Clauses in the CLND Act, which give the operator the Right to Recourse and allow it to sue the suppliers in case of any accident were seen as being a major hindrance to the growth of the nuclear industry. These concerns led to to the formation of the Indian nuclear insurance pool.

Under the Rs 1,500 crore pool, set up by General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) and 11 other non-life insurers

from the public sector apart from private insurance companies, policies offered will be a nuclear operators liability insurance policy and a nuclear suppliers' special contingency (against right to recourse) insurance policy.

Panel to verify implementation of RTE Act

The Director of Matriculation Schools has ordered a probe into complaints of institutions collecting fees from parents for admitting their children under the 25 per cent reservation of seats under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.

The teams will inform parents of their arrival and check the attendance records to verify if students admitted under the 25 per cent quota are continuing their education in the school.

They will also check the receipts issued by schools to make sure that they have collected fees fixed by the fee fixation committee.

Only after the parents get a refund of the fees they have paid will the school get the amount due for RTE admissions for 2013-14 and 2014-15

4,300 from Afghanistan, Pak get citizenship

The government said it had granted citizenship to about 4.300 Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan in its one year of being in power

This rapid increase in granting citizenships is in keeping with the BJP’s stated aim of positioning India as a ‘natural home’ for Hindus fleeing persecution anywhere in the world, a policy similar to Israel’s Law of Return that grants only Jews the right to return and settle there. This policy was outlined in the BJP’s election manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The government would soon submit to the Supreme Court a plan to grant citizenship to thousands of Hindu refugees from Bangladesh who had crossed over into India after 1971..

Ever since the Modi government assumed charge in May 2014, nearly 19,000 refugees have been given long-term visas in Madhya Pradesh. Around 11,000 long-term visas were given in Rajasthan and 4,000 long-term visas were given in Gujarat, official sources said.

In April, the Home Ministry had rolled out an online system for submission of Long Term Visa applications and for its processing by various agencies. The decision has been taken to


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address the difficulty being faced by Hindu and Sikh minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had come with the intention of settling permanently in India.

There are about 400 Pakistani Hindu refugee settlements in cities like Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jaipur. Hindu refugees from Bangladesh mostly live in West Bengal and north-eastern States. Sikh refugees mostly live in Punjab, Delhi and Chandigarh.

Fear runs high in enclaves

As the Indian and Bangladeshi governments are set to conclude the process of exchange of enclaves by July 31, residents of some of the enclaves in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district are allegedly being harassed by anti-social elements.

Activists working in the enclaves say that due to the absence of any police and administration in the enclaves so far, these miscreants used to run extortion rackets and other illegal activities there.

“Some outsiders are trying to forcefully set up houses in the enclaves to prove that they are residents there. They want to get access to the upcoming facilities and compensation that would be provided to the enclave dwellers.

In the wake of an attack on the house of a resident of the Maddha (Central) Mashaldanga enclave in the district’s Dinhata subdivision on June 7, the Bharat Bangladesh Enclave Exchange Coordination Committee submitted a list of 24 enclaves to the DIG of Japlpaiguri Range C.S. Lepcha. The committee demanded that proper security arrangements be made in these enclaves.

The Powtharkuchi enclave in the Dinhata, which had a history of illegal activities such as the cultivation of marijuana, was classified as highly sensitive. With the agreement, those who run the marijuana business fear that their business would stop. The marijuana season is just a month away and these miscreants might create trouble

More housewives committing suicide, NCRB records show

Fifteen people commit suicide every hour in India, shows the most recent data by the National Crime Records Bureau.

Of these, around 17 per cent are housewives. In contrast, suicide by farmers makes up only 3 per cent of all suicides.

The NCRB divides the total suicides into 10 professional categories — housewife, service (government), service (private), public sector undertaking, student, unemployed, self-employed (business activity), farming/agriculture activity, retired and others.

The NCRB data for 2013, the latest available year, shows that 1.3 lakh people committed suicide that year. Among suicides by women, a whopping 51.4 per cent are committed by housewives (almost 23,000), despite the fact that the “non-worker and marginal worker” female population engaged in “household duties” make up only 33 per cent of the entire female population, according to the 2011 Census

“This has been the trend over the years. Suicides among housewives are increasingly becoming a matter of serious concern,” said K.R. Renuka, director of the Centre for Women’s Development and Research, a Chennai-based NGO dedicated to the uplift of women.


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According to Ms. Renuka, the stress and pressures faced by housewives are a leading cause of suicide. “Housewives have to take care of all the domestic duties as well as look after the elderly and children in the house. Often, they do not have an outlet for their frustrations and this leads to them taking spontaneous decisions,” she said.

This problem, says Ms. Renuka, is exacerbated by modern lifestyles and occupations. To compound this problem, social stigma surrounding mental illness, makes it next to

impossible for the women to seek professional help. Although the percentage has come down to 17 per cent from the 21 per cent a decade

earlier, suicide by housewives continues to be a serious problem. In fact, marriage counselling and psychiatric help seem to be the need of the hour.

Mandatory warning won’t make alcohol unsafe

Alcoholic beverages, pan masala and supari need not be treated as “unsafe food” for recall just because they carry the mandatory warning that their consumption is injurious to health, apex food regulator FSSAI has proposed.

The proposal is part of the draft Safety and Standards (Food Recall Procedure) Regulations, 2015, which has been put up for public comments.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India came out with the draft norms amid safety concerns over Maggi recall.

The draft said the mandatory warning ‘consumption of alcohol/pan masala/supari is injurious to health’ may not make them liable for recall, “unless the beverage or food is determined unsafe as per the classification of recall making it injurious to health or even causing death

Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)

The technological demonstration flight of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) is scheduled for September at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh

In its maiden flight, the vehicle is expected to travel to an altitude of 100 km at five times

the speed of sound—nearly 6,000 km per hour—and release the payload, The rocket would then be made to land in the sea Technology demonstration ultimately aimed at cutting down the cost of satellite launches

to one-tenth the present rates


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Under the project, a plane will be flown into outer space at five times the speed of sound, deliver the payload and then land back like an aircraft. At present, the various stages in a satellite launch vehicle fall off in succession during launch and cannot be reused, making such launches expensive

According to industry estimates, it takes about $5,000 to place a 1-kg payload in space. The RLV, once operational, will bring down the cost to $500.

Isro scientists have specially developed heat-resistant tiles that would form the outer cover of the vehicle. These would be able to withstand temperatures of about 1,200 degrees Celsius, experienced by shuttles while re-entering the earth’s atmosphere

There are currently no reusable launch vehicles in operation anywhere

Sakaar

ISRO launched an Android-based application ‘Sakaar’, an “augmented reality application” intended to give a real world environment to visualise ISRO projects.

It provides in real time, three-dimensional models of Mars Missions, various satellites, launch vehicles and other projects of ISRO.

It will be distributing this in schools and other institutes for free so that students can get a better understanding of our space working

One Rank One Pension

‘One Rank One Pension’ basically means that retired soldiers of the same rank, who have retired after serving for the same length of service, will receive the same pension, irrespective of the date/year of their retirement.

A Pay Commission sits every 10 years and gives recommendations for enhancing the pay and allowances of the serving personnel based on the various factors like inflation, price hikes, and increase in living expenditures to meet the explicit needs of the lifestyle befitting the stature of a defence officer, etc.

Pension of the officers superannuating is based on the last salary drawn by them at the time of retirement.

Hence, with each consecutive Pay Commission, the military veterans who retired earlier received lesser pension as compared to those who retired later with the same rank and length of service.

The One Rank One Pension scheme has been a long-standing demand of the over 25 lac ex-servicemen of India and it's implementation would result in bringing about parity in the pension of earlier retirees, who perhaps need it more than their younger counterparts.

The UPA government in their interim budget had announced an amount of Rs 500 crore for the scheme. NDA’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget announcement allotted Rs 1,000 crore for the scheme.

The scheme is estimated to cost around Rs 8,600 crore initially and subsequently several crore rupees annually.

Six years ago, the Supreme Court had directed the government to follow a 'One Rank, One Pension' principle for retired servicemen. In February this year, the court said failure to implement it within three months would mean contempt of court.


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Issues/opposition:

Political apathy Bureaucratic red tapism: In 2011, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare of the MoD

pointed out to a parliamentary committee, that OROP was not feasible to implement since documents of military personnel were said to be destroyed after 25 years.

If OROP is granted to armed forces , Paramilitary forces would queue up to demand the same.

Government intends to cut fiscal deficit and rationalize expenditure ,OROP will result in the exact opposite.

Government plans 20 million houses for urban poor

The Union Cabinet approved the launch of the “Housing for All by 2022” programme for the rehabilitation of slum-dwellers and promotion of affordable housing for the urban poor. The target is to provide nearly 20 million houses over seven years.

An official statement said a Central grant of an average Rs. 1 lakh would be available for a house under the slum rehabilitation programme. But the State governments could exercise flexibility in spending the grant for any slum rehabilitation project using land as a resource for providing houses to slum-dwellers

Under the credit-linked interest subsidy component, an interest subsidy of 6.5 per cent on housing loans availed up to a tenure of 15 years will be provided to economically weaker sections/lower income group (EWS/LIG) categories, wherein the subsidy pay-out on a net present value basis would be about Rs. 2.3 lakh per house for both categories

The Central assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakh a house for the EWS category would be provided in partnership and for beneficiary-led individual house construction or enhancement.

The scheme will be implemented as a Centrally sponsored scheme, except the credit-linked subsidy component, which will be implemented as a Central sector scheme

Currently the programme will be implemented only in the urban areas and the rural component would be introduced later.

The scheme would cover all urban areas consisting of 4,041 statutory towns with initial focus on 500 Class I cities.

The programme would be implemented in three phases: Phase I (April 2015 to March 2017) to cover 100 cities to be selected from willing States and Union Territories; Phase IIA (April 2017 to March 2019) to cover additional 200 cities; and Phase III (April 2019 to March 2022) to cover the remaining cities.

Revised minimum support price

To boost production of pulses during the kharif season, the Centre announced a bonus of Rs. 200 a quintal on the revised minimum support price for tur, moong and urad dal (lentils) for the marketing season of 2015-16.

The minimum support price for paddy was increased by Rs. 50 a quintal for the kharif marketing season of the financial year.


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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decided to grant the bonus to encourage farmers to enhance the area under pulses cultivation and invest in increasing the productivity of the crop.

The prices of pulses have shot up by over 50 per cent on an average in the past year as inclement weather cut production and the area under cultivation shrank.

As much as 5,000 quintals of pulses had to be imported on the government account.

Bandhan Financial Services to start bank on August 23

Microfinance company, Bandhan Financial Services Ltd, on Wednesday, said that it got the final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a universal bank.

The bank is planned for launch in Kolkata — the city where Bandhan is headquartered — on August 23.

Bandhan had received the RBI’s in- principle licence in April 2014.

Panel on restructuring of the Indian Railways

The panel on restructuring of the Indian Railways, headed by Mr. Debroy, submitted its final report

The report focuses on: the shift towards accrual accounting to improve accountability, streamlining of human resource (HR) practices, decentralising power and appointment of an independent regulator

Key proposals for the future:

5-year timeframe for implementing its recommendations Responsibility for implementation of the recommendations should lie with the Minister

alone. Beyond five years, the Railway Budget should phased, with general budget support to

Railways mentioned as a paragraph in the Budget. Expanded role for the private sector A shift from the present cash-based accounting to accrual or commercial accounting. This

is necessary to find the rate of return on projects and do cost-benefit analyses. Also, it’s needed for inflow of private capital because it’s the format which lenders and financiers understand.

An independent regulatory body set up statutorily – and not by fiat – and accountable to Parliament, tasked with setting access charges, tariffs, and mediating disputes.

Railway Ministry to only set policies, with enforcement entrusted with the regulator Private sector participation in running of both freight and passenger trains Unbundling of the railways into two separate organisations with one responsible for

infrastructure, and another for operating trains. Operational freedom for managers of different zones (decentralisation) The Railway Board to be run like a corporate board, with its chairman exercising decision-

making and veto functions like a CEO.


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On HR: operating the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and special force (57,000-plus personnel), hospitals (125 hospitals; 56,000-plus staff), and schools (168), are not the railways’ core function and hence should be given to other institute.

Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2015

The IIMs were set up as societies under the Societies Registration Act. The proposed bill does away with the system of societies. Instead it proposes each institute will draw its powers from an Act of Parliament.

The government seeks to appropriate for itself the power to decide on academic posts other than the one of director, whereas the draft submitted by the IIMs wants the institutes to take the decision.

The draft Bill seeks to do away with the special emphasis on the IIMs by seeking to declare certain institutes of management to be institutions of national importance to empower them to attain standards of global excellence in management, management research and allied areas of knowledge and to provide for certain other matters connected with such institutions or incidental thereto — the IIMs want the Bill to confine itself to them.

Also, the proposed Bill takes away the powers of the institutes to determine fees by making it subject to prior approval of the government.

It formalizes a closer scrutiny of the premier B-schools—from directors’ tenures to a corporate-style annual report with details of the highest-paid employees.

The draft bill to improve the governance of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) proposes to set up a coordination forum and An IIM Co-ordination Forum has been proposed which will be a coordination body for the exchange of ideas

The draft bill also proposes a four-year term for the chairman of the board of governors instead of the current five years and seeks to keep the number of board member to 15 across all IIMs.

Lastly, the Bill states that in discharge of its functions, the IIM Board will be accountable to the government, whereas the IIMs envisaged accountability only with respect to legal compliance, financial stability and growth of the institutes

R.C. Bhargava Committee report on IIMs 2008

Divided responsibility for governance, and lack of clarity of the role of government, boards, chairman and the directors has led to lack of accountability in the IIMs. It suggested following measures

It had suggested that responsibility be fixed on “key players” to improve accountability at these institutes

The committee had also suggested that the boards of IIMs be reconstituted and consist of 11 members against the present 24-26.

Six of these would be independent professionals and the other five would be: a nominee each of the central government, state government, faculty, and the chairman and director.

No person should be a board member for more than six years, with a single term of three years.

Board members would be expected to have a minimum of 75% attendance.


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Opposition by IIMs

The oldest of these 13 institutes, the IIM-Ahmedabad, has expressed concern over some of the provisions of the Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2015, which, it feels, will spell the end of autonomy.

IIM-A in particular is concerned as it has traditionally used the IIM society to accommodate big donors. The institute has consistently argued that it is not interested in having the power to grant degrees, and would rather stick to the current system

The human resource development (HRD) ministry has now put up the draft bill on mygov.in, the government’s crowdsourcing website, inviting comments and suggestions

River board notifies Krishna water allocation

The Krishna River Water Management Board on Thursday notified water allocation in the Krishna between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana which will get 512 tmcft and 299 tmcft respectively, out of the total assured water of 811 tmcft in the river for both States.

A working group comprising the Chief Engineers of irrigation of both States will be constituted to monitor water releases from different projects on a regular basis.

The allocation of water from Krishna had been the bone of contention between the two States last year and there were apprehensions that the situation would be no different this year in view of the deficit monsoon forecast by India Meteorological Department.

In addition to the irrigation requirements, the two projects Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam are major a source of power generation for Telangana. The situation turned violent on Nagarjunasagar dam with the police of both the States clashing over lifting of sluice gates for release of water downstream.

The latest allocation of water assumed significance in the background of Telangana government laying foundation stones for two new projects – Palamuru–Ranga Reddy and Nakkalagandi lift-irrigation schemes – on Krishna.

The AP government is going ahead with Pattiseema project on Godavari to reduce the pressure on Krishna delta and ensure release of water to Rayalaseema. But, the Telangana government has demanded compensation for diverting Godavari water to Krishna basin.

MEA to recruit experts from private sector

Academicians and experts from various sectors can now look forward to a lateral entry into the Indian Foreign Services. Based on the suggestion made by the Standing Committee on External Affairs, the Ministry is working on the proposal to allow experts from outside the government cadre to join the service.

MEA will advertise posts for academics & pvt sector candidates to apply for jobs in Policy Planning & Research.

Though lateral entry will for now be allowed only in the policy planning and research divisions, the move will bring in “fresh thinking and different expertise” and could be emulated by other departments of the government.


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NALSAR university,Hyderabad issues gender-neutral certificate

NALSAR University of Law has issued India’s “first gender-neutral certificate” with the honorific ‘Mx’ after a student requested it instead of ‘Mr’ or ‘Ms’.

However, the decision had its own controversies with a section of teachers saying the academic bodies of the university have not cleared the move, which, they say, is mandatory for such major changes.

The provisional certificate was issued to Mx. Anindita Mukherjee. But whether the honorific will remain in the final certificate is a question now. The degree has to be signed by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as he is the Chancellor

The best of western universities are issuing such certificates. Since it was only one student who had requested for the change, consent of academic bodies was not required.

Some other teachers see the new honorific as a “progressive” move that will give transgender people equal status and confidence in the social order. They say the use of ‘Mx’ is gaining popularity in the West and since NALSAR students work globally, they will be “very much comfortable” with the honorific.

Black money law to have compliance window

The Union government would soon come out with a compliance window under the black money law to allow persons having illegal money stashed away abroad to pay tax and penalty and come clean.

The finance minister said that those who did not make use of the compliance window would have to pay a tax of 30 per cent and penalty of 90 per cent and face prosecution.

Measures to ensure consumer protection

(Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements) GAMA-dedicated portal

To enable consumers to register their grievances against “misleading advertisements”, Ministry of Consumers Affairs and Food Distribution has launched a GAMA-dedicated portal. This portal covers six key sectors including; food, agriculture, health, education, real estate, transport, and financial services.

Bureau of Indian Standards Act

To strengthen quality assurance regime for goods and services, the amendments to the Bureau of Indian Standards Act was finalised and the same would be tabled in the next session of Parliament. With this, the market surveillance for the standards of testing of products would be made more effective

Consumer Protection Forums


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The ministry had issued directions to all State governments to ensure proper functioning of the Consumer Protection Forums in all the districts and provide adequate infrastructure facilities.

The ministry has decided to release Rs.1 crore to each District Consumer Forum. A conference of all the State Food Ministers will also be convened shortly. Issues related to

protection of consumers interest will be dealt with in depth there.

Free distance education for transgenders, visually challenged

The Directorate of Correspondence Courses and Distance Education (DCC and DE) is offering free undergraduate and postgraduate courses to four categories: the visually impaired, jail inmates, widows and transgenders.

Under normal circumstances, they would have had to pay Rs. 5,500 for a BA course while BBM would have cost Rs. 12,000.

It has written to the Social Welfare Department, Prisons Department and NGOs working with the visually challenged and transgenders.

Eligibility has also been relaxed for these categories; they will have to provide the necessary certificates at the time of applying. Those applying for BA or BCom will have to have studied 10+2 (Pre-University level) to apply.

Those who have completed diploma can also apply, though the diploma should be in the 10+2 format. However, those applying under the Open University scheme can make do with being over 18 years of age.

BU had reseved 1 seat for transgenders from 2014-15. But it has met with zero response since the time of the announcement. This is being attributed to the lack sufficient number of graduates among transgenders.

Navy transfers Kiran jet trainers to Air Force

The Navy has transferred nine Kiran jet-trainer aircraft from its inventory to the Air Force, which is facing an acute shortage of intermediate jet trainers.

The Navy now has the Hawk advanced jet trainers and so they [Kiran] have been transferred to the Air Force

Naval aviators are oriented on the Kiran trainers after which they graduate to frontline fighter jets such as Sea Harriers and MiG-29 Ks. However, the Navy recently inducted the Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJT) and has completely migrated to them for this stage of training.

The HJT-36 Sitara intermediate jet trainer being developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. is facing technical issues and has missed several developmental deadlines.

The crisis that the IAF was forced to disband its aerobatic team, Surya Kiran, and divert the planes for training. The shortage of trainers has forced the IAF to cut down on the flying hours of trainee pilots.


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Sovereign Gold Bonds

Proposed Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) is part of government’s budget proposal along with Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS)

While GMS proposes to ‘monetize’ India’s massive stock of physical gold, SGBs intend to convert the investment demand for physical gold into paper demand

If subscribed fully in the first year, SGBs could result in saving of $2 billion on gold imports at current prices

The draft guidelines issued for the Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) is part of government plan to curb the import of gold.

In its budget proposal in February, the government had proposed the introduction of the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), which was introduced a month ago and now the SGB is the second measure.

SGBs are to be linked to the price of gold, and issued by the central bank (Reserve Bank of India).

It is proposed that banks, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and post offices will be able to collect money and redeem the bonds on behalf of the government

The bonds are to be issued in denominations of two, five and 10 grams of gold with a minimum tenor of five to seven years.

Importantly, a 2 per cent lower limit of interest rate has been indicated and will be paid in terms of gold grams. On maturity, the investor is to get an amount equivalent to the face value of gold in rupee terms

Draft amendments to Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR).

The move comes against the backdrop of the government’s actions against Greenpeace India, Ford Foundation and NGOs involved in the protest against Kudankulam nuclear project earlier.

The existing declaration in the form, through which NGOs submit the account of foreign contribution for every fiscal, is a generic one that promises that the furnished details are “true and correct” and the foreign funds were used for the purpose for which permission was granted.

However, the proposed changes in FCRR 2011 want the NGOs to give a declaration that the foreign funds it received were not used for activities that were “detrimental to national interest”.

They also have to certify that their activities were “not likely to affect prejudicially public interest” and “not likely to affect prejudicially the security, strategic, scientific or economic interest” of the state.

Fear of misuse: Activists opined that these provisions give official machinery a chance to “misuse” and “harass” the civil society groups.

MOM completes 100th orbit around Mars

The Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) completed its 100th orbit around Mars on Monday. It is also gradually coming out of the blackout it had entered earlier this month


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The payloads on the spacecraft are to be re-started in a few weeks. They were last operated on May 27 to put the spacecraft in an autonomous mode.

MOM remains healthy and all its payloads are performing satisfactorily, ISRO said. The Mars Colour Camera has taken 405 frames so far.

Since early June, the Mars Orbiter Mission and Mars were moving behind the sun as viewed from the earth. Two-way signals were disrupted by solar activities.

Launched from Indian spaceport of Sriharikota on November 5, 2013, MOM reached the red planet in September last year and has outlived its planned mission life of six months in a Martian orbit.

Hackathon

An app that verifies student identity and eliminates impersonators for online tests came out triumphant among over 1,400 entries in an online hackathon, one of the largest organised to showcase the innovative possibilities atop the Government’s ID platform Aadhaar.

Anantha Padmanabha, an employee of online financial services portal Bankbazaar.com who developed the student ID verification called TrueScholar, will get a prize money of Rs. 1 lakh for winning the hackathon.

A total of eleven ideas, including an app for use by Anganwadi workers and seeking to eliminate malnutrition in children, were shortlisted for final presentations.

This followed a two-day online hackathon earlier this month, in which over 5,000 people, consisting mostly of techies and tech entrepreneurs, participated.

The hackathon was conducted by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in collaboration with venture capital fund AngelPrime, tech firm HackerEarth and IT industry body Nasscom.


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India ranked best for investment

A ranking of destinations for attractiveness to foreign investors has placed India at the top among 110 countries.

China has secured the 65th position and the U.S. is at the 50th. In the 2014 index, India was at the sixth position and Hong Kong was number one.

The ranking is based on an index for baseline profitability that assumes that three factors affect the ultimate success of a foreign investment: how much the value of an asset grows; the preservation of that value while the asset is owned; and the ease of repatriation of proceeds from selling the asset. The index combines measures for each of these factors into a summary statistic that conveys a country’s basic attractiveness for investment.

A high ranking indicates high returns and improving economic institutions. The index, thus, compares how local policies and conditions affect the same investment in different countries. Or how the value of the principal and the return will change depending only on where the investment is made.

Local factors can erode profits. These include payment of bribes and kickbacks, the risk of which is compared across countries using the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, a measure for the perceived levels of public-sector corruption worldwide.

BPI calculation also uses an index of investor protection compiled by the World Bank. In 2014, the average BPI score across all countries was 0.99; this year it is 1.03 — meaning the expected returns over the next five years are about three-quarters of a per cent higher a year.

Eastern and western dedicated freight corridors

The much-delayed project to build the ambitious eastern and western dedicated freight corridors has received a boost with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approving a revised cost estimate for it.

The 1,839-km-long eastern corridor will connect Ludhiana in Punjab with Dankuni in West Bengal. It will have two components, a double-track section and a single-track segment, both electrified. It will cut across six States. The eastern corridor will cater to traffic streams including coal, finished steel, cement and fertilizer.

The western corridor will cover nearly 1,500 km, connecting the Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai with Dadri, and passing through States such as Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

A substantial portion of the revised cost will be met by way of debt from multilateral institutions such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank.

The equity requirement of the Railways will be around Rs.23,796 crore. Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd., the special purpose vehicle set up by

the Railways to implement the project, is keen to complete it by 2017-18 Once the twin-corridor system is in place, it will transform the very profile of the Railways.

A host of positive outcomes, such as reduction in transportation costs and stepped-up commercial activity, benefiting a range of core industries, could flow from it. This could in turn have a multiplier effect on the economy.


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The twin-corridor project was conceived in 2005 and was approved by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in 2008.

Rashtrapati Bhavan to get an AYUSH centre

On July 25, President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate an AYUSH wellness centre that will be run from a heritage building in the President’s Estate.

Being set up in collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH, the wellness centre will offer elaborate and therapeutic services, including mud baths and oil massages, physiotherapy and yoga to de-stress the mind and body.

The services at the centre, will be offered to residents of the sprawling President’s Estate

New textiles policy aims at 35 million jobs, foreign investment

The government will unveil a new national textiles policy next month that seeks to create 35 million new jobs by attracting foreign investments

An expert panel had submitted the draft of the new policy, which aims at addressing concerns over lack of enough skilled workforce and labour reforms besides attracting investments and providing a roadmap for the textile and clothing industry.

The panel was constituted last year. The ministry has also sought Rs 12,000 crore for the Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) scheme for the ongoing 12th Plan (2012-17)

The government is also considering setting up modern apparel garment manufacturing centres in each of the seven north-east states.


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INTERNATIONAL

ISSUES

India-Bangladesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived for a two day official visit at Dhaka on 06 June 2015. This is his first visit to Bangladesh, which will focus on closer security and economic ties

and agreements to boost connectivity and trade.The Prime Minister was accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (she presided over the historic exchange of Instrument of Ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement and also joined the two prime ministers to flag off the buses from Dhaka to Agartala and Shillong)

The highpoint of the visit included signing of 22 bilateral agreements that would go a long way to cement the social and cultural relations, build up trust and promote bilateral trade and economy of the two nations.

Mr. Modi presented Ms. Hasina a tapestry from Venkatagiri in Andhra Pradesh, hand-woven in the Jamdani style, the famous traditional sari of Bangladesh

List of Bilateral Document Signed, Exchanged, Adopted and Handed Over

1. Exchange of Instruments of Ratification of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and its 2011 Protocol.

2. Exchange of letters on the Modalities of Implementation of the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and its 2011 Protocol.

3. Renewal of Bilateral Trade Agreement. 4. Agreement on Coastal Shipping between India and Bangladesh. 5. Renewal of Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade. 6. Bilateral Cooperation Agreement in the field of Standardisation. 7. Agreement on Dhaka-Shillong- Guwahati bus service and its protocol. 8. Agreement on Kolcutta- Dhaka-Agartala bus service and its protocol. 9. MoU between Coast Guards.


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10. MoU on Prevention of Human Trafficking. 11. MoU on Prevention of Smuggling and Circulation of Fake Currency. 12. MoU on Extending a New Line of Credit of $2billion from Government of India to

Government of Bangladesh. 13. MoU on Blue Economy and Maritime Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal and the India

Ocean. 14. MoU on the Use by India of Bangladesh Ports of Chittagong and Mongla. 15. MoU on a Project under India Endowment for Climate Change of SAARC. 16. MoU on Establishment of Special Economic Zones in Bangladesh. 17. Agreement on Cultural Exchange Programmes from 2015-17. 18. Statement of Intent on Indo-Bangladesh Education Cooperation. 19. Agreement between Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd and BSNL for Leasing of

international Bandwidth for Internet up to Akhaura. 20. MoU for Joint Research on Oceanography of the Bay of Bengal. 21. MoU between Bangladesh Rajshahi University and India’s Jamia Milia Islamia University. 22. Handing Over of Consent Letter to Life Insurance Corporation of India for Starting

Operations in Bangladesh.

Important Agreements

Land Boundary Agreement.

The greatest take away has been the historic ratification of the 40 year old Land Boundary Agreement, which will remove a major irritant in building good neighbourly relationship. Besides, it will provide citizenship to 50,000 people who were literally stateless.

Access to China-built Ports:

The Chittagong port has been developed by China as part of its ‘String of Pearls’ policy and it is believed that China can use this Port for strategic purposes, especially, when it is also developing a deep sea port off the islands of Sonadia and Cox’s Bazar.

The agreement with India, allowing the use the ports of Chittagong and Mongla, has a great strategic significance.

Besides, it will reduce the travelling time of cargo to reach Bangladesh to less than a week from what it is at the present, i.e. 30 to 40 days. Earlier, the cargo vessels had to unload cargo for Bangladesh at Singapore, from where it was dispatched to Bangladesh.

$2 Billion Line of Credit for Bangladesh:

The line of credit means a highly subsidised loan, which will be used by Bangladesh in the fields of infrastructure, power, education and health, on the condition that the equipments and services of Indian entities, like BHEL, RITES and other small and medium enterprises will be utilised.

Hence, it will benefit India in creation of approximately 50,000 jobs and also give a big boost to project exports, like steel and cement to Bangladesh from Indian companies.


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Also, Reliance Power and Adani, signed outline agreements with Bangladesh's state-run electricity agency to invest some Rs. 32 thousand crores in the country's rickety power sector. it has been further announced that power supply to Bangladesh from India will grow from 500MW to 1100MW in the next two years.

Improving Connectivity:

The agreements on trans border bus services will improve people to people contact; build up mutual trust, Bangladesh will be able to use Indian territory to access markets in Nepal and Bhutan.

The same will lead to improvement of infrastructure, job creation, trade, which in turn is likely to abate insurgency in NE states of India.

The multi-level connectivity using water and land ways, which are partly in the form of agreements and partly in the form of memorandum of understandings (MoUs), will boost Bangladesh’s economy on the one hand and India’s access to the northeastern States on the other.

One of the key deals is coastal shipping between the two countries. The agreement will “contribute” to the growth of Bangladesh’s shipping industry, “[Now] goods are taken to distant ports, reloaded in feeder vessels and then brought to Chittagong port. [The agreement] will enable direct, regular movement of ships between India and Bangladesh, which would bring the shipping time down from an average of 30-40 days to seven to 10 days [thus boosting the Bangladesh industry],. The renewal of protocol on inland waterways and transport will also “boost the Bangladeshi shipping industry”

Additionally, the MoU to revitalise the ports in the south of Bangladesh is explained as a win-win deal. “Regarding access to Chittagong and Mongla port for movement of goods to and from India with the proposed bridge over the Fenny river on the India-Bangladesh border, there will be road connectivity (from the ports) to Agartala, which will also allow movement of goods from Indian ports to Chittagong and Mongla and can then move on to Tripura and Agartala (this) improving India’s access to north eastern region, while Bangladesh will have access to Nepal and Bhutan

Setting Up of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Bangladesh:

The two sides agreed to establish special Indian economic zones in Mongla and Bheramara. It is for the first time that one of our neighbouring countries will have an Indian SEZ. It has been agreed upon that the SEZ will be exclusively for investments by Indian companies.

This agreement has been signed basically to address the trade deficit, which is presently in favour of India.


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The Land Boundary Issue Between India and Bangladesh

India and Bangladesh share a 4000 km long border

Issues:

Flow of unauthorised immigrants and refugees. Smuggling of drugs and illegal weapons. Maintaining sanctity of border as it has 162 officially recognised enclaves. Adverse possession of each other’s territory by India and Bangladesh close to their

borders. Safe haven for insurgency groups The inhabitants in these enclaves could not enjoy their citizens rights of either country and

in the practical absence of any law and order enforcing agencies, certain enclaves have become the hot bed of criminal activities.

To keep a check on the above issues, India has installed thousands of kilometres of barbed wire and floodlights, and its Border Security Force (BSF) even adopted a controversial “Shoot at Sight” policy to deter illegal movement across the border.

The government has realised now, that to improve trade and economic cooperation with the SE and Far East Asian countries and improving accessibility to our highly underdeveloped NE states, resolving border disputes with Bangladesh is cardinal.

Besides, maintaining good neighbourly relations with Bangladesh is in concert with India’s aspirations to become a regional power.

What are these Enclaves and how did these Emerge?

“Enclave” is an area of land held with one country, which is surrounded from all the three sides by another country.

According to a popular legend, the enclaves were used as stakes in card or chess games centuries ago between two regional kings, the Raja of Koch Bihar and the Maharaja of Rangpur.

As far as history records, the little territories were apparently the result of a confused outcome of a 1713 treaty between the Kingdom of Koch Bihar and the Mughal Empire. Possibly, the Kingdom and the Mughals ended a war without determining a single boundary for what territories had been gained or lost.

In 1947 when partition took place between India and Bangladesh, the border between these two nations was determined as per the Radcliffe Award. The demarcation of the border at many places was arbitrary and followed the alignment of the erstwhile Koch Bihar Treaty, which had created these undesirable enclaves.

The desire to "de-enclave" most of the enclaves was manifested in a 1958 Nehru-Noon agreement for an exchange between India and Pakistan without considering loss or gain of territory, but the matter then worked into a Supreme Court case in India and Supreme


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Court ruled that constitutional amendment is required to transfer the land. So the ninth amendment was introduced to facilitate the implementation of the agreement. The amendment could not be passed due to objection to transfer of southern Berubari enclave. Due to deteriorated relation with Pakistan, the issue remained unsolved. With that agreement unratified, the negotiations had to restart after East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh in 1971.

In all, the Indo-Bangladesh enclaves contain 24,268 acres of land and a population of

around 50,000 people. There are 111 Indian enclaves (17,158 acres) in western Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,110 acres) in India’s West Bengal.

Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974

Soon after independence, India and Bangladesh proposed to resolve the boundary issues and in 1974 signed an agreement that allowed India to retain half of Berubari Union No. 12, in exchange; Bangladesh would retain the Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves.


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The Agreement further provided that India would lease in perpetuity to Bangladesh a small area near Dahagram and Angarpota (the “Tin Bigha” corridor) for the purpose of connecting Dahagram and Angarpota with Bangladesh.

This agreement was ratified by Bangladesh, but, was not ratified by Indian Parliament as in India’s viewpoint; it was ceding more to Bangladesh than what it was getting back in return. Exchange as per this agreement will cause India to lose 17160 acre to receive 7110 acre.

Thus, because of political and constitutional obstacles to a resolution, the status of the enclaves and their residents has remained largely unchanged ever since 1952.

What is Land ‘in Adverse Possession’?

‘An adverse possession’ is territory that is contiguous to India’s border and within Indian control, but which is legally part of Bangladesh. Residents of these adverse possessions are Indian citizens. Similarly, Bangladesh also has Indian territory in its adverse possessions.

Final Closure to the Land Boundary Issue

On 01 Dec 2014, India Government has taken a major step to resolve land boundary dispute between India and Bangladesh pertaining to Enclaves and Adverse Possession lands.

A standing committee on External Affairs has tabled its report on The Constitution (One Hundred and Nineteenth Amendment) Bill 2013 pertaining to exchange of disputed land between the two countries to facilitate resolution of the crisis.

On 06 May 2015, the Constitution Amendment Bill (One Hundred and Nineteenth Amendment) on Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh was unanimously passed (180 votes to zero) in the Rajya Sabha and then later it was also passed in Lok Sabha.

The same paved the way for permanent settlement of decades-old boundary disputes between the two neighbouring countries.

The Constitution Amendment Bill operationalised the LBA with Bangladesh, including territories in Assam along with those in West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya.

During the visit of Indian PM Modi to Bangladesh, on 06 June 2015, the two country’s sealed a historic agreement that has settled a 41-year-old land boundary dispute through exchange of territories, removing a major irritant in bilateral ties.

The exchange of documents has paved the way for the operationalisation of the 1974 India-Bangladesh LBA that provides for exchange of these 162 enclaves between the two countries.

Resolving the Enclaves and Adverse Possession issue once and for all has given credence to the fact that India does its share of “walk the talk”, when required, and will give a monumental fillip to its reputation as an emerging regional power


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2,000 war heroes to be honoured

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally approved a proposal by a senior researcher and freedom fighter to honour nearly 2,000 Indian soldiers who were martyred during the 1971 Liberation War.

Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus

The trial run of the much-awaited Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus service started on 1st June, 2015.

The service, aimed at easy movement of people of two Indian States separated by Bangladesh

This is the first bus service to connect the two north-eastern States through Bangladesh. The Dhaka-Kolkata service was introduced in 1999 and the one between Dhaka and

Agartala in 2003. It had been sought for long by the people of Tripura and other adjoining States for

travelling through Bangladesh without changing vehicles. It takes nearly three days to travel from Kolkata to Agartala, the capital of Tripura, a 1,650-km distance by land. Now, the journey will take less than 24 hours.

Bangladesh Cabinet approves three pacts

Bangladesh Cabinet approved drafts of three agreements which will be signed during Mr. Modi’s visit.

The deals are expected to boost trade between the two countries. The agreement includes an understanding with Bangladesh Standard Testing Institution (BSTI) and Bureau of Indian Standard on cooperation in the field of standardisation and conformity

With this, goods made in Bangladesh or India can be certified by either BSTI or BIS and will not require further verification.

The other two agreements are protocols for passenger bus services between Kolkata and Agartala via Bangladesh and from Dhaka to Guwahati via Shillong.

Bangladesh Liberation War award for Vajpayee

Bangladesh is set to honour former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for his outstanding support for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971 when he was a Lok Sabha member.

Bangladesh will hand over Vajpayee’s “Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War Award” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his upcoming visit to the country

India and Sweden

India and Sweden agreed to re-start the bilateral strategic dialogue after a gap of four years besides finding ways for investment by the Nordic country in India’s defence sector under the ambitious ‘Make in India’ initiative.


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With changed Foreign Direct Investments rules and the ‘Make in India’ campaign, it is expected that the Swedish government would look for India as a manufacturing base

U.S.A. Patriot Act

U.S.A. Patriot Act, initially introduced after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, lapsed without renewal by Congress, and the U.S. National Security Agency effectively lost the authority to conduct bulk telephone data collection on millions of Americans.

Under Section 215 of the Act, the NSA is permitted to collect and store for five years telephone metadata on millions of Americans and that authority has temporarily evaporated.

Similarly, intelligence authorities’ right to receive a roving wiretap to track terror suspects who frequently change telephones has been rescinded, and they are now required to obtain individual warrants for each new device that the suspect uses.

The alternative to the Patriot Act that is getting a strong push from President Barack Obama as well as the House of Representatives is the USA Freedom Act, which does also aim to roll back bulk call metadata collection but could leave the roving wire-tap and lone-wolf tracker provisions in place.

Myanmar escorts 700 migrants toward Rakhine

Myanmar’s navy on Tuesday escorted a boatload of more than 700 migrants towards its western state of Rakhine, authorities said, five days after it was found adrift in the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh’s Border Guard also said it had been told by its neighbour that the passengers would be taken to Maungdaw. But in a warning to Myanmar, a coast guard official, Captain Shahidul Islam, said Bangladesh would block any attempt to push them across the frontier.

Meanwhile, Thai authorities on Tuesday said an arrest warrant has been issued for a high-ranking army officer over human trafficking, the first military figure in junta-ruled Thailand to be implicated in the grim trade in migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The announcement comes a day after U.S. President Barack Obama called on Myanmar to end discrimination against its minority Rohingya Muslim population.

More than 3,500 hungry and bedraggled Rohingya, as well as Bangladeshi migrants escaping poverty, have arrived on Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian soil in recent weeks after a trafficking crackdown by Thailand threw long-worn people-smuggling routes into disarray.

India central to green energy plan: U.K. climate change envoy

India will be a member of a consortium of countries that will implement the Global Apollo Programme — a plan to find ways within the next 10 years to make green energy clean cheaper to produce than energy drawn from coal, gas or oil.

The plan is the brainchild of a group of U.K. experts drawn from academia, business and government


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Arguing for £15 billion of public spending on research and development by governments toward creating ways of producing and storing green energy cheaply, the architects of the plan envisage countries joining the programme “will commit to spending in their own countries at least 0.02 per cent of GDP on this internationally coordinated programme of research each year over a 10 year period.”

Migrant camps near port cleared

French authorities on Tuesday cleared hundreds of migrants from two camps, one under a subway bridge in Paris and the other in the northern port of Calais.

The raids come as European countries debate what to do about the tens of thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

Police launched a dawn raid on a camp in northern Paris where more than 350 refugees, most of them from Sudan, but also from Eritrea, Somalia and Egypt have been living.

E-visa for Swedish nationals soon: Pranab

India will soon extend e-visa facility to Swedish nationals, President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said

He invited the Nordic country to be a part of government’s flagship programmes like the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

the President met the CEOs of the Swedish companies where he asked them to invest in India. The CEOs told the President that they were eagerly awaiting the outcome of government’s decision on Goods and Services Tax (GST).

India - Pakistan

India’s charge is that Pakistan was conducting elections in Gilgit-Baltistan to “camouflage its illegal occupation of the regions”. The entire State of Jammu and Kashmir which includes the regions of Gilgit and Baltistan is an integral part of India.” Earlier in 2009, India had lodged a protest with Pakistan over its attempts to grant self-rule to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, and grant the regions province-like status without constitutionally becoming part of Pakistan.

Ms. Swaraj’s asserted that dialogue would only take place between the two countries within the framework of the Shimla agreement and the Lahore declaration New Delhi accused Islamabad of conducting elections in Gilgit-Baltistan to “camouflage its illegal occupation of the regions.”

Ms. Swaraj had said India will not welcome the intervention of the U.N. or the Hurriyat in talks with Pakistan.

Pakistan, on its part, accused India of violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control and said New Delhi should steer clear of interfering with Islamabad’s bilateral relations with Beijing and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Pak stand --Pakistan believes that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are important stakeholders in the final resolution of the dispute since they have yet to exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in numerous UN Resolutions.


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India, Belarus agree on road map for stronger ties

President Pranab Mukherjee met his Belarusian counterpart and agreed on a 17-point road map aimed at strengthening mutual trust and confidence.

Bilateral trade

1. About 400 million in 2014 2. president invited Belarusian investors to the country in a bid to increase bilateral trade to

$1billion by 2020 invited Belarusian investors to the country in a bid to increase bilateral trade to $1billion by 2020

3. To facilitate trade, both governments are keen to intensify cooperation in quality control, quarantine, certification of goods and standardisation as well as simplification of customs formalities.

4. India has decided to grant ’Market Economy Status’ to Belarus. Giving market economy status will be a significant step towards enhancing bilateral trade and also in promoting greater integration of Belarus in international trade structures.

India would be extending a new line of credit of $100 million to Belarus to encourage joint projects in mutually identified sectors

During the talks, the President discussed a host of issues, including increasing trade ties, besides boosting co-operation in mining, education and heavy machinery.

Later, the two Presidents witnessed signing of several agreements and Memorandums of Understandings, including agreements between the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Ministry of Finance, the Bureau of Indian Standards as well as between the Prasar Bharati and the National State Television.

The agreements included the road map for strengthening mutual trust and having a strong commitment to develop multifaceted and long term co-operation.

The two countries will work for full implementation of the MoU on defence-related technical cooperation and to develop a legal framework for security cooperation

The road map will enhance high-level and Ministerial contact, optimise the structure of trade, increase trade turnover, create favourable conditions for enhanced direct investment and promote practical cooperation between financial institutions.

Science & technology cooperation---Under the agreement, the two countries will enhance coordination in science and technology, energy sector, metals and mining, potash fertilizers, give boost to raw material in textile sector, extend cooperation by Belarus in modernisation of public electric transport system in India, agriculture and agro procession.

Exchange of students and promotion of tourism also figured in the agreements. This is the first presidential visit from India to Belarus, a landlocked East European country. The Belarus President had visited India twice in 1997 and 2007.


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India raises with U.S. arms sale to Pak.

Mr. Carter signed the 2015 Framework Agreement for India-U.S. Defence cooperation with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The defence agreements are a part of a broader U.S.-India engagement to cement ties. Indian leadership raised the issue of military hardware support to Islamabad with Mr.

Carter. The U.S. has given multimillion dollar military hardware, including F-16 fighter planes, to Pakistan and pitched as a means of capacity-building to fight terrorists on Islamabad border.

This is not the first time that India has raised the issue of arms support to its neighbour. U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposal to give over $1 billion in civilian and military aid to

Pakistan — a six-fold increase in foreign military financing — for fighting terror, economic development, safety of nuclear installations and improving ties with India, among other objectives, was followed closely by New Delhi.

India signs pact on automatic exchange of tax information

In keeping with what was decided at the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in September last year, India on Wednesday joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information.

Prior to Wednesday’s agreement, 54 countries had joined the MCAA. India is among six countries that joined this pact in Paris, taking the number to 60. The target is to reach 94 countries by 2017.

The new system, dubbed the Common Reporting Standards (CRS) on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), is very wide in scope and obliges the treaty partners to exchange a wide range of financial information, including that about the ultimate controlling persons and beneficial owners of entities.

To be able to comply with the new system, amendments have been made to section 285BA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Necessary rules and guidelines are being formulated in consultation with financial institutions.

Previously, information was exchanged between countries on the basis of specific requests relating to cases of tax evasion and other financial crimes. AEOI, when fully implemented, sets up a system wherein bulk taxpayer information will periodically be sent by the source country of income to the country of residence of the taxpayer.

Knowledge network to be open to all SAARC nations

India is in the process of extending its National Knowledge Network to all members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to allow students unimpeded access to digital libraries and network resources

At the groundbreaking ceremony of South Asian University (SAU), Ms. Swaraj said the Ministry was carrying out the instructions of the Prime Minister to have the university connect with at least one university in every SAARC nation.

“As Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi said in his speech at the 18th SAARC summit, India’s vision for the region rests on the pillars of trade, investment, assistance, cooperation,


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people-to-people contacts and connectivity. In the coming days and years, we will work assiduously to make the region more connected and more prosperous

At the 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka, India offered to host the SAU. The university, mooted as one dedicated to the region, has had its share of teething troubles, mainly on account of financial constraints.

India has offered to pay the capital cost of $198 million for its establishment, apart from providing close to 40 hectares for the campus

NSA surveillance reform

It was a historic moment for civil liberty advocates as much as it was for libertarians of the American right when the U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed on a vote of 67-32, and President Barack Obama signed into law,

It is the the first reform in a decade limiting the sweeping powers of the National Security Agency to conduct surveillance on millions of citizens’ telephone conversations.

The USA Freedom Act is now operational after the US Patriot Act, US Patriot Act-- the post-9/11 measure permitting mass global surveillance by the NSA on

an unprecedented scale, expired on Sunday at midnight .The Patriot Act’s expiration effectively brought to an end the NSA’s bulk dragnet collection of telephone metadata relating to American citizens, executed under the Act’s notorious Section 215, and that included information on who called whom when, but not the actual content of the call.

The USAFA represents the first major reform to the NSA’s mass surveillance of global communications that has been effected since whistleblower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed the full extent of the spying programmes to the world in 2013,

Though many called for further reform pointing out that spying on foreigners was untouched by this bill.

However, the USAFA still required such metadata collection by the major telecom companies of the U.S., and authorities may access the information only with a warrant from the shadowy Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court, after the NSA identifies a specific person or group of people suspected of terror ties.

Large Hadron Collider resumes atom smashing after two-year pause

Scientists on Wednesday hailed a “new era” in their quest to unravel more mysteries of the universe as the world’s biggest particle smasher started experiments with nearly doubled energy levels in a key breakthrough.

The tests at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) came after a sweeping two-year revamp of the collider and will help scientists to study fundamental particles, the building blocks of all matter, and the forces that control themDuring its next run, researchers will look for evidence of “new physics” and probe “supersymmetry” — a theoretical concept informally dubbed Susy; seek explanations for enigmatic dark matter and look for signs of extra dimensions.


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Israel brands boycott movement a ‘strategic threat’

Israel and key international supporters have sharply ratcheted up their campaign against the Palestinian-led Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, with senior Israeli officials declaring it a “strategic” threat.

Using language the Israeli government usually reserves for the likes of Hamas or Iran’s nuclear programme, senior figures have turned on the movement, which is prominent on university campuses and among international trade unions.

The moves came as the U.K.’s National Union of Students (NUS) voted on Tuesday to formally ally itself with the aims of BDS. Following the vote, Hebrew media reported that Israeli MPs were due to hold a special session in the Knesset to discuss the issue.

Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement

The non-violent grassroots movement, founded by journalist Ali Abunimah and activist Omar Barghouti, is modelled on South African anti-apartheid campaigns and calls for an end to the occupation, equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and a resolution for Palestinian refugees of 1948.

Israeli critics point to the call for a right to return and the opposition of some leaders of the movement to a two-state solution — which they describe as a “mistake” — as evidence that BDS is antisemitic.

After years in which Israeli officials and commentators have loftily dismissed the impact of BDS — which seeks to persuade businesses, artists, governments and academic institutions to boycott Israel over its long occupation of the Palestinian territories — Israel’s new rightwing government has in recent days singled out the movement for criticism. The issue appears to have been given added impetus since Palestinian efforts to have Israel suspended from the scandal-ridden world football organisation Fifa failed on Friday.

Israeli officials told The Guardian that the focus on BDS was not an acknowledgement of its success but rather the reaffirmation of a principal of “moral outrage” both over the recent move by the NUS and by efforts to have Israel suspended from Fifa.

That, however, has led to accusations from critics that Israel is deliberately conflating the BDS movement with separate Palestinian efforts to hold Israel accountable for the occupation

Political formation for Indian Tamils launched

Weeks ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary elections, a new political formation — Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) — was formally launched on Wednesday to highlight issues and problems of Indian Tamils, who, according to leaders of the Alliance, accounted for 1.6 million


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MEA dismisses U.S. panel hearing on religious freedom

The Ministry of External Affairs has reacted strongly to a U.S. Commission on Human Rights hearing on “violence against religious minorities in India”, calling the hearing an effort “based on lack of understanding of India, its Constitution and society.

The issue of restrictions on Ford Foundation and Greenpeace International was taken up by the U.S. government again this week, when a senior U.S. diplomat met with officials of the MEA and MHA to ask for a lifting of financial strictures against the groups. The request was rejected as MHA officials said the groups had been found “violating Indian financial laws

The MEA’s reaction to the Congressional committee briefing is the second time in the past few weeks that the government has reacted sharply to “religious freedom” proceedings in the U.S. Despite being named at hearings and in the Tom Lantos annual report in the past as well, the government used to refuse comment, calling it an “an internal process of the U.S. legislature

Modi wanted LAC clarified

During his visit to China last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pushed for the resumption of the process for clarification of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) stalled in 2005.

“It is because neither side knows where the Line of Actual Control is in these areas. That is why I have proposed resuming the process of clarifying it. We can do this without prejudice to our position on the boundary question.”

In a conversation with a visiting Indian think tank and media delegation, Huang Xilian, a senior official in the Asia department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry pointed out that the boundary negotiators from the two countries had “encountered some difficulties” in the previous edition of LAC clarification.

“We tried to clarify some years ago but we encountered some difficulties which led to even a complex situation. That is why I said whatever we do should make it more conducive for promoting peace and tranquillity for making things easier, not to make it things more complicated.”

“We can try to reach agreement on the code of conduct. And we still have quite some things to explore together, to make sure that there is not only one thing, but many things; we should try and seek a comprehensive approach to this,” Mr. Huang said.

He earlier observed that the Chinese approach was to seek “some kind of comprehensive measures, to ensure peace and tranquillity along the border.”

Code of conduct in pact

The focus on the “code of conduct” fed into the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA), signed between the two countries in October 2013.

That agreement had directed the two sides “that they shall not follow or tail patrols of the other side in areas where there is no common understanding of the line of actual control in the India-China border areas.”


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It pointed out that in case “a doubtful situation arises with reference to any activity by either side in border areas where there is no common understanding of the line of actual control, either side has the right to seek a clarification from the other side.”

Chinese approach was to seek “comprehensive measures” to ensure tranquillity on border.

Pluto’s moons are in a chaotic rhythm

NASA’s Hubble space telescope has provided the first glimpse of Pluto’s moons that wobble unpredictably, tumbling in absolute chaos.

It means if you lived on one of Pluto’s moons, you might have a hard time determining when, or from which direction, the sun will rise each day. “

“When the New Horizons spacecraft flies through the Pluto system in July, we will get a chance to see what these moons look like up close and personal,” he added in a NASA statement. Comprehensive analysis of the data shows that two of Pluto’s moons, Nix and Hydra, wobble unpredictably

India--Netherlands

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte who is in India on a two-day visit.

Terrorism and Cyber crime

The two nations, which are keen to forge an alliance to fight terror and cyber crime, We have the experience in fighting the IS in Iraq. India has experience in fighting terrorism

as well, we will exchange information on how to deal with terror and share our experiences,” Mr. Rutte said addressing the media here.

The Netherlands is part of the group of countries led by the United States that is helping to break the fighting power of the IS terrorist organisation; it has deployed military trainers to help Iraqi and Kurdish armed forces, personnel and F-16s for air strikes.

Other areas of cooperation

“India’s economy is growing faster than China, and though it has its challenges, there is scope for the Netherlands and India to work together. Right now our trade is at six billion Euros and over 200 Dutch companies are already working here, but we are looking at possibilities in other areas,” Mr. Rutte said.

Its looking at collaboration with India in the defence sector and infrastructure development, particularly in Mumbai

Both are also looking to increase bilateral trade and will sign as many as 18 agreements for water management, infrastructure development, defence and maritime cooperation.

The visiting Dutch delegation offered its expertise in flood waters control and for cleaning the river Ganga under the ‘Namami Gange programme.’

The Netherlands which has supported New Delhi’s bid for permanent membership of a reformed United Nations Security Council


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India, which is the fifth largest source of investments for the Netherlands, for its part has announced e-visas for Dutch visitors to give tourism as fillip.

The two countries will sign agreement on manufacturing of dredgers in India at the Cochin shipyard, on manufacturing of measles and rubella vaccine with transfer of technology, and collaborate on developing coastal roads and metro lines in India, borrowing Dutch expertise.

China blamed for massive U.S. data breach

China-based hackers are suspected once again of breaking into U.S. government computer networks, and the entire federal workforce could be at risk this time.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that data from the Office of Personnel Management the human resources department for the federal government and the Interior Department had been compromised. The hackers were believed to be based in China, said Sen. Susan Collins. Ms. Collins, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the breach was “yet another indication of a foreign power probing successfully and focusing on what appears to be data that would identify people with security clearances.”

But in Beijing on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations. A spokesman for the ministry, Hong Lei said that Beijing hopes the U.S. would be “less

suspicious... but show more trust and participate more in cooperation

The China-India Line of Actual Control (LAC)

The Special Representatives of the two countries are engaged in a lengthy process of negotiations to define the final frontiers between India and China.

The resumption of the clarification of the LAC, which was publicly raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his China visit last month, is one of the core objectives of the confidence-building measures (CBMs) Process.

It was formally documented in the peace and tranquillity accord that was signed in 1993 in the backdrop of friction such as the one caused during the Wandung incident of 1986 in Arunachal Pradesh.

The spirit behind LAC clarification, which was raised by Mr. Modi, is to prevent inadvertent incidents along the border.

Expectations:

China: Doesn't want approach to CBMs focussed on LAC alone and Seems to favour the expansion of the "code of conduct" regime among troops

India: Says LAC clarification will prevent inadvertent confrontations and says Code of conduct protocol in place since 2005


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Issues:

India’s reassertion on the need to clarify the Line of Actual Control (LAC). On the contrary, the Chinese official seemed to favour the expansion of the “code of conduct” along the borders.

The code of conduct has already been fully elaborated in the CBM protocol along the LAC that was signed by the two sides on April 11, 2005.

The wide ranging protocol covers all the conceivable contingencies that may arise and ways to address them

For instance the protocol — a detailed elaboration of the 1996 CBM accord — limits the size and orientation of military exercises along the LAC, details the protocol that needs to be followed in case of an alleged air intrusion, including a flag meeting within 48 hours of the incident, and prescribes a code of conduct in case of an eventuality of eye-ball to eye-ball military contact in the LAC area.

1996 Accord: The LAC clarification process had fully commenced following the 1996 CBM accord where there was an agreement to exchange maps indicating the “respective perceptions” of the two sides regarding “the entire alignment of the LAC as soon as possible”.

The Middle Sector process of clarification was broadly completed, but problems arose in clarifying the Western Sector.

According to an understanding that had been previously reached, the Eastern Sector clarification was to subsequently commence, but the entire process has since been stalled.

French Open

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on 7 June 2015 won his first French Open title of Tennis. In the final clash played at Roland Garros in Paris, Wawrinka defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Serena Williams of US on 6 June 2015 defeated Lucie Safarova of Czechoslovakia 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-2 to win the women's title of French Open. This was her third French Open title and 20th Grand Slam title.

Nepal deadlock on a new constitution

Nepal’s rival political parties have struck a historic agreement to end years of deadlock on a new constitution that will divide the country into eight provinces

Nepal’s lawmakers began work on a new national constitution in 2008 following a decade-long Maoist insurgency that left an estimated 16,000 people dead and brought down the monarchy.

But the political parties were unable to reach agreement and the resulting uncertainty left Nepal in a state of political limbo.

The opposition Maoist party had pressed for greater devolution of powers, and the agreement to divide Nepal into eight provinces paves the way for a new federal structure.

However, it leaves the crucial issue of the provincial borders unresolved


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Under the deal, Nepal will continue with its current system of national governance which includes an executive Prime Minister and ceremonial President.

A new federal commission will be tasked with drawing up internal borders and submit a proposal for approval in Parliament.

The agreement includes a commitment to hold the country’s first local elections since 1997.

Sri Lankan Cabinet clears new electoral system

After weeks of discussion with political parties across the spectrum, the Sri Lankan Cabinet has finalised the broad contours of the proposed 20th Constitutional Amendment on electoral reforms

According to the decision taken on Monday night, there will be no change in the size of Parliament. It will remain at 225.

However, unlike in the present system of proportional representation (PR), the proposed scheme marks a combination of the First Past The Post (FPTP) and PR. Of the total number of 225 seats, it had been decided to earmark 125 seats for FPTP and 100 seats for PR. Again, 75 seats out of 100 would be filled through members representing electoral districts while the remaining 25 seats would be set apart for the national list.

Africa: 26-nation free trade pact signed

African leaders signed on Wednesday a potentially historic 26-nation free trade pact to create a common market spanning half the continent from Cairo to Cape Town.

The deal on the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) caps five years of negotiations to set up a framework for preferential tariffs easing the movement of goods in an area home to 625 million people.

The deal will integrate three existing trade blocs — the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) — whose countries have a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than $1 trillion.

India ink four-nation Motor Vehicle Agreement

India signed a landmark agreement with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal to ease movement of passenger, personal and cargo vehicles amongst the four countries.

The BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) Motor Vehicle Agreement is being signed eight months after Pakistan’s resistance stopped members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) from clinching a similar deal during its 18th summit of the eight-nation bloc in Kathmandu last November.

The BBIN countries will be benefited by mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region. The people of the four countries will benefit through seamless movement of goods and passenger across borders


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The BBIN MVA will not only reduce transport costs, but also foster development of multi-modal transport and transit facilities, enabling increased connectivity and promotion of greater trade between the four countries

Transforming transport corridors into economic corridors could potentially increase intra-regional trade within South Asia by almost 60 per cent and with the rest of the world by over 30 per cent.

Each of the four countries will bear its own costs arising from implementation of the proposed agreement.

The agreement among India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal will allow passenger, personal and cargo vehicles to travel along designated key routes in the four countries without the need for trans-shipment of goods and passengers at the border crossings.

If signed by all the eight countries, the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement for Regulation of Passenger and Cargo Vehicular Traffic would have made it possible for vehicles registered in one country to move into another member country of the bloc without much hassle

Pakistan violates ceasefire

Pakistani troops violated the border ceasefire at Sawjian sector of Poonch district on Thursday as they resorted to “unprovoked” firing from across the Line of Control in Jammu region, which was retaliated by the Indian forces, the Defence Ministry said

The firing lasted for about 5 to 10 minutes. No casualty or damage was reported on the Indian side.

India to attend Donors’ Conference in Nepal

India will send a high-level ministerial delegation to the Donors’ Conference in Kathmandu on June 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala on Thursday during a phone conversation.

Nepal had earlier turned down offers from several countries, including India, to host the conference. It has already set up a $2-billion fund for reconstruction and rebuilding, even as preliminary estimates indicate that the costs could be five times higher.

Assurance

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Modi assured Prime Minister Koirala of India’s “unwavering and sustained” support to Nepal in its rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, guided by the preference and priorities of the government in Kathmandu. Mr. Modi also assured Mr. Koirala that India would respect and be with Nepal in all its decisions regarding rehabilitation works.

Mr. Modi’s reaffirmation that India has always been guided by humanitarian concerns in a spirit of equality and friendship assumes significance as there was criticism from some sections in Nepal over India’s role during the relief operations.


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Countries support India's labour inspection reforms

The emphasis of the government is on quality and effectiveness of the labour inspection system rather than mere numbers. We want to bring in an efficient system of compliance for labour legislation with the help of information technology. This was stated by Shri Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary, Labour and Employment, Govt of India in the 104th International Labour Conference in Geneva.

He reiterated that the rights of the inspection authority have not been curtailed at all. The phrase ‘end of Inspector Raj’ does not mean ‘end of inspection system’ but ending malpractices and arbitrariness in the current inspection system.

Ministry of Labour and Employment is mandated to safeguard the interest of working class while promoting a conducive working environment for inclusive growth and industrial harmony. We are one of the fastest growing nations with the largest proportion of youth population. Therefore, creation of decent employment for all is the top priority for the government.

This means that all avoidable transaction costs and in-efficiencies must be eliminated. Review and updating of labour laws is a continuous process in order to bring them in tune with the emerging needs of globalised and knowledge-based economy.

ILO

The International Labour Conference of ILO is attended by 185 member countries and is the biggest international forum to discuss all the labour related issues.

India is a founding member of ILO and signatory to ILO conventions on labour inspection as well as tripartite consultation. All the proposed amendments to labour laws are being discussed threadbare in appropriate tripartite forums involving government, employers’ organizations and workers’ organizations, and only thereafter, amendments are carried forward.

The countries including Russia, China, Japan, Singapore, Iran, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Ghana, Venezuela Qatar, Fiji and others strongly supported India's stand. Countries appreciated the commitment of Indian government for social dialogue and decent work.

India is the new investment destination of the world and good governance based on transparency, accountability and efficiency needs to be promoted. They were pleased to observe the new Government's initiatives for promoting an enabling environment for trade and industry by cutting the undue transaction costs for compliance of labour laws in a transparent and accountable manner.

Yunnan, W. Bengal the key drivers for BCIM

The Chinese Province of Yunnan and the Indian State of West Bengal, both seeking fresh business opportunities, are imparting a new dynamic to the formation of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, which now appears to be finding greater support in New Delhi.


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This illustrates the emergence of subaltern diplomacy where Indian States and Chinese Provinces are imparting the primary impulse for change.

The Provincial Leaders’ Forum, formed last month during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, linked Indian States and Chinese Provinces is a key mechanism for bringing about change from below.

The Yunnan-West Bengal tie-up follows a similar initiative by Guizhou International, a Chinese company based in the Province of Guizhou that is investing in a $3.5-billion project in the Kakinada Special Economic Zone in Andhra Pradesh.

Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh also pointed out that the BCIM initiative was “in sync” with India’s thrust on accelerated development of infrastructure, which included construction of railways, industrial corridors and smart cities.

India, in partnership with Beijing, was showing signs of leading the way to the development of the BCIM.

Besides, the Chinese side is also advocating the emergence of a BCIM Industrial Cooperation Zone, which will serve as the nodal-hub for steering development along the entire corridor.

INSTC members discuss dry runs along Caspian Sea

The International North–South Transport Corridor is the ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia. It has 13 members

The international transport corridor is expected to substantially reduce cargo transportation time between India and Central Asia and Russia.

The dry run between Nhava Sheva (Mumbai) – Bandar Abbas (Iran) – Baku (Azerbaijan) and Nhava Sheva – Bandar Abbas (Iran) – Amirabad (Iran) – Astrakhan (Russia) via the Caspian Sea was conducted in August last year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already articulated his decision favouring the renewal of the trading route along the land route of Iran and through the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.

India, which recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran for the development of the Chabahar port which is its anticipated gateway to Afghanistan, is keen to tap the trading potential with countries in the region and has been pushing for providing connectivity.

Once the North-South Corridor becomes operational, India will have better connectivity with Russia, bringing down the freight rates.

Saudi strikes hit heritage site

An air strike, apparently by the Saudi-led coalition on the old quarter of the Yemeni capital killed five people on Friday and destroyed three houses in the UNESCO-listed heritage site. However, the coalition denied the claims, suggesting a rebel ammunition cache may have exploded

UNESCO condemned the air strike on the historical area it described as “one of the world’s oldest jewels” of Islamic culture, urging warring parties to respect Yemen’s heritage.


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Agriculture a key area in Delhi-Colombo ties

Sri Lanka has identified agriculture, logistics and textiles as potential areas of “economic engagement” with India, according to Ravi Karunanayake, Finance Minister.

Mr. Karunananyake told reporters that the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March showed “warmth” between the two countries.

Shipping and open-aviation policy were among the other areas of cooperation. On the currency swap agreement with India, the Finance Minister said his country had so

far used $ 400 million. It could go up to $ 1.5 billion. On taxation, he said his government was for lowering of taxes, better compliance and

more equitable distribution of resources. The Minister said the government’s plan was to develop Sri Lanka into a “mini-financial

centre” as neighbouring countries such as India, Pakistan, Maldives and Bangladesh would find it an ideal place.

Land pact rollout in next 11 months

Bangladesh and India will implement the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974 and Protocol of 2011, in a phased manner over the next 11 months.

Between July 31, 2015 and June 30, 2016, the entire process, including physical exchange of enclaves and land parcels in adverse possession along with boundary demarcation, will be completed.

Perhaps the most significant date is July 31, 2015 — the “Appointed Day.” The enclaves on both sides of the border “shall stand transferred to the other” by the midnight of the Appointed Day.

The countries will exchange strip maps showing the narrow stretch of territory on the Appointed Day (July 31, 2015) completing the transfer of territorial jurisdiction, while the ground demarcation of the boundary will be completed by the respective Survey Departments by June 30, 2016.

Both governments will facilitate “orderly, safe and secure passage” to the enclave dwellers along with their “personal belongings and moveable property” to Bangladesh or India through proper “travel documents.” The passage “will be arranged by the respective governments and take place by November 30, 2015.”

Entry/exit points will be Haldibari (on Indian side) Burimari and Banglabandha” on the international border

Both sides have agreed “to conduct a joint visit to the enclaves” to survey all the complex and controversial issues.

Property transfer, nationality likely to prove contentious

The two countries have also outlined the modalities of an immensely complex process of settlement of immovable property. The dwellers, who are hoping to move from an enclave to another country as proper citizens for the first time since Independence, will have to provide “details of the records and specifications of immovable property” to the local administration.


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The details will be posted in the public domain by the district administrations and the governments will “facilitate remittance of sales proceeds” of the property.

The Bangladesh-India Joint Boundary working group will address any dispute that “may arise after the transfer for next five years till June 2020.”

However, according to some members of Bangladesh’s civil society, many key issues are yet to be addressed.

On such questions as to find out the valuation of the land that an enclave dweller has and how much land would the same person get if he or she chooses his or her original nationality and what would be its value is one of the many such questions,” said an observer in Dhaka.

One of the terms of the joint team visiting the enclaves would be to identify the “residents who wish to continue to retain the nationality they hold prior to the actual transfer of territory.”

To determine the size of the population in the 162 enclaves is one of the many issues. “We have to make sure that no one fakes identity to receive government grants,” said key activist Diptiman Sengupta, prior to Mr. Modi’s visit, on the Indian side of the border.

The letters of the Foreign Secretaries have addressed these issues. The right to “retain the nationality” will only be available to those “who are included in the joint headcount of the population of the enclave,” the letters said. The headcount was finalised by the governments in July 2011 and to the children born to “the residents from 2011 till date.”

Turkey allows entry to Syrian refugees

Turkey on Sunday began accepting onto its territory Syrian refugees fleeing the battle between Kurds and Islamic State (IS) jihadists for the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad

Turkey had for several days been blocking the Syrians from Turkey, saying it would only allow them to enter the country in the event of a humanitarian tragedy. However local officials in Akcakale said earlier that permission had been received from Ankara to allow the refugees to enter Turkey.

The decision came as Kurdish forces advanced on Tal Abyad, which is controlled by IS jihadists who have captured swathes of Syria and Iraq. A delay followed which Turkish television said was due to the IS jihadists impeding the refugees from crossing on the other side of the border.

Under an “open-door” policy championed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has taken in 1.8 million Syrian refugees since the conflict in Syria erupted in 2011

Greece Crisis

Causes of the Greece Crisis

The seeds were sown back in 2001, when Greece adopted the euro as its currency. Greece had been an EU member since 1981, but its annual budget deficit was never low enough to satisfy the eurozone Maastrict Criteria


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All went well for the first several years. Like other eurozone countries, Greece benefited from the power of the euro, which meant lower interest rates and an inflow of investment capital and loans

However, in 2004, Greece announced it had lied to get around the Maastrict Criteria. As a result, Greek debt continued to rise until the crisis erupted in 2009. In 2009, Greece kicked off the crisis by admitting its budget deficit would be 12.9% of GDP

(Gross Domestic Product). That's more than four times the EU's 3% limit. Ratings agencies Fitch, Moody's, and Standard & Poor's scared off investors by lowering

Greece's credit ratings. Greece could not find the funds to repay its sovereign debt. In 2010, Greece announced an austerity package that would lower the deficit to 3% of GDP

in two years. It was designed to reassure the agencies it was fiscally responsible. In return for even more austerity measures, the EU and the the IMF (International

Monetary Fund) provided €240 billion in emergency funds. However, it only gave Greece enough money to pay interest on its debt and keep banks

capitalized and barely running. Unfortunately, the measures further slowed the Greek economy, reducing the tax

revenues needed to repay the debt. Unemployment rose to 25%, riots erupted in the streets, and the political system was in an upheaval as voters turned to anyone who promised a painless way out.

In 2011, the European Financial Stability Facility, another lending facility funded by EU countries, adds €190 billion to the bailout.

By 2012, Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio had risen to 175%, nearly three times the EU’s limit of 60%.

Why Were Austerity Measures Needed?

Ratings agencies wanted to make sure Greece wouldn't just take on new debt to pay off the old.

Germany and other EU leaders had successfully used austerity measures to strengthen their own economies. Since they were paying for the bailouts, they wanted Greece to follow their examples

The OECD argued these measures would improve Greece's comparative advantage in the global marketplace. By following the austerity measures, Greece improved how it managed its public finances and its financial statistics and reporting. It also reformed its labor market and pension system, and lowered trade barriers. As a result, exports began to rise.

The OECD recommended Greece raise more revenue by strengthening tax collection, taking a hard line against tax evasion, and selling off state-owned businesses and assets. However, this is exactly what the Greeks did not want to do. Instead, they periodically threaten to default on their debt and leave the eurozone if the EU continues to impose austerity.

What Happens If Greece Defaults?


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Greek banks -- already on the brink -- would go bankrupt. Next, losses could threaten the solvency of other European banks, particularly in Germany and France. They, along with other private investors, hold €34.1 billion in Greek debt.

If Greece defaults, some say it could put the future of the EU's central bank (ECB) at risk. Other indebted countries might decide, or be forced, to default. Without a central bank to bail them out, the EU itself may not survive.

Greece and its creditors hardened their stances on 15th June meet, after the collapse of talks aimed at preventing a default and possible euro exit

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ignored pleas from European leaders to act fast. Instead he blamed creditors for Sunday's breakdown of the cash-for-reform talks, the biggest setback in long-running negotiations to unlock aid.

Athens now has just two weeks to find a way out of the impasse before it faces a 1.6 billion euro repayment due to the International Monetary Fund, potentially leaving it out of cash, unable to borrow and dangling on the edge of the currency area.

Germany and other creditor nations demanded that Athens come to its senses and offer new proposals.

No grace period for Greece: IMF

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde warned Athens on Thursday it cannot delay a huge payment due at the end of the month, piling on the pressure as eurozone Ministers sought a deal on the Greek debt crisis.

The crisis is nearing a climax with Greece’s international bailout due to end on June 30 before Athens gets the last €7.2-billion ($8.1 billion) tranche, and without a deal it will be unable to pay the IMF.

Greece PM response

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called a referendum on austerity demands from foreign creditors on Saturday, rejecting an "ultimatum" from lenders and putting a deal that could determine Greece's future in Europe to a risky popular vote.

The surprise call marked the most dramatic twist yet in five-month negotiations between Greece and its lenders, plunging the cash-strapped nation into uncharted waters and risking a default and capital controls as hopes for an aid agreement faded.

After a week of acrimonious talks in Brussels, Tsipras dismissed lenders' proposals as "blackmail" before flying to Athens to huddle with ministers. After midnight, he appeared on television to announce plans for a referendum on July 5.

The 40-year-old prime minister said he would respect the outcome of the vote. But he argued the lenders demands "clearly violate European social rules and fundamental rights", would asphyxiate Greece's flailing economy and aimed at the "humiliation of the entire Greek people".


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The euro zone had offered to release billions in frozen aid if Greece accepted and implemented pension and tax reforms that are anathema to its leftist government, elected in January on a promise to end austerity.

Without the bailout funds, Athens is due to default on 1.6 billion euros in repayments to the International Monetary Fund, pushing Greece closer to being forced out of the euro, causing chaos for its economy and financial markets.

A default would not necessarily lead to Athens leaving the 19-nation single currency area, but is expected to pave the way for it, worrying European leaders who fear it would undermine the principle that membership is irrevocable.

With Greece's stricken banking sector dependent on central bank funds to remain afloat, the ECB will play a vital role in keeping the system on its feet over the next few days.

This is not the first time that Greece has flirted with a referendum in recent years. Former Prime Minister George Papandreou sought one in 2011 as he struggled to impose painful cuts demands by lenders, but was ousted over the call and his administration replaced by a government of technocrats.

Pak.-Russia deal on Mi-35 copters

Pakistan is close to finalise a deal with Russia to buy Mi-35 (Hind E) attack helicopters, a sign of increasing defence ties between the Cold War-era adversaries.

The deal is believed to be signed after the conclusion of Army chief General Raheel Sharif’s three-day visit to Moscow.

World gets ready for Yoga Day

As many as 192 countries will usher June 21, International Yoga Day, with some deep breathing and coordinated movements.

India’s big splash to mark the international event stretches from the Federated States of Micronesia in the West of Pacific Ocean to the far south of Samoa; from Reykjavik in the Nordic Island to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

177 have countries co-sponsored the big event at the United Nations Missions and embassies abroad, in collaboration with non-governmental yoga institutes,

have put in weeks of preparations to organise public events. Even as the celebrations remain mired in a controversy in India, 47 nations, which are part

of the Organisation of Islamic Countries, giving it their approval has come as a big boost for the government, which has been trying hard to de-link the exercise from religion.

Referring to the overwhelming support, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had recently pointed out that with the start of the holy month of Ramzan, the only concern that Muslim nations had was over the timing of the demonstration.

India – Tanzania cooperation

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the visiting Tanzanian President, Jakaya Kikwete.


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Security

Both countries had a common interest in maritime security in the Indian Ocean and a peaceful and prosperous Africa.

India and Tanzania will establish a joint working group to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism.

Other sectors

India offered to cooperate in the development of the potentially rich natural gas sector in Tanzania.

An agreement on hydrography was concluded India will also be partnering in the development of human resources, health care,

agriculture, institutions and infrastructure in Tanzania India has announced e-tourist visa for the people of the African nation. A loan agreement between Exim Bank and the Tanzanian government on a line of credit

for $268.35 million for extension of a pipeline project has been signed

Kanishka blast memorial

Every year on June 23, at 8 a.m. sharp, a village in Ireland pays homage to those who died in a blast on board Air India’s Boeing 747 Kanishka in 1985. This year too, a solemn ceremony is being organised at a memorial in Ahakista to mark the 30th year of the tragedy in which 329 people were killed.

Among those who lost their lives were 268 Canadians, 27 British and 24 Indians; a majority of the Canadian citizens were of Indian descent.

Representing India at the special memorial service will be Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd.) V.K. Singh, and a delegation of Air India and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The memorial service for those who died on the Montréal-London-New Delhi flight has been organised by the Irish authorities over the years. Memorial services are also held in Canada.

Every year since the attack, the Irish government had sent a representative to the service. India, which is yet to have a memorial of its own despite several requests from the families of the victims, has acknowledged the Irish gesture.

India moves to reset ties with Iran

After cutting down oil imports from Tehran in the recent past following sanctions, India is now keen on pushing for connectivity with Iran, which will pave the way for its entry into Afghanistan and the Central Asian region.


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An inter-government memorandum of understanding signed in May for the development

of the Chabahar Port in Iran The impetus being given to the North-South Transport Corridor are perceived as attempts

to mend ties. New Delhi has also ignored cautionary voices from the U.S. not to rush into doing business

with Iran till it firms up the nuclear deal with it. After its meeting on June 12, members of the International North-South Transport Corridor

(INSTC) reviewed the status of the dry run study between India, Iran and Russia via the Caspian Sea, a follow-up meeting to further streamline work related to the corridor has been scheduled for July.

The international transport corridor across Nhava Sheva (Mumbai) through Bandar Abbas (Iran) to Astrakhan (Russia) and Baku (Azerbaijan) is expected to substantially reduce cargo transport time between India and Central Asia and Russia.

Experts, however, point out that India must look beyond trade and economic ties India must vigorously pursue relations with Iran with an eye on possible cooperation to

fight the emerging terror groups in Central Asia. The disturbing developments in Afghanistan, the penetration of militants into Central Asia,

and the continued expansion of IS in Iraq, all necessitate better India-Iran ties

BCIM economic corridor

The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor is expected to be fast-tracked as both China and India agree on the economic transformative nature of this vital economic corridor.


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Unlike in the past, when it was perceived to be dragging its feet due to concerns over security and cheap Chinese products flooding its markets, India is now showing enthusiasm over the project.

What is BCIM project?

The project will link Kolkata with Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province. It passes through Myanmar and Bangladesh. Mandalay and Dhaka are the other important cities it would be connecting.

The unique focus of this project is on linking provinces and States, in this case, Yunnan and West Bengal. This seems to have given a new impulse to speeding up the plan.

The main artery of the 2,800-km, K (Kolkata)-2-K (Kunming) corridor is nearly ready. A stretch of less than 200 km, from Kalewa to Monywa in Myanmar, needs to be upgraded as an all-weather road. While the segment between Silchar in Assam and Imphal in Manipur is being upgrading by India.

There are plans for two supplementary passages connecting to the central corridor. The north passage would connect Kunming with Myitkyina(capital of Kachin state in Myanmar) and from there extends to Guwahati in Assam, it would then enter northern Bangladesh, before joining the central corridor. The southern passage connects Myanmar’s port of Sittwe to Mizoram through the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project.

It envisages formation of a thriving economic belt, focusing on cross-border transport, energy and telecommunication networks.

BCIM importance:

This corridor will provide the much needed access to sea for north-eastern States One of the strategic factors for China, driving the corridor was reduction of reliance on the

Straits of Malacca, militarily dominated by the U.S. This provides an alternate route for China to access Bay of Bengal and then the Indian Ocean.

The Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project, provides all the landlocked north-eastern States access to the sea through the Sittawe port. Compared with the land route, Sittwe provides these States access to Kolkata, just 539 km away.

Security issue:

Ethnic insurgencies, terrorism, drug trafficking and the accompanying spread of HIV infections, antiques smuggling, as well as cross-border human trafficking, threatened to derail the project.

Leading Chinese scholars have proposed setting up a security mechanism and accelerating a legal dialogue among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar, in order to turn the proposed BCIM corridor into an economic reality.

A four-country institutional tie-up to address the non-traditional security threats to the BCIM project

The BCIM corridor is an ambitious undertaking that hopes to connect Kolkata with Kunming, capital of the Yunnan province.


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Indo-Myanmar relationship

In a step to strengthen Indo-Myanmar relationship, New Delhi has sent a proposal for developing a ‘Sister City’ between Manipur’s capital Imphal and Monywa of Myanmar.

New Delhi has proposed Naypyidaw to develop a ‘sister-city’ relationship model between Imphal and Monywa of Saigang division of the neighbouring country, across the porous international border to boost India’s Act East policy.

Monywa is 450 km away from Imphal, and is an important town in Sagaing division and it comes in the route of the much cherished Imphal-Mandalay bus route, which India is all set to open very soon.

The Centre has suggested a framework for the respective jurisdiction on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit in conformity with the laws and policies of India as well as the existing bilateral agreements between the two countries

It will help in more people to people contact between the two countries. The sister cities — Imphal and Monywa — will undertake exchanges involving delegations,

interaction between institutions and sharing of experiences in the area of mutual interest. The two cities will do ‘local level’ cooperation in the field of service delivery, civic

administration, land use planning, transport, shelter, education, culture, sports, waste water and solid waste management, public health, science and technology, tourism, heritage management and urban renewal energy among others.

U.S. Supreme Court ruled gay and lesbian couples enjoyed a constitutional right to marry

In a once-in-an-epoch decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that gay and lesbian couples across the country enjoyed a constitutional right to marry, and in doing so struck a blow for progressives in the “defining civil rights challenge of our time”

The 5-4 decision guaranteeing the constitutional right to same-sex marriage under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution brings to an end, at least for the moment, a ban on such unions in 13 U.S. States and hands a historic victory to activists who have fought for years in the lower courts with mixed success.

In 37 States and the District of Columbia, courts already recognise marriage equality, a status quo that reflects a transformation in public opinion on the issue, and polls suggesting that most Americans now approve of same-sex marriage.

India and Thailand

India and Thailand will sign a double taxation treaty and an MoU for setting up an Ayurveda Chair in one of the Thai Universities during the three-day visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj

The Minister will be the guest of honour on Sunday at the inaugural ceremony of the 16th World Sanskrit Conference, where she will deliver her speech in Sanskrit. Over 600 scholars from 60 countries will participate in the five-day conference.

Ms. Swaraj will co-chair India-Thailand Joint Commission meeting during which the two countries will sign a double taxation avoidance treaty and exchange instruments of ratification on the extradition treaty signed between them in 2013.


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She will have an audience with Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, a scholar of Sanskrit and Royal Patron of the World Sanskrit Conference. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani will attend the concluding ceremony of the conference on July 2.

INS Teg/ India-Seychelles

As part of India’s deepening maritime security cooperation with Indian Ocean littoral nations, INS Teg a stealth frigate of the Indian Navy which is on a two-month long deployment in the South Indian Ocean has docked at Port Victoria in Seychelles

This is part of its mission to carry out joint surveillance in the Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in areas selected by Seychelles Coast Guard, with SCG personnel embarked onboard, Navy officials said.

This is in keeping with India's national objective of ensuring a secure and stable regional environment to allow unhindered economic and social development, not just in India, but also in the entire Indian Ocean Region

The defence cooperation between the two nations includes cooperation in the field of training, hydrography and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). India had provided fast attack craft and Dornier aircraft to Seychelles as part of its capability enhancement.

The visit coincides with the Seychelles National Day on June 29 and a 25-man marching contingent and Naval Band will participate in the annual military parade.

The Navy has in the recent past significantly scaled up “capacity building and capability enhancement” of friendly foreign countries in addition to undertaking joint and co-ordinated anti-piracy patrols.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid strong emphasis on “comprehensive cooperation” in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) as a way to counter growing Chinese activity in the region and position India as the 'net security provider' in the IOR.

In his visit to Seychelles in March as part of a three-nation tour in the region, Mr. Modi called Seychelles a “vital” partner in the neighbourhood and called upon the nation to become a full partner in the maritime security cooperation between India, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

India is setting up Coastal Surveillance Radar Systems in several IOR states which will eventually be integrated into India’s coastal monitoring network.

Unmanned SpaceX rocket explodes after Florida launch

An unmanned American Falcon-9 rocket has broken apart in flames minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The rocket, which had 18 straight successes prior to Sunday’s flight, was in the process of sending a cargo ship to the International Space Station(ISS). There are presently three astronauts on the ISS.

Nasa had loaded SpaceX’s Dragon freighter on the top of the Falcon with just over two tonnes of supplies. These included a new docking mechanism that will be needed when future astronaut vehicles – one of them based on the robotic Dragon itself – come into service later this decade.


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Recently there were launch failures on two other freighter systems – the US Cygnus ship and the Russian Progress craft.

The big satellite operators effectively only have three competitive companies to put up their spacecraft – Europe’s Arianespace (Ariane-5 rocket), SpaceX (Falcon-9) and International Launch Services (Proton rocket).

Already, the Proton is grounded because of yet another failure this year. And with the Falcon now under investigation, it leaves only the Ariane-5 to service the commercial launch manifest.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

India and 49 other founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Monday signed articles that determine each country’s share and the lender’s initial capital

The remaining seven founding members can sign the agreement before December 2015. The signing ceremony took place in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People. The AIIB is expected to focus on infrastructure development in Asia, and unlike the existing

International Monetary Fund and World Bank, is unlikely to restrict lending on political considerations.

The AIIB is an example of constructive cooperation among emerging economies to increase the space available for infrastructure financing

It is a regional initiative and, therefore, fully complements global initiatives such as the New Development Bank [set up by the BRICS nations]

The Bank will be headquartered in Beijing, and will have an initial authorised capital stock of $100 billion.

Reflecting regional character of the Bank, its regional members will be the majority shareholders, holding around 75 percent of shares. The AIIB is expected to become operational by the end of the year.

India is its second largest shareholder with a stake of 8.52 per cent and voting share of 7.5 per cent.

The voting shares are based on the size of each member country’s economy and not contribution to the Bank’s authorised capital. China’s shareholding is 30.34 per cent and it has retained 26.06 per cent of the voting rights with veto powers for certain key decisions.


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