7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
1/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 1
NATIONAL
Centre approves amendmentsin existing Labour laws to
improve working conditions of
construction workers
The Union Cabinet approved the
Amendment to the Building and
Other Construction Workers
(Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) { BOCW (RECS)}
Act, 1996 and Building and OtherConstruction Workers' Welfare Cess
Act, 1996 and the introduction of the
Building and Other Construction
Workers Related Laws (Amendment)
Bill, 2012 in Parliament in its ensuing
session. This amendment will
streamline the process of the
registration of the construction
workers. The State Welfare Boardswill be able to consolidate their
finances and incur expenditure on
administrative and other purpose for
smooth functioning of the Board.
The provisions in the Amendment are
given below:
a) Empower the Central Government
to specify the maximum cost of
construction by notification, in placeof the present limit of Rs.10 lakh,
which shall fall within the definition
of establishment under the BOCW
(RECS) Act.
b) To empower Central Government
to appoint such number of Director
Generals not exceeding 10 to
coordinate with the Central
Government in carrying out itsresponsibility of laying down the
standard of inspection and to
exercise the power of an inspector.
c) To empower the State Govt. to file
Complaints for contravention of
provisions of the Act.
d) To prescribe a time limit of 30 days
for cess collecting authorities to
deposit cess to the State Building andOther Construction Workers Welfare
Board.
e) To constitute a Committee
consisting of Secretary (Labour),
Secretary (Finance), Secretary
(Planning) and Secretary (Social
Welfare) of the State for performing
the functions of the State Building
and Other Construction WorkersWelfare Board till such time a Board
is formally constituted by the State
Government.
Parliamentary panel rejectedBill related to health
education standards
The Bill was introduced in the Rajya
Sabha on December 22 last year and
referred to the Standing Committeeon Health and Family Welfare shortly
afterwards. The NCHRH Bill, 2011 and
the Higher Education and Research
Bill 2011 had been tabled in
Parliament after a long protracted
debate over the jurisdiction of
medical education. The Human
Resource Development piloted
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
2/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 2
NCHER wanted medical education
under it while the Health Ministry
wanted a separate regulatory body.Ultimately, it was decided that there
would be some linkage between the
two regulatory bodies but the two
Bills would be tabled separately.
However, the Committee has
suggested that medical education
and research should be brought
under the National Commission,
proposed under the NCHRH Bill,instead of keeping medical education
with the Health Ministry and medical
research with the HRD Ministry as
proposed in the two Bills.
CABE to take up Bill to endunfair practices in schools
Corporal punishment in class or
forcing students to purchase books,
uniforms, and other stationery itemsfrom a particular shop could entail a
jail term up to three years according
to the draft Prohibition of Unfair
Practices in Schools Bill meant to curb
unfair practices in schools. The draft
Bill makes it clear that no school shall
demand or accept capitation fee or
any other donation for admission to
any class. The bill also prohibitsschools from denying admission or
expelling any student if he/she is
reported to have any serious diseases
such as HIV/AIDS.
Drive to weed out multipleLPG connections Launched
In a bid to weed out duplicate, ghostand multiple connections, the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry
has decided to extend the deadline
for filling up the Know Your Customer
(KYC) forms by LPG consumers to
November 15 to enable genuine
consumers to avail of the offer. All
the three state-owned oil marketing
companies (OMCs) - Indian OilCorporation, Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Limited and Bharat
Petroleum Corporation Limited had
asked the domestic LPG distributors
to collect and verify duly filled KYC
forms from the consumers by Oct 31.
The deadline was extended since a
large number of the consumers are
yet to complete the formalities.Consumers in the KYC form have to
provide necessary details like their
name, date of birth, names of their
parents and spouse, complete
address with pin-code and optional
information about bank details. They
have to submit self- attested
photocopies of their address and ID
proof, along with the filled in form.Transfer of LPG connection to family
members during lifetime would be
permitted, subject to certain
conditions.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
3/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 3
Government grants ex-servicemen status to retiredparamilitary staff
Bringing cheer to over four lakh
retired personnel of paramilitary and
Central police forces, the govt. gave
its nod for granting them the status
of ex-servicemen, enabling them to
avail of welfare benefits.
The new status for these retired
personnel from forces like CRPF, CISF,BSF, ITBP and SSB will be read as "ex-
central police personnel", on par with
the defence forces recognition of "ex-
servicemen" to its retired personnel.
With the status of "ex-servicemen",
the retired personnel of these forces
will be able to avail of certain canteen
and hospital facilities run by the govt.
while they will be able to apply for
jobs in the private sector thatrecognise "ex-servicemen" as a
trained and suitable talent for their
organisations. Centre will also
approach states to give benefits to
the wards of these retired personnel
in educational institutes and jobs.
Home ministry was initially opposed
to this idea of granting ex-servicemen
status to paramilitary personnelapprehending reduction of these
benefits for their soldiers. But this
step would encourage troopers not
to leave the forces prematurely
either by resigning or taking
voluntary retirement.
INTERNATIONAL
5th Asian MinisterialConference on Disaster Risk
Management held
High-level delegations from 50
countries across Asia and the Pacific -
- the most disaster-prone region in
the world -- united around a call foran international agreement on
disaster risk reduction to follow on
from the Hyogo Framework for
Action* in 2015.
The Hyogo Framework for Action was
adopted by 168 member States of the
United Nations (U.N.) at the World
Disaster Reduction Conference held
in Hyogo, Japan, in 2005 Key
elements of the Yogyakarta
Declaration include calls to integrate
local disaster risk reduction and
climate change adaptation into
national development planning;identify accountability measures for
effective implementation; political
commitment to deliver at all levels;
promote awareness, education,
public access to information and
resilient investments; and allocate
resources to build local capacity.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
4/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 4
There was also strong participation in
the Conference from the Association
of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN),the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and
the Applied Geosciences and
Technology Division (SOPAC) of the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
The Kingdom of Thailand will host the
6th Asian Ministerial Conference on
Disaster Risk Reduction in 2014 when
Governments will report back ontheir implementation of the
Yogyakarta Declaration on Disaster
Risk Reduction.
CCAMLR meet on Antarcticafailed
CCAMLR (Commission for the
Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources) meet in Australia,
to protect the waterways around theAntarctic failed to reach agreement.
CCAMLR is made up of
representatives from 24 governments
and the European Union and it has
been considering proposals for the
establishment of marine reserves in
two critical areas of the Southern
Ocean.
At the meeting the United States andNew Zealand put forward competing
plans to create a marine protected
area of 1.6 million square kilometres
in the Ross Sea. Another proposal
would have created a reserve zone
around East Antarctica-at around 1.9
million square kilometres, it would
have covered an area almost three
times the size of France.
But the petitions were blocked byChina, Russia and Ukraine. The focus
will now turn to a special session of
the Commission which will meet in
Germany in July 2013.
Global Prosperity Index 2012The Legatum Prosperity Index is an
annual ranking developed by the
Legatum Institute of 142 countries.The ranking is based according to a
variety of factors including wealth,
economic growth, personal well
being, and quality of life. It is an
attempt to broaden measurement of
a nation's economic health beyond
indicators such as gross domestic
product.
Norway and Denmark retained thepole positions they held last year in
the overall prosperity measure, while
Sweden leapfrogged Australia and
New Zealand into third. Canada,
Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland
and Ireland rounded out the top ten.
The Commission for the Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
was established by international convention in
1982 with the objective of conserving Antarctic
marine life. It was established in large part toconcerns that an increase in krill catches in the
Southern Ocean could have a serious impact on
populations of other marine life which are
dependent upon krill for food.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
5/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 5
The Central African Republic was
ranked bottom.
In its sub-indexes, Legatum namedSwitzerland the strongest economy
and home to the best system of
governance. Denmark is the most
entrepreneurial and New Zealand has
the best education, while health is
best in Luxembourg and Iceland is the
safest. Canadians enjoy the most
personal freedom and Norwegians
have the greatest social capital.
In Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore andTaiwan all ranked in the top ten for
their economies and the top 20
overall. So-called tiger cub economies
Vietnam and Indonesia also rose.
Indonesia experienced the largest
gain in prosperity of any country
since 2009, jumping 26 positions to
63rd.
ECONOMY
The Financial DevelopmentReport 2012
The 2012 Financial Development
Report ranks 62 of the world's
leading financial systems and capital
markets, analyzing the drivers of
financial system development inadvanced and emerging economies
to serve as a tool for countries to
benchmark themselves and establish
priorities for reform. The rankings are
based on over 120 variables spanning
institutional and business
environments, financial stability, and
size and depth of capital markets,
among other factors. Topping theIndex, Hong Kong SAR came in 1st for
a second consecutive year as a result
of benefits from a large and efficient
banking system, well developed
infrastructure and robust equity
markets.
The United States and the United
Kingdom also remain in the same
positions as last year, 2nd and 3rd,
respectively. Both countries have
highly developed financial markets,
particularly their foreign exchange
and derivatives markets, but theystruggle with relatively inefficient
banking systems.
India has slipped four places to 40th
position, out of 62 leading financial
systems and capital markets, because
of poor enforcement of contracts and
low levels of liberalization. India's
comparative strength in the area of
non-banking financial services wasrecognized in the report. It was
ranked quite high in non-banking
financial services (9th), but in terms
of banking financial services it was
placed in the 45th position.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
6/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 6
RBI issued new guidelines forrehabilitation of sick MSEs
Revising definition of sickness inmicro and small enterprises (MSEs),
the Reserve Bank asked banks for
timely and adequate assistance to
them as soon as the signs of sickness
are detected.
Timely and adequate assistance to
MSEs and rehabilitation effort should
begin on a proactive basis when early
signs of sickness are detected. Thisstage would be termed as
'handholding stage'. This will ensure
intervention by banks immediately
after detecting early symptoms of
sickness so that sickness can be
arrested at an early stage. An account
may be treated to have reached the
'handholding stage'; if any of the
following events are triggered:a) There is delay in commencement
of commercial production by more
than six months for reasons beyond
the control of the promoters;
b) The company incurs losses for two
years or cash loss for one year,
beyond the accepted timeframe;
c) The capacity utilization is less than
50% of the projected level in terms ofquantity or the sales are less than
50% of the projected level in terms of
value during a year. Also as per the
new guidelines, a MSE would be
considered sick if any of the borrowal
account of the enterprise remains
non-performing assets (NPA) for
three months or more. Earlier, a unit
was considered sick if its borrowal
account remained sub-standard formore than six months.
The new guidelines should be
applicable for the year ending March
ending 2013.
Shome Panel Report on retro-tax laws
The government-appointed panel on
taxation of indirect transfer of assets
submitted its final report to FinanceMinister P Chidambaram. The
submission of final report assumes
significance, as British telecom giant
Vodafone's tax matter would be
decided according to the
recommendations of the Shome
Committee on indirect transfer of
assets.
The panel recommended that foreigncompanies going for mergers &
acquisitions in India should pay tax
only prospectively.
The ministry was expecting Rs 35,000
crore to Rs 40,000 crore by way of
retrospective tax on indirect transfer
of Indian assets by non-residents.
If the validation clause is removed, a
large part of this will not come to it.Vodafone, which had the Supreme
Court ruling in its favour, might not
have to fear a tax notice demanding
Rs 8,000 crore on its 2007 deal with
Hutchison.
According to the Shome panel, if
there was retrospective levy, the tax
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
7/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 7
should be collected from the seller
and the interest and penalty waived
The ministry is likely to soonannounce the GAAR guidelines on the
circumstances in which the rules
would be invoked but deferment
would happen only after taking
approval of Parliament.
The Finance Act, 2012, had specified
April 1, 2013, for introduction of
GAAR. A final decision will be taken
by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Finance Minister unveils steps
for fiscal consolidation
India's finance minister P.
Chidambaram has laid out a roadmap
to put the government's fiscal house
in order, stressing the need to control
expenses and generate more revenue
as it targets budget deficits of 5.3% of
gross domestic product this fiscalyear and 4.8% next year. The plan
also envisages bringing down the
government's budget deficit to 4.2%
of GDP in the fiscal year ending
March 31, 2015; 3.6% in fiscal 2016
and 3.0% in fiscal 2017.
The new targets would be mentioned
in the regulation to the Fiscal
Responsibility and BudgetManagement (FRBM) Act. The Act
proposed reduction of fiscal deficit to
3 per cent of GDP by 2009, but the
exercise had to be abandoned as a
result of the global financial crisis. For
the current fiscal, the government
also aims to raise Rs 30,000 crore by
way of disinvestment in state-owned
companies.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram,soon after assuming charge, had
appointed a three member
committee under the chairmanship of
13th Finance Commission head Vijay
Kelkar to suggest a roadmap for fiscal
consolidation. The Kelkar Committee
in its report had suggested that the
govt should undertake reform
initiatives, go ahead withdisinvestments and reduce subsidies.
Without these the fiscal deficit could
shoot up to 6.1 per cent in the
current fiscal. As per the roadmap
given by the Committee, the Centre
should aim to reduce the fiscal deficit
to 4.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent by
2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively.
To increase the revenue Governmentis engaging with the PSUs to speed up
the process of disinvestment so that
stake sale can take place in the
second half of the fiscal. To speed up
the process,
Disinvestment department has
secured Cabinet approval for stake
sale in five companies -- Oil India,
MMTC, Hindustan Copper, Nalco andNMDC -- which could fetch over Rs
20,000 crore to the exchequer.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
8/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 8
Telecom operators can hold2.5 Mhz spectrum: EGoM
The Empowered Group of Ministers
(EGoM), allowed the existing players
to retain a maximum of 2.5 MHz in
900 Mhz prime band spectrum till
their current licences expired,
provided they paid a price which
would be determined later throughauction.
The EGoM also decided that those
telcos with 5 Mhz spectrum will need
to vacate space. The telecom
companies, GSM operators like Bharti
Airtel , Vodafone and Idea will have
an opportunity to retain 2.5 MHz of
spectrum at the time of refarming in
the 900 MHz spectrum. If they do notwant to pay a market-determined
price, they may choose to surrender
the entire spectrum. But, as far as the
govt is concerned, it is going to give
an option to these telecom
companies.
Tripartite Agreementsbetween Centre, State and
UTs for Laying DigitalHighways under NOFN
13 State governments and 3 Union
territories signed tripartite MOU for
free Right of Way (RoW) with the
Central Government and Bharat
Broadband Network Limited (BBNL--
the SPV incorporated for execution of
the project National Optical Fibre
Network (NOFN) --- which wouldconnect all the 2, 50,000 Gram
Panchayats (GPs) in the country
through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) in
two years-as a paradigm shift which
would transform the way India works.
The Central Government, through
Universal Service Obligation Fund
(USOF), will fund the project while
the contribution of State Governmentwould be by providing free Right of
Way (RoW) for laying OFC.
With the availability of NOFN at
2, 50,000 Gram Panchayats, a
minimum bandwidth of 100 Mbps
will be available at each GP and will
lead to proliferation of broadband
services.
Benefits to States will be as below:a) This will empower rural masses by
giving them access to information,
public services including those of
education, health and financial
inclusion.
b) Various applications for
Panchayats for planning,
What is fiscal consolidation?
A conscious policy effort is needed by
the government to live within its meansand thereby bring down the fiscal deficit
and public debt. Fiscal consolidation is a
policy intended to reduce deficits and the
accumulation of debt. It includes efforts to
raise revenues and bring down wasteful
expenditure such as subsidies. As a larger
mandate, it also involves the participation
by state governments in the process.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
9/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 9
management, monitoring and
payments under various govt
schemes (e.g. MNREGA, PDS, LandRecords, Birth/Death Certificates,
Digital Literacy, etc.), e-Governance,
education, health, employment,
agriculture and commerce can be
launched using this network
c) As access service providers like
Mobile operators, Internet Service
Providers, Cable TV operators,content providers etc. launch their
access network and services using
NOFN, it will result in creation of local
employment, revenue generation and
growth of GDP leading to overall
prosperity of the State.
INDIA AND THE WORLD
Global Twitter PressConference on Innovation
Mr. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the
Indian Prime Minister on Public
Information Infrastructure and
Innovations and Chairman, National
Innovation Council hosted the first
global press conference on Twitter todiscuss 'Global Innovation
Roundtable'.
The Roundtable saw participation
from heads of Innovation policy from
20 Governments across the world as
well as leading global Innovation
experts and aimed to create a global
platform for sharing experiences,
best practices and enablingcollaborations. The key objective of
the Roundtable was to explore the
relatively less charted road of broad-
basing innovations to meet key
development challenges and develop
a paradigm for inclusive innovation.
the following areas were discussed:
a) Open Government: The Platform
already developed for this could be
adopted by other countries, and India
could help implement.
b) Crowd sourcing Innovation
Platform: The Open Source Drug
Discovery Platform developed by
India for tuberculosis drug discoverycould be used as a template for
crowd sourcing in new areas of drug
discovery.
c) Innovation for Education: Existing
educational content could be
aggregated, filtered and indexed,
under the guidance of global domain
experts and made available on
mobile devices like "Aakash".d) Innovation for Health: Health
content could also be aggregated and
made available, just like educational
content. Further, India's initiative for
an Open Source Electronic health
records system and tele-medicine
could be adopted by other countries.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
10/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 10
India-Germany to AchieveTrade Target of 20 Billion Euro
in 2012During the meet of Commerce and
Industry Minister Anand Sharma and
Phillipp Roesler, Germany's vice
chancellor and minister of economy
and technology, it was announced
that the trade between India and
Germany is set to rise to 20 billion
euro ($26.16 billion) in 2012 as
compared to 18 billion euro ($23.56billion) recorded in the previous year.
Both the leaders also reviewed the
progress of India EU BTIA and
expressed the desire that it a
balanced and ambitious agreement
be reached soon. Germany is one of
the biggest trading partners of India.
The balance of trade is in favour of
Germany. In 2011, India's export toGermany stood at $8.25 billion, while
import was $15.31 billion.
Germany is the eighth largest foreign
investor in India with total
investment of around $4.9 billion,
while Indian investors have pumped
in $5.9 billion in Germany.
During the meeting, the visiting
minister raised the concern ofGerman pharmaceutical industry in
the wake of granting of compulsory
licence of a cancer drug to Natco,
according to the official statement
released after the meeting. In March,
the Controller of Patents, Mumbai,
had granted the first-ever compulsory
licence to Natco to make sorafenib
tosylate, a generic version of Bayer's
highpriced anti-cancer drug Nexavar.Indian patent law allows grant of a
compulsory licence to an applicant if
the patented drug is not available to
the public at a reasonable price.
Australia to teach Hindi inschools
Declaring that Asia's rise is
"unstoppable", Australia unveiled an
ambitious plan aimed at forgingdeeper links with India and other
booming economies of the region,
including through teaching languages
like Hindi and Mandarin in its schools.
All Australian schools will engage
with at least one school in Asia to
support the teaching of a priority
Asian language -- Mandarin, Hindi,
Indonesian or Japanese. It willsupport business missions through an
Asian century business engagement
plan led by Trade Minister Craig
Emerson. Australia will also make it
easier for low-risk people to visit and
encourage more tourists from China
and other key Asian markets.
Protocol Amending the DTAAbetween India, UK and the
Northern Ireland Signed
India and UK signed a Protocol
amending the Convention between
the Government of the Republic of
India and the Government of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
11/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 11
Northern Ireland for the Avoidance of
Double Taxation and the Prevention
of Fiscal Evasion with Respect ofTaxes on Income and Capital Gains
(DTAC). This Protocol amends the
earlier Convention that was assigned
in New Delhi on 25th January, 1993.
The Protocol incorporates in the
Convention provisions for effective
exchange of information between tax
authorities of the two countries in
line with latest internationalstandards including exchange of
banking information and supplying of
information irrespective of domestic
interest.
The Convention, as amended by this
Protocol, will provide tax stability to
the residents of India and U.K. and
will facilitate mutual economic
cooperation between the twocountries. It will also stimulate the
flow of investment, technology and
services between India and U.K.
12th Meeting of the Council ofMinisters of IORARC held in
Gurgaon
Foreign ministers of Indian Ocean
Rim Association for RegionalCooperation have met in Gurgaon to
discuss various issues of mutual
strategic importance. Maritime
security, disaster risk reduction,
trade, academics and tourism were
top of the agenda Underlining the
Association's importance, the
declaration pointed out that the
Indian Ocean's stability and well-
being were critical for globaleconomic prosperity. Piracy is an
increasingly serious concern, posing a
threat to maritime commerce and the
safety of sea farers, making insurance
costlier and adding to the costs
incurred by the shipping industry in
the Indian Ocean Region. Weak
governance and instability in parts of
the region have contributed to itsdegeneration into transnational
organized crime. During the meet
IORARC reaffirmed the importance of
maintaining freedom of navigation
and safety and security of Sea Lanes
of Communication in the Indian
Ocean.
India-US-Japan Trilateral meetIndia, US and Japan together shared
their strategic overview of Asia Pacific
which included Washington's 'pivot-
to-Asia' policy, Iran, China- Japan
maritime dispute and the issue of
South China Sea.
The talks were chaired by US
Assistant Secretary of State for South
and Central Asia Robert Blake, IndianJoint Secretary in charge of East Asia
for the External Affairs Ministry
Gautam Bambawale, and Japan's
Deputy Vice Minister of Foreign
Affairs Kenji Hiramatsu.
All the three nations have similar
goals: all three have expanding
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
12/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 12
economic relationships with China, as
well as an interest in seeing a
progressive growth in Asia'sbusinesses and productivity.
The three sides decided to explore
the possibility of developmental
cooperation in Myanmar, Afghanistan
and Africa.
The three sides also explored the
possibilities of cooperation in various
strategic areas, including piracy and
safety of sea lanes in Asia Pacific
amidst increasing Chineseassertiveness in the region.
Analysts believe that China's military
modernization and the expanding
activities of the People's Liberation
Army Navy in recent years have
caused the trio to take more
precautions against Beijing.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Climate change leading tomore vector borne diseases
A report on climate change and
health, published by the World
Health Organization (WHO) reported
that in the last 100 years, the world
has warmed by approximately 0.75degree celsius. Over the last
25 years, the rate of global warming
has accelerated at over 0.18 degree
celsius per decade.
The climate change and global
warming will make vector-borne
diseases like dengue and malaria,
already causing havoc in the country,
more lethal. High temperatures alsoraise the levels of ozone and other
pollutants in the air that exacerbate
cardiovascular and respiratory
disease. Urban air pollution causes
about 1.2 million deaths every year.
Pollen and other aeroallergen levels
are also higher in extreme heat.
These can trigger asthma, which
affects around 300 million people.
Ongoing temperature increases are
expected to increase this burden.
Planning Commission'sEnvironmental Performance
Index releasedPlanning Commission's
Environmental Performance Index
(EPI) has placed the Uttarakhand as a
best-performing States and Union
territory in terms of environmental
well-being.
Uttarakhand is followed by Himachal
Pradesh, Chandigarh, Sikkim, and
Andhra Pradesh.Environmental well-being is one of
the considerations for devolution of
funds to the States under the Gadgil
formula.
Uttarakhand has been given a
cumulative score of 0.8123, followed
by Himachal Pradesh (0.7316),
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
13/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 13
Chandigarh (0.7270), Sikkim (0.7149),
and Andhra Pradesh (0.7147).
Mizoram, Kerala, Goa, Sikkim,Tripura, Puducherry and Andaman
and Nicobar, with an
average score of 1, have been ranked
as the best States in terms of air
quality. Ironically, except for
Uttarakhand, all the States meet the
prescribed national ambient air
quality standard in respect of
the sulphur dioxide of 20 microgramsper cubic metre. The indicators
considered for measuring the
ambient air quality performance are
sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and
particulate matter. In respect of
nitrogen oxide, more than 10 States
don't meet the 30 microgram per
cubic metre national standard. In
respect of suspended particulates,except for Goa, Kerala, and Mizoram,
no State meets the 60 microgram per
cubic metre national standard.
On water quality standards, except
for Himachal Pradesh, which has set
up 100 per cent treatment capacity
for sewage, the treatment capacity in
the remaining States ranges from 0
(13 States) to less than 20 per cent (8States) and more than 50 per cent in
four States, indicating a pathetic
performance in this respect.
Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Daman and
Diu, and Puducherry extract more
water than they recharge, but
Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry are
the only States which show a
semblance of adherence to riverwater quality.
On forest conservation, Chandigarh,
Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh
are among the five best performing
States that have preserved forests as
well as increased cover.
Result of soil analysis byCuriosity Rover
NASA's Curiosity rover which
completed its first soil analysis on
Mars has found minerals on the
Red Planet similar to weathered
basalt volcanic soils in Hawaii.
X-ray diffraction image of first
Martian soil sample showed the
presence of crystalline feldspar,pyroxenes and olivine mixed with
some noncrystalline material - similar
to volcanic soils in Hawaii.
Curiosity used its Chemistry and
Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) to
obtain the results, which are filling
gaps and adding confidence to earlier
estimates of the mineralogical
makeup of the dust and fine soilwidespread on the Red Planet.
CheMin uses X-ray diffraction, the
standard practice for geologists on
Earth using much larger laboratory
instruments.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
14/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 14
2 MARKERS
Indira Gandhi Award forNational Integration
Congress president Sonia Gandhi
awarded the Indira Gandhi National
Integration Award to wellknown
poet, lyricist and film director Gulzar.
The award was given to mark the
28th death anniversary of the late
prime minister, who was assassinatedOct 31, 1984.
The award had been instituted by
Congress in its centenary year to give
recognition to outstanding
contribution to the cause of national
integration by individuals and
institutions. The award includes a
citation and cash prize of Rs 500,000.
Sebastian Vettel wins IndianGrand Prix 2012
Germany's Sebastian Vettel has won
the Indian Grand Prix to move a step
closer to defending his Formula One
championship. The Red Bull driver,
who started from the pole position,
led the race from start to finish.
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso ofSpain came in second, followed by
Vettel's Australian teammate, Mark
Webber.
This was Vettel's fourth consecutive
Grand Prix victory and it has allowed
him to open up a 13- point lead over
Alonso in the drivers' standings with
just three races to go in the Formula
One season.
Irom Sharmila refuses KovilanSmaraka Activist India
National Award
Irom Sharmila, the civil rights activist
from Manipur who has been on a 12-
year protest fast demanding that theAFSPA be repealed, has refused to
accept the first Kovilan Smaraka
Activist India National Award to be
conferred by a trust in Kolkatta in the
memory of Malayalam poet A.A.
Ayyappan upon Ms. Sharmila.
Rakesh MohanRakesh Mohan has assumed chargeas Executive Director on the Board of
the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) . In addition to India, he will be
representing Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
and Bhutan on the IMF Board for a
three-year term.
Prior to joining the IMF, Dr. Mohan
was Professor in the practice of
international economics and financeat the School of Management and
Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute
for Global Affairs at Yale University.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
15/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 15
Han SuyinHan Suyin was the pen name of
Elizabeth Comber. She was a Chinese-born Eurasian authorof several books
on modern China, novels set in East
Asia, and autobiographical works, as
well as a physician. She lived in
Lausanne until her death and wrote
in English and French.
New iron ore mine inKabirdham district
A memorandum of understanding
(MoU) has been signed between
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and the
Chhattisgarh Mineral Development
Corporation (CMDC) for developing
Eklama iron ore mine in Kabirdham
district. SAIL will now undertake
developmental and welfare activities
for overall development of the
neighbouring areas of Kabirdham and
Rajnandgaon
districts, including the laying ofrailway line for connecting the mine
area to the Howrah-Mumbai main
railway line.
The MoU also states that SAIL shall
undertake establishment of ore
processing and beneficiation plants
along with the construction of road
between Sahaspur-Lohara and
Eklama.
Cyclone NILAMCyclone Nilam was the second named
cyclone of the 2012 North Indian
Ocean cyclone season. Cyclone
caused heavy rainfall and flash
flooding, affecting south coastal
Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and
Telangaga.
SPORTS
Rupesh and Advani worldchampions
Rupesh Shah became the fifth Indian
billiards player to lift the world title
twice after he beat Australia's
Matthew Bolton 6-2 in the final of theWorld billiards (point frame).
Meanwhile, Pankaj Advani captured
world championship title in billiards
(time format) for seventh time, and
eighth overall, when he defeated
Mike Russell. Advani won their
summit clash 1895-1216.
Joshna wins Penang OpenIndia's top squash player Joshna
Chinappa claimed the IJM Land
Penang Open, defeating top seed
Malaysian Siti Munirah Jusoh in
straight games. She defeated Jusoh11-9, 11-7, 11-1. This was Joshna's
seventh WSA World Tour title.
Patel, Chopra set new marksSatish Kumar Patel of Uttar Pradesh
and Neeraj Chopra of Haryana set
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
16/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 16
national junior records in junior men
(under-20) 10,000m walk and boys
(under-16) javelin throw respectivelyduring 28th National junior athletics
championships.
Satish Kumar Patel took a time of
41:29.85 for 10,000m walk beating
the old National Record of 42:28.00.
At the same time, Neeraj Chopra
threw his Javelin for 68.46m more
than the old National Record of
62.14m.
Saina Nehwal loses to MinatsuMitani
Minatsu Mitani of Japan shocked
World No. 3 Saina Nehwal of India to
record a sensational 21- 19, 21-11
win in the women's singles final of
the French Open Super Series
badminton in Paris.Mitani became the first Japanese
woman to win the French Open,
which also did not feature any
Chinese player in the final for the first
time.
Bradman scholarship launchedAdam Gilchrist, a respected
Australian Wicket keeper and nowcaptain in IPL with Kings XI Punjab,
launched the annual scholarship
scheme in honour of Sir Donald
Bradman, for an Indian student to
study at the University of
Wollongong. The Bradman
Scholarship will be awarded annually
to an Indian student who has
completed secondary school and is
equipped with academic, sporting,social skills and strong participation
in cricket. University of Wollongong
will waive tuition fees up to 50 per
cent for the duration
of chosen degree.
Hare wins BuddhaInternational Circuit
A. Hare of South Africa won thesecond race of the JK Asia series at
the Buddha International Circuit.
Aditya Patel came second in this
support race to the Indian Grand Prix,
while D. Hidzir of Malaysia took the
third spot in the 10-lap race. The
respective timings of the top three
are: 1. A. Hare (RSA) 20:09.46; 2.
Aditya Patel (Ind) 20:12.21; 3. D.Hidzir (Mal) 20:14.55.
Navjeet completes recorddouble
Navjeet Kaur from Punjab completed
a record double by claiming the girls'
(under-18) shot put title on the
concluding day of the 28th National
junior athletics championships. Shehad won the discus title earlier with a
national record. In shot put, she
bettered the national record of Rakhi
(Haryana) with a throw of 14.89m.
The previous record was 13.77m.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
17/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 17
Gavaskar to be honoured byBCCI
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskarwill receive the prestigious Col. C.K.
Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award
at the BCCI Annual Awards ceremony
to be held in Mumbai on November
21. The award comprises a trophy,
citation and cheque for Rs. 25 lakh.
Previous winners of the Lifetime
AchievementAward: 1994: Lala Amarnath; 1995:
Syed Mushtaq Ali; 1996: Capt. Vijay
Hazare; 1997: K.N. Prabhu;
1998: P.R. Umrigar; 1999: Col.
Hemachandra Adhikari; 2000:
Subhash Gupte; 2001: M.A.K.
Pataudi; 2002: Bhausaheb
Nimbalkar;2003: Chandrakant Borde;
2004: Bishen Singh Bedi, B.Chandrasekhar, E.A.S. Prasanna, S.
Venkataraghvan; 2007: Nariman
Contractor; 2008: G.R. Viswanath;
2009: Mohinder Amarnath; 2010:
Salim Durani; 2011: Ajit Wadekar.
Virat Kohli will get the Polly Umrigar
Award for being India's top
international cricketer for 2011- 12.
Kohli was earlier honoured with theICC's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award.
Tendulkar (2006-07 and 2009-10),
Virender Sehwag (2007-08), Gautam
Gambhir (2008-09) and Rahul Dravid
(2010-11) were the earlier recipients
of the award. In the ceremony, Sachin
Tendulkar will be honoured for
completing 100 international
centuries, while V.V.S. Laxman, who
retired from international cricket inAugust, will also be felicitated at the
function. Seven legends of Indian
cricket - Vijay Merchant, Vijay
Manjrekar, Dattu Phadkar, Vinoo
Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed, M.L.
Jaisimha and Dilip Sardesai - will also
be felicitated posthumously.
India wins women Asia CupIndian team lifted the inaugural Asian
Cricket Council's Twenty20 Asia Cup
for women after beating arch-rival
Pakistan by 18 runs in a low-scoring
final. India's decision to bat first
seemed to have backfired when the
team folded up for 81 but the
bowlers did a splendid job to dismiss
Pakistan for 63.
Dilbag Singh subdues AmitKarki
Eight-time National champion Dilbag
Singh of Railways gave a great display
of punching power and stamina as he
knocked out a hard fighting Amit
Karki of Services in the welterweight
(69 kg) category of the 59th seniorNational boxing championship for
men. Dilbag Singh (RSPB) defeated
Amit Karki (SSCB) 20-18.
7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov
18/18
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 18
India holds world cup forcarrom
India won the men's team title in theWorld carrom championships being
held in Colombo. In the final, India
crushed host Sri Lanka 3-0.
Bangladesh took the third spot after
scoring a 3-0 win over Canada. From
Indian side, the winners were PrakashGaikwad, Yogesh Pardesi and
K.Srinivas.
Best of Luck Frnds...
Your valuable feedbacks are welcome...
Top Related