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Articles:

8 Lokpal Bill

8 Libyan Crisis

Cirrent Affairs:

8 National Issues

8 International Issues

8 Economy

8 India & The World

8 Science & Technology

8 Sports

8 Awards & Prizes

8 Persons in News

Special Study Material

8 Bank Solved Paper (S.B.I.) P.O. Held on 18.04.2010

CONTENTS

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Issues
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The word Lokpal means an ombudsman in India. The word has been

derived from the Sanskrit words "loka" (people) and "pala" (protector/

caretaker). So the word Lokpal means 'protector of people'. The con-

cept of Lokpal has been drawn up to root out corruption at all levels in

the prevailing Indian polity.

The Lokpal will be a three-member body with a chairperson who is or

was a chief justice or Supreme Court judge, and two members who are

or have been high courts judges or chief justices.Implementation ofthe Lokpal bill will hopefully reduce corruption in India. The basic

idea of the Lok Pal is borrowed from the office of ombudsman, which

has played an effective role in checking corruption and wrong-doing in Scandinavian and other nations.

In early 1960s, mounting corruption in public administration set the winds blowing in favour of an

Ombudsman in India too.

The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in 1966 recommended the constitution of a

two-tier machinery - of a Lokpal at the Centre, and Lokayukta(s) in the states.the Lokpal has to com-

plete the inquiry within six months.

Duties of Lokpal are as follows:

1. To judge the cases and make jurisdictions against corruption cases with the Lokpal.

2. To judge whether a case is legal or whether a fake complaint has been made.

3. To potentially impose fines on a fake complaint, or even a short span of jail time, if the case is not

proved to be legally true.

In India, the Jan Lokpal Bill (also referred to as the citizens' ombudsman bill) is a proposed anti-

corruption law designed to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances and protect whistleblowers.

The law would create an ombudsman called the Lokpal; this would be an independent body similar to

the Election Commission of India with the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without prior

government permission.

A compromise bill, merging the Government's version and that of the civil group's version (Jan Lokpal),

is being drafted by a committee of five Cabinet Ministers and five social activists. As of July 2011, the

most current version of the bill is version 2.3, according to the government website. For 42 years, the

government-drafted bill has failed to pass the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.The

first Lokpal Bill was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, in 1969 but stalled

in the Rajya Sabha. Subsequent Lokpal bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998,

2001, 2005 and 2008 but all failed to pass.

LOKPAL B ILL
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Latest Developments

Anna Hazare, a Gandhian rights activist, had

started a fast unto death at Jantar Mantar in New

Delhi demanding the passing of the bill. Hazare

called off his hunger strike on the 9th of April,2011 bringing to an end his 98-hour protest after

the government issued a gazette notification con-

stituting a 10-member Joint Committee of govern-

ment ministers and civil society activists, includ-

ing him, to draft a bill for the creation of an effec-

tive Lokpal.

Drafting Committee

The drafting committee was officially formed on8 April 2011. It consists of ten members, includ-

ing five from the government and five drawn from

society.

Chairmen

The Government of India accepted that the com-

mittee be co-chaired by a politician and an activ-

ist, non-politician. It is reported that Pranab

Mukherjee, from the political arena, and Shanti

Bhushan, from civil society, will fill those roles.

Government representation (Five Cabinet min-

isters )They are:

Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Co-Chair-man;

P. Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs; Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law and Justice; Kapil Sibal, Minister for Communications andInformation Technology; and

Salman Khursid, Minister of Water Resources.

Civil society representation (Five leading social

activists). They are:

Shanti Bhushan, Former Minister of Law andJustice, Co-Chairman;

Anna Hazare, Social Activist; Prashant Bhushan, Lawyer;

N. Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta (Karnataka); and Arvind Kejriwal.

Thousands of people from all over India, especially

the youth, supported Anna Hazare's cause by candle

light marches and online campaigns through so-

cial media.Recently Yoga guru, Swami Ramdev,was on a fast for this cause for 9 consecutive days

from 4 June - 12 June 2011. He wanted the Gov-

ernment of India to accept various demands which

mainly included those related to the Lokpall

bill.Anna Hazare on the 8th of June, 2011, declared

that he will restart his fast unto death on the 16th

of August if the Lokpal bill is not passed by the

Parliament of India by 15 August, which is the

Inependence Day of India.On the 16th of June, the

civil society reported that only 15 points of total

71 that they recommended have been agreed to bythe Joint Committee consisting of five central min-

isters. Following differences with the Civil Soci-

ety, the team of five central ministers decided to

forward two drafts of the Lokpal Bill to the Cabi-

net, one from each side.

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill)

is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by promi-

nent civil society activists seeking the appointment

of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would

investigate corruption cases, complete the inves-

tigation within a year and envisages trial in the

case getting over in the next one year. Drafted by

Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court

Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka),

Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and

Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill en-

visages a system where a corrupt person found

guilty would go to jail within two years of the com-

plaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being

confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpalto prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without

government permission.

Salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and

LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up.

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission,


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they will be completely independent of the gov-

ernments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able

to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on

for years anymore: Investigations in any case will

have to be completed in one year. Trial should be

completed in next one year so that the corrupt poli-

tician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two

years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the gov-

ernment will be recovered at the time of

conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work

of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any

government office, Lokpal will impose financialpenalty on guilty officers, which will be given as

compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration

card or passport or voter card is not being made

or if police is not registering your case or any other

work is not being done in prescribed time.

Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time.

You could also report any case of corruption to

Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor qual-ity roads been constructed or panchayat funds be-

ing siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its

investigations in a year, trial will be over in next

one year and the guilty will go to jail within two

years.

7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and

weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be

possible because its members will be selected by

judges, citizens and constitutional authorities andnot by politicians, through a completely transpar-

ent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes cor-

rupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta

will be completely transparent. Any complaint

against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated

and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption

agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-

corruption branch of CBI will be merged into

Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and

machinery to independently investigate and pros-

ecute any officer, judge or politician.

10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide

protection to those who are being victimized for

raising their voice against corruption.

Some people have opined that the Jan Lokpal Bill

is 'Nave' in its approach to combating corruption.

The Lokpal concept was criticized by the Human

Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil

Sibal because of concerns that it will lack account-

ability, oppresively, and undemocratically.Theclaim that the Lokpal will be an extra-constitu-

tional body has been derided by Hazares closest

lieutenant, Arvind Kejriwal. He states the Jan

Lokpal Bill drafted by civil society will only in-

vestigate corruption offences and submit a charge

sheet which would then tried and prosecuted,

through trial courts and higher courts. Kejriwal

further states that the proposed bill also lists clear

provisions in which the Supreme Court can abol-

ish the Lokpal.Although Kejriwal has stated that

all prosecutions will be carried out through trialcourts, the exact judicial powers of LokPal is rather

unclear in comparison with its investigative pow-

ers.

The bill requires "...members of Lokpal and the

officers in investigation wing of Lokpal shall be

deemed to be police officers". Although some sup-

porters have denied any judicial powers of

Lokpal,the government and some critics have rec-

ognized Lokpal to have quasi-judicial powers.Thebill states that "Lokpal shall have, and exercise the

same jurisdiction powers and authority in respect

of contempt of itself as a High court has and may

exercise, and, for this purpose, the provisions of

the Contempt of ourts Act, 1971 (Central Act 70

of 1971) shall have the effect subject to the modi-

fication that the ref rences therein to the High Court

shall be construed as including a reference to the

Lokpal." Review of proceedings and decisions by


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Lokpal is prevented in the bill, stating "...no proceedings or decision of the Lokpal shall be liable to be

challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court of ordinary Civil Jurisdiction." With-

out judicial review, there is concern that Lokpal could become a extra-constitutional body with inves-

tigative and judicial powers whose decisions cannot be reviewed in regular courts.

Whether or not to include the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under the Lokpal remains as one of

the major issues of dispute. Although Hazare proposed Justice Verma, the former Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court, as the Chairman of the Lokpal Bill panel,Justice Verma later expressed his constitu-

tional objections for including the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under Lokpal, stating "this

would foul with the basic structure of the constitution".

India is a country where honesty and integrity in public and private life have been glorified andupheldin great epics such as the Vedas, Upanishads and in the books and practices of everyreligion practiced

here.Yet, India today is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.Bringing public servants under a

scanner which makes them strictly accountable is the start of amovement against corruption in India.

And one significant step in attacking the spectre ofcorruption in India will be the implementation of the

lok pal bill.

In the regular dispensation of government there are implicit and explicit ways that citizens canvoice

their grievances and demand change. But these are often difficult. Within administrative departments,

for example, any decision of one official can be appealed to a higher official, all the way up to the head

Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo motuaction or receive complaints of corruption fromthe general public. It can only probe.

Complaints forwarded by the Speaker of theLok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body with arole limited to forwarding reports to a "Compe-

tent Authority".

Lokpal will have no police powers and no abil-ity to register an First Information Report or pro-

ceed with criminal investigations.

The CBI and Lokpal will be unconnected.

Punishment for corruption will be a minimumof 6 months and a maximum of up to 7 years.

Lokpal will have powers to initiate suomoto action or receive complaints of corrup-tion from the general public.

Lokpal will have the power to initiateprosecution of anyone found guilty.

Lokpal will have police powers as well asthe ability to register FIRs.

Lokpal and the anti corruption wing of theCBI will be one independent body.

Punishments will be a minimum of 5 yearsand a maximum of up to life imprisonment.

Jan Lokp al Bill(Citizen's Ombudsman Bill)Draft Lokp al Bill (2010)

Differenc e Between Draft Lokp al Bill 2010 and Jan Lokp al Bill


7/87



of a department. However, this mechanism has inherent flaws.But it can be said that Lokpal is the need

of the hour and it will have to be implemented first ,then only we can decide whether it is fruitful or not.

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Following a spate of protests in countries around the region,

protests broke out in several areas of Libya challenging Col.

Muammar Qaddafis 42-year rule. In late February, as the

governments response to these protests turned increasinglyviolent, the UN Security Council responded by passing

Resolution 1970 to impose sanctions on Qaddafi and refer the

situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In

early March, the UN General Assembly suspended Libyas

membership to the Human Rights Council.On March 17th, the

UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone to deter the bombardment of

civilian targets by government forces. Resolution 1973 marks the first time the Security Council passed

a resolution to authorize the use of force with an explicit reference to the responsibility to protect.An ad

hoc coalition composed of the US, France, and the UK began implementing the no-fly zone immediately

after the adoption of Resolution 1973. On March 27th, NATO assumed command of the military operation

in Libya. NATO follows Resolution 1973 in banning all flights in Libyan airspace, except those for

humanitarian and aid purposes, to make sure that civilians and civilian populated areas cannot be

subjected to air attack by Qaddafi forces.NATO should develop a civilian casualty tracking, analysis

and response mechanism with personnel in both Naples and in Benghazi. In addition to cataloguing all

available known data, the cell would also recognize and investigate all allegations of civilian casualties,

in anticipation of future development of an amends system.

France announced its official recognition for theLibyan National Councilas the

sole representative of the Libyan people and became the first western country to

do so. France also handed over the building of the former Libyan Embassy to

Paris to the Council. It also announced to send an ambassador to Benghazi (Libyassecond largest city) which is the seat of Libyan National Council.The President of

France, Nicholas Sarkozy had presented the global plan on the Crisis in Libya at

an emergency summit of European Union heads of government in Brussels on 11

March 2011. European nations took actions to isolate the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi

with France officially recognising the rebel group in Libya. Britain pressed for the imposition of a no-

fly zone and Germany freezed assets worth billions. Foreign ministers from the G8 failed to reach any

agreement on military intervention in Libya during the two-day summit in Paris. Despite France pushing

for a no-fly zone, G8 nations couldnt reach consensus on the establishment of a no-fly zone against

LIBYAN CRISIS


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Qadhafis forces in Libya. International conference

called by UK and held at London urged Muammar

Qadhafi to resign as the ruler of Libya. The London

conference in its resolution called for an immediate

ceasefire and to stop all attacks on civilians and

providing full humanitarian access to needy people.

The London conference made a declaration that

the NATO-led military operations would continue

in Libya until the above mentioned requirements

were met.

Russian Angle

The air campaign against Colonel

Gaddafis forces in Libya has had

an unexpected consequence far

from the front lines: it has resulted

in the first distinct manifestation of disagreementwithin Russias ruling duo. And the evident

difference in position between President Dmitry

Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has

revealed a fork in the road for Russias foreign

policy. When questions of war and peace are being

decided, powers that aspire to a global role should

occupy a clear position either for, or against. In

the case of Libya, Russia abstained from voting

on the UN Security Council resolution. Abstention

under President Medvedev contradicts Russiasprior strict adherence to a single foreign policy

principle: opposition of foreign interventions in

internal affairs.These days, the Kremlin remains

neutral, although the case of Libya is far more

urgent. As for the real goal of the military

campaign, there should be no illusions: the aim is

regime change. Any scenario that leaves Muammar

Gaddafi in power would be a moral and political

defeat for the West and West-friendly regimes in

the region.

To Moscow, Col Gaddafi is just one of many

partners, and for Russia to jeopardise the current

positive dynamic in relations with the US and the

EU for the sake of Tripoli makes no sense.

Deliberations about lost contracts in Libya are a

waste of breath: given the situation there now, there

would be no more business as usual with the

Libyan ruler anyway. The geopolitical purpose of

Operation Odyssey Dawn for Washington is to stop

the erosion of its influence in the Middle East,

while for Europe it is to prevent the definitive loss

of its international role. If they put a quick end to

the Gaddafi regime they will have achieved their

aim, at least for a while. But if the operation drags

on and requires more than air strikes, which looks

probable, the effect may be just the reverse:

Western influence may plummet in the region. Arab

regimes that supported the action will also be in a

vulnerable position. After the collapse of the Soviet

Union, Moscow was at pains for a long time to

assume or at least imitate the status of a global

power, partici- pating in all decisions on the

international stage. But towards the end of the last

decade, Russia began to see itself not as a likeness

of the former Soviet Union, but as a major and

influential, although regional, power whose vitalinterests have definite geographical contours. To

defend its interests, Moscow is ready to use force,

as it did in South Ossetia.Both approaches have

the right to exist, but it would be advisable to pick

one of them and stick to it. Simultaneously

declaring both puts the country in a weak and

ambivalent position, indicating that the Russian

leadership has no mutual understanding and no co-

ordinated policy. This is especially dispiriting at a

time when chaos is only increasing around the

world.

Indias Interests

Along with Russia and China, India

has been critical of the ongoing

western air strikes launched against

Libya on the ground that ordinary

Libyans would be affected and the air attacks

would prove counterproductive to the US

purported humanitarian objective. The ExternalAffairs Minister, Mr S. M. Krishna, has urged the

western nations, which have imposed a no fly

zone over Libya, to ceasefire and called upon the

Gaddafi regime and the rebel forces to abjure

violence and talk to each other. From an Indian

national security and foreign policy perspective,

the regime in Tripoli needs to be a friendly one

since Libya is an oil rich country and an eternal


10/87



shock western air attacks or civil war could

affect Indian industrial investments and energy

security interests there. New Delhis stand that air

attacks on Libya must cease is, therefore, grounded

in rational choice and Waltzian realism: Every big

or aspiring power weighs the costs and benefits of

the use of force and that their position on particular

matters in world politics is guided by self-interest.

In Indias case, it was protection of its vital interest

Libyan oil.

Indias national interests in Libya are essentially

economic in nature. Considering an estimated

18,000 Indians who work in that country, it is a

considerable contribution to the remittance

economy and adds to our foreign exchange kitty.

Otherwise, Indian companies, especially in the

hydrocarbon, power, construction and IT sector,have several ongoing projects in Libya. Besides,

Indian oil majors Indian Oil, Oil India and

ONGC Videsh are increasingly involving

themselves with the Libyan hydrocarbon sector

both in upstream and downstream. Also, BHEL

has successfully completed execution of the

prestigious Western Mountain Gas Turbine Power

Project. Similarly, i-flex Solutions is implementing

a project on core banking solutions with the Central

Bank of Libya and five other banks. Also, over the

past three decades, Indian companies haveexecuted several projects there. These included

building hospitals, houses, schools, roads, power

plants, airports, dams, transmission lines etc. The

presence of Indian companies in Libya has risen

significantly in the last five years.

This includes major PSUs such as BHEL, OVL,

IOC, Oil India, and private companies such as Punj

Llyod, Unitech Ltd, KEC, Dastur Engineering,

Shapoorji Pallonji International, SECON Pvt Ltd,Global Steel Ltd (Ispat Group Co.), NIIT, Sun

Pharma, Simplex Projects and Simplex

Infrastructure Ltd. The bilateral trade figures for

2009-10 were at $844.62 million, showing a

significant upward trend since 2004-05, peaking

to $ 1,366.65 million in 2007-08 compared to

$29.12 million in 2003-04.

Today, the western limited liability intervention in

Libya minus boots-on-the-ground aims to provide

the rebels a level-playing field against the more

organised military muscle of Gaddafis forces.

Perhaps, some level of western covert para-military

support like special forces/commandos may be

operationally deployed to advice the rebels on

tactics to adopt against the regimes forces.

Otherwise, the only advantage that the regimes

forces have would be in terms of some superior

weaponry such as shoulder fired rocket propelled

grenades/missile launchers.

Apart from this infantry-support weaponry, the

qualitative difference would be in terms of

command and control of the regimes forces that

in a sense would amount to a force multiplier vis-

a-vis the motley groups of rebels who lack such acoordinated approach to combat. he ostensible

logic of the US-led western powers to embark on

this two-dimensional military adventure from the

air and sea was only to prevent a carnage of the

rebel forces through neutralisation of Gaddaffis

airpower, tanks and artillery by aerial and naval

bombardment. The opposition to western air strikes

is solely on the grounds that collateral damage

would ensue and innocent citizenry would be hurt

due to flaws in military target acquisition

procedures based on inaccurate intelligence inputs.

India abstained from voting in the UNSC and did

not go along with the NATO-EU and Arab League

countries. Clearly, the US anti-dictator policy over

Libya is a contradiction considering Washington

adopted a pro-dictator stance on Bahrain and

supported the Saudi Arabian force deployment to

quell the opposition to the entrenched monarchy

there. Similarly, India also was equally inconsistent

by voting with the western industrial democraciesagainst Iran in 2009 at the UN, but not doing so

now. But foreign policy and consistency are not

always synonymous with each other; instead,

foreign policy and national interests have to be in

tune with each other.


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Expansion ofCentral List of OBCs

The Union Cabinet of India approved inclusion of

the names of some castes and communities in the

Central list of other backward classes. The Union

Cabinet gave this approval on the advice of Na-

tional Commission for backward Classes which

asked for amendment in the list of backwardclasses. These caste and communities belong to

14 states namely Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal

Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West

Bengal, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra

Pradesh and two union territories- Andaman and

Nicobar Islands and Puducherry.The Union Cabi-

net of India also approved a payment security

scheme to make sure that financial closure of

projects under phase-1 of the Jawaharlal Nehru

National Solar Mission.

Legislation to CurbHonour Killings

The Law Commission headed by Justice P.

Venkatrama Reddi approved the proposed draft

legislation, The Endangerment of Life and Liberty

(protection, prosecution and other measures) Act,

2011 to prosecute persons or a group involved in

honour killings. Law commission memberR.Venkatramni drafted the proposed

legislation.The draft legislation prohibits village

elders to interfere with the life and liberty of young

couples who marry as per their choice even if they

belong to the same gotra. According to the legisla-

tion, village elders cannot place these couples in a

hostile environment in the village concerned.As

per the draft legislation, the act of endangerment

of life and liberty will mean and include measures

such as social boycott, forcing people to leave their

homes in the locality and deprivation of the means

of livelihood. However, the law commission

turned down the demand for introducing a clause

in Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code to bring

honour killings under its ambit (Section 300).The

act drafted by the law commission to curb honur

killings was necessary becuase Article 21 of the

Constitution of India clearly states that no personshall be deprived of his life or personal liberty ex-

cept according to procedure established by law.

Khap Panchayats can't impose their dictats on

young couples.

Remote SensingData Polic y

The Union government unveiled a new remote

sensing data policy called the Remote Sensing DataPolicy 2011(RSDP2011) which allows all data of

resolutions up to 1 metre to be distributed on a

non-discriminatory basis. The new policy replaced

the 2001 policy.Apart from opening up the remote

sensing sector, the RSDP 2011 will remove restric-

tions to facilitate more users to get high resolution

data for developmental activities. Restrictions as

per the earlier 2001 policy, was removed. Now

there is no bar on publishing of high resolution,

remote sensing data of up to one metre

resolution.However, the RSDP stated that all data

of better than 1 metre resolution shall be screened

and cleared by the appropriate agency before dis-

tribution. According to the RSDP2011, the Na-

tional Remote Sensing Centre will be vested with

the authority to acquire and disseminate all satel-

lite remote sensing data in India both from Indian

and foreign satellites for the purpose of develop-

NATIONAL ISSUES


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ment activities. The RSDP-2011 comes into ef-

fect immediately.

Critic isism of State Governmentsfor Misusing Provisions of Land

Acquisition

|A Supreme Court bench including Justice GS

Singhvi and Justice AK Ganguly refused to stay

the Allahabad High Court order quashing the no-

tifications for land acquisition in the area adjoin-

ing New Delhi and NCR. The court slammed state

governments for misusing provisions of Land Ac-

quisition Act to divest farmers of their agricultural

land and giving it to builders. The court even ques-

tioned building of hotels, malls and commercial

complexes on land acquired for public purpose.The

bench made an observation that a sinister campaign

has been launched by many state governments to

take advantage of the law against the poor people

for taking away the land and giving it to builders

where multiplexes, malls, posh residential com-

plexes are developed which are beyond the reach

of common men. The bench questioned the change

in land use by Uttar Pradesh government in Greater

Noida.

Extension ofthe RSBY Sc heme

The Union Cabinet approved extension of the

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to all

the registered domestic workers in India. The

scheme will likely cover approximately 47.50 lakh

domestic workers in the country. The RSBY will

provide for smart card based cashless health in-

surance cover of Rs.30000 per annum to BPL

workers (a unit of five) in unorganised sector in

any empanelled hospital anywhere in India. More

than 2.34 crore smart cards were issued on 31 May

2011. The health insurance cover, available to do-

mestic workers in the 18-59 age bracket, will en-

title the beneficiary to cashless treatment at

empanelled hospitals. The beneficiaries will have

to get identification certificates from two of the

four eligible institutions namely- employer, resi-

dents welfare association, registered trade union

or the local police.The scheme has since then been

extended to building and other construction work-

ers registered with Welfare Boards constituted

under the Building and Other Construction Work-

ers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of

Service) Act, 1996, street vendors, beedi workers

and such MNREGA workers who have worked for

more than 15 days during the preceding year.

National Mission for JusticeDelivery and Legal Reforms

Union Cabinet of India approved of a proposal of

the law ministry for a National Mission for Justice

Delivery and Legal Reforms, providing for fast

track courts to clear the backlog in the judicial

system.The objective of the Mission is to increase

access to justice by reducing delays and arrears inthe system and enhance accountability through

structural changes and by setting performance stan-

dards. The objectives are to be achieved in a time

bound manner by 2015-16 through a mission mode

approach. The Mission is planned to have a Mis-

sion Directorate, an Advisory Council and a Gov-

erning Council for overseeing the implementation

of the Mission.

Areas covered : Policy and legislative changes,re-engineering of procedures, human resource de-

velopment, leveraging ICT and improve physical

infrastructure of subordinate courts. Infrastructure

development is a much needed requirement of the

subordinate judiciary. It aimed to increase access

to justice by reducing delays and arrears and en-

hanced accountability through structural changes

and by setting performance standards. The focus

was on infrastructure development in the courts

through computerisation, improving physical in-

frastructure and human resource development.

The salient features:

The National Mission would comprise of Advi-sory Council, Governing Council, National Mis-

sion Leader and the Mission Directorate.

The Advisory council is to advise on the goals,objectives and strategies of the National Mission

and the Action Plan and its implementation and


14/87



performance of the Mission in meeting its objec-

tives and would be chaired by the Minister for Law

and Justice and would have membership from Par-

liament, State Governments, Jurists & senior of-

ficers of Government of India.

The Governing Council would facilitate imple-

mentation, give policy directions and oversee thework of the Mission and would be headed by the

Minister for Law and Justice.

The Secretary, Department of Justice would bethe National Mission Leader.

A Mission Directorate would be constituted toimplement and monitor the various initiative/pro-

gram of the National Mission. It would be headed

by an officer of the rank of the Joint Secretary who

would act as the Mission Director.

An Action Plan has been drawn up which wouldof course be subjected to change once the Gov-

erning Council meets to set out the agenda.

Inadequacy of infrastructure facilities in Dis-trict and Subordinate courts has remained a major

bottleneck in the judicial system largely contrib-

uting to the accumulation of arrears. So, a pre-

liminary assessment of requirement of infrastruc-

ture for subordinate courts from the States was also

made.

High-powered Task Forc e ofDefence Management

The Union government decided to set up a high-

powered task force to review the unfinished tasks

and make further suggestions for implementation

with a view to revamp of defence management in

India. The government arrived at the decision ten

years after the Kargil Review Committee and a

Group of Ministers attempted the first major

revamp.The 14-member task force will be headedby Naresh Chandra, a former bureaucrat who has

held top administrative jobs in the Ministry of

Defence and Prime Minister's Office. Task force

members include Air Chief Marshal (retd.) S.

Krishnaswamy, Gen. (retd.) V.R. Raghavan, the

former Department of Atomic Energy chief Anil

Kakodkar, Admiral (retd.) Arun Prakash, the

former R&AW head K.C. Verma, the former Union

Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, G. Parthasarathy,

former diplomat, and senior journalist Manoj

Joshi.The panel is expected to start its work on 14

July and has six months to complete its report.The

Naresh Chandra committee will contemporarise

the Kargil Review Committees (KRC) recommen-

dations in view of the fact that 10 years have passed

since the report was submitted. It is also expected

to examine why some of the crucial recommenda-

tions relating to border management and restruc-

turing the apex command structure in the armed

forces have not been implemented. It will look at

the reasons why the post of first among equals

among the three service chiefs in the form of a

Chief of Defence Staff was never created.The for-

mation of the task force marked the first compre-

hensive attempt at reviewing the entire gamut of

defence preparedness and management in a decade.

Salwa Judum is Illegaland Unconstitutional

Sudershan Reddy and Justice SS Nijjar declared

Salwa Judum as illegal and unconstitutional. The

court ordered the immediate disarming of tribal

youths who are deployed as Special Police Offic-

ers- either as Koya Commandos, Salwa Judum or

any other force- in the fight against the Maoistinsurgency. The court gave the ruling in response

to writ petition filed by social anthropologist

Nandini Sundar and others. The ruling given by

the court indicted the Chhattisgarh state for vio-

lating Constitutional principles in arming youth

who had passed only fifth standard and conferring

on them the powers of police.The bench held that

the policy of the Chhattisgarh state violated the

rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution

of those who were employed as SPOs and used in

counter-insurgency measures against Naxalites aswell as of citizens living in the concerned areas.The

bench asked the state of Chhattisgarh to recall all

firearms issued to any of the SPOs. The word fire-

arm means all forms of guns, rifles, launchers etc.


15/87



India International Institute ofDemoc rac y and Elec tion

Management

The Election Commission of India launched the

India International Institute of Democracy andElection Management, IIDEM in New Delhi. It is

an advanced resource centre of learning, research,

training and extension for participatory democracy

and election management. The institute is set to

be a national and international hub for exchange

of good practices in election management. It was

inaugurated by the Chief Election Commissioner

Dr. S Y Quraishi at Nirvachan Sadan 17 June

2011.IIDEM is to work for enhancing voter edu-

cation, and developing human resource for effi-cient conduct of free and fair elections in India.

Along with this it is also set to develop mutually

beneficial partnership with other countries. The

institute has four components. These are (1)

Training and Capacity Development, (2) Voter

Education and Civic Participation, (3) Research,

Innovation and Documentation and (4) Interna-

tional Projects and Technical Collaboration.

Centre for

Social Research Report

The Centre for Social Research (CSR) recently

released a report- Gender dimensions of interna-

tional migration from India and Bangladesh: Im-

pact on the families left behind on 5 August 2010.

The report was based on the study of the socio-

economic impact of migration on 1000 families

from migration pockets of India and Bangladesh

in 2009. In both these countries poverty, better pay

packets, employer relocation, landlessness, aban-donment/divorce, husband's premature death, edu-

cation and children's dowry payment were the rea-

sons that compelled people mostly women to mi-

grate. Among the total number of people who mi-

grated only a handfull used formal government

migration channels while the majority relied on

informal channels like dalaals and agents. The

study showed that in India, United Arab Emirates

was the most favoured destination of male and fe-

male migrants, followed closely by Saudi Arabia.

Whereas in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia was the most

preferred, followed by UAE and Kuwait.

India Signed Three Agreem ents

with the World Bank forCleaning the ang a River

India signed three agreements with the World Bank

for cleaning the Ganga River on 14 June 2011.

Besides this, the agreement also held for strength-

ening Rural Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conser-

vation of India. The World Bank agreed to pro-

vide one billion US Dollars (approximately Rs

4,600 crore) for the Ganga river cleaning project.

It also agreed for a credit worth approximately 24

million dollars for the two projects, i.e. strength-

ening Rural Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conser-

vation of India. The agreements for the Biodiversity

Conservation and Rural Livelihood Improvement

Project were signed by Mr. Venu Rajamony, Joint

Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Min-

istry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of

India, and Mr. Roberto Zagha, World Bank Coun-

try Director in India in presence of Mr Jairam

Ramesh, Minister Environment and Forests, Gov-

ernment of India.The Ganga faces great challengesfrom expanding population, urbanization and in-

dustrial growth. To stop the flow of untreated mu-

nicipal sewage and industrial effluent into the

Ganga river by 2020 is the objective of Ganga

project. The World Bank has been a major finan-

cier of biodiversity projects globally. With the as-

sistance of the World Bank, an empowered and

collaborative body of the Central and state gov-

ernments, National Ganga River Basin Authority

(NGRBA) decided to implement the National

Ganga River Basin Project. The focus of the projectis on (1) building and strengthening the National

Ganga River Basin Authoritys (NGRBA) related

institutions at the Central and state level; (2) es-

tablishing a world-class Ganga Knowledge Cen-

tre; (3) enhancing river basin management; and (4)

financing select priority investments to reduce

point-source pollution in a sustainable manner. A

complete new model of managing the protected


16/87



areas while safeguarding the livelihoods of local

communities is set to put in place in two protected

areas, one each in Uttarakhand and Gujarat.

Pension Age-limitfor BPL to 60

The Union Cabinet of India lowered the age limit

for the purpose from 65 to 60 years. The decision

taken by the cabinet will be effective from 1 April

2011. It is like to benefit an additional 72.32 lakh

people in the age-group of 60-64 years. The deci-

sion would lead to an additional expenditure of

1736 crore rupees.In 2007, the government had

launched the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pen-

sion scheme to provide assistance to senior citi-

zens falling in the Below Poverty Line (BPL)

category.The Union Cabinet also decided to raisethe rate of pension to persons of 80 years and above

from 200 rupees to 500 rupees.

Navodaya Vidyalayas outsidethe ambit of RTE Ac t

The Union Law Ministry decided to keep the

Navodaya Vidyalayas in the country outside the

ambit of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The

decision was reached by the Law Ministry afterhearing out the logic of Human Resource Devel-

opment Ministry and consultation with the Attor-

ney General (AG). The two key provisions of the

RTE Act are- no screening and 25% reservation

for economically weaker sections will not be ap-

plicable to 444 Navodaya Vidyalayas across the

country. The RTE Act states that no screening test

of either children or their parents can be conducted

for admission in any school. Every school will have

to reserve 25 percent seats for the children belong-

ing to economically weaker section. However en-

trance examination is the basis for admission in

Navodaya Vidyalayas, which had refused to admit

children under RTE. Following the refusal of the

Navodaya Vidyalayas to abide by the prescribed

admission procedures, National Commission for

Child Protection had issued notice to Navodaya

Vidyalaya to cancel admission on the basis of en-

trance test.

There are a number of reasons for letting

Navodaya Vidyalayas off the RTE hook:

Navodaya Vidyalayas start from class VI andnot class I.

These schools, located in all districts, have 75%seats reserved for rural children. Seats are also re-

served for children from SC and ST communitiesin proportion to their population in the district, but

not less than the national average.

One-third of the seats are for girl students and3% of the seats are for disabled children.

Till class IX there is no fee, and from IX to XII,Rs 200 is charged per month.

CCS Gave Nod forNational Intelligenc e Grid

Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod for

National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).

NATGRID would be a repository of information

ranging from train and air journey to Income Tax

and bank accounts of individuals. NATGRID will

facilitate sharing of such kind of information with

law enforcement agencies to combat terror

threat.The NATGRID will have access to 21 cat-

egories of database like air travel, railway, bank

account details, income tax, credit card transac-tions, visa and immigration records.

Following the Mumbai terror attack on 26 Novem-

ber 2008, Home ministry had proposed a blue print

for countrys internal security, which included the

formation of NATGRID.

Janani-ShishuSuraksha Programme

The UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched the

Janani-Shishu Suraksha Programme at Mewat in

Haryana. Janani-Shishu Suraksha programme was

sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare. The programme was launched for preg-

nant women with the objective to effectively ad-

dress the problem of maternal and child

mortality.Under the Janani-Shishu Suraksha


17/87



programme, pregnant mothers can avail govern-

ment health institutions for free deliveries. Both

the mother and her child will get free treatment,

free drugs and consumables, diagnostics, user

charges besides free provision of blood and

transportation.The free facilities will comprise

delivery including C-section, special diet, diagnos-

tics etc.

MPLAD Sc hemeRevised

As part of an effort to ensure timely and effective

implementation of works proposed under the

Member of Parliament Local Area Development

Scheme (MPLADS), the Union Government de-

cided to raise the amount to be released in the first

instalment. The MPLADS allow MPs to suggestworks to the Head of District to be taken up in

their constituency.Projects implemented by gov-

ernment agencies would now be provided 75 per

cent of the project cost as the first instalment, while

the ones implemented by non-governmental agen-

cies would be provided 60 per cent. Currently only

50 per cent of the estimated cost is released as the

first instalment, irrespective of the nature of the

project, which led to complaints of delays in

completion.According to Union Minister for Sta-tistics and Programme Implementation M.S. Gill,

the governments decision is likely to improve the

working of the Scheme as a whole. Conditions

were further relaxed for smaller projects costing

less than Rs.2 lakh. For such small projects the

entire amount would be released at one go.To en-

sure that funds were not spread too thinly, the gov-

ernment decided against sanctioning project cost-

ing less than Rs.1 lakh.The Centre aims at ensur-

ing that the MPLADS funds were utilised fruit-

fully for the benefit of the grassroots, therefore thebasket of works that could be taken up under the

scheme had been widened to include projects such

as the purchase of books for libraries, and ambu-

lances and hearse vans that would be owned and

controlled by district authorities.The scope and ex-

tent of the physical monitoring of completed

projects would also be expanded to cover 400 more

districts.

Highlights of revised MPLADS:

Projects implemented by government agencieswould now be provided 75 per cent of the project

cost as the first instalment.

Conditions relaxed for smaller projects costingless than Rs.2 lakh.

Projects costing less than Rs 1 lakh will not tobe sanctioned. Basket of works that could be taken up underthe scheme had been widened to include projects

such as the purchase of books for libraries.

MPs would be allowed to spend up to Rs.10lakh a year on projects in any State or Union Terri-

tory.

Limit of Rs.50 lakh per annum was imposed oncontributions to trusts and societies.

Scope & extent of the physical monitoring ofcompleted projects expanded to cover 400 moredistricts.

Sec urity Auditof Nuc lear Stations

The Union government of India ordered security

audit of all important installations comprising

nuclear stations, military bases and oil refineries

across the nation. The order was issued after a high-

level meeting held by the Union Home Ministry

following the terrorist attack on a naval base in

Pakistan. A joint-team of local security heads and

Intelligence Bureau will survey and assess the level

of security of the important installations. The se-

curity audit will cover all nuclear plants, oil refin-

eries, Indian Space Research Organisation instal-

lations, military camps and airports.

20 More Districts in the

Naxal-hit states

The Union government of India decided to bring

20 more districts in the Naxal-hit states for declar-

ing more districts as extreme Left Wing

Extremism(LWE) affected districts. If these dis-

tricts included in the list of LWE-hit distrcts, these

areas will receive special Central funds for infra-

structure and security- related expenses under the


18/87



Security Related Expenditure scheme. Under this

scheme, districts of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkahnd

and Orissa will be benefitted. A proposal regard-

ing this was sent by the Union Ministry of Home

Affairs to the Planning Commission. At present,

60 districts receive 25 crore rupees each for the

scheme earmarked by a committee chaired by dis-

trict collector. It has been a long-time demand of

the Naxal-affected states that more districts be

declared LWE.

Diesel is dea rer by Rs 3 a litre& Kerosene by Rs 2 a litre

The Union government on 24 June 2011 decided

to increase the price of diesel by Rs. 3 a litre, kero-

sene by Rs. 2 a litre and domestic LPG by Rs.50 a

cylinder. The government also slashed the Cus-toms duty on crude oil and all other petroleum

products by five percentage points. The excise duty

on diesel was reduced from Rs. 4.60 a litre to Rs.

2 a litre. As a result of the government decisions a

revenue loss of Rs Rs.49,000 crore was

entailed.The hike in the prices of the three com-

modities will lead to a revenue gain of Rs. 21000

crore to the oil marketing companies (OMCs), that

are currently suffering huge under-recoveries that

are being projected at Rs.170140 crore in 2011-12. The under-recoveries will now come down to

Rs.1.20 lakh crore.The Trinamool Congress had

opposed any increase in the prices of petroleum

products, especially those of kerosene and

LPG.However Pranab Mukherjee described the

increase in fuel prices as modest. Mukherjee ex-

pressed the hope that the State governments would

reduce their taxes to provide relief to consumers.

Grievance Redressal Portal for

Insurance Policy Holders

SK Sharma, Secretary, Department of Financial

Services, Ministry of Finance launched an online

grievance redressal portal for insurance policy

holders in New Delhi. The portal would offer in-

tegrated grievance management system (IGMS).

The government launched this portal with the ob-

jective of putting in place a proper regulatory

mechanism to protect the interest of insurance

policyholders.Integrated Grievance Management

System (IGMS) is a comprehensive solution which

not only provides a centralized and online access

to the policyholder but also completes access and

control to Insurance Regulatory Development

Authority (IRDA) for monitoring grievance dis-

posal by insurance companies. The system will be

able to assign, store and track unique complaint

IDs and also enable intimation to various stake

holders as needed.

NAC d irec ted the Tribal AffairsMinistry to c onsult Jarawa s

The National Advisory Council (NAC) directed

the Tribal Affairs Ministry consult the Jarawas, a

primitive tribal group in the Andaman and NicobarIslands who are threatened with extinction, before

drafting a policy on their future. The question on

their future revolves around whether they should

continue to live in their pristine habitat, in splen-

did isolation, or be allowed to mingle with the lo-

cal population.NACs concern was raised follow-

ing a recommendation made by the Andaman and

Nicobar Islands administration that as the Jarawas

have already begun mingling with the local popu-

lation, the policy of isolation should end. Earlierin 2011, the NAC itself had sent an official to the

island to check whether the Jarawas were being

adversely affected by the droves of tourists. There

have been fears of exploitation, including sexual

exploitation of the Jarawas.Sonia Gandhi headed

NAC wanted a full-fledged discussion on the is-

sue regarding the future of Jarawas. Lieutenant

Governor of the Islands, Lt.Gen. (retd.) Bhopinder

Singh, made a presentation on the Jarawa policy

adopted by the government in 2004 and the cur-

rent status of the threatened tribal group.

The Survey o f Ind ia ReportSubmitted

The Survey of India report was submitted to the

submitted to the Supreme Court on 30 April 2010.

The report deals with the mining activities of the

Andhra Pradesh- Karnataka border that involved


19/87



the Karnataka Cabinet ministers- the Reddy brothers. The report recommended the Andhra Pradesh

government to redraw the leases of all their four mines and continue with the ban on their mining

activities until the demarcation is complete. The report became a cause of concern for the Reddy broth-

ers whose Obulapuram Mining Company has three mining leases and their partnership firm Anantapur

Mining Corporation has one lease in Andhra Pradesh. The boundary pillars in the Reddys mines were

reported missing. Reddys mines extended into Karnataka and overlapped with the mine of rival miner

Bellary Iron Ores Pvt Ltd, belonging to S K Modi.

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20/87



Germany to Shut itsNuc lear Plants

Germany announced its decision to phase out its

all the nuclear plants by 2022. This decision,

prompted by Japans Fukushima nuclear disaster,

will make Germany the first major industrialized

nation to go nuclear-free.People of Germany are

strongly opposed to nuclear power and took to

streets after Fukushima to urge the government to

shut down all reactors as soon as possible.Germany

(Europes largest economy) is determined to re-

place its nuclear power with renewable energy re-

sources. Energy from wind, solar and hydroelec-

tric power at present produces about 17 percent of

the countrys electricity.The decision taken by the

Germany suggests that there is no such compul-

sion on an industrialised society to meet the en-

ergy needs of economic growth and rising living

standards.

Amendm ents toSwiss Banking Sec rec y Laws

Swiss parliament gave approval to Switzerlands

amendments to tax treaties with other countries,

including India. This makes easier access for In-

dia, to collect information about the illegal funds

held by the Indian nationals in Swiss private banks.

The Swiss parliament endorsed amendments to

double-taxation agreements (DTAAs) in line with

internationally applicable standards. The benefi-

ciaries from the new amendments include India,

Germany, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Greece,

Turkey, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, and Poland. These

countries are secured with easy legal assistance and

information. This also allows the countries to iden-

tify an account holder from their own territories

by providing an IBAN number or social security

number. It agreed to adopt its tax code, agreeing

to share information in cases involving tax which

is not a crime under Swiss law.The new amend-

ments to Swiss banking secrecy laws are however

be challenged by a popular referendum within 100

days from its announcement.

Frenc h Na tiona ls to Sue Sarkozyover Crimes in Libya

Two French lawyers have said that they are plan-

ning to sue French President Nicolas Sarkozy

against the Humanity crimes over the military cam-

paign in Libya that was led by NATO. Jacques

Verges and Roland Dumas two of the French law-

yers have decided to represent the families of the

victims during the military campaign. It was said

that the military campaign that was initiated as a

means to protect the civilians was in fact respon-

sible for their killings. The two lawyers said themilitary campaign as an inhuman assault against

the common man and a sovereign country, and that

they have decided to defend the victims of the

military campaign. It was said that the two law-

yers have decided to defend the victims of the

NATO bombings because they themselves saw the

aftermath consequences of the bombings when

they visited Libya. Though the western government

has denied any civilian casualties caused during

the NATO bombings, Verges and Dumas have said

that they had seen several such casualties at vari-ous such hospitals and there are almost 20,000 such

victims.

Constitution (15th Amendment)Bill, 2011 passed in Bang lad esh

The Parliament of Bangladesh, the Jatiyo Sangsad,

passed the Constitution (15th Amendment) Bill,

INTERNATIONAL

ISSUES


21/87



2011 on 30 June 2011 to amend its constitution

under which the caretaker government system for

holding general elections was scrapped. The bill

which contained 15 proposals was passed by divi-

sion vote with a majority of 291-1. However,

amendments moved by ruling alliance opposing

Islam as the state religion and religion-based poli-

tics were rejected. Islam has been retained as the

state religion alongwith Bismillahi-Ar-Rahman-

Ar-Rahim.The Constitutional amendments incor-

porate strict provisions against military takeovers.

It treats military takeovers as treachery and a sub-

versive act. Parliament has been given power to

hand down maximum penalty to those usurping

state power.The caretaker system was introduced

in 1996 under the 13th amendment to the consti-

tution of Bangladesh. Since then, the general elec-

tions were overseen by non-partisan caretaker gov-ernments.

10th SCO Summit

The six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

(SCO) celebrated its 10th anniversary on 15 June

2011 in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, by

summing up its achievements and outlining its

future direction. The six-nation SCO member

states are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. India, Pakistan and Iran

are with Observer status in the SCO. Indian Ex-

ternal Affairs Minister, SM Krishna attended the

summit.

SCOs Joint Declaration:

The joint declaration of the summit included (1)

establishing an inseparable international security

community to guard information security, (2)

fighting the three evil forces of terrorism, separat-

ism and extremism, and (3) combating drug traf-ficking. aims they desire in the region for Afghani-

stan i.e. the Afghanistan becomes a geo-strategic

bridge as well as a terror-free zone.

About SCO:

SCO was founded on 15 June 2001. The SCO was born of the need of sharing themember countries growing desire to enhance mu-

tual trust, carry out mutually beneficial coopera-

tion and address challenges through joint efforts.

UN launched Drivefor Sustainable Sanitation

The United Nations launched a drive, Sustainablesanitation: The Five-Year-Drive to 2015 to accel-

erate progress towards the goal of halving the

proportion of the population without access to ba-

sic sanitation by 2015. The drive was established

by the General Assembly in a resolution adopted

in December 2010 that called on Member States

to redouble efforts to close the sanitation gap, one

of the eight Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) that world leaders have pledged to achieve

by 2015.The UN had recognised access to sanita-

tion as a human right, a basic service required tolive a normal life. However despite the recogni-

tion, some 2.6 billion people or half the popula-

tion in the developing world still lack access to

improved sanitation.Sanitation is an unpopular

subject though it is an extremely sensitive issue.

The UN resolution of December 2010 had called

for an end to open defecation, the most dangerous

sanitation practice for public health and one prac-

tised by over 1.1 billion people who have no ac-

cess to facilities

Pakistan gets ChineseAid Against the US Raids

After the killing of the deadly terrorist Osama Bin

Laden, US have accused Pakistan Government for

harbouring the deadly terrorist for many years.

Now by doubling its military attacks on Pakistan

the US wants to enter into the sphere thats influ-

enced by the Chinese Government. But in retalia-

tion to the Obama Administration the Chinese gov-

ernment has again lend a helping hand towards

Pakistan by providing air arsenal and even warned

the US government that any sort of attack on Pa-

kistan would considered as an inhuman and un-

friendly attack on the Chinese government too. The

Chinese government has clearly said that any at-

tack on Pakistan will be considered as an attack

against China which will not be tolerated. This is


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23/87



US Decided to pull-outTroops from Afghanistan

US President Barack Obama set in motion a sub-

stantial withdrawal of American troops in an ac-

knowledgment of the shifting threat in the region

and the political and economic challenges in a war-weary America. He announced that the United

States had largely achieved its goals in

Afghanistan. Obama announced plans to withdraw

10000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011.

The remaining 20000 troops from the 2009 surge

would leave by 2012 summer, amounting to about

a third of the 100000 troops in the country. The

pullout will continue at a steady pace until secu-

rity is handed over to Afghan authorities in 2014.

The withdrawals would signal the end of the

militarys counterinsurgency strategy adopted 18months ago.

Syria's PresidentRec ommended Reforms

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad proposed hold-

ing of a national dialogue that will recommend

sweeping reforms aimed at transforming the po-

litical landscape.It was declared that people from

all walks of life would participate in the nationaldialogue, organised around committees, and rec-

ommendations would be made within 30 to 60

days.The Syrian President pledged his commitment

to fundamental reforms, including the drafting of

a new Constitution. The changes would cover the

political arena and would create greater media

freedoms.While speaking on the on-going protests,

Assad said the demonstrations comprised three

core sets of people: those who were peaceful and

had legitimate demands, those who were vandals

and outlaws and radical and blasphemous intel-

lectuals.

Germany Announc ed Easing ofExport Control Laws for India

Germany announced easing of export control laws

for India. The new laws$allow India, accessing

dual use items, marking a major development that

is beneficial in the expansion of the nuclear en-

ergy sector. Previously India was removed from

the list of countries subject to national export con-

trol restrictions.

The new norms allow Germany to treat India just

like any other EU countries. India had approached

Germany in 2010 to relax export control laws to

allow high technology trade with it. And in May

2011 Germany modified its export control legisla-

tion vis--vis India. Germany repealed their restric-

tions for the export of goods for nuclear power

plants in the same announcement.

App rova l of theConstitutiona l Reforms Moroc o

People of Morocco approved the constitutional

reforms which is expected to bring democratic re-

forms in the country.According to an official esti-

mate, 98 percent of voters on the day of referen-

dum voted to approve the constitutional reforms,

with a 72 percent of the 13 million registered vot-

ers casting their votes.King of Morocco,

Mohammed VI had announced his proposed re-

forms in June 2011 according to which his power

would be limited while strengthening the primeministers office and the parliament.However, the

critics said the new constitution has not limited

the power of Mohammed because he can still

choose the Prime Minister from the party that won

the elections and continue to oversee the Moroccos

judiciary, security apparatus and religious matters.

The UN-HABITAT Report

According to the UN-HABITAT report on the State

of the World Cities 2010/2011: Bridging the Ur-ban Divide, Governments across the world worked

collectively to lift 227 million people out of slum

conditions, surpassing the Millennium Develop-

ment target by 2.2 times. India was applauded for

bettering the lot of 59.7 million, therefore the pro-

portion of people living in slum conditions came

down from since 2000 from 41.5 per cent in 1990

to 28.1 per cent in 2010 in India.


24/87



The World in 2050 Report

According the report, The World in 2050 by PricewaterhouseCoopers, India can be expected to be the

fastest growing large economy in the world over the period to 2050. Indias share of global GDP,

measured at market exchange will rise to around 13 per cent, from 2 per cent in 2009. India will

overtake all G7 countries except the US, to become the world's third largest economy with a projected

GDP of $31313 billion. China, currently the world's third largest economy is estimated to move to theNo. 1 spot by 2040, with an estimated GDP of $51180 billion by 2050. PwC however warned that India

will only achieve this performance if it maintains a prudent fiscal policy as well as continues to open up

to foreign trade and investment, and further invest in transport and energy infrastructure, and

education.India's growing young population will spur its growth while China's rapidly aging popula-

tion will lead to its rate of gain. The Chinese economy will be 35 per cent larger than the US by 2050.

Russia will also be adversely affected by its shrinking working age population, and will be the slowest

of the E7 countries.The World in 2050 report provides a strikingly gloomy picture for the G7 nations of

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, US and Canada. The combined economies of the so-called E-7

group of countries, comprising India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey is expected

to be 64 per cent larger than the G7 by 2050. Dependence on European and American export markets

will pose a problem for the G7 nations.Among the countries likely to see the biggest falls is Australia,which could fall off the top 20 ranking. Also Britains ranking will dip from sixth to ninth position

(measured by MER) will be accentuated by its over-dependence on the EU and US as trading partners.

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India-Malaysia CECA

The India-Malaysia Comprehensive Economic

Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will be effective

from 1 July 2011. India-Malaysia CECA is Indias

fourth bilateral Comprehensive Economic Coop-

eration Agreement, after Singapore, Japan and

South Korea. The CECA envisages liberalization

of trade in goods, trade in services, investments

and other areas of economic cooperation.Under

India-Malaysia CECA, the items on which India

has got market access from Malaysia include

basmati rice, mangoes, eggs, trucks, motorcycles

and cotton garments, which are all items of con-

siderable export interest to India. At the same time,

India has provided adequate protection for sensi-

tive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, textiles,

chemicals, auto, etc.The India-Malaysia CECA

also facilitates cross-border investments between

the two countries. The CECA creates favourableconditions for the business communities of both

countries to increase bilateral trade and

investment. Trade between India and Malaysia

reached 10 billion US dollars in 2010-11, an in-

crease of 26 percent from the year 2009-10.

Chinese Currenc yRenminbi in Srilanka

The Sri Lankan Central Bank Monetary Board on

27 June 2011 announced that Chinese Renminbi

would be included in the list of designated curren-

cies permitted for international transactions

through banks in Sri Lanka. People can now trans-

act in Renminbi (for cross-border transactions)

with banks authorized for such transactions. The

other currencies in the designated list are Cana-

dian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dol-

lar, US Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore dol-

lar, Danish kroner, Euro, Norwegian kroner, Brit-

ish pound sterling, Swiss franc, Swedish kroner

and Japanese yen.The Sri Lankan Monetary board

reasoned that China was a leading player in inter-

national trade had economic connections with

many countries. Recently, the Renminbi has

evolved as a globally acceptable currency. Besides,

Sri Lanka too has an increasing volume of trade

and investment transactions with China.

Christine Lagardeis Chief of IMF

Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde was the first

woman ever to become minister of Economic Af-

fairs of a G8 economy, and is the first woman to

ever head the IMF. She is a notable antitrust and

labour lawyer.Lagarde first made history as the first

female chair of the international law firm Baker &

McKenzi. Her personal interest in European af-fairs led her to open the European Law Centre, an

office of Baker & McKenzie in Brussels exclu-

sively dedicated to the practice of European Union

law.On 16 November 2009, The Financial Times

ranked her the best minister of finance of the

Eurozone. In 2009, Lagarde was ranked the 17th

most powerful woman in the world by Forbes

magazine. Lagarde became president of the glo-

bal strategic committee in 2004.

Golden Peac oc k EnvironmentManagement Award

for 2011 to SAIL

Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)

received the prestigious Golden Peacock Environ-

ment Management Award for the year 2011. The

award was presented to SAIL in recognition of its

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