Current Affairs ANALYST

in focusIndian Economy

+Programmes& Schemes

10

Polity+ Constitution+ Social Issues

12

IR+ Security+ Defence

7

Geography+ Environment

Science& Technology

Miscellaneous

68

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New BillsPresented

New BillsPassed

2

InternationalTreaties

3

BilateralTreaties

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NewCommittee/CommissionFormation

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Committee/CommissionReports

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IndexReleased

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BilateralVisits

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NewPolicy

RecentYuan Devaluation:An Analysis

Saudi Arabiaand Iran Conflict:An Analysis

January, 2016 (Part-1)

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Contents

Madras High Court decision on dress code in temples

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs merged with MEA

NDC to be scrapped

Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015

Kerala becomes first State to achieve 100% primary education

Proposed Open Book Test scheme

Should Jallikattu be banned?

Government’s decision on maternity leave for women

EPFO wins National Award on e-Governance for UAN

IPC Section 295 : An Analysis

Anubhav e-portal, e-NPS, RIS

Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2015 : Draft

The income-based method of distributing subsidy for LPG

MUDRA Scheme: Credit Guarantee Funds

Commercial Banks Loan Show Recovery

Government plan to scrap tax on seed funding

Sharp Drop in new Investment Announcements in Dec 2015 Quarter

SEBI’s new norms for Mutual Funds

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Revival of MNREGA : An Analysis

1. Polity + Constitution + Governance + Social Issues 6-13

2. Indian Economy + Schemes 14-19

Focus IssuesA. Recent Yuan Devaluation: An Analysis

B. Saudi Arabia and Iran Conflict: An Analysis

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3. International Relations + Defence + Security 20-26

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Growing proximity between Nepal And China : An Analysis

Pathankot attack details and India’s security architecture

Sahayog-Kaijin-2016

UN Report: Trends in International Migrant Stock

Proposed New Norms regarding Defence Procurement Procedure

India to join the International Energy Agency – Ocean Energy Systems

Implications of Hydrogen bomb testing by North Korea

Direct Shift from BS-IV TO BS-VI By 2020

Pollution and congestion issues in Urban Transport: Case of Delhi

Particulate Matter-1

Pilot project: e-vehicle may soon become official ride of the government

Cetacean stranding

Why are winters warm this year?

New Weather Forecasting Terminology

Hybrid Maize : An Emerging alternative for Farmers

Li-Fi: A green avatar of Wi-Fi

Indigeneous Anti tank Nag Missile

India’s Grid-linked solar generation capacity crosses 5,000 MW mark

Technology Acquisition and Development Fund

World's most powerful supercomputer

Discovery of element 113

Lodha Committee on Cricket

4. Environment + Geography 27-33

5. Science & Technology 34-38

6. Miscellaneous 39

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On 7th January 2016, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)

cut its reference rate for the Yuan by 0.5 per cent, the

most since Augusts’ 2 per cent devaluation and the

eighth straight day that the PBOC has guided the Yuan

lower. The move sent the Yuan falling to 6.5945 to the

US dollar, its weakest since February 2011. In just four

days, the Chinese currency has lost 1.5 per cent in

value. In august last year China sent glitters to world

market by devaluating its currency; it has repeated the

same in January.

Reason for this devaluation:

While the Chinese central bank say this devaluation is

determined by market forces and it has no role in it,

however experts believe that China might be aiming for

a competitive devaluation to help its struggling exporters.

The latest ozfficial trade show that exports in November

dropped 6.8 per cent year-on-year - the fifth straight

month of decline - as China struggles with weak global

demand, rising labour costs and a strong currency. The

Yuan has depreciated by over 4 per cent in past three

months against the dollar.

Immediate effects of these devaluations:

• The higher-than-expected depreciation in China’scurrency on Thursday has triggered turmoil in globalfinancial markets, Shanghai shares tumbled by 7per cent, Brent crude prices skidded over 5 percent to an almost-12-year-low of less than$30,European stock markets followed Asia lower,with the pan-European FTS Eurofirst 300 indexdown 2.3 per cent and the euro zone’s blue-chipEuro STOXX index falling 2.5 per cent.

• Other regional currencies followed the Yuan downas markets began to worry about competitivecurrency devaluations from trading partners.Singapore’s dollar hit a six-year low, the SouthKorean won touched a four-month low, and theMalaysian ringgit slumped to a three-month trough.

• As investors fled to safety, the yen rose about 1per cent to 117.615 a dollar, its strongest in 4 1/2 years. Top-rated German bonds, which are alsoconsidered a safe haven, benefitted.

• India’s benchmark equity index—the 30-share BSESensex—tumbled to a 19-month low after China

A. Recent Yuan Devaluation: An Analysis

A. Recent YuanDevaluation: An

Analysis

B. Saudi Arabia andIran Conflict: An

Analysis

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pegged the Yuan lower and also the rupeeweakened to as much as 67.2550 to the dollar, alevel last seen in September 2013.

• The reason for this extreme response was theRisk aversion sparked by concerns over China’sworsening economic outlook, its currency and thefallout on global commodity markets. 

Future implications of this devaluation on Worldeconomy and India:

•  A sustained depreciation in the Yuan putspressure on other Asian countries to devalue theircurrencies to stay competitive with China’s massiveexport machine. The experts fear that this cantrigger currency war among the developingcountries, which can hurt each country.

• The devaluation in Yuan is a signal of strugglingChinese economy and if growth continues to flatterin China, this could purge south East Asian,

African and Latin American commodity exportingcountries into recession, since China is a majorconsumer of commodities imported from thesecountries.

• The fall in Yuan also makes commodities, whichare denominated in US dollars, more expensivefor Chinese buyers. This could hurt demand andthus further depress commodity prices which areat multi-year lows.

• Devaluation of Yuan could have both positive andnegative effect on India, while Devaluation willbenefit Indian consumers in a way that it couldmake Chinese accessible to them at cheaper rates,while on the other hand it could flood cheaperproducts from China, e.g. tyres, steels which wouldharm the local manufacturers in India and furthercould lead to low profits for already struggling Indiancorporate and a bearish outlook for the economy.This devaluation could also pose a challenge forIndia’s nascent Make in India programme.

• On January 2, 2016, 47 people were put to deathin several Saudi cities, including prominent Shiitecleric.  NIMR AL-NIMR Protesters of the executionsresponded by demonstrating in Iran’s capital,Tehran. The vary day a few protesters wereeventually ransacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehranand later set it ablaze.

• On January 3, 2016, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministryannounced that it would cut diplomatic ties withIran due to the violence that had occurred at theirembassy and President Rouhani called the damageon embassy “by no means justifiable”.

• On January 7, 2016, Iran’s foreign ministry madethe claim that Saudi warplanes had deliberatelytargeted its embassy to Yemen in the city of Sana.Iran’s report included claims that, “a number ofthe building’s guards” had been injured as a resultof the bombing.

• Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia have beendeteriorating since last few years because theyboth were supporting opposite sides in Syria andYemen. But in last few days the relations havetouched rock-bottom and many experts are termingthe recent conflict as new cold war in the MiddleEast.

Reasons for conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia:

(a) Religious differences:

• Both Saudi Arabia and Iran are Muslim majoritycountries, however Saudi Arabia follows WahabiSunni Islam, while Iran is a Shia majority state.

B. Saudi Arabia and Iran Conflict: An Analysis

Since time memorial followers of Shia and SunniIslam have always remained in conflict with eachother. In modern era the relations between Iranand Saudi Arabia were cordial till 1979, however in1979 there was an Islamic revolution in Iran andsince then the relations deteriorated between boththe countries, since Shiite Iran took theresponsibility of safety of all Shias in the middleeast and it also started supporting Shia militantgroups who were fighting for their rights in most ofthe Sunni majority Arab countries, the biggestexample of which is Hezbollah in Lebanon. SaudiArabia started putting allegation on Iran that it istrying to export its Shia brand of Islam in all Arabcountries and thus destabilizing those countries.

(b) Syria and Yemen crisis:

• Most of the countries in Arab region are Sunnisand thus are allied to Saudi Arabia. Syria ,thougha Sunni majority country is ruled by Bashar alAssad who is an alawite(an offshoot of ShiaIslam),his government is the only solid ally of Iranin the region, thus during the Arab spring whenopposition in Syria rose against the regime ofAssad, the Saudi Arabia and other gulf countriesstarted supporting opposition(which includedsecularists, liberal Islamist,Salafist) because theybelieved that if they could instate a Sunnigovernment in Syria, it would completely isolateIran, since Syria is the only ally of Iran in theregion, while Iran government started supportingAssad regime through arms and funds in order tosafeguard its only ally in the region. This conflict

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further increased hostility and suspicion betweenSaudi Arabia and Iran

• In Yemen conflict also both the countries weresupporting the opposite sides, while Iran wassupporting Houthi rebels which was a Shia tribe,while Saudi responded by bombarding Sana toensure that Sunni President is reinstated in Yemen.

• Iran’s nuclear programme also enhanced thetension between Saudi Arabia & Iran as it ispredicted that Iran would become successful inmaking Nuclear Bomb. It provoked Saudi Arabiato acquire Nuclear Bomb and in turn will furtherworsen the condition in already destabilized WestAsia.

Immediate reasons:

• The trigger which led to complete break-down ofrelations between Iran and Saudi Arabia wasExecution of Shia cleric NIMR AL-NIMR by SaudiArabia. In Saudi Arabia Shias are considered assecond grade citizens, NIMR AL-NIMR was fighting

for the rights of the Shia Saudi Arabians, howeverhe was executed by the regime on the charge ofsedition and disloyalty towards the state, thistriggered outrage in Iran and a few protesterseventually ransackd the Saudi Embassy in Tehranand later set it ablaze. This compelled the Saudisto completely cut off diplomatic ties with Iran.

Why this Conflict is Called a Cold War?

• Cold war between USSR and USA was a war ofideologies and also a proxy war and never a directwar, even the current conflict between Saudi Arabiaand Iran is war of ideologies as both countrieswant other countries in Arab world to follow theirbrand of Islam. While it was communism andcapitalism in the old cold war, it is Shia vs Sunniin the current cold war. Even the conflict betweenIran and Saudi Arabia is a proxy war, since theyare fighting with each other through proxy forcesin Syria and Yemen and before the recent incidentof execution. There was never a direct confrontationbetween Iran and Saudi Arabia.

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POLITY + CONSTITUTION + SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Madras High Court Decision onDress Code in Temples

Recently, the Madras High Court Bench has passed aruling that men, women and children wishing to visittemples maintained through the Hindu Religious andCharitable Endowments Department across the statemust abide by a dress code.

The judgement was delivered by Justice S Vaidyanathanin a writ petition that was filed seeking to dismiss theorder of sub-inspector of Thuvarankurichi Police Station,Trichy which sought to decline permission to conduct avillage cultural performance.

• The Court has ordered that police should ensurea dress code for people entering temples —dhotiand shirt or pyjama “with upper cloth” for men andsaree or half-saree or churidar “with upper cloth”for women. Children can wear “any fully covereddress”.

• The court directed the state government to take adecision on this issue and directed the authoritiesto implement the court-mandated dress code fromJanuary 2016. It also directed the Hindu Religiousand Charitable Endowments Department tocommunicate to all temples to strictly adhere tothe dress code. The court said the objective of theorder is to restrict devotees from wearing improperclothing.

• Citing the practices in Tirumala TirupatiDevasthanam in Andhra Pradesh and SreeSomnath Temple, where devotees are not allowedto wear “disrespectful clothing”, the court informedthat the purpose of prescribing a dress code todevotees is to restrict devotees wearing “improperclothing” from entering the temple.

Before discussing the larger impact of this ruling, thequestion that arises is that if this is a case of grossoverreaching by the judicial machinery. This judgementraises a rather interesting question of fight betweenright to equality and right to freedom of religion. Thissort of judgment comes purely from a place of aparticular cultural standpoint and lends a hierarchy toattires and draws binary distinctions such as good andbad. Extrapolating from this ruling, it is imperative tounderstand that when the court treats a certain set ofclothes as appropriate and inappropriate, it is alsoassigning that very character of the clothing to theperson. This will reinforce the backward and harmfulmindset that many men and women are trying to fightagainst.

It raises the debate whether there is any religious rulelinking dress with devotion. It is not clear that why thisprescription is gender-based, when some kinds ofapparel — shirts and trousers, for instance — are wornby both men and women. Judicial activism, though attimes, undoubtedly furthers public interest, but it isequally important that it is not used to impose aparticular world view on the public.

The Madras High Court has now stayed this controversialorder of imposing a dress code for devotees visitingtemples across Tamil Nadu, on a batch of petitionschallenging the order on the ground that it was“discriminatory”.

2. Ministry of OIA merged withMEA

Nearly 12 years after it was set up to improveengagement with the Indian Diaspora, the governmentin order to avoid duplication of work and to improveefficiency, has decided to merge the Ministry ofOverseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with the Ministry ofExternal Affairs. This will have the following impacts:

• Since a substantial work of MOIA is done throughmissions of MEA abroad the government hasdecided to take this decision so as to avoidduplication of work.

• To deal with foreign workers-related issues andemergencies to have better diplomatic back-up andcoordination.

• This will increase the number of staff in the MEAwith diplomatic experience in key positions to dealwith emergencies.

The government’s focus:

MEA can have the key operational posts, including thatof the Protector General of Emigrants, one of the mostimportant offices in MOIA who is responsible for issuingregistration certificates to recruitment agents to havediplomatic focus.

This will be in sync with the broad principle of minimumgovernment, maximum governance of the government.

About Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs:

Established in May 2004 as the Ministry of Non-ResidentIndians’ Affairs, it was renamed as the Ministry ofOverseas Indian Affairs in September 2004 with theprimary task of connecting the Indian Diaspora with itsmotherland. The Ministry initiated various programmes

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focusing on developing networks amongst the overseasIndians with the intent of building partnership amongthe Diaspora.

Positioned as a ‘Services’ Ministry, it providesinformation, partnerships and facilitations for all mattersrelated to Overseas Indians: Non-Resident Indian andPerson of Indian Origin.

3. NDC to be scraped

After the Planning Commission, government is set tobring down the curtains on another Nehruvian legacy:the National Development Council (NDC).

National Development Council:

• The National Development Council set up onAugust 6, 1952 by an executive order of thegovernment. It served as “the highest decision-making authority” in the country on developmentmatters.

• It was on recommendations of the AdministrativeReforms Commission that the NDC wasreconstituted and its functions redefined on October7, 1967.

• Initially in the first meeting of the NDC held on 8-9 November 1952, it comprised the Prime Minister,the Chief Ministers of all States and the membersof the Planning Commission.

• The reconstituted NDC comprised of the PrimeMinister, all the Union Cabinet Ministers, the ChiefMinisters of all States and Union Territories andthe Members of the Planning Commission (NITIAayog). The Delhi Administration is represented inthe Council by the Lt. Governor and the ChiefExecutive Councilor, and the remaining UnionTerritories by their respective Administrators.

As per India’s first Prime Minister Pandit JawaharlalNehru, the NDC is essentially a forum for “intimate co-operation” between State governments and the Centrefor all the tasks of national development.

The functions of the Council:

• To prescribe guidelines for the formulation ofthe National Plan, including the assessment ofresources for the Plan;

• To consider the National Plan as formulated bythe Planning Commission;

• To make an assessment of the resources that isrequired for implementing the Plan and to suggestmeasures for augmenting them;

• To consider important questions of social andeconomic policy affecting national development;

• To review the working of the Plan from time totime and to recommend such measures as are

necessary for achieving the aims and targets setout in the National Plan; and

• To recommend measures for achievement of theaims and targets set out in the national Plan.

Analysis:

• The NDC was criticized on the ground that in spiteof being highest decision making body of countryon developmental issues, most of the time it wasforced to accept the decision of planningcommission. Within the council the voice of thestates was not given much attention.

• However one of the most significant of its decisionswas the creation (as part of the Gadgil-Mukherjeeexercise) of “special category” of States, and thecriteria for determining whether a State couldreceive the status and related financial supportfrom the Centre. The Cabinet will take upNDCs closure and pass a resolution for transferringits powers to the Governing Council of the NITIAayog.

4. The Sugar Cess (Amendment)Bill, 2015

The Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which wasintroduced in Lok Sabha in December 2015 has beengiven consent by the president. Now, Sugar Cess(Amendment) Bill, 2015 has become an act afterPresident’s assent. This Sugar Cess (Amendment) Act,2015 amended the Sugar Cess Act, 1982.

Problems with sugar cess act, 1982:

• Sugar Cess Act, 1982 included the provision ofimposition of a cess as an excise duty on theproduction of sugar.  The rate of sugar cess isupdated and notified by Union Government fromtime to time. Under Sugar Cess Act, 1982 theceiling on the cess was at Rs 25 per quintal.

• This is to note that in recent past many sugarmills of India were closed due to bad businessconditions or high (government-set) sugarcaneprices. For example, in 2015 four mills ofcompanies like Bajaj Hindustan and BalrampurChini were shut down in Uttar Pradesh.

Key facts:

• The amendment bill seeks to amend the SugarCess Act, 1982 which provides legal provision forthe imposition of a cess as an excise duty on theproduction of sugar.

• The bill proposes to increase this ceiling of sugarto Rs 200 per quintal from existing Rs 25 perquintal specified in the principal Act.

• The principal Act empowers central government tofix the rate of sugar cess from time to time.

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Implications of hike in sugar cess:

• It would lead to increase in the accruals to theSugar Development Fund (SDF) which in turnwould facilitate rehabilitation and modernisation ofsugar mills and thereby helping cane growers. Inpresent scenario, it will help in revival of stagnantsugar economy by helping cash-starved mills andsugarcane growers. It would increase thegovernment’s expenditure on interventions toensure that the outstanding dues to sugarcanegrowers are paid.

5. Kerala becomes first state toachieve 100% primary edu-cation

• Kerala has become the first Indian state to achieve100 per cent primary education. Though Kerala isknown for its high literacy, this time it has toppedthe country for being a state which has achievedfull coverage of primary education in the country.

• Kerala state was able to achieve 100 per centprimary education through its flagship primaryeducation equivalency drive Athulyam Schemewhich was meant to provide primary schooleducation to people aged between 15 and 50. Itwas launched in March 2013 and was carried outin two phases.

• It focused on state level literacy mission aimed ateducating those who had been unable to completetheir primary education up to fourth standard. Themission mainly focused on deprived sections viz.the scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, physically,financially weak and mentally disabled amongothers. The second stage of the schemewas Mission 676 that also aimed at targeting thosewho had dropped out of the formal educationprocess.

• Prior to Athulyam Scheme, Kerala stategovernment had launched fourth standardequivalency programme in 2000 in association withlocal bodies. Under this programme Kannur districtof state became the first district to achieve 100per cent primary education in the country in 2001.

6. Proposed open book testscheme

• In order to bring significant assessment reforms,the HRD Ministry has urged state and centralschool boards to consider introducing open-booktests in secondary- and senior secondary-levelexaminations.

• Open-book assessment allows students to referto their notes or textbooks while answeringquestions.

• Last year the HRD Ministry set up an eight-membercommittee to work on “common design of questionspapers”. The inclusion of open text-basedassessment (or OTBA) in board examinations isone of the key action points of the committee.

Reason for this proposal:

• Government believes that focus of studies shouldnot on memorizing information, but on applyingthat information and Examinees are not expectedto merely reproduce textbook material, but tointerpret it in the context of specific questions andscenarios.

• Some experts feel that it could help reduce theinfluence of coaching institutes.

• Open Book based examination is a good point forconsideration as the testing will not be on memorybut on comprehension and understanding. In sucha format, rote learning will not work as the patternof questions will focus on thinking.

• In India as shown by various ASER and othersurveys, curriculum structure of education atschool promotes rot learning and memorizationwithout really understanding the essence of thefacts. This is responsible for the lack of innovationin India and also for lack of employability of thegraduates.

• This will reduce the fear of examination in studentsthus it may reduce the suicide numbers & theywill be able to focus more on understanding &practical use of knowledge & learning.

Concerns raised:

• Getting reform after reform in the current systemis not only troubling students but also teachersand principals. 

• It will have to wait at least until the previous onesare implemented systematically. Such things needproper training and most importantly, a mentalpreparedness among teachers and students

• For various reasons, students may choose to goto boards other than CBSE after class X; they willnot get this facility there. Also it would makecomparison of marks difficult between CBSE andother boards.

• Many proponents of this scheme believe that ratherthan introducing it directly for Class XII students,the committee can consider introducing it at lowerlevels, may be Class VI or VIII so that the studentsget trained under this system for some time andthe pilot study data can be used to decide whetherit can be introduced for Class XII exams, basedon which their future is mostly decided.

• When the question papers are badly set, thisscheme become a superficial exercise

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• The format has also to be made conducive tostudents with dyslexia and other learningdisabilities, which is a challenge for teachers.

Conclusion:

• Thus, even though this scheme is novel in itsintent and can move our education system awayfrom rot learning, its implementation should bedone in a gradual manner, instead of beingimplemented directly for board classes, it shouldfirst be implemented for middle school as a pilotproject.

7. Should Jallikattu be banned?

Jallikattu is a bull’s game day event happening in TamilNadu as a part of Pongal celebrations. Bulls are bredspecifically by some private rich persons of the village& temples for the event.

Factors favouring the practice:

• Jallikattu has been known to be practiced duringthe Tamil classical period. It is serving as proof forknowing Tamil civilization that they were highlycivilized to make a festival game day even fortheir bulls and cattles which help very much intheir agriculture.

• Most of the breeds of bulls and cows have gotextinct from our soil due to the introduction offoreign breed like jersey. Jallikattu also serves asthe mean through which native indigenous breedsof India are saved and protected.

• It is argued that Tamil Nadu Regulation of JallikattuAct, ensures the required pre and post eventmedical health checks of bulls and only healthyand unintoxicated bulls can participate in the event.

Why should it be banned?

• Animal activists, the FIAPO (Federation of IndiaAnimal Protection Agencies) and People for theEthical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, haveprotested against the practice over the years whichhas documented that during jallikattu, terrified bullsare often deliberately disoriented throughsubstances like alcohol; have their tails twistedand bitten; are stabbed and jabbed by sickles,spears, knives or sticks; are punched, jumped onand dragged to the ground.. The Animal WelfareBoard of India filed a case in the Supreme Courtof India for an outright ban on Jallikattu becauseof the cruelty to animals and the threat to publicsafety involved. Protestors point out that Jallikattuis promoted as bull taming, but that there is no‘taming’ involved at all. Jallikattu exploits the bulls’natural nervousness as prey animals bydeliberately placing them in a terrifying situation inwhich they are forced to run away from those theyperceive as predators. The practice effectivelyinvolves catching a terrified animal, not taming it.

• In May 2014, the Supreme Court of India bannedthe practice, citing animal welfare issues. On 8January, 2016, the Government of India passedan order exempting Jallikattu from all performanceswhere bulls cannot be used, effectively reversingthe ban. However, on 14 January, 2016, theSupreme Court of India upheld its ban on theevent, leading to protests all over Tamil Nadu.

• The move of government is also seen as politicalopportunism during an election year to gain themileage by supporting local tradition even when itperpetrates cruelty on animals and endangers thelives of the participants.

• In a harmonious reading of animal rights in thecontext of the Universal Declaration of AnimalWelfare (UDAW), the provisions of the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals Act and the Constitution,the court has ruled that animals have a right againsthuman beings inflicting unnecessary pain andsuffering on them. In effect, the entire sport hasbeen declared violative of the law against cruelty.Treating animals in a humane, non-exploitative wayis now a constitutional requirement for anyexecutive action related to them. The State’s earlierregulatory Act on jallikattu was dismissed as ananthropocentric law that was repugnant to the eco-centric law against cruelty to animals. Instead ofcontinuing this artificial confrontation betweentradition and modern law it would be appropriatefor the TamilNadu government to absorb reasoningand explain it to rural youth who have complainedabout the loss of their traditional ‘sport’. ‘YeruThazhuvu’ in Tamil tradition, is to embrace bullsand not over-powering the bull, to show humanbravery. The festive atmosphere during Pongaland the traditions of community bonding andcompetition can still be easily retained without theirrational practice of jallikattu.

8. Government Decision onmaternity leave for women

In an attempt to arrest the declining rates of femalework participation, the Union Government recently cameout with decision to increase maternity leave. Thisdecision is expected to amend the Maternity BenefitAct, 1961, which presently entitles women to 12 weeksof maternity benefit whereby employers are liable topay full wages for the period of leave.

Under the new rules, maternity leave has been increasedfrom the current 12 weeks to 26 weeks. This will beextended to all women workers in both public and privateemployment.

Also, it is now mandatory for all establishments with 30women workers or 50 total workers to provide crèchefacilities for their employees, either at the premises orwithin half a kilometre.

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Need of such measures:

• India has low rates of recognised work participationby women (around 24%) that have even declinedover the past decade. This obviously representsa huge economic loss for the country and is alsoa sign of the continuing low status of women andtheir lack of agency in Indian society.

• Most of women working in the unorganised sector,in small establishments or in domestic work or ascasual workers earning daily wages or as self-employed workers, do not get any kind of paidmaternal leave.

• The sheer inadequacy of job creation in theeconomy makes it hard for women to find suitablejobs. Gender gaps in education and patriarchalattitudes within families and social restriction onmobility also work against them.

• There are also difficulties of managing domesticresponsibilities along with the paid jobs, given theunequal division of household work between menand women within families. The double burden ofpaid work and unpaid work creates problem.

Significance of these announcements:

• These are definitely welcome measures and aregood responses to low and declining rates offemale work participation.

• Six months of breastfeeding is important to combatmalnutrition, diarrhoea, and other diseases in infantsand to lower the infant mortality rate. This decisionwill help to implement this and reduce child illnessoccurring mainly due to lack of proper care in theinitial stages.

• This is a step towards somewhat easing the doubleburden that working mothers face.

• It will create stress free mind for women, in turnincreases the performance in both professional andpersonal activities.

• It will help women to build up their carrier and helpin achieving desired positions who otherwise couldnot do so because they had to plan their familiesalso.

• Longer maternity leave will also help employers toretain expertise.

• At last, it will also strengthen the relationshipbetween mother and the child.

Negative implications:

• While the government’s move is a positive one,private companies could accuse it of too muchinterference. It would make companies think twicebefore hiring women employees, especially becauseMaternity Leaves would be a paid leaves.

• Major concern is that of affordability for smallercompanies that may struggle to meet the increasedfinancial burden of providing longer paid maternityleave.

• It is also anticipated that women will lose touchwith work-related developments, become distractedby baby and family, and lag behind on resumingwork.

• Further, being limited to the organised sector,the proposal may benefit less than a quarter ofworking women.

Conclusion:

These are definitely welcome measures, apparently aresponse to low and declining rates of female workparticipation. As it happens, most women in India doindeed work, but they are involved not in paidemployment but in unpaid work in their homes orcommunities but one of the major issues for workingwomen are maternity leave for the actual period ofchildbirth. If the government does succeed in makingprivate employers provide increased maternity leaveand in providing crèches at or near workplaces, that willcertainly be a step towards easing the double burdenthat working mothers face.

But Indian working women would be in a better positiononly if these laws are actually implemented. So this isstill just a tiny step towards the larger goals of improvingwomen’s participation in paid work and increasing theireconomic empowerment. To make a real difference,public intervention has to be wider and more ambitious.Without serious attempts on all these fronts and onenforcement, these newly declared measures will seemlike tokenism.

9. EPFO wins National Award one-Governance for UAN

• The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization haswon the National Award on e-Governance 2015-16for launching the Universal Account Number (UAN).

• The UAN facility enables workers to transfer theirprovident fund deposits while switching jobsanywhere in India easily

What is Universal Account Number?

• Through UAN, active employees are provided auniversal number which can be linked to variousprovident fund account numbers provided to themwhile working in different organizations. A singleaccount number can be used through all of workers’employments with various organizations. When aworker changes his job, he is required to informhis UAN to new employer and after the previousand present employments are linked to the number,the transfer process happens on its own.

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• Earlier, the workers had to apply for transfer offunds on change of job from one organization toanother. The portal also allows a worker to viewhis provident fund balance on a real-time basiswithout going through the employer.

10. IPC Section 295 : An analysis

• Section 295(A) says that Deliberate and maliciousacts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of anyclass by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intentionof outraging the religious feelings of any classof  [citizens of India],  [by words, either spoken orwritten, or by signs or by visible representationsor otherwise], insults or attempts to insult thereligion or the religious beliefs of that class, shallbe punished with imprisonment of either descriptionfor a term which may extend to [three years], orwith fine, or with both.

Why is it in news?

• TV Actor Kiku Sharda, who mimicked a scenefrom a film starring Dera Sacha Sauda chiefGurmeet Ram Rahim Singh while performing in apopular comedy show, was arrested recently underSection 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) foroutraging the “religious feelings” of his followersand also Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwariwas also booked under it, after he made offensiveremarks on the prophet of Islam.

Arguments in favour of this section:

• Such a provision has its utility as a safety valveto preserve harmony in a multi-religious societyby sanctioning penal action against thoseattempting to disturb the peace.

Arguments against the section:

• the broad ambit of section 295A - which is non-bail-able and does not recognize even truth as adefense have made it a powerful tool in the handsof the intolerant lot. 

• IPC already has several other provisions to dealwith those attempting to breach communalharmony, it may be wise to consider watering downor doing away with Section 295A altogether,particularly when unjustified invocation of the penalprovision only sparks fears of aggravatingcommunal tension. 

• Section 295, which has been the Indian version ofanti-blasphemy law since its introduction duringthe colonial rule, continues even after blasphemybeing abolished in the UK. 

• It has chilling effect on freedom of speech andexpression.

• Though Section 295A envisages malicious intent

behind the offending act and the procedural lawmandates the need for sanction from governmentfor prosecution, the ineffectiveness of thesafeguards can be gauged from the fact that theycould not save even a stand-up comedian fromarrest immediately after a complaint.

• Section 295A deters even honest attempts to fightagainst superstition and prejudices, the broad ambitof the offence had sometimes even put thegovernment and courts in difficult situations. 

• The wide ambit of Section 295A has not sparedeven pure artistic and literary expressions andhas often startled even the votaries of the provisionwith unintended consequences. The biggestexample of which is imposition of this section onMF Hussein’s Paintings.

Hurdles in repealing the law:

• With respect to repeal of Section 295A, however,there is a significant problem: in 1957, in, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld itsconstitutionality. This means that, if the SupremeCourt were to change its mind, it would need abench of at least seven judges to overrule RamjiLal Modi, and strike down the law. Procedurally,this would require the challengers to 295A to firstconvince a two-judge bench (before which anypetition originally goes) that there are sufficientreasons for doubting the correctness of Ramji LalModi. If convinced, this two-judge bench wouldneed to refer the question to a five-judge benchwhich, in turn (if convinced), would have to referit to a seven-judge bench, which would finally hearthe case on merits.

Conclusion:

• Thus arguments given above prove that section295(A) in practice had a chilling effect on freespeech in independent India. This colonial legislationtherefore needs to be repealed, However asmentioned above there are judicial hurdles inrepealing it, therefore if it is difficult to repeal thesection, In short run the centre should come outwith clear cut guidelines according to which  theapplication of the section should be limited tosituations where there was a degree of proximitybetween the prescribed speech, and the possibilityof public disorder (for instance, inciting an armedmob to destroy public property would qualify, butwriting an article in a magazine in defense of theNaxalite movement would not).

11. Anubhav e-portal, RIS, e-NPS

Anubhav: Online System for submission and displayof commendable work done by retiring employees.

Vision & Mission

A platform for retiring employees to showcase significant

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achievements made during their service period. This

would provide satisfaction to the retiring employee andalso act as a motivator for serving employees. Thiswould also be a wonderful opportunity to garner the

resource of retiring employees for voluntary contributionto nation building post retirement

Initially this facility is to be provided only to retiringCentral government employees. Employees retiring in

the next 6 months may be provided an online facility tosubmit their achievements. Submission would bevoluntary.

eNPS Portal : Open new NPS Account online /

Contribute to NPS A/c online

eNPS is the online portal (https://enps.nsdl.com) of NPSTrust wherein a subscriber can register and contributeunder NPS online. Through eNPS, a subscriber can

register under NPS, generate a Permanent RetirementAccount Number (PRAN) and contribute to his/heraccount.

Advantages of contributing through eNPS:

• Hassel free and faster remittance of contributionsby subscribers.

• Time required for credit of contributions in the NPSaccount has reduced.

• Subscribers can contribute to his account throughuse of net banking/debit card or credit card.

• Subscriber will feel ease of operation & cancontribute at any time or any day as per hisconvenience.

Who can contribute through eNPS:

Existing Government sectors subscriber for makingadditional contributions to their tier I and/or tier IIaccounts.

Existing all subscribers under all citizen models can

use this platform to make contribution to their tier I andtier II accounts.

Existing corporate sector subscribers can makecontributions voluntarily in tier I and tier II accounts.

RIS:

India’s first river information system by government tofacilitate safe and accurate navigation on National

Waterway-1 (the Ganga River).

River Information Systems are combination of moderntracking equipment related hardware and softwaredesigned to optimize traffic and transport processes in

inland navigation.i.e. to enhance a swift electronic datatransfer between water and shore through in-advanceand real-time exchange of information.

RIS is being implemented under the overall responsibility

of Inland Waterway Authority of India, a statutory body

administered by the Ministry of Shipping.Phase- II and

Phase-III of the System will cover from Farakka to

Patna and from Patna to Varanasi respectively.

RIS aims to streamline the exchange of information

between waterway operators and users. This would

facilitate:-

• Enhancement of inland navigation safety in ports

and rivers.

• Better use of the inland waterways.

• Environmental protection 

RIS enables achievement of safe and efficient inland

water transport by avoiding the following risks:- 

Ship- to - Ship collisions 

Ship - Bridge collisions 

Groundings .

How will RIS work?

In this project the vessels are being monitored by

installing 7 remote (base station site) at the Haldia,

Garden Reach (GR) Jetty, Tribeni, Swaroopganj,

Kumarpur, Ballia and Farakka at a cost of Rs. 26.23

crores. There would be two control centers at Farakka

and GR Jetty. Both the control stations will monitor the

vessels plying in this river stretch via Automatic

Identification System (AIS) and will communicate with

Vessels via VHF. Under this project, there are 30

vessels which are also equipped with Inland AIS

system, short range radar and VHF. The AIS data and

voice communication of the vessel will be monitored

and recorded at the control stations (Farakka and GR

Jetty) and can be retrieved/ replayed whenever needed.

The vessels can be guided from the control station via

VHF and operator can provide the necessary instruction

to the vessel. 

Trained operators would monitor the activities round the

clock and provide the necessary instructions and

guidance to the vessel for safe navigation. 

12. Rights of Transgender Persons

Bill, 2015: Draft

Background:

• The transgender community, in addition to social

stigma, also faces problems enrolling themselves

as voters due to lack of legal documents.

• The Transgender community in India is also one

of the most neglected and Backward community

in India.

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Key provisions of the draft bill:

• The Union Government of India recently released

the draft of the Rights of Transgender Persons

Bill, 2015.

• It proposes reservation benefit for transgenders.According to the draft, transgender, who by birthdo not belong to the backward class, such asScheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, wouldbe eligible for reservations under the existing ceilingof the OBC (Other Backward Classes) category.

• Also, transgenders would not be prevented fromcompeting for seats that are not reserved for them,according to the draft.

• As per the draft, transgenders will be declared asthe third gender and the person should reserve theright to identify as ‘man,’ ‘woman’ or ‘transgender’,and would also have the option to choose any ofthe options, regardless of surgery or hormones.Nomenclatures such as ‘other’ or ‘others’ shouldnot be used when referring to transgender.

• The Draft Bill promises to issue identity certificatesso that transgenders can be included in themainstream.

• The certificate thus issued will be accepted by allauthorities to indicate the gender on officialdocuments such as ration cards, passports, birthcertificates, and Adhaar cards.

• Another remarkable initiative outlined in the draftis the creation of anti-discriminatory cells ineducation institutions and universities to monitorand prevent discrimination against the transgendercommunity.

• Government and local authorities shall ensureparticipation of transgenders in adult education andcontinuing education programs at par with others.Students in this category will also be entitled toreceive benefits such as scholarships,entitlements, and fee-waivers at subsidized rates.Free textbooks and free accommodation would alsobe provided.

Supreme Court’s Directives on Rights ofTransgenders:

• In a path-breaking judgment, the Supreme Courthas affirmed the constitutional rights and freedomsof transgender persons, including those who identifythemselves as the third gender and those whoidentify themselves in a gender opposite to theirbiological sex, i.e., persons, assigned female sexat birth, identifying as male and vice-versa. Byrecognizing diverse gender identities, the Courthas broken the binary gender construct of ‘man’and ‘woman’ that has pervaded Indian law. 

• Supreme Court, granted of equal rights andprotection to transgender persons; inclusion of athird category in recording one’s sex/gender inidentity documents like the election card, passport,driving license and ration card; and for admissionin educational institutions, hospitals, amongstothers.

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Indian Economy + Schemes

1. The Income based method ofgiving LPG subsidy

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has announced theexclusion of high-income households from the LPG subsidycover. As per this decision, henceforth, subsidy wouldnot be available for domestic LPG consumers, ifthe consumer or his/her spouse had taxable income ofmore than Rs. 10 lakh for the previous financial year.

The decision makes eminent sense — why should thewell-to-do be subsidised? Politically, the decision will winthe government a lot of points with the poor, who willhopefully be the beneficiaries of the savings made bylimiting the scope of the subsidy. The more the governmentsaves, the more it can spend on expanding the reach ofLPG connections among those who currently do not haveone. The government’s initial Give It Up campaign hasencouraged 57.5 lakh beneficiaries of the LPG subsidy toopt out.

Background:

• In March this year, the government had asked “well-off people” to voluntarily give up using subsidisedLPG. So far, of the estimated 14.78 crore LPGconsumers in the country, over 52 lakh are reportedto have given up access to subsidised fuel voluntarily.

• The number of LPG consumers in the country alsofell from 16.35 crore to 14.78 crore after the start ofDirect Benefit Transfer on LPG (DBTL) scheme thateliminated inactive customers and duplication in therolls.

Significance of this move:

• The subsidy saved from the ‘Give it Up’ campaignwill be used for providing new connections to the BPLfamilies. This enables the allocation of LPG to poorhouseholds and ensures that they replace the use offuels such as kerosene, coal, fuel wood.

• As on December 7, a total of 52,58,841 consumershave given up or surrendered their subsidy. Consideringthis, for the period from April to September, 2015, theannual saving would be approximately Rs 1,167 crore.

• According to a study conducted by the Council onEnergy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in 2014, therichest 15% of Indian households can easily beweaned of the subsidy, as the full market price (thenRs. 950 per cylinder) is well within their affordabilitylimits. At present, these households account for 25%of the active consumer base.

• The study also highlights that the richest 10%

households in India corner 22% of LPG subsidy,

while the bottom 50% households together receive

only 30% of LPG subsidy. Thus, the government’s

move to target beneficiaries by excluding well-to-

do households from the subsidy net is well-founded

and timely.

Cons of the decision:

• Self-declaration: The government has planned to

use taxable income (greater than Rs. 10 lakh per

annum) as the basis for exclusion and self-

declaration of income as the means for

identification. So, the success relies entirely on

the integrity of the respondent. To overcome this

challenge, the government should consider

enforcing the scheme by linking LPG consumer

data with the PAN number.

• Tax evasion and under-reporting: Less than

3% of India’s population pays income tax and a

significant proportion under-reports taxable income.

Thus, exclusion based on reported income alone

would not be as expansive a criterion as is needed

indirectly benefiting the tax evaders. It would be

more practical and efficient to exclude households

based on multiple criteria like asset-ownership, four-

vehicle ownership and possession of other assets.

Each criterion, though, has its limitation when

applied standalone. But, a combination of criteria

such as taxable income and ownership of high-

end assets, along with a robust database and

stringent enforcement mechanism, would help

identify and exclude well-to-do households from

LPG subsidy effectively.

Conclusion:

The decision to limit the LPG subsidy by exempting

those above a particular income is an attempt to address

the mis-targeting problem. By doing this, the government

is trying to ensure that the subsidy is only going to go

to those who need it. The more the government saves,

the more it can spend on expanding the reach of LPG

connections among those who currently do not have

one. The hope is that rather than using the resultant

saving simply to shore up the budget deficit, the Centre

will use it to ensure that LPG connections are provided

for those who still depend on firewood and kerosene

stoves. What will be results of this programme are still

to be seen in the longer run.

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2. MUDRA Scheme: CreditGuarantee Funds

To boost employment and entrepreneurship, thegovernment has approved funds of Rs 8,000 crore thatwill stand guarantee for loans to new ventures.

MUDRA scheme:

Indian government has started Pradhan mantri MudraYojana which envisages the establishment of MUDRAbanks to meet the financial requirements of non farmingincome generating enterprises and non corporate smallbusiness enterprises engages in trade, services andmanufacturing activities.

Features:

• Mudra banks established by statutory enactmentas non banking financial institutions is a whollyowned subsidiary of SIDBI, coordinating with state/regional level financial intermediaries, with aim ofrefinancing micro finance institutions, regional,rural, urban cooperative banks, trust, societies,SHG-banks, scheduled commercial banks, last milefinanciers (LMF) such as NBFCs.

• Under the scheme the Mudra banks will providethree different financial products depending uponfinancial requirements such as shishu/kishore/tarunfor requirements within 50,000/between 50,000 and5 lakh/ between 5 lakh and 10 lakh

• The bank will have corpus of 20,000 crore to bemade available from PSL with another 3,000croreas credit guarantee corpus

• Mudra banks would be entrusted with theresponsibility of registration, regulation,accreditation of MFIs, setting up policy guidelinesfor them, ensuring credit guarantee for loansforwarded to micro businesses, promoting righttechnology solutions and good architecture forcredit delivery to last mile financiers and ensuringbest financial practices to ward off indebtedness,ensuring recovery of loans and client protection.

Out of Rs 8,000 crore, Rs 3,000 crore has been givento MUDRA Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF) that willsafeguard against the default of Rs 50,000 to Rs 10lakh loan extended to small entrepreneurs.

Performance till now: Launched in April 2015, theMUDRA scheme has already extended loans worth Rs72,000 crore to 1.73 lakh beneficiaries.

How will it be beneficial?

• It will reduce  the  credit  risk  to  Banks  /  NBFCs /  MFIs  /  other  financial  intermediaries,  who are  Member Lending Institutions (MLIs).It wouldincentivize these institution to give loan to small

entrepreneurs without much hassle, and this wouldincrease employment creation in India.

3. Commercial Bank Loans ShowRecovery

• According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),Demand for commercial bank loans are showingsigns of picking up after registering single digitgrowth for almost a year

• According to latest data released by the RBI, thetwo fortnights of December saw loan growth ofclose to Rs.1.5 lakh crore, taking the overall creditgrowth of banks to 11.1 per cent year-on-yearcompared to 10.1 per cent during the same periodlast year

• During the fortnight ended 25 December, loansgrew by Rs.50,000 crore and in the previousfortnight, it grew by Rs.98,180 crore. In November,credit growth was less than Rs.60,000 crore whilein October outstanding loans in the system fell byRs.26,000 crore.

Reasons for the recovery:

• Bankers attributed the revival in loan growth tosome projects that got stuck due to various reasonssuch as lack of environmental clearance nowshowing signs of revival due to the government’sinitiatives

• Also there is also increasing demand for workingcapital loans for projects which have beencompleted.

• A drop in interest rates, following a 125 basispoints cut in the repo rate by the RBI in 2015,also had some impact on credit off take.

• The increase in credit growth is also in line witha pick-up in industrial production. In the month ofOctober, the index of industrial production witnesseda jump of 9.8 per cent as the demand rose in thefestive month

Area of concern:

• While credit growth shows revival, fortnightly basisdeposit growth slowed to 10.88 per cent from 11.46per cent. Since credit growth was higher thandeposit growth at 11.20 per cent for the first timein recent quarters. The biggest fear of bankers isabout savers’ money shifting to other financialassets.

Conclusion:

Thus, though the credit off take shows revival, howeverdeposit growth slowed down which is an area of concernand also it could have negative impact on sustainabilityof Banks in Long run. What is required is that rates on

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other compatible small saving schemes like KisaanVikas Patra need to be decreased so that more saversare attracted towards depositing their money in Banks.

4. Government Plans to scrap taxon seed funding

• The government has decided to scrap a tax onseed funding provided to startups by Indian angelinvestors in the upcoming Union Budget, to helpdomestic financiers bankroll new entrepreneurialventures under its Startup India campaign.

Reasons for this decision & its impact on start-up:

• This move clearly indicates that the governmentwants to support the financers who eagerly wantto back up startup sector of the country. Tax isone of the key reasons that 90 per cent of Indianstart-ups are financed by foreign venture capitaland angel funds. 

• Current tax provisions characterize angelinvestments into a new venture as the investeecompany’s income, thus taking away roughly 30per cent of the investment from the startup’s cashflow as it is taxed. This provision leads to doubletaxation as angel financiers who may have alreadypaid taxes on their investment amount and wouldbe taxed again on the returns from suchinvestments.

• Current tax applies only to domestic investors andthus acts as a disincentive to local funding forstart-ups that the government wants to incentivizeinstead. Thus India is one of the only countries inthe world which taxes its domestic investor morethan global investors.

• Angel investing is risky and if a particularinvestment leads to windfall profits, it must betaxed. But the problem is that tax is levied at thetime of investments not at the time of bookingprofits, so it discourages domestic angel investorswho are keen to bet on start-ups as the stockmarkets are not going anywhere,”

• These rigid and high taxation make it attractive forstartup ventures to relocate out of India to countrieslike Singapore; 65 per cent of successful start-ups that began in India have moved out of thecountry.

• Returns made by domestic individual investor fromtheir startup investments are taxed at the highestmarginal personal tax rate (which is around 33%),while investments routed through a Mauritius-basedfund or by corporates who only need to pay longterm capital, gains tax of around 10%.

Conclusion:

• The success of Stand up and start up Indiadepends on ease of doing business and also in

making tax structure on Angel and venture investorsmuch simpler, This decision of the governmentwould definitely simplify the tax structure in thisarea and also would prevent relocation of startupventure to foreign countries. The tax on angelinvestments is something that the government isaiming to fix in the upcoming budget, however,the tax levied on income of individual angelinvestors could not be resolved so soon. The CIIpointed out that the tax on investments by angelsis particularly unnerving as it could also lead todisputes on the valuation of such investments withtax authorities and scare investors away.

5. Sharp Drop in new InvestmentAnnouncements in Dec 2015Quarter

• Announcement of proposals to create newcapacities, which was on a continuous rise postSeptember 2014 quarter declined sharply in thethird quarter of fiscal 2015-16. 383 projects wereannounced in the December 2015 quarter with anestimated investment of Rs.1 trillion, lowest in thepast 5 quarters. On a y-o-y basis, this was lowerby 74 per cent.

• New projects announced by the governmentrecorded a steep decline. Average quarterlyinvestment by the Government in new investmentproposals from September 2014 quarter toSeptember 2015 quarter - 5 quarters, hoveredaround Rs.1.1 trillion. This level dropped to Rs.356billion in December 2015 quarter.

• Similarly private sector participation inannouncement of new investment intentionsdropped to Rs.692 billion in December 2015 quarterfrom an average investment of Rs.1.7 trillion inthe past five quarters.

• The pace of announcing new proposals for capacityaddition, slowed down in fiscal 2015-16. Newprojects proposed in the first three quarters of2015-16 dropped to Rs.5.2 trillion from Rs.7.8 trillionworth of projects announced in the first threequarters of 2014-15 - a drop of almost 33 percent.

• Manufacturing sector attracted the major share ofnew investments announced during December 2015quarter. 96 projects with an estimated investmentof Rs.552 billion were announced. Large projectswere announced in the chemical, textiles,consumer goods and food sectors

Reasons for the decline in announcement:

• Slow pickup in demand for goods & services isthe most important reason for the fall inannouncements of new projects, since corporatesare uncertain about long term demands, even

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though there is recovery in commercial bank retailcredit as shown by recent data (which is anindicator of revival of demand) but corporates areadopting the strategy of wait and watch to ensurethe revival in demand is sustained in long run.

• Low capacity utilization is the second factor forthis decline.

• Thirdly concentration on commissioning of ongoingprojects is keeping promoters from announcingnew capacity additions.

• Fourthly slump in real estate sector which is a bigcontributor to investment is also led to sharp dropin new project announcement.

6. SEBI’s New Norms for MutualFunds

To safeguard investors’ interest, markets regulator SEBIrecently tightened its norms for mutual funds’ exposureto riskier corporate bonds.

Background:

• The issue of reducing the mutual fund exposurelimit for debt schemes caught SEBI’s attentionafter JP Morgan Mutual Fund got into troubles dueto its exposure to debt securities of Amtek Autowhile a few other fund houses have also facedsimilar problems with regard to corporate bonds ofa few other distressed firms.

What are the norms?

• The norms include capping the investment limit inbonds of a single company at 10%. However, itcan be extendable to 12% of Net Assets Value(NAV) after trustee’s approval. Currently, the limitis 15%.

• The single sector exposure limit will also belowered from 30% to 25%, while group-levelinvestment limits of 20-25% have also beenintroduced for the mutual funds (MFs) investing indebt securities.

• The fund houses will be given appropriate time toconfirm that their schemes are in compliance withthe new investment restrictions. All Government-owned Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) entities,Public Financial Institution (PFI) and Public SectorUndertaking (PSU) banks will be excluded fromgroup level limits.

Benefits of this step:

• The steps will mitigate risks arising on account ofhigh levels of exposure in the wake of eventspertaining to credit downgrades, put mutual fundsin a better position to handle adverse credit events.

• It will also provide mutual fund investors withenhanced diversification benefits.

• It would deepen the mutual fund market in India.

Concerns raised:

• Some fund managers warned that they could now

be forced to buy debt from more companies,potentially pushing them towards riskier bonds theywould not have previously considered.

7. Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY)

• The union cabinet has recently approved Pradhan

Mantri fasal Yojana to benefit the Indian Farmerswith Insurance cover and thus protecting theirlivelihood.

Background:

• So far, farmers have not derived benefits frominsurance schemes commensurate with the costof the premiums they have had to pay (despite

government subsidy). In addition, procedures fortaking out the policies and claiming compensationhave been cumbersome. Therefore, barely 23 per

cent of cultivators have till date opted for insurancecover. Coverage in agriculturally advanced stateslike Punjab and Haryana has been even poorer,

because insurance plans did not reimburse evena fraction of the actual losses incurred by thefarmers due to bad weather or other factors.

Therefore a new crop insurance scheme waslaunched to remove the deficiencies of thePrevailing schemes.

Key Features of the New Crop Insurance Scheme:

• In this scheme premium rates to be paid by thefarmers have been brought down substantially soas to enable more and more farmers in availing

insurance cover against crop loss on account ofnatural calamities.

• Under the new scheme, farmers will have to pay

a uniform premium of two per cent for all Kharifcrops and 1.5 per cent for all Rabi crops. Forannual commercial and horticultural crops, farmers

will have to pay a premium of 5 per cent. Theremaining share of the premium, as in previousschemes, will continue to be borne equally by the

Centre and the respective state governments.

• Under PMFBY, there will no upper limit on

government subsidy and even if balance premiumis 90 per cent, it will be borne by the government.

• The use of technology will be encouraged to agreat extent under this scheme. Smart phones willbe used to capture and upload data of crop cutting

to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers.Remote sensing will be used under this schemeto reduce the number of crop cutting experiments

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Advantages of this scheme

• Presently farmers have been required to pay apremium share of as high as 15 per cent in severalareas in the country; This crop insurance schemewould cap the premium at 2% for kharif crops and1.5% for rabi crop. This would make it affordablefor the farmers to buy crop insurances andtherefore it will derisk Agriculture in India fromvagaries of nature.

• Secondly in Earlier schemes there was a provisionof capping the premium rate which resulted in lowclaims being paid to farmers This capping hasnow been removed and farmers will get claimagainst full sum insured without any reduction

• Thirdly in the current insurance schemes damageis calculated by sample cutting methods whichnot only delay payment of insurance claims butalso is prone to error, under this scheme use oftechnology will be encouraged and smart phoneswill be used to capture and upload data of cropcutting to reduce the delays in claim payment tofarmers.

• Another unique feature is that this insurancescheme will provide localized risk coverage andhas added a number of natural calamities. Forinstance, given that last year, unseasonal rainsduring March and April had destroyed crops duringthe harvest season in several states, the insuranceplan will now provide coverage for post-harvestlosses caused owing to rain and hailstorm acrossIndia. Earlier, this was applicable only to cyclone-prone regions. Further, the insurance scheme alsomakes provision for compensation if farmers haveto skip sowing owing to natural calamities likefloods, unseasonal rains, hailstorm and cyclones.

Challenges:

• In a drought year like the current one, the outgofrom the PMFBY — assuming it is implementedin the manner proposed — may not be small.

• The financial liability is expected to touch awhopping Rs 8,800 crore once the target of bringing50 per cent crop under insurance is achieved inthree years as the Centre’s financial liability goesup, the bill of the states where the scheme getsimplemented will also go up correspondingly. Thiscould have negative effect on the fiscalconsolidation process of the incumbent government.

• Other major Problems are that, insurance covercannot be held hostage to the possession ofunflawed land title - that will limit farmers’ access,given poor records and the frequent need to bribeofficialdom to prove title even when legality isunquestioned.

• Further, success depends on how sincerelyinsurance companies implement the scheme. It is

unclear as to how the programme will be monitored;close supervision is imperative to eliminatemalpractices at different levels, which hadcontributed to the failure of earlier insuranceschemes.

Conclusion:

• Thus though there are certain challenges in theproper implementation of the scheme and it wouldalso have negative implication on the governmentfinances however that price may still be worthpaying for a country where only a fifth of farmershave crop insurance coverage. Subsidizedpremiums and prompt claims settlement enabledby remote sensing and GPS technology — asopposed to Patwaris and crop-cutting experiments— should help substantially expand coverage. Anincrease in the area insured should also bring downpremium rates, through spreading of risks acrossmore farmers. That would also help contain thegovernment’s subsidy burden.

8. Revival of MNREGA: AnAnalysis

Background:

Since last 2-3 years Number of job days created underMNREGA has been deteriorating. In 2014-15, theprogramme — which provides 100 days of guaranteedwage employment in a year to every rural householdwhose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manualwork — generated only 166.32 crore person-daysemployment, compared to 221.15 crore and 230.33 crorein the preceding two fiscals and the peak 283.59 croreachieved in 2009-10 (a drought year) .

• Also, the average days of employment providedper household dropped to 40.17 in 2014-15, from45.98 in 2013-14, 46.19 in 2012-13 and 53.19 daysin the best performance year of 2009-10

Turnaround:

• MNREGA appears to be staging a revival of sortsin the latest quarter. And this turnaround is beingattributed mainly to better monitoring by the Centreand timely release of funds.

• The July-September quarter witnessed 45.82 croreperson-days of employment generated underMGNREGA. This was the highest for the quarterin the last five years. “It was more than even the42.40 crore person-days during July-September2012, which also happened to be a not-so-goodmonsoon year.

Reasons for this turnaround:

• Experts and officials believe that better numbersthis year mainly to better monitoring by the Centreand timely release of funds. In 2014-15, moststates, including those implementing the

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programme well, ran out of funds by October. Whensupply of funds dried up, leading to delayedpayment of wages, there was less demand fromthe Gram Panchayats as well to take up workseven in a drought year.

• That has changed this year, with the proportion ofdelayed payments — i.e. beyond 15 days afterthe closure of muster rolls — falling to 53 per centfrom 72 per cent in 2014-15.

· Development economists believe that MGNREGA’sapparent turnaround in the last two quarters wasa result of political and civil society pressure,forcing the government to release funds.

Sustainability of the turnaround:

• Experts believe that the turnaround could well betemporary, given the continuing paucity of fundingfor the programme.

• Currently, 12 states have a negative fund balancetotaling Rs 1,089 crores that makes it impossiblefor Gram Panchayats to take up fresh works underthe scheme.

• Apart from these, states such as Bihar, Gujarat,Maharashtra and Manipur face the danger ofslipping into a negative balance if additional fundsare not made available. Even Rajasthan, which isbeset by drought, has run out of money.Chhattisgarh, which has been performing well onMNREGA before, has been squeezed dry last fewmonths due to lack of funds.

• In the current fiscal, merely 4 per cent of the total3.75 crore MGNREGA-registered households havebeen provided their entire 100 days workentitlement. The average number of days ofemployment provided per household for the entirecountry so far during 2015-16 is 38.

Conclusion:

• Thus above figures indicate that NDA governmenthas finally understood the importance of MNREGAas a cushion during drought conditions and as aresult the funds for MNREGA have been releasedat adequate time by the government, Howeverthis should not be a onetime affair, the long runsustainability of MNREGA Depends on continuousattention on MNREGA even in non-drought years.

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International Relations + Security + Defence

1. Growing proximity betweenNepal and China: An Analysis

Nepal has just come out of its two greatest crisesnamely natural crisis in the form of earthquake &constitutional crisis. Both the events have shaken theroots of Himalayan country. However, two events hadcontrastingly affected the India-Nepal relations.Cooperation & timely support during the earthquakeproved India’s worth for Nepal & its irreplaceablegeostrategic position. However, forming of newconstitution & its implementation created a tensescenario between the two nations & overshadowed theIndian rescue efforts during earthquake.

In both the events China took advantage to deepen itsties with Nepal & put India on the strategicallydisadvantageous position, whereas, Nepal also seemsto play the China card with India on India’s suggestionsfor the demands of Terai people and constitutionalreforms i.e. for more representation of Terai people inparliament, provincial territory demarcations and issuesrelated to citizenship rights.

Now it is necessary to analyze the current situationwhether growing proximity of China & Nepal is a realthreat for India or it’s just an overemphasized perceptionand if it’s a new reality in triangular relations how Indiais going to be affected by it.

Evolution of China Nepal relations:

For it a brief overview of these triangular relations wouldhelp to focus the areas of analysis & discussion. Indiaand Nepal are not only linked due to the proximity ofland, but it is the cultural affinity that binds the twonations. The common linguistic and ethnic identities,Hindu religious practices, similar festivals, affinity offood, resemblance of dresses, and the overall way ofthinking, all make inseparable ties between India andNepal.

While China-Nepal relations dwell into the border conflictsthat resulted in Nepal-Tibet-China war (1789-1792) overterritorial dispute. Further advancement in time will giveeven grimmer picture of Nepal-Tibetan war of 1855 thatwas concluded in 1856 with the Treaty of Thapathaliwith the special status of China as a mediator. Thereafter,by the early 19th century, Nepal broke all relations withChina. Can such hostile relations shake the foundationof two thousand year old ties between India and Nepal?Not really, unless we see the developments of Nepal-China relations in the present times and reassess thegrounds on which the current relations are established.

Nepal and China resumed diplomatic relations in themid 1950s. The basis of signing the Treaty of Peaceand Friendship in 1960 was Nepal’s recognition of Tibetas a part of China and a resolution to the long-standingborder problem. Thereafter, China has constantly spreadits sphere of influence on the Himalayan Kingdom byexpanding greater economic linkages and extendingsubstantial military assistance to Nepal. In the 1970s,when King Birendra of Nepal proposed Nepal as a “zoneof peace” between India and China, India did not showkeen interest, while China was quite supportive. Theseand many such issues created a rift in Nepal-India ties;while at the same time China has been pro-active tosupport and aid Nepal.

Why is China keen to increase the proximity now &its efforts in this direction?

Although Nepal and India have an open border and freemobility of populace across borders; it is China that isincreasingly working to take over India’s position of thelargest trading partner of Nepal. As India is largesteconomy of south Asia & has been emerging as aleader of south Asian countries, China wants to containthe India’s growing power & status which may becomea threat to Chinese dream of becoming the superpower.

• In 2011-2012, India-Nepal trade was USD 3 billionand the total volume of trade between Nepal andChina amounted to USD 1.2 billion. To enhancethese ties, China has offered zero-tariff treatmentto 60 per cent products of Nepal.

• When there was blockade of fuel & necessarysupplies on India-Nepal border due to protest byMadhesi, Beijing gave 1.3 million litres of petrol toNepal as a grant, with the promise of following upafter a commercial arrangement was signedbetween companies on the two sides.

• In 2014, China overtook India as the biggest sourceof Nepal’s foreign investment. Nepalis see Chineseaid as positive because of its focus on infrastructuredevelopment, an area in which Chinese seem tohave done a good job.

• China’s open diplomatic policy in Nepal remains toexploit the resources of Nepal and take advantageof Indian market. Hence, it has completed 22-kmroad in central Nepal connecting its southern plainswith Kyirong, county of Tibet, making the shortestmotorable overland route between China and India.

• China also has deeper motives than just businesscooperation. The Tibetan community in Nepal is a

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serious concern for the Chinese authorities. Inparticular, the clandestine operations that have itsroots in Nepal pose greater challenges for theunity of China’s southern periphery. In April 2008,China could use its influence on Nepaleseadministration to crackdown on Tibetan activities.Hence, it is not wrong to posit that China’sbusiness ties are redefining the power equationswith that of Nepal.

• Simultaneously there is added emphasis onboosting cultural exchanges. There are now almost19 China Study Centers (CSC) and ConfuciusInstitutes in Nepal to promote Chinese languageand culture.

• Beijing has announced Nepal as an “officialdestination” for its nationals. The town of Pokharabecame a hot attraction after Chinese onlineguidebooks described it as one of the top tenplaces “to see before you die”. Signboards inMandarin are now a common sight in Pokhara.More than a dozen hotels in the town have Chineseowners.

• The aim now is to have a comprehensivecooperation that serves mutual development andprosperity with the promotion of trade and tourism,joint border management, development ofhydropower projects, building infrastructure forgreater connectivity, and bringing in overall socio-economic growth of Nepal.

Why is Nepal increasing its interests in China?

• For Nepal, China serves as a potential supplier ofgoods and assistance that it badly needs in orderto recover its economy. Almost half the populationof Nepal is unemployed and more than half isilliterate. At the same time, more than 30 per centof the people in Nepal live in abject poverty. Todeal with its internal problems, Nepal surely hasserious business to engage with China to overcomeits poverty & unemployment.

• Another factor to increase the interest is Chinacard which most of the south Asian counties areplaying with India to gain the mileage in negotiations& counter India’s Big Brother approach.

Why cannot China replace India?

• Most strong argument in this is the deep linguistic& cultural similarity, religious affinity, historical ties& geographical proximity and family connectionsbetween Nepal and India — whose trade oreconomic ties with China alone cannot entirelyoverwhelm. People-to-people contacts of India &Nepal is way ahead than contact on Chinese side.

• China-Nepal relations are also limited as of nowby certain practical problems. Even if Nepal OilCorporation and Petro China Company Ltd. wereto sign an agreement, the issue of dual taxation

in Tibet which raises the cost of fuel — remainsunresolved. While the Indian refinery of Barauni isonly 374 km away, the nearest Chinese refinery ismore than 2,000 km from Nepal. Assuming Chinasees no reason for a massive oil subsidy to Nepal,this distance alone will make Chinese fuel moreexpensive than Indian.

• Another factor is difficult border terrain betweenChina & Nepal. Routes are frequently obstructedby landslides so keeping the routes open &maintenance of it a difficult & expansive task.

Areas of Common Interest and Way forward:

• Both China and India would like Nepal to have aconstitution and political stability. China’s securityconcerns are related to stability in Tibet & India’ssecurity concern include smuggling of fakecurrency, drugs & terrorism so India and Chinahave realized that only a stable Nepal can takecare of their security concerns.

• China proposed the establishment of an economiccorridor among the three countries to promotetrilateral cooperation and common prosperity. Nepalcan become a stage for mutually beneficialcooperation between China and India, rather thanan arena for competition.

• However, India should take care the special relationthat it has with Nepal by focusing on resolvingissues through negotiations, development activities& investment in Nepal to reduce the trade distortionfor which Nepalese are accusing India.

• In this direction Nepal and India had agreed toform the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) with fourmembers each from Nepal and India and set upsecretariats in respective countries mandated tolook into Nepal-India ties in totality and reviewingall bilateral treaties. The panel will also makenecessary recommendation to the respectivecountries about the measures to be taken to reviewor adjust or replace all bilateral treaties, includingthe Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950 and others.The panel will visit both sides for necessaryconsultations and study. The panel will makespecific suggestions to settle the outstandingissues and other concerns of both sides, will givenon-government and people’s level perspective toboth sides that is required to revisit the bilateralrelations. Apart from this India should also refrainfrom the acts which pose him as a Big Brother inthe region & work to resolve the issues throughdiplomacy & mutual cooperation.

2. Pathankot attack details andIndia’s security architecture

After 26/11 Mumbai attacks, this time terrorists targetedthe security installation. The attack at the PathankotAir Force Station, located close to the Pakistan border,

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began early Saturday. By the evening four terroristswere killed & operations was declared successful bygovernment, but, on next day an NSG official waskilled along with five other injured while inspecting aterrorist’s body after some time again firing started fromtwo different locations, security forces realize moreterrorists are alive & by evening they were also killed.The whole incident killed seven security forces personnelwith 20 injured.

After every terrorist attack, there are shallow attemptsby the establishment to fit episodic responses intoacademic frameworks and proposals for securityestablishment reforms, but in no time things go back todefault mode, until the next terrorist attack.

Issues surfaced in security operation:

This time the intelligence information regarding suchincident may happen was available, a foreign intelligenceagency had passed on a tip-off about terrorists planningto attack the base. Then why that intelligence was nottreated seriously? Is the response a reflection of thepoor quality of general intelligence alerts? Do agenciesnot able to discriminate between a genuine & fakeintelligence. On January 1, early morning, the abductedSuperintendent of Police, Salwinder Singh, reported tothe local police that his vehicle had been snatched.Despite several hours available to intercept the terroristsin a limited space, New Delhi, in its wisdom, decidedto waste time by flying in National Security Guard (NSG)commandos from the national capital, while thousandsof trained army soldiers were already stationed all overPathankot which have been more familiar with theterrain? Does it reflect the poor decision making ofsenior members of the security establishment or doesit hint at autocratic decision-making in New Delhi withoutprofessional participation?

This incident happened just after the Indian PrimeMinister retuned from Lahore & discussed to initiate thepeace talk. Both countries agreed to delay the talkswithout canceling them. The challenge thrown up by theterrorist attack on the Pathankot air force base is toevolve India’s national security doctrine to include itsresponse to non-state actors while carrying on diplomaticengagement with Pakistan.

Another question is who should be held accountable forthe casualities & injuries of civilians, Police as was thecase of 26/11 & even armed forces in this case. Thosewho were supposed to act on the terror alerts, thosewho were supposed to guard the seas and those whowere supposed to protect Mumbai, all carried on withtheir professional lives. There is a need to frame abetter accountability system.

What should be India’s Security Architecture?

• Pathankot has shred to pieces by the cycle ofterror responses in India: from processingintelligence alerts, mobilizing first responders,carrying out counter terror operations under a well-

defined command-and-control system, minimizingcasualties and, finally, obtaining maximumintelligence to thwart possible future attacks.

• It is time to finally accept the reality and moveforward on a broad sweep of reforms in the securityestablishment. This could be done at three levels— parliamentary oversight, a well-defined nationalsecurity doctrine and a national security strategyto implement the doctrine, and, finally, anindependent federal commission of accountabilityon security matters.

• India still has no written national security doctrine,and whatever is practiced as the doctrine, andstrategy, is vastly inadequate. It is time to moveon from the unwritten grand strategy of workingonly towards the political unity and preservation ofIndia to a written doctrine that defines India’s rolein the world and its commitment to protecting thelife, liberty and interests of its people. The doctrineshould be accompanied by a security strategythat should spell out the state response to variouskinds of security challenges. If it is a terroriststrike, then the decision-makers must know theresponses expected of them, and not try toimprovise based on their limited awareness.Command and control for such operations shouldalso be spelt out in the document. To frame itpolitical consensus must be evolved, in a publiclytransparent manner, to reflect the complexchallenge facing the country.

• Political misuse of state organs and the completelack of transparency in their operations haveresulted in Indian intelligence agencies emergingas obscure centers obfuscating facts orexaggerating things, mostly to impress politicalmasters or for other vested interests. The lack ofaccountability has also meant that field operationsof intelligence agencies are mostly cottageindustries run on fake sources or exaggeratedclaims. Underlying all of it is the significant financialbenefits.

• The final result is that even when genuineintelligence alerts are available, they are not actedupon with seriousness. India must constitute avery credible, and permanent, federal commissionof accountability on security matters. This isimportant not just to bring in accountability to thesecurity establishment, but also to ensure that themany insurgencies and terrorist challenges do notresult in the intelligence and security apparatusgetting a free hand to misuse their powers. Sucha commission can also be a watchdog in placeslike Kashmir and the Northeast, where repeatedallegations of human rights violations are hauntingpolitical efforts to find peace, and feeding terrorism.It is time to finally show that India can be morethan a functional anarchy.

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3. Sahayog-Kaijin-2016

A joint exercise between Indian and Japan Coast Guardnamed Sahyog-Kaijin-XV was held in the Bay of Bengaloff Chennai on recently.

The Indian Coast Guard fleet consisting of six surfaceunits and two Aircrafts Coast Guard Ships viz; SamudraPaheredar, Vishwast, Rajkamal, Rajtarang, C-417, C-415 one Dornier and one Chetak Helicopter along withJapan Coast Guard Ship ECHIGO with integratedSikorsky Helicopterparticipated in the exercise.

Objective of Exercise:

Acquainting with each other’s capabilities andstrengthening their working level relationship includinginteroperability and further refining joint operatingprocedures.

Areas of Training during Exercise: Hijacking of amerchant vessels and subsequent rescue (Anti piracyoperations).

About Sahayog-Kaijin:

• The Sahayog-Kaijin is a bilateral exercise, whichis a part of the cooperative arrangements betweentwo Coast Guards for the last 15 years.

• The exercise is also a part of the Memorandumon Cooperation, which was signed between Indiaand Japan in 2006.

• It is a biennial bilateral exercise and the venueshifts in both countries on alternate occasions.

This is the second time in three months after exercise‘Malabar’ a ship from the Japanese military forces isparticipating in a military exercise along with India. Jointexercises are an important part of the contemporarymilitary diplomacy. Focus areas of such exercise areanti-piracy, counterterrorism and field search-and-rescueoperations, “annual defence dialogue” and “frequentexchanges” of the highest level military officials andleadership visits between the two sides.

4. UN Report: Trends in Inter-national Migrant Stock

• India’s Diaspora population is the largest in theworld with 16 million people from India living outsidetheir country in 2015, according to a latest UNsurvey on international migrant trends.

Key findings of the report:

• The survey conducted by the UN Department ofEconomic and Social Affairs (DESA) said thenumber of international migrants - persons livingin a country other than where they were born -reached 244 million in 2015 for the world as awhole, a 41 per cent increase compared to 2000.

• According to the Trends in International MigrantStock, Nearly two-third of international migrantslives in Europe (76 million) or Asia (75 million).

• The rise in the number of international migrantsreflects the increasing importance of internationalmigration, which has become an integral part ofour economies and societies.

• India has the largest Diaspora in the world, followedby Mexico and Russia. In 2015, 16 million peoplefrom India were living outside of their country, agrowth from 6.7 million in 1990.

• The survey further said that in 2015, two-third ofall international migrants were living in only 20countries, starting with the US, which hosted 19per cent of all migrants at 46.6 million, followed byGermany, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UnitedKingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.

• India ranked 12th out of these 20 countries, hosting5.2 million migrants in 2015, and a drop from 7.5million in 1990.

• The UN data shows that the number of internationalmigrants has grown faster than the world’spopulation. As a result, the share of migrants inthe global population reached 3.3 per cent in 2015,up from 2.8 per cent in 2000.

• Of 244 million migrants registered last year, 20million were refugees.

• Among major regions of the world, NorthernAmerica hosts the third largest number ofinternational migrants, followed by Africa, LatinAmerica and the Caribbean and Oceania. Between2000 and 2015, Asia added more internationalmigrants than any other major regions (a total of26 million additional migrants).

Reasons for the increase in migrants’ population:

• There are both push factors and pull factors whichare responsible for increase in migrants population.While better life, more political and civic freedom,better standard of living attract many migrantsfrom Third world countries to Europe and NorthAmerica. In last few years push factors havebecome dominant reason for Internationalmigration. Thus conflicts, genocide and rise ofterrorism in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia andLibya have forced many people to migrate toEurope and North America, while economicdeprivation and droughts have also forced manyfrom Sub Saharan African countries to migrate toEurope.

Implications of this report for India:

According to this report India has biggest Diaspora inthe world and the population of overseas Indian increasedfrom 6.7 million in 1990 to 16 million in 2015. Having

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such a large Diasporic Population provides India withnumber of benefits which include:

• It provides India with much required foreignexchange to meet our shortfalls in current account,Thus according to latest data remittances inflowcrossed $70 billion in 2014.

• Diasporas are symbol of a nation’s prideinternationally. They help in building its brandinternationally through their huge success stories.

• Many emigrants make huge investments into theirhome countries in domestic financial, real estates,services and technological sectors helping in hugeinflow of capitals that boost local economy andcreate huge jobs. E.g. - Anil Aggarwal controlledLondon based Vedanta group.

• Diasporas are mostly based in foreign countrieswhich are developed and hence aretechnologically advance and rich ininnovations. They help in bringing thesetechnology and innovations to their country oforigin through investment and collaborations. 

5. Proposed New Norms inDefence Procurement Pro-cedure

New Changes in Defence Procurement Procedure:

• The DPP will have a new category called the‘IDDM’ or ‘Indigenously Designed, Developed andManufactured’ platforms. This will get top priorityand will be first to be chosen for tenders.

• This will have two sub-categories — one, it will bemandatory to have 40 per cent local content incase the design is also indigenous. Two, in casethe design is not Indian, 60 per cent local contentwill be mandatory.

• Certain leverages are given to foreign companies.It raises the limit of ‘off-sets’ from Rs 300 croreto Rs 2,000 crore. ‘Off-sets’ are a provision thatmakes foreign companies to mandatorily procure30 per cent of the supplies from Indian partners,in case of winning a bid of Rs 300 crore or more.This limit has been raised to Rs 2,000 crore, asnot many Indian companies are available to absorbso much of technology infusion.

• Policy to fund Indian private entities in Researchand Development to encourage more localtechnology development. The Department ofDefence Production will fund up to 90 per cent ofthe R&D, of which 20 per cent will be given inadvance and in 24 months the entity will be giventender. If the tender is not given, the privatecompany will get a refund of its expenses. Anotherone will be funding of Rs 10 crore for R&D tomedium-scale industry. This will enhance theopportunities & recognition of the Micro, Small

and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in technologydevelopment.

• The DPP sets up an empowered committee tosolve disputes or unforeseen issues. Till nowdisputes went to DAC. Each of the three Serviceswill have a Major-General-rank officer for projectmanagement to be run on road map in line withthe long-term perspective plan.

• Given the limited choices in defence equipmenttechnology production, bids can be accepted evenif there is only one supplier.

• It has also brought down the Acceptance ofNecessity validity to six months from earlier oneyear, which means that the forces will have toissue tenders faster.

• It, however, deferred addressing twin key issues:One, having a method on blacklisting, or notblacklisting, of firms indulging in wrongdoing andtwo, on having guidelines to select internationalstrategic partners for producing major equipmentin India. Without addressing these issues exerciseto make the whole system transparent will not becompleted.

Significance of New Changes:

New changes will give top-priority to locally producedequipment and fund Indian private companies to doresearch and development. This will give a big impetusto indigenization through the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The DAC, allowed changes to the Defence ProcurementProcedure (DPP)-2013 order based on recommendationof committee headed by former Union home secretaryDhirendra Singh.

What is Defence Procurement Procedure?

• Defence Procurement Procedure is the procedureor set of regulations that are followed by theGovernment of India in procuring and buyingdefence equipment from private companies andother international companies or entities. Thesecovers all the equipment bought or acquired forthe three Defence services of India working underthe aegis of the Defence Ministry of India namelythe Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the IndianAir Force.

What is Defence Acquisition Council? 

• The Defence Acquisition Council was formed bythe Union Government, which is responsible for allthe decisions taken regarding the acquisition to bemade for the Defence forces. Chiefs of all thethree armed forces are also members in the councilalong with other experts. The Defence Minister ofIndia serves as the Chairman of the council. TheDefence Procurement Procedure is aimed atstreamlining and modernizing the armed forces asper the requirements.

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6. India to join the InternationalEnergy Agency – Ocean EnergySystem

The Union Cabinet has recently given its approval forIndia becoming a member country of the InternationalEnergy Agency - Ocean Energy Systems (IEA-OES)by signing the Implementing Agreement (IA). The nodalagency for the membership would be Earth SystemScience Organization - National Institute of OceanTechnology (ESSO-NIOT) under the Ministry of EarthSciences. 

What is IEA-OES?

• The IEA is an inter-governmental organization witha broad role of promoting alternate energy sources(including renewable energy), rational energypolicies and multinational energy technologycooperation and acts as energy policy advisor to29 member countries.

• The OES, launched in 2001, is anintergovernmental collaboration between countries,which operates under the framework establishedby the International Energy Agency. This initiativeis to advance research, development anddemonstration of technologies to harness energyfrom all forms of ocean renewable resources, aswell as for other uses, such as desalination etc.through international cooperation and informationexchange. 

Why does India require harnessing Ocean energy?

• The long coastline of India and severe power deficitin the country, warrant the study of oceanrenewable energies.

• Secondly India has not been endowed withabundant non-renewable energy sources of energyand even though we have 4th largest reserves ofcoal. The coal available in India is of inferior qualitywhich is not very useful in Industries.

How will India benefit from joining this group?

• Vagaries of the sea make harnessing ocean energyin India a technological challenge.  In the Indiancontext designing of scaled up ocean energydevices (including wave, currents and tidal) andtheir techno-commercial viability needs to beundertaken.

• By becoming a member of the IEA-OES, India willhave access to advanced R&D teams andtechnologies across the world. India will partner indeveloping test protocols along with other countries.This will help in testing Indian prototypes as perinternational requirements and norms.

• By becoming member even Joint cooperativeprograms with institutes of member countries could

be taken up. India’s own research projects withspecific targets can be taken up in conjunctionwith other countries. 

7. Implications of Hydrogen BombTesting by North Korea

• North Korea claimed to conduct apowerful hydrogen bomb test, a defiant andsurprising move that, if confirmed, would be ahuge jump in Pyongyang’s quest to improve itsstill-limited nuclear arsenal.

Reason behind North Korea’s Nuclear Programme:

• North Korea needs nuclear tests for practicalmilitary and political reasons .The N Korea hasnow had a nuclear weapons program for more than20 years. This program has yielded three nucleartests. It is suspected that North Korean nuclearscientists have access to their counterparts inPakistan, possibly Iran and may be a few otherplaces. North Korea is trying to develop thetechnology needed to manufacture a miniaturizedwarhead that could fit on a long-range missilecapable of hitting the U.S. mainland. Nuclear-tippedmissiles could then be used as deterrents, anddiplomatic bargaining chips, against its enemiesand especially against the United States, whichPyongyang has long pushed to withdraw its troopsfrom the region and to sign a peace treaty formallyending the Korean War.

Implications:

• A confirmed test would further worsen alreadyabysmal relations between Pyongyang and itsneighbors (South Korea & Japan) & wouldcompromise regional security. This may alsodeteriorate ties of Pyongyang with China, theNorth’s last major ally, which has shown greaterfrustration at provocations and a possiblewillingness to allow stronger U.N. sanctions.

• Such test may encourage other countries to follow& develop miniature H-bomb & spread oftechnology. Thus nuclear armament race may berevived which seriously undermines internationalnon-proliferation efforts. Given the rise & reach ofterrorist organizations like IS, their reach to suchtechnology may endanger the whole humanity.

• However, Experts are skeptical about North Koreanclaims about H-bomb saying the estimatedexplosive yield & seismic wave from North Korea’sfourth nuclear explosion was much smaller thanwhat even a failed H-bomb detonation wouldproduce.

Hydrogen Bomb:

• The hydrogen bomb work on the principal of fusion.It can be hundreds of times more powerful than

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atomic bombs that use fission. In a hydrogenbomb, radiation from a nuclear fission explosionsets off a fusion reaction responsible for a powerfulblast and radioactivity.

• During N Korea’s test an estimated explosive yieldof 6.0 kilotonnes and a quake with a magnitude of4.8 (the U.S. reported 5.1) were detected. That’ssmaller than the estimated explosive yield of 7.9kilotonnes and a quake with a magnitude of 4.9

that were reported after the 2013 nuclear test. Itis only a fraction of the hundreds of kilotonnesthat a successful H-bomb test’s explosion wouldusually yield. Even a failed H-bomb detonationtypically yields tens of kilotonnes, the NIS told Mr.Lee, who sits on the parliament’s intelligencecommittee.

• A miniaturized H-bomb can trigger a weak quakemagnitude, but only the U.S. and Russia havesuch H-bombs.

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GEOGRAPHY + ENVIRONMENT

1. A Direct shift from BS-IV to BS-VI By 2020

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has decided toleapfrog from BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms directlyby completely skipping BS-V norms. New BS-VI normswill come into effect from 01.04.2020.

What are BS Norms?

These norms were introduced in India in 2000, whenthe Bharat Stage norms were adopted by the thengovernment, based on the European emission norms.Each stage specifies a certain limit on the pollutantsreleased, which is controlled by the type of fuel madeby the oil companies and the up-gradations andmodifications made by the auto firms to their vehiclesto control the pollutants released from the vehicle.

Present Scenario:

• India had enforced Bharat stage III norms acrossthe country since October 2010. In 13 major cities,Bharat stage IV emission norms were put in placesince April 2010. Currently, BS-IV petrol and dieselare being supplied in whole of Northern Indiacovering Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana,Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and partsof Rajasthan and western UP. The rest of thecountry has BS-III grade fuel.

• From 1 April, 2016, all of Goa, Kerala, Karnataka,Telangana, Odisha, Union Territories of Daman andDiu, Dadra-Nagar-Haveli and Andaman & Nicobarwill get BS-IV fuel. The rest of the country isscheduled to get supplies of BS-IV from 1 April,2017.

Arguments behind direct switching to BS VI norms:

• Considering the environmental impact, risingpollution levels and health hazards due to vehicularpollution, the oil ministry took the view that thecountry should switch over directly from BS-IV toBS-VI fuel standards.

• Secondly there is hardly any difference betweenBS-V and BS-VI then why should the refineries beasked to invest in making the transition to BS-Vand a second one to BS-VI.

• At BS-VI levels, the gap which is currentlymaintained between emissions from diesel andpetrol, wherein diesel cars are allowed to emitmore particulate matter and nitrogen oxide, narrows.At that level, emissions will become nearly fuel-neutral.

Challenges in Switching to BS VI norms:

• There are two major industries which would facechallenges: first are the oil refineries that will needa substantial investment to upgrade. Theseupgrades will allow the refineries to supply fueltypes that can match the BS-VI standards. Theshift of technology from BS-IV to BS-VI is likelyto cost anything between Rs 50,000 crore to Rs80,000 crore to petroleum companies. This wouldhit the margins of oil companies.

• Secondly, the automobile manufacturers wouldrequire a significant technological jump especiallyin diesel filter technology & in optimization ofselective catalytic reduction technology.

• Bosch Ltd, the world’s largest manufacturer of fuelinjection systems and engine technologies, hadwarned the government that such a move couldlead to safety and quality problems. It would takeas much as four-and-a-half years of lead time fordesign, application and validation of new enginetechnologies to move from BS-IV to BS-V, and asimilar time to graduate to BS-VI.

• The decision will make cars, sports utility vehicles(SUVs), trucks, buses and auto parts moreexpensive.

Supreme Courts Directives:

• Earlier Supreme Court has asked the UnionGovernment to implement BS-VI emission normsearlier than April 2021 deadline amid concerns onrising air pollution in the country. The SupremeCourt recently said no new diesel vehicle with anengine capacity of 2000cc or above could beregistered in Delhi, where the air quality hasbecome the worst in the world.

Conclusion:

• There are several challenges related to technologyupgradation, availability of fund, rising cost ofvehicles, availability of BS VI Fuel in shorter timeframe yet this cost would be compensated by thereduction in diseases due to air pollution whichhas become a severe health hazard for the Indiancities. New norms would be a step in the directionof Right to clean environment & would reduceexpenditure on polluted air borne diseases.

Facts:

Difference in BS-IV and BS-VI standards:

The BS norms have been similar to Euro norms tillnow, and with norms after BS-IV not defined yet, we

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compare the existing BS-III and BS-IV norms in Indiawith the Euro 6 norms on which India’s emission normshave been set.

Petrol Emission Norms (All figures in g/km):

Emission Norm  CO  HC   NOx  HC+NOx PM

 BS-III   2.30  0.20  0.15   —-   —- 

 BS-IV   1.00  0.10   0.08   —-   —- 

 Euro 6   1.00  0.10  0.06   —- 0.005 

Diesel Emission Norms (All figures in g/km)

Emission Norm  CO  HC   NOx  HC+NOx PM

 BS-III   0.64  —-  0.50   0.56  0.05 

 BS-IV   0.50  —-   0.25   0.30 0.025 

 Euro 6   0.50  —-  0.06   0.17 0.005 

Source - Indian Emissions Regulations/ARAI 

Efforts to Control Emissions

India embarked on a formal emission control regime in1991. Here is a brief history of the country’s efforts tocut vehicle emission.

1991-92: the first stage of mass emission norms cameinto force for petrol vehicles in 1991 and in 1992 fordiesel vehicles.

1995: From April 1995, the government made fitment ofcatalytic converters compulsory in new petrol-fuelledpassenger cars sold in the four metros of Delhi, Calcutta,Mumbai and Chennai, along with the supply of unleadedpetrol (ULP). Availability of ULP was extended to 42major cities and now it is available across the country.

2000-01: In 2000, passenger cars and commercialvehicles met Euro I equivalent India 2000 norms. EuroII equivalent Bharat Stage-II (BS-II) norms were in forcefrom 2001 in four metros-Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai andKolkata.

2002: The first auto fuel policy was announced in August2002. It laid down the emission and fuel roadmap up to2010. As per the policy, four-wheelers in 13 metro citiesmoved to BS-III emission norms from April 2005 andthe rest of the country of BS-II.

2010: BS-IV for 13 metro cities was implemented fromApril 2010 and the rest of the country moved to Bs-III.It has now been extended to more than 50 cities.

2014: The second version of the fuel policy-Auto fuelpolicy 2025-was submitted to the oil and gas ministry.It lays down the emission and fuel roadmap up to 2025and envisages BS-IV roll out across the country by2017 in a phased manner, with BS-V emissions in 2021and BS-VI from 2024. The proposal is yet to be acceptedby the government and notified.

2. Pollution and congestion issuesin Urban Transport: Case ofDelhi

India is urbanizing. Its urban population is growing atan average rate of around 3% per year. Assumingdecadal increase of around 32%, India’s urban populationis expected to increase from 377 million in 2011 to 500million in 2021 however, there is lower pace ofinfrastructure growth such as roads, transportation andpoor planning of urbanization with respect to roads,public transport, residential and industrial area.

This mismatch in urbanization & infrastructuredevelopment along with poor urban planning has createdseveral challenges which are:

Vehicular congestion and road safety issues: Indiaaccounts for 1% vehicles globally but 10% roadaccidents thus; it is plagued by careless driving andcongestion issues. Factors involved in it are:

• Growth in number of vehicles, in the six majormetropolises of India which has outpacedpopulation growth.

• Limitation to road expansion; Resource (land &investment) constraints have come in the way ofadequate investments in increasing road capacityand even in undertaking timely repair. Inefficientsystems of construction coupled with poormaintenance have resulted in poor roadinfrastructure.

• Poor Traffic Management.

• Absence of Lane Segregation: Mixed traffic (speeddifferences) hard to handle.

• Road infrastructure is poor: narrow roads, lack ofmedians, pedestrian crossings, and few trafficsignals.  

• Poor enforcement of traffic rules.

• Corruption in issuing licenses and permits.

• Inadequate number of trained traffic police.

Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and non-motorized vehicle occupants are often the mostvulnerable in Indian cities.

Externalities: adding unwanted by products (local &global pollution):

Factors involved in it are:

• Enforcement of Pollution check norms is poor.

• Pollution certificates are issued without actualtesting of vehicle.

• Poor condition of road also contributed to pollutionof the cities because of the slower mobility ofvehicles.

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• In many cities, there is lack of public transportwhich leads to high use of many small and privatevehicles.

• No policy to phase-out older vehicles.

Strategies to mitigate the challenges of urbantransport:

• Ramp metering. Controlling the access to acongested highway by letting automobiles in oneat a time instead of in groups. The outcome is alower disruption on highway traffic flows.

• Traffic signal synchronization. Tuning the trafficsignals to the time and direction of traffic flows.This is particularly effective if the signals can beadjusted on an hourly basis to reflect changes incommuting patterns.

• Incident management. Making sure that vehiclesinvolved in accidents or mechanical failures areremoved as quickly as possible from the road.Since accident on average account between 20and 30% of all the causes of congestion, thisstrategy is particularly important.

• Car ownership restrictions. Several cities andcountries (e.g. Singapore) have quotas in thenumber of license plates that can be issued orrequire high licensing fees. To purchase a vehiclean individual thus must first secure through anauction a license.

• Carpooling. Concerns two issues. The first andmost common is an individual providing ridershipto people (often co-workers) having a similar origin,destination and commuting time. Two or morevehicle trips can thus be combined into one. Thesecond involves a pool of vehicles (mostly cars,but also bicycles) that can be leased for shortdurations when mobility is required. Adequatemeasures must be taken so that supply anddemand are effectively matched.

• HOV lanes. High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanesinsure that vehicles with 2 or more passengers(buses, taxis, vans, carpool, etc.) have exclusiveaccess to a less congested lane, particularly duringpeak hours.

• Congestion pricing. A variety of measures aimedat imposing charges on specific segments orregions of the transport system, mainly as a toll.The charges can also change during the day toreflect congestion levels so that drivers are incitedto consider other time periods or other modes.

• Parking management. Removing parking or freeparking spaces can be an effective dissuasiontool since it reduces cruising and enables thosewilling to pay to access an area (e.g. for a shortshopping stop).

• Public transit. Offering alternatives to driving thatcan significantly improve efficiency, notably if itcirculates on its own infrastructure (subway, lightrail, buses on reserved lanes, etc.) and is wellintegrated within a city’s development plans.However, public transit has its own set of issues.

• Non-motorized transportation. Since the greatmajority of urban trips are over short distances,non-motorized modes, particularly walking andcycling, have an important role to play in supportingurban mobility. The provision of adequateinfrastructure, such as sidewalks, is often a lowpriority as non-motorized transportation is oftenperceived as not modern in spite of the importantrole it needs to assume in urban areas.

• Carbon tax for commercial vehicles.

• Promotion of CNG & electric vehicles.

With the pace of growing urbanization, the cost effective,timely and better facilitated transport on electric basedis the need for the development of green cities. Thiscan be done through the better planning andimplementation of the schemes like AMRUT, smartcities.

Delhi’s Odd Even Formula: A Case Study

Delhi government’s much talked odd-even car policy’strial period of 15 days completed and it’s time to reviewthe impact of it.

What is the odd-even scheme?

• On 3 December, the Delhi High Court - afterobserving that the air pollution levels in the nationalcapital had reached “alarming” proportions and itwas akin to “living in a gas chamber” — had directedthe Centre and city government to presentcomprehensive action plans to combat it.

• A day later, the Delhi government announced thatit will restrict the amount of vehicles on the roadby allowing cars with odd and even number platesto run on roads only on respective odd and evendates.

• It was also announced that all private vehicles,even having registration numbers issued byneighbouring states, will have to follow the odd-even number formula. Emergency services andpublic transport will not be under the ambit of therestriction.

Other important features of the scheme includedthe following:

• The rule was to be applicable only between 8 amand 8 pm every day.

• Women drivers, CNG-certified vehicles, VIPs, two-wheelers, ambulances, defence vehicles andembassy vehicles were exempted from the rule.

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• Sundays were exempted from the rule.

• Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was asked to increaseits frequency and extend its timing.

• 200 check-points in the city were to be created tocheck pollution levels.

Concerns over the Policy:

There are two major concerns — one, exemption givento two-wheelers and second, to women. Two-wheelerscontribute to more than 30% of the total pollution causedby the vehicles. It should have also been covered underthe odd-even formula. And, should there be classdifferentiation? Majority of women use public transportin Delhi. Government shouldn’t have given exemptionto women and should have treated them at par.

Is It a Success?

• The number of cars will be halved on the road,this will free up a lot of space for the city’s publictransport to become more efficient. Studies showthat buses don’t even get to complete thescheduled trips. So when you’re freeing up space,all modes of public transport will function better -be it autos, taxis or buses. The overall systemefficiency to carry more people will improvedramatically. Analyzing real-time vehicle speed datafrom Uber, Delhi revealed that during the odd-evenprogramme, average speeds went up by astatistically significant 5.4 per cent (2.8 per centstandard deviation from normal). This is anespecially significant change given that radio taxidrivers are meant to stay within speed limits.

• While the odd-even policy reduced pollution duringits first two weeks in effect, there are reasons towonder about its ability to reduce pollution overthe longer run. A natural concern is that the odd-even policy could easily be gamed or otherwiseundermined. Further, Mexico City’s experience withthe implementation of a similar policy suggests, itcould even make pollution worse by encouraginghouseholds to purchase second cars that are oldand very polluting.

• A more durable effect on pollution might comefrom a congestion-pricing programme, in whichdrivers are charged for using the roads at certainplaces and times. This approach, which has beensuccessful in places like London and Singapore,allows cities to effectively reduce car use at periodsof peak congestion and pollution. The Delhigovernment should pilot the use of congestioncharging, and invest any income from the chargein high-quality, high-capacity public transport withzero local emissions — which would again help toreduce demand for driving, congestion, andpollution.

• Moreover it is not just vehicular pollution which isresponsible for overall pollution in Delhi, as

according to the IIT Kanpur study, only 20% ofPollution in Delhi is due to Vehicles. Road dust isthe most important source of pollution in Delhi.Other important sources include industries, use ofTandoor in Restaurant etc., Thus even if odd-evenrule is success it cannot have major impact onreducing pollution in Delhi until and unless, othersources of pollution are tackled.

3. Particulate Matter-1

• Particulate matter 1 is a super-fine polluting particle

that India has begun to measure for the first timeduring the odd-even policy

What are PM 1 particles?

• These are extremely fine particulate matter (PM)particles of diameter less than 1 micron —

significantly smaller than PM 2.5 (of diameter 2.5microns) that have been at the centre ofdiscussions on particulate matter in Delhi’s air.

• PM 10, PM 2.5 and PM 1 particles make up thetotal suspended particulate matter.

• These particles, byproducts of emissions fromfactories, vehicular pollution, construction activities

and road dust, are not dispersed, and staysuspended in the air that we breathe.

Why are PM 1 particles more harmful than PM 2.5or PM 10?

• The finer the particles, the more difficult they areto disperse — and the deeper they can penetrate

into the blood stream, causing more harm –

• PM 1, which are much finer than PM 2.5 and PM

10, can penetrate the cardiovascular stream evenfurther, and give rise to lasting conditions, suchas predisposing people to heart diseases. Studies

in the west have shown that PM 1 can lead topremature births and affect foetal development.

• As they are extremely fine so they may suspend

in air for longer duration & thus increasesvulnerability to children & patients.

Why is it in news?

• On December 15, 2015, instrumentation company

Nevco Engineers Pvt. Ltd. purchased from a NewZealand firm a new mobile air quality samplingmachine called Airqual. The machine, installed on

a mobile van, is supplying data to the Delhi PollutionControl Committee on six pollutants recognizedby the US Environmental Protection Agency as

vehicular pollutants that can impact human health.

• Since January 1. The van is on the move from 10

am to 7 pm, and will collect data from some 210locations spread over all 70 assembly

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constituencies until January 15. The government

may release the PM 1 data after the impact of theodd-even policy is assessed. The Central PollutionControl Board is yet to prescribe safe standards

for PM.

4. Pilot project: e-vehicles maysoon become the official ride ofthe government

• The government has decided to launch e-vehiclesas the official vehicles for government ministriesand departments. The Department of heavy industryhas decided to take this decision in collaborationwith the Ministry of Finance. This move is aimedat reducing vehicular emissions and pollution. Theproject will be launched on a pilot basis for all theCentral government ministries and departmentsalong with Central public sector units to procurenew electric vehicles for official purposes.

• The vehicles with range of 80-120 km per chargewould be suitable for the pilot project. Thedepartment has sought healthy response fromstates of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu andKashmir, and Arunachal Pradesh. This initiativewill be launched under the scheme called FAMEIndia—Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybridand Electric Vehicles in India which is a part ofthe National Electric Mobility Mission Plan andplans to provide Rs 795 crore in the first two fiscalyears beginning 2015-16.

Benefits of e-vehicles:

1. This will not only help in reducing pollution but willalso bring down the cost of fuel for the exchequer.

2. Electric motors are mechanically very simple andoften achieve 90% energy conversion efficiency.

3. They are energy efficient and will help to bringdown the energy needs in the longer run.

4. They are a better option in the present context ofrising pollution in cities. Launching such projectswill help to create awareness among people.

However, they can be used only for short range distanceand are not suitable for longer journey. This is a positivestep form the government to bring down the increasingvehicular pollution rate in the country. The success ofthe project can then be replicated at bigger level if itbrings desired results.

Electric vehicles:

An electric vehicle (EV), also referred to as an electricdrive vehicle, uses one or more electricmotors or traction motors for propulsion. An electricvehicle may be powered through a collector system byelectricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-contained with a battery or generator to convert fuel to

electricity. EVs include road and rail vehicles, surfaceand underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electricspacecraft. These are energy efficient and give thegreatest degree of energy resilience. They are helpfulin reducing air pollution and oil consumption.

5. Cetacean stranding

Cetacean stranding is a phenomenon in which cetaceansstrand themselves on land, usually on a beach. Beachedwhales often die due to dehydration, collapsing under

their own weight, or drowning when high tide coversthe blowhole.

Species susceptible to stranding: Whales, dolphinsand porpoises. Among them toothed whales, sperm

whale, pilot and killer whales, few beaked whale species,and oceanic dolphins are most susceptible to stranding.

Causes of Stranding:

Natural Reasons- it include rough weather, weaknessdue to old age or infection, difficulty giving birth, huntingtoo close to shore, or navigation errors.

Some standing may be caused by larger cetaceans

following dolphins and porpoises into shallow coastalwaters. The larger animals may habituate to followingfaster-moving dolphins. If they encounter an adverse

combination of tidal flow and seabed topography, thelarger species may become trapped.

Human-related issues including by catch, vesselcollisions and environmental degradation.

Natural and human-related factors can also interact to

cause stranding.

Noise from naval exercises and active sonar can causethe stranding.

How to deal with live stranded animals:

Successful refloating and release of some smallercetaceans is possible when conducted by trained

responders in the right conditions. The unnatural weightand pressure on an animal’s organs can cause severeinternal injury. 

Euthanasia can sometimes be the most humane

response, but this is also an extremely challengingtask. With small cetaceans, chemical euthanasia issimilar to standard veterinary euthanasia of companion

animals (cats and dogs) and can be done fairly easilyand very humanely. However, with larger cetaceans,the size of the animal necessitates large quantities of

euthanasia agent and a large, advanced system ofdelivery which cannot be deployed safely in surf or withan agitated whale.

Many countries have regional or national standings

networks which have trained staff to deal with stranding& try to return animal to the sea.

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6. Why are Winters Warm ThisYear?

• Average temperatures across the country, exceptin Jammu and Kashmir and some adjoining areas,are about 4 to 5 degrees above normal.

• THE El-Nino that has often been the bane of theIndian monsoon is also the reason for the unusuallywarm winter season this year.

·• Scientists say the prevailing El-Nino in the PacificOcean must be held responsible.

What is El-Niño? What are its effects on wintertemperature?

• El Nino refers to a condition in the equatorialPacific Ocean, off the coast of Ecuador and Peruin South America, in which sea surfacetemperatures become unusually warm. The warmerocean temperatures are the reason behind severalweather events worldwide, and are known tosuppress the Indian monsoon as well.

• It is not unusual to find winter temperature followingan El-Nino event to be slightly “milder” than normal.In 2009-2010 winter, which followed an El-Ninoevent, was also not very cold. “But the current ElNino has been very strong and prolonged. So itsimpact is being felt in a more forceful manner.

Other factors which are causing warm winters:

• There are also local, factors as well that arecontributing to the unusually high temperatures thiswinter. Primary amongst them is the lack of rain.

• In the last week of December, the country as awhole received rainfall that was 86 per cent belownormal. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, parts of AndhraPradesh, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir receivedsome rainfall but rest of the country wascompletely dry.

• Scientists blame the prevailing, unusual,atmospheric conditions for this. Rain at this time,at least in northern India, is brought by the‘westerlies, a system of wind that moves in themid-latitudes (30 to 60 degrees), in northernhemisphere from the west to east direction. Butthis year, they have remained north of their usualposition during this time and as such their zone ofinfluence has only been parts of Jammu andKashmir, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh where wehave seen a little bit of rain.

7. New Weather ForecastingTerminology

With an aim to make the interface more audience friendlyand fill the communication with civil administration, theIndia Meteorological Department (IMD) has changed

the languages and also redefined many of its terms.The use of more realistic and precise term would ensurebetter understand the terms used in weather forecasts. 

Classification of seasonal rainfall:

The recent modification has changed the classificationof seasonal rainfall. IMD has introduced six newcategories to replace the four old rainfall categories i.e,excess, normal, deficient and scanty. New categoriesare as follows:

• Large excess: 60 per cent and above.

• Excess: between 20 per cent and 59 per cent. 

• Normal: minus 19 per cent to plus 19 per cent; 

• Deficient: minus 20 per cent to minus 59 per cent.

• Large deficient: below 60 per cent No Rain: 0 percent.

Standardized key terms:

• Heat wave: When the temperature is greater than4.50° C above usual temperatures for the particularregion.  

• Severe heat wave: When the temperature greaterthan or equal to 470° C. 

• Cold wave: When the temperature is less than4.50° C above usual temperatures for the region. 

• Severe cold wave: When minimum temperatureis 20° C or lower.

About India Meteorological Department:

India Meteorological Department was established in1875. It is the National Meteorological service of thecountry and the principal government agency in allmatters relating to meteorology, seismology and alliedsubjects.

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Functions:

• To take meteorological observations and to providecurrent and forecast meteorological information foroptimum operation of weather-sensitive activitieslike agriculture, irrigation, shipping, aviation,offshore oil explorations, etc.

• To warn against severe weather phenomena liketropical cyclones, norwesters, dust storms, heavyrains and snow, cold and heat waves, etc., whichcause destruction of life and property.

• To provide meteorological statistics required foragriculture, water resource management, industries,oil exploration and other nation-building activities.

• To conduct and promote research in meteorologyand allied disciplines.

• To detect and locate earthquakes and to evaluateseismicity in different parts of the country fordevelopment projects.

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5. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

1. Hybrid Maize: An EmergingAlternative for Farmers

The average maize productivity is estimated to haverisen by 98 per cent between 1986 and 2014. This isalmost double the increase of about 50 per cent in theaverage yields of wheat and rice during the same period.

Around 65 per cent of the area under maize is nowused to cultivate hybrids, including various types ofspecialty produce such as sweet corn, popcorn, babycorn and protein-upgraded corn called quality proteinmaize (QPM).

Factors behind increased production & productivity:

• Technology-driven Factors:

Success in breeding good-quality maize (Enhance thequality of protein, raise its beta-carotene (vitamin A) ,High-yield, & Disease-tolerant hybrids with betteradaptability to weather induced stress.

• Expansion in crop area (new areas in statessuch as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Naduand Maharashtra)

• Good agronomic practices.

Maize has traditionally been grown as a rain-fed crop inthe kharif season. But attempts to grow it in the rabiand spring seasons have also proved successful inseveral areas, notably West Bengal, Bihar and the north-eastern states. In areas where winters ends early, rulingout wheat cultivation, or where rabi rice suffers due towater scarcity, maize is emerging as a potentialalternative.

Areas of Use: 23 per cent of its output is consumedas food.

Commercial use: Feed for poultry, livestock and fish,for producing starch, for producing Bio fuel & for breweryproducts.

Future Potential: Growing export market for Indianmaize especially in South East Asia. Availability ofspecialty corns, notably sweet corn and baby corn, hasopened up European markets for Indian maize

2. Li-Fi: a new avatar of Wi-Fi

Li-Fi, or light fidelity, is a wireless technology thatmakes use of visible light in place of radio waves totransmit data at terabits per second speeds—more than100 times the speed of Wi-Fi. It was invented by Germanphysicist and professor Harald Haas. Though it was

discovered in the last decade, proofs of concept to testcommercial utilization started emerging only in 2015.

To start with, it is being tested for indoor usage, i.e.,in offices and establishments, but it is also sure to gooutdoors in a big way by making use of existinginfrastructure used for street and traffic lights, whichare already moving towards LED lamps. Li-Fi offersgreat promise to overcome the existing limitations ofWi-Fi by providing for data-heavy communication inshort ranges. Since it does not pollute, it can be calleda green technology for device-to-device communicationin the Internet of Things (IoT).

How it works?

Li-Fi is a Visible Light Communications (VLC) systemwhich uses visible light instead of Wi-Fi which usesradio waves. This means that it accommodates a photo-detector to receive light signals and a signal processingelement to convert the data into ‘stream-able’ content.An all-IP (packetized) Li-Fi system utilizing existingLED lamps meet the 3L criteria: Low interference, Lowpower and Low maintenance and supports; 3H criteria:High data rates, High reliability and High affordability.

• Here, data is fed into an LED light bulb (withsignal processing technology), it then sends data(embedded in its beam) at rapid speeds to thephoto-detector (photodiode).

• The tiny changes in the rapid dimming of LEDbulbs are then converted by the ‘receiver’ intoelectrical signal.

• The signal is then converted back into a binarydata stream that the user would recognise as web,video and audio applications that run on internetenables devices.

• To make LED lamps capable of working as anaccess point as in Wi-Fi, a kind of media converteris required to convert the electrical data signalinto photons (light), and a light detector whichconverts light into electricity is required on thereceiving end device.

Advantages:

• Li-Fi could make a huge impact on the internet ofthings too, like data transferred at much higherlevels with even more devices able to connect toone another.

• Data-heavy communication in short ranges canbe done using Li-Fi which is one of the limitationsof Wi-Fi.

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• Li-Fi is more secure than Wi-Fi due to its shorterrange.

• Since it does not pollute, it can be called a greentechnology for device-to-device communication inthe Internet of Things (IoT).

• Li-Fi systems consume less power.

Limitations of Li-Fi:

• As visual light can’t pass through opaqueobjects and needs line of sight for communication,its range will remain very restricted to start with.So large number of LED bulbs need to be installedfor long range purposes.

• Li-Fi requires that the light bulb is on at alltimes to provide connectivity, for which lights willneed to be switched-on during the day.

• Li-Fi is likely to face interference from externallight sources, such as sunlight and bulbs, andobstructions in the path of transmission, and hencemay cause interruptions in communication.

• There will be high installation costs of visual lightcommunication systems as an add-on to lightingsystems.

Challenges:

• The main challenge is to create a Li-Fi ecosystem,which will need the conversion of existingSmartphone into Li-Fi enabled ones by the use ofa converter/adapter.

• Also, an integrated chip that has both light-to-electrical conversion and data-processing capability(Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) combined into one needs to bedeveloped and manufactured in the millions.

Applications:

• Li-Fi can be used in street and traffic lights. Trafficlights can communicate to the vehicles and witheach other. Vehicles having LED-based headlightsand tail lamps can communicate with each otherand prevent accidents by exchanging information.

• Visible light be used in places such aspetrochemical and nuclear plants and hospitalswhere radio waves can’t be used.

• They can also be used in aircraft, where most ofthe control communication is performed throughradio waves.

• Li-Fi can also easily work underwater, for militaryand navigational operations where Wi-Fi failscompletely.

• It also presents another unique possibility:transmitting power wirelessly, wherein theSmartphone will not only receive data through Li-Fi, but will also receive power to charge itself.

Challenges and opportunities for India:

The lack of ubiquitous broadband access, which therebyrestricts data access, and chaotic traffic managementleading to traffic jams and pollution are just two of themany problems in India. Li-Fi has scope to help withboth.

• By converting traffic lights into LED-based accesspoints, traffic management can be made intelligent,adaptive and real-time—and so, more efficient andeffective.

• In the same way, street lights can also beconverted into Li-Fi access points, making thembroadband access transmitters to mobile Li-Fienabled smartphones, converting areas intoseamless hot spots.

Conclusion:

If Li-Fi can be put into practical use, every LED lampcan be converted into something like a hotspot totransmit data to every mobile device to achieve universalbroadband communication between devices. Also, itpresents another unique possibility: transmitting powerwirelessly, wherein the Smartphone will not only receivedata through Li-Fi, but will also receive power to chargeitself. The two technologies of Wi-Fi and Li-Fi could beused complementarily to create more efficient, greenand future-proof access networks. This presents a rayof hope for the future generations as Li-Fi is greentechnology and will be considered sustainable forenvironment.

3. Indigenous Anti tank NagMissile

The indigenously-built third generation, Nag missile,successfully hit the target 4 km away during a nighttrial in the Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan.

About Nag Missile:

• Nag is a third generation “fire-and-forget” anti-tankmissile developed in India. It is one of five missilesystems developed by the Defence Research andDevelopment Organization (DRDO) underthe Integrated Guided Missile DevelopmentProgram (IGMDP).

• HeliNa is a helicopter-launched version of Nag.

Technology Used:

• The current version of the four-km range Nagmissile have the  ‘lock on before launch’ systemand an upgraded infra-red seeker which is a uniquecapability unmatched by any missile in this rangeworld over. The ‘lock on before launch’ lends asuperior tactical capability. The missile acquiresthe image of the target before launch and keepsupdating as it seeks and hits the target withprecision. The infra-red seeker capability isdeveloped by DRDO.

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• The Nag is claimed to be first anti-tank missilewhich has a complete fiberglass structure.

• NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier) is a tankdestroyer built for the army. It is equipped with athermal imager for target acquisition.

• During the test, the Thermal Target System (TTS)developed by a defence laboratory at Jodhpur wasused as target for the missile, which is in the finaluser configuration. TTS simulated a target similarto an operational tank as thermal mapping fromtank to TTS was carried out for generating thermalsignature.

• Final user trials would be conducted in differentconditions in summer and winter this year. UsingHEAT (High explosive anti-tank) warhead, the top-attack all-weather fire-and-forget system is capableof destroying modern tanks with armored protectionby nullifying their ERA (explosive reactive armor).

How would Indigenization of technology help?

As India is moving towards transformation from a regionalpower to a global power, the defence sector isincreasingly occupying even bigger space in thecountry’s long term strategic planning. Indigenization ofthe defense industry and acquiring advancedtechnologies would help to reduce dependence onimports from other countries around the world which inturn save hard currency & reduce the current accountdeficit. Defence sector is also envisaged as a keycomponent in Make in India programme & Indigenizationwould also create the employment opportunities alongentire value chain. In nitty-gritty, it would create a rippleeffect that the government is hoping to initiate in thissector.

4. India’s Grid linked Solar Gene-ration Capacity

India’s grid-connected solar power generation capacityhas crossed the 5,000 MW mark, with Rajasthan ontop with 1,264.35 MW capacity followed by Gujarat.

The Government has set the ambitious target ofgenerating 100 GW of solar power by the year 2021-22under the National Solar Mission. It is envisaged togenerate 60 GW ground mounted grid-connected solarpower and 40 GW through roof-top grid interactive solarpower to fulfil the 100 GW of solar power. The Ministryof New and Renewable Energy has also fixed year-wisetargets to monitor the solar power generation in thecountry. The target for the current year is 2,000 MWand next year target is 12,000 MW.

India’s Efforts in the Field to harness Solar Energy:

National Solar Mission:

• The National Solar Mission is a major initiative ofthe Government of India and State Governmentsto promote ecologically sustainable growth while

addressing India’s energy security challenge. Itwill also constitute a major contribution by India tothe global effort to meet the challenges of climatechange.

• The program was launched in 2010 with a targetof 20GW by 2022 which was later increased to100 GW in 2015. The target will principally compriseof 40 GW Rooftop and 60 GW through Large andMedium Scale Grid Connected Solar PowerProjects.

To facilitate such a massive target, the Prime Minister’sOffice has been pushing various Ministries to initiatesupporting interventions like:- 

a) Incorporating changes in land use regulations andtenancy laws to facilitate aggregation and leasingof land by farmers/ developers for solar projects; 

b) Identification of large chunks of land for solarprojects; 

c) Identification of large government complexes/buildings for rooftop projects; 

d) Clear survey of wastelands and identification oftransmission/ road infrastructure using satellitetechnology for locating solar parks; 

e) Development of power transmission network/GreenEnergy Corridor; 

f) Setting up of exclusive parks for domesticmanufacturing of solar PV modules; 

g) Provision of roof top solar and 10 percentrenewable energy as mandatory reform under thenew scheme of Ministry of Urban Development; 

h) Considering infrastructure status for solar projects;raising tax free solar bonds; providing long tenorloans; making roof top solar a part of housing loanby banks/ NHB and extending IIFCL credit facilityto such projects by the Department of FinancialServices; 

i) Suitable amendments to the Electricity Act forstrong enforcement of Renewable PurchaseObligation (RPO) and for providing RenewableGeneration Obligation (RGO); 

j) Incorporating measures in Integrated PowerDevelopment Scheme (IPDS) for encouragingdistribution companies and making net-meteringcompulsory. 

Importance and relevance of solar energy for India:

1. Cost: Solar is currently high on absolute costscompared to other sources of power such as coal.The objective of the Solar Mission is to createconditions, through rapid scale-up of capacity andtechnological innovation to drive down coststowards grid parity. The Mission anticipates

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achieving grid parity by 2022 and parity with coal-based thermal power by 2030, but recognizes thatthis cost trajectory will depend upon the scale ofglobal deployment and technology developmentand transfer. However there are a number of off-grid solar applications particularly for meeting ruralenergy needs, which are already cost-effective andprovides for their rapid expansion.

2. Scalability: India is endowed with vast solarenergy potential. About 5,000 trillion kWh per yearenergy is incident over India’s land area with mostparts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day. Henceboth technology routes for conversion of solarradiation into heat and electricity, namely, solarthermal and solar photovoltaic, can effectively beharnessed providing huge scalability for solar inIndia. Solar also provides the ability to generatepower on a distributed basis and enables rapidcapacity addition with short lead times. Off-griddecentralized and low-temperature applications willbe advantageous from a rural electrificationperspective and meeting other energy needs forpower and heating and cooling in both rural andurban areas.

The constraint on scalability will be the availabilityof space, since in all current applications, solarpower is space intensive. In addition, withouteffective storage, solar power is characterized bya high degree of variability. In India, this would beparticularly true in the monsoon season.

3. Environmental impact: Solar energy isenvironmentally friendly as it has zero emissionswhile generating electricity or heat.

4. Security of source: From an energy securityperspective, solar is the most secure of all sources,since it is abundantly available.

Theoretically, a small fraction of the total incidentsolar energy (if captured effectively) can meet theentire country’s power requirements. It is also clearthat given the large proportion of poor and energyun-served population in the country, every effortneeds to be made to exploit the relatively abundantsources of energy available to the country. While,today, domestic coal based power generation isthe cheapest electricity source, future scenariossuggest that this could well change. Already, facedwith crippling electricity shortages, price ofelectricity traded internally, touched Rs 7 per unitfor base loads and around Rs 8.50 per unit duringpeak periods. The situation will also change, asthe country moves towards imported coal to meetits energy demand. The price of power will have tofactor in the availability of coal in internationalmarkets and the cost of developing importinfrastructure. It is also evident that as the cost ofenvironmental degradation is factored into themining of coal, as it must, the price of this raw

material will increase. In the situation of energyshortages, the country is increasing the use ofdiesel-based electricity, which is both expensive –costs as high as Rs 15 per unit - and polluting. Itis in this situation the solar imperative is bothurgent and feasible to enable the country to meetlong-term energy needs

5. Technology Acquisition andDevelopment Fund

Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF)has been launched by the ministry of commerce andindustry under National Manufacturing Policy beingimplemented by Department of Industrial Policy &Promotion (DIPP). TADF is a new scheme to facilitateacquisition of Clean, Green & Energy EfficientTechnologies, in the form of Technology, CustomisedProducts, Specialised Services, Patents, IndustrialDesign available in the market of India or globally, byMicro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Background:

The Scheme is conceptualised to catalyse themanufacturing growth in MSME sector to contribute tothe national focus of “Make in India” and facilitateacquisition of clean & green technologies by micro,small and medium units across the sectors and thus,bridge the technological gap at an affordable cost.

Key Provisions:

Under the Scheme which would be implemented throughGlobal Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), ajoint venture company, support to MSME units isenvisaged by the following: 

I. Direct Support for TechnologyAcquisition: Proposals from Indian industry willbe invited for reimbursement of 50% of technologytransfer fee or Rs. 20 lakhs, whichever is lower. 

II. In-direct Support for Technology Acquisitionthrough Patent Pool: Financial support will beprovided in acquiring of technology/Patent fromacross the Globe based on applications receivedfrom MSMEs.

III. Technology/Equipment ManufacturingSubsidies: The fund will support, via subsidies,manufacturing of equipment, machines, devicesfor controlling pollution, reducing energyconsumption and water conservation.

IV. Green Manufacturing–Incentive Scheme: Thescheme will facilitate resource conservationactivities in industries located in NIMZ through theintroduction of incentive/subsidy schemes forenergy/ environmental/ water audits, constructionof green buildings, implementation of wastetreatment facilities and implementation ofrenewable energy projects through financial supportunder the TADF.

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6. World’s Most Powerful SuperComputers(PRE)

China’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer has maintained itsposition as the world’s most powerful system for thesixth consecutive time, according to a biannual Top500list of supercomputers.

• Tianhe-2 or Milky Way 2, with a performance of33.86 petaflops per second (Pflop/s), wasdeveloped by China’s National University ofDefence Technology and deployed at the NationalSupercomputer Center in Guangzhou. China is

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carving out a bigger share as a manufacturer ofhigh performance computers with multiple Chinesemanufacturers becoming more active in this field.

• The Chinese system is almost twice as fast asthe next on the list, Titan of the US Department ofEnergy, which has a performance of 17.59 Pflop/s.

• Still, the U.S. aims to eventually lead the world insupercomputingAdditionally, President Obamasigned an executive order in July calling for theU.S. to create the world’s most powerfulsupercomputer under the National StrategicComputing Initiative.

World’s Top 5 Supercomputers:

Rank Rmax/Rpeak(PFlop/s) Name Vendor Site country, Year

1. 33.863/54.902 Tianhe-2 NUDT National Supercomputing Center in Guangzhou, China,2013

2. 17.590/27.113 Titan Cray Inc Oak Ridge National Laboratory  United States, 2012

3. 17.173/20.133 Sequoia IBM Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States,2013

4. 10.510/11.280 K computer Fujitsu RIKEN,  Japan, 2011

5. 8.586/10.066 Mira IBM Argonne National Laboratory,  United States, 2013

India’s Top 5 Supercomputers:

Rank Site Name Rmax Rpeak(TFlop/s) (TFlop/s)

96 Indian Institute of Science SahasraT (SERC - Cray XC40) 901.5 1244.2

119 Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Aaditya (iDataPlex DX360M4) 719.2 790.7

145 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research TIFR - Cray XC30 558.8 730.7

166 Indian Institute of Technology Delhi HP Apollo 6000 Xl230/250 524.4 1,170.1

251 Centre for Development of PARAM Yuva - II 388.4 520.4Advanced Computing

7. Discovery of Element 113

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistrycertified that a team led by Kosuke Morita at government-affiliated research institute Riken ( Japan) discovered theelement 113. It is the first group in Asia to have itsaccomplishments enshrined in the periodic table.

How Element is synthesized:

Elements past uranium, No. 92 in the periodic table, donot occur in nature and thus must be created in thelaboratory. The Japanese team synthesized element 113by bringing ions of zinc — No. 30 — to around 10% thespeed of light and smashing them into atoms of bismuth,

element 83. That high speed is required to fuse the twoatomic nuclei. But using too much force simply makesthe atoms break apart and scatter. The speed and pathof the particles must be very carefully controlled — anextremely difficult feat requiring cutting-edge technology.

Unstable heavy elements like 113 also break apart intolighter particles almost as soon as they come intoexistence. The new element typically decays in twothousandths of a second. So extraordinarily sensitivetechnology is required to detect a success amid all theother matter present.

The name Japonium has been floated for No. 113. Anofficial name could be decided on in 2016.

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MISCELLANEOUS

1. Lodha committee on Cricket

With an emphasis on ensuring players’ independenceand providing for fixed tenure of office-bearers followedby a cooling-off period, the Supreme Court-mandatedCommittee headed by former Chief Justice of India RMLodha which came in the aftermath of the IPL scandalhas proposed extensive measures to revamp thefunctioning of the Board for Control of Cricket in India(BCCI). The committee was set up by the SupremeCourt to recommend reforms in the Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI).

Important recommendations made by the committee:

• Constitute one cricket body for each state: Oneassociation of each state will be a full memberand have right to vote. One unit should representone state.

• CEO-run organisation: Committee suggested therestructuring of the BCCI’s administrative set-up,proposing the position of a CEO accountable to anine-member apex council. An apex council forthe BCCI comprising 9 members, of which 5 shouldbe elected, 2 should be representatives of playersassociation, and one woman. CEO to be assistedby 6 professional managers and the team of CEOand managers will be accountable to the apexcouncil. And the president’s powers have also beencurbed: he no longer has an additional vote atmeetings, nor does he have a say in teamselection.

• Under RTI: To ensure transparency in itsfunctioning, the panel had said that it is importantto bring the body under the purview of the Rightto Information Act.

• Ethics officer: The committee recommended theinstitution of the office of an Ethics Officer, whowould be responsible for resolving issues relatedto the conflict of interest. Ethics officer would bea former High Court judge.

• Electoral officer: The committee had alsosuggested the appointment of an Electoral Officerto conduct the Board elections. The electoral officerwould oversee the entire election process relatingto the office-bearers namely, preparation of voterslist, publication, dispute about eligibility of theoffice-bearers.

• Ombudsman: It had also proposed anOmbudsman for dealing with internal conflicts.Ombudsman can take cognizance of complaintssuo-moto, or received complaint or referred

complaint by the apex council. It also suggestedthat a person cannot be a BCCI office-bearer anda state association office-bearer at the same time.

Aims it seeks to achieve:

• Governance: Restructuring governance to bring inaccountability, collective participation will ensurea well future of sports. Fixed tenure, age limit, anapex council, inclusion of professional managers,equal representation of all state bodies fordecentralisation and division of powers are goodsteps in this direction.

• Transparency: Bringing in BCCI under the ambitof RTI shall usher transparency, citizenparticipation and uphold the trust of thestakeholders. Disclosure of assets of office-bearers, Inclusion of players in apex council furtherenhances accountability.

• Check Conflict of Interest: Exclusion of ministers,government servants will address the roots of themalice. Separation of BCCI, IPL governing bodiesand players-only selection, coaching, evaluationavenues is a game-changer.

Analysis:

• Legalizing betting has the potential to unearth blackmoney, under-world links with sports. The bettingindustry entering mainstream economy will bringin huge tax revenues. Recommendation for ethicsofficer will make sure that ethical values are notcompromised even in the area of sports.Recommendation for women players committee isa way to ensure equality in sports. Segregation ofBCCI and IPL will ensure that players are not onlylured by money but can promote the very spirit ofcricket. The public trust, ethical conduct and wellbeing of the sports should be kept uphold byreplicating the above model as a template forvarious sports bodies.

• However keeping away politicians and personsafter 70 years from cricket is questionable as manypoliticians are actively engaged in reforms of sportsand age is just a number as goals can be achievedeven after 70 years. Further it is difficult to ensurethat involvement of only players will lead to nocorruption and transparency. Moreover, suggestionfor bringing under RTI may be void as BCCI isregistered under Tamil Nadu Societies RegistrationAct, so recommendations are not binding to beimplemented. Thus it is expected from SC andParliament to take the reformative measures forthe Committee to make the sport accountable asCricket is religion in India.

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