Weekly 08 to 14 April 2013 for

08TH APRIL 2013 TO 14TH APRIL, 2013

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WEEKLY CURRENTAFFAIRS BULLETIN

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[ 2 ] Weekly Current Affairs 08th April to 14th April, 2013

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Current Affairs Notes for IAS PT 2013

UPSC: The central recruiting agency in India, nowadays emphasizing more on applicable part ofknowledge. GS syllabus has undergone an overhaul from the past few years and requiresmultidimensional approach to handle this. The paper concentrates more on concepts related togeneral awareness i.e. what we see around us.

Its recruiting pattern wants an IAS aspirant to have grip on socio-economic problem-solving-skills; applicable knowledge of science; ability to logically analyse the situations and interpretthe outcomes accordingly.

Thus CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY is launching a comprehensive material which includes:Important Bills; Committees; Reports; Current affairs of the past one year.

This will provide a "trustworthy and time saving guide" for all IAS aspirants preparing forPrelims.

Topics Covered :-

1. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION SUMMITS

2. Bills in Parliament

3. Biotechnology-1

4. Constitutional news

5. Environmental news

6. Health News

7. Important Reports 2012-13

8. INDIA - HDR 2011

9. International News

10. Science and Technology

11. Prelims Special Part-1

12. Prelims Special Part-2

13. Prelims special Part- 3

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Current Affairs Notes for PT 2013 for Weekly E-Magazine Subscriber (Printed) ........... 2000.00Current Affairs Notes for PT 2013 (Printed) ............................................................................ 2500.00

Weekly Current Affairs 08th April to 14th April, 2013 [3]

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Programme Assistance:

Email id:[email protected] Assistance : Sushil SinghEmail id: [email protected]: 9582948810, 9953007628Mail: [email protected]

productivity, Microirrigation, Urbanization,Government Initiatives......

Indian Economy Basics, Planning & Trade1. Industry Services, Agriculture, Energy.....2. Balance of Payments. Foreign Direct Investment.......3. Growth, Development and Other Issues.........4. Poverty Estimates, Impact of Poverty........5. Exchange rate. Role of RBI.....6. Nature of Planning - Five Year Plan, Planning after

1991 (LPG), Inflation.....

Governance and Contemporary PoliticalDevelopments: Development Politics, Political andAdministrative Institutions, Good Governance, InternalSecurity....

SECTIONAL TESTS(PAPER I & II)

1. Ecology and environment2. Comprehension3. Polity and Governance4. English Language Comprehension + Logical

Reasoning5. Geography6. Decision Making and Problem Solving7. General Science and Science and Technology8. Mental Ability, Basic Numeracy, Data

Interpretation and Data Sufficiency9. History10. Indian Economy

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including Industrial Parks and Special Economic zones,Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Infrastructure....

7. Resources: Water Resources, Forest Resources, LandResources, Energy Resources, Minerals, ResourceManagement.....

Demography : Population Composition, Density, Literacy,Sex Ratio...

Environmental Problems & Global EnvironmentalGovernance : Deforestation, Pollution: Air, Water, Land,Noise, Desertification, Biodiversity Depletion, GlobalWarming, SD.......

Human Development, Social Sector Initiatives andProgrammes & Policies1. Concept of Human Development, Development

vs. Growth, Human Development Index, MPI,Innovation.....

2. Social Inclusion, Child Welfare, Women Welfare....

Agriculture, Urbanisation, Health : Agriculture andGDP, Agricultural Regionalization, Production and

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NATIONAL••••• GoM curbs system of 'inviolate' mining areas

A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed byagriculture minister Sharad Pawar has restricted theenvironment ministry from executing the system of'inviolate' mining areas. The proposed inviolatemechanism would deal a blow to the country'spower, steel and cement plants, which are stillreeling under the impact of the earlier system of'go', 'no-go' zones imposed by Natarajan'spredecessor Jairam Ramesh, which had renderedabout 660 million tonne of coal reserves unmineable.

The necessity of propelling economic growth at8 per cent has emerged as a pressing concern forthe UPA government, thus it is fast tracking thepassage of infrastructure projects.

This is seen as a setback for environmentminister Jayanthi Natarajan's efforts to secure herministry's control on implementing stricter greennorms.

Wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves, nationalparks - as well as a buffer zone of one km aroundsuch protected areas - compact patches of very denseforest, the last remnant of a forest type and forestsvery near perennial rivers will all be automaticallyplaced within the inviolate zone. Further there willbe six measurable parameters for identification ofinviolate areas - forest type, biological richness,wildlife value, forest cover, landscape integrity andhydrological value. All parameters will be scoredon a 0-100 scale. The inter-ministerial panel observedthat the scientific basis of such parameters need tobe analysed further before taking a decision.

Thus until finalisation of new norms, the existingframework will continue.

••••• India taking new steps to get WHO's polioeradication certificate

Having successfully completed two polio-freeyears, India is preparing to receive the crucial polioeradication certificate from the World HealthOrganisation (WHO). The certificate is issued oncompletion of incident-free three years. Thisprimarily involves the destruction or safe storage ofall laboratory sources of wild poliovirus. The storage

should be in laboratories that meet internationalstandards of biosafety.

To achieve this, the Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare has set up a National Task Force forContainment of Wild Poliovirus. Chaired by theDirector-General of the Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR), it will identify laboratories thatcould store wild poliovirus or potentially infectiousmaterial.

Wild poliovirus could be present in certain typesof clinical samples stored at or below minus 20degrees Celsius. These could have been collectedfor investigations not related to wild poliovirusdetections. There are several medical colleges/universities, colleges and research institutions thatwork on infectious material and, therefore, haveclinical samples collected over several decades.Information from these institutions will be collectedand compiled for preparing a national inventory.

The process has to be completed by Decemberand failure to do so will delay the certificationprocess. A pre-tested form has been sent to alllaboratories and institutions to elicit information onwild poliovirus.

The WHO's Global Action Plan for containmentof wild polioviruses advises that when polio casesare decreasing, national health authorities must alertlaboratories, encourage destruction of all unneededwild poliovirus material and compile an inventoryof all laboratories retaining such materials.

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectiousviral disease, which mainly affects youngchildren. The virus is transmitted throughcontaminated food and water, and multiplies inthe intestine, from where it can invade thenervous system. Many infected people have nosymptoms, but do excrete the virus in theirfaeces, hence transmitting infection to others.

Initial symptoms of polio include fever,fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck,and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion ofcases, the disease causes paralysis, which is oftenpermanent. Polio can only be prevented byimmunization.


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••••• India's vaccine regulatory system meetsinternational standards: WHO

India is a major vaccine producer that has 12major vaccine manufacturing facilities. Thesevaccines are used for the national and internationalmarket (150 countries), which makes India a majorvaccine supplier across the globe. More than 70%of all measles vaccines used globally are producedin India.

Recently a WHO-led team of internationalexperts from eight countries has granted clean chitto the National Regulatory Authority of India (NRA)and affiliated institutions as they meet WHOpublished indicators for a functional vaccineregulatory system.

One of the requirements to become eligible andretaining the prequalification status is to have aNational Regulatory Authority (NRA) assessed asfunctional against the WHO published NRAindicators. The regulatory functions of the IndianNRA (Central Drugs Standards ControlOrganization) and its affiliated institutions wereassessed for compliance against the revised WHONRA indicators endorsed by the internationalconsultation of experts in 2011. In addition to thegeneral framework for the system, the followingregulatory functions were evaluated: marketingauthorization and licensing; post-marketingsurveillance, including for adverse events followingimmunization; lot release by the national regulatoryauthority; laboratory access; regulatory inspectionsof manufacturing sites and distribution channels; andauthorization and monitoring of clinical trials.

With a regulatory system for vaccines assessedas functional by WHO, vaccine manufacturers inIndia continue to remain eligible to apply forprequalification of specific products. WHOprequalification, which is a guarantee that a specificvaccine meets international standards of quality,safety and efficacy, is a prerequisite formanufacturers to supply to countries through UnitedNations procuring agencies.

WHO had scaled up its technical support to theIndian NRA over the past several months in thecontext of this assessment. This status will help inre-affirming the joint mutual strategic priorityunder the WHO's new Country CooperationStrategy with India (2012-17), of supporting animproved role of India in global health, includingstrengthening the pharmaceutical sector and drugregulatory capacity.

The Government of India has undertakencommitted efforts to ensure that the regulatoryoversight of the NRA for vaccines continues to meetinternational standards. It has decided to furtherstrengthen the Central as well as the State DrugsRegulatory Systems during the 12th Five Year Plan(2012-17).

••••• India leads the world in dengue burden

Dengue, the world's most rapidly spreadingmosquito-borne viral disease, is taking a far biggerhuman toll than was believed. As many as 390million people across the globe could be fallingvictim to the virus each year. According to the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO), incidence of denguehas shot up 30 fold in the past 50 years. Its estimatehas been that globally there were 50-100 milliondengue infections taking place annually.

A map-based approach to model how manydengue cases were occurring in various parts of theworld has been used to capture its globaldistribution.

According to the report worldwide, 96 millionpeople suffered each year from 'apparent infections'where the disease was severe enough to disrupt anindividual's regular routine. In addition, there were294 million asymptomatic infections. With "largeswathes of densely populated regions coincidingwith very high suitability for disease transmission,"Asia bore 70 per cent of the apparent infections thattook place. Africa contributed about 16 per cent ofthe global dengue infections and the Americas 14per cent.

India emerges in the analysis as the country withthe world's highest dengue burden, with about 34per cent of all such cases occurring here.

••••• World Bank to support seven low-incomeStates

The new World Bank Group strategy for Indiashifts support significantly to low-income states,where most of the poor live, and is the institution'sfirst country strategy to set specific goals on reducingpoverty and increasing prosperity.

The World Bank proposes a lending programmeof $3 billion-5 billion every year over the next fouryears. The Bank's objective is to bring down povertylevels in the seven low-income States to just 5.5 percent in 2030 from 29.8 per cent in 2010. The Statesidentified for the focused support are Bihar,Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.


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According to a World Bank, 60 per cent of thefinancing will go to State government-backedprojects and 30 per cent will go to low-income orspecial category States where public services facehigh delivery costs. Under the Bank's previoussupport strategy plan, 18 per cent of its lending wentto these States.

In the next five years the strategy will focus onthree key areas: integration, transformation, andinclusion. A common theme across these areas willbe improved governance, environmentalsustainability, and gender equality.

a) Integration - The focus will be on improvinginfrastructure needs both through public andprivate investments. Reforms are needed in thepower sector to rationalize energy pricing andimprove the capacity and reliability of thegeneration, transmission and distributionsystem. A vibrant manufacturing sector -especially small and medium size enterprises -require reforming labor laws, and improvingaccess to land and finance. Better integrationwould result in more-balanced growth amongIndian states, helping low-income statesconverge more quickly with their faster-growingneighbors.

b) Transformation - By 2031, it is projected that600 million people will live in India's cities. TheWorld Bank Group's engagement on the rural-urban transformation and particularly onurbanization is expected to intensify over thestrategy period and beyond and represents asignificant shift in the World Bank Group'sstrategy. It will focus on supporting the effortsof national, state, and city governments toimprove the management and livability ofmedium-sized cities.

c) Inclusion - Economic integration and rural-urban transformation can benefit a large shareof India's population only if there is a strongerfocus on human development and on policiesthat help make growth inclusive. India's weakhealth care system and poor nutritionaloutcomes undermine its competitiveness. TheWorld Bank Group will support the nationalgovernment and states in strengthening thenutrition policy as well as systems and capacitiesto improve nutrition. It will support governmentefforts to improve education mainly at thesecondary and tertiary levels, with a morepronounced focus on quality. It will also work

to improve access to finance and to enhancesocial protection coverage for more than 90% ofthe labor force, which currently works in theinformal sector.

••••• Centre formed new action plan to developnaxal-affected areas

Integrated Action Plan was formulated as anadditional central assistance scheme on 100% grantbasis in November 2010. The funds were to beplaced at the disposal of the Committee headed bythe District Collector and consisting of theSuperintendent of Police of the district and theDistrict Forest Officer. The Committee drawn up aPlan consisting of concrete proposals for publicinfrastructure and services such as School Buildings,Anganwadi Centres, Primary Health Centres,Drinking Water Supply, Village Roads, ElectricLights in public places such as PHCs and Schoolsetc. The concerned Development Commissioner/equivalent officer in charge of development in theState shall be responsible for scrutiny of expenditureand monitoring of IAP.

Concerned over the extreme left groups'penetration into tribal territories and their ability towin over the hearts and minds of people deprived ofbasic necessities of life, the government has drawn-up a nine point action plan to deal with a host ofdevelopment challenges. The action plan is anoutcome of series of meeting of a specially constitutedReview Group of LWE (Left-Wing Extremism) underthe aegis of the Cabinet Secretariat.

According to the Planning CommissionSecretary, there was no incentive in IAP to motivatethe machinery to reduce the incidence of left-wingextremism and hence it was felt that there was aneed to advance from the ad hoc criteria of selectingdistricts to a more outcome oriented criterion. Takingnote of the gap and requirement of large residentialschools, the Director of School Education and theMinistry of Tribal Affairs are looking to establishsuch institutions with a minimum of 1000-2000students in the LWE areas.

The government had also decided to expeditethe "recognition of forest rights," as well as reviewthe definition of backward districts under theIntegrated Action Plan/Backward Region GrantFund (BRGF) as part of the action plan.

To improve the communication infrastructureBharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will install2199 low cost mobile towers in those areas. TheTelecom Commission is also exploring energyefficient alternate fuels such as solar energy.


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��

A special window, too, has been introducedunder the Forest Conservation Act to expedite thelaying of transmission lines under the Rajiv GandhiGramin Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY). The Ministryof Environment and Forests has given a notificationto cover all the 82 IAP districts granting generalapproval under the Forest Conservation Act fordiversion of forest land up to 5 acres.

The Ministry of Power will review pendingworks in 1776 villages to ascertain the ones which

can be "cleared with the issuance of the newnotification." The Mobile Health Units will addressthe LWE districts "endemically affected" by malaria.Additionally, an increase in Mobile Health Units islikely to be introduced in the 12th Plan.

To address the absence of post offices and banksin the LWE affected areas, there has been "a proposalto open post offices in 12898 gram panchayats in 82identified LWE affected districts."


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••••• Asian Development Outlook 2013: ADB

The Manila-based lender's 2013 AsianDevelopment Outlook revealed that Economicgrowth in developing Asia is picking up,underpinned by China's rebound and strength incountries such as Indonesia, but political disputespose an increased threat to growth. Political disputesare "calling into question the ability of authoritiesto find compromise solutions to nagging fiscalproblems in the US, deepening austerity fatigue inthe euro area and simmering border disputes inAsia." Over the past year, several Asia nations havebeen roiled by territorial disputes, including a high-profile row between China and Japan over disputedislands in the East China Sea.

Further the report stated that developing Asia,which includes giant emerging economies such asChina, India and Indonesia, will expand 6.6 percentthis year, unchanged from its previous forecast inDecember. Growth is forecast to inch higher to 6.7percent in 2014. The region grew 6.1 percent in 2012.

Developing Asia includes 45 developing ornewly industrialized countries in Asia and thePacific but excludes Japan.

The ADB also stated that inflation would tickhigher but would be kept in check, with consumerprices rising by 4 percent this year and 4.2 percentin 2014, up from 3.7 percent in 2012. The reportwarned policymakers to keep an eye on rising pricesbecause as growing factory output eliminates slackin production capacity, "loose monetary policy risksreigniting inflation."

China's economy, the world's second biggest,will expand 8.2 percent this year after growing 7.8percent in 2012, driven by strong domesticconsumption and investment. The forecasts are both0.1 percentage point higher than the ADB'sDecember prediction. China is rebounding from itsdeepest slump since the 2008 global crisis thoughanalysts warn recovery will be shaky. China's growthrate will ease to 8 percent in 2014 as authorities bringin policies aimed at reducing pollution and reducingthe gap between rich and poor.

INTERNATIONALThe report also stated that Southeast Asia will

maintain its growth rate as robust privateconsumption and investment outweigh softerdemand for exports. Indonesia will expand about6.5 percent in each of the next two years while thePhilippines will grow about 6 percent.

India, the region's other giant, will expand 6percent this year and 6.5 percent next year butwarned that the country risks being held back bystructural and policy issues that hamper investment.The slowing growth has been paired withpersistently high inflation. High prices, especiallyfor food, limit the central bank's scope to reduceinterest rates, although the Reserve Bank of Indialast month made its second cut this year to a keylending rate.

In contrast, the developed economies of the US,Japan and the 17 nations the use the euro will ekeout a 1 percent expansion this year, rising to 1.9percent in 2014.

The ADB also warned that Asia needs to secureenough clean and cheap energy to support long-term growth. With developing Asia's share of globalenergy use forecast to grow from barely a third in2010 to more than half by 2035, the region, whichhas plenty of coal but relatively little oil and naturalgas, may be hard pressed to meet its demands.

••••• Land desertification and drought causesbillions of losses: UN

Some 600 scientists, government officials andrepresentatives of civil society organizations aregathered in Bonn to carry out the first evercomprehensive cost-benefit analysis ofdesertification, land degradation and drought.

The study titled, 'The Economics ofDesertification, Land Degradation and Drought:Methodologies and Analysis for Decision-Making,has revealed that loss of land through desertificationand drought costs up to five percent of worldagricultural gross domestic product (AGDP), or some$450 billion (340 billion euros), every year.

The report - the first economic evaluation of itskind in over twenty years - shows that up to 12 per


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cent of Africa's agricultural GDP is being lost due toenvironmental degradation while the levels inindividual countries vary widely, from six per centin Paraguay to 24 per cent in Guatemala.

The social costs of land degradation are evenmore staggering with nearly 870 million peoplesuffering from chronic hunger globally. The UNagency reports that in Uzbekistan, food yields havedeclined by 20 to 30 per cent while in East Africanearly 3.7 million people still require food assistancefollowing the drought of 2011.

The report, which looks at the costs and benefitsof addressing desertification, land degradation anddrought, finds that the existing scientific researchmostly focuses on the direct economic costs of thesephenomena, but overlooks the unintendedconsequences, including indirect and off-site costs.

Scientific understanding of all land degradationand drought is need to be strengthened especiallyin the context of the changing climate.

The last such economic valuation ofdesertification was made in 1992 by UNEP. At thattime, the direct cost was estimated at USD42 billionevery year.

••••• Luxembourg to ease bank secrecy norms from2015

Last month's 10bn euro (£8.5bn) bailout ofCyprus, whose banking system was swollen byforeign deposits attracted by low taxes and easyregulation, has put the spotlight on tax havens.

Austria and Luxembourg are the only EuropeanUnion states that do not share with other EUmembers the identities of EU residents with cross-border bank accounts.

Thus faced with growing international pressureover tax evasion, Luxembourg confirmed toimplement rules on the automatic exchange of bankaccount information with its EU partners from 2015.

Luxembourg is reviewing the current systemwhich levies a withholding tax on the interest earnedon bank saving accounts. While the withholding tax,levied at 35 percent, was "a most effective instrumentto ensure tax compliance and guarantee dataprotection," the government had to adapt to the times.

But now it would report "all interest paymentsmade" to individuals resident in another EU memberstate so as to ensure they paid the proper tax duethere. Significantly, the statement did not mentionother accounts such as for life insurance or property

investment -- major parts of the Luxembourgfinancial sector -- which are also supposed to becovered from 2015. In addition, the exchange ofinformation will be based strictly on the EU's 2003directive on savings accounts.

Further there would also be no change forresidents in Luxembourg, who pay a 10-percentwithholding tax and who will enjoy bank secrecy asit exists today.

Accounts held by US citizens or residents willbe covered by a separate agreement withWashington. The US Foreign Account TaxCompliance Act (FATCA) passed in 2010 requiresUS depositors to declare their overseas accounts andforeign financial institutions to report on the balanceand activities of its US account-holders to Americantax authorities.

Britain France, Germany, Italy and Spain alsoagreed to work on setting up a multilateral exchangefacility modelled on FATCA which "will not onlyhelp in catching and deterring tax evaders but itwill also provide a template as to the widermultilateral agreement we hope to see in due course."

••••• G8 inks historic agreement against rape in warzones

Foreign Ministers of the world's eight mostadvanced countries (G8) adopted a declarationcommitting the international community to tacklesexual violence in conflict zones. G8 members haveannounced a new fund which amounts to nearly$35.5 million or £23 million.

It includes over £10 million from the UnitedKingdom: £5million from the Foreign andCommonwealth Office to support grassroots andhuman rights projects on sexual violence againstwomen and girls and wider projects on violenceagainst women and girls. The other £5million is fromthe Department for International Development, tolook at what drives violence against women andgirls in conflict settings.

Finally, the Declaration emphasises thatprotection efforts against sexual violence should beincluded in the first phase of all responses to conflictand humanitarian emergencies. And it includes vitalcommitments on women and children's rights, theprotection of women human rights defenders, andthe need for a comprehensive approach to health,psychological, legal and economic support forsurvivors of sexual violence.

[ 1 0 ] Weekly Current Affairs 08th April to 14th April, 2013

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••••• UN launched new plans to save children frompneumonia, diarrhoea

Pneumonia and diarrhoea account for 23 and 12per cent of deaths respectively in children belowthe age of five in India. They remain major killers ofyoung children globally too, accounting for 29 percent of all child deaths - a loss of 2 million lives -each year. Children are dying because services arebeing provided piecemeal and those at the highestrisk are not being reached. Use of effectiveinterventions is too low - for instance, only 39 percent of infants are exclusively breast-fed, while only60 per cent of children with suspected pneumoniaare able to access appropriate care. Moreover,children are not receiving life-saving treatment - only31 per cent of children with suspected pneumoniareceive antibiotics and only 35 per cent of those withdiarrhoea receive oral rehydration therapy.

Thus the United Nations has launched a globalplan to combat two of the leading killers of childrenunder five, potentially saving two million youngsterseach year who would otherwise die from pneumoniaand diarrhoea in low- and middle-income countries.

The GAPPD aims to provide a framework bywhich to protect children, prevent diseases andenable treatment using proven interventions. It callson national governments to prioritise the fightagainst pneumonia and diarrhoea and is designedto inform country policies and practices.

The achievable goals set by the GAPPD for 2025are: to reduce mortality from pneumonia in childrenless than 5 years of age to fewer than 3 per 1,000live births; reduce mortality from diarrhoea inchildren less than 5 years of age to fewer than 1 per1,000 live births; and reduce the incidence of severepneumonia by 75 per cent in children less than 5years of age compared to 2010 levels.

It also seeks to reduce the incidence of severediarrhoea by 75 per cent in children less than 5 yearsof age, compared to 2010 levels, and bring down, by40 per cent, the global number of children under 5years of age who are stunted, compared to 2010 levels.

To achieve these targets, full immunisationcoverage will need to be reached by the end of 2025,with 90 per cent of full-dose coverage of eachrelevant vaccine, 90-per-cent access to appropriatepneumonia and diarrhoea case management and atleast 50-per-cent coverage of exclusive breastfeedingduring the first 6 months of life.

By the end of 2030, there must be universal accessto basic drinking-water in healthcare facilities andhomes; universal access to adequate sanitation inhealthcare facilities by 2030 and in homes by 2040.

The MDGs, adopted at the UN MillenniumSummit in 2000, also seek to slash a host of social ills,including global poverty and hunger, disease, andlack of access to health and education, all by 2015.

••••• Serbia rejects E.U. brokered Kosovo deal

Serbia has rejected a European Union-brokereddeal on normalising ties with its breakaway provinceof Kosovo. The government of Serbia stated that itcannot accept principles verbally presented to itsnegotiating team in Brussels, since they do notguarantee full security and protection of humanrights to the Serb people in Kosovo.

Kosovo had unilaterally declared independencein 2008. While many countries recognise it as anindependent country, Serbia does not.

The EU had given ultimatum to Serbia torelinquish its effective control over northern Kosovoin return for the start of EU membership talks. TheMembership talks would mark a major milestone inSerbia's recovery from a decade of war and isolationunder late strongman Slobodan Milosevic andprovide a much-needed boost for its ailing economy,still the biggest in the former Yugoslavia.

••••• Australia, China push defence ties

Australia and China have agreed to considerablyexpand defence ties following the visit of PrimeMinister Julia Gillard to Beijing, which also saw bothcountries elevate their relationship to a "strategicpartnership" - a level of engagement Australia shareswith few countries, including India and Indonesia.

Australia proposed holding three-way defenceexercises with the United States and China.

Both countries has signed a landmark agreementto directly trade in their currencies - China hassimilar arrangements only with the U.S. and Japan- and agreed $3 billion worth of investment deals,which are set to further boost the sizeable $120 billionbilateral trade that has propelled resource-hungryChina to become Australia's biggest trading partner.

••••• Gun control bill clears in Senate

Congress' gun-control effort has cleared its firsthurdle as the Senate pushed past conservatives'attempted blockade.


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Proposed Congressional Actions

a) Requiring criminal background checks for allgun sales, including those by private sellers thatcurrently are exempt.

b) Reinstating and strengthening the ban on assaultweapons that was in place from 1994 to 2004.

c) Limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.d) Banning the possession of armor-piercing bullets

by anyone other than members of the militaryand law enforcement.

e) Increasing criminal penalties for "strawpurchasers," people who pass the requiredbackground check to buy a gun on behalf ofsomeone else.

f) Acting on a $4 billion administration proposalto help keep 15,000 police officers on the street.

g) Financing programs to train more police officers,first responders and school officials on how torespond to active armed attacks.

h) Provide additional $20 million to help expandthe a system that tracks violent deaths acrossthe nation from 18 states to 50 states.

i) Providing $30 million in grants to states to helpschools develop emergency response plans.

j) Providing financing to expand mental healthprograms for young people.

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••••• WTO cuts 2013 trade growth forecast

The World Trade Organization has slashed itsforecast for trade growth in 2013. It cut its forecastfor global trade growth in 2013 to 3.3 percent from4.5 percent and said trade grew only 2.0 percent in2012. That was the smallest annual rise since recordsbegan in 1981 and the second weakest figure onrecord after 2009, when trade shrank. Trade incommercial services also grew by only 2 percent in2012, to $4.3 trillion.

Improved economic prospects for the UnitedStates in 2013 will only partly offset the continuedweakness in the European Union whose economyis expected to remain flat or even contract slightlythis year according to consensus estimates.

China's growth would continue to outpace otherleading economies, cushioning the slowdown, butexports will still be constrained by weak demand inEurope. As a result, this year looks set to be a "nearrepeat" of 2012, with both trade and outputexpanding slowly.

••••• GIC to manage fund to cover oil from Iran

The government has decided to set up an IndianEnergy Insurance Pool of Rs 2,000-cror, to backIndian firms that insure domestic refineriesprocessing Iranian crude oil. Indian insurance firmsdepend on large European counterparts to reinsuretheir risks as they would otherwise end up in deepfinancial trouble in case of large payout.

The fund, which would cover oil imports fromIran, would be managed by General InsuranceCompany (GIC) and would have contributions fromboth insurance and oil industry companies.

The problem has arisen since under the US andthe European Union (EU) sanctions, global insurershave added a "sanctions clause" in their contractthat limits the amount to be paid in case of a claim.That is why domestic insurance companies haverefused cover to refineries processing Iranian oil asthey could not get reinsurance from their Europeancounterparts. Reinsurance makes up for 90% of theinsurance cover.

The contributions to the fund will be done bythe insurance companies and Oil Industry

ECONOMYDevelopment Board (OIDB) under the PetroleumMinistry.

The move to form the insurance fund will comeas a relief to Indian refiners, especially MangaloreRefinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL),whose current insurance cover is coming to an endin May. It has so far not found any insurer willingto cover risks.

Following U.S. and EU pressure and uncertaintyover the implications of the sanctions imposed bythem, India reduced Iranian crude purchases to lessthan 13 million tonnes in the previous financial yearfrom 18.1 million tonnes in the year before that. TheU.S., last December, renewed a waiver for India andeight other nations from a law that cuts institutionsoff from its banking system if they process paymentsfor Iranian oil.

••••• FinMin instructed government banks to reduceNPA

The Finance Ministry has asked all public sectorbanks to reduce their bad loans, or non-performingassets, to one per cent of their total advances by theend of the current financial year (March 31, 2014).

With the economy registering the lowest growthin a decade, public sector banks have seen theirNPAs go up significantly. According to datacollected for a meeting between Finance Ministryand public sector bank officials last month, bad loanswith respect to the priority sector, which includeagriculture and medium and small enterprises, hadgone up during the quarter ended December 31 vis-à-vis the previous quarter.

Interestingly, however, the NPA position inrelation to retail and real estate loans improvedduring the period.

The gross NPAs of public sector banks rose to4.18 per cent of advances by the end of December2012, compared to 3.22 per cent a year ago. NetNPAs, which are arrived at after making provisionsfrom the gross amount, has increased to 2.12 percent in December 2012.

In absolute term, gross NPA of PSU banksjumped to Rs 1,84,193 crore in December 2012compared to Rs 1,37,102 crore in March 2012, anincrease of Rs 47,091 crore in the nine months period.


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The gross NPA in corporate lending rose to Rs98,884 crore in December, as against Rs 68,221 crorein March. In the case of farm loans, the gross NPArose to Rs 30,800 crore in December as against Rs24,827 crore in March.

Another highlight is that the top 30 non-performing accounts made up close to half (around44 per cent) the bad loans of the 19 nationalisedbanks. While for the SBI group, this was around19.3 per cent, for public sector banks as a wholethey were around 34 per cent.

Banks have been advised to adopt a multi-pronged strategy for loan recovery. The multi-pronged strategy includes constitution of a board-level committee for monitoring recovery, review ofNPA accounts of Rs 1 crore and above by the boardof directors, and the top 300 NPA accounts by themanagement committee of the boards, andguidelines for NPA management as part of an early-

warning system. Apart from restructuring, bankshave been advised to initiate penal measures againstwilful defaulters. These include not granting themadditional facilities and debarring theentrepreneurs/promoters of defaulting companiesfrom getting institutional finance for floating newventures for a period of five years.

Banks have also been asked to lodge a formalcomplaint against the auditors of the borrowers withthe Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, if itis observed that there was negligence or deficiencyin the conduct of audit.

NPAs are a debt obligation where theborrower has not paid any previously agreedupon interest and principal repayments to thedesignated lender for an extended period oftime. The nonperforming asset is therefore notyielding any income to the lender in the formof principal and interest payments.

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INDIA AND THE WORLD

••••• India has begun process of group tourist visafor Pakistanis

After launching 'visa on arrival' facility forPakistani senior citizens, India has initiated theprocess to provide the 'group tourist visa' onreciprocal basis.

The 'group tourist' visa was to be launched fromMarch 15, but it was put on hold after tension alongthe border following the brutal killing of two Indiansoldiers.

Besides, Pakistan has also failed to send a list ofauthorized tour operators to India.

India has already identified 18 such tour andtravel operators on its side and shared it withPakistann.

According to the new liberalized visa pactbetween the two countries, group tourist visa wouldbe offered for a period of 30 days to touriststravelling in groups with not less than 10 membersand not more than 50 members, organized byapproved tour operators or travel agents.

Though the visa pact was signed in Septemberlast year, it could not be operationalised untilDecember 14 when Home Minister SushilkumarShinde and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malikhad formally launched the process.

Some clauses of the relaxed visa regime likemultiple-entry and police reporting-free visas forbusinessmen and allowing them to travel to fivecities instead of the earlier three had come into forcein December last year.

Later, on April 1, both the countries had startedvisa- on-arrival facility for each other's senior citizens(more than 65 years of age). This is a single-entryvisa, granted for a maximum of 45 days. The facilitywas started at the Attari Integrated Check Post (ICP)on reciprocal basis.

••••• 2nd India-Germany IntergovernmentalConsultations held

India and Germany held 2nd round of Inter-Governmental Consultations during which crucialbilateral, international and regional issues like thelong pending India-EU Free Trade Agreement andthe situation in Afghanistan had been discussed.

Germany is the only country with which Indiahas such a high-level format of discussion as theIntergovernmental Consultations. The first round ofConsultations was held when Merkel visited Indiain May 2011. Germany is India's largest tradingpartner in Europe and fifth largest trading partnerin the world. Bilateral trade between the two nationsstood at 18.3 billion Euros in 2011. However, due toglobal economic slowdown, bilateral trade saw adip of 5.5 percent last year.

During the meet India and Germany has inkedsix key MoUs including that for putting togetherEuro seven million for next four years towards jointresearch in the field of higher education and a pactfor a soft loan of Euro one billion for strengtheningthe green energy corridor.

The lists of documents signed are as follows:

a) Joint Declaration of Intent regarding promotionof German as a foreign language in India:

The declaration will include introduction of B.Edprogrammes for German language. Alsoscholarships would be awarded for Mastersdegree programs and for short stays in Germanywith the goal of improving mutual trust andintercultural relations.

b) Intergovernmental MoU between India &Germany on Cooperation in the field of HigherEducation:

The MoU intends to facilitate people-to-peopleexchanges. This includes students, academics,and project collaborators.

c) Joint Declaration of Intent in the area of CivilSecurity Research:

The Indo-German research cooperation in thisnew area intends to fund 5 pilot projects in 2013with the identified priorities being naturaldisaster management, biological risk situations,urban security, protection & rescue of peopleand social aspects of civil security research.

d) Joint Declaration for cooperation in Agriculturesector:

Aims at strengthening cooperation in:� plant variety protection;� conservation of plant genetic resources;


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� cooperation between Indian and Germanagricultural research institutions and seedcompanies.

e) Joint Declaration of Intent for Cooperation inStandardisation, Conformity Assessment andProduct Safety:

The declaration aims at strengthening bilateralcooperation in standardization, conformityassessment and product safety through bilateraleconomic and technical cooperation, intensifyingdialogue and promoting coordinated activitiesin international organizations. Also provides forestablishing and Indo-German Working GroupQuality Infrastructure.

f) Joint Declaration of Intent for Establishmentof Green Energy Corridors

It aims at fostering increased use of renewableenergy in India through technical and fanaticalcooperation by way of integrating additionalrenewable energy generation capacity with thenational grid. The Technical cooperation wouldbe implemented through the German Agencyfor International Cooperation (GIZ) and KfWintends to provide concessional loans of up toEuro one billion over the next six years.

Under pacts signed, both Germany and Indiahave committed to Euro 3.5 million each towardsworking on joint research and innovationprogrammes.

••••• India and Mauritius Sign MoU on ElectoralCooperation

India and Mauritius have signed a Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) in New Delhi, forcooperation in the field of election management andadministration.

The MoU was signed by the Chief ElectionCommissioner of India, Shri V.S. Sampath and theElectoral Commissioner of Mauritius, Mr.Mohammad Irfan Abdool Rahman.

The major aims of MoU are: promotion ofexchanges of knowledge and experience in electoralprocesses; exchange of information, materials,expertise and training of personnel; production anddistribution of materials pertaining to electoralsystems, voting technology, voters' education andawareness, and participation of women andminorities in electoral process.

The MoU will help in strengthening anddeepening mutual collaboration between ECI andthe Electoral Commissioner's Office of Mauritius.Further it would facilitate sharing of best practices,

skills and experiences between the two institutionsfor mutual benefit.

Election Commissioner, Mr. Brahma offered theavailable expertise and facilities in India forstrengthening the electoral system in Mauritius.Election Commission of India has so far signedseventeen MOUs with Election Management Bodiesand international organizations across the world.Some of the MoU signed recently are with Egypt,Venezuela, Republic of Korea and UNDP.

••••• Scientific Declaration on Polio Eradication

Hundreds of scientists, doctors and other expertsfrom around the world has launched the ScientificDeclaration on Polio Eradication, emphasising thatan end to the paralyzing disease was achievable,and endorsed a comprehensive new strategy tosecure a lasting polio-free world by 2018.

The more than 400 signatories urgedgovernments, international organisations and civilsociety to seize the historic and unique opportunityto end polio and protect the world's most vulnerablechildren and future generations from this debilitatingbut preventable disease.

The declaration calls for full funding andimplementation of the Polio Eradication andEndgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018, developed by theGlobal Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

The declaration notes that vaccines have alreadyprotected hundreds of millions of children, andeliminated one of the three types of wild poliovirus,proving that eradication is scientifically feasible. Itcalls on the international community to meet thegoals in the GPEI plan for delivering vaccines tomore children at risk, particularly in Afghanistan,Nigeria and Pakistan, where polio remains endemicand emergency action plans launched over the pastyear have resulted in significant improvements invaccine coverage. The GPEI estimates that it can becompletely ended by 2018 at a cost of $5.5 billion.

The declaration notes that only 223 new casesdue to wild poliovirus were recorded in 2012, ahistoric low and more than 99 per cent decreasefrom the estimated 350,000 cases in 1988. This year,just 16 new cases were reported as of April 9. India,long regarded as the most difficult place toeliminate polio, has not recorded a case in morethan two years.

The signatories from 80 countries include Nobellaureates, vaccine and infectious disease experts,public health school deans and paediatricians. Morethan 40 leading universities and schools of publichealth and medicine are promoting the declaration


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on their websites, including Aga Khan University,the Harvard School of Public Health, the LondonSchool of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Al AzharUniversity (Egypt), the University of Cape Town,Redeemers University (Nigeria) and ChristianMedical College, Vellore (India).

••••• India and Russia economic ties

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharmaduring his recent two-day visit to Moscow met hisRussian counterpart Denis Manturov and RussianMinister of Economic Development AndreyBelousov and briefed them about emergingopportunities for investment in India.

During the meet the Indian minister outlinedimmense investment opportunities available in Indiain sectors like energy & energy resources,pharmaceuticals, IT & ITES, minerals & metals,infrastructure development, aviation, powergeneration, shipbuilding, bio and nano- technologies,fertilizers, chemicals, agricultural and foods items,automobile industry and diamond. He also soughtinvestment partnership in the fields of mining, steeland energy.

On IT sector, Minister Sharma asked RussianAuthorities to expedite details on their ITinnovation policy containing Management,Development of Software, Commercial Terms, andTax benefits in Russia, etc. It would facilitate IndianIndustries to take decision for their participationin the Russian Technology platform on ITinnovation. Salient possibilities for cooperation withRussia in the IT sector are BPO/KPO, businesssoftware, setting-up of Techno-Park, e-governance,tele-medicines, and IT training and education.However, so far, no concerted effort has been madeby Indian companies to tap or even assess thispotential in the Russian IT market.

Russia has also decided to participate in thegovernment's initiative of setting up world-classmega industrial zones under the New ManufacturingPolicy (NMP) in various states.

The New National Manufacturing Policy (NMP)provides for the National Manufacturing InvestmentZones (NMIZs) with world-class supportinginfrastructure across the states.

The government is offering a host of incentiveslike exemption from capital gains tax and aliberalised labour and environment norms topromote these zones.

Bilateral trade between India and Russia in 2012has increased to around US$ 6.7 billion mark,registering growth of around 14% as compared toprevious year. Exports touched USD 2.15 billion in2012 compared to USD 1.89 Billion in 2011 andexports stood at USD 4.5 billion as compared to 4.05billion previous year.

••••• India, Bangladesh to produce mega film on1971 War of Liberation

During the meeting between Information andBroadcasting Minister Manish Tewari and hisBangladeshi counterpart Hasanul Haq Inu, India andBangladesh has agreed to consider a jointcollaboration for production of a mega film depictingthe "War of Liberation". On the context mega film,it was agreed to work towards a roadmap to finalizethe proposal shortly.

Bangladesh Minister also requested that theGovernment of India could consider providing thenames of the soldiers who had laid down their livesduring the War of Liberation.

During the discussions, both the Ministers alsoagreed to explore the possibility of setting up of aJoint Working Group on the critical sectors of theInformation and Broadcasting domain. The WorkingGroup would provide a roadmap for futurecollaborations between the two countries.

The Bangladesh Minister also requested Indiato facilitate the downlinking of Bangladesh TVChannels through the private distributionnetwork. Both Ministers also agreed to intensifythe collaboration between Prasar Bharti andBangladesh State Television in view of theMemorandum of Understanding signed betweenthe two entities in 2011.

The MoU had focused on mutual cooperation inthe broadcast of television programmes between thetwo broadcasters. It was also mentioned that bothcountries could consider exchange of programmesand also explore the possibility of executive TV co-production.

Both Ministers also agreed to facilitate theexchange of archival material between the twocountries and discussed on the possibility ofstrengthening collaboration as far as training andcapacity building was concerned betweeninstitutions of mutual interests.

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••••• Coral reef colonies declining in Palk Bay: Study

A recent study taken up by a team of researchersfrom the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Chennai,brought to light the serious threat of extinction thecoral reef colonies and mangrove forests in the PalkBay are facing. At present, only two per cent of thecoral reefs survive in the area. A decade ago, thePalk Bay area used to be rich in biodiversityconsisting of coral colonies, sea weed and grass,besides mangrove forests.

Global warming, siltation, release of untreatedraw sewage into the water bodies and overgrowthof algae were stated to be the three important reasonsfor the possible disappearance of coral colonies andits associated organisms from the Palk Bay area.

Silt coming from developmental projects, as wellas due to east-flowing rivers do not allow the newcolonies to be formed and, similarly, not allow thecorals to re-colonise in the Palk Bay region.

The study showed that release of untreated rawsewage from the nearby areas into the water bodies,which ultimately drained into the sea, led to diseasesin coral colonies. There is an increased growth ofalgae. This also led to the disappearance of corals.

Apart from these problems, the conflicts ofinterest between the traditional fishermen and thetrawler operators also took a toll on the biodiversityof the Palk region.

In an attempt to restore the dying coral colonies,the ZSI researchers are attempting to transplant livecoral colonies from other parts of the Gulf of MannarBiosphere Reserve and plant them at Palk Bay. Thiswork is done with support and assistance fromvarious funding agencies. More than transplantingthe corals from other areas into the Palk Bay,conservation efforts have to be taken up by variousagencies to preserve the species.

••••• Drone to keep tabs on Kaziranga animals

Taking a step towards deployment of anunmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known asdrone, to keep tabs on the animals in the KazirangaNational Park (KNP) and protect them frompoachers, a test flight of a remote-controlled hobbyflying model of the drone was conducted.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The drone is solar powered and equipped withboth still and video cameras. It is capable oftransmitting pictures, while doing the sorties, to acontrol base where it can be downloaded andanalysed or stored for analysis.

Poachers have killed and dehorned 12 rhinos atthe Kaziranga National Park since January 1. In therecent Census, the park authorities counted 2329rhinos - a net increase of 39 even after losing about125 to poaching, high flood and natural death sinceJanuary 2012. The 2012 census had put the count at2290. The national park also has 106 tigers, 1163elephants, 1937 buffalos and 1165 swamp deer.

Assam government recently sought a CentralBureau of Investigation probe into the spurt in rhinopoaching.

••••• New device to detect GI cancers coming soon

Gastrointestinal cancer (GI) occurs when certaincells within the gastrointestinal tract grow in anuncontrolled, abnormal, manner. (GI) cancers occuranywhere along the long twisting tube that includesthe esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine(which includes the colon), rectum and anus.

A prototype of an advanced multi-bendingcholangioscope (which allows visual diagnosis) hasbeen developed jointly by Indian and Japanesehealthcare researchers to detect cancer at an earlyage. All these years, most patients used to consulta physician when the disease was in an advancedstage. But with this new equipment peroral directcholangioscope (PDCS), which has a video cameraand can bend easily, cancers of bile duct, liver andpancreas could be detected early.

The multi-bending PDCS cannot be inserted free-hand into the bile duct. However, a high successrate of direct insertion can be achieved when theendoscope is passed over a guide-wire and ananchoring balloon.

••••• Barren Island volcano in Andaman Sea couldbe at least 1.8 million years old

A group of scientists at Ahmedabad-basedPhysical Research Laboratory (PRL) and the IndianInstitute of Technology-Bombay have determinedthat Barren Island volcano in Andaman Sea wouldbe at least 1.8 million years old.


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It became active in 1991 after a dormancy of 159years. It has since remained active with almostcontinuous tephra eruptions or ejection of solidmaterial into the air. The experts stated that, beinga stratovolcano, it had in the past and would belikely to have in the future massive eruptions thatcould seriously affect life in the Andaman Sea, theAndaman and Nicobar Islands and the neighbouringsouth-east Asian countries. Tsunamis generated bysub-marine landslides on the flanks of the volcanocan compound the scale of devastation.

Thus the determination of the age is importantto elucidate the history of volcanism in the countryand the evolution of the island arc in the Andamansubduction zone.

The scientists has determined its age by studyinga 400-cm-long core of marine sediments collectedfrom the Andaman Sea about 30-km away from the

Barren Island. The core was studied with the helpof the Argon dating facility established at IIT-Bombay a few years ago.

The new finding follows an earlier study by ateam led by Neeraj Awasthi of IIT- Bombay, whichshowed that the volcano, which raises about two-km above the seafloor with an average height ofabout 300-m above sea level, has had seven majorlava eruptions over the past 70,000 years.

The Barren Island stands in the midst of avolcanic belt on the edge of the Indian and Burmesetectonic plates. It is the northern-most active systemof the Indonesian volcanic arc. Though forming partof the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar, itis totally uninhabited. It is accessible only to theCoast Guard and naval ships which monitor theisland on a regular basis for any eruption. Theeruption in 1991 lasted for about six months.


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2 - MARKERS••••• Agni-II successfully tested

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of theArmy successfully test-fired Agni-II ballistic missilefrom Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.

The medium-range missile with a range of over2,000 km has already been inducted into the Army,and is part of the Strategic Forces arsenal for nucleardeterrence. The Agni-II is part of India's IntegratedGuided Missile Development Programme. Othermissiles in series include 700-km range Agni-I, 3000-km range Agni-III, 3500-km range Agni-IV and 5000-km range Agni-V.

The two-stage surface-to-surface missile,equipped with an advanced high-accuracynavigation system and guided by a novel state-of-the-art command and control system, is powered bya solid rocket propellant system.

The missile weighs 17 tonnes and its range canbe increased to 3,000 km by reducing the payload.It can be fired from both rail and road mobilelaunchers. It takes only 15 minutes for the missile tobe readied for firing.

The Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation first tested Agni-II in 1999.

••••• Amazon Olympics

The Amazon Olympics is an annual sportingevent for indigenous tribes along the Columbian,Brazilian and Peruvian borders.

The aim of these dangerous games is to test theskills and disciplines of which are essential forsurvival in the jungle.

Rather than well-known sports such asbadminton, football and boxing taking precedence,disciplines such as tree-felling, canoe-racing, archeryand blow-pipe shooting are prominent amongst thegames. Teams from two-dozen villages and townsfight for a cash prize of £1,000.

••••• INS Vagli to be turned into museum by 2015

INS Vagli, the decommissioned submarine, willbe converted into Tamil Nadu Maritime HeritageMuseum in Mamallapuram by March 2015.

Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation(TTDC) will be the nodal agency for setting up the

museum with exhibits on maritime heritage andmarine technology and facilities such as food courts,audio-visual studio, souvenir shops and aquariumon Build, Own, Operate and Transfer model.

••••• eCoins

eCoins is an integrated, user-friendly, fully-electronic and over-the-counter platform for tradingin gold bars, solely aimed at jewellers. eCoins willprovide its retailers/customers with live transparentbenchmark prices along with instant trade and rateconfirmations. The bars will be available on theterminal in widest range of denominations: 1, 2, 5,10, 20 and 50 grams in .999 purity.

••••• Dada Sahab Phalke Award

Pran has been awarded the Dadasaheb PhalkeAward (2012), the nation's top cine honour. In 2010,he was listed by CNN as one of the top 25 Asianactors of all time.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highestaward in cinema given annually by theGovernment of India. The Award is given to aprominent personality from the Indian filmindustry, noted and respected for significantcontributions to Indian cinema.

••••• NTR National Film Award

Film star Amitabh Bachchan was presented theNTR National Film Award for 2011. The awardcarried Rs.5 lakh cash prize, a citation and amemento.

••••• Dr Hilary Koprowski

Hilary Koprowski was a Polish virologist andimmunologist, and inventor of the world's firsteffective live polio vaccine. Koprowski created theworld's first polio vaccine, based on oraladministration of attenuated polio virus. Inresearching a potential polio vaccine, he had focusedon live viruses that were attenuated (rendered non-virulent) rather than on killed viruses (the latterbecame the basis for the injected vaccine that wassubsequently created by Jonas Salk).

Koprowski viewed the live vaccine as morepowerful, since it entered the intestinal tract directly


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and could provide lifelong immunity, whereas theSalk vaccine required booster shots. Also,administering a vaccine by mouth is easy, whereasan injection requires medical facilities and is moreexpensive. Koprowski's vaccine was taken by thefirst child on February 27, 1950, and within 10 yearswas being used on four continents. Albert Sabin'sattenuated-live-virus polio vaccine was developedfrom attenuated polio virus that Sabin had receivedfrom Koprowski.

••••• Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman PrimeMinister who led the Conservative party for morethan a decade through one of the most tumultuousperiods in modern British history and became adeeply divisive political figure, died. Her politicalphilosophy and economic policies emphasisedderegulation (particularly of the financial sector),

flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power andinfluence of trade unions.

Thatcher was awarded the Presidential Medalof Freedom, the highest civilian honour awardedby the US.

••••• Robert Geoffrey Edwards

He was a British physiologist and pioneer inreproductive medicine and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)in particular. Edwards successfully pioneeredconception through IVF, which led to the birth ofthe first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, on 25 July1978. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize inPhysiology or Medicine "for the development of invitro fertilization". In 2011, Edwards was knightedby Queen Elizabeth II "for services to humanreproductive biology."


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EDITORIALS••••• We need a unified financial regulator

Our experience with regulators has been rathermixed, on account of poor legal design. A set ofregulatory provisions for all areas of finance wouldmake a difference.

The report of the Financial Sector LegislativeReforms Commission (FSLRC) has generated lots ofcomments and reactions. This article looks at therecommendations on the subject of regulatorygovernance, in general, and, regulator-governmentinterface, in particular.

If acted upon, these can significantly impactoverall governance in India and not merely infinance. The recommendations of the FSLRC aremainly contained in chapters 3, 4, 14 &16 of thereport. The idea of an independent regulator isrelatively new.

Modern regulators of this kind at a country levelgo back to the Inter-state Commerce Commission(ICC) of the US created in 1887. In India, though alaw created the RBI in 1934, it was not designed tobe an independent regulator.

The original RBI Act of 1934 was amended manytimes to convert a private commercial entity into aregulator. Post-independence, in 1953, the ForwardMarkets Commission (FMC) was created by aparliamentary law but in the mould of a traditionalgovernment department.

Therefore, it perhaps cannot be characterised asan independent regulator, though it was and isstatutory.

The first really modern regulator in India is theSEBI, created by an executive order in 1988 andsanctified by a parliamentary law in 1992.Subsequently, India has created many regulators inthe financial and other sectors, which have come upin many states.

Poor legal designAs a general proposition, it would be fair to say

that the Indian experience with regulators is rathermixed. A few have been reasonably successful, butmost have been less than optimal in their outcomes.One is of the opinion that much of this is on accountof poor legislative design. The majorrecommendation of FSLRC in this area is that thereshould be a unified set of provisions on regulatorygovernance for all areas of finance.

The FSLRC has presented this unified set ofprovisions and made detailed recommendations onthe structure of the regulatory agency, compositionof its board, selection of board members, functioningof the board, resource allocation of the regulator,including powers to levy fees, principles of levyingfees, and performance assessment and reporting.

Another chapter describes in detail what oughtto be the functions and powers of the regulator.There is a good case for extending these principlesto sectors beyond finance to all statutory regulators.The practical importance of these recommendationswill be apparent if one looks at the actual practicein one just area of government-regulator interface -appointment of regulators.

Systemic problem

As a rule, most present legal provisions in thisregard are vague and do not follow any standardprinciple. The many variations in the terms andprocesses of the appointments clearly point to asystemic problem.

For example, in the last decade or so, there havebeen governors of the RBI who were varyingly givena three-year term extended by three years, a singlefive-year term, and a three-year term extended bytwo years. There have been Deputy Governors whowere given terms of over five years, exactly fiveyears, three years, three+two years and two yearsand 3 months, extended by nine months!

A major part of the problem is the RBI Act, whichprescribes no age limit for Deputy Governor orGovernor, no process for appointment and no limitson terms.

Similar is the story with the Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI). One chairman wasappointed for five years, and extended for anothertwo years, when the law then provided for a three-year term. The term of another was not extendedbeyond three years when the law provided for afive-year term.

While recently whole time members (WTM) havebeen given five-year terms, the chairman was givenonly a three-year term. One WTM was appointedfor three years, completed this, demitted office andwas then given a fresh term, while the terms of twoidentically placed WTMs were not renewed.


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If all this points to confusion and mindlessness,it also translates into the effective lack of operationalautonomy for the regulators, given the uncertaintyof tenure and the ability of the government to pickand choose individuals in the regulatory agency whoare "fit" for extension and who are "not".

Lack of autonomy

Contrast this with fixed terms prescribed in theConstitution for election commissioners and theCAG of India and the obvious consequences in termsof institutional effectiveness.

Likewise, there are board members of someregulatory agencies who have been on these boardsfor over a decade and some who have been giventhree years.

Boards of some regulatory agencies have noregulatory powers at all with regulatory functions,including the drafting of regulations being doneentirely by the staff of the agency without anyclearance of the board. In the case of some otheragencies, board-level clearance is mandatory forissuing regulations.

Auditing a regulator

Orders passed by some regulatory agencies haveno appeal/recourse of any kind. In the financialsector, all regulators are free from resourceconstraints, but some have been accused of chargingexcess fees as the law confers powers to levy feeswithout any guidance or principle.

The CAG of India mandatorily audits somefinancial sector regulatory agencies in accordancewith their statute whereas firms of charteredaccountants audit some regulators. Given theenormous powers of the regulators, it will be a bravechartered accountant who actually does a toughaudit of a regulator.

It is these and many similar aspects of regulatorygovernance and accountability that need to belegislatively reformed in India.

The FSLRC recommendations directly addressthese and will go a long way in remedying thisgovernance deficit in regulatory structure and design.

Source: Business Line

••••• Why Indian cities lag behind globalmetropolises

The results of an ET-Janaagraha survey assessingIndia's top 11 cities against two global metropolisesare disheartening. These cities scored in the rangeof 0.7 to 4.5 across four categories on a scale of 0 to10 against New York and London, which scoredbetween 8.1 and 9.9. The comparisons included how

cities are planned, their capacity to raise resources,empowerment of political representatives andpeople's participation.

A missing component that can be incorporatedin future surveys is how efficient cities are in energyuse, given that they need to lower energyconsumption in transport, water supply and wastemanagement. Rightly, the survey offers prescriptionsto reform governance. It says cities should set upmetropolitan planning committees (MPC) to preparea draft plan for the area.

The Constitution does mandate MPCs and listsout their functions. There is no excuse for non-compliance. Kolkata's MPC and its sectoral andexecutive panels are examples for other cities.Greater financial autonomy for municipal entities,too, makes eminent sense. They should be able toraise debt and access new forms of financing throughpublic-private partnership. It is also imperative torevive and develop a flourishing municipal bondmarket to finance and create new cities.

A robust institutional framework to levy andcollect user charges by municipal bodies would help,provided more services are brought under pricing.The survey found mayors and city councils weak.They must be empowered to bring about change incivic affairs. The larger point is that the pace ofurbanisation will surge as the economy grows. So,urban renewal and development should be top-of-the-mind issues for policymakers now, before itbecomes too late.

Source: Economic Times

••••• Why India is right on Sri Lanka

Unless Colombo treats its Tamil citizens withdignity and respect, New Delhi will continue to havelimited options

Contemporary developments in India's foreignpolicy are often based on perceptions and not facts,views divorced from reality and political advocacybased on make-believe. India's approach to the SriLankan issue and the vote in the Human RightsCouncil (HRC) is a case in point. Variously describedas a "new low" in our foreign policy and a departurefrom our principled stand of not supporting country-specific resolutions, this line of reasoning suggeststhat New Delhi should ignore and overrule regionalsentiment, and refrain from meddling in the affairsof a small neighbour.

But first the perceptions. One, in 1956, SolomonWest Ridgeway Dias (SWRD) Bandaranaike enactedthe Sinhala-Only Act. Sections of the political classin New Delhi welcomed it as a consolidation of anti-imperialist sentiment. Years later, Tamils were


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reduced to second-class citizens and discriminationagainst them became systemic and entrenched. Theanti-Tamil riots in Colombo following the killing ofthe Mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duriappa, by a youngPrabhakaran led to the rise of Tamil militancy.

Perception two, Most Sinhalese believe, withgood reason, that Tamil militancy, rightly viewedby them as terrorism, would not have succeeded intearing apart Sri Lanka's social fabric but forsupport from across the Palk Straits. Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi sought course correction. Hecommitted India to Sri Lanka's unity and territorialintegrity. This fundamental turnaround meant Indiawould not support the break-up of Sri Lanka andwould also cooperate in ending support forterrorism. There was, however, one caveat. TheTamil minority should be treated with dignity andas equal citizens of a multicultural, multiple-ethnicand multilingual Sri Lanka.

Resolution was minimalist

What the international community is questioningis not Colombo's military operation against the LTTEor human rights violations but specific allegationsof war crimes during the last 100 days of militaryoperations. Visual documentation, including bytriumphant victors on mobile phones has contributedto Sri Lanka's discomfort. The U.S. resolution at the19th session of the HRC in March 2012 was aminimalist attempt. It invited Sri Lanka to act onthe recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt andReconciliation Commission. Even the assistance tobe made available to Colombo would have beenprovided only with its consent. Instead, Colombochose to prevaricate. With additional visualdocumentation being made available, the demandfor accountability gained momentum. Having votedin favour of the resolution in March 2012, it wasnext to impossible for India to change its vote inMarch 2013, especially in the absence of any crediblesteps by Sri Lanka towards reconciliation anddevolution.

It is both in India's and Sri Lanka's interest toget a full and final closure on these allegations. Notto do so will allow the wounds to fester.

Sovereignty has never succeeded in providing acover against genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimesand crimes against humanity. To suggest that Indiadoes not support country-specific resolutions isabsurd. Even more, that we have a principledposition on this. In any perceived clash betweenprinciple and national interest, it is invariably thelatter that is invoked and reigns supreme. Followingthe anti-Tamil riots in Colombo in 1983, New Delhimustered sufficient courage to spearhead a resolution

against Sri Lanka in the Sub-Commission onPrevention of Discrimination and the Protection ofMinorities. We vote in favour of similar resolutionsagainst Israel only because they deal with gross andsystematic violations of human rights of Palestinianpeople in the occupied territories. We have neverhesitated to take a position on country-specificresolutions whether on DPRK or Iran, whenever ournational interest so demanded.

To dismiss popular sentiment in Tamil Nadu asthe machinations of politicians is both a misreadingof the situation and a recipe for disaster. Why shouldSri Lanka not be held to account for not respectingunderstandings given bilaterally to India, such asthose of April-May 2009?

13th Amendment

India can be against the LTTE but cannot affordto be against the Tamils. The problem both amongstthe Tamil minority in Sri Lanka and large sectionsof the Tamil population in India, is that the LTTEsuccessfully manipulated Tamil opinion byprojecting itself as the only physical shield againstSinhala repression. We cannot wish away thissentiment. The only safeguard for the Tamils in SriLanka is delivery of the promised devolution basedon the 13th Amendment.

Both the AIADMK and the DMK, along withthe smaller parties in Tamil Nadu are on the samepage on the Sri Lanka issue. The problem willcontinue to fester till Colombo has a genuine changeof heart. Recent signals are anything butencouraging. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksasaid on March 27, 2013: "Could we afford to have aprovincial administration here, which pointed a gunat the national leadership at the drop of a hat? Wedon't want to be at the mercy of scheming provincialadministrations." Let alone the 13th Amendment,the Defence Secretary seems to be suggesting thewinding up of provincial councils altogether!

Notwithstanding assurances to India, the"Brothers" running Sri Lanka appear to have nointention to move on political reconciliation anddevolution. This "majoritarianism" in total disregardof respecting and protecting the rights of minoritiesis a narrow and calibrated political strategydesigned to safeguard Sinhalese parliamentarystrength. The recent attacks on the Muslim tradingcommunity in the heart of Colombo by fanaticSinhalese, allegedly led by Buddhist monks aremanifestations of similar callous and cynicaldisregard for the rights of linguistic, religious andcultural minorities. India did the right thing bysupporting the resolution on war crimes.


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Exaggerated projections of Chinese inroads andinfluence are a bogey which many of our smallerneighbours periodically try on us. Apart from beingpractical, the Chinese are also hard headed. Theywill pursue economic and commercial opportunityirrespective of the way India votes. Support for SriLanka up to 2012 did not prevent them from lookingfor commercial projects there. Many Chinesesuccesses have something to do with our owninability to deliver commercial projects on time.

Sri Lanka is not only India's closest neighbourbut in many respects, culturally and emotionally,closest to us as well. We need to reach out toColombo and drive home the point that it takes twoto tango. Relations between countries are assiduouslybuilt, step by step. Unless Colombo treats its Tamilcitizens with dignity and respect, New Delhi willcontinue to have limited options. If New Delhicontinues to base its choices on misplaced"perceptions" and does not effectively articulate thereasons for the choices so made, only brickbats willbe in the offing.

Source: The Hindu

••••• Changing course in Africa

The continent is experiencing rising rates ofgrowth. But will growth be translated intodevelopment?

Africans know a thing or two about herd instinct.Like wildebeest and zebra migration across theSerengeti, investment managers and consultants toohave a habit of running together and, every nowand then, changing direction. Right now, herdinstinct is taking every investment, fund and privateequity manager on an African safari.

If, a decade ago, The Economist ran a cover storydubbing Africa "The hopeless continent", it caughtup with a changing reality by the end of 2011 with acover on "Africa rising." More recently, itacknowledged the emergence of an "Aspiring Africa".What has fuelled this journey of the so-called darkcontinent into the bright new world of economicgrowth and political stability? What are the newbusiness opportunities and political risks? Howdiverse is the experience of different regions of thisvast continent? To what extent is this new growthprocess driven by enduring change, rather thanfleeting opportunity? Do countries blessed by oil andgas have the capacity to use their new-found wealthto fuel long-term growth and development, or willthey fall victim to the infamous "resource curse"? DoesAfrica have the political leadership it requires toresolve intra-country and inter-country conflict anddeal with new security challenges like drug and armstrafficking, terrorism and Islamic radicalism?

Such were the questions that an internationalconference on the geo-economics of resources andconflict in Africa sought to address earlier this weekat the Bahrain Centre of the International Institutefor Strategic Studies (IISS). The verdict was clear.The "rising" and "aspiring" Africa story is wellfounded. However, not all of the 54 countries of thecontinent are rising at the same pace and,worryingly, there are still many pockets of"hopelessness" and sources of potential conflict thatrequire urgent attention.

Fred Swaniker, founder and CEO of the AfricaLeadership Academy, identified five long-termtrends that are driving the African growth story,and the four risks it faces. The five drivers are:improving political governance, young and better-educated population, urbanisation, skilled workforceand a more hospitable global geopoliticalenvironment. With access to education andurbanisation, several pre-requisites for sustainedgrowth are now in place, like physical, social andfinancial infrastructure. The rise of China, followed byIndia and other emerging economies, has had beneficialgeo-economic consequences for the continent. Africansare pleased to find themselves being courted byerstwhile colonisers even as they exude confidence inbeing able to deal with rising powers.

So what are the risks? As in India, the so-calleddemographic dividend can only be a driver ofgrowth if the young are educated and better skilled.If not, a restive youth would become a liability.Africa is experiencing rising rates of growth, butwill growth get translated into development?Urbanisation is a positive force, but the lack of ruralopportunities? Does Africa not require a greenrevolution that enriches the peasantry, creates abigger home market and ensures food security?Unplanned urbanisation can create urban chaos andtrigger urban violence. With rapid growth comessocial and regional inequality. This, too, needsmanaging. Finally, Africa's new political leadershiphas to manage the fluid geopolitics of an increasinglymulti-polar world, benefiting from the global racefor resources, rather than getting unduly exploited.

Emmanuel Kwesi Aning of the Kofi AnnanInternational Peacekeeping Training Centre drewattention to another downside risk - the debilitatingimpact of the dangerous cocktail of drugs and armstrafficking, al-Qaeda, terrorism and Islamicradicalism both on Africa's west coast and along thenortheastern coast, the Horn of Africa. Economicgrowth alone cannot address the demands of anaspiring Africa. Many countries need moderninstitutions that are accountable, transparent, justand efficient. Africa's security challenge was brought


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out starkly by the fact that if the single biggestemployer in China is Sinopec, a petrochemicalcompany, and in India it is the railways, acrossAfrica it is G4S, a private security firm.

The continent's major powers, like South Africa,Nigeria and Kenya, will be required to provideleadership in their respective regions to ensureregional peace and security. If not, outside powerswill step in, as France has done in Mali. With newoil and gas discoveries, Africa's energy exporterswill have to invest in defence capability and workwith other Indian Ocean powers to ensure securityof sea lanes.

As in the case of any continental entity, Africa isalso characterised by wide diversity. While negativesdominate western Africa and the Sahel region, manypositives define eastern and east coastal Africa, ledby Kenya, and southern Africa, led by South Africa.New oil and gas discoveries in Kenya andMozambique are attracting global oil majors,including from China and India. How theseresources are utilised is key. Will they be afflictedby the resource curse - falling victim to acombination of cronyism, authoritarianism,inequality and lack of incentives for growth ofmanufacturing - or will they be able to use theseresources wisely to build the foundations forsustainable development? The key to Africa's riselies in the answer to these questions.

Today's youth see new hope in the newopportunities that a new world offers. What wasstriking, however, was the contrast between theconfident optimism of younger Africans and themore cautious, even worried, outlook of the oldergeneration. As in India so in Africa, the oldergeneration has lived through an earlier phase ofoptimism fuelled by the promise of decolonisation.That hope never materialised. This time, Africa isdetermined to succeed.

Source: Indian Express

••••• Colonising riverbeds

Green activists root for a monitoring commissionto ensure that our rivers are effectively protected

Green activists are elated that the National GreenTribunal has issued notices to Union Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests, Governments of UttarPradesh, Delhi and Haryana, and Union Ministry ofWater Resources with regard to the land mafia'sreckless encroachment on the floodplains of Yamunaand Hindon.

This was in response to an application filed byenvironmentalists. The plea states: "The river beds,considered highly eco-fragile, have been usurped byland mafia in connivance with administration

officials. Colonies have come up on the riverbeds".The petition cites a media report about an estimated1,618 hectares of the Yamuna flood plain having beengrabbed by the land mafia, along 30 km of the riveras it flows through Noida. Encroachments includefarmhouses, homes, schools, crusher and hot-mixplants, concrete ready-mix and quartz-washingplants, etc. Thousands of hectares have similarlybeen encroached upon in cities along the Yamuna:Delhi, Faridabad, Mathura and Agra. The petitionsingles out the Delhi Government for foistingencroachments via Commonwealth Games Villageand DTC Bus Depot "on the eco-sensitive Yamunabanks".

Illegal plots in the flood plains areas are beingsold with the connivance of Governmentfunctionaries, with registration and mutation beingundertaken. Though concerned agencies at theCentre and in States have not granted environmentalclearance, which clearly has not even been sought,such land grab continues to occur with impunity.Encroachments by colonisers in Faridabad, Agra andMathura have increased the toxic pollution load. Asa result, aquatic species have almost been decimated.

The petitioners want a monitoring commissionto be set up, to ensure that provisions under theNational Green Tribunal Act 2010 for protectingrivers be implemented in a transparent way as perthe deadline. Applications or appeals are to bedisposed of within six months of filing.

This is one side of the issue of development. Theother side has bankers and tycoons meeting UnionMinister for Finance P Chidambaram with theirlitany of complaints concerning environmentalhurdles, land acquisition, coal linkage and banks'reluctance to restructure loans, thereby stallingprojects. The high-powered meet was attended bythe Minister and Financial Services secretary RaviTakru, the business sector was represented by MrAnil Ambani, Mr Ajit Gulabchand, Mr PrashantRuia, Mr Kumar Managalam Birla, Mr MadhuKannan and heads of public-sector banks. There arealmost 350 such projects facing impediments.Environmental clearance is seen to be the mainobstruction. Mr Chidambaram will now coordinatewith different Ministries to get road blocks removed.

So, on the one hand, the Green Tribunal, set upon October 18, 2010, under National Green TribunalAct, as well as law courts are intervening in supportof conservation causes; on the other, corporates,realtors, land mafia and a chain of beneficiaries citethe need for high growth as the rationale forpummelling the Government into submission.

So long as population continues to explode, withIndia's numbers in 2011 totalling 1,241,491,960, as


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per World Bank estimates, high growth gains willbe out-paced by the astronomical increase in people.The Congress-led UPA Government has completelyfailed to address this problem during its twosuccessive tenures, since 2004.

It is a colossal failure, but quite understandablein view of obsession with high economic growthtrajectories and policies, and freebies for select votebanks. These formulae for disaster, vesting in theunlikely reconciliation of the capitalist module ofdevelopment with the socialist welfare state, do notseem to have factored in family planningprogrammes, to be implemented on an emergencybasis.

India is reported to harbour over 17.5 per cent ofthe entire population of the world. The 2001 censusfindings indicate that 72.2 per cent of the people arefound in an estimated 6,38,000 villages, which figurevery low on policymakers' list of priorities inplanning since metropolises seem to have first rightover funds and resources.

Mark the disproportionate amount of financeallotted to Delhi for upgradation of infrastructureand creation of amenities, geared to hosting of theCWG in October 2010. As per census data, 27.8 percent comprises urban dwellers. Since policymakersand enforcers are not serious about curbingpopulation growth, India is expected to beat its giantneighbour China, which has enforced the 'one childrule', as the world's most populous country by 2025.Electoral compulsions ensure that the small familyunit, projected as the ideal by the slogans "Hum do,hamaare do" and "Hum do hamaara ek", has beenshelved. The more the better appears to be thecurrent norm since that translates into larger vote-banks and recipients of Government largesse.

China's policy dates back to 1979. It generallyapplies to urban Han Chinese, and is credited withreducing population by about 300 million in the firsttwo decades. However, after the Congress's abortedsterilisation programme in the 1970s, the subject istaboo for politicos.

Source: The Pioneer

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