Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov

7/30/2019 Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov

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A goal is a dream with a deadline.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/indiancivils/ Page 1

NATIONAL

Centre approves amendmentsin existing Labour laws to

improve working conditions of

construction workers

The Union Cabinet approved the

Amendment to the Building and

Other Construction Workers

(Regulation of Employment and

Conditions of Service) { BOCW (RECS)}

Act, 1996 and Building and OtherConstruction Workers' Welfare Cess

Act, 1996 and the introduction of the

Building and Other Construction

Workers Related Laws (Amendment)

Bill, 2012 in Parliament in its ensuing

session. This amendment will

streamline the process of the

registration of the construction

workers. The State Welfare Boardswill be able to consolidate their

finances and incur expenditure on

administrative and other purpose for

smooth functioning of the Board.

The provisions in the Amendment are

given below:

a) Empower the Central Government

to specify the maximum cost of

construction by notification, in placeof the present limit of Rs.10 lakh,

which shall fall within the definition

of establishment under the BOCW

(RECS) Act.

b) To empower Central Government

to appoint such number of Director

Generals not exceeding 10 to

coordinate with the Central

Government in carrying out itsresponsibility of laying down the

standard of inspection and to

exercise the power of an inspector.

c) To empower the State Govt. to file

Complaints for contravention of

provisions of the Act.

d) To prescribe a time limit of 30 days

for cess collecting authorities to

deposit cess to the State Building andOther Construction Workers Welfare

Board.

e) To constitute a Committee

consisting of Secretary (Labour),

Secretary (Finance), Secretary

(Planning) and Secretary (Social

Welfare) of the State for performing

the functions of the State Building

and Other Construction WorkersWelfare Board till such time a Board

is formally constituted by the State

Government.

Parliamentary panel rejectedBill related to health

education standards

The Bill was introduced in the Rajya

Sabha on December 22 last year and

referred to the Standing Committeeon Health and Family Welfare shortly

afterwards. The NCHRH Bill, 2011 and

the Higher Education and Research

Bill 2011 had been tabled in

Parliament after a long protracted

debate over the jurisdiction of

medical education. The Human

Resource Development piloted


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NCHER wanted medical education

under it while the Health Ministry

wanted a separate regulatory body.Ultimately, it was decided that there

would be some linkage between the

two regulatory bodies but the two

Bills would be tabled separately.

However, the Committee has

suggested that medical education

and research should be brought

under the National Commission,

proposed under the NCHRH Bill,instead of keeping medical education

with the Health Ministry and medical

research with the HRD Ministry as

proposed in the two Bills.

CABE to take up Bill to endunfair practices in schools

Corporal punishment in class or

forcing students to purchase books,

uniforms, and other stationery itemsfrom a particular shop could entail a

jail term up to three years according

to the draft Prohibition of Unfair

Practices in Schools Bill meant to curb

unfair practices in schools. The draft

Bill makes it clear that no school shall

demand or accept capitation fee or

any other donation for admission to

any class. The bill also prohibitsschools from denying admission or

expelling any student if he/she is

reported to have any serious diseases

such as HIV/AIDS.

Drive to weed out multipleLPG connections Launched

In a bid to weed out duplicate, ghostand multiple connections, the

Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry

has decided to extend the deadline

for filling up the Know Your Customer

(KYC) forms by LPG consumers to

November 15 to enable genuine

consumers to avail of the offer. All

the three state-owned oil marketing

companies (OMCs) - Indian OilCorporation, Hindustan Petroleum

Corporation Limited and Bharat

Petroleum Corporation Limited had

asked the domestic LPG distributors

to collect and verify duly filled KYC

forms from the consumers by Oct 31.

The deadline was extended since a

large number of the consumers are

yet to complete the formalities.Consumers in the KYC form have to

provide necessary details like their

name, date of birth, names of their

parents and spouse, complete

address with pin-code and optional

information about bank details. They

have to submit self- attested

photocopies of their address and ID

proof, along with the filled in form.Transfer of LPG connection to family

members during lifetime would be

permitted, subject to certain

conditions.


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Government grants ex-servicemen status to retiredparamilitary staff

Bringing cheer to over four lakh

retired personnel of paramilitary and

Central police forces, the govt. gave

its nod for granting them the status

of ex-servicemen, enabling them to

avail of welfare benefits.

The new status for these retired

personnel from forces like CRPF, CISF,BSF, ITBP and SSB will be read as "ex-

central police personnel", on par with

the defence forces recognition of "ex-

servicemen" to its retired personnel.

With the status of "ex-servicemen",

the retired personnel of these forces

will be able to avail of certain canteen

and hospital facilities run by the govt.

while they will be able to apply for

jobs in the private sector thatrecognise "ex-servicemen" as a

trained and suitable talent for their

organisations. Centre will also

approach states to give benefits to

the wards of these retired personnel

in educational institutes and jobs.

Home ministry was initially opposed

to this idea of granting ex-servicemen

status to paramilitary personnelapprehending reduction of these

benefits for their soldiers. But this

step would encourage troopers not

to leave the forces prematurely

either by resigning or taking

voluntary retirement.

INTERNATIONAL

5th Asian MinisterialConference on Disaster Risk

Management held

High-level delegations from 50

countries across Asia and the Pacific -

- the most disaster-prone region in

the world -- united around a call foran international agreement on

disaster risk reduction to follow on

from the Hyogo Framework for

Action* in 2015.

The Hyogo Framework for Action was

adopted by 168 member States of the

United Nations (U.N.) at the World

Disaster Reduction Conference held

in Hyogo, Japan, in 2005 Key

elements of the Yogyakarta

Declaration include calls to integrate

local disaster risk reduction and

climate change adaptation into

national development planning;identify accountability measures for

effective implementation; political

commitment to deliver at all levels;

promote awareness, education,

public access to information and

resilient investments; and allocate

resources to build local capacity.


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There was also strong participation in

the Conference from the Association

of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN),the South Asian Association for

Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and

the Applied Geosciences and

Technology Division (SOPAC) of the

Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

The Kingdom of Thailand will host the

6th Asian Ministerial Conference on

Disaster Risk Reduction in 2014 when

Governments will report back ontheir implementation of the

Yogyakarta Declaration on Disaster

Risk Reduction.

CCAMLR meet on Antarcticafailed

CCAMLR (Commission for the

Conservation of Antarctic Marine

Living Resources) meet in Australia,

to protect the waterways around theAntarctic failed to reach agreement.

CCAMLR is made up of

representatives from 24 governments

and the European Union and it has

been considering proposals for the

establishment of marine reserves in

two critical areas of the Southern

Ocean.

At the meeting the United States andNew Zealand put forward competing

plans to create a marine protected

area of 1.6 million square kilometres

in the Ross Sea. Another proposal

would have created a reserve zone

around East Antarctica-at around 1.9

million square kilometres, it would

have covered an area almost three

times the size of France.

But the petitions were blocked byChina, Russia and Ukraine. The focus

will now turn to a special session of

the Commission which will meet in

Germany in July 2013.

Global Prosperity Index 2012The Legatum Prosperity Index is an

annual ranking developed by the

Legatum Institute of 142 countries.The ranking is based according to a

variety of factors including wealth,

economic growth, personal well

being, and quality of life. It is an

attempt to broaden measurement of

a nation's economic health beyond

indicators such as gross domestic

product.

Norway and Denmark retained thepole positions they held last year in

the overall prosperity measure, while

Sweden leapfrogged Australia and

New Zealand into third. Canada,

Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland

and Ireland rounded out the top ten.

The Commission for the Conservation of

Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)

was established by international convention in

1982 with the objective of conserving Antarctic

marine life. It was established in large part toconcerns that an increase in krill catches in the

Southern Ocean could have a serious impact on

populations of other marine life which are

dependent upon krill for food.


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The Central African Republic was

ranked bottom.

In its sub-indexes, Legatum namedSwitzerland the strongest economy

and home to the best system of

governance. Denmark is the most

entrepreneurial and New Zealand has

the best education, while health is

best in Luxembourg and Iceland is the

safest. Canadians enjoy the most

personal freedom and Norwegians

have the greatest social capital.

In Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore andTaiwan all ranked in the top ten for

their economies and the top 20

overall. So-called tiger cub economies

Vietnam and Indonesia also rose.

Indonesia experienced the largest

gain in prosperity of any country

since 2009, jumping 26 positions to

63rd.

ECONOMY

The Financial DevelopmentReport 2012

The 2012 Financial Development

Report ranks 62 of the world's

leading financial systems and capital

markets, analyzing the drivers of

financial system development inadvanced and emerging economies

to serve as a tool for countries to

benchmark themselves and establish

priorities for reform. The rankings are

based on over 120 variables spanning

institutional and business

environments, financial stability, and

size and depth of capital markets,

among other factors. Topping theIndex, Hong Kong SAR came in 1st for

a second consecutive year as a result

of benefits from a large and efficient

banking system, well developed

infrastructure and robust equity

markets.

The United States and the United

Kingdom also remain in the same

positions as last year, 2nd and 3rd,

respectively. Both countries have

highly developed financial markets,

particularly their foreign exchange

and derivatives markets, but theystruggle with relatively inefficient

banking systems.

India has slipped four places to 40th

position, out of 62 leading financial

systems and capital markets, because

of poor enforcement of contracts and

low levels of liberalization. India's

comparative strength in the area of

non-banking financial services wasrecognized in the report. It was

ranked quite high in non-banking

financial services (9th), but in terms

of banking financial services it was

placed in the 45th position.


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RBI issued new guidelines forrehabilitation of sick MSEs

Revising definition of sickness inmicro and small enterprises (MSEs),

the Reserve Bank asked banks for

timely and adequate assistance to

them as soon as the signs of sickness

are detected.

Timely and adequate assistance to

MSEs and rehabilitation effort should

begin on a proactive basis when early

signs of sickness are detected. Thisstage would be termed as

'handholding stage'. This will ensure

intervention by banks immediately

after detecting early symptoms of

sickness so that sickness can be

arrested at an early stage. An account

may be treated to have reached the

'handholding stage'; if any of the

following events are triggered:a) There is delay in commencement

of commercial production by more

than six months for reasons beyond

the control of the promoters;

b) The company incurs losses for two

years or cash loss for one year,

beyond the accepted timeframe;

c) The capacity utilization is less than

50% of the projected level in terms ofquantity or the sales are less than

50% of the projected level in terms of

value during a year. Also as per the

new guidelines, a MSE would be

considered sick if any of the borrowal

account of the enterprise remains

non-performing assets (NPA) for

three months or more. Earlier, a unit

was considered sick if its borrowal

account remained sub-standard formore than six months.

The new guidelines should be

applicable for the year ending March

ending 2013.

Shome Panel Report on retro-tax laws

The government-appointed panel on

taxation of indirect transfer of assets

submitted its final report to FinanceMinister P Chidambaram. The

submission of final report assumes

significance, as British telecom giant

Vodafone's tax matter would be

decided according to the

recommendations of the Shome

Committee on indirect transfer of

assets.

The panel recommended that foreigncompanies going for mergers &

acquisitions in India should pay tax

only prospectively.

The ministry was expecting Rs 35,000

crore to Rs 40,000 crore by way of

retrospective tax on indirect transfer

of Indian assets by non-residents.

If the validation clause is removed, a

large part of this will not come to it.Vodafone, which had the Supreme

Court ruling in its favour, might not

have to fear a tax notice demanding

Rs 8,000 crore on its 2007 deal with

Hutchison.

According to the Shome panel, if

there was retrospective levy, the tax


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should be collected from the seller

and the interest and penalty waived

The ministry is likely to soonannounce the GAAR guidelines on the

circumstances in which the rules

would be invoked but deferment

would happen only after taking

approval of Parliament.

The Finance Act, 2012, had specified

April 1, 2013, for introduction of

GAAR. A final decision will be taken

by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Finance Minister unveils steps

for fiscal consolidation

India's finance minister P.

Chidambaram has laid out a roadmap

to put the government's fiscal house

in order, stressing the need to control

expenses and generate more revenue

as it targets budget deficits of 5.3% of

gross domestic product this fiscalyear and 4.8% next year. The plan

also envisages bringing down the

government's budget deficit to 4.2%

of GDP in the fiscal year ending

March 31, 2015; 3.6% in fiscal 2016

and 3.0% in fiscal 2017.

The new targets would be mentioned

in the regulation to the Fiscal

Responsibility and BudgetManagement (FRBM) Act. The Act

proposed reduction of fiscal deficit to

3 per cent of GDP by 2009, but the

exercise had to be abandoned as a

result of the global financial crisis. For

the current fiscal, the government

also aims to raise Rs 30,000 crore by

way of disinvestment in state-owned

companies.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram,soon after assuming charge, had

appointed a three member

committee under the chairmanship of

13th Finance Commission head Vijay

Kelkar to suggest a roadmap for fiscal

consolidation. The Kelkar Committee

in its report had suggested that the

govt should undertake reform

initiatives, go ahead withdisinvestments and reduce subsidies.

Without these the fiscal deficit could

shoot up to 6.1 per cent in the

current fiscal. As per the roadmap

given by the Committee, the Centre

should aim to reduce the fiscal deficit

to 4.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent by

2013-14 and 2014-15 respectively.

To increase the revenue Governmentis engaging with the PSUs to speed up

the process of disinvestment so that

stake sale can take place in the

second half of the fiscal. To speed up

the process,

Disinvestment department has

secured Cabinet approval for stake

sale in five companies -- Oil India,

MMTC, Hindustan Copper, Nalco andNMDC -- which could fetch over Rs

20,000 crore to the exchequer.


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Telecom operators can hold2.5 Mhz spectrum: EGoM

The Empowered Group of Ministers

(EGoM), allowed the existing players

to retain a maximum of 2.5 MHz in

900 Mhz prime band spectrum till

their current licences expired,

provided they paid a price which

would be determined later throughauction.

The EGoM also decided that those

telcos with 5 Mhz spectrum will need

to vacate space. The telecom

companies, GSM operators like Bharti

Airtel , Vodafone and Idea will have

an opportunity to retain 2.5 MHz of

spectrum at the time of refarming in

the 900 MHz spectrum. If they do notwant to pay a market-determined

price, they may choose to surrender

the entire spectrum. But, as far as the

govt is concerned, it is going to give

an option to these telecom

companies.

Tripartite Agreementsbetween Centre, State and

UTs for Laying DigitalHighways under NOFN

13 State governments and 3 Union

territories signed tripartite MOU for

free Right of Way (RoW) with the

Central Government and Bharat

Broadband Network Limited (BBNL--

the SPV incorporated for execution of

the project National Optical Fibre

Network (NOFN) --- which wouldconnect all the 2, 50,000 Gram

Panchayats (GPs) in the country

through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) in

two years-as a paradigm shift which

would transform the way India works.

The Central Government, through

Universal Service Obligation Fund

(USOF), will fund the project while

the contribution of State Governmentwould be by providing free Right of

Way (RoW) for laying OFC.

With the availability of NOFN at

2, 50,000 Gram Panchayats, a

minimum bandwidth of 100 Mbps

will be available at each GP and will

lead to proliferation of broadband

services.

Benefits to States will be as below:a) This will empower rural masses by

giving them access to information,

public services including those of

education, health and financial

inclusion.

b) Various applications for

Panchayats for planning,

What is fiscal consolidation?

A conscious policy effort is needed by

the government to live within its meansand thereby bring down the fiscal deficit

and public debt. Fiscal consolidation is a

policy intended to reduce deficits and the

accumulation of debt. It includes efforts to

raise revenues and bring down wasteful

expenditure such as subsidies. As a larger

mandate, it also involves the participation

by state governments in the process.


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management, monitoring and

payments under various govt

schemes (e.g. MNREGA, PDS, LandRecords, Birth/Death Certificates,

Digital Literacy, etc.), e-Governance,

education, health, employment,

agriculture and commerce can be

launched using this network

c) As access service providers like

Mobile operators, Internet Service

Providers, Cable TV operators,content providers etc. launch their

access network and services using

NOFN, it will result in creation of local

employment, revenue generation and

growth of GDP leading to overall

prosperity of the State.

INDIA AND THE WORLD

Global Twitter PressConference on Innovation

Mr. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the

Indian Prime Minister on Public

Information Infrastructure and

Innovations and Chairman, National

Innovation Council hosted the first

global press conference on Twitter todiscuss 'Global Innovation

Roundtable'.

The Roundtable saw participation

from heads of Innovation policy from

20 Governments across the world as

well as leading global Innovation

experts and aimed to create a global

platform for sharing experiences,

best practices and enablingcollaborations. The key objective of

the Roundtable was to explore the

relatively less charted road of broad-

basing innovations to meet key

development challenges and develop

a paradigm for inclusive innovation.

the following areas were discussed:

a) Open Government: The Platform

already developed for this could be

adopted by other countries, and India

could help implement.

b) Crowd sourcing Innovation

Platform: The Open Source Drug

Discovery Platform developed by

India for tuberculosis drug discoverycould be used as a template for

crowd sourcing in new areas of drug

discovery.

c) Innovation for Education: Existing

educational content could be

aggregated, filtered and indexed,

under the guidance of global domain

experts and made available on

mobile devices like "Aakash".d) Innovation for Health: Health

content could also be aggregated and

made available, just like educational

content. Further, India's initiative for

an Open Source Electronic health

records system and tele-medicine

could be adopted by other countries.


10/18



India-Germany to AchieveTrade Target of 20 Billion Euro

in 2012During the meet of Commerce and

Industry Minister Anand Sharma and

Phillipp Roesler, Germany's vice

chancellor and minister of economy

and technology, it was announced

that the trade between India and

Germany is set to rise to 20 billion

euro ($26.16 billion) in 2012 as

compared to 18 billion euro ($23.56billion) recorded in the previous year.

Both the leaders also reviewed the

progress of India EU BTIA and

expressed the desire that it a

balanced and ambitious agreement

be reached soon. Germany is one of

the biggest trading partners of India.

The balance of trade is in favour of

Germany. In 2011, India's export toGermany stood at $8.25 billion, while

import was $15.31 billion.

Germany is the eighth largest foreign

investor in India with total

investment of around $4.9 billion,

while Indian investors have pumped

in $5.9 billion in Germany.

During the meeting, the visiting

minister raised the concern ofGerman pharmaceutical industry in

the wake of granting of compulsory

licence of a cancer drug to Natco,

according to the official statement

released after the meeting. In March,

the Controller of Patents, Mumbai,

had granted the first-ever compulsory

licence to Natco to make sorafenib

tosylate, a generic version of Bayer's

highpriced anti-cancer drug Nexavar.Indian patent law allows grant of a

compulsory licence to an applicant if

the patented drug is not available to

the public at a reasonable price.

Australia to teach Hindi inschools

Declaring that Asia's rise is

"unstoppable", Australia unveiled an

ambitious plan aimed at forgingdeeper links with India and other

booming economies of the region,

including through teaching languages

like Hindi and Mandarin in its schools.

All Australian schools will engage

with at least one school in Asia to

support the teaching of a priority

Asian language -- Mandarin, Hindi,

Indonesian or Japanese. It willsupport business missions through an

Asian century business engagement

plan led by Trade Minister Craig

Emerson. Australia will also make it

easier for low-risk people to visit and

encourage more tourists from China

and other key Asian markets.

Protocol Amending the DTAAbetween India, UK and the

Northern Ireland Signed

India and UK signed a Protocol

amending the Convention between

the Government of the Republic of

India and the Government of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and


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Northern Ireland for the Avoidance of

Double Taxation and the Prevention

of Fiscal Evasion with Respect ofTaxes on Income and Capital Gains

(DTAC). This Protocol amends the

earlier Convention that was assigned

in New Delhi on 25th January, 1993.

The Protocol incorporates in the

Convention provisions for effective

exchange of information between tax

authorities of the two countries in

line with latest internationalstandards including exchange of

banking information and supplying of

information irrespective of domestic

interest.

The Convention, as amended by this

Protocol, will provide tax stability to

the residents of India and U.K. and

will facilitate mutual economic

cooperation between the twocountries. It will also stimulate the

flow of investment, technology and

services between India and U.K.

12th Meeting of the Council ofMinisters of IORARC held in

Gurgaon

Foreign ministers of Indian Ocean

Rim Association for RegionalCooperation have met in Gurgaon to

discuss various issues of mutual

strategic importance. Maritime

security, disaster risk reduction,

trade, academics and tourism were

top of the agenda Underlining the

Association's importance, the

declaration pointed out that the

Indian Ocean's stability and well-

being were critical for globaleconomic prosperity. Piracy is an

increasingly serious concern, posing a

threat to maritime commerce and the

safety of sea farers, making insurance

costlier and adding to the costs

incurred by the shipping industry in

the Indian Ocean Region. Weak

governance and instability in parts of

the region have contributed to itsdegeneration into transnational

organized crime. During the meet

IORARC reaffirmed the importance of

maintaining freedom of navigation

and safety and security of Sea Lanes

of Communication in the Indian

Ocean.

India-US-Japan Trilateral meetIndia, US and Japan together shared

their strategic overview of Asia Pacific

which included Washington's 'pivot-

to-Asia' policy, Iran, China- Japan

maritime dispute and the issue of

South China Sea.

The talks were chaired by US

Assistant Secretary of State for South

and Central Asia Robert Blake, IndianJoint Secretary in charge of East Asia

for the External Affairs Ministry

Gautam Bambawale, and Japan's

Deputy Vice Minister of Foreign

Affairs Kenji Hiramatsu.

All the three nations have similar

goals: all three have expanding


12/18



economic relationships with China, as

well as an interest in seeing a

progressive growth in Asia'sbusinesses and productivity.

The three sides decided to explore

the possibility of developmental

cooperation in Myanmar, Afghanistan

and Africa.

The three sides also explored the

possibilities of cooperation in various

strategic areas, including piracy and

safety of sea lanes in Asia Pacific

amidst increasing Chineseassertiveness in the region.

Analysts believe that China's military

modernization and the expanding

activities of the People's Liberation

Army Navy in recent years have

caused the trio to take more

precautions against Beijing.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Climate change leading tomore vector borne diseases

A report on climate change and

health, published by the World

Health Organization (WHO) reported

that in the last 100 years, the world

has warmed by approximately 0.75degree celsius. Over the last

25 years, the rate of global warming

has accelerated at over 0.18 degree

celsius per decade.

The climate change and global

warming will make vector-borne

diseases like dengue and malaria,

already causing havoc in the country,

more lethal. High temperatures alsoraise the levels of ozone and other

pollutants in the air that exacerbate

cardiovascular and respiratory

disease. Urban air pollution causes

about 1.2 million deaths every year.

Pollen and other aeroallergen levels

are also higher in extreme heat.

These can trigger asthma, which

affects around 300 million people.

Ongoing temperature increases are

expected to increase this burden.

Planning Commission'sEnvironmental Performance

Index releasedPlanning Commission's

Environmental Performance Index

(EPI) has placed the Uttarakhand as a

best-performing States and Union

territory in terms of environmental

well-being.

Uttarakhand is followed by Himachal

Pradesh, Chandigarh, Sikkim, and

Andhra Pradesh.Environmental well-being is one of

the considerations for devolution of

funds to the States under the Gadgil

formula.

Uttarakhand has been given a

cumulative score of 0.8123, followed

by Himachal Pradesh (0.7316),


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Chandigarh (0.7270), Sikkim (0.7149),

and Andhra Pradesh (0.7147).

Mizoram, Kerala, Goa, Sikkim,Tripura, Puducherry and Andaman

and Nicobar, with an

average score of 1, have been ranked

as the best States in terms of air

quality. Ironically, except for

Uttarakhand, all the States meet the

prescribed national ambient air

quality standard in respect of

the sulphur dioxide of 20 microgramsper cubic metre. The indicators

considered for measuring the

ambient air quality performance are

sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and

particulate matter. In respect of

nitrogen oxide, more than 10 States

don't meet the 30 microgram per

cubic metre national standard. In

respect of suspended particulates,except for Goa, Kerala, and Mizoram,

no State meets the 60 microgram per

cubic metre national standard.

On water quality standards, except

for Himachal Pradesh, which has set

up 100 per cent treatment capacity

for sewage, the treatment capacity in

the remaining States ranges from 0

(13 States) to less than 20 per cent (8States) and more than 50 per cent in

four States, indicating a pathetic

performance in this respect.

Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Daman and

Diu, and Puducherry extract more

water than they recharge, but

Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra,

Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry are

the only States which show a

semblance of adherence to riverwater quality.

On forest conservation, Chandigarh,

Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,

Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh

are among the five best performing

States that have preserved forests as

well as increased cover.

Result of soil analysis byCuriosity Rover

NASA's Curiosity rover which

completed its first soil analysis on

Mars has found minerals on the

Red Planet similar to weathered

basalt volcanic soils in Hawaii.

X-ray diffraction image of first

Martian soil sample showed the

presence of crystalline feldspar,pyroxenes and olivine mixed with

some noncrystalline material - similar

to volcanic soils in Hawaii.

Curiosity used its Chemistry and

Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) to

obtain the results, which are filling

gaps and adding confidence to earlier

estimates of the mineralogical

makeup of the dust and fine soilwidespread on the Red Planet.

CheMin uses X-ray diffraction, the

standard practice for geologists on

Earth using much larger laboratory

instruments.


14/18



2 MARKERS

Indira Gandhi Award forNational Integration

Congress president Sonia Gandhi

awarded the Indira Gandhi National

Integration Award to wellknown

poet, lyricist and film director Gulzar.

The award was given to mark the

28th death anniversary of the late

prime minister, who was assassinatedOct 31, 1984.

The award had been instituted by

Congress in its centenary year to give

recognition to outstanding

contribution to the cause of national

integration by individuals and

institutions. The award includes a

citation and cash prize of Rs 500,000.

Sebastian Vettel wins IndianGrand Prix 2012

Germany's Sebastian Vettel has won

the Indian Grand Prix to move a step

closer to defending his Formula One

championship. The Red Bull driver,

who started from the pole position,

led the race from start to finish.

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso ofSpain came in second, followed by

Vettel's Australian teammate, Mark

Webber.

This was Vettel's fourth consecutive

Grand Prix victory and it has allowed

him to open up a 13- point lead over

Alonso in the drivers' standings with

just three races to go in the Formula

One season.

Irom Sharmila refuses KovilanSmaraka Activist India

National Award

Irom Sharmila, the civil rights activist

from Manipur who has been on a 12-

year protest fast demanding that theAFSPA be repealed, has refused to

accept the first Kovilan Smaraka

Activist India National Award to be

conferred by a trust in Kolkatta in the

memory of Malayalam poet A.A.

Ayyappan upon Ms. Sharmila.

Rakesh MohanRakesh Mohan has assumed chargeas Executive Director on the Board of

the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) . In addition to India, he will be

representing Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

and Bhutan on the IMF Board for a

three-year term.

Prior to joining the IMF, Dr. Mohan

was Professor in the practice of

international economics and financeat the School of Management and

Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute

for Global Affairs at Yale University.


15/18



Han SuyinHan Suyin was the pen name of

Elizabeth Comber. She was a Chinese-born Eurasian authorof several books

on modern China, novels set in East

Asia, and autobiographical works, as

well as a physician. She lived in

Lausanne until her death and wrote

in English and French.

New iron ore mine inKabirdham district

A memorandum of understanding

(MoU) has been signed between

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and the

Chhattisgarh Mineral Development

Corporation (CMDC) for developing

Eklama iron ore mine in Kabirdham

district. SAIL will now undertake

developmental and welfare activities

for overall development of the

neighbouring areas of Kabirdham and

Rajnandgaon

districts, including the laying ofrailway line for connecting the mine

area to the Howrah-Mumbai main

railway line.

The MoU also states that SAIL shall

undertake establishment of ore

processing and beneficiation plants

along with the construction of road

between Sahaspur-Lohara and

Eklama.

Cyclone NILAMCyclone Nilam was the second named

cyclone of the 2012 North Indian

Ocean cyclone season. Cyclone

caused heavy rainfall and flash

flooding, affecting south coastal

Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and

Telangaga.

SPORTS

Rupesh and Advani worldchampions

Rupesh Shah became the fifth Indian

billiards player to lift the world title

twice after he beat Australia's

Matthew Bolton 6-2 in the final of theWorld billiards (point frame).

Meanwhile, Pankaj Advani captured

world championship title in billiards

(time format) for seventh time, and

eighth overall, when he defeated

Mike Russell. Advani won their

summit clash 1895-1216.

Joshna wins Penang OpenIndia's top squash player Joshna

Chinappa claimed the IJM Land

Penang Open, defeating top seed

Malaysian Siti Munirah Jusoh in

straight games. She defeated Jusoh11-9, 11-7, 11-1. This was Joshna's

seventh WSA World Tour title.

Patel, Chopra set new marksSatish Kumar Patel of Uttar Pradesh

and Neeraj Chopra of Haryana set


16/18



national junior records in junior men

(under-20) 10,000m walk and boys

(under-16) javelin throw respectivelyduring 28th National junior athletics

championships.

Satish Kumar Patel took a time of

41:29.85 for 10,000m walk beating

the old National Record of 42:28.00.

At the same time, Neeraj Chopra

threw his Javelin for 68.46m more

than the old National Record of

62.14m.

Saina Nehwal loses to MinatsuMitani

Minatsu Mitani of Japan shocked

World No. 3 Saina Nehwal of India to

record a sensational 21- 19, 21-11

win in the women's singles final of

the French Open Super Series

badminton in Paris.Mitani became the first Japanese

woman to win the French Open,

which also did not feature any

Chinese player in the final for the first

time.

Bradman scholarship launchedAdam Gilchrist, a respected

Australian Wicket keeper and nowcaptain in IPL with Kings XI Punjab,

launched the annual scholarship

scheme in honour of Sir Donald

Bradman, for an Indian student to

study at the University of

Wollongong. The Bradman

Scholarship will be awarded annually

to an Indian student who has

completed secondary school and is

equipped with academic, sporting,social skills and strong participation

in cricket. University of Wollongong

will waive tuition fees up to 50 per

cent for the duration

of chosen degree.

Hare wins BuddhaInternational Circuit

A. Hare of South Africa won thesecond race of the JK Asia series at

the Buddha International Circuit.

Aditya Patel came second in this

support race to the Indian Grand Prix,

while D. Hidzir of Malaysia took the

third spot in the 10-lap race. The

respective timings of the top three

are: 1. A. Hare (RSA) 20:09.46; 2.

Aditya Patel (Ind) 20:12.21; 3. D.Hidzir (Mal) 20:14.55.

Navjeet completes recorddouble

Navjeet Kaur from Punjab completed

a record double by claiming the girls'

(under-18) shot put title on the

concluding day of the 28th National

junior athletics championships. Shehad won the discus title earlier with a

national record. In shot put, she

bettered the national record of Rakhi

(Haryana) with a throw of 14.89m.

The previous record was 13.77m.


17/18



Gavaskar to be honoured byBCCI

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskarwill receive the prestigious Col. C.K.

Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award

at the BCCI Annual Awards ceremony

to be held in Mumbai on November

21. The award comprises a trophy,

citation and cheque for Rs. 25 lakh.

Previous winners of the Lifetime

AchievementAward: 1994: Lala Amarnath; 1995:

Syed Mushtaq Ali; 1996: Capt. Vijay

Hazare; 1997: K.N. Prabhu;

1998: P.R. Umrigar; 1999: Col.

Hemachandra Adhikari; 2000:

Subhash Gupte; 2001: M.A.K.

Pataudi; 2002: Bhausaheb

Nimbalkar;2003: Chandrakant Borde;

2004: Bishen Singh Bedi, B.Chandrasekhar, E.A.S. Prasanna, S.

Venkataraghvan; 2007: Nariman

Contractor; 2008: G.R. Viswanath;

2009: Mohinder Amarnath; 2010:

Salim Durani; 2011: Ajit Wadekar.

Virat Kohli will get the Polly Umrigar

Award for being India's top

international cricketer for 2011- 12.

Kohli was earlier honoured with theICC's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award.

Tendulkar (2006-07 and 2009-10),

Virender Sehwag (2007-08), Gautam

Gambhir (2008-09) and Rahul Dravid

(2010-11) were the earlier recipients

of the award. In the ceremony, Sachin

Tendulkar will be honoured for

completing 100 international

centuries, while V.V.S. Laxman, who

retired from international cricket inAugust, will also be felicitated at the

function. Seven legends of Indian

cricket - Vijay Merchant, Vijay

Manjrekar, Dattu Phadkar, Vinoo

Mankad, Ghulam Ahmed, M.L.

Jaisimha and Dilip Sardesai - will also

be felicitated posthumously.

India wins women Asia CupIndian team lifted the inaugural Asian

Cricket Council's Twenty20 Asia Cup

for women after beating arch-rival

Pakistan by 18 runs in a low-scoring

final. India's decision to bat first

seemed to have backfired when the

team folded up for 81 but the

bowlers did a splendid job to dismiss

Pakistan for 63.

Dilbag Singh subdues AmitKarki

Eight-time National champion Dilbag

Singh of Railways gave a great display

of punching power and stamina as he

knocked out a hard fighting Amit

Karki of Services in the welterweight

(69 kg) category of the 59th seniorNational boxing championship for

men. Dilbag Singh (RSPB) defeated

Amit Karki (SSCB) 20-18.


18/18



India holds world cup forcarrom

India won the men's team title in theWorld carrom championships being

held in Colombo. In the final, India

crushed host Sri Lanka 3-0.

Bangladesh took the third spot after

scoring a 3-0 win over Canada. From

Indian side, the winners were PrakashGaikwad, Yogesh Pardesi and

K.Srinivas.

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Weekly 29 Oct. - 4 Th Nov