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Current affairs (28) RICE-IAS ACADEMY

16.05.2017-23.05.2017

N Chandrababu Naidu selected for US India Business Council Award Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was selected for the US India Business Council Award of ‘Transformative Chief Minister’. Key facts:

He will receive the award at the second annual West Coast Summit to be held in Menlo Park, California in May 2017.

Electronics and IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan was also selected Transformative Leadership Award.

Pakistan to Sri Lanka: Six India neighbours sign 20 infra deals with China

During the forum, China dubbed CPEC a flagship One Belt One Road (OBOR) project, and 10 more agreements connected to the contentious corridor that runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were formalised.

Key facts:

While New Delhi chose to skip the inaugural Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing citing sovereignty concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),

six of India’s neighbours signed at least 20 agreements with China seeking aid in advancing infrastructure, power, banking and finance during the two-day event.

But Pakistan was not alone in cooperating with China on OBOR, a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Afghanistan all signed MoUs, cooperation agreements and planning documents connected to OBOR.

The CPEC project is expected to solve Pakistan’s energy independence and infrastructure issues through special economic zones and the Gwadar Port.

Geo-politicians have expressed that:

It is natural that India’s neighbours want to be a part of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is a great opportunity for them. They want China’s technological knowledge and, of course, they want the money

They also added that India’s neighbours may even work on convincing India, whose influence cannot be denied in South Asia, to join the OBOR initiative.

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Iran sets new conditions for gas block

Iran wants India to pay more than triple the gas price for award of the coveted Farzad-B natural gas block to ONGC Videsh (OVL).

Key facts:

Iran wants India to buy all of the natural gas to be produced from the Persian Gulf block at a price equivalent to the rate Qatar charges for selling liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India under a long-term deal.

Qatar, as per a revised formula agreed upon in December 2015, sells 7.5 million tonnes a year of LNG to Petronet LNG Ltd. — India’s biggest gas importer — at a price of $7-plus per million British thermal unit.

The rate being sought by Iran is triple of $2.3 per mmBtu rate. OVL is willing to pay for the gas during [times of] low global oil prices. If global rates rise, OVL is willing to pay $4.3 per mmBtu

Iran is playing hardball over award of the field which was discovered by OVL the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

OVL has recently submitted a $5.5 billion master development plan for bringing the gas in Farzad-B to production.

Iran allows all the cost sunk in by an operator to be recovered from sale of oil or gas. For this reason, it wants OVL to reduce the cost of development as well as pay a higher gas price.

The two nations were initially targeting concluding a deal on Farzad-B field development by November 2016 but later mutually agreed to push the timeline to February 2017.

Now, the deal is being targeted to be wrapped up by September after the two sides agree on a price and a rate of return for OVL’s investments.

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Farzad-B was discovered by OVL in the Farsi block about 10 years ago. The project has so far cost the OVL-led consortium, which includes Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corover $80 million.

Panel set up to improve staff data

In the face of a poor employment generation report card, the government has, on the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, set up a task force to look into how to solve the problem of poor employment data in the country.

A task force has been created under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, with members including Labour Secretary Satyavati and others.

India suffers from a lack of reliable, timely data on employment which has made it difficult for policy makers and independent observers to assess the extent of employment generation at different points of time

India – Myanmar Trade Relationship – An Overview

India Myanmar share a 1,643 km land border has a long history of economic linkages. Currently, India wants to cooperate with Myanmar as part of its "Act East" policy to gain influence and market share in ASEAN, while Myanmar want to have improved economic ties with India to gain its economic clout and end its isolationist policy.

Notwithstanding the facts, the two countries’ trade relationship remains largely underdeveloped. India Myanmar trade is only $1.3 billion and India is only the 9th biggest FDI investor in Myanmar, representing only 1.36% of total FDI invested into Myanmar.

The economic relationship between two countries, especially border trade, has suffered from the lack of clear and consistent policy on both sides. High tariffs from the Indian side also make the country an unattractive market for Myanmar exporters.

Logistical challenges are daunting due to lack of physical linkages and poor infrastructure between the two countries. Both countries score poorly on the ease of trading across border index by the World Bank.

Air and sea linkages between the two countries are limited. Only two Indian cities New Delhi and Kolkata are connected by air to Myanmar. The number of Indians visiting Myanmar and people of Myanmar visiting India are very few.

It requires two pronged strategy to overcome these challenges. Frist, India and Myanmar should put huge emphasis in building road, rail, and sea and air connectivity.

The second approach to strengthen institutional support for bilateral trade. This involves preferential trade agreement with Myanmar with an emphasis on agricultural and border trade.

Beyond this, logistics, processing, and manufacturing facilities can be developed in the northeast region of India to give a new fillip to serve bilateral trade. India and Myanmar are considering series of initiatives for expansion of border trade. Indian has agreed for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to Income taxes with Myanmar.

The agreement is to stimulate the flow of investment, technology and personnel from India to Myanmar and vice versa. It is also expected to provide tax stability and facilitate mutual economic cooperation between the two countries.

Another important step is the linking of United Bank of India (UBI) at Moreh post in Manipur with Myanmar’s Economic Bank at Tamu. The two banks would avail the Letter of Credit (LoC) facilities and Indian rupees and Myanmar’s kyats can be legally converted into foreign currency at these banks.

To make banking facilities still easier, the two banks are even connected by telephone. As a result the volume of trade is expected to increase significantly.

India and Myanmar are negotiating to increase the number of tradable commodities that at present is confined to only 22 items. New Delhi is considering items like life-saving drugs, bicycle parts, fertilizers, cosmetic items, garments, motorcycle parts, X-ray papers, and imitation jewellery items to be included in the tradable list.

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There are also talks to allow free movement of people beyond Moreh in India and Tamu in Myanmar. The central government has approved the construction of a composite check-post and other infrastructure facilities at Moreh. This would include ‘Border Haat’, and other such concepts.

Finally, only better communication between the trading partners could alone help in increasing bilateral trade. The importance of business delegations, special promotion campaigns is much needed to create awareness between the two countries to promote trade relationship.

More than the government it is the involvement of the Indian business community to take a lead in helping in increasing the volume of the trade with Myanmar is very much needed.

For India, Myanmar is a test-case of an opportunity to truly implement its "Act East" policy.

LIST OF MONUMENTS IDENTIFIED FOR PROTECTION AS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE IN THE COUNTRY

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), founded by Sir Alexander Cunnigham in 1861, and presently overseen by the Ministry of Culture, is a premier organisation responsible for the maintenance of ancient monuments through restoration and protection.

The very first conservationist of India was Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq who helped in rebuilding the decaying edifices and structures made by former kings and ancient nobles. He gave priority to restoration over new building projects. In 1803, when a lightning struck the Qutub Minar, Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq helped in restoring this magnificent edifice and also added two more storeys to it.

Sl.No Name of Monument State

1 Badarpur Fort, District Karimganj Assam

2 Rock Painting at Chintakunta Muddanur Mandal, District Y.S.R. Kadapa Andhra Pradesh

3 Ancient Site, Khirsara, District Kacchh Gujarat 4 Budhist Monastery at Lahaling District Lalaul and Spiti. Himachal Pradesh 5 Zimskhang Gongma along with village remains Jammu & Kashmir

6 Ancient Caves Saspol/Gon-Nila-Phuk Meditition Caves Saspol, Leh-Laadakh Jammu & Kashmir

7 Rock Art site Murgi, Leh-Laadakh Jammu & Kashmir 8 Trilochana Temple Jammu & Kashmir

9 Trisher Stupa along with adjusting remains and prehistoric site around Holy Lake (Slob Phan Rso), Leh-Laadakh Jammu & Kashmir

10 Navratana Garh Fort Jharkahand 11 Janardana Temple, District Thrissur Kerala

12 Vishnu Temple (Visnugudi) Nadavyal Sultanbatery Taluk, Wayanad, District Thrissur Kerala

13 Dhurabarao (Putalibarao) Maharashtra 14 Monument at Ranipur Jharial Odisha 15 Zawar, Zinc Protection Centre Rajasthan 16 The four Mughal Gardens Uttar Pradesh 17 Haveli of Agah Khan Uttar Pradesh 18 Haveli of Khan-i-Duran Uttar Pradesh 19 Hathi Khana Uttar Pradesh 20 Someshwar Mahadeva Temple Char, District Chitrakut. Uttar Pradesh 21 Ancient Brick Temple (Tundare Baba), Deokalia (Unchagaon) in Uttar Pradesh

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District Sitapur. 22 Sanauli

Monuments under Restoration & Forthcoming Projects

Till now major work has been conducted in Jantar Mantar, Mahabalipuram, Ajanta and Ellora, Bibi-ka-Maqbara and Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus among others by the ASI. Let’s take a look at some restoration drives that have taken place over the last five years.

Mansagar Lake, Jal Mahal: The 18th century pleasure palace located in the middle of Mansagar Lake is a 5-storey building with four floors submerged below water. Jain and Associates, a heritage restoration firm, was entrusted the task to restore the archaeological beauty of the building.

Timeline: The work was completed in 2011.

Lord Jagannath Temple, Puri, Orissa: Constructed in the first quarter of the 12th century, this monument is standing on a high platform connected with the ground level by a flight of 22 steps which is believed to be a part of its foundation. Restoration of this building has been taken on by the ASI.

Timeline: The ASI initially did not carry out the repair work expeditiously, but managed to complete the restoration work in time for the Nabakalebar festival in 2015.

Humayun’s Tomb: The tomb has been restored in 2003 with the aim of revitalizing the gardens, pathways, fountains and water channels. Further, restoration of the edifice was undertaken by the ASI.

Timeline: Six years of conservation work by master craftsmen and 200,000 work days saw the completion of the restoration work of the tomb’s Mughal finery in 2013.

Taj Mahal, Agra: National Culture Fund, ASI and the Taj Group of Hotels have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the preservation and upgradation of Taj Mahal.

Timeline: The cleaning of the Taj will be carried out in five phases. Work will be completed on four minarets by June next year, while scientific treatment and cleaning of interiors of the main mausoleum up to human height will be completed by January. The mud pack therapy of facades — including arches — will begin in April next year and will be completed by March 2018.

Tax processed foods: FSSAI panel

A committee of medical experts and nutritionists has recommended a tax on “highly-processed” foods and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Foreground:

A salient finding was that Low Income Groups (LIG) reportedly consumed more fried snacks and sweets than High Income Groups (HIG) and, the highest consumption of bakery items was in slums

Key facts:

The body, tasked by the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI), which is a Union Health Ministry body, has advocated a ban on advertisements promoting foods high in FSS (fat, salt, sugar) during TV shows and channels aimed at children.

A committee of medical experts and nutritionists has recommended a tax on “highly-processed” foods and sugar-sweetened beverages.

The body, tasked by the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI), which is a Union Health Ministry body, has also advocated a ban on advertisements promoting foods high in FSS (fat, salt, sugar) during TV shows and channels aimed at children.

The panel also recommended that all packaged food carry detailed labels specifying the energy value in kcal (kilo calories); the amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat; and the amount of any other nutrient for which a nutrition or health claim is made

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The label should also specify the amount or type of fatty acids or the amount of cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids in gram (g) and cholesterol in milligram (mg)

The FSSAI is yet to enforce a long standing order that requires food companies to ensure no more than 5% of the daily calorie requirement of their products derives from fats

WannaCry ransomware: Everything to know about the global cyberattack

The worst ransomware attack the world has ever seen has just been thwarted, or so it might seem, with a $10 web domain. WannaCry drove thousands to tears around the globe, and held out a stark warning about the vulnerabilities of our digital, inter-connected, existence.

What exactly happened?

WannaCry, a crypto-ransomware that is also called WannaCrypt, affected at least 45,000 computers spread over 74 countries, including India, on Friday. The WanaCrypt0r 2.0 bug encrypts data on a computer within seconds and displays a message asking the user to pay a ransom of $ 300 in Bitcoins to restore access to the device and the data inside. Alarmingly, the attack also hit the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, stalling surgeries and other critical patient care activity across the British Isles, and making confidential patient information and documents inaccessible.

But what is ransomware? How is it different from other malicious software?

There are many types of malware that affect a computer, ranging from those that steal your information to those that just delete everything on the device. Ransomware, as the name suggests, prevents users from accessing their devices and data until a certain ransom is paid to its creator. Ransomware usually locks computers, encrypts the data on it and prevents software and apps from running.

How was the attack ultimately brought under control? What could potentially have happened otherwise?

The attack was brought under control by an “accidental hero”, a security researcher who wants to be identified only as MalwareTech, who discovered a hard-coded security switch in the form of a link to a nonsensical domain name. He bought the domain name for $10.69, and this triggered thousands of pings from affected devices, thus killing the ransomware and its spread. If this had not been discovered, millions of computers worldwide could theoretically have been locked within a few days, affecting all kinds of services globally. Within hours of this attack, many surgeries were reported to have been put off, x-rays cancelled, and ambulances called back — just in the UK, where at least 40 hospitals under NHS were affected. It had been long feared that an attack of this nature could bring public utilities or transport systems to a halt, forcing the government to pay a huge ransom to normalise services — for a few hours on Friday, that day appeared to have arrived.

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Who was behind the attack and what was their motivation?It isn’t known yet. However, it is widely accepted that the hackers used the ‘Eternal Blue Hacking Weapon’ created by America’s National Security Agency (NSA) to gain access to Microsoft Windows computers used by terrorist outfits and enemy states. Since over a thousand computers in the Russian Interior Ministry, as well as computers in China, were hit, some of the state- or quasi-state actors suspected of carrying out largescale break-ins of computer systems in the United States will, on this occasion, start as not being immediate suspects. Interestingly, the NSA tool was stolen in April by a group called Shadow Broker, who seemed unhappy with US President Donald Trump, whom they said they had voted for.

INDIA

Sharing of Teesta waters – an important issue

India and Bangladesh share 54 common streams with the Teesta being a major one and the water sharing dispute between the two neighbours is not something new. However, sharing the waters of the Teesta river, which originates in the Himalayas and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal to merge with the Brahmaputra in Assam and (Jamuna in Bangladesh), is perhaps the most contentious issue between two friendly neighbours, India and Bangladesh.

Key facts:

Teesta is the fourth largest transboundary river shared between India and Bangladesh, after the Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Meghna (GBM) river system.

The total catchment area of the GBM is about 1.75 million square km. The Teesta originates in the Indian state of Sikkim and its total length is 414 km, out of which 151 km

lie in Sikkim, 142 kms flow along the Sikkim-West Bengal boundary and through West Bengal, and 121 km run in Bangladesh.

What’s the issue?

It all began when West Bengal started constructing a barrage across the Teesta River. Bangladesh opposed the construction as few regions in the country were dependent only Teesta River water for agriculture.

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However, after negotiation, an ad-hoc agreement was reached. As per the agreement, 36% of water of the Teesta flows was allocated to Bangladesh, 39% to India and a further 25 % remained unallocated.

But even this deal has remained pending for more than 2 decades. After many unsuccessful attempts to reach a consensus on the issue, a new bilateral interim deal was to be signed in 2011 to reach an equitable sharing of the water. But it was once again put on hold as the chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee opposed the deal.

Later, in 2013, an agreement was drafted which allowed for the 50:50 allocation of teesta waters between the countries during the lean season, when the real problems of allocation crop up. However, that was not acceptable.

The flow of the river is crucial for Bangladesh from December to March for that they require 50% of the river’s water supply. While India claims a share of 55%.

Efforts to solve the issue:

A Joint River Commission was setup to resolve all outstanding water sharing disputes between the two countries. However, no pragmatic and long-term solution could come out and Teesta remained a problematic issue.

India has been examining many parameters for arriving at a workable solution. A possible option considered was that — since the regeneration of flow in the river channel between the Gajoldoba and Dalia barrages is about 25%, which would be available at the downstream barrage — the additional 25% demanded by Bangladesh could be released by West Bengal from the upstream barrage.

But the state had its own compulsions for meeting irrigation needs as the summer flows are generally erratic. Hence, West Bengal did not want to commit to releasing water from the upstream barrage, at the cost of its major project envisaging the irrigation of 9.22 lakh hectares in the ultimate stage.

Thus, the water-sharing arrangement got embroiled in domestic hydro-politics, stalling further action to find an acceptable solution to the dispute.

Importance of Teesta for Bangladesh:

The river is Bangladesh’s fourth largest transboundary river for irrigation and fishing. The Teesta’s floodplain covers 2,750sq km in Bangladesh. Of the river’s catchment – an area of land where water collects – 83 percent is in India and 17 percent is in Bangladesh.

That means more than one lakh hectares of land across five districts in Bangladesh are severely affected by withdrawals of the Teesta’s waters in India. These five Bangladesh districts then face acute shortages during the dry season.

Bangladesh wants 50% of the Teesta’s waters between December and May every year, because that’s when the water flow to the country drops drastically.

West Bengal’s opposition:

West Bengal has been opposing the treaty fearing that the loss of higher volume of water to the lower riparian would cause problems in the northern region of state, especially during drier months. It is estimated that the Teesta River has a mean annual flow of 60 billion cubic metres but a significant amount of this water flows only during wet season i.e. between June and September, leaving scant flow during the dry season i.e. October to April/May wherein the average flow gets reduced to about 500 million cubic metres (MCM) per month. This creates issues of equitable sharing during lean season.

Why this deal matters for both India and Bangladesh?

India witnessed a surge in insurgency in the northeast during the rule of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from 2001 to 2005. A new policy to befriend the BNP backfired. Bangladesh allegedly sheltered insurgents engaged in anti-India activities, and nearly all the Home Ministry-level talks ended without agreement, and India had to increase the security budget for the northeast.

In a couple of years of assuming office in 2008, the Awami League targeted insurgent camps and handed over the rebels to India. As India’s security establishment heaved a sigh of relief, the relationship improved on multiple fronts.

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But in 2017, the Awami League is on a sticky wicket. It will be facing one of its toughest elections in two years and water-sharing will be one of the key issues. If this deal is not sealed, it will hurt both India and Bangladesh.

What can be done?

It is apparent that to make Teesta water-sharing a reality, there is a need to augment the river flows during the non-monsoon months, without which West Bengal would not allow further discussion on the subject. The deficit in flows can be met by the transfer of water from other water-endowed basins. In this connection, the proposals made in the Indian River Linking (IRL) project could be considered.

The Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga (MSTG) link canal is one of the links proposed under the Himalayan component of the IRL. It envisages diversion of the surplus waters of the Manas and Sankosh rivers to the Teesta, Ganga and beyond, to meet the requirements of water-deficit areas. By making suitable provisions in the link canal, it should be possible to release the required water into the Teesta during the summer to augment river flows, thus meeting the requirements being proposed for water-sharing with Bangladesh.

Also, another suggestion is the construction of giant artificial reservoirs, where the monsoon water can be stored for the lean season. The reservoirs need to be built in India as the country has some mountain-induced sites favourable to hosting dams with reservoirs, unlike Bangladesh.

Conclusion:

The success of the deal on the Teesta is considered to be a political necessity for both governments. The deal, as anticipated, will help New Delhi get more political leverage, which, it thinks, is necessary to check the rising influence of an extra regional power – China – in the Bay of Bengal region. For Hasina, the deal will support her chances to retain political power in the 2018 general elections in Bangladesh by projecting her as a leader who can secure her country’s interests and not a ‘pawn’ in the hands of India, as she is being often called by opposition groups.

Bangladesh has been one of India’s strongest allies in South Asia. And if New Delhi wants it to remain so, it has to move fast on signing an agreement on sharing the waters of the Teesta river.

J&K students to get more scholarships

Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar announced a slew of measures to offer a fillip to education for students belonging to the State.

Key facts:

The quota for students from the State pursuing higher education across the country under the Pradhan Mantri Scholarship Scheme has been enhanced from two seats per sector per college to 10 seats

The scheme has been offering scholarships to 5,000 students of the State to pursue education in engineering, medical, management, and hospitality sectors across the country.

Mr. Javadekar also committed to the setting up of seven hostels for girl students in the State. A sum of Rs. 50 crore has been sanctioned for the construction of these hostels at Bemina, Paloda,

Thatri, Rajouri, Kupwara, Pulwama and Kargil Rs. 52 crore has been granted for two sanctioned engineering colleges in the State.

Women’s trio recommended for Arjuna award by Boxing Federation

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has recommended the women’s trio of World Championship silver-medallists — Saweety Boora (81kg), Sonia Lather (57kg), and Sarjubala Devi (51kg) for this year’s Arjuna awards.

Key facts:

Saweety’s world silver medal came in the 2014 edition, the same edition Sarjubala got her silver. Sonia, on the other hand, was India’s lone medalist at the 2016 edition of the big event with her silver.

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Both Saweety and Sonia are silver-medallists at the Asian Championships as well. While Saweety won in the 2015 edition, Sonia had claimed it back in 2012.

Sarjubala is a former youth world champion and won a silver medal at the season-opening Nation’s Cup in Serbia early this year.

Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (52kg) is among the male boxers to have been recommended for the Arjuna award. But his recommendation had not gone through BFI.

Athletes can be recommended by individuals and entities other than the national federation as well.

Indian boxing has not had a Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee since 2009 when Olympic bronze-medallists Vijender Singh and M C Mary Kom were bestowed the honour jointly.

NITI Aayog for less teaching, more research

To ensure that investments in research better translate to more products and bolster “innovation and development” The National Institution for the Transformation of India (NITI) Aayog has recommended that faculty at “world class” institutions should prioritise research and be allowed to “reduce their teaching responsibility,” if required.

Key facts:

Such universities also ought to be allowed to recruit research staff from abroad and be encouraged to compete for research projects from industry.

The so-called ‘world class universities’ are part of a government-outlined plan to raise funding for 10 public and 10 private universities and mould them into institutions that rank among the world’s best.

The names of these institutions are expected to be made public later this year.

Vision document

The NITI Aayog suggestions stem from a three-year vision document that outlines targets and goals the Ministries from railways to environment ought to achieve by 2020.

Universities ought to be ranked according to metrics such as teaching, research output and funding won from the private sector.

The NITI Aayog also pitches for a new ‘National Science, Technology and Innovation Foundation’ headed by a distinguished scientist.

This will coordinate with science and technology departments, ministries, governments and private sector bodies and deliberate on national issues and recommend interventions.

Database of schemes

The organisation also proposes a database of all existing schemes related to science and technology across ministries and departments.

This will have information on the coordinating ministry, its objectives and available funds. Its key purpose would be to avoid “duplication of efforts, reduce approval times, increase

accountability and collaboration between entities and measured outcomes,” The organisation has also pushed for more public private partnerships.

Big B to lead WHO Hepatitis B fight

The World Health Organization (WHO), has appointed Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan as its Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region to boost awareness and intensify action to arrest the hepatitis epidemic.× Indian bags key post in UNFCCC U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Ovais Sarmad to join the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the Deputy Executive Secretary.

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About:

Mr. Sarmad, who currently serves as Chief of Staff to the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), brings to the position nearly 27 years of experience with IOM, where he worked in several policy and management areas to strengthen its operational effectiveness in close consultation with IOM member States

He was instrumental in the establishment of the organization’s Ethics and Conduct Office and was a key team member negotiating the agreement which brought IOM into the United Nations system

The appointment is significant as UNFCCC aims to stabilise greenhouse emission and slow down climate change.

WORLD

Albino orangutan named ‘Alba’ after worldwide appeal

A conservation group says a rare albino orangutan rescued in Indonesia has been named “Alba” after thousands of suggestions were sent from around the world.

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation says the name means “white” in Latin and “dawn” in Spanish. It hopes the animal will be an ambassador for the critically endangered species.

The 5-year-old female was rescued after being captured by villagers in Indonesia’s part of Borneo island April 29.

It was the first albino orangutan to be encountered by the foundation in its 25 years of conservation work.

The foundation is collecting information on albinism in great apes to help decide the primate’s future.

Yellow-eyed penguins could be wiped out in 25 years

New Zealand’s iconic Yellow-eyed penguins may go extinct within the next 25 years due to rising ocean temperatures and climate change, unless urgent conservation actions are undertaken, a new study has warned.

Key facts:

Researchers from the University of Otaga in New Zealand predict that the breeding success of the penguins will continue to decline to extinction by 2060, largely due to rising ocean temperatures.

The study highlights where conservation efforts could be most effective in building penguins’ resilience against climate change

The predictions do not include additional adult die-off events such as the one seen in 2013 in which more than 60 penguins died.

Increasing sea surface temperatures explains the negative trend in penguin numbers

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12 stamp of endangered species listed for protection by CITES, being issued by UN postal administration

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INTERNATIONAL

EUSO-SPB-the name of the football-stadium-sized, super pressure balloon which was successfully launched by NASA from New Zealand. This will help detect cosmic rays from beyond our galaxy as they penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere. The 18.8-million cubic-foot super pressure balloon lifted off NASA’s new launch pad adjacent to Wanaka Airport carrying a suspended payload of 2.495 kg. The mission will run for 100 or more days floating at 33.5 km in the southern –hemisphere mid-latitude band.

Project Owl- the name of the project started by Google to curb fake news in its search. It gives consumers two new ways to report what they perceive as problems in the search suits. Google ha incorporated a way by users can tell the company to tell Google if you encounter something wrong or objectionable. The tool now comes with little lines that says ‘report inappropriate predictions.’ If a new user clicks on the line, a box pops up that lets the user tell Google that the predictions are hateful or violent and so on.

National Current News

PCA–it stands for Prompt Corrective action is the framework under which the Reserve bank of India can penalize public sector banks if they slip either on asset quality, profitability or leverage or capital. RBI can use its discretionary powers to sack the bank management, supersede the board, restrict access to deposits, staff expansion, capital expenditure or restrict lending altogether. The first risk threshold under PCA would be triggered if any bank’s capital adequacy ratio falls below 10.25% with further action if it slips below 7.75% and 6.25% respectively. The threshold for net NPA is 6%,rising to 9% and further to 12%, a level at which strictest RBI action can be invited.

Key action points of Niti Aayog’s road map- Reduce fiscal deficit to 3% by FY2019, Cut revenue deficit to 0.9%, Reform APMC, Increase productivity via precision agriculture are some of the key action points which were included in Niti Aayog’s Road Map for 3 year which was unveiled recently. The sector wise key action points are: Revenue and Expenditure Framework:Reduce fiscal deficit to 3% by FY2019, Cut revenue deficit to 0.9%; Doubling farmer’s income by 2022:Reform APMC, Increase productivity via precision agriculture; Job creation: Create costal employment zones, enhance labour market flexibility ; Education and Skill Development: Revisit automatic promotion up to eighth grade, Create tiered regulation of universities; Urban Development: Reduce land prices for affordable housing, Reform Rent Control Act, release land of sick units; Governance: Recalibrate role of govt. with focus on health, education, Implement road map on closing select PSEs; Energy: Reduce cross subsidy in power sector, Reform coal sector, set up regulator.

17-25%-the percentage reduction in solar power yield which is caused by air pollution as per a new study, the first of its kind in India and one of the handful globally. The study has found that dust and particulate matter (PM) may be reducing the energy yield of solar power systems in north India by 17-25% annually. Half this reduction comes from dust and particles deposited on the surface of solar panels and which forms a physical barrier to light entry as per Duke University Professor, Mike Bergin who led the study. Most importantly, half the decline in energy yield came from ambient pollution-haze that reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the ground, a phenomenon known as solar dimming.

136 - the rank of India in the World Press Freedom Index 2017, a report released by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. India has slipped three notches in the report that has cited the “threat from Modi’s nationalism”. In the list of 180 countries mapped, India stands at 136, down from last year’s 133, colour-coded again in red to show the situation as “difficult”. Norway came out the top of the index with the world’s freest media. It took over from neighbouring Finland which had held the title for six years. At the other end of the scale, North Korea took the bottom place. United States also lost two points this year as compared to 2016, to be ranked 43 in the Index.

18-the number of cities in which The Reserve Bank of India launched the May 2017 round of inflation expectations survey. The result of this survey is used by the RBI as one of the input for policy formation. The survey aims at capturing subjective assessments on price movements and inflation, of around 5,500 households, based on their individual consumption baskets, across 18 cities viz., Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi and Thiruvananthapuram. The survey seeks "qualitative" responses from households on price changes (general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the three month ahead and in the one year ahead period. Also, it seeks "quantitative" responses on current, three month ahead and one year ahead inflation rates. Households will be approached by the Hansa Research Group Pvt. Ltd and the selected households are requested to

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provide their response. Other individuals, who are not approached by the agency can also participate in this survey by providing their responses on the RBI website. The survey seeks response on inflation expectations for general, food products, non-food products, household durables, housing and services.

50th Anniversary of Allahabad High Court & One Hundred Twenty-fifth Year of National Archives of India–they are the image which will be depicted on soon to be issued new Rs 10 and Rs 5 coins by The Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to the RBI, the central government has minted new Rs 5 coins to commemorate the "150th Anniversary of Allahabad High Court" and Rs 10 coins on the occasion of "One Hundred Twenty-fifth Year of National Archives of India". Besides, the Reserve Bank said that the existing Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins shall continue to be legal tender even after the issue of new coins.

FATCA-it stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, has to be complied with all individuals and entities who have opened mutual funds folios between July 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015, need to submit the FATCA-a self-certification by April 30, 2017. The purpose of FATCA is to encourage better tax compliance by preventing US citizens from using financial institutions outside their home country to avoid domestic taxation laws.

2.6 billion metrictonnes-the amount of cereal crop harvested by human beings in the world-the largest ever in history-in 2016-17, according to the latest estimates of the UN affiliated Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO). This includes all-time records for wheat, rice and coarse grains. As a result, the year is ending with the largest ever global stock of food grains in history, some 682 million tonnes. India’s cereal production for 2016-17 is also estimated to be nearly 250 million tones, crossing the record of about 246 million tones set in 2013-14.

Enceladus- a small icy moon of Saturn that is a billion miles, farther from Sun than earth, has nearly all the ingredients for supporting life, as per statement made by NASA recently, pointing as evidence to surface plumes observed by its Cassini mission. Scientists have determined that nearly 98% of the gas in the plume is water and 1% is hydrogen and the rest is a mixture of other molecules including carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia.

Moabosaurus-the new species of herbivorous dinosaurs discovered by scientists in United States that lived 125 million years ago. The 32-foot long Moabosaurus belongs to a group known as sauropods, which includes giants such as Brontosaurus and Brachiosaurus, who had long necks and pillar-like legs. Moabosaurus is most closely related to species found in Span and Tanzania which tells researchers that during its time, there were still physical connections between Europe, Africa and North America.

946mn–the number of people who are estimated to practice open defecation in 2015 as the World Bank Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals. 500mn of these people were accounted by India, Nepal and Bangladesh. As per the report 90% of the world’s people now have access to improved water resources and 2.1 bn people gained access to improved sanitation facilities in the past 25 years.

22 April 2017 this was recently celebrated as World Earth Day. Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Earth Day 1970 gave voice to that emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns on the front page. The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California.

96 percent-the average rainfall which is expected to take place in India during this year monsoon as the recent announcement made by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The actual status of the overall rainfall in India would however depends on the future status of 'El Nino' and 'Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)' activities.'El Nino' is a climatic phenomenon which is the warm phase of the cycle of warm and cold temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that also impacts the monsoon. A high El Nino has a negative effect in terms of the weather, agriculture and economics.Similarly, IOD is a climate event occurring over the equatorial Indian Ocean. A positive dipole is associated with warming over the western Indian Ocean and cooling over the eastern Indian Ocean.The IMD data suggests that a moderate or strong El Nino and a positive IOD results in good rainfall. In 1997, the country experienced 102 per cent monsoon when both phenomenon were optimal.According to the IMD, 96 per cent is however averaged over the country as a whole, while the regional forecast will be done in June and the date of the monsoon's onset into Kerala will be announced in late May. IMD will issue the updated forecasts in early June as a part of the second stage long range forecast of monsoon rainfall.According to the weatherman, below 90 per cent rainfall is considered deficient and at 95 per cent, it is considered below normal. In 2005, the nation saw only 86 per cent of All India monsoon rainfall (per cent of LPA).A figure between 96 and 104 per cent of rainfall indicates a normal monsoon and between 105 and 110 per cent above normal.

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The Brabo-the country’s first locally designed and manufactured robot which was launched recently in Mumbai. The robots, which can increase productivity by up to 30%, have payloads of 2 kg and 10kg and are priced at Rs.5 lakh and Rs. 7 lakh respectively.

14th May 2017- the date from which, fuel outlets in eight states will be shut every Sunday following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to conserve oil. It is estimated that nearly 20,000 outlets in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana would be shut for 24 hours on Sundays, starting May 14.

1lakh per family-the amount the government is planning to lend to pull rural households out of poverty under its redrawn micro-credit programme. The proposal is to lend up to Rs 1 lakh per family in the next three to five years, with the loans coming collateral-free and with subsidised interest rates. Nearly 8.5 crore poor households identified in the Socio Economic and Caste Census will be linked to the plan by 2019. The government wants to double bank linkages to lend Rs 60,000 crore per year for creation of livelihood for deprived rural households by 2019. The aim is to reduce their dependence on local moneylenders and microfinance companies who charge usurious interest rates as against 11 per cent by banks. Under the new proposal, the interest burden on the borrower is much lower due to subvention. The rural development ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with the agriculture and animal husbandry ministry to enable lending to such households for activities including tilling and setting up of poultry farms and goat sheds. The rural development ministry will provide an interest rate subvention of 4 per cent to make loans available at 7 per cent. Households in 250 backward districts will get an additional interest subvention of 3 per cent on prompt repayment, making their effective interest rate at 4 per cent.

International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) -the corridor being planned to connect India with Russia and Europe via Iran. A dry run of container movement via the green corridor (smooth customs facilitation) may be conducted soon, marking the 70th anniversary of Indo-Russian diplomatic ties. INSTC will substantially reduce time taken and cost for transport of goods between India and Eurasia once fully functional and increase economic activities between India and the resource-rich Russia as well as markets of Europe. The INSTC has moved closer to implementation after India decided to join international customs convention TIR following cabinet approval. The modalities of making INSTC functional was discussed at a multi-stakeholder meeting recently, people familiar with the developments told ET. INSTC is one of corridors that Delhi is working on as part of connectivity initiatives parallel to China's 'One Belt One Road' strategy.

Festivalofaward-winningfilmsinGoa

The 64th National Award Winning Films Festival 2017 will be held in Panaji from May 18 to June 14. Filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Kirtin Kulhari will be chief guests at the inaugural function.

This is for the first time that the latest National Award-winning films are being screened in Goa at a festival organised jointly by The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) and the Directorate of Film Festivals

Firstanti-tobaccofilmfestivalinState

The first Goa Anti-Tobacco Film Festival will be held on May 31, and will screen over 30 films.

The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), the State government’s entertainment wing will hold the film festival in association with the Department of Community Dentistry, Goa Dental College and Hospital.

The festival will select films to spread awareness on the ill effects of tobacco use and to decrease the occurrence of oral cancer in the State.

Entries will be to two sections, ad films and short films, which should be in Konkani, Marathi, Hindi or English and produced by Goan producers or production houses.

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India now world’s most expensive stock market

India is now the world’s most expensive market. At a lifetime high of 30,658.77, the benchmark Sensex trades at a price-earnings multiple of nearly 18 times estimated one year forward earnings. India’s market capitalisation hit $2 trillion on Wednesday for the first time ever.

Trujet gets clearance for UDAN flights

Hyderabad-based Turbo Megha Airways’ Trujet became the first airline to receive an air operator certificate (AOC) under the scheduled commuter operator category

The move will enable the airline to operate flights under the Centre’s UDAN scheme for regional connectivity.

Trujet is one of five airlines to have won bids to operate on 128 routes connecting 70 airports under the scheme.

AndhraPradeshgovttogivemonthlystipendtounemployedyouths

With nearly 12 lakh unemployed youths in the state, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to give a monthly allowance of around Rs 2,000 per person till they find a job. The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet sub-committee, has decided to launch the scheme with an initial budget of Rs 500 crore.

Kollu Ravindra, Minister for Youth and Unemployment Benefits, said that although the date of launch has not been decided yet, in all likelihood, the programme should begin by July-end.

Key facts:

The committee would look into how states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are giving benefits to unemployed youths, before it comes up with a plan suitable for Andhra Pradesh.

It may be noted that while West Bengal is giving Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per person per month, Tamil Nadu is giving Rs 500 per month.

Andhra may fix the monthly allowance at Rs 2,000. The assistance will be for 2-3 years and first preference would be given to those who are registered

with employment exchanges and bureaus for last five years. Only one unemployed person in a family would receive the benefit. The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet sub-committee also suggested that while giving benefits to unemployed

people, they should also be asked if they would volunteer to do any community work in lieu of the dole.

The government may request beneficiaries to participate in community development projects in villages.

The Andhra government also proposes to hike the budgetary allocation to Rs 1,000 crore. The government has also allocated Rs 398 crore to impart skill development and entrepreneur training

to the unemployed youth.

Multi-modal transport policy on the anvil

The Centre will soon frame a policy on integration of various modes of transport aimed at smooth transition of cargo, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping

Key facts:

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu proposed a single company for multi-modal transportation of cargo The government is working on a common IT platform for tracking air cargo by stakeholder Air cargo industry in India has registered an impressive growth rate of 7% in the last decade.

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Air cargo is expected to register 9% growth over the next few years as compared to half the growth rate for global air cargo trade as a whole

Russia, Iran and Turkey ink Syria deal

Syrian regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey on Thursday signed a memorandum on a Moscow-backed plan to create safe zones in Syria to bolster a fragile truce.

Key facts:

An Arabic-language version of the Russian draft proposal seen by AFP calls for the creation of “de-escalation zones” in rebel-held territory in the northwestern province of Idlib, in parts of Homs province in the centre, in the south, and in the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.

The aim is to “put an immediate end to the violence” and “provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees” as well as the immediate delivery of relief supplies and medical aid, the document said.

But issues including which countries could police any safe zones remain unclear.

GST Council sets rates for most commodities

The Goods and Services (GST) Council has agreed on the fitment of almost all commodities in the various tax slabs under the new indirect regime to be rolled out on July 1.

Milk, cereals (unpackaged and unbranded), and jaggery will be exempt from any GST, while sugar, tea, coffee (except instant)

edible oil will be taxed at 5%. Common use items such as soap, toothpaste, and hair oil, which currently attract a tax rate of 22-24%,

will be taxed at 18%. Coal, which is currently taxed at 11.7%, will attract a GST rate of 5%. Consumer durables will come under the 28% tax bracket, down from the current 30-32% rate. Capital goods and industrial intermediaries will be taxed at 18%. Small petrol and diesel cars will be taxed at 28% with small petrol cars attracting a cess of 1% and

small diesel cars 3%. Luxury cars will attract a 15% cess in addition to 28% GST. 350 cc bikes will attract a cess of 3%. There are 1,211 items in the four digit code that exists now The six categories to be discussed include bidis/cigarettes, footwear, gold, and agriculture implements

Eight states have passed SGST law so far: Govt

The government said eight state legislative assemblies have passed their respective State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Bills so far, after Parliament approved the four GST laws on March 20.

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Key facts:

Of the five GST-related laws, four were to be cleared by Parliament while SGST laws require to be cleared by state and Union Territory (UT) assemblies.

While Haryana passed the law, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand assemblies cleared the law earlier this week.

Telangana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh passed the Act last month, clearing the decks for the July 1 roll-out of the nex tax regime.

The remaining states and UTs, which have legislative assemblies, are likely to pass the SGST Bill in their respective assemblies before the end of this month, except one or two states which may pass the same early next month

The GST Council has so far approved a set of nine rules related to GST while the drafts of the remaining set of five rules are likely to be approved by the council in its next meeting.

The quick passage of SGST by the different state assemblies in a time-bound manner shows the keenness on part of the states to ensure that implementation of the GST in letter and spirit is not further delayed

In the winter session, Parliament had approved four GST Acts namely Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST), Union Territories Goods and Services Tax (UTGST) and GST Compensation Bill.

Logistics data bank project to improve supply chain:DMICDC

The logistics data bank project of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corrdior Development Corporation (DMICDC) will help improve the logistics supply chain in the country.

India has jumped 19 places to 35th on the World Banks Logistics Performance Index 2016.

The logistics data bank (LDB) intends to bring a drastic change in the way container movement is tracked and its visibility across the supply chain, DMICDC said in a statement.

It also said that the EXIM container tracking, which commenced from July 1 this year in the western corridor of India through the use of RFID technology, has covered 5,32,000 container movements under the project.

This would not only bringing the visibility of the container movement but also bring efficiency in the logistics supply chain management.

DMICDC and Japanese IT major NEC Corporation have formed a joint venture -DMICDC Logistics Data Services Ltd with 50:50 equity participation to establish the LDB service that will handle the tracking and viewing of container movement across all ports to the Inland Container Depots and end-users

Labour Force Participation Rate

Labour force participation rate is defined as the section of working population in the age group of 16-64 in the economy currently employed or seeking employment. People who are still undergoing studies, housewives and persons above the age of 64 are not reckoned in the labour-force. Description: The labour force participation rate is the measure to evaluate working-age population in an economy. The participation rate refers to the total number of people or individuals who are currently employed or in search of a job. People who are not looking for a job such as full-time students, homemakers, individuals above the age of 64 etc. will not be a part of the data set. This is an important metric when the economy is not growing or is in the phase of recession. It is that time when people look at the unemployment data.

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Eastern Peripheral expressway

The government has started work on five expressways including Delhi-Meerut while other seven projects will be launched soon

These include Eastern Peripheral expressway which will be completed by August 15 this year and Delhi-Meerut expressway After inaugurating an exhibition at India Integrated Transport & Logistics Summit 2017

Alignments for Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Ludhiana- Amritsar-Katra expressways have been finalised,The other projects he said include 250 km Bangalore- Chennai expressway beside Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Nagpur-Hyderabad projects. The Minister said the road building pace has reached 23 km a day at present and would touch 40 km a day in March 2018.

He said a massive road network will be built under ‘Bharatmala’ that would include highways in border areas and hilly terrains besides road connectivity to district headquarters and tribal areas.

Safeguard rights of online users: Supreme Court

The state has a duty to ensure that subscribers of online service providers are not “entrapped” by them, the Supreme Court advised.

Key facts:

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said that State has a duty to protect the citizenry rights.

Since service providers like WhatsApp and Facebook say we are giving it free, the state has to ensure that 160 million citizens who are using the service, are not entrapped in it

The court’s remarks came at the end of a day-long hearing on petitions contesting the constitutionality of the contract entered into between WhatsApp and Facebook on data sharing.

The Bench asked if WhatsApp, an instant messaging platform, can impose any condition on its users here violating any part of the Constitution.

National Employment Policy this year

Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said, the Centre will frame a new sector-wise National Employment Policy in this financial year even as it grapples with low employment generation.

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Key facts:

A new National Employment Policy will be created in the next five-six months after holding consultations with various ministries, including micro, small and medium enterprises, heavy industries, electronics and information technology, health, education, textiles and more importantly, commerce

The policy’s thrust would be to ensure a transition from informal to formal jobs takes place in the country.

A National Employment Policy was planned by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government but a draft Policy was released on June 16, 2014 when the NDA government took charge at the Centre. A two-page document, it talked about providing skill development in the unorganised non-farm sector such as construction.

Background:

The pace of job creation fell to a six-year low in 2015 with 1.35 lakh new jobs being created compared with 4.21 lakh new jobs in 2014 and 4.19 lakh in 2013, according to a quarterly survey of industries conducted by Labour Bureau, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

At present, in India, around 92% of the workers are engaged in informal employment those who are not covered by any social security law.

The job losses in the IT sector are due to the (recent) policy announcements by the American government. Secondly, the whole industry is going ahead with automation as a result of which the manpower requirement is going down,

The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.

Recognizing that developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere as a result of more than 150 years of industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities."

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. The detailed rules for the implementation of the Protocol were adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2001, and are referred to as the "Marrakesh Accords." Its first commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012.

In Doha, Qatar, on 8 December 2012, the "Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol" was adopted. The amendment includes:

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New commitments for Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol who agreed to take on commitments in a second commitment period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020;

A revised list of greenhouse gases (GHG) to be reported on by Parties in the second commitment period; and

Amendments to several articles of the Kyoto Protocol which specifically referenced issues pertaining to the first commitment period and which needed to be updated for the second commitment period.

Under the Protocol, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Protocol also offers them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms.

The Kyoto mechanisms are:

International Emissions Trading

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

Joint implementation (JI)

The mechanisms help to stimulate green investment and help Parties meet their emission targets in a cost-effective way.

Monitoring emission targets

Under the Protocol, countries' actual emissions have to be monitored and precise records have to be kept of the trades carried out.

Registry systems track and record transactions by Parties under the mechanisms. The UN Climate Change Secretariat, based in Bonn, Germany, keeps an international transaction log to verify that transactions are consistent with the rules of the Protocol.

Reporting is done by Parties by submitting annual emission inventories and national reports under the Protocol at regular intervals.

A compliance system ensures that Parties are meeting their commitments and helps them to meet their commitments if they have problems doing so.

Adaptation The Kyoto Protocol, like the Convention, is also designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It facilitates the development and deployment of technologies that can help increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. In the first commitment period, the Fund was financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities. In Doha, in 2012, it was decided that for the second commitment period, international emissions trading and joint implementation would also provide the Adaptation Fund with a 2 percent share of proceeds.

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The road ahead

The Kyoto Protocol is seen as an important first step towards a truly global emission reduction regime that will stabilize GHG emissions, and can provide the architecture for the future international agreement on climate change.

In Durban, the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) was established to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention, applicable to all Parties. The ADP is to complete its work as early as possible, but no later than 2015, in order to adopt this protocol, legal instrument or agreed outcome with legal force at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties and for it to come into effect and be implemented from 2020.

NSCN-IM settles for ‘shared sovereignty’

In the two years the Centre has signed a framework agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) to find a solution to the decades-old Naga sovereignty issue, the outfit has recruited around 5,000 new cadres, a senior government official said.

NSCN-IM, one of the largest groups representing Nagas, has been recruiting locals on the ground that they would be recruited in the central armed police forces, once the final agreement was signed.

On May 9, NSCN-IM issued a statement saying as of now the Nagas have agreed to co-exist with India under “shared sovereignty.”

In 1997, NSCN (Isak-Muivah) signed a ceasefire agreement for an indefinite period with the Centre.

On August 3, 2015, the government had signed the 'framework agreement' with the NSCN-IM for finding a final solution to the vexed Naga issue.

Last year, while extending Armed Forces Special Powers Act in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, Centre in a notification cited “extortion and intimidation” by the cadres of NSCN-IM as one of the reasons for doing so.

The notification said that “Naga underground factions including NSCN-IM and NSCN-K continue to indulge in extortion, area domination, recruitment of locals and inter-factional rivalry.”

On August 3, 2015, the government had signed the 'framework agreement' with the NSCN-IM for finding a final solution to the vexed Naga issue.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the outfit's leader T Muivah at the prime minister's residence

The framework agreement contained various demands of NSCN-IM and a separate passport and flag was also demanded by them then.

The government of India’s reply was very clear on this that we don’t agree to this . The NSCN-IM has been in talks with the Centre's representative for last 17 years, even since it had

entered into a ceasefire agreement in 1997.

National Steel Policy 2017

The Union Cabinet has approved a new steel policy that envisions investment of Rs 10 lakh crore to build more production capacity.

Key facts: The policy has planned for a steel demand of about 230 million tonne by 2030-31.

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It mandates to "give preference to “Domestically manufactured iron & steel products” (DMI&SP) and will be applicable on all government tenders where price bid is yet to be opened,

DMI&SP policy provides a minimum value addition of 15 per cent in notified steel products that are covered under preferential procurement.

A major part of that new steel demand is expected to come from affordable housing, expansion of railway networks, development of domestic shipbuilding industry, opening up of defence sector for private participation and an anticipated growth in automobiles.

The policy envisages a crude steel capacity of nearly 300 mt by 2030-31, which is similar to the earlier target set by the earlier National Steel Policy, 2005.

India is tipped to emerge as the 2nd largest steel producer globally, had a production level of 91mt and a domestic steel capacity of 122 mt in 2015-16.

The policy would rely on local producers to provide self-certification to the procuring government agency declaring that steel products are domestically manufactured in terms of local value addition prescribed.

Significantly, it also talks about preference for domestic steel for local projects,

About:

The National Steel Policy 2017 is an effort to steer the industry both large and MSME segments to achieve its full potential, enhance steel production with a focus on high-end value added steel while being globally competitive.

In particular, India needs to make a special effort to domestically produce for high-end applications, electrical steel (CRGO), special steel and alloys for power equipment, aerospace, defence and nuclear applications

ArmygetsitsfirstartillerygunsthreedecadesafterBofors,willbetestedatPokhrantoday

Nearly three decades after the Bofors howitzers were inducted, the Army has got its first artillery guns from BAE Systems.

Two 155mm/39 caliber ultra light howitzers (ULH) will be firing at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan

Having initiated the deal for M777 guns with the United States in 2010, the government finally announced a deal for 145 guns on June 26 last year. The Rs 2,900-crore deal, which was a government-to-government deal under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route, was completed in November last year.

The Army has not seen induction of any modern artillery gun after the Swedish Bofors guns were inducted in the late 1980s. There was a controversy over payment of alleged kickbacks in the deal, which put on the backfoot all deals for the modernisation of the artillery.

The Army has plans to equip 169 regiments with 3,503 guns by 2020 but acquisition plans, which include indigenously manufactured guns, have been delayed considerably.

The two M777 guns, which will be fired at Pokhran, will be used for compilation of firing tables — a calibration for target acquisition with various types of ammunition used with the guns. These guns have been designed for firing Indian ammunition in Indian conditions, and are already in service with the US, Canadian and Australian armies. These guns have been deployed by these armies in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

After these two guns, three M777 guns will come to India in September 2018 and used for training. Thereafter, five guns will be inducted every month from March 2019 to June 2021. These guns, which will equip seven artillery regiments, are capable of firing at a range of 24 to 40 km, depending on the type of ammunition used.

While the first 25 guns will be inducted directly, 120 of the 145 guns will be assembled in India by Mahindra Defence as part of offsets obligation.

The modular design of the M777 gun allows it to be towed along narrow and treacherous mountain roads, which dot India’s borders with both Pakistan and China. Moreover, it can be transported to the battlefield, slung under heavy-lift helicopters like the Chinook, which India has signed to acquire from

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the US. The US-made C130J Super Hercules, used for strategic airlift by India are capable of carrying two M777 guns on a single sortie.

Cabinetgivesnodfor10indigenousnuclearreactors

The Union Cabinet has cleared the proposal to construct 10 indigenous pressurised heavy water nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 7,000 MWe.

Background:

The decision comes against the backdrop of recent troubles for India’s international collaborations in nuclear projects. While the U.S. deal, involving Toshiba Westinghouse for six reactors in Andhra Pradesh, is floundering after Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the deal with French company Areva for reactors in Jaitapur remain mired in negotiations over costing.

Key facts:

The 10 plants is likely to create Rs. 70,000 crore worth of business for domestic manufacturers and generate about 33,400 jobs, he did not provide a timeline for their completion

The Cabinet also approved a coal linkage policy, called the Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India (Shakti), that will award fuel supply agreements to coal plants already holding letters of assurance (LoAs).

Thermal plants holding LoAs will be eligible to sign fuel supply pacts under the new policy after ensuring that all the conditions are met.

NTROnowunderIntelligenceAct

The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), which reports to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the National Security Advisor (NSA) will now have the same “norms of conduct” as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

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Key facts:

The Home Ministry issued a notification on May 15 listing NTRO under ‘The Intelligence Organisations (Restriction of Rights) Act, 1985,’ a demand being made by the organisation for over a decade now.

The Act prevents employees of a notified agency from forming unions/associations, puts restrictions on the employee’s freedom of speech, bars any communication with the press, or publishing a book or other document without the permission of the head of the intelligence organisation.

Both IB and R&AW have on earlier occasions opposed the inclusion of any other organisation in the list of monitoring agencies under the Act.

About:

The NTRO was created after the 1999 Kargil conflict as a dedicated technical intelligence agency. It has been fighting tooth and nail to get included in the list as it has the right to lawfully intercept and

monitor communications externally. NTRO hires many people from the private sector and the Act means they will have the same safety net

and restrictions available to other spy agencies.

Navysavesshipfrompirates

Deploying its ship INS Sharda, the Navy rescued a merchant vessel, m.v. Lord Mountbatten, from a piracy attempt in the Gulf of Aden

“On May 16, about 16:45 hours [4.45 p.m.], the ship received a distress call from m.v. Lord Mountbatten, 230 nm [nautical miles] south-west of Salalah in the Gulf of Aden. The vessel had reported an incident of attempted piracy by two suspicious mother vessels along with 7-8 skiffs

INS Sharda, which was 30 nm from the merchant vessel at that time

Visakhapatnamrailwaystationcleanest,Darbhangadirtiest,sayssurvey

The Visakhapatnam railway station is the cleanest, followed by Secunderabad, among the 75 busiest stations in the country.

According to a survey, the report of which was released by railway minister Suresh Prabhu The Jammu railway station occupied the third spot, The New Delhi station was ranked at 39 among the busiest stations. The survey was carried out by the Quality Council of India. The Darbhanga railway station in Bihar was the dirtiest among the busiest stations. Clean toilets at platforms, clean tracks and dustbins at stations were some of the criteria for judging

railway stations for cleanliness. This was the third survey on cleanliness done by the railways to keep a tab on rail premises as part of

its ‘Swachh Rail’ campaign. The Anand Vihar railway station was ranked at the 5th position, Nizamuddin and Old Delhi stations were placed at 23th and 24th position. The railway station in Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was

ranked at 14th position. The survey was carried out for total 407 stations, out of which 75 are in the A-1 category or busiest

stations and 332 are in the A category. The Beas railway station was the cleanest, followed by Khammam, in the A category. Ahmedanagar

station was ranked at 3rd position.

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ForumtriggersthawinChina-Japanties

The recently concluded Belt and Road Forum in Beijing has triggered a cycle of diplomacy between China and Japan, which could yield a summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well as Tokyo’s participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Japan reported that China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, is heading for Tokyo next month to lay the groundwork for a possible summit between the two leaders.

Mr. Abe said he hoped to meet Mr. Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany in July. But there are also fresh signals that a dialogue between the two could materialise in their respective

capitals. Japan decided to send a delegation, notwithstanding contested sovereignty with China over a set of

reefs in the East China Sea.

Pakistan and Afghanistan plan on using Google Maps to help resolve a border dispute

Pakistan and Afghanistan plan on using Google Maps to help resolve a border dispute that led to deadly clashes last week

About:

Pakistan inherited its 2,400-km border with its western neighbour when it gained independence from the British Empire in 1947, but Afghanistan has never formally recognised the frontier.

While official Afghan maps reflect the so-called ‘Durand Line’, many nationalists believe the true border of their country ends at the Indus river that runs though Pakistan and gave India its name.

Key facts:

Officials from the geological survey departments of the two countries will conduct a survey, and they will also make use of Google Maps

Google complies with local laws in certain countries that compel it to show borders in line with national demands for instance, its Indian site shows Kashmir as being controlled by India.

In Pakistan, however, the site shows the internationally-recognised de facto border marked with a dotted line to denote it is disputed.

Hostile reaction

Attempts by Pakistan to harden the traditionally soft border with Afghanistan through trenching and fencing that began in 2016 have been met with hostility by Kabul.

Ethnic Pashtuns living in the region have traditionally paid it little heed, with villages straddling the frontier that have mosques and houses with one door in Pakistan and another in Afghanistan.

Funds to parties: Govt. may amend FCRA again

After being pulled up by the Delhi High Court for not initiating any action against the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which received foreign funds from two subsidiaries of Vedanta, a U.K.-based company, the Home Ministry will seek the Attorney-General’s opinion to amend the repealed Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 1976, which barred foreign donations to political parties.

The Representation of the People Act and the FCRA bar political parties from receiving foreign funds.

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Definition changed

Last year, the NDA government had amended the FCRA through the Finance Bill route, which allowed foreign origin companies to fund NGOs here and also cleared the way for donations to political parties by changing the definition of “foreign companies.”

The glitch was that although the amendment was done retrospectively it only made valid the foreign donations received after 2010, the year when the 1976 Act was amended

A senior Home Ministry official said that after the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms were progressively relaxed, there have been anomalies regarding the definition of “foreign companies” under the FCRA which were never corrected. The original FCRA provision, which declared that any company with over 50 per cent FDI was a foreign entity, was inconsistent with the view of the Finance and Commerce ministries, which treated companies based in India and having Indian directors and employees as Indian subsidiaries.

Remote South Pacific island has highest plastic density in the world, says report

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has said Remote and uninhabited Henderson Island is believed to have the highest density of plastic waste in the world

Key facts:

Categorised as a coral atoll by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Henderson Island is part of the South Pacific’s Pitcairn Islands group and has an estimated 37.7 million pieces of debris on its beaches.

The study was a collaboration the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and the Centre for Conservation Science at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The team found an average of 671 items of waste per square metre and a total of 17 tonnes.

The island is near the centre of an ocean current that collects litter from vessels in the vicinity and garbage from South America.

Far from being the pristine ‘deserted island’ that people might imagine of such a remote place, Henderson Island is a shocking but typical example of how plastic debris is affecting the environment on a global scale

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GST Council fixes 4-tier tax slab for services

The GST Council has finalised a four-tier structure for taxation of services, 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent, in line with what has been done for goods.

While education, healthcare and third tier railway travel will be exempt from GST, goods transport and cab aggregates will attract a 5 per cent tax.

Hotels and restaurants depending on their services will attract different tax rates. Business class travel by airlines will attract 12 per cent tax. Telecom and financial services will attract 18 per cent GST, which is the standard rate for services. A peak rate of 28 per cent will be charged on five services including five star hotels, cinema and horse

race betting Tax on e-commerce has been fixed at 1 per cent.

Round-tripping (finance)

Round-tripping, also known as round-trip transactions or "Lazy Susans", is defined by The Wall Street Journal, as a form of barter that involves a company selling "an unused asset to another company, while at the same time agreeing to buy back the same or similar assets at about the same price.

Key facts:

Round trips are characteristic of the New Economy companies. They played a crucial part in temporarily inflating the market capitalization of energy traders such as

Enron, CMS Energy, Reliant Energy, and Dynegy. In international scenarios, round tripping is used for tax evasion and money laundering as well.

Many companies have used round-tripping to distort the market by establishing false revenue benchmarks, aiming to meet or beat the numbers put out by Wall Street stock analysts. As a result of abusive round trips, barter between publicly held companies has become discredited among professional investors.

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Tejas Express all set to run from May 22

‘Tejas’ Express, which boasts several modern facilities on-board like LED TV and tea, coffee vending machine, will be flagged off from Mumbai to Goa on May 22.

Manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, the coaches will have automatic entrance door, first in a non-suburban train in Indian Railways.

Equipped with CCTV cameras besides smoke and fire detection system, the 19-coach Tejas Express equipped with bio-vacuum toilets and GPS-based passenger information display system.

There will be comfortable seating arrangements and each seat will have LED TV with touch control system and call bell facilities.

There will be tea and coffee vending machines and snack tables at each coach in the newly designed coaches.

Tejas Express will also be pressed into service in Delhi-Chandigarh and Delhi-Lucknow sectors

Maharashtra may soon get inter-caste marriage law

The Maharashtra government is planning to introduce an inter-caste marriage legislation to prevent heinous crimes like ‘honour killings

Key facts:

This law is to ensure their security and to protect their children, The talk was organised as part of the ongoing celebrations of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s 126th birth

anniversary. The plan to introduce the law was mooted in March, with Mr. Badole chairing a nine-member

committee constituted to frame the legislation. The law will give inter-caste couples priority during employment, apart from financial aid from the

government.

IT Surveillance for forests of rajasthan

Drones and thermal cameras will be part of an advanced surveillance mechanism that will be put in place to check poaching and other anti-wildlife activities in prominent reserves of Rajasthan including Sariska and Ranthambore.

Key facts:

Technology-enabled surveillance and anti-poaching system will also be in place at Mukandara hills tiger reserve (Kota and nearby region), Jawai bandh (Pali) leopard conservation reserve and Jhanana nature park (Jaipur).

Few wildlife reserves in Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Uttarakhand already have a similar system but the desert state of Rajasthan claims to be the first state to introduce this on a large scale.

Besides improving the forest department’s monitoring capabilities, the project would help the authorities in conservation of tiger and other wildlife animals, identification of poaching or other wildlife crime prone areas, checking infiltration and illegal activities and in effective decision making.

The department of IT has invited tenders for the hi-tech project. The project will cover as many as 1173 critical areas of Ranthambhore (283 areas), Sariska Tiger

Reserve (420), Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (417), Jawaibhag Leopard Conservation Reserve (20) and Jhalana Nature Park (33).

normal image/video capturing cameras and thermal sensing cameras will be used with wireless network.

Cameras will be connected to local control room which will be set up at each location for the data collection and analysis.

Local control rooms will be connected to divisional/central control room.

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Cuba held its first transgender mass

Cuba held its first transgender mass in a groundbreaking move for the communist-ruled country.

For decades, belonging to a religion and having a sexual orientation other than heterosexual was stigmatized on the Caribbean island.

Key facts

The pastors who had flown in from Brazil, Canada and the US -wore stoles in the trans hues of light blue, pink and white

It was a startling change from the early years after the 1959 revolution when both religious believers and homosexuals went to 'correctional' labor camps.

The mass was the highlight of a three-day conference on transsexuality and theology organized by the Matanzas-based Cuban branch of the international Metropolitan Community Church (MCC).

The conference took place ahead of the 10th anniversary of Cuba celebrating the global day against homophobia, which occurs next weekend.

It included a raucous 'transformist' party as well as a variety of panels on theology and personal experiences.

ForeignContribution(regulation)Act,2010

The Foreign Contribution (regulation) Act, 2010 is an Indian act of Parliament, by the 42nd Act of 2010.

Key facts:

It is a consolidating act whose scope is to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals or associations or companies

To prohibit acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to the national interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto

Assent

It received presidential assent on 26 September 2010.

Controversies

A number of NGOs receiving foreign funding are seen by the India's central government as involved in anti-development activism and hence posing a negative impact on the economic growth by two to three per cent.

An Intelligence Bureau report titled ‘Impact of NGOs on Development,’ claims the NGOs and their international donors are also planning to target many fresh economic development projects.

For Instance, it was alleged that “US based NGOs are financing the protests against Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant. India's Home ministry got in action, bank accounts of some NGOs were frozen after it was found that they were diverting money received from their donors abroad into funding protests at the Kudankulam plant.

Home ministry has cancelled some more registrations including top 8 national educational institutions such as –Jawaharlal Nehru University, IIT-Kanpur and Jamia Milia Islamia saying that these institutes are not maintaining proper FCRA account So, Unless their registrations are restored, these institutions cannot receive contributions from abroad.

The Union Home Ministry has cancelled renewal of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of Greenpeace India and two NGOs run by activist Teesta Setalvad who is an Indian civil rights activist and journalist. She is the secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an organisation formed for fighting for justice for the victims of communal violence in the state of Gujarat in 2002.

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CJP is a co-petitioner seeking a criminal trial of Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and the current Prime minister of India and sixty-two other politicians and government officials for complicity in the Gujarat violence of 2002 and whose names did not figure in any of the FIRs /charge sheets that formed the subject matter of the various Session Trials regarding the riots at that point of time.

In September 2015, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) cancelled the FCRA registration of Greenpeace India, making impossible any foreign donation to Greenpeace India. The measure was said to have executed on the grounds of “prejudicially affecting the public interest and economic interest of the state.”

Recently, another NGO Compassion International had to shutdown India operations after the government refused permission to accept foreign funding. Earlier, Compassion International was put on the “watch list” by the Home Ministry amid reports by security agencies that it was funding unregistered Indian NGOs which were accused of encouraging religious conversions. Obama administration as well as Trump administration pursued the case in the highest level amid the risk of a diplomatic tussle.

In 2017 UN’s Human Rights Council “peer review” held at Geneva, Indian government faced tough questioning by fellow nations. The attack on the FCRA act came from nearly a dozen countries, mostly from Europe. The charge was led by the U.S. and Germany, who called the Act and the government’s actions “arbitrary”

Railwaystolaunchredesignede-tenderingsystem

The railways will launch shortly its redesigned e-tendering system with more user-friendly new features to facilitate digital participation of over 60,000 vendors.

Key facts:

Ushering in a new era by going paperless, the system envisages that bids are invited online and the entire process leading to award of a tender is done electronically.

Online refund of tender costs and earnest money deposit, online bidder deregistration process, integration with payment gateways of more banks are currently underway in the railways.

The redesigned e—tendering system is a part of the complete digitisation of supply chain will have vendor interface module to benefit vendors with online vendor registration and inspection call and contract amendment process.

Besides, the system would facilitate auto-alerts, processes relating to the acceptance of supplied material and its payments and also include vendor grievance redressal process

Digitisation of railway supply chain is designed towards achieving objectives of transparency, global reach, efficiency, ease of doing business, removing entry barriers and enhanced competitiveness

The railway supply chain supports activities of production, asset acquisition, periodic overhaul and maintenance of rolling stock, tracks, stations, signalling and telecom network, among others.

ISRO gets Indira Gandhi Prize for 2014

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was presented with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2014.

The prize was presented to ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar by former Prime Minister and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT) trustee Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The ISRO was selected for the prize in 2014 by a jury headed by Vice-President Hamid Ansari. It consists of a trophy made of banded Haematite Jasper, with a portrait of the late Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi in Jaipur miniature paintings, a cash award of ₹1 crore and a citation

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MadhyaPradeshtodeviseHappinessIndex

The Madhya Pradesh government, however, has tasked the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur with finding a quantifiable answer to that eternal question what constitutes happiness and how happy are people really.

Key facts:

On May 16 this year, the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT-Kharagpur (the only institute to have a Happiness Centre) to devise a Happiness Index for the State.

India logged in at a dismal 122nd spot in the World Happiness Report for 2017, brought out by the United Nations. Down five points from the 2016 survey, where it stood at the 118th spot.

According to Manohar Dubey, chief executive officer of the Rajya Anand Sansthan or State Happiness Institute, the brief to IIT-Kharagpur is to devise a questionnaire that will bring out the happiness levels of the people with tangible and intangible things.

Only after validation of the index so developed will there be a large scale survey, more than 25,000 respondents from across Madhya Pradesh, to determine levels of happiness in the State

International Current News

NROL-76-the name of secretive US government payload which was blasted off by Space X recently. This is the first military launch for the Californian-based aerospace company headed by billionaire tycoon Elon Musk. The payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which makes and operates satellites for the United States, roared into the sky atop a Falcon 9 rocket recently.

OBOR -it stands for One Belt One Road, is the initiative by China with 50 projects which is aimed at putting existing surplus capital & finished products to better use. OBOR also known as the New Silk Road initiative,is designed to build an intercontinental infrastructure, expand connectivity to Europe, Central Asia, South Asia and South East Asia through both land and sea.

C919-the name of China’s first domestically built large passenger jet by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China(COMAC). The C919, China’s answer to the Boeing 737 and Airbus 320, signals the country’s entry into global aviation market as a strong competitor.

National Current News

2032-the year by which NitiAayog has drawn a grand vision for ‘New India’ in which nearly everyone will have houses with toilets, two-wheelers or cars, power, ACs and digital connectivity. The Vision 2031-32 document was unveiled by NitiAayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya to the Governing Council, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently. The presentation-India-2031-32: Vision,Strategy and Action Agenda-made before CMs also visualizes a fully literate society with access to health care. It also calls for having a much larger and modern network of roads, railways, waterways and air connectivity and clean India where citizens would have access to quality air and water.

$469 lakh crore or $7.2 trillion–this will be the size of India’s economy by 2030, growing at an average rate of 8% as per the NitiAayog’s 15-year vision document. This would be more than three-fold expansion from $137 lakh crore or $2.1 trillion in 2015-16. The increase of $332 lakh crore ($5.1 trillion) in 15 years compares with the addition of $8.1 trillion in China’s GDP over the past 15 years. India’s economy grew by 7% in the third quarter of 2016-17 compared with 7.4% in the second quarter. The Central Statistical office retained its projection of 7.1% growth in 2016-17, slowing from 7.6%, in the previous financial year. The IMF estimated India’s GDP growth at 7.2% for 2017-18.

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7 pillars of the 3 year action plan unveiled by Niti Aayog- Forecast for revenues and expenditure, Transformation of key sectors, Regional development in addition to Growth enablers, governance reforms, social sectors and sustainability are the 7 pillars of the 3 year action plan which was unveiled by NitiAayog recently. The key areas of Forecast for revenues and expenditure are Resources & allocation; for Transformation of key sectors are Agri, industry & services; for Regional development are Urban & rural transformation; for Growth enablers are Transport, digital, PPP, science & tech, energy & for Governance reforms are Tax policy & rule of law; for social sectors are Health, education & skill development and for Sustainability are Environment, forests & sustainable water usages.

Foreign travel–this for the first time has become the number one reason why Indian individuals spend money overseas. Until last year, the top reason forremittances was Indians spending money abroad for maintenance of close relatives and for studies. These remittances are made under the RBI’s Liberalised remittance Scheme under which individuals are allowed to spend up to $ 250,000 annually. The forex remittance limit was brought down from $200,000 to $70,000 in 2013 when the rupee went into a free fall. This limit was restored and then restored to $250,000 in May 2015.

2%-the increase in deficit of GDP predicted by Chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian if the practice of waiving of farmers' loans by state governments in India is carried out nationwide. In an interactive session at the prestigious Peterson Institute, United States recently, on the sidelines of the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he said actions like this pose a big challenge to the Centre's effort towards fiscal consolidation.

Need for consolidated approach and Adherence to strict timelines–these were the two major attributes underlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his review of infrastructure projects. The meeting was told that the highest ever average daily construction rate of 130 kilometres has been achieved for rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana. This has led to an addition of 47,400 kilometres of PMGSY roads in 2016-17 and 11,641 additional habitations have been connected with roads in the same period. Over 4000 km of rural roads have been constructed using green technology in FY17. In the highways sector, over 26,000 kilometres of 4 or 6 lane national highways have been built in FY17. In the railways sector, 953 kilometres of new lines were laid in 2016-17, as against the target of 400 kilometres. Track electrification of over 2000 kilometres, and gauge conversion of over 1000 kilometres was achieved in the same period. More than 1500 unmanned level crossings have been eliminated in 2016-17. In the aviation sector, the Regional Connectivity Scheme will connect 43 destinations, including 31 unserved destinations. The passenger capacity in the aviation sector has reached 282 million passengers per annum. In the ports sector, under the Sagarmala project, 415 projects have been identified with investment of Rs. 8 lakh crore, and projects worth 1.37 lakh crore rupees have been taken up for implementation. All 193 lighthouses are now powered by solar energy and digitisation of land records has been completed in all major ports. In the coal sector, rationalisation of coal linkages and movement yielded an annual saving of over Rs 2500 crore in 2016-17.

273 million tonnes–the amount of food grain production in the 2017-18 crop year beginning July, is the target government is aiming to achieve anticipating goo monsoon. Food grain production is estimated to touch a record 271.98 million tonnes in the current year (July-June), as per the second estimate of the agriculture ministry. According to the agriculture ministry, there is sufficient supply of seeds for the forthcoming kharifseason. Fertiliser requirement is estimated to be 28.99 million tonnes for the season.

4th-the rank of India in terms of online security breaches accounting for over 5% of global threat as per a Symantec study. The US and China occupy the top two slots and together make for almost 34%, followed by Brazil and then India. The year 2016 saw a resurgence of the email as an attack channel, multi-million-dollar virtual bank heists, ransomware and new frontiers like IoT and cloud getting exposed to threats. While China has managed to bring down hacks from nearly 24% in 2015 to under 10% in 2016, India saw instances of fraud increase from 3.4% in 2015 to 5.1% in 2016. Symantec uncovered evidence linking North Korea to attacks on banks in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ecuador and Poland. Yahoo's data breaches grabbed maximum eyeballs in 2016, after the company said in September that 500 million of its user accounts were compromised in 2014. Symantec data reveals that in the last eight years, more than 7 billion online identities have been stolen in data breaches. In 2016, more than 1.1 billion identities were stolen in data breaches, almost double the number stolen in 2015 (563 million stolen identities).

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ISRO–they recently demonstrated a solar hybrid electric car, designed and developed using in-house resources, at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvanathanapuram. Isro made an announcement about this environment-friendly car recently. VSSC is Isro'scentre for making various types of rockets like the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and the Reusable Launch Vehicle. The car is run using high-energy lithium ion batteries, which can be recharged using sunlight, said sources. The main challenges in developing the vehicle included designing a solar panel on top of the car and also control electronics for the battery and solar panel interface and, what is known as, "drive electronic" to run the car smoothly.

Major proposals recently approved by Union Cabinet-NPA clean –up package, Approval to New Steel Policy, MoU with Malaysia on urea plant along with modifications in the 7th Pay Commission for pensioner’s benefit are some of the major proposals which were approved by Union Cabinet recently. The cabinet cleared the nonperforming asset (NPA) resolution package that includes an ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank of India to more effectively deal with bad assets, a move that will kick off a long-awaited initiative aimed at cleaning up the balance sheets of banks burdened with bad debt. The cabinet also approved a new policy to boost consumption of locally produced steel and modifications to recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission with respect to pensioners. The government also proposes to issue an ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act, which will empower Reserve Bank to deal much more effectively with stressed assets. Changes are being made to Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act as also certain provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. These changes will empower RBI to give directions to banks to effectively resolve NPAs.

31st July 2017-the last date up to which the builders can continue the marketing of their ongoing projects, even if they are not registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). However, no new project can be launched without it being registered with RERA. According to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), existing ongoing projects need to file for registration with their respective regulatory authority by July 31. Till then the developers can continue their marketing and other activities like construction and securing the approvals from the existing authorities.

Dev Bhoomi-the feature film by the renowned Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic with actor Victor Banerjee in the lead which clinched the Best Film Prize in the International Panorma contest at Bari film festival (BIFEST) in Italy. The Hindi/Garhwali/English film was shot in the Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand and deals with social issues such as gender inequalities and caste prejudices. Banerjee is known for his roles in David Lean’s ‘A Passage to India’ and Satyajit Ray’s ‘Ghare Baire’.

60% of the creditors by value and 50% creditors by numbers–the new criteria by which one can now reach at a decision in a joint lender’s forum when approving the restructuring plan as per the new directives of the Reserve Bank of India. Banks will have to implement that plan agreed upon without any additional conditions and there would be a monetary penalty on those who veer away from the decision. The new corrective action plan covers restructuring of project loans, change in ownership under strategic debt restructuring and the scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets. The earlier rule required approval of 75% of creditors and 60% by numbers.

Section 35 AA & Section 35AB-the new sections which have been added by ordinance to 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 in a move aimed at breaking current logjam on stressed assets and expediting commercial decision-making by lenders. 35AA authorizes RBI to direct banks to resolve stressed assets through insolvency process. 35AB allows RBI to issue directions for resolution of stressed assets, set up committees or approve appointments for the same.

GSAT-9-the satellite which was put in space by GSLV-F09 which is meant to boost connectivity among Saarc nations, minus Pakistan. The South Asia satellite was launched atop a 50-metre tall rocket, the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch vehicle on its 11th flight. It weighs 414 kg and will use an indigenous cryogenic engine. The satellite will provide telecommunication links among India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Each country can beam its own TV programmes while there will be the possibility for a common South Asia programming.

Budget 2017 - How it will shape India's economy

Every government faces the challenge of striking the right balance of populism and fiscal prudence, without compromising with the financial principles. This is especially important in the context of the post demonetized Indian economy and the new challenges and ripples that it has created in the Indian financial sector.

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Evidently, the 2017 budget provides a strong base to sculpt the Indian economy in the near future. In his speech, the FM quoted the Agenda for 2017-18 as: 'Transform, Energize and Clean India' - TEC India, which implicates:

To transform the quality of governance and quality of life of the Indian people.

To energize various sections of the Indian society and to enable them to unleash their true potential.

Clean the country from the evils of corruption, black money and non-transparent political funding.

Moreover, the FM announced a surcharge of 10% for tax payers whose income is between 50 lakhs and one crore and 15% surcharge for tax payers having income more than one crore. This is likely to make the income tax system more progressive and bring in additional revenue of around 2700 crores. The income tax slab for people having income between 2.5-5 lakhs has been cut to 5%, thereby enabling around 20 million middle class Indians to have more disposable income. This is especially important in the context of the recently demonetized Indian economy which has adversely impacted consumption to a considerable extend.

It is believed that consumer driven products and services will be benefitted by tax relaxation and this will increase employment by at least 5-10% in these sectors. Moreover, the FM announced that the GOI will launch a 4000 crore scheme called Sankalp (acronym for Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion Programme) to provide market relevant skill development training to 3.5 crore Indian youths. He also announced an increase in the number of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras from 60 to over 600 and the establishment of 100 India International Skill Centres (IISc) which would enable the skilled youths to look for job opportunities overseas. The dearth of certified skilled labour is one of the main reasons behind India's jobless growth and the mentioned initiatives taken by the GOI is definitely likely to bring positive results and provide a concrete shape to the aspirations of the growing Indian economy.

In order to control and curtail the amount of anonymous cash donations to the political parties, the FM announced a reduction in the limit from Rs20000 to Rs2000, to usher in transparency and clarity in political funding and this is a giant leap in the shaping up of the Indian economy and the true spirit of democracy.

Based on the recommendations of SIT on black money, the FM announced that the GOI has decided to ban all cash transactions above Rs 3 lakhs from April 1, 2017 and violators would be subjected to 100% penalty. This is a way forward in setting an upper limit to cash transactions and boosting the prospects of Digital India, wherein lies the future of India.

The agricultural sector is expected to grow at 4.6% and the total allocation for the rural, agricultural and allied sectors for 2017-18 is Rs 1.87 lakh crore, which is 24% higher than the last year. Moreover, the allocation under MNERGA has been increased to 48000 crore from 38500 crore and this is the highest ever allocation made to MNERGA.

The 2017 budget also brings in some good news for the startups. The FM announced an increase in the period of profit-linked deductions available to the startups to 7 years from the current 5 years. However, tax breaks is only on profits made by the startups for three years.

The 2017 budget also witnessed the merger of the Railway budget with the Union budget. The FM allocated Rs 3.96 lakh crore for infrastructural development in 2017-18; Rs 1.3 lakh crore for railways - the highest ever rail budget. The FM also increased the overall budget for education sector to Rs 79685.95 crore for 2017-18, with greater emphasis on science education and promotion of creativity and hence, evidently, GOI is committed to the aim of a 'Literate India' and the dream of a vibrant Indian economy.

The FM reassured that the pace of remonetisation has picked up and given the commendable initiatives taken up by the GOI in the 2017 budget, it will lead to some long term benefits including higher GDP growth, wider tax base, upliftment of the poor and the underprivileged and finally a firm foothold of the Indian Economy in the global context.

No room yet for India in NSG, says China

China said it would oppose India’s unilateral entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), pending a consensus on the membership of the nuclear weapon states that have not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

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Key facts:

The 48 nation NSG is expected to hold its plenary next month in Bern, Switzerland, where New Delhi’s entry is expected to be discussed.

New Delhi formally applied for NSG membership in May last year, but China has consistently blocked India’s bid, pointing to the need for devolving universally applicable membership criteria for all countries that have not signed the NPT, but had become nuclear weapon states.

Pakistan, China’s close ally, is the other declared nuclear weapon state, which has not signed the NPT.

About:

The NSG controls the global exports of nuclear technology and material to ensure that atomic energy is used only for peaceful purposes

In defining a two-step approach for arriving at a consensus, the Chinese side has said that the first step for membership was defining a “formula” that would be followed by the second step, which would be “country-specific.”

India has underscored that NPT membership is not essential for joining the NSG, as was illustrated in the case with France, which became a member of the NSG without signing the NPT.