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1
INDEX
Editorial
• Self Confidence Brings Success…............................................................................03
SECTION - 1: Articles
• Moon Mission Chandrayaan-I ................................................................................04
• Doha Talks ...............................................................................................................19
• Hindi Article: ( ¤ÉÉ±É ¸É¨É =x¨ÉÚ±ÉxÉ )..................................................................................26
Now that you may be sitting for the IAS mains examination this year, I am sure all of you
must have read many books, notes, magazines etc; and must have made very good plan
for your studies. But still many of you feel, a certain type of unprepared-ness, fear and
memory-wash.
You need self-confidence!
Through self-confidence, you can keep all your studies with you and utilize all your
potential in the examination. No doubt, during your long preparation, you have gained
a lot, learnt a lot, But now you have to keep all your treasure intact and utilize them fully
in the examinations.
At this juncture self-confidence is vital. Forget all negative points and enhance only and
only positive things. You need to choose optimism! You need to rectify your
fears and surround yourself with positive people. It will provide you a positive state of
mind, self-confidence and ultimately success.
We are doing our best to provide you important materials for Mains Examinations. In
the seventh volume, you will find Science & Technology, Social Problems & Welfare
Schemes and Economy under the IAS (main) Special Column. If you read them care-
fully, I am sure you will gain your confidence. There are articles on Moon Mission
Chandrayaan-I, Doha Talks and ¤ÉÉ±É ¸É¨É =x¨ÉÚ±ÉxÉ (in Hindi). PSLV-C14 Successfully
Launched Oceansat-2 is written as the hot topic of month. Besides all these, you will
have usual columns like Current Affairs and Sports & Awards.
I have full confidence in you and your ability and you will also keep it on. We are sure
many of our members will emerge as a winner.
Editor: R. K. Pandey
with UPSCPORTAL.COM Team
Radio contact with Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was space science mission the Indian agency had even
abruptly lost at on August 29, 2009 while India’s done.
space agency ended an $82 million mission to map
the surface of the moon after failing to restore con- The Insat series of communications satellites and
tact with its unmanned Chandrayaan I craft on the unique weather sensors that they carry are a
Aug. 31,2009. It may be recalled that good example of ISRO’s traditional approach.
Chandrayaan-I space- These satellites were at
craft was launched from first launched mostly by
Satish Dhawan Space Europe’s Ariane and are
Centre Sriharikota on now being put into or-
October 22, 2008 .The bit by India’s own Geo-
Spacecraft has com- synchronous Space
pleted 312 days in orbit Launch Vehicle
making more than 3400 (GSLV). The technol-
orbits around the Moon ogy for the spacecraft
and providing large vol- themselves was almost
ume of data from so- entirely homegrown.
phisticated sensors like ISRO’s policy was to use
Terrain Mapping Cam- as little foreign input as
era, Hyper-spectral Im- possible, both in order
ager, Moon Mineralogy to develop their own in-
Mapper etc., meeting dustrial base and-so
most of the scientific objectives of the mission. they claimed-to hold down costs.
India’s space program has come a long way since Chandrayaan 1 represented a major break from
it was established in 1962 as the Indian National that tradition. It incorporated instrument pack-
Committee on Space Research (INCOSPAR). Its ages from Britain, Germany, Russia, Sweden, and
successor, the Indian Space Research Organisation the US, as well as from India itself. This repre-
(ISRO), was set up in 1969, and six years later their sented a major step forward in India-US coopera-
first satellite, Aryabhata, was launched. Since then tion. Overcoming the bureaucratic and political
ISRO has matured into one of the “Big Three” obstacles that have long stood in the way of such
Asian space agencies, alongside China’s CNSA and bilateral programs was a major achievement for
Japan’s JAXA. It is a significant partner in many all involved. On the US side breaking through the
international space projects. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)
restrictions was only accomplished with a lot of
The first ISRO Moon probe, Chandrayaan 1, was hard work on the part of both NASA and the State
an important step away from ISRO’s previous fo- Department. It would never have been possible
cus on practical space technology applications, without a commitment from the highest levels of
such as remote sensing, communications, distance government: former President George W. Bush
learning, telemedicine, and security. These efforts and former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee deserve
were all aimed at supporting India’s national de- a lot of credit in this regard.
velopment goals. For many years the feeling was
that everything they did had to have a direct pay- Chandrayaan 2, scheduled for launch in 2011, is
off for the people and particularly for the impov- a lander/rover mission that ISRO is developing
erished masses. The mission was the first pure with some technological input from Russia. This
summer they plan to ask the international scien- has revolved the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of
tific community for proposals for sensors and ex- the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of
periments to include on the rover. This may be a elements and minerals.
difficult because the final configuration of the mis-
sion has not yet been determined. The rover may The launch is regarded as a major step for India as
weigh anywhere from 30 to 100 kilograms. Obvi- it seeks to keep pace with other space-faring na-
ously there is quite a bit of “trade space” so the tions in Asia.
proposals, or at least the early ones, will have to
include more than a bit of guesswork. Competitive Mission
To meet the anticipated launch date India and its An Indian-built launcher carrying the one-and-
partners will have to work within some serious a-half-tonne satellite blasted off from Satish
time constraints. By space mission standards 2011 Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, an island off
is right around the corner and system integration the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
has got to start as soon as possible. The Indian
government has approved funding for the mission One key objective was be to search for surface or
and for the advanced version of the GLSV launcher sub-surface water-ice on the Moon, especially at
needed to get the probe onto the lunar surface. the poles. Another was be to detect Helium 3, an
isotope which is rare on Earth, but is sought to
Along with their recently announced independent power nuclear fusion and could be a valuable
manned space exploration program the source of energy in future.
Chandrayaan series of science missions show that
India is determined to be a space power in the full Powered by a single solar panel generating about
sense of the term. This flows naturally from India’s 700 Watts, the Indian Space Research
emergence as a global economic and political Organisation (ISRO) probe carried five Indian-
power. Over many decades hundreds of thousands built instruments and six constructed in other
of high-quality scientists and engineers have been countries, including the US, Britain and Germany.
trained in Indian universities. These men and The mission is expected to cost 3.8bn rupees
women have helped propel India to its new sta- (£45m; $78m), considerably less than Japanese and
tus, and giving them challenging and fascinating Chinese probes sent to the Moon last year.
new space projects is a way for the Indian gov-
ernment to keep this talent at home and busy. The Indian experiments included a 30kg probe that
will be released from the mothership to slam into
It will be interesting to see how ISRO uses the the lunar surface. The Moon Impact Probe (MIP)
Russian technology that they are getting for has record video footage on the way down and
Chandrayaan 2. We should also keep an eye on measured the composition of the Moon's tenuous
the laser imaging system that is being developed atmosphere. It was also dropped the Indian flag
for the rover. Integrating these systems into the on the surface of the Moon. The country's tricolour
mission is not going to be easy, but if India pulls it was painted on the side of the probe and, if suc-
off it will be an even more impressive achieve- cessful, India has become the fourth country af-
ment than Chandrayaan 1. ter the US, Russia and Japan to place its national
flag on the lunar surface.
Unmanned Chandrayaan 1
C1XS mapped the abundance of different elements
The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blasted in the lunar crust to help answer key questions
off smoothly from a launch pad in southern about the origin and evolution of Earth's only
Andhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year mission natural satellite.
of exploration on 22 oct 2008. The robotic probe
The relative abundances of magnesium and iron scheduled to land a rover to retrieve soil and rock
in lunar rocks could help confirm whether the samples in 2012 and, like the U.S., plans to send
Moon was covered by a molten, magma ocean astronauts there by 2020. Russia aims to follow
early on in its history. with a manned mission five years later.
The instrument has to look for more unusual ele- South Korea intends to send a probe to orbit the
ments on the Moon's surface, such as titanium. moon by 2020, according to the Korea Aerospace
This metallic element has been found in lunar Research Institute. The nation carried out its first
meteorites, but scientists know little about its dis- space rocket launch last week in an unsuccessful
tribution in the lunar crust. attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The satellite
probably burned up in the atmosphere after fall-
Chandrayaan (the Sanskrit word for "moon craft") ing back to Earth, according to the government.
also investigated the differences between the
Moon's near side and its far side. The far side is Chandrayaan 2
both more heavily cratered and different in com-
position to the one facing Earth. The Indian space program got another shot in the
arm with the initial design phase of the
The spacecraft took about eight days the reach Chandrayaan 2 being completed. While this is just
the Moon. During its lunar encounter, the beginning of what is arguably India's most
Chandrayaan fired its engine to slow its velocity - ambitious space project ever, the success of the
allowing it to be captured by the Moon's gravity. design phase in itself is an achievement mainly
Chandrayaan then slipped into a near-circular or- because of its inherent complexity.
bit at an altitude of 1,000km. After a number of
health checks, the probe has drop its altitude un- The Chandrayaan 2 mission will consist of a lunar
til it is orbiting just 100km above the lunar sur- rover that will be dropped on to the lunar surface
face. once the craft reaches the lunar orbit. The main
duty of the rover would be to collect and analyze
Next Step lunar soil and transmit the data back to the data
centers on earth. Pertinent to note here is the fact
The next step in the lunar mission, the that while the spacecraft would be indigenously
Chandrayaan II, which aims to land an unmanned made, the lunar rover will be made by Russia.
rover on the moon’s surface to prospect for chemi-
cals, won’t be delayed. India will launch a mis- The Chandrayaan 2 is expected to be operational
sion to Mars within four to six years. in the next two years. India had launched the
Chandrayaan 1 in October 2008. Already a suc-
The craft was designed to orbit the moon for two cessful mission, it had been recently hit by a tech-
years at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles). nical snag that jeopardized its operations. How-
It will take 1,000 days to hit the lunar surface and ever, the Chandrayaan 1 has already accomplished
is being tracked by the U.S. and Russia. 95 percent of the objectives assigned to it. An-
other thing to note is that the Chandrayaan 1 will
Moon Atlas augment the Lunar landing of the rover as the
scientists are using data obtained from the
India launched its first rocket in 1963 and first Chandrayaan 1 to decide on the perfect landing
satellite in 1975. The country’s satellite program schedule for the lunar rover.
is one of the largest communication systems in
the world. Japan launched its first lunar explorer,
Kaguya, in September 2007 and landed a probe on
the moon’s surface in June this year. China is
Mission to Mars After 2015 manned mission to Mars by 2030, using the In-
ternational Space Station (ISS) as a launch-pad to
India will embark on an unmanned mission to the red planet.
Mars to explore the red planet in quest of its space
ambitions but such a mission will be feasible only Indian space vision 2025
after 2015 as the space agency will be pre-occu-
pied with its second lunar mission (Chandrayaan-
2) in 2013 and a manned mission to space by 2015. » Satellite based communication and navigation
As the fourth planet from the sun in the solar sys- systems for rural connectivity, security needs and
tem, the distance between earth and Mars varies
mobile services
from 36 million miles when nearest, to 250 mil-
lion miles when farthest in its elliptical orbit » Enhanced imaging capability for natural re-
around the sun. source management, weather and climate change
studies
Progress
» Space science missions for better understanding
Though the government Aug 13,2009 sanctioned of solar system and universe
Rs.100 million (Rs.10 crore) as seed funding for
the Mars mission, a lot of ground work has to be » Planetary exploration
done for preparing the project report. The mis- » Development of Heavy lift launcher
sion to Mars is being conceived as low-cost plan- » Reusable Launch Vehicles - Technology dem-
etary missions. For instance, Chandrayaan-1 is the
finest example of a low-cost mission, as at a cost onstrator missions leading to Two Stage To Orbit
of $80 million (Rs.380 crore) while such missions (TSTO)
by other space agencies are considered low-cost
at $500 million. A Brief History of Indian
To prepare a project report for government ap-
Space Program
proval, the space agency will elicit the opinion of
the scientific community on the viability of such Space activities in the country started during early
a mission and evolve a concept paper. 1960s with the scientific investigation of upper
atmosphere and ionosphere over the magnetic
The space agency plans to use the powerful geo- equator that passes over Thumba near
synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) Thiruvananthapuram using small sounding rock-
Mark-III for the Mars mission, as the spacecraft ets Realising the immense potential of space tech-
had to be first put in the earth's orbit and raised nology for national development, Dr. Vikram
up to Martian orbit, using ion thrusters and liquid Sarabhai, the visionary leader envisioned that this
engines. powerful technology could play a meaningful role
in national development and solving the problems
Though the US and Russia had launched missions of common man.
to Mars, other space-faring nations such as China
and Japan are planning to join the Martian race as Thus, Indian Space programme born in the church
part of their planetary expeditions. Even the Eu- beginning, space activities in the country, con-
ropean Space Agency (ESA) is mulling a joint mis- centrated on achieving self reliance and develop-
sion to Mars in the coming decade. The US space ing capability to build and launch communication
agency National Aeronautics and Space Adminis- satellites for television broadcast, telecommuni-
tration (NASA) Aug 29 proposed to Russia for a cations and meteorological applications; remote
sensing satellites for management of natural re-
sources.
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
7
Section -1 (Article : Moon Mission Chandrayaan - I)
The objective of ISRO is to develop space tech- The Satellites are also of two different categories,
nology and its application to various national tasks. communication satellites and remote sensing sat-
ISRO has established two major space systems, ellites.
INSAT for communication, television broadcast-
ing and meteorological services, and Indian Re- The launcher program involves the design, fabri-
mote Sensing Satellites (IRS) system for resources cation and launching of launch vehicles. India has
monitoring and management. ISRO has developed also developed a series of launch vehicles, after a
two satellite launch vehicles, PSLV and GSLV, to long research and development through the
place INSAT and IRS satellites in the required painstacking ways of successes and failures.
orbits.
Satellites Program
Accordingly, Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) has successfully operationalised two ma- For the past four decades, ISRO has launched more
jor satellite systems namely Indian National Sat- than 50 satellites for various scientific and tech-
ellites (INSAT) for communication services and nological applications like mobile communica-
Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for man- tions, Direct-to-Home services, meteorological ob-
agement of natural resources; also, Polar Satellite servations, telemedicine, tele-education, disaster
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for launching IRS type of warning, radio networking, search and rescue
satellites and Geostationary Satellite Launch Ve- operations, remote sensing and scientific studies
hicle (GSLV) for launching INSAT type of satel- of the space.
lites.
ISRO has established two major space systems, the
The Space Commission formulates the policies and Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) series
oversees the implementation of the Indian space for communication, television broadcasting and
programme to promote the development and ap- meteorological services which is Geo-Stationary
plication of space science and technology for the Satellites, and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites
socio-economic benefit of the country. DOS (IRS) system for resources monitoring and man-
implements these programmes through, mainly agement which is Earth Observation Satellites.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Na- ISRO has launched many Experimental Satellites
tional Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Physical which are generally small comparing to INSAT
Research Laboratory (PRL), National Atmospheric or IRS and Space Missions to explore the space.
Research Laboratory (NARL), North Eastern-
Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) and Semi- Launch Vehicles Program
Conductor Laboratory (SCL). The Antrix Corpo-
ration, established in 1992 as a government owned Launch Vehicles are used to transport and put sat-
company, markets the space products and services ellites or spacecrafts into space. In India, the
sensing satellites for management of natural re- launch vehicles development programme began
sources. in the early 1970s. The first experimental Satel-
lite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) was developed in
The Indian Space Program may be divided in two 1980. An Augmented version of this, ASLV, was
major categories. One is the Satellite Program and launched successfully in 1992. India has made tre-
the another is the Launcher Program. mendous strides in launch vehicle technology to
achieve self-reliance in satellite launch vehicle
The Satellite program involves putting the satel- programme with the operationalisation of Polar
lites in the space and managing the same. The sat- Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchro-
ellites may be lifted by Indian made launchers or nous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
it may involve the commercial launch vehicles.
PSLV represents ISRO's first attempt to design and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites
develop an operational vehicle that can be used to System (IRS)
orbit application satellites. While SLV-3 secured
for India a place in the community of space-far- The Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite system
ing nations, the ASLV provided the rites of pas- is one of the largest constellations of remote sens-
sage into launch vehicle technology for ISRO. And ing satellites in operation in the world today. The
with PSLV, a new world-class vehicle has arrived. IRS programme commissioned with launch of IRS-
PSLV has repeatedly proved its reliability and ver- 1A in 1988 and presently includes Nine satellites
satility by launching 30 satellites / spacecrafts (14 that continue to provide imageries in variety of
Indian and 16 for international customers) into a spatial resolutions from 1 metre to 180 metres.
variety of orbits so far.
1. RISAT-2
ISRO also makes the Rohini series of sounding Launched on Apr 20, 2009 by PSLV-C12
rockets used by the Indian and international sci-
entific community to launch payloads to various 2. CARTOSAT-2
A Launched on Apr 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9
altitudes for atmospheric research and other sci-
entific investigations. These rockets are also used 3. IMS-1
to qualify some of the critical systems used for Launched on Apr 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9
advanced launch vehicles.
4. CARTOSAT - 2
Launched on Jan 10, 2007 by PSLV-C7
Indian National Satellite
(INSAT) System 5. CARTOSAT-1
Launched on May 05, 2005 by PSLV-C6
The INSAT series, commissioned in 1983, has to- 6. RESOURCESAT-1
day become one of the largest domestic satellites Launched on Oct 17, 2003 by PSLV-C5
systems in the Asia, pacific region comprising
Eleven satellites in service. 7. TES
Launched on Oct 22, 2001 by PSLV-C3
The launch of EDUSAT on September 20, 2004 Village Resource Centre (VRC)
heralded new era in the field of distance educa-
tion and today, about 35,000 class rooms are in
the EDUSAT network providing services at pri- Combining the services offered by INSAT and IRS
mary, secondary and university levels. satellites, a new concept namely Village Resource
Centre (VRC) to provide information on natural
The satellite based telemedicine network has ex- resources, land and water resources management,
panded its network connecting 375 hospitals (305 tele-medicine, tele-education, adult education,
remote and rural hospitals including those in vocational training, health and family welfare
Jammu & Kashmir, North Eastern region and programmes has been established. Nearly 500 such
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 13 mobile units and VRCs have been established in the country.
57 super specialty hospitals in major cities).
Top Reusable Launch Vehicle Objectives: To study the Coronal Mass Ejection
Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) (CME) and consequently the crucial physical pa-
rameters for space weather such as the coronal
As a first step towards realizing a Two Stage To magnetic field structures, evolution of the coro-
Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle, a se- nal magnetic field etc.
ries of technology demonstration missions have
been conceived. For this purpose a Winged Reus- Provide completely new information on the ve-
able Launch Vehicle technology Demonstrator locity fields and their variability in the inner co-
(RLV-TD) has been configured. The RLV-TD will rona having an important bearing on the unsolved
act as a flying test bed to evaluate various tech- problem of heating of the corona would be ob-
nologies viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous land- tained.
ing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight
using air breathing propulsion. First in the series ( YOUTHSAT )
of demonstration trials is the hypersonic flight
experiment (HEX). A joint scientific mission between India and Rus-
sia with participation of youth from both the coun-
Human Space Flight Mission tries to celebrate the golden Jubilee of the satel-
lite era.
Programme
The second satellite in the micro satellite series
The department has carried out a detailed study
proposed is YOUTHSAT which will carry pay-
on the feasibility of undertaking indigenous hu-
loads of scientific interest with participation of
man space flight mission with an aim to build and
youths from Universities at graduate, post gradu-
demonstrate the capability for carrying humans
ate and research scholar level. Youth from uni-
to low earth orbit and their return to earth. The
versities will participate from testing of the pay-
programme envisages development of a fully au-
loads in laboratory up to utilization of the data
tonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three
from payloads. Participation of youth will incul-
crew members to 275 km low earth orbit and their
cate interest in space related activities and pro-
safe return. It is planned to realise the programme
vide opportunities for realization of future pay-
in about seven years time frame.
loads for scientific experiments. The micro satel-
lite bus is planned and designed to carry different
kinds of payloads like earth imaging, atmospheric
Top Space Science Missions applications, weather monitoring, stellar observa-
tions, scientific experiments etc.
Space Capsule Recovery Experiment
(SRE-II) YOUTHSAT is planned to be launched as auxil-
iary satellite along with any remote sensing satel-
The main objective of SRE II is to realize a fully lite planned for launch during 2009-10 in a polar
recoverable capsule and provide a platform to con- sun-synchronous orbit of local time of around 0900
duct microgravity experiments on Micro-biology, to 1030 hrs.
Agriculture, Powder Metallurgy, etc.
( Aditya-1 )
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to » ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
implement an indigenous Satellite-Based Regional C8, successfully launched Italian astronomical sat-
GPS Augmentation System also known as Space- ellite, AGILE from Sriharikota (April 23, 2007).
Based Augmentation System (SBAS) as part of the
Satellite-Based Communications, Navigation and
Surveillance (CNS)/Air Traffic Management
» Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5
(ATM) plan for civil aviation. The Indian SBAS from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12, 2007).
system has been given an acronym GAGAN - GPS
Aided GEO Augmented Navigation. A national » Successful recovery of SRE-1 after manoeuvring
plan for satellite navigation including implemen- it to reenter the earth’s atmosphere and descend
tation of Technology Demonstration System (TDS) over the Bay of Bengal about 140 km east of
over the Indian air space as a proof of concept has Sriharikota (January 22, 2007).
been prepared jointly by Airports Authority of
India (AAI) and ISRO. TDS was successfully com- » ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
pleted during 2007 by installing eight Indian Ref- C7 successfully launches four satellites - India’s
erence Stations (INRESs) at eight Indian airports CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Ex-
and linked to the Master Control Center (MCC) periment (SRE-1) and Indonesia’s LAPAN-
located near Bangalore. The first navigation pay- TUBSAT and Argentina’s PEHUENSAT-1 (Janu-
load is being fabricated and it is proposed to be ary 10, 2007).
flown on GSAT-4 which is expected to be
launched in 2009. Two more payloads will be sub-
sequently flown, one each on two geostationary
» Second operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F02)
satellites GSAT-8 and GSAT-12. from SDSC SHAR with INSAT-4C on board. (July
10, 2006). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.
A brief chronology of the events are presented
below: » Successful launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from
Kourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005).
»PSLV-C12 successfully launches RISAT-2 and
ANUSAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2009). » ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
C6, successfully launched CARTOSAT-1 and
» PSLV-C11 successfully launches HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota(May 5, 2005).
CHANDRAYAAN-1 from Sriharikota (October
22, 2008). » The first operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F01)
successfully launched EDUSAT from SDSC SHAR,
» PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT-2A, Sriharikota (September 20, 2004)
IMS-1 and 8 foreign nano satellites from
Sriharikota (April 28,2008). » ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
C5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT-1(IRS-
» PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR sat- P6) satellite from Sriharikota(October 17, 2003).
ellite under a commercial contract with Antrix
Corporation (January 21, 2008). » Successful launch of INSAT-3E by Ariane from
Kourou French Guyana, (September 28, 2003).
» The Second developmental launch of GSLV-D2 October 4, 1997. (An in-orbit satellite, ARABSAT-
with GSAT-2on board from Sriharikota (May 8, 1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT, was acquired in
2003). November 1997 to partly augment the INSAT sys-
tem).
» Successful launch of INSAT-3A by Ariane from
Kourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003).
» First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D
on board (September 29, 1997). Satellite placed in
orbit.
» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
C4, successfully launched KALPANA-1 satellite
from Sriharikota(September 12, 2002).
» Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-
P3, on board (March 21, 1996). Satellite placed in
polar sunsynchronous orbit.
» Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from
Kourou French Guyana, (January 24, 2002).
» Launch of third operational Indian Remote Sens-
ing Satellite, IRS-1C (December 28, 1995).
» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
C3,successfully launched three satellites -- Tech-
nology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD
» INSAT-2C, the third satellite in the INSAT-2
of Germany and PROBA of Belgium - into their series, launched (December 7, 1995).
intended orbits (October 22, 2001).
» Second developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-
» The first developmental launch of GSLV-D1 P2, on board (October 15, 1994). Satellite success-
with GSAT-1 on board from Sriharikota (April 18, fully placed in Polar Sunsynchronous Orbit.
2001).
» Fourth developmental launch of ASLV with
» INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third gen- SROSS-C2, on board (May 4, 1994). Satellite placed
eration INSAT-3 series, launched by Ariane from in orbit.
Kourou French Guyana, (March 22, 2000).
» First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-
» Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4 1E on board (September 20, 1993). Satellite could
(OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite Launch not be placed in orbit.
Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3
and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota (May » INSAT-2B, the second satellite in the INSAT-2
26, 1999). series, launched (July 23, 1993).
» INSAT-2E, the last satellite in the multipur- » INSAT-2A, the first satellite of the indigenously-
pose INSAT-2 series, launched by Ariane from built second-generation INSAT series, launched
Kourou French Guyana, (April 3, 1999). (July 10, 1992).
» INSAT system capacity augmented with the » Third developmental launch of ASLV with
readiness of INSAT-2DT acquired from ARABSAT SROSS-Con board (May 20, 1992). Satellite placed
(January 1998). in orbit.
» INSAT-2D, fourth satellite in the INSAT series, » Second operational Remote Sensing satellite,
launched (June 4, 1997). Becomes inoperable on IRS-1B, launched (August 29, 1991).
» INSAT-1D launched (June 12, 1990). » First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini
Technology Payload on board (August 10, 1979).
» INSAT-1C launched (July 21,1988). Abandoned Satellite could not be placed in orbit.
in November 1989.
» Bhaskara-I, an experimental satellite for earth
» Second developmental launch of ASLV with observations, launched (June 7, 1979).
SROSS-2 on board (July 13, 1988). Satellite could
not be placed in orbit. » Satellite Telecommunication Experiments
Project (STEP) carried out.
» Launch of first operational Indian Remote Sens-
ing Satellite, IRS-1A (March 17, 1988). » Satellite Instructional Television Experiment
(SITE) conducted.
» First developmental launch of ASLV with
SROSS-1 satellite on board (March 24, 1987). Sat- » ISRO First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, launched
ellite could not be placed in orbit. (April 19, 1975).
» Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April 1984). » Becomes Government Organisation (April 1,
INSAT-1B, launched (August 30, 1983). 1975).
» APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary com- » TERLS dedicated to the United Nations (Febru-
munication satellite successfully launched (June ary 2, 1968).
19, 1981).
» Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set
» RS-D1 placed in orbit (May 31, 1981) up at Ahmedabad.
» First developmental launch of SLV-3. » Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) es-
tablished in Thumba.
» Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini
» First sounding rocket launched from TERLS (No-
vember 21, 1963).
» satellite successfully placed in orbit. (July 18,
1980).
Doha Talks
Aiming to Unlock Global Trade Barriers
By- Avadhesh Pandey
Author is an Expert of Economic and political Issues and working as a Freelance Editor
Negotiators from key trading nations agreed on sept 15, 2009 a new work plan
aimed at concluding the long-stalled Doha Round of WTO global trade negotia-
tions in Geneva. Everybody had a calendar and now our calendar is full until the
end of the year, said Swiss WTO ambassador Luzius Wasescha, who also chairs
the negotiating group on industrial goods. Senior officials will also come to Geneva
for a week every month to advance negotiations, with the first such session to take
place around October 19, said Indian ambassador Ujal Singh Bhatia following a
meeting with his counterparts at the World Trade Organisation.
Ambassadors said however that it was still too early to tell if the latest talks will yield concrete results. The
Doha round of WTO negotiations began in 2001 with the aim of creating a new free-trade pact that would
boost global commerce to help developing countries. Deadlock between the major trading blocs has dashed
repeated attempts to forge a new pact.
The last push in July last year in Geneva ended in failure but with a new government installed in Washing-
ton since then, there is renewed hope for another drive for success sometime next year.
As part of a grand bargain, rich countries want to increase their access to non-agricultural manufacturing
and service sectors in robust developing countries like China, India, and Brazil. They are especially eager to
capitalize on their strong financial, transportation, and telecommunications services. A much-cited world
bank study says the abolition of agricultural tariffs and subsidies would increase global exports by nearly
$300 billion per year by 2015. These kinds of targeted trade liberalizations could help lift many states out
of poverty.
Particularly in Europe, many farmers would be pressure by states such as France to stick more
uncompetitive without high government subsi- closely to a mandate set by EU governments. He
dies. says he cannot offer increased concessions unless
he sees a more attractive offer from Brazil, India
Leading U.S. congressional figures have said pros- and other developing countries on non-agricul-
pects are slim for completing the Doha round be- tural goods. But United States and Europe are fail-
fore presidential trade-promotion authority ex- ing to provide a proper example to developing
pires in July 2007. This authority allows the presi- nations considering a drop in barriers. These coun-
dent to negotiate trade deals without the need for tries are very worried about an influx of cheap
congressional review. Given the rise of protection- manufactured goods from China if they open up
ist sentiment in general, and particularly since the their markets, and are watching U.S.-EU policy
Democrats retook both houses of Congress in No- toward China with interest. Both the United States
vember 2006, some experts say fast track author- and Europe are actively considering or pursuing
ity is highly unlikely to be renewed. Without it, trade restraints against China on one product to
controversial farm subsidy reforms would need to the next.
be passed by both houses of Congress tall order.
This has always been an issue of U.S. and Euro-
What are the most divisive issues? pean leadership on lowering barriers to world
The dispute over agriculture hinges on the active trade, and now you need some push from other
role the United States and the EU take to support places.
their agricultural sectors with subsidies and tar-
iffs. Last fall, the United States offered to cut its G-20, now a major actor in the trade talks, needs
agricultural subsidies by an average of more than to provide more leadership. China should be more
50 percent, but conditioned the offer on major engaged in the talks rather than contenting itself
market-access proposals from the EU and G-20 to benefit from what the EU and United States
states. The EU has offered to cut its tariffs by an gain through negotiations. China is particularly
average of 40 percent, but it also wants to identify reluctant to open up its highly protected services
up to 160 of its agricultural products as “sensitive” markets, such as telecoms and banking.
and preserve tariff protections for them. The
Economist says 17 and 54 are the two “magic num- Which issues have been agreed on in the round?
bers” to meet if renewed talks this spring are to The WTO's Hong Kong ministerial meeting in De-
succeed: the U.S. will need to limit its farm subsi- cember 2005 produced an agreement by wealthy
dies to $17 billion (its lowest offer thus far is $22 nations to end export subsidies in agriculture by
billion), and EU countries must make cuts in their 2013. That date is conditioned on agreements be-
agricultural tariffs in the vicinity of 54 percent. ing reached to avoid hidden export subsidies in
The EU and United States are calling on develop- credit, food aid, and the sales of exporting state
ing nations like India and Brazil to improve their enterprises. There are also agreements calling for
offer to open up their markets to industrial goods. developed countries to eliminate all forms of ex-
But an open embrace from the developing world port subsidies for cotton as early as the end of 2006.
is highly unlikely if the United States refuses to Another important commitment made during the
give up its significant farm subsidies. round is the introduction of duty and quota-free
access for most exports from the thirty-two least-
After decades of trade negotiations, most of the developed countries by 2008.
rich countries have liberalized a great deal, with
tariffs on many goods in the single digits. What happens if Doha fails?
The Doha talks are seen as a major test for the
Which countries are the stumbling blocks? 149-member WTO. Elliott worries countries like
Experts say blame can be widely distributed. EU the United States will turn their back on WTO
Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is under
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
20
Section -1 (Article : Doha Talks)
multilateral trade talks and focus instead on bilat- about liberalizing trade, and in some circumstances
eral agreements with stronger developing states. its rules support maintaining trade barriers — for
This poses problems to businesses worried about example to protect consumers or prevent the
a “spaghetti bowl” [when multiple bilateral agree- spread of disease.
ments overlap, causing complex and un-integrated
regulatory requirements], but it has even more WTO Agreements
serious implications for poor nations. The round's
failure would be a setback to global poverty-re- WTO agreements negotiated and signed by the
duction efforts such as the UN millennium devel- bulk of the world’s trading nations. These docu-
opment goals, the World Bank's move to cancel ments provide the legal ground-rules for interna-
debt for very poor countries, and increasing ef- tional commerce. They are essentially contracts,
forts to improve foreign aid. binding governments to keep their trade policies
within agreed limits. Although negotiated and
But trade experts often point out that previous signed by governments, the goal is to help pro-
trade rounds in the post-World War II period have ducers of goods and services, exporters, and im-
often gone down to the wire, emerging nonethe- porters conduct their business, while allowing
less with agreements that have steadily liberal- governments to meet social and environmental
ized world trade. objectives.
What is the World Trade Organization? The system’s overriding purpose is to help trade
The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with flow as freely as possible — so long as there are no
the rules of trade between nations at a global or undesirable side-effects — because this is impor-
near-global level. But there is more to it than that. tant for economic development and well-being.
There are a number of ways of looking at the That partly means removing obstacles. It also
WTO. It’s an organization for liberalizing trade. means ensuring that individuals, companies and
It’s a forum for governments to negotiate trade governments know what the trade rules are
agreements. It’s a place for them to settle trade around the world, and giving them the confidence
disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. (But that there will be no sudden changes of policy. In
it’s not Superman, just in case anyone thought it other words, the rules have to be “transparent”
could solve — or cause — all the world’s prob- and predictable.
lems!)
Trade relations often involve conflicting interests.
Essentially, the WTO is a place where member Agreements, including those painstakingly nego-
governments go, to try to sort out the trade prob- tiated in the WTO system, often need interpret-
lems they face with each other. The first step is to ing. The most harmonious way to settle these dif-
talk. The WTO was born out of negotiations, and ferences is through some neutral procedure based
everything the WTO does is the result of nego- on an agreed legal foundation. That is the pur-
tiations. The bulk of the WTO's current work pose behind the dispute settlement process writ-
comes from the 1986-94 negotiations called the ten into the WTO agreements.
Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO began life on 1 January 1995, but its
The WTO is currently the host to new negotia- trading system is half a century older. Since 1948,
tions, under the “Doha Development Agenda” the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
launched in 2001. (GATT) had provided the rules for the system.
(The second WTO ministerial meeting, held in
Where countries have faced trade barriers and Geneva in May 1998, included a celebration of the
wanted them lowered, the negotiations have 50th anniversary of the system.)
helped to liberalize trade. But the WTO is not just
It did not take long for the General Agreement to countries are allowed, in limited circumstances,
give birth to an unofficial, de facto international to discriminate. But the agreements only permit
organization, also known informally as GATT. these exceptions under strict conditions. In gen-
Over the years GATT evolved through several eral, MFN means that every time a country low-
rounds of negotiations. ers a trade barrier or opens up a market, it has to
do so for the same goods or services from all its
The last and largest GATT round, was the Uru- trading partners — whether rich or poor, weak
guay Round which lasted from 1986 to 1994 and or strong.
led to the WTO’s creation. Whereas GATT had
mainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO and National treatment
its agreements now cover trade in services, and in (Treating foreigners and locals Equally )
traded inventions, creations and designs (intellec-
tual property). Imported and locally-produced goods should be
treated equally — at least after the foreign goods
Trade Without Discrimination have entered the market. The same should apply
to foreign and domestic services, and to foreign
Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) and local trademarks, copyrights and patents. This
( Treating Other People Equally ) principle of “national treatment” (giving others the
same treatment as one’s own nationals) is also
Under the WTO agreements, countries cannot found in all the three main WTO agreements (Ar-
normally discriminate between their trading part- ticle 3 of GATT, Article 17 of GATS and Article 3
ners. Grant someone a special of TRIPS), although once again the principle is
favour (such as a lower customs handled slightly differently in each of these.
duty rate for one of their prod-
ucts) and you have to do the same National treatment only applies once a product,
for all other WTO members. service or item of intellectual property has entered
the market. Therefore, charging customs duty on
This principle is known as most- an import is not a violation of national treatment
favoured-nation (MFN) treatment. It is so impor- even if locally-produced products are not charged
tant that it is the first article of the General Agree- an equivalent tax.
ment on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which gov-
erns trade in goods. MFN is also a priority in the Lowering trade barriers
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)
(Article 2) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvi-
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) ous means of encouraging trade. The barriers con-
(Article 4), although in each agreement the prin- cerned include customs duties (or tariffs) and mea-
ciple is handled slightly differently. Together, sures such as import bans or quotas that restrict
those three agreements cover all three main areas quantities selectively. From time to time other
of trade handled by the WTO. issues such as red tape and exchange rate policies
have also been discussed.
Some exceptions are allowed. For example, coun-
tries can set up a free trade agreement that ap- Since GATT’s creation in 1947-48 there have been
plies only to goods traded within the group — eight rounds of trade negotiations. A ninth round,
discriminating against goods from outside. Or they under the Doha Development Agenda, is now un-
can give developing countries special access to derway. At first these focused on lowering tariffs
their markets. Or a country can raise barriers (customs duties) on imported goods. As a result of
against products that are considered to be traded the negotiations, by the mid-1990s industrial
unfairly from specific countries. And in services, countries’ tariff rates on industrial goods had fallen
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Section -1 (Article : Child Labour)
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Section -1 (Article : Child Labour)
=ºÉä E ¨É ºÉä E ¨É iÉÒxÉ ¨Éɽ ºÉä ±ÉäE ® BE ´É¹ÉÇ iÉE E É E É® É´ÉÉºÉ ªÉÉ E ¨É ¤ÉÉMÉÉxÉ ¸É¨É +‡vɇxÉªÉ¨É 1951, JÉnÉxÉ +‡vɇxÉªÉ¨É 1951, JÉnÉxÉ +‡vɇxɪɨÉ
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» Ku-band Pencil Beam scatterometer (SCAT) de- Winds are important for weather forecasting and
how the cyclones are generated. Data from both
veloped by ISRO these sensors would be available to the national
» Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmosphere and international community. The ROSA would
study the temperature and humidity in the atmo-
(ROSA) developed by the Italian Space Agency.
sphere.
Oceansat-2 is envisaged to provide continuity of
These three payloads will help in monitoring many
operational services of Oceansat-1(IRS-P4) with
of the phenomena [related to the oceans and the
enhanced application potential.
atmosphere] and help in predicting the weather.
The six nano satellites put in orbit were educa-
» Launch Date: Sept 23, 2009 tional satellites from abroad, meant to test new
spacecraft technologies.
» Launch Site: SHAR, Sriharikota
» Launch Vehicle: PSLV - C14 Of the six, four were Cubesats weighing one kg
each. They were from Ecole Polytechnique
» Orbit: Polar Sun Synchronous federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Technical
» Altitude: 720 km University of Berlin and University of Wurzburg,
both in Germany, and Istanbul Technical Univer-
» Inclination: 98.28° sity. The Rubinsats, weighing eight kg each, were
» Period: 99.31 minutes from Luxembourg and Germany.
» Repetitivity Cycle: 2 days CUBESATs & RUBIN
» Playloads: OCM, SCAT and ROSA
Four CUBESATs and Two RUBIN are the foreign
» Mass At Lift Off: 960 kg satellites launched by PSLV-C14 along with the
» Power: 15 Sq.m Solar panels generating main satellite - Oceansat-2.
1360W, Two 24 Ah Ni-Cd Batteries
CUBESATs
» Mission Life: 5 years
The four CUBESATs are educational satellites from
For the PSLV-C14 flight, George Koshi was the European universities, each weighing around one
Mission Director and P. Kunhikrishnan the Ve- kg. and developed to perform technology demon-
hicle Director. M. Venkata Rao was the Project stration in space. The satellites are launched in-
Director of Oceansat-2 and Mr. Prasad the Range side a Single Picosatellite Launcher (SPL) also
Operation Director. While the rocket costs Rs. 75 weighing one kg., which is a dedicated European
crore, the Oceansat-2 costs Rs. 160 crore. launch adaptor to deploy a CubeSat.
The 960-kg Oceansat-2 had three important pay- CUBESAT-1: UWE-2, from the Universität
loads. They were the ocean colour monitor, a Würzburg, Germany
scatterometer (both designed by the SAC) and Ra-
dio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies UWE-2 is a pico satellite, with the mission objec-
(ROSA) built by the Italian Space Agency. tive of demonstration of a newly developed Atti-
tude Determination and Control system (ADCS)
The ocean colour monitor would gather data about and the technology demonstration of a GPS on a
plant life in the oceans and the scatterometer Cubesat.
would measure the sea surface winds.
CUBESAT-2: BeeSat, from the Technische The main purpose of the Rubin-9.2 spacecraft is
Universität Berlin, Germany to test and qualify nano technologies from Ang-
strom company Sweden and to continue space
BeeSat is a pico satellite project of the Technical based maritime Automatic Identification System
University of Berlin with the main objective of (AIS) receiver experiments (started with Rubin-7
on-orbit verification of newly developed micro and Rubin-8 missions). Rubin-9.2 is similar to the
reaction wheels for pico satellite applications and Rubin-8 launched on PSLV-C9 in April 2008
will demonstrate the use of coin sized micro reac-
tion wheels for attitude control of pico satellites PSLV-C14
in orbit as one of the key elements.
PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle employing
CUBESAT-3: ITU-pSAT1, from Istanbul both solid and liquid propulsion stages. PSLV is
Technical University, Turkey the trusted workhorse launch Vehicle of ISRO.
During Sep. 1993 - Apr. 2009 period, PSLV had
The primary mission of the satellite is to examine fifteen launches of which fourteen were consecu-
the performance of an on-board passive stability tively successful. PSLV has repeatedly proved its
system consisting of a magnet which will align reliability and versatility by launching 39 space-
the satellite to the magnetic field of the Earth with crafts (17 Indian and 22 for international custom-
an error of about 15 degrees according to simula- ers) into a variety of orbits so far. It may be re-
tions, and to verify this figure. A secondary ob- called that during its previous mission, PSLV had
jective is to download photographs taken using a successfully launched RISAT-2 and ANUSAT
camera with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. spacecrafts on April 20, 2009.
CUBESAT-4: SwissCube, from Ecole In its standard configuration, the 44 m tall PSLV
Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne, Switzer- has a lift-off mass of 295 tonne. It is a four-stage
land launch vehicle with the first and the third stages
as well as the six strap-ons surrounding the first
The SwissCube mission objective is to house a sci- stage using HTPB based solid propellant. PSLV's
ence payload and take optical measurements and first stage is one of the largest solid propellant
characterize the airglow intensity over selected boosters in the world. Its second and fourth stages
latitudes and longitudes thereby demonstrating use liquid propellants.
that the airglow emissions are strong enough to
be measured by an off-the-shelf detector and vali- This mission is unique for PSLV as this is the first
dating the concept for the development of a low- time that new AMC/ATS based avionics is being
cost Earth sensor. used for a typical SSPO mission. A Core Alone
configuration of the vehicle with PS4 L2.5 stage
RUBIN-9 is being employed to put the satellites in orbit.
This is the fifth mission of PSLV in Core alone
RUBIN-9 consists of two Spacecrafts Rubin-9.1 configuration.
and Rubin-9.2 weighing 8kg each and will prima-
rily be used for the Automatic Identification Sys- Major changes
tem (AIS) for Maritime applications. These are
non-separable payloads that will be mounted at
an angle of 45deg to the PSLV EB deck.
» PS4 to use L2.5 stage
» First time use of ECI frame and Quaternion based
Rubin-9.1 is developed by Luxspace and has a computation for SSPO mission
mission objective of providing an insight into the
issue of message collisions that limit detection in
areas of dense shipping.
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
34
» Introduction of a 45° inclined deck to mount
Rubin spacecrafts on EB
» CUBESATs are separated using a separation sys-
tem SPL supplied along with S/C by the user.
Current Affairs
Current Relevant Facts
» United States continued to lead the global IT While organ transplanting in India will be made
industry competitiveness ranking in an annual sur- stringent for foreign nationals, the penalty provi-
vey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, followed sions have been strengthened, with erring doc-
by Finland, Sweden and tors liable to 10-year imprison-
Canada. ment and touts or middlemen
up to seven years.
The prominence of Fin-
land, Sweden, Canada and The amendments were ap-
the Netherlands in the proved in view of illegal trade,
index's top tier was helped particularly in kidneys, which
most by their robust IT in- often involves the exploitation
frastructure and strong of economically weaker sec-
support for technology re- tions by some clinicians, man-
search and development, agers of clinical centres and
the survey said. An im- middlemen.
proving R&D environment and also human capi-
tal helped lift China's ranking to 39th and Russia's Patient-friendly
to 38th.
The objective was to prevent commercial dealings
The IT Industry Competitiveness Index of 66 and make the system transparent and patient-
countries assesses and compares the quality of the friendly. There was an increasing perception in
local technology infrastructure, the availability civil society that while the Act had not been ef-
and quality of IT talent, the innovation environ- fective in curbing commercial transactions in
ment, the legal regime, the business environment, transplantation, it thwarted genuine cases what
and government technology policies, the EIU said. with the complicated and long-drawn process in-
India stands at 44th rank among global IT com- volving organ donation.
petitiveness index.
The Act came into force on February 4, 1995 in
» The Union Cabinet on Sep 17, 2009 approved Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. It was
subsequently adopted by all States except Jammu
amendments to the Transplantation of Human Or-
and Kashmir, where Central legislation have to
gans Act, 1994, to prevent illegal organ trade and
be endorsed by the Assembly. The purpose of the
provide for stringent punishment to those indulg-
Act is to regulate the removal, storage and trans-
ing in such practices. The amendments will allow
plantation of organs for therapeutic use and to
transplantation of tissues that include bones, skin,
prevent commercial dealings. Organ transplanta-
and tendons.
tion has been under a cloud for long, with even
the National Human Rights Commission voicing
Organ swapping concern over it. Subsequently, a committee was
set up on the directions of the Delhi High Court
The definition of the word ‘relative’ has been re- to review the Act, and it submitted its report four
vised to incorporate grandparents and grandchil- years ago.
dren as donors. Further, organ swapping will now
be allowed.
The Union Cabinet on Sep 17, 2009 approved the nated as assistant professors, to be recruited on
setting up of nine new National Institutes of Tech- contractual basis.
nology (NITs), taking their number to 29 across
the country. While the process of establishing the Also, assistant professors in Indian Institutes of
new NITs will get under way immediately, the Technology, the Indian Institute of Science, Ban-
first round of admissions will begin in the next galore, and in Indian Institutes of Management
academic year and classes will be held in mentor on completion of three years of service will move
NITs or campuses taken on lease. to pay band-4, with an academic grade pay of
Rs.9,000. Their designation will remain the same.
The new NITs will be set up in Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Goa, Puducherry, » An additional weightage of 10 per cent for each
Sikkim, Delhi, and Uttarakhand. The Goa NIT will year of rural service will be given to doctors ap-
cater to the Union Territories of Daman & Diu, plying for postgraduate entrance examinations
Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Lakshadweep, while from the next academic year.
the Puducherry NIT will cover the Andaman &
Nicobar Islands. Chandigarh will come under the Announcing this on Sep 17, 2009 at a press con-
Delhi NIT. ference, Union Health and Family Welfare Min-
ister Ghulam Nabi Azad said this weightage will
Barring the Delhi and Uttarakhand NITs, all other be subject to a maximum of 30 per cent for three
new NITs will be established at a cost of Rs.250 years, though a doctor could serve in rural areas
crore each. In the case of the Delhi and for as many years as he chose to after completing
Uttarakhand NITs, the cost estimate is higher at the internship . Similarly, 50 per cent of seats in
Rs.300 crore. Work for the construction of the postgraduate diploma courses have also been re-
new campuses will begin as soon as the State gov- served for medical officers in government service
ernments provide land free-of-cost. who have served for at least three years in remote
and inaccessible areas.
By setting up these new NITs, the Union Human
Resource Development (HRD) Ministry hopes to In order to facilitate the increase in the number
cover all the States and Union Territories which of medical specialists, the government has also
till date have remained uncovered by the NIT decided to increase the enrolment of postgradu-
network. This will locally address some of the ate students. The existing 1:1 ratio will be en-
demand for engineering education in these States, hanced in broad specialities for professor and in
as 50 per cent of the seats have to be filled from super specialities to 1:2. The rise in the number of
within, while the remaining seats are to be filled postgraduate doctors will automatically increase
on an all-India merit basis. the number of teachers due to the multiplier ef-
fect. Thus, without substantive additional resource
Of the 20 existing NITs, 17 used to be Regional and infrastructure requirement, the number of
Engineering Colleges. They were taken over as postgraduate specialists would dramatically in-
fully funded institutes of the Central government, crease annually by almost 5,000 from the existing
granted deemed university status, and rechristened 13,000 .
NITs in 2003 by the Murli Manohar Joshi regime
in the HRD Ministry. Further, Mr. Azad said land requirement for set-
ting up medical colleges was also being relaxed
» The HRD Ministry has issued a fresh notifica- from the current 25 acres to 20 acres throughout
tion on the revision of pay for teaching and other the country. However, with respect to hill States,
staff in the Centrally Funded Technical Institu- northeastern States, Empowered Action Group
tions, following protests by some faculty mem- (EAG) States under the National Rural Health
bers. As per the new notification, the post of lec- Mission and Union Territories of Andaman and
turer-cum-post doctoral fellows will be re-desig-
Nicobar Islands, Lakshdweep, Dadra and Nagar Russia’s Ioffe Physics Institute, the CSIR will test
Haveli and Daman and Diu, two parcels of land in its laboratories prototype photo-material de-
separated by a distance of not more than 10 km veloped by Russian scientists, Prof. Brahmachari
will be allowed. said.
Due to non-availability of land in the metropoli- In another major development, the Department
tan and A grade cities, medical colleges could have of Atomic Energy is negotiating for India to be-
multi-storied buildings with the required floor come a member of the international Dubna Joint
area. In such cases the land requirement would Institute for Nuclear Research, a top-notch Rus-
be 10 acres instead of 20 acres. sian nuclear centre. India already has a coopera-
tion agreement with the Kurchatov Institute, an-
State governments will also be allowed to enter other Russian nodal centre for nuclear research.
into private partnerships to set up medical col-
leges where district hospitals can be used as pub- »U.S. President Barack Obama
lic components. Now, companies registered un- shelved a Bush-era plan for an Eastern
der the Companies Act will also be allowed to es- European missile defence plan that has
tablish medical colleges as against the existing rules been a major irritant in U.S. relations
that allowed only universities, autonomous bod- with Russia. He said a redesigned de-
ies, registered societies and religious and chari- fensive system would be cheaper, quicker and
table trusts to establish medical institutions. more effective against the threat from Iranian
missiles. New missile defence architecture in Eu-
» Renewable energy, health care, drug discovery rope will provide stronger, smarter and swifter
and nanotechnologies will be among thrust areas defences of American forces and America’s allies.
of cooperation in science and technology between It is more comprehensive than the previous
India and Russia under a new bilateral programme programme; it deploys capabilities that are proven
for 2010-2020. The new programme to be signed and cost effective, and it sustains and builds upon
next year will be a renewal of the Integrated Long- our commitment to protect the U.S. homeland.
Term Programme (ILTP) of Cooperation in Sci-
ence & Technology that the two countries first The missile defence system, planned under the
signed in 1987. Over the past 20 years more than Bush administration, was to have been built in
500 projects have been successfully accomplished the Czech Republic and Poland. Mr. Obama
under the ILTP title and another 80 projects are phoned Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on
in the pipeline. Wednesday night and Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusk on Thursday to alert them of his de-
As a first step, India and Russia plan to set up a cision.
joint venture for large-scale production of silicon
wafers in Russia using abundant hydropower in Mr. Obama said the plan was scrapped in part
Siberia, which is substantially cheaper than elec- because, after a review, the U.S. has concluded
tricity generated in India. This is a third time in a that Iran was less focused on developing the kind
decade that India plans to tie up with Russia for of long-range missiles for which the system was
silicon production. originally developed, making the building of an
expensive new shield unnecessary. New technol-
Earlier India could not spare at least $200 million ogy also had arisen that military advisers decided
to invest in the project and did not feel such ur- could be deployed sooner and more effectively.
gency for alternative energy. India also hopes to But later Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the
source from Russia new non-silicon technologies U.S. still aimed to deploy missiles in Poland and
for utilising solar energy. Under an MoU with the Czech Republic in 2015, even though Iran’s
long-range missile programme was further off than in human history. His total devotion to ending
thought. The second phase about 2015 will in- famine and hunger revolutionized food security
volve fielding upgraded land based SM-3s about for millions of people and for many nations.
hosting a land based version and other compo- Borlaug began his career in the pre-war years at
nents of the system the US forestry service, after earning an under-
graduate degree at the University in Minnesota.
» Former president of the Indian Like many in America's midwest, Borlaug traced
cricket board Raj Singh Dungarpur his roots back to Europe's Nordic region, which
died in Mumbai on Sep 12,2009 af- he referred to as "the land of my fathers."
ter a protracted illness, leaving the
entire cricket world in mourning. He was 73. Born in Iowa in March 1914, "his childhood days
were spent on an Iowa farm, influenced by his
Raj Bhai, as he was fondly known, was the man Norwegian grandfather's lessons on common
who never hesitated to take bold decisions. As sense. That common sense led him to focus on
chief selector he picked Sachin Tendulkar after one of the fundamentals of human existence, food.
first watching him play for Cricket Club of India Beginning in 1944 he worked for two decades with
(CCI). Hailing from the erstwhile royal family of Mexican scientists to develop new wheat variet-
Dungarpur in Rajasthan, he was the youngest son ies, which was were later introduced to India and
of Lakshman Singhji, the ex-ruler. Pakistan, helping to feed what he described as the
"population monster."
A right-arm medium-fast bowler who represented
and led Rajasthan successfully in the Ranji Tro- The dwarf wheat yielded two to three times as
phy in the 1960s, Dungarpur took 206 wickets in much as the normal crop. According to his own
86 first-class matches. He dedicated his post-re- figures, the new strain nearly doubled Indian and
tirement life to cricket administration and rose to Pakistani wheat production between 1965 and
become the board president 1996-99. Dungarpur’s 1970, a leap of over 11 million tons. The success,
capabilities as a visionary were also evident in the at a time when mass famines were widely pre-
form of the critical role that he essayed in the in- dicted, spread his fame across the globe and his
stitution of the National Cricket Academy at Ban- dwarf wheat throughout Latin America, the
galore in 2000. Middle East and Africa.
cine for the 2009 H1N1 virus for four of the (five) it has been kept as 35 years. The Forum of Regu-
manufacturers of the U.S. licensed seasonal influ- lators has also agreed to implement Renewable
enza vaccine. Energy Certificate (REC) mechanism which will
be an alternative route for fulfilling renewable
The U.S. government purchased 195 million doses purchase obligations.
of the vaccine and would make shots available free
of charge “for the American people” starting next » From August 7 to 8, the 13th Meeting between
month. Providers might charge a fee to adminis- the Chinese and Indian Special Representative on
ter them, she said. Vaccination would be volun- Boundary Question was held in New Delhi, In-
tary, with priority given to five groups deemed at dia. Chinese Special Representative, State Coun-
particular risk from the novel swine flu virus. cilor Dai Bingguo met with his counterpart, Mr.
Clinical trials were under way to determine if Narayanan, India’s National Security Advisor.
there was “any harm” in having a seasonal flu vac- During his stay in India, State Councilor Dai also
cine, already available, at the same time as this met with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of the
one. Indian Congress Party and Prime Minister Singh.
In a friendly and candid atmosphere, the two Spe-
» Central Electricity Regulatory cial Representatives had an in-depth exchange of
Commission (CERC) on Sep 17, views on resolving the boundary question. Both
2009 notified tariff regulations for agreed to press ahead with the framework nego-
green power generated from re- tiations in accordance with the agreed political
newable energy sources in an ef- parameters and guiding principle so as to seek for
fort to attract new investments in a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both.
this sector. The regulations have been finalised Prior to that, both should work together to main-
keeping in view the statutory mandate to Elec- tain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
tricity Regulatory Commission for promoting co-
generation and generation of electricity from re- During the talks, the two sides exchanged in-depth
newable sources of energy. views on the further development of China-India
Strategic and Cooperative Partnership, as well as
These regulations assumed special importance in regional, international and global issues of mutual
view of the National Action Plan on Climate interest.
Change which stipulated that minimum renew-
able purchase standards might be set at 5 per cent The Chinese side pointed out that the Chinese
of the total power purchases in the year 2010 and Government and people value the strategic and
thereafter should increase by one percentage point cooperative partnership between China and In-
each year for ten years. dia, the largest two developing nations with a com-
bined population accounting for 40 percent of the
Specifying capital cost norms and fixing tariff world’s total. Friendly coexistence, mutual ben-
upfront for the whole tariff period are the two eficial cooperation and shared progress between
main features of the new regulations. The regula- the two neighbours will contribute not only to
tions provide normative capital costs for projects the people of the two countries but also Asia and
based on different renewable technologies. These the whole world. China and India have no other
capital costs are to be revised every year for in- option than living in peace and developing side
corporating the relevant escalations. The tariff by side. China stands firmly committed to work-
permitted to a project under these regulations ing with India to press ahead with the bilateral
would apply for the whole tariff period which is ties.
13 years. The tariff period for solar power has been
kept as 25 years and for small hydro below 5 MW, The Chinese side believes that both countries need
to promote the relationship with a higher and stra- being manufactured at the Heavy Vehicles Fac-
tegic perspective and continue to uphold the Five tory (HVF).
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. China and In-
dia should endeavor to build the strategic mutual HVF plans to produce 100 tanks per year. Indian
trust. Both need to expand the common interests army has already around 700 of these frontline
and cooperation bilaterally and on regional and tanks in service and contract has been signed for
global affairs. Both should take concrete steps to purchase of another 400 off the shelf.
enhance people-to-people and cultural interac-
tions so as to nurture the mutual understanding The tanks have features like capability to fire
and friendship between the two peoples. For the guided missile, in addition to the conventional
questions left over from history,the two countries ammunition, using the same main gun barrel and
should work to seek for a fair and reasonable mu- guided weapon system and ballistic computer fa-
tually acceptable solution through peaceful and cilities to ensure accurate firing of both conven-
friendly negotiations. tional ammunition and guided missiles.
For the future development of the bilateral ties, It is equipped with 125 mm smooth bore gun, 12.7
the Chinese side made the following suggestions. mm anti-aircraft machine gun and 7.62 mm co-
The two countries need to maintain the momen- axial Machine gun supported with high accuracy
tum of high-level exchanges, well celebrate the sighting systems, and automatic loader for higher
60th anniversary marking the establishment of the firing rate. The induction of the tanks is an im-
diplomatic relations between the two countries, portant milestone for the Indian army and a step
especially the China Festival and India Festival in towards attaining self-sufficiency in its prepared-
each other’s country in 2010. Both countries ness.
should strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation
in the economic field and trade, fully tap the po- » A team comprising only lady officers of the In-
tential for cooperation and properly handle fric- dian Army scaled the Siachen glacier on August
tions and questions thereof and stand side by side 15, 2009, making it the first ladies team to have
against trade protectionism so as to ensure the reached the highest battlefield in the world. Lo-
sustained and healthy development of bilateral cated in north-eastern J&K, Saichen glacier is to-
economic ties. The two neighbours should en- tally snow- bound throughout the year and is one
hance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, of the treacherous stretches of land with deep
those between the youth, academic institutions, crevices and steep walls of ice.
media and localities in particular, and deepen de-
fence cooperation and continue the defence and The lady officers, led by Major Meghna Aktadikar,
security talks. China and India should also inten- are from the corps of engineers. The expedition
sify the coordination and cooperation on major comprised the following officers: Major Neha
international issues, especially the global efforts Bhatnagar, Major Pradiya Kulkarni, Major
in response to world financial crisis, climate Meghna R, Capt Shalini Datta, Capt Pushpa
change, energy and food security so as to promote Kumari, Capt RP Parashar, Lt Namrata Rathore,
evolution of international system that is in favor Lt Girija Mohalkar, Lt Vijay Laxmi Thakur, Lt
of developing nations. The two sides also exchange Garima Pal and Lt Neelam Rathore.
views on the situation in South and Northeast Asia.
» Sixty- three-year-old social activist Deep Joshi
» The first batch of India’s indigenously built state- has been decorated with the 2009 Ramon
of-the-art T-90 main battle tanks, named Bhishma, Magsaysay Award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.
with features like protection from nuclear attack, He has been recognised for “his vision and leader-
were handed over to the army on August 24, 2009 ship in bringing professionalism in the NGO move-
at a function in Avadi, Tamil Nadu. The tanks are
Dakshin Gangotri, set up in 1984, was buried in » India has completed the design of Chandrayaan-
ice and had to be abandoned in 1990, a year after 2, its next mission to the moon—this time in col-
India set up Maitri, the second station. The Na- laboration with Russia—that would have a Lander
tional Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research and Rover which can collect samples of the lunar
(NCAOR), Goa, will set up the new station on soil and analyse them and send back the data.
Larsmann Hill, 3,000 km from Schirmacher Oa-
sis, where Maitri stands. While Maitri was more The Chandrayaan-2 mission would have an or-
than 100 km from the Antarctic Sea, Bharti will bital flight vehicle, constituting an Orbital Craft
be on a promontory by the sea. (OC) and a Lunar Craft (LC), which would carry a
soft landing system up to Lunar Transfer Trajec-
Bharti, like Maitri, will also conduct research on tory (LTT).
seismic activity, climate change and medicine. The
station will be a compact structure of 30x50 The target location for the Lander-rover would
metres, accommodating 25 scientists. While liv- be identified using data from instruments of
ing in Antarctica, where temperatures range from Chandrayaan-1.While ISRO will be developing
-89 degrees Celsius in winter to -25 degrees Cel- the orbiter, it will be Russia's job to make the
sius in summer, can be tough, constructing a per- Lander and Rover. Additional scientific payloads
manent structure is a huge challenge. would be acquired from international scientific
community.
Experiments in extreme cold climates, as in the
polar region, have contributed immensely to sci-
entific developments. India was admitted to the
» The abrupt end of the moon mission
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Chandrayaan-I on August 29, 2009, has tempo-
(SCAR), an international body that coordinates rarily buried India’s dream of bettering China in
scientific activities in the region, on October 1, the field of moon exploration. While the Indian
1984. India holds the vice-chairman’s post in the mission was called off 10 months after it was
panel. launched and 14 months before its scheduled ter-
mination, the Chinese mission Chang’e 1
(launched on October 24, 2007), after having com-
» The government has given its clearance for the pleted its original tenure of one year, was given a
development of a communications satellite that four months extension and was finally terminated
would have a GPS-based navigation system. The on March 1, 2009.
approval came at the meeting of the Cabinet
chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Importantly, Japan, the other Asian space faring
design and development of GSAT-10 spacecraft nation, has also done well in the field of moon
would cost Rs 735 crore with a foreign exchange exploration. Kaguya, the Japanese probe launched
component of Rs 634 crore, the government said. on September 14, 2007, successfully orbited the
The 3.3-tonne satellite, one of the heavier space- moon for 20 months before it was made to crash
crafts to be developed by space agency ISRO, will on the lunar surface on June 10, 2009.
replace INSAT 2E and INSAT 3B, an official re-
lease said. Chandrayaan-I was launched on October 22, 2008.
It had to be called off due to snapping of radio
The GSAT-10 satellite will have 12 high power link.
Ku-band transponders, 12 C-band and 12 extended
C-band India coverage transponders that would
create additional capacity for direct-to-home like
» India will host World Tiger Summit in 2010
operations. where wildlife experts from various countries are
expected to congregate to deliberate on conserva-
tion of diminishing striped cats in the wild.
"Rajasthan will be hosting the World Tiger Sum- (PMEAC). The other members of PMEAC are: M.
mit at Ranthambore in October or November. Govinda Rao, V.S. Vyas, Suman Bery and Saumitra
Chaudhari.
About 200 experts from across the countries are
to participate in the summit, including those from »
Dr V.K. Saraswat has been ap-
the world renowned organisation, Global Tiger pointed as the Director-General of the
Initiative. Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO). He will also be
With over 44 royal big cats, Ranthambore Tiger the new Secretary, Department of De-
Reserve will be showcased as a role model to del- fence Research and Development, be-
egates attending the summit being held for the sides being the Scientific Advisor to Defence Min-
first time in the country which is home to around ister.
1,400 endangered species.
» U.D. Choubey has taken over as Director Gen-
» Sonia Sotomayor is the first eral of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises
Hispanic to be sworn-in as the (SCOPE), the apex body of public sector units.
US Supreme Court judge. She
also became the first high
court member to have her oath-taking made avail-
» Just six months after the Indian Navy was given
able to TV cameras. charge of the country’s entire coastal security, it
announced a revised maritime policy on August
28, 2009. The Navy will now have an even sharper
» The Pakistan government has decided to confer focus on the neighbourhood of the country. This
its highest civilian award, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, post- means securing the trade routes in the Indian
humously on Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande for Ocean region; extending the reach of the Navy to
working towards peace, harmony and cordial re- project India as a major force and also preventing
lations between India and Pakistan. It is for the Mumbai-style sea-borne invasions by terrorists.
first time that services of any Indian woman to
public life and her contribution to building amity The 2009 edition of the Indian Maritime doctrine
in the region had been acknowledged by the Pa- was released by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral
kistan government. Suresh Mehta. The original doctrine was published
in 2004 to provide a common understanding of
»
Stefania Fernandez has won the universally applicable maritime concepts, not only
Miss Universe pageant 2009. Miss Do- for the forces but also for the public at large. This
minican Republic Ada Aimee De la revision was needed on account of the rapidly
Cruz was first runner-up and Miss changing geo-strategic environment and transfor-
Kosovo Gona Dragusha was second mational changes in the maritime domain.
runner-up. The pageant was held at
Nassau, Bahamas. » As per a WHO study, India ranks 171 out of the
175 countries in the world in public health spend-
» Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s most feared ter- ing. This is less than some of the sub-Saharan Af-
rorist commander who established the Taliban as rican countries. For a country of one billion, In-
a force in huge swathes and unleashed attacks dia spends 5.2% of the GDP on healthcare. While
across the country, is killed in a US missile attack 4.3% is spent by the private sector, the govern-
on the house he was hiding in on aug 7,2009. ment continues to spend only 0.9% on public
health. When the economic growth index is mov-
» C. Rangarajan has been appointed as the head ing forward, the wellness index is dipping.
of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council
While India ranks among the top 10 countries for » The Centre, West Bengal government and the
communicable disease, it is, today, world leader Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) have agreed to
of chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and scrap the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC)
coronary artery disease. and bring in its place an alternative administra-
tive framework for the hill district to be finalised
One of the key findings of the commission was through mutual consultation and agreement. At a
that by improving the health condition, the tripartite meeting of representatives of the Cen-
economy of the country will improve. But it has tre, led by Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, of
been reverse in India. There is growth in GDP West Bengal government led by chief secretary
but there has been no increase in healthcare spend- A.K. Chakrabarty and of GJM led by Anmole
ing. This inadequate public health spending has Prasad, it was decided that the DGHC Act, 1988
forced the public to depend on private sector. would be repealed and the proposal for establish-
ment of a hill council under the Sixth Schedule of
India’s health scenario currently presents a con- the Constitution be dropped.
trasting picture. While health tourism and pri-
vate healthcare are being promoted, a large sec- The press statement, however, makes no refer-
tion of Indian population still reels under the risk ence to the GJM’s central demand for a separate
of curable diseases that do not receive ample at- Gorkhaland: a pointer to such a drastic conces-
tention of policy-makers. sion being almost ruled out. The alternative ad-
ministrative framework to be worked out by the
» Making the process of paying taxes simpler for yet-to-be-named interlocutor for the Gorkha talks
the common man has always been on top of the will have due constitutional status and will be
UPA’s agenda. This was amply demonstrated to- supported by a full-fledged Act. It is also likely to
day with the government initiating radical tax be given more powers than DGHC. However,
reforms by releasing the direct tax draft code that working out its terms is likely to be a long-drawn
aims to moderate tax rates and at the same time affair, and, in all probability, the new framework
tries to make it easier for a layman to understand may come well after installation of the new gov-
and calculate his tax liability. ernment in West Bengal.
The reform of the tax regime introduced in 1961 » In a major success in its ‘Look East' policy, In-
is based on the objective of having a tax system dia, on August 13, 2009, signed a Free Trade
that is simpler, fairer, and easy to administer. The Agreement (FTA) with the 10-member Associa-
specific objectives of the measures are to improve tion of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) bloc that
the responsiveness of the tax system, that is, to would eventually eliminate duty on 80% of the
enhance the automaticity in the increase in tax goods traded at present by 2016. The two sides
revenues with increases in economic activity; im- have set an ambitious target of achieving an in-
prove tax administration by simplifying the tax crease of $10 billion worth of trade in the first
system; and, lastly, promote tax compliance ob- year after the agreement comes into force from
jective as to reduce the scope for disputes and January 2010. India's current bilateral trade with
minimize litigation. the ASEAN bloc is worth $40 billion.
The goal of the new tax code is to consolidate and The agreement was signed by Commerce and In-
amend all direct taxes and simplify language to dustry Minister Anand Sharma and Economic
ensure that the law can be reflected in the return Ministers of ASEAN in Bangkok. Considered as a
form. The aim is also to reduce scope for litigation major breakthrough, the pact comes after six years
and provide flexibility in accommodating changes of intense negotiations. The FTA would bring
without need for frequent amendments. down tariffs on electronics, chemicals, machin-
ery and textile goods.
However, talks on software and information tech- Several important bilateral issues, including the
nology services have been postponed for Decem- proposed revision of the friendship and trade trea-
ber 2009. This is one area where Indian exporters ties and the finalisation of a revised extradition
of services could have brought in good business treaty figured prominently in the discussions be-
and also offset setbacks received in the European tween the two sides.
and US markets during the downturn. Of the to-
tal $936 billion worth of ASEANn imports, ser- Besides meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
vices import account for $180 billion which is the the Nepalese Prime Minister also meet President
primary focus of Indian industry. Pratibha Patil, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, External
Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Finance Minister
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P.
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Chidambaram.
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extended India’s
Lobbying from the domestic industry has led to full support to the peace process in Nepal and also
India excluding 489 items from the list of tariff discussed the broad contours of a proposed revised
concessions and 590 items from the list of tariff trade treaty between the two countries. The two
elimination to address sensitivities in agriculture, leaders had a one-on-one meeting lasting about
textiles, auto, chemicals, crude and refined palm an hour during which they discussed the entire
oil, coffee, tea, pepper, etc. gamut of bilateral relations as well as international
issues.
» Defence Minister A.K.
Antony went on a three-day Intensifying economic partnership between the
official visit to Maldives from two countries remained at the centre of the dis-
August 20, 2009. He led a cussions with the focus on investment in hydro
high-level delegation com- power sector. The issue of the misuse of Nepal's
prising Defence Secretary territory by anti-Indian forces also came up dur-
Pradeep Kumar; DG, Armed Forces Medical Ser- ing the talks.
vices, Lt Gen N.K. Parmar; DG, Coast Guard, Vice
Admiral Anil Chopra and Deputy Chief of Navy Nepalese Prime Minister also addressed captains
Staff Vice Admiral D.K. Joshi. of the Indian industry, inviting them to invest lib-
erally in the Himalayan Nation in various sectors.
During his visit, Mr Antony held bilateral discus- He assured them of conducive atmosphere for in-
sions with his counterpart Ameen Faisal on ways dustrial growth. The visiting dignitary identified
of expanding defence cooperation between the hydro power, roads, bridges, infrastructure con-
two countries. He also attended the closing ses- struction, tourism, agro-processing and financial
sion of the India-Maldives Friendship function, services as potential areas of investment.
besides paying a visit to the Indira Gandhi Me-
morial Hospital, the most visible symbol of Indo- Political events in Nepal since May this year had
Maldives cooperation and friendship. shaken the confidence of Indian entrepreneurs
after attacks by militant trade unions on a few
firms, including a well-known fast moving con-
» Amid an uncertain political situation back home, sumer goods firm. With India-Nepal trade ex-
Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr Madhav Nepal ar- pected to touch Rs 15,000 crore ($3 billion) in
rived in New Delhi on August 7, 2009 on a five- 2009-10, the commerce ministers of the two coun-
day visit to India—his first to the country since tries discussed the proposed revised treaty to
he assumed office nearly three months ago. widen the scope of bilateral trade.
» On August 4, 2009, India and Singapore signed a former Prime Minister, will take over as the new
a joint action plan on tourism cooperation. Minis- Prime Minister.
ter of Tourism Kumari Selja and Singapore Senior
Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Edu- The ruling party loss ended a three-way partner-
cation S. Iswaran witnessed the signing by tour- ship between the LDP, big business and bureau-
ism officials of India and Singapore. The plan re- crats that turned Japan into an economic power-
iterates provisions of cooperation enshrined in the house after the country’s defeat in World War II.
bilateral agreement on tourism signed between That strategy foundered when Japan’s “bubble”
India and Singapore on January 24, 1994. economy burst in the late 1980s and growth has
India and South Korea have signed a comprehen- stagnated since. The Democrats will have to move
sive economic partnership agreement which will fast to keep support among voters worried about
make Korean consumer products and auto parts a record jobless rate and a rapidly ageing society
cheaper in India. The deal excludes fully built-up that is inflating social security costs.
vehicles and provides for easier movement of con-
tractual service providers and professionals be- The Democrats have pledged to refocus spending
tween the two countries and treatment of invest- on households with child allowances and aid for
ments from one another’s country on a par with farmers while taking control of policy from bu-
domestic investments. reaucrats. The Democrats also want to forge a dip-
lomatic stance more independent of the United
This is the second CEPA signed by India, the other States, raising concerns about possible friction in
being with Singapore. This is also India’s first bi- the alliance.
lateral trade agreement with an OECD country.
» Lt Gen Chhatraman Singh
As per the agreement, South Korea will eliminate Gurung, who received training
duties on 93% of its industrial and agricultural at the Indian Military Academy,
products and India will do the same on 85% of its Dehradun, was appointed to
goods. India has excluded sensitive items such as head the Nepal Army on August
farm products, textile items and built-up automo- 9, 2009, after his controversial
biles from tariff elimination commitments. Du- predecessor General Rukmangad
ties will be phased out on most products in the Katawal went on a month-long leave ahead of his
next eight years. retirement in September. Gurung is the first from
the rank of commoners to head the army, which
» Japanese voters swept the opposition to a his- has been led by the country’s elite and the aris-
toric victory in an election on August 30, 2009, tocracy. The change of guard at the helm of
ousting the ruling conservative party and hand- 95,000-strong Nepal Army came amid a contin-
ing the untested Democrats the job of breathing ued blockade of Parliament by the Maoists de-
life into a struggling economy. manding Katawal’s removal. The Maoists, whose
eight-month-old government fell in May 2009
The win by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) after the reinstatement of Katawal, had sought his
ended a half-century of almost unbroken rule by dismissal and a debate in Parliament on the issue
the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and breaks a of “civilian supremacy” in the country.
deadlock in Parliament, ushering in a government
that has promised to focus spending on consum- » The world has earmarked a staggering $11.9 tril-
ers, cut wasteful budget outlays and reduce the lion to wriggle out of the financial crisis, the sum
power of bureaucrats. which is enough to finance a $1,779 handout for
every person living on the planet, according to
Democratic Party leader Hatoyama, grandson of the International Monetary Fund.
Most of the cash has been handed over by devel- ing Beijing tremendous clout over its neighbour's
oped countries, for whom the bill has been $10.2 economy. South Korea, another neighbour, ac-
trillion, while developing countries have spent counted for 6.1%.
only $1.7 trillion the majority of which is in cen-
tral bank liquidity support for their stuttering fi- » The Solar Mission under the National Action
nancial sectors. Plan on Climate Change has got an in-principle
nod from the Prime Minister with an ambitious
The whopping total cost of crisis is equivalent to target of 20,000 MW solar power by 2020 being
around a fifth of the entire globe's annual eco- accepted.
nomic output and includes capital injections
pumped into banks in order to prevent them from
collapse, the cost of soaking up so-called toxic as-
» Australia has decided to provide more than 80
sets, guarantees over debt and liquidity support lakh dollars to set up Australia India Institute in
from central banks. Melbourne. A joint project of the University of
Melbourne, La Trobe University and the Univer-
sity of New South Wales, the new Institute will
» India and China have agreed to jointly fight any help Australians to know and understand India
attempt by Western nations to link trade with better.
climate change and impose trade-related penal-
ties on developing countries that fail to meet en-
vironmental standards.
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Sports
» Indian Billiards prodigy Pankaj Advani eased dium and sliced the largest chunk off the world
through defending champion Mark Russel to win record since electronic timing was introduced. Bolt
the World Professional Billiards Championship- pushed himself and the result was a stunning time
2009 September 6, 2009. Advani won 2030-1253 of 9.58 seconds in the men's 100-metre final:
against defending champion Mark Russel. With eleven-hundredths of a second better than his
this win, Advani has now become only the sec- game-changing mark of 9.69 in Beijing.
ond Indian to claim the World Professional Bil-
liards Championship title in 139 years of its his- His world record performance was all the more
tory. Indian legend Geet Sethi ear- remarkable as the 22-year-old
lier won the title back in 1992. was involved in a car crash in Ja-
maica in April 2008 when his car
overturned in a ditch off a high-
» Advani was awarded with the way. Bolt had a small operation
prestigious Padma Shri in 2009, the on his left foot, but his lightning
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2006, strides showed nothing to be
the Rajyotsava Award in 2007, Vi- wrong with his feet.
sion of India's "International Indian"
Award in 2005, Senior Sportsperson Jamaica’s sprinting dominance
of the Year 2005, the Sports Writ- continued in sizzling style when
ers' Association of Bangalore's, the Olympic champion Shelly-Ann
Bangalore University ' Sportsperson Fraser clocked 10.73 seconds to
of the Year in 2005, the Hero India win the women’s world 100
Sports Award (HISA) in 2004, the Rajeev Gandhi metres. Now, only Florence Griffith-Joyner and
Award in 2004, the Arjuna Award in 2004, the Marion Jones remain among those who have run
Indo-American Young Achiever's Award - 2003, faster than Fraser.
and the Sports Star Sportsperson of the Year 2003.
Usain Bolt also shattered his own 200 metres world
» The 12th IAAF World Championships in Ath- record to win gold at the world championships in
letics were held in Berlin, Germany from Auguast a breathtaking 19.19 seconds and secure his place
15–23, 2009. The majority of events took place in as the greatest sprinter ever seen.
the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and race-
walking events started and finished at the »Olympic champion Lin
Brandenburg Gate. United States, with 10 gold, 6 Dan has become the first bad-
silver and 6 bronze medals, topped the medals minton player to clinch a hat-
tally, followed by Jamaica, Kenya, Russia, Poland trick of world titles, beating
and Germany. fellow Chinese Chen Jin in
straight games to win the men's singles title of
» Sprint king Usain Bolt proved this mega event held at the Gachibowli stadium,
lightning does strike twice as he Hyderabad. Lin had won the earlier World Cham-
smashed his own 100m world pionship in 2006 and 2007, apart from winning
record, exactly one year after setting four All-England titles in 2004, 2006, 2007 and
the previous benchmark at the 2009.
Beijing Olympics. Bolt took 33
strides down the track at Berlin’s Olympic Sta- In all-Chinese women’s singles final Lu Lan beat
Xie Xingfang in straight sets to win the world title.
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
50
Section -4 (SPORTS)
»Vijender Singh has been ranked » Sri Lanka clinched second spot behind South
second in the 75 kg category by the Africa in the official rankings as they swept aside
International Boxing Association. New Zealand by 96 runs in the final cricket Test
Akhil Kumar (57 kg) and Jitender to sweep the series 2-0. Left-arm spinner Rangana
(51 kg) are placed 9th and 13th in Herath claimed five wickets as the Kiwis, set an
their respective categories. In the 48 improbable victory target of 494 runs, were
kg category, Thokchom Nanao Singh is at fifth bowled out for 397 in their second innings just
spot. before tea on the fifth day.
Wozniacki in the final on September 13, 2009. the Australian Open mixed doubles title with
Clijsters won in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. She had ear- Sania Mirza at the start of the season.
lier beaten Venus Williams and Serena Williams
in the quarterfinal and semifinal. This is Kim's » Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner
second Grand Slam title, as she had won the US Mark Knowles continued their rampaging form
Open in 2005.Kim Clijsters also became the sec- to lift their fourth ATP title together, beating sev-
ond mom to win a Grand Slam title. Earlier, enth seeds Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram in straight
Evonne Goolagong Cawley had won Wimbledon sets in the finals of $ three million Rogers Cup.
in 1980. Kim made a comeback into tennis world The third seeds won 6-4, 6-3 to clinch their first
after a two-year retirement. She was an wild-card title at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis
entry at the US Open and was unseeded. She also tournament.
became the first US Open women’s champion from
outside the top 10.
» Leander Paes clinched his 10th Grand Slam title Step-3: Done! Now you will regular Alerts on your email.
after winning his sensational battle against es-
tranged friend Mahesh Bhupathi in the US Open
men’s doubles final. Fourth seeds Paes and his
Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy scripted a thrilling
3-6 6-3 6-2 win over third seeds Bhupathi and Click Below Link to get Free Newsletter:
Mark Knowles of Bahamas in the championship http://upscportal.com/civilservices/newsletter
match on September 13, 2009. This is for the first
time that Paes and Bhupathi faced each other in
the title clash of a Grand Slam.
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AWARDS
» Major Amit Oscar Fernandes of Maratha Light » Deep Joshi, from India. He is being recognized
Infantry, Major Deepak Tewari of Electronic and for “his vision and leadership in bringing profes-
Mechanical Engineers, Naik Rishikesh Gurjar of sionalism to the NGO movement in India, by ef-
Rajput Regiment have been awarded Kirti Chakra fectively combining ‘head’ and ‘heart’ in the trans-
for exceptional gallantry shown during anti-in- formative development of rural communities.”
surgency operations in J&K, along with para- Yu Xiaogang, from China. He is being recognized
trooper Shabir Ahmad Malik of 1 Para Regiment, for “his fusing the knowledge and tools of social
who laid down his life in gun-battle in Kupwara. science with a deep sense of social justice, in as-
sisting dam-affected communities in China to
» Indian sanitation expert shape the development projects that impact their
Bindeshwar Pathak has been natural environment and their lives.”
awarded the Stockholm Water
Prize, 2009, the most prestigious » Antonio Oposa, Jr., from the Phil-
award for outstanding achieve- ippines. He is being recognized for
ment in water-related activities. “his path-breaking and passionate
The founder of Sulabh Sanitation crusade to engage Filipinos in acts
Movement in India, Pathak is known around the of enlightened citizenship that
world for his wide-ranging work in the sanitation maximize the power of law to pro-
field. He has worked to improve public health, tect and nurture the environment
has advanced social progress, and has improved for themselves, their children, and generations still
human rights in his home nation and other coun- to come.”
tries.
» Ma Jun, from China. He is being recognized for
» The Stockholm Water Prize, which was first “his harnessing the technology and power of in-
presented in 1991, includes a $150,000 award and formation to address China's water crisis, and
a crystal sculpture. It honours individuals, insti- mobilizing pragmatic, multi-sectoral, and collabo-
tutions or organisations whose work contributes rative efforts to ensure sustainable benefits for
broadly to the conservation and protection of China's environment and society.”
water resources and improves the health of the
planet's inhabitants and ecosystems. » Ka Hsaw Wa, from Burma. He is being recog-
nized for “his dauntlessly pursuing non violent yet
» The Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay effective channels of redress, exposure, and edu-
Award Foundation (RMAF) has selected six indi- cation for the defence of human rights, the envi-
viduals from Burma, China, India, the Philippines, ronment, and democracy in Burma.”
and Thailand to receive Asia’s premier prize.
The Awardees are:- » The RMAF confers the award annually for those
» Krisana Kraisintu, from Thailand. She is being in Asia, who have achieved excellence in six cat-
recognized for “her placing pharmaceutical rigor egories, viz government service; public service;
at the service of patients, through her untiring community leadership; journalism, literature and
and fearless dedication to producing much-needed creative communication, arts; peace and interna-
generic drugs in Thailand and elsewhere in the tional understanding; and emergent leadership.
developing world.” Actually, there were only the first five categories
in the beginning and only from 2000 the category
enhanced to support secure messaging, which is plication data stored in the card. SCOSTA sup-
necessary in many applications involving contact- ports both password based and key based authen-
less communications. The enhanced standard tication of users. Additionally, the SCOSTA-CL
(SCOSTA-CL) was defined by IIT Kanpur and was also supports the secure messaging and session keys
released to public in July 2006. for communication between the reader and the
card. The application specifications include secure
SCOSTA can be implemented on any micropro- key management systems that ensure that only
cessor based smart card. The applicatons specify officials authorized to change the card data can
the memory requirement for the card. Usually, do so and that it is not possible to create forged
4KB permanent storage (EEPROM) on the micro- identity.
processor is sufficient for DL and RC applications,
16KB for the national ID and 64KB for the e-Pass-
port. The use of any other media (such as optical Common Services Centre (CSC)
stripes) for additional data storage is not prescribed
by these application specifications. The Government has approved a Common Ser-
vices Centres (CSCs) Scheme for providing sup-
Objectives: The SCOSTA project was initiated port for establishing 100,000 Common Services
with the following principal objectives. Centers in 600,000 villages of India. The Scheme,
as approved by the Government of India, envi-
Standardization of Information sions CSCs as the front-end delivery points for
Government, private and social sector services to
The card layout, data fields and other relevant rural citizens of India, in an integrated manner.
information stored on the card and the back-end
have been standardized to ensure that informa- Objective & Implementation
tion on all cards (issued wherever in India) is uni-
form and can be read and written all over India. The objective is to develop a platform that can
Inter-operability enable Government, private and social sector or-
ganizations to align their social and commercial
Since the Indian applications are to be deployed goals for the benefit of the rural population in the
nationwide, it is essential for the standards to be remotest corners of the country through a com-
interoperable and therefore, SCOSTA specifica- bination of IT-based as well as non-IT-based ser-
tions deal fully with this aspect. All non- vices.
interoperable features are discouraged and are
therefore non-compliant and do not form part of The Scheme has been approved at a total cost of
SCOSTA specifications Rs 5742 Cr. over 4 years, of which the Govern-
ment of India is estimated to contribute Rs 856
Multi Vendor Support / Non-Propri- Cr. and the State Governments Rs 793 Cr. The
etary balance resources would be mobilized from the
private sector. The Common Services Centres
Keeping in view the need for future up-gradation, would be designed as ICT-enabled Kiosks having
multi vendor support and the critical requirement a PC along with basic support equipment like
of the specifications and product to be non-pro- Printer, Scanner, UPS, with Wireless Connectiv-
prietary, it is essential to have the operating sys- ity as the backbone and additional equipment for
tem specification to be open and standard. edutainment, telemedicine, projection systems,
Security and Integrity of Data etc., as the case may be.
A microprocessor based smart card can ensure that The Scheme is to be implemented through a Pub-
only authorized persons can read or write the ap- lic Private Partnership. CSCs are the primary
» At the second/middle level would be an entity The Department of Science and Technology is the
termed the Service Centre Agency (SCA loosely nodal agency for implementing the Nano Mission.
analogous to a franchiser) to operate, manage and Capacity-building in this upcoming area of re-
build the VLE network and business. An SCA search will be of utmost importance for the Nano
would be identified for one or more districts (one Mission so that India emerges as a global knowl-
district would cover 100-200 CSCs). edge-hub in this field. For this, research on fun-
damental aspects of Nano Science and training of
» At the third level would be the agency desig- large number of manpower will receive prime at-
tention. Equally importantly, the Nano Mission
nated by the State- the State Designated Agency
will strive for development of products and pro-
(SDA) - to facilitate implementation of the Scheme
cesses for national development, especially in ar-
within the State and to provide requisite policy,
eas of national relevance like safe drinking water,
content and other support to the SCAs.
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
60
Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Science And Technology)
with former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, Special Weapons Development Team which
being one of the chief engineers involved in the would later become the Defence Research and
project. Development Laboratories (DRDL), to undertake
the development of first-generation anti-tank
The project was started in early 1980s and resulted missiles. In the 1970s, the Indian government de-
in the development of several key strategic mis- cided to manufacture anti-tank missiles under li-
siles. The last major missile developed under the cense from France. At the same time, DRDL was
program was Agni 3 intermediate-range ballistic entrusted with two other projects: Project Val-
missile which was successfully tested on 9 July iant, which involved the development of a long-
2007. On 8 January 2008, and the third test on 7 range ballistic missile; and Project devil, which
May 2008, the DRDO announced that it will be was aimed at reverse engineering the Soviet SA-2
closing the missile program formally since most surface-to-air missile. Both projects were termi-
of the missiles in the program are developed and nated prematurely; Project Valiant was terminated
inducted into Indian armed forces. According to in 1974 and Project Devil met the same fate in
statement by Dr. S Pralhada, head controller of 1980.
DRDO, new missile and weapons systems will be
developed within a five-year time frame at low However, by this time, DRDL had developed some
costs, with foreign partners and private industries. infrastructure and facilities to undertake the de-
DRDO has independently carried out further de- sign and development of missiles. In 1983, under
velopment work on Nag and Surya missile. the experience and leadership of Dr. Abdul Kalam,
who had previously been the project director for
In 2008, India noted that the strategic integrated the SLV-3 programme at ISRO, the Indian gov-
guided missile program was completed with its ernment revived the missile program as an Inte-
design objectives achieved. Follow on strategic grated Guided Missile Development Program
projects are being either pursued singly (e.g. Agni (IGMDP). As part of this program, the Interim
project) whereas tactical systems could involve Test Range at Balasore in Orissa was developed
joint ventures with even foreign partners. for missile testing.
In September 2008 Indian scientists developed a
path-breaking technology that has the potential India on Tuesday 07, 2008 announced the scrap-
to increase the range of missiles and satellite ping of the strategic integrated guided missile
launch vehicles by at least 40%.The enhanced programme, and said the development and pro-
range is made possible by adding a special-pur- duction of most of futuristic weapons systems
pose coating of chromium metal to the blunt nose would henceforth be taken up with foreign help.
cone of missiles and launch vehicles. This would The main aim of the Integrated Guided Missile
add-up on the stated range. Development Program was to develop, a missile
in five different categories simultaneously,
India’s top missile scientist (Dr VK Saraswat), re- namely: a short-range surface-to-air missile
vealed for the first time that the Integrated Guided (codenamed Trishul), a medium-range surface-to-
Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) was air missile (codenamed Akash), a third-generation
likely to close down on 31 December 2008. anti-tank guided missile (codenamed Nag), a short-
range surface-to-surface missile (codenamed
Development Prithvi), and an intermediate-range surface-to-
surface missile (codenamed Agni).
In the twentieth century, the government of in-
dependent India embarked on a number of plans There were a number of failures and successes,
to develop missiles which would strengthen India’s which led to an expansion of the program in the
defences. In 1958, the government constituted the 1990s, to develop the long range Agni missile, a
ballistic missile (codenamed Sagarika), which
would be the naval version of the Prithvi, and an after the first animal Dolly was cloned from her
inter-continental-ballistic-missile (codenamed mother sheep. Samrupa’s mother is a one year old
Surya) with a range of 8,000-12,000 km. buffalo of the famous Murrah variety of Haryana
that gives 35 Kgs of milk per day.
In 1998, the Government of India, signed an agree-
ment with Russia to design, develop, manufacture
and market a Supersonic Cruise Missile System Global Meeting on Water Crisis
which has been successfully accomplished by
2006. BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that Government ministers from 120 countries, scien-
can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft tists and campaigners met in Istanbul from March
or land. At speeds of Mach 2.5 to 2.8, it is the 16, 2009 to discuss how to avert a global water
world’s fastest cruise missile and is about three crisis and ease tensions between States fighting
and a half times faster than the American sub- over rivers, lakes and glaciers. The world’s popu-
sonic Harpoon cruise missile. BAPL is contemplat- lation of 6.6 billion is forecast to rise by 2.5 billion
ing a hypersonic Mach 8 version of the missile, by 2050. Most of the growth will be in develop-
named as the BrahMos II. BrahMos II will be the ing countries, much of it in region where water is
first hypersonic cruise missile and is expected to already scarce. As populations and living standards
be ready by 2012-13. The laboratory testing of the rise, a global water crisis looms unless countries
missile has started.(codenamed BrahMos). take urgent action, the international body said.
The agenda for the talks included how to avert
AWACS Aircraft catastrophic floods and droughts as climate pat-
terns change, and how the global financial crisis
AWACS aircraft was inducted into Indian Air threatens to hit large scale water infra-structure
Force on May 28,2009. Earlier the AWACS air- projects within the next several years.
craft landed at Jamnagar air base in Gujarat. The
aircraft will operate from the Agra air base under International
the Central Air Command as part of the extended
Mobile Equipment Identity
fleet of the IL-76s family. India became the first
country in South Asia to own an AWACS, popu-
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)
larly called ‘an eye in the sky’. The aircraft being
number is a unique 15-digit code that can iden-
looked as a replacement for the IL-76 include
tify a mobile to a GSM network. It prevents sto-
Embraer and Gulfstream 550, which can carry out
len handsets from being used to make calls and
flying missions of over nine hours at a stretch.
allows lawful interception to prove that a particu-
lar device was used for making calls.
Indian scientists clone first buffalo in the world
The buffalo clone named Samrupa is the first time
some animal has been cloned in India on Febru-
ary 14th 2009. ‘Samrupa’ is a Hindi word mean- India’s First Biodegradable Bags
ing some one who is exactly same as some one
else. So, samrupa was exactly same as her mother Biobin, India’s first biodegradable bags meant as
buffalo. This is a milestone for Indian science and an alternative to non-bio-degrable plastic bags, a
technology. Dr. S K Singla a scientist at the Na- main source of environment pollution, has been
tional Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana introduced in Tamil Nadu. This is the first time in
and his biotechnologist team had been working India that bio-degradable bags with disinfectant
on the cloning of the calf for the last four years. properties and fragrance have been launched.
This milestone came to Indian science 13 years These bags have special characteristics that help
them degrade faster. The Sunstar Trading Corpo-
ration, jointly with Exnora International, has de-
signed and launched the biobin bags.
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
63
Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Science And Technology)
The Indigenous Missile ‘Shaurya’ driven tidal surged inundating residential areas and
breaching embankments. Many people died on
The indigenous missile ‘Shaurya’ was launched both sides.
from an underground facility with an in-built can-
ister from Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range Oldest Evidence of Leprosy
at Chandipur, Balasore (Orissa) in 2008. The so-
phisticated tactical medium-range surface-to-sur- A team from Appalachian State University and
face ballistic missile Shaurya is capable of carry- Deccan College Pune analyses 4000- year-old skel-
ing conventional warheads with a payload of about eton from India and found the evidence of lep-
one tonne. It has 600-km range and is capable of rosy. The skeleton represents both the earliest
hitting targets deep inside Pakistan and China. archaeological evidence for human infection with
Mycobacterium larvae in the world and the first
Y (4140) evidence for the disease in prehistoric India. The
study demonstrates that leprosy was present in
Scientists has found evidence of an unexpected human populations in India by the end of the
particle whose curious characteristics may reveal mature phase of the Indus Civilisation (2000 BC)
new ways that quark can combine to form mat- and provides support for one hypothesis about
ter. The new particle was temporarily designated prehistoric transmission routes for disease.
as Y (4140). It has a mass equivalent to 4140 mil-
lion electron volts (MeV) of energy – in the sense Swine Flu
of Einstein’s mass-energy relation – and the sym-
bol Y is indicative of its as yet unconfirmed and New cases of the deadly swine flu virus have been
ill-understood status. At present, it is not clear confirmed in April 2009 as far afield as New
what exactly Y (4140) is made of. Zealand and Israel, as the UN warned it can not
be contained. The US, Canada, Spain and Britain
confirmed cases earlier but no deaths have been
Primate Fossil Ida reported outside Mexico, where the virus was first
reported. Mexico has raised the number of prob-
A new 47-million year old primate fossil Ida, found able deaths to 152, with 1,614 suspected sufferers
in Germany was unveiled to the world at the under observation. UN inspectors examined re-
American Museum of Natural History in New ports pig farms may have spread the virus. The
York on May 19,2009. It may be a key link to ex- UN’s health agency, the World Health Organiza-
plaining the evolution of early primates and, per- tion (WHO), confirmed that the flu had been
haps, telling them about developments that led to transmitted between humans. Countries with sus-
modern human beings. Dr. Jorn Hurum of the pected cases: Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Australia,
University of Oslo, who led the two-year effort and South Korea, and seven EU states is being
to determine the fossil’s importance, nicknamed transmitted from human to human.
it ‘Ida’ after his own six-year-old daughter. Ida,
the fossil of a young female that probably re- What is Swine Flu
sembled a modern-day lemur was described as the
most complete primate fossil ever found. Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influ-
enza type A, which infects pigs. There are many
Tropical Cyclone Aila types, and the infection is constantly changing.
Until now it has not normally infected humans,
Tropical cyclone Aila wreaked havoc in Kolkata, but the latest form clearly does, and can be spread
its suburbs and across south Bengal. Aila also hit from person to person - probably through cough-
Bangladesh’s southern coastlines with wind- ing and sneezing. The World Health Organiza-
tion has confirmed that at least some of the hu-
man cases are a never-before-seen version of the in other countries. It may also be the case that the
H1N1 strain of influenza type A. H1N1 is the same form of the virus circulating in Mexico is subtly
strain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu in different to that elsewhere - although that will
humans on a regular basis. But this latest version only be confirmed by laboratory analysis. There
of H1N1 is different: it contains genetic material is also hope that, as humans are often exposed to
that is typically found in strains of the virus that forms of H1N1 through seasonal flu, our immune
affect humans, birds and swine. Flu viruses have systems may have something of a head start in
the ability to swap genetic components with each fighting infection. However, the fact that many
other, and it seems likely that the new version of of the victims are young does point to something
H1N1 resulted from a mixing of different versions unusual. Normal, seasonal flu tends to affect the
of the virus, which may usually affect different elderly disproportionately.
species, in the same animal host. Pigs provide an
excellent ‘melting pot’ for these viruses to mix and The virus appears already to have started to spread
match with each other. around the world, and most experts believe that
containment of the virus in the era of readily avail-
Symptoms able air travel will be extremely difficult.
Symptoms of swine flu in humans appear to be According to World Health Organization that re-
similar to those produced by standard, seasonal stricting flights will have little effect. It argues
flu. These include fever, cough, sore throat, body that screening of passengers is also unlikely to have
aches, chills and fatigue. Most cases so far reported much impact, as symptoms may not be apparent
around the world appear to be mild, but in Mexico in many infected people.
lives have been lost. When any new strain of flu
emerges that acquires the ability to pass from per- Project Snow Leopard
son to person, it is monitored very closely in case
it has the potential to spark a global epidemic, or India has launched Project Snow Leopard to con-
pandemic. The World Health Organization has serve the endangered species (Uncia uncia) across
warned that taken together the Mexican and US its habitat in the five Himalayan states in the coun-
cases could potentially trigger a global pandemic, try on Jan 20,2009 .The project is a manifestation
and stress that the situation is serious. However it of the government of India’s resolve to conserve
is still too early to accurately assess the situation biodiversity with community participation. Gov-
fully. ernment has launched the project to give the
specie the same status of importance in the high
Nobody knows the full potential impact of a pan- altitude as that of tiger in the terrestrial landscape.
demic, but experts have warned that it could cost The project will be undertaken in five Himalayan
millions of lives worldwide. The Spanish flu pan- states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
demic, which began in 1918, and was also caused Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh with
by an H1N1 strain, killed millions of people. The support from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
fact that all the cases in the US and elsewhere have and the Mysore based Nature Conservation Foun-
so far produced mild symptoms is encouraging. It dation (NCF).
suggests that the severity of the Mexican outbreak
may be due to an unusual geographically-specific Snow leopard is globally endangered specie and
factor - possibly a second unrelated virus circulat- an important flagship species of the mountain re-
ing in the community - which would be unlikely gion. They are at the apex of ecological pyramid
to come into play in the rest of the world. and suffer the most on account of relatively smaller
population size and also due to man-animal con-
Alternatively, people infected in Mexico may have flict. This situation gets further aggravated due to
sought treatment at a much later stage than those the hostile landscape forming its habitat. Snow
leopard has been included in the list of species leased in the wild. The WII will soon be starting a
under the Recovery Programme to be funded pilot project in this regard.
through the umbrella scheme of integrated de-
velopment of wildlife habitats. 96th Indian Science Congress
There are more than 26 protected areas in the The 96th Indian Science Congress concluded on
Himalayan landscape where specie is reported. 3-7 jan, 2009 with the scientific community mak-
However, areas outside the protected areas are ing specific recommendations for a tangible and
equally important for long-range species like snow substantial action to be taken in future to
leopard. India is endowed with the unique wild- strengthen Science and Technology scenario and
life assemblage of global importance in the Hima- Science Education in the country. In his address
layan and trans-Himalayan zones. Thus, imple- at the concluding session at NEHU in Shillong,
mentation of Project Snow Leopard will give an the President of the ISC2009, Dr. T Ramasami
opportunity for the conservation of this unique summed up the final recommendations as follows:
biodiversity.
1. Science Education systems at various levels must
Securing of landscape for conservation, capacity be reviewed and special schemes for attraction of
building of staff, research on wildlife and human talent for excellence in research though the newly
activities in snow leopard habitat, grazing and launched INSPIRE must be strengthened though
management policies, and education awareness, the participation of the community.
among others, would be vital for long-term con-
servation of the species. The Himalayan region is 2. HRD initiatives for space, agriculture, indus-
home to at least 350 mammal species, 1,200 bird trial research must be further strengthened.
species, besides a large number of amphibians and
reptiles, and numerous plants including with me- 3. Further strengthening of ongoing Indian ini-
dicinal properties. tiatives on mega science, astronomy and astrophys-
ics, women in science is supported.
Radio Collaring to Save Gharials
4. New models for PPPs in science education as
Fast vanishing crocodiles from Chambal wildlife well as research and development.
sanctuary have forced the Department of Science
and Technology to use science to monitor the en- 5. Teacher motivation and enabling systems in-
dangered species in the area spread over three cluding in-service training, teaching tools from
states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and local examples, project-based learning systems and
Rajasthan. Close to 2,500 captively bred crocodiles implementation of some recommendations of the
have been released into the Chambal since 1983 Inter-academy panel on new educational models.
but less than 1,000 are estimated to be surviving
in the river. The department has asked the WII 6. Formation of scientific advisory councils to the
and forest departments of the three states to use states in the NER for promotion of science and
radio collaring to monitor the crocodiles released technology in the region. ISCA recommends that
into the river from captive centers. such councils may be formed by other states as
well.
Radio Collaring
7. A special package for relating science educa-
Radio collaring is a technology, which uses Glo- tion and promotion of research in the NER may
bal Positioning Response System to record move- be developed and resources made available
ments of the animal on a daily basis after it is re- through a special grant.
8. Approaches for an evidence-based budgeting crop production and agriculture, non food (indus-
and policy building. trial) uses of crops and other products (e.g. biode-
gradable plastics, vegetable oil, biofuels), and en-
9. Right sizing and expansion of R&D base in both vironmental uses.
public and private sector.
For example, one application of biotechnology is
10. Increased career opportunities in S&T sector the directed use of organisms for the manufac-
for the youth; and ture of organic products (examples include beer
and milk products). Another example is using
11. Introduction of Performance Related Incen- naturally present bacteria by the mining industry
tive Systems for the S&T staff in bioleaching. Biotechnology is also used to re-
cycle, treat waste, clean up sites contaminated by
Biotechnology industrial activities (bioremediation), and also to
produce biological weapons.
Biotechnology is technology based on biology,
agriculture, food science, and medicine. Modern A series of derived terms have been coined to iden-
use of the term usually refers to genetic engineer- tify several branches of biotechnology, for ex-
ing as well as cell- and tissue culture technolo- ample:-Bioinformatics
gies. However, the concept encompasses a wider
range and history of procedures for modifying liv- » Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field which
ing things according to human purposes, going addresses biological problems using computational
back to domestication of animals, cultivation of techniques, and makes the rapid organization and
plants and "improvements" to these through analysis of biological data possible. The field may
breeding programs that employ artificial selection also be referred to as computational biology, and
and hybridization. By comparison to biotechnol- can be defined as, "conceptualizing biology in
ogy, bioengineering is generally thought of as a terms of molecules and then applying informatics
related field with its emphasis more on mechani- techniques to understand and organize the infor-
cal and higher systems approaches to interfacing mation associated with these molecules, on a large
with and exploiting living things. scale."[6] Bioinformatics plays a key role in vari-
ous areas, such as functional genomics, structural
Biotechnology draws on the pure biological sci- genomics, and proteomics, and forms a key com-
ences (genetics, microbiology, animal cell culture, ponent in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical
molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, cell sector.
biology) and in many instances is also dependent
on knowledge and methods from outside the » Blue biotechnology is a term that has been used
sphere of biology (chemical engineering,
to describe the marine and aquatic applications of
bioprocess engineering, information technology,
biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.
biorobotics). Conversely, modern biological sci-
ences (including even concepts such as molecular
ecology) are intimately entwined and dependent » Green biotechnology is biotechnology applied
on the methods developed through biotechnol- to agricultural processes. An example would be
ogy and what is commonly thought of as the life the selection and domestication of plants via
sciences industry. micropropagation. Another example is the design-
ing of transgenic plants to grow under specific
Biotechnology environmental in the presence (or absence) of
chemicals. One hope is that green biotechnology
Biotechnology has applications in four major in might produce more environmentally friendly
Industrial areas, including health care (medical), solutions than traditional industrial agriculture.
derlying cause which is autoimmunity); it is a rela- Gene therapy may be used for treating, or even
tively young industry. They can deal with targets curing, genetic and acquired diseases like cancer
in humans that may not be accessible with tradi- and AIDS by using normal genes to supplement
tional medicines. A patient typically is dosed with or replace defective genes or to bolster a normal
a small molecule via a tablet while a large mol- function such as immunity. It can be used to tar-
ecule is typically injected. get somatic (i.e., body) or gametes (i.e., egg and
sperm) cells. In somatic gene therapy, the genome
Genetic testing of the recipient is changed, but this change is not
passed along to the next generation. In contrast,
Genetic testing involves the direct examination in germline gene therapy, the egg and sperm cells
of the DNA molecule itself. A scientist scans a of the parents are changed for the purpose of pass-
patient’s DNA sample for mutated sequences. ing on the changes to their offspring.
There are two major types of gene tests. In the
first type, a researcher may design short pieces of Human Genome Project
DNA ("probes") whose sequences are complemen-
tary to the mutated sequences. These probes will The Human Genome Project is an initiative of the
seek their complement among the base pairs of an U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") that aims to
individual’s genome. If the mutated sequence is generate a high-quality reference sequence for the
present in the patient’s genome, the probe will entire human genome and identify all the human
bind to it and flag the mutation. In the second genes.
type, a researcher may conduct the gene test by
comparing the sequence of DNA bases in a The DOE and its predecessor agencies were as-
patient’s gene to disease in healthy individuals or signed by the U.S. Congress to develop new en-
their progeny. ergy resources and technologies and to pursue a
deeper understanding of potential health and en-
Genetic testing is now used for: vironmental risks posed by their production and
» Carrier screening, or the identification of unaf- use. In 1986, the DOE announced its Human Ge-
fected individuals who carry one copy of a gene nome Initiative. Shortly thereafter, the DOE and
for a disease that requires two copies for the dis- National Institutes of Health developed a plan for
ease to manifest; a joint Human Genome Project ("HGP"), which
officially began in 1990.
» Confirmational diagnosis of symptomatic indi- The HGP was originally planned to last 15 years.
viduals; However, rapid technological advances and world-
wide participation accelerated the completion date
» Determining sex; to 2003 (making it a 13 year project). Already it
» Forensic/identity testing; has enabled gene hunters to pinpoint genes asso-
ciated with more than 30 disorders.
» Newborn screening;
» Prenatal diagnostic screening; Cloning
» Presymptomatic testing for estimating the risk
of developing adult-onset cancers; Cloning involves the removal of the nucleus from
one cell and its placement in an unfertilized egg
» Presymptomatic testing for predicting adult-on- cell whose nucleus has either been deactivated or
removed.
set disorders.
There are two types of cloning:
Gene therapy 1. Reproductive cloning. After a few divisions,
the egg cell is placed into a uterus where it is al- Reduced vulnerability of crops to envi-
lowed to develop into a fetus that is genetically ronmental stresses
identical to the donor of the original nucleus.
Crops containing genes that will enable them to
2. Therapeutic cloning. The egg is placed into a withstand biotic and abiotic stresses may be de-
Petri dish where it develops into embryonic stem veloped. For example, drought and excessively
cells, which have shown potentials for treating salty soil are two important limiting factors in crop
several ailments. productivity. Biotechnologists are studying plants
In February 1997, cloning became the focus of that can cope with these extreme conditions in
media attention when Ian Wilmut and his col- the hope of finding the genes that enable them to
leagues at the Roslin Institute announced the suc- do so and eventually transferring these genes to
cessful cloning of a sheep, named Dolly, from the the more desirable crops. One of the latest devel-
mammary glands of an adult female. The cloning opments is the identification of a plant gene, At-
of Dolly made it apparent to many that the tech- DBF2, from thale cress, a tiny weed that is often
niques used to produce her could someday be used used for plant research because it is very easy to
to clone human beings. This stirred a lot of con- grow and its genetic code is well mapped out.
troversy because of its ethical implications. When this gene was inserted into tomato and to-
bacco cells (see RNA interference), the cells were
Agriculture able to withstand environmental stresses like salt,
drought, cold and heat, far more than ordinary
However biotechnology has little to do with pre- cells. If these preliminary results prove successful
venting starvation or malnutrition. The main pur- in larger trials, then At-DBF2 genes can help in
pose of biotechnology is to increase profits for a engineering crops that can better withstand harsh
small group of companies by privatizing natural environments. Researchers have also created
resources. Starvation is not caused by inadequate transgenic rice plants that are resistant to rice yel-
food supplies or crop varieties, but rather the eco- low mottle virus (RYMV). In Africa, this virus
nomic and power inequalities which biotechnol- destroys majority of the rice crops and makes the
ogy reinforces. surviving plants more susceptible to fungal infec-
tions.
Crop yield
Increased nutritional qualities &quan-
Using the techniques of modern biotechnology, tity of food crops
one or two genes(Smartstax from Monsanto will
use 8, starting in 2010) may be transferred to a Proteins in foods may be modified to increase their
highly developed crop variety to impart a new nutritional qualities. Proteins in legumes and ce-
character that would increase its yield. However, reals may be transformed to provide the amino
while increases in crop yield are the most obvious acids needed by human beings for a balanced diet.
applications of modern biotechnology in agricul- A good example is the work of Professors Ingo
ture, it is also the most difficult one. Current ge- Potrykus and Peter Beyer on the so-called Golden
netic engineering techniques work best for effects rice.
that are controlled by a single gene. Many of the
genetic characteristics associated with yield (e.g.,
Improved taste, texture or appearance
enhanced growth) are controlled by a large num-
ber of genes, each of which has a minimal effect of food
on the overall yield. There is, therefore, much
scientific work to be done in this area. Modern biotechnology can be used to slow down
the process of spoilage so that fruit can ripen longer
on the plant and then be transported to the con-
sumer with a still reasonable shelf life. This alters
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Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Science And Technology)
the taste, texture and appearance of the fruit. More ducing the dependence of farmers on agrochemi-
importantly, it could expand the market for farm- cals. For example, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a
ers in developing countries due to the reduction soil bacterium that produces a protein with in-
in spoilage. However, there is sometimes a lack of secticidal qualities. Traditionally, a fermentation
understanding by researchers in developed coun- process has been used to produce an insecticidal
tries about the actual needs of prospective benefi- spray from these bacteria. In this form, the Bt toxin
ciaries in developing countries. For example, en- occurs as an inactive protoxin, which requires di-
gineering soybeans to resist spoilage makes them gestion by an insect to be effective. There are sev-
less suitable for producing tempe which is a sig- eral Bt toxins and each one is specific to certain
nificant source of protein that depends on fermen- target insects. Crop plants have now been engi-
tation. The use of modified soybeans results in a neered to contain and express the genes for Bt
lumpy texture that is less palatable and less con- toxin, which they produce in its active form.
venient when cooking. When a susceptible insect ingests the transgenic
crop cultivar expressing the Bt protein, it stops
The first genetically modified food product was a feeding and soon thereafter dies as a result of the
tomato which was transformed to delay its ripen- Bt toxin binding to its gut wall. Bt corn is now
ing. Researchers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, commercially available in a number of countries
Philippines and Vietnam are currently working to control corn borer (a lepidopteran insect), which
on delayed-ripening papaya in collaboration with is otherwise controlled by spraying (a more diffi-
the University of Nottingham and Zeneca. cult process).
Biotechnology in cheese production: enzymes pro- Crops have also been genetically engineered to
duced by micro-organisms provide an alternative acquire tolerance to broad-spectrum herbicide.
to animal rennet – a cheese coagulant – and an The lack of cost-effective herbicides with broad-
alternative supply for cheese makers. This also spectrum activity and no crop injury was a con-
eliminates possible public concerns with animal- sistent limitation in crop weed management.
derived material, although there are currently no Multiple applications of numerous herbicides were
plans to develop synthetic milk, thus making this routinely used to control a wide range of weed
argument less compelling. Enzymes offer an ani- species detrimental to agronomic crops. Weed
mal-friendly alternative to animal rennet. While management tended to rely on preemergence that
providing comparable quality, they are theoreti- is, herbicide applications were sprayed in response
cally also less expensive. to expected weed infestations rather than in re-
sponse to actual weeds present. Mechanical culti-
About 85 million tons of wheat flour is used ev- vation and hand weeding were often necessary to
ery year to bake bread. By adding an enzyme called control weeds not controlled by herbicide appli-
maltogenic amylase to the flour, bread stays cations. The introduction of herbicide-tolerant
fresher longer. Assuming that 10–15% of bread is crops has the potential of reducing the number of
thrown away as stale, if it could be made to stay herbicide active ingredients used for weed man-
fresh another 5–7 days then perhaps 2 million tons agement, reducing the number of herbicide ap-
of flour per year would be saved. Other enzymes plications made during a season, and increasing
can cause bread to expand to make a lighter loaf, yield due to improved weed management and less
or alter the loaf in a range of ways. crop injury. Transgenic crops that express toler-
ance to glyphosate, glufosinate and bromoxynil
Reduced dependence on fertilizers, have been developed. These herbicides can now
pesticides and other agrochemicals be sprayed on transgenic crops without inflicting
damage on the crops while killing nearby weeds.
Most of the current commercial applications of
modern biotechnology in agriculture are on re- From 1996 to 2001, herbicide tolerance was the
most dominant trait introduced to commercially
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Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Science And Technology)
environments. The elimination of a wide range of launched ballisitic missile (SLBM) or the BrahMos
pollutants and wastes from the environment is an supersonic cruise missile.
absolute requirement to promote a sustainable
development of our society with low environmen- The Arihant class vessels were designed as a part
tal impact. Biological processes play a major role of the Advanced Technology Vessel project, India’s
in the removal of contaminants and biotechnol- US$2.9 billion project to design and build nuclear-
ogy is taking advantage of the astonishing cata- powered submarines. The Arihant class is India’s
bolic versatility of microorganisms to degrade/con- first indigenously designed and built submarine.
vert such compounds. New methodological break- 3 submarines of the class are expected to be in
throughs in sequencing, genomics, proteomics, commission with the Indian navy by 2015.
bioinformatics and imaging are producing vast
amounts of information. In the field of Environ- Development
mental Microbiology, genome-based global stud-
ies open a new era providing unprecedented in The Arihant class submarines were designed and
silico views of metabolic and regulatory networks, constructed as a part of the Indian navy’s Ad-
as well as clues to the evolution of degradation vanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. The
pathways and to the molecular adaptation strate- ATV project started with the intent to design
gies to changing environmental conditions. Func- nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, though
tional genomic and metagenomic approaches are over time the project was re-aligned towards the
increasing our understanding of the relative im- design of a ballistic missile submarine in order to
portance of different pathways and regulatory complete India’s nuclear triad.
networks to carbon flux in particular environ-
ments and for particular compounds and they will The vessels are powered by an 80 MW pressur-
certainly accelerate the development of ized water reactor (PWR) with enriched uranium
bioremediation technologies and biotransforma- fuel. The initial design of the miniaturized naval-
tion processes. version of the reactor developed by the Bhabha
atomic research centre (BARC) had technical chal-
Marine environments are especially vulnerable lenges, after which Russian help was sought to
since oil spills of coastal regions and the open sea resolve the design glitches. The final production
are poorly containable and mitigation is difficult. version of the reactor was built at the Indira
In addition to pollution through human activities, Gandhi center for atomic research (IGCAR) at
millions of tons of petroleum enter the marine Kalpakkam.
environment every year from natural seepages.
Despite its toxicity, a considerable fraction of pe- The hulls for this class are built by L&T’s Hazira
troleum oil entering marine systems is eliminated shipbuilding facility. Tata power built the control
by the hydrocarbon-degrading activities of micro- systems for the submarine. The systems for the
bial communities, in particular by a remarkable steam turbine integrated with the PWR were sup-
recently discovered group of specialists, the so- plied by Walchandnagar Industries. Reports have
called hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCCB). suggested that the hulls for two more vessels were
completed at the L&T facility at Hazira and will
Arihant Class Submarine be transported to Visakhapatnam as INS Arihant
has been moved from the dry dock.
The Arihant class submarines are nuclear-pow-
ered ballistic missile submarines of the Indian Description
navy. The lead vessel of the class, INS Arihant,
was launched on July 26, 2009. The Arihant Class A nuclear-powered submarine is a much more
of submarines may carry the Sagarika submarine- complex platform than any other vessel and India
building one on its own is a great achievement. per capita global emission of GHG in the year 2005.
What enhances the scale of the achievement is These significant findings were contained in a
that INS Arihant, India’s nuclear-powered sub- Report "India’s GHG Emissions Profile: Results of
marine, will be fitted with India’s own K-15 bal- Five Climate Modelling Studies" released on Sep-
listic missiles that can be launched from under tember 02, 2009 by the Deputy Chairman of the
water. The K-15 missiles, which are already un- Planning Commission Shri Montek Singh
der production, can carry both conventional and Ahluwalia. The Minister of Environment & For-
nuclear warheads. They have a range of 700 km. ests Shri Jairam Ramesh presided over the func-
They are 10.4 metres tall and weigh 6.3 tonnes tion. The Chairman of Unique Identity Author-
each. ity of India, Shri Nandan Nilekani was also present
on the occasion.
It means India can launch missiles with nuclear
warheads from ground, drop nuclear bombs from What Said Report
air and also fire them now from under water.A
nuclear-powered submarine bestowed on India As per the estimates of the five different studies,
the status of a nation possessing a blue-water navy India’s per capita GHG emissions in 2030-31 would
because the boat can travel far and wide. be between 2.77 tonnes and 5.00 tonnes of CO2e
(Carbon Dioxide equivalent). Four of the five stud-
In a nuclear-energy system used in a submarine, ies estimated that even in 2031, India’s per capita
there is no emission of carbon-dioxide. It is a clean GHG emissions would stay under 4 tonnes of CO2e
form of energy. The turbine operating on enriched which is lower than the global per capita emis-
uranium in INS Arihant is a clean system. But a sions of 4.22 tonnes of CO2e in 2005. This would
diesel-generator emits carbon-dioxide. It is can not mean that even two decades from now, India’s
discharge it into the water. So the submarine has per capita GHG emissions would be well below
to be brought up to the surface every day to eject the global average of 25 years earlier.
the carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere.
In absolute terms, estimates of India’s GHG emis-
India now joined a select group of five countries, sions in 2031 vary from 4.0 billion tones to 7.3
which possess the capability to build a nuclear- billion tones of CO2e, with four of the five stud-
powered submarine. That the construction of a ies estimating that even two decades from now,
submarine was a highly demanding task in itself India’s GHG emissions will remain under 6 bil-
was known, but for a country to develop its first lion tones. The key drivers of the range of these
nuclear submarine was a special achievement. estimates are the assumptions on GDP growth
rates, penetration of clean energy, energy effi-
The formal launch for sea trials of the platform ciency improvements etc.
called a cryptic ‘S2’ lifted the secrecy around the
Advanced Technology Vessel Project cleared for All the five studies show evidence of a substantial
implementation by Indira Gandhi in 1984 and and continuous improvement in India’s energy
whose first step in steel cutting commenced in efficiency of GDP. India’s energy use efficiency
1998. To date the project is estimated to have cost has been steadily improving over the years which
Rs. 30,000 crore. is reflected in the decline of its energy intensity
of GDP from 0.30 kgoe (kilogram of oil equiva-
India’s Per Capita GHG Emissions lent) per $ of GDP in 1980 to 0.16 kgoe per $ GDP
in PPP (purchasing power parity) terms. This is
India’s per capita emission of Greenhouse Gases comparable to Germany and only Japan, UK, Bra-
(GHG) will continue to be low until the year 2030- zil and Denmark have lower energy intensities in
31. In fact, it is estimated that India’s per capita the world. An Enhanced Energy Efficiency Mis-
emissions in the year 2031 will be lower than the sion has recently been approved in principle un-
der the National Action Plan on Climate Change. space. The greenhouse gases absorb these waves
and reemit the waves downward, causing the
Of the five studies on GHG emissions profile in lower atmosphere to warm.
India, three were conducted by the National
Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)- Government’s Stance
Jadavpur University, The Energy Research Insti-
tute (TERI) and the Integrated Research and Ac- India is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and falls
tion for Development (IRADe) with the support under the non-Annexe I countries, or developing
of the Ministry of Environment & Forests. Two countries group. This implies that India does not
other studies by TERI and Mckinsey and Com- have any binding commitments to reduce the level
pany were conducted with support from other of its carbon emissions. Recognizing that devel-
agencies. What is Greenhouse Gases oped countries are principally responsible for the
Greenhouse gases naturally blanket the Earth and current high levels of GHG emissions in the at-
keep it about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it mosphere as a result of more than 150 years of
would be without these gases in the atmosphere. industrial activity, the Protocol places a heavier
This is called the Greenhouse Effect. Over the past burden on developed nations under the principle
century, the Earth has increased in temperature of "common but differentiated responsibilities."
by about .5 degrees Celsius and many scientists This said India is currently one of fastest growing
believe this is because of an increase in concen- emitters of green house gasses (GHG) with a 65%
tration of the main greenhouse gases: carbon di- increase in emissions between 1990-2005 and pro-
oxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons. jected increase of another 70% by 2020. Added to
However, some scientists argue that the global that India is presently the fifth largest GHG emit-
warming we are experiencing now is a natural ter (absolute terms) and contributes 5% of global
phenomenon, and is part of Earth’s natural cycle. emissions.
Presently, nobody can prove if either theory is
correct, but one thing is certain; the world has The Government of India has committed itself to
been emitting greenhouse gases at extremely high vastly improving the country’s human develop-
rates and has shown only small signs of reducing ment indices by 2031-2032. In order to do so, the
emissions until the last few years. After the 1997 country must average economic growth of at least
Kyoto Protocol, the world has finally taken the 8 percent per annum for the next twenty-five
first step in reducing emissions. years. According to a report released by the Plan-
ning Commission of India, if India is to sustain an
Greenhouse Effect 8 percent level of growth, then it will need to in-
crease its primary energy supply by at least 3 or 4
The greenhouse effect is the heating of the Earth times and its electricity supply by a factor of 5 to
due to the presence of greenhouse gases. It is 7 by 2031-2032. Likewise, power generation ca-
named this way because of a similar effect pro- pacity will have to increase from 120,000 MW to
duced by the glass panes of a greenhouse. Shorter- 780,000 MW.
wavelength solar radiation from the sun passes
through Earth’s atmosphere, then is absorbed by The energy sector is already the biggest contribu-
the surface of the Earth, causing it to warm. Part tor to GHG emissions in India and the above de-
of the absorbed energy is then reradiated back to mands, while being a legitimate and necessary to
the atmosphere as long wave infrared radiation. improve the quality of life of vast sectors of the
Little of this long wave radiation escapes back into Indian public and ensure economic and social de-
space; the radiation cannot pass through the green- velopment, will lead to an inevitable increase in
house gases in the atmosphere. The greenhouse GHG emissions in coming years. This is especially
gases selectively transmit the infrared waves, trap- as the majority of the energy needs will be met
ping some and allowing some to pass through into through fossil fuel based sources and coal in par-
ticular.
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Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Science And Technology)
Given this rapid growth in emission rates and the backward and deprived regions of the country.
magnitude of likely future emissions The United
States of America and other countries from the Energy Conservation Act 2001: The Indian Par-
West are pressurizing rapidly developing coun- liament passed The Energy Conservation Act 2001,
tries like India and China to accept binding emis- in September 2001. This Act requires large en-
sion reduction targets. They claim that these coun- ergy consumers to adhere to energy consumption
tries will soon overtake the developed world in norms; new buildings to follow the Energy Con-
carbon emissions and hence should also shoulder servation Building Code; and appliances to meet
the burden of reducing these emissions. They want energy performance standards and to display en-
India and China to take on such commitments in ergy consumption labels. The Act also created the
the post-Kyoto regime. Bureau of Energy Efficiency to implement the
provisions of the Act.
The arguments India uses to support this position
are centered around the principles of common but Integrated Energy Policy 2006: Released in Au-
differentiated responsibilities (as is with the gust 2006 it addresses all aspects of energy, in-
UNFCCC) and equity. These arguments can be cluding energy security, access and availability,
categorized under three broad heads as Historical affordability and pricing, efficiency and the envi-
Responsibility, Per-capita emissions, Technology ronment.
transfer
In relation to renewable energy, the policy pro-
Government Policies posed:
» The phase-out of capital subsidies by the end of
This does not mean that the Indian Government the 10th Plan linked to creation of renewable grid
is not doing anything about climate change. India power capacity;
is a signatory to both the UNFCCC and the Kyoto
protocol and takes active part in multi-lateral ne- » Requiring power regulators to seek alternative
gotiations on climate change. An example is India’s incentive structures that encourage utilities to
membership of the Asia-Pacific Partnership for integrate wind, small hydro, cogeneration and so
Clean Development and Climate 2005. Under this on into their systems, and the linking of all such
partnership Foreign, Environment and Energy incentives to energy generated as opposed to ca-
Ministers from partner countries agreed to co- pacity created;
operate on development and transfer of technol-
ogy, which enables reduction of greenhouse gas » Requiring power regulators to mandate feed-in
emissions. Ministers agreed to a Charter, laws for renewable energy, where appropriate, as
Communiqué and Work Plan that outline a "pri- provided under the Electricity Act 2003.
vate-public taskforces to address climate change,
energy security and air pollution." In addition, Labelling Programme for Appliances 2006: A star
India has submitted its first National Communi- rating based labeling programme has been intro-
cation on Climate Change (NATCOM I) and is duced for four commonly used consumer goods
currently working on NATCOM II. that indicate their energy efficiency. The goods
covered as of now are; fluorescent tube-lights, air
Some key policies are: Remote Village Electrifi- conditioners, refrigerators, distribution transform-
cation Programme (RVE) 2001: Electrify all the ers.
remote villages and remote hamlets through non-
conventional energy sources such as solar energy, Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC)
small hydro-power, biomass, wind energy, hybrid 2007: The ECBC was developed in 2006 and is-
systems, etc. The Programme aims at bringing the sued May 2007. It is not mandatory the first three
benefits of electricity to people living in the most years, and will become so in 2010, to allow the
necessary implementation capacity to be devel- energy efficiency and renewable energy, as well
oped. The code will be mandatory for all new as improved research capacity on climate change
buildings (commercial buildings or complexes) issues. Other missions target water efficiency, ag-
with a connected load of 500kW or more, or a riculture, forestation, and ecosystem conservation.
contract demand of 600 kVA or greater. It will World’s First Market for Trading Credits for En-
also apply to buildings with a conditioned floor ergy Savings
space of 1 000m2 or greater.
India has planned to create the world’s first mar-
Solar Power Generation Based Incentive 2008: ket for trading credits for energy savings. Gov-
In January 2008, the federal minister responsible ernment expects to set mandatory energy-savings
for renewable energy announced that the Indian targets by the end of 2009 for energy-intensive
government would provide a subsidy for solar sectors such as cement, aluminum, steel, power,
power plants to help develop renewable energy textiles, fertilizers, railway, paper and pulp. The
infrastructure. The incentives, for a period of 10 country’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency is working
years, will be over and above any financial assis- on a program to establish credits for industrial
tance provided by the states. plants that save energy beyond the government
requirement. The plan has been modeled after
Generation based incentives for wind power emissions-trading markets at work in the EU.
2008: In July 2008, the Ministry of New and Re-
newable Energy (MNRE) launched a new genera- Futures trading in carbon credits
tion-based incentive scheme for wind power pro-
duction. The scheme is designed to promote in- In January 2009, Mumbai, India-based Multi Com-
vestment in new and large independent wind modity Exchange (MCX) launched futures trad-
power producers, to fulfil a target of securing 10 ing in carbon credits in India. Under the energy-
500 MW of new wind power capacity by 2012. savings plan, separate targets would be established
for each large industrial unit and plant in order to
Energy Conservation Awards: The Ministry of take into account the different sizes and type of
Power instituted National Energy Conservation companies in each sector. The mandatory reduc-
Awards, coordinated by the Bureau of Energy Ef- tions would then go into effect three years later.
ficiency, to recognize industrial units that have Companies surpassing energy savings require-
made special efforts to reduce energy consump- ments would get credits that can be sold through
tion. In the first five years, the participating in- existing power exchanges to companies that fail
dustrial units collectively saved 2397 million units to meet their targets. Companies failing to meet
of electrical energy; 9067 kilo litre of furnace oil; targets that do not buy credits would then be pe-
2.76 Mt of coal and 11,585 million cubic metre of nalized by the government. The energy-savings
gas per year, resulting in substantial reduction in market must be approved by the prime minister’s
greenhouse gas emissions. climate council.
National Action Plan on Climate Change: On The move is part of India’s National Action Plan
30 June 2008, India released its first National Ac- on Climate Change. Because the country has lower
tion Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) outlining emissions than industrialized countries, India has
existing and future policies and programmes di- decided one of its best contributions could be to
rected at climate change mitigation and adapta- use less energy from polluting sources. India has
tion. The plan outlines eight "national missions" generated about 30 million carbon credits and is
running up to 2017, and ministries are directed to one of the largest beneficiaries in the carbon credit
submit detailed implementation plans to the Prime trade, according to MCX. Under the plan, private
Minister’s Council on Climate Change by Decem- companies would be responsible for measuring
ber 2008. Several target energy use, promoting energy reductions.
cessful launch, the versatility and the reliability RISAT-2 is a Radar Imaging Satellite with all
of PSLV has been proved again underscoring its weather capability to take images of the earth. This
importance as the workhorse launch vehicle of Satellite will enhance ISRO’s capability for Disas-
India. This launch was the fourteenth consecu- ter Management applications, ANUSAT (Anna
tive success for PSLV. In these launches, PSLV University Satellite) is the first satellite built by
has placed a total of sixteen Indian satellites and an Indian University under the over all guidance
sixteen foreign satellites into Polar, Geosynchro- of ISRO and will demonstrate the technologies
nous Transfer and Low Earth Orbits. It may be related to message store and forward operations
recalled that during its previous mission on Octo-
ber 22, 2008, PSLV had successfully launched ASTROSAT
Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which is now explor-
ing the moon from lunar orbit. India’s Astronomy satellite, ASTROSAT, which
would facilitates study of a range of astrophysical
Features of PSLV, RISAT-2 and objects, is likely to be launched in mid-2010.The
ANUSAT scientists have completed the developmental phase
of complex science payloads and have just begun
PSLV is a four-stage launch integrating them before delivery for the 1650 kg
vehicle employing both solid satellite.
and liquid propulsion stages.
PSLV is the trusted work- Salient Features
horse launch Vehicle of
ISRO. During 1993-2008 pe- The challenges in the design of payloads and At-
riod, PSLV had fourteen titude Control System have been overcome and
launches of which thirteen in a recent review committee meeting, it was de-
were consecutively success- cided that the delivery of the payload to ISRO
ful. PSLV has repeatedly satellite Centre will begin from the middle of this
proved its reliability and ver- year and continue till early next year to enable
satility by launching 32 spacecrafts (16Indian and the launch ASTROSAT in 2010 using ISRO work-
16 for international customers) into a variety of horse PSLV.
orbits so far. It may be recalled that during its pre-
vious mission on October 22, 2008, PSLV had suc- The ASTROSAT will be in an equatorial orbit with
cessfully launched Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, inclination of about eight degrees or less. Two star
which is now exploring the Moon from lunar or- trackers and gyros will be used for the pointing
bit. control of the satellite. Orbiting at 600 km above
the earth’s surface, the ASTROSAT satellite cost-
In its standard configuration, the 44 m tall PSLV ing about Rs 200 crore, will have a lifespan of at
has a lift-off mass of 295 tonne. It is a four-stage least five years.
launch vehicle with the first and the third stages
as well as the six strap-ons surrounding the first This would facilitate study of astrophysical objects
stage using HTPB based solid propellant. PSLV’s ranging from nearby solar system objects to dis-
first stage is one of the largest solid propellant tant stars and objects at cosmological distances.
boosters in the world. Its second and fourth stages ASTROSAT project is a collaborative effort of a
use liquid propellants. PSLV-C12 was launched number of research institutions, including the
without the six strapons in its ‘core alone’ con- Mumbai-based TIFR. Out of the five science pay-
figuration. PSLV-C12 weighs about 230 tonnes at loads for this multi-wavelength satellite observa-
lift off. It may be recalled that PSLV in its core tory, three X-ray instruments are developed by
alone configuration had launched AGILE and TIFR.
TECSAR during 2007 and 2008 respectively.
The Ultra-Violet Imaging Instrument has been ballistic missile in the exo-atmosphere at 48-km
developed jointly by Indian Institute of Astrophys- altitude. The second test was carried out on De-
ics, Bangalore and Inter-university canter for as- cember 6, 2007 against a target missile at 15-km
tronomy and astrophysics, Pune with the involve- altitude in endo-atmosphere, intercepting the ‘’en-
ment of TIFR. The photon counting detectors of emy’’ missile at an altitude of 70-80 km. The
this instrument have been developed jointly by ground tests of the missile have been done on the
the Indian team and the Canadian Space Agency directional warhead
as a science collaboration. The fifth instrument
namely X-ray Sky monitor is being made by ISRO Notable Points
Satellite Center and is in advanced stages of fabri-
cation and assembly. » It was for the first time the test was done on
flight.
The X-ray CCD used in X-ray imaging telescope
is not readily available and very expensive to pro-
cure. Hence, instead of buying the costly X-ray » Intercepting a missile at a higher altitude of 80
CCD for ‘ASTROSAT’, the Indian side has opted km has the advantage as the debris will take longer
for a scientific collaboration with the British Uni- to fall through the atmosphere before it hits the
versity of Leicester. ground.
The first interceptor missile test was conducted The wildlife of India is a mix of species of diverse
on November 27, 2006 and waylaid an incoming origins. The region’s rich and diverse wildlife is
preserved in numerous national parks and wild- processes as nutrient and water cycling. India has
life sanctuaries across the country. Since India is over 500 animal sanctuaries, referred to as Wild-
home to a number of rare and threatened animal life Sanctuaries (IUCN Category IV Protected
species, wildlife management in the country is Area). Among these, the 28 Tiger reserves are
essential to preserve these species. According to governed by Project Tiger, and are of special sig-
one study, India is home to about 60-70% of the nificance in the conservation of the tiger.
world’s biodiversity. India, lying within the Some of the important wildlife sanctuaries in
Indomalaya ecozone, is home to about 7.6% of all India are:
mammalian, 12.6% of avian, 6.2% of reptilian, and
6.0% of flowering plant species. Many ecoregions, » Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh
such as the shola forests, also exhibit extremely » Corbett National Park in Uttar Pradesh
high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian » Gir National Park & Sanctuary in Gujarat
plant species are endemic. India’s forest cover » Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh
ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman » Kaziranga National Park in Assam
Islands, Western Ghats, and Northeast India to » Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala
the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between » Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan
these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist decidu- » Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal
ous forest of eastern India; teak- dominated dry » Dachigam National Park in Jammu & Kashmir
deciduous forest of central and southern India; and » Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam
the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central
Deccan and western Gangetic plain. Important National Parks of India
Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely
used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The papal India’s first national park (an IUCN category II
fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, protected area) was established in 1935 as Hailey
shaded the Gautama Buddha as he sought enlight- National Park, now known as Jim Corbett national
enment. park. By 1970, India only had five national parks.
Various Projects In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act
and Project Tiger to safeguard the habitats of con-
Gir National Park in Gujarat is the only existent servation reliant species. Further federal legisla-
habitation for the nearly extinct Asiatic Lions in tion strengthening protections for wildlife was
India. The Kaziranga Sanctuary in Assam is a ma- introduced in the 1980s. As of April 2007, there
jor example of good effort to save the endangered are 96 national parks. All national park lands en-
Rhinoceros. Similarly, Periyar in Kerala is doing a compass a combined 38,029.18 km², 1.16% of
great job to preserve the wild Elephants and India’s total surface area. A total of 166 national
Dachigam National Park is progressing rapidly to parks have been authorized. Plans are underway
save Kashmiri Stag. to establish the remaining scheduled parks.
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The CCEA on January 02, 2009 additional teachers and construction of 80,500
approved the implementation additional classrooms.
of a centrally sponsored
scheme to universalise access to Interventions approved include providing infra-
and improve quality of educa- structure in schools such as new classrooms with
tion at Secondary stage, called furniture, library, science laboratory, computer
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha room, disabled friendly provisions etc, recruitment
Abhiyan (RMSA) during the of additional teachers with emphasis on Science,
11th Five Year Plan. Mathematics and English teachers, in service train-
ing of teachers, teaching aids such as ICT and spe-
As regards the Financing pattern and fund flow, cial focus on SC/ST/Minorities Girls. Steps such as
Union Government shall bear 75% of the project priority for opening or upgradation of schools in
expenditure during the 11th Five Year Plan, with areas of SC/ST/minority/weaker section concen-
25% of the cost to be borne by State Governments. tration and enrolment drives and special coach-
Sharing pattern will be 50:50 for the 12th five year ing classes in those areas are also envisaged under
plan. For both the 11th and 12th Plans, funding the scheme.
pattern will be 90:10 for North Eastern States.
Rs.20,120 crore has been allocated for the Scheme Implementation
during the 11th Five Year Plan.
The Scheme will be implemented in a Mission
The Objective of the Scheme mode, with a National Mission headed by the
Union Minister for HRD and a Project approval
» To achieve a General Enrolment Ratio (GER) of Board headed by Secretary (School Education and
75% for classes IX-X within 5 years by providing Literacy) to appraise and approve state plans. Simi-
a secondary school within a reasonable distance larly, State Missions under Chief Ministers of the
of every habitation; States/UTs will be set up.
dress to the joint session of the Parliament. This The Prime Minister expressed the sincere hope
programme will strive to create a Literate Society that the Saakshar Bharat Mission will fully involve
through a variety of teaching learning programmes the local community in its implementation, and
for non-literate and neo-literate of 15 years and utilize the potential and promise of the Panchayati
above. Raj Institutions and the women’s Self Help Groups.
Expressing his happiness that the implementation
The Saakshar Bharat Mission has 70 million tar- of this programme has been entrusted to the Gram
geted beneficiaries, of which 60 Million will be Panchayats, he said he would also expect the mis-
women and nearly 50% of the target group will sion to make use of innovative strategies and tech-
comprise of SCs/STs and minorities. Since illiteracy nology to impart sustainable literacy to millions
is far more widespread in rural areas, as compared of non-literates in a reasonable period of time.
to urban areas, the programme will concentrate
on rural areas, especially in the districts that have The Right of Children to Free and
low (50% and below) female literacy rate. Nearly Compulsory Education Act, 2009
1.70 lakh Gram Panchayats in 365 districts will
be covered. Residual illiteracy in urban areas will The “The Right of Children to Free and Compul-
be addressed through innovative partnership with sory Education Act, 2009” has been notified, after
NGOs, private sector convergence etc. The total receiving the assent of President. Article 21-A, as
estimated cost of the Mission is Rs. 6502.70 crore inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amend-
of which 4993.02 crore would be central share. ment) Act, 2002, provides for free and compul-
The sharing between the Centre and the State sory education of all children in the age group of
would be 75:25 except for the North-east where six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in
it will be 90:10. such manner as the State may, by Law, determine.
Consequently, the Right of Children to Free and
Prime Minister said that the launch of this mis- Compulsory Education Act, 2009, has been en-
sion reaffirms national commitment to literacy. acted by the Parliament. The Act received the
The Prime Minister underlined the importance assent of the President on 26th August, 2009.
of literacy, especially female literacy. He said that
Government has started a number of progressive The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
programmes and legislations for the empowerment Education Act, which makes education a funda-
and welfare of the common person, the aam aadmi. mental right of every child in the age group of six
The National Rural Employment Guarantee to 14 years, has come into force with the Presi-
Scheme, the Right to Information Act, the Rural dential assent. The Bill was passed in both Houses
Health Mission, the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and the of Parliament during the Budget session.
National Mid-day Meal Programme are all efforts
in that direction. Literacy is central to the success The Act, one of the flagship programs in the 100-
of all these programmes and initiatives Female lit- day agenda of the UPA government, earmarks 25
eracy is especially so. Female literacy is a force per cent seats to weaker sections in neighborhood
multiplier for all action for social development. schools. The government would reimburse the
This is self-evident and does not require any elabo- money at government rate towards these seats.
ration. In fact, many observers have seen infra-
structure development in the economic sector and The law prohibits payment of donations or capi-
female literacy in the social sector as two very tation fees or interviewing the child or parents as
critical factors that impede India’s steady climb to part of a screening procedure. The financial bur-
a higher and sustainable level of growth and de- den to implement the Act will be shared between
velopment. Female literacy is also absolutely nec- states and Center. A school can be fined up to Rs
essary to empower the Indian woman in her ev- 100,000 if not recognized by a regulating body.
ery day struggle in dealing with multiple depri-
vations on the basis of class, caste and gender.”
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
85
Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Social Problems & Welfare Schemes)
Broadly speaking alcoholism has been charac- or moral weakness. Unless the person stops drink-
terized by four factors: ing, his/her condition will become worse over a
» Excessive intake of alcoholic beverages period of time.
» Individual’s increasing worry over his drinking
» Loss of the drinker’s control over his own drink- A drinker passes through various stages to be-
ing come an alcoholic. These are:
» Disturbance in his functioning in the social world 1. Blackouts in which the individual is not able to
find a solution to his individual problems.
Studies have been made only to throw scientific
light upon the question as to why people are ad- 2. Sneaking drinks in which he takes alcohol with-
dicted to the immoderate use of alcohol. In the out being observed.
study of chronic alcoholics it was found that a
certain percentage of inebriates are pathological 3. Increased tolerance, in which he tolerates the
individuals referred as constitutional alcoholics. increased effects of drinking.
The industrialization of society and the mechani-
zation of the industry have put strains upon indi- 4. Loss of control in which he fails to control the
viduals to which the previous experience of the desire of not taking alcohol.
race has not adapted. The social conventions in
cite the formation of alcoholic habits. The pres- 5. Development of an alibi system in which he
sure of social customs has exerted an important gradually starts neglecting his social roles.
influence in the production of alcoholism. There
are certain persons who are unable to face the 6. Going on periodic benders
harsh realities of life and start drinking to over-
come their inadequacy. Men engaged in manual 7. Regular drinking in which he starts taking al-
work have long been deluded in the belief that cohol in the morning.
alcohol furnishes added strength and vigour with
which they can pursue their labour. Men drink The problem of alcoholism in terms of personal
because their occupation has completely exhausted misery, family budget, discord, and loss of wages,
them. They look forward eagerly to the respite failure of health, accidents and cost in damage
which intoxication affords after the heat of the claims, cost of hospital treatment, cost in custo-
blast furnace or the stench of the dockyards. Ex- dial treatment, inducement to crime are almost
cessive consumption of alcohol can make a per- disastrous. A good number of persons arrested for
son addicted to it. crimes like rape, burglary, murder and theft are
those who committed them under the influence
An addict is one whose drinking habit causes sev- of alcohol. Alcohol is a major factor in the high-
eral problems in one or more areas of his life for way accidents. Since alcoholism affects the fam-
instance his family relationships, jobs, financial ily members, friends and even the community, it
status etc. And in spite of all these problems, he affects millions of people in the country. Drink-
will continue to drink alcohol because his body ing reduces one’s operational activities and effi-
gets so accustomed over a period of time to the ciency to below the minimum level necessary for
presence of alcohol that if its use is stopped sud- social existence.
denly he will develop withdrawal symptoms like
tremors, fits etc. Such a state is called physical There are various programmes and measures for
dependence. Alcohol becomes so central to his alcohol treatment:
thoughts, emotions and activities that he is sim- » Detoxification in hospitals: Alcohols need
ply unable to think of anything else. This condi- medical care and medical supervision. Tranquil-
tion is called psychological dependence. Alcoholic izers are used for treating their withdrawal symp-
addiction is a disease rather than lack of will power
» Involving an alcoholic’s family in his treatment One of the main problems during this phase of
and rehabilitation enhances the chances of suc- growth is the inadequate calorie intake. Studies
cess by 75 to 80%. have shown that girls in rural areas take a mean
of 1355K.Cals/day in the 13-15 years and 1292
» One of the effective social therapies, which use K.Cals/day in the 16-18 years, which is much be-
low the recommended age groups. The commonly
group interactions, is Alcoholics Anonymous. It
observed health problems are vaginal discharge,
is an organization of ex-alcoholics, which started
hair lice, headache, painful menstruation, irregu-
in USA in early 1940s. In this, the members share,
lar and excessive bleeding, dental problems and
their experience with other alcoholics and give
short sight. Silent urinary tract infection, poor
them strength and hope in an attempt to solve
menstrual hygiene is some other additional prob-
their common problems and recover from alco-
lems. Psychological problems also arise like emo-
holism. These associations are located in Delhi,
tional disturbances, depression, low self esteem,
Mumbai, and Kolkata etc.
anxiety over inadequate or excessive secondary
sexual development etc.
» Treatment centres: These centres are devel-
oped as alternative centres to hospital treatment Some of the specific strategies undertaken by vari-
having 10-12 residents. Counselling and anti- ous govts are Kishori Balika scheme under ICDS
drinking rules are observed. by Dept of Women and Child Development.
Weekly once 100 mg iron Folic Acid supplemen-
» Changing values through education: Some vol- tation of all adolescent girls through schools and
untary organizations undertake educational and anganwadi centers. Peer education and life skill
information programmes to alert the alcoholics to development through education dept in Tamil
the danger of excessive drinking. Social workers Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP etc. There is
help the drinkers in coping with life and chang- need for a service for providing counseling for
ing the social values and attitudes about drinking. adolescents within the district hospital and the
CHC.In primary health centers and subcentres the
Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual skills to provide counseling both to adolescents
and also to newly weds must be available. Peer
Health Programme
educator network is also one of the key strategies
to meet adolescents especially in marginalized
The govt has launched a Programme called the
groups like migrants ,rag pickers and certain oc-
Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health
cupational categories, street children and even
Programme under National Rural Health Mission
larger socially under privileged groups like the
as a part of RCH.
urban slums or in tribal areas.Helplines and
internet are some of the other way through which
This focus on ARSH and special interventions
educated adolescent can access information. This
for adolescents was in anticipation of the fol-
is the period of life when there is maximal need
lowing expected outcomes:
for nutrition.
Delay age of marriage, Reduce incidence of teen-
age pregnancies, meet unmet contraceptive needs
and reduce the number of maternal deaths, re- What is Adolescence
duce the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases
and reduce the proportion of HIV positive cases The 11 to 19 year old age is called adolescence.
in the 10-19 years age group. This is the period of rapid change and maturation
when the child grows into the adult. This is one India however holds top position in migration of
of the most enjoyable stages of one’s life and it physicians to developed countries like UK and the
has to be experienced with joy and friendship pav- US. According to Planning Commission the coun-
ing the way for building a healthy society with try has a shortfall of six lakh doctors, 10 lakh nurses
good social relationships. and two lakh dental surgeons. This has led to a
dismal patient-doctor ratio in the country. For
The National Population Policy 2000 identified every 10,000 Indians, there is just one doctor.
adolescents as an under served group for which
health needs and within this reproductive and National Urban Health Mission
sexual health interventions are to be designed. The
National Youth Policy 2003 recognizes 13 to 19 The much publicized National Urban Health Mis-
years as a distinct age group which had to be cov- sion is yet to see the light of day. The scheme plans
ered by special programmes in all sectors includ- to monitor and improve the health of 22 crore
ing health. The National Curriculum Framework people living in urban slums in 429 cities and
2005 for school education highlights the need for towns. It was to be launched mid 2008 but the
integrating adolescent reproductive and sexual mission is yet to become functional. NURM is
health messages into school curriculum. Based on aimed at providing accessible, affordable, effec-
this the National Adolescence Education tive and reliable primary health care facilities es-
Programme of NACO along with the Ministry of pecially to urban poor. Even for NHRM there is
Human Resources Development is developed. limited progress due to lack of standardization of
medical facilities.
India Registers 2 Million Tuberculosis
Cases India has banned tobacco consumption in public
places but only 12 states have started implement-
The number of people infected with both tuber- ing the ban. More than 10 lakh people at present
culosis (TB) and HIV is twice what researchers die in India every year due to tobacco consump-
previously thought. The World Health tion. At present more than 57% male and 10.9%
Organisation’s (WHO) annual report on TB, pre- female consume tobacco while 15% children con-
sented in Rio, indicates that there were 1.37 mil- sume tobacco.
lion cases of people with both TB and HIV in 2007,
the latest year for which statistics are available. Female feticide continues to tarnish India’s
Asia registered the most TB cases in 2007, with image.The child sex ratio (0-6 years) was 945 (1991
55%, while Africa had 31%. Among nations, In- census) and this declined to 927 girls per thou-
dia had the most cases with two million; China sand boys (in 2001 census).The figures are alarm-
had 1.3 million and Indonesia 530,000. ing in prosperous states like Punjab(798),Haryana
(819),Chandigarh (845),Delhi (868),Gujarat (883)
Public Health System in India and Himachal Pradesh (896).
Public health system in India suffers from many The Third Edition of the Tobacco Atlas
problems which includes insufficient funding,
shortage of facilities leading to overcrowding and The third edition of the Tobacco Atlas released in
severe shortage of trained health personnel. There Dublin by the American Cancer Society and World
is also lack of accountability in the public health Lung Foundation says that more women in India
delivery mechanisms. These are some of the rea- are turning smokers and oral users of tobacco. In-
sons, which have placed India at the lowest rank dia has the third highest number of female to-
in the Human Development Index. bacco users in the world. Of the estimated 11.9
million female consumers of tobacco in India 5.4
million smoke it and rest chews the leaves. To-
bacco in any form is life threatening and is con- and this year’s meeting of the G-8 industrial na-
sidered health hazard. tions in Japan would only succeed if they started
with the recognition that the development emer-
According to the report world wide tobacco con- gency is first and foremost an emergency for
sumption could kill six million people in 2010 and women and girls. The lack of progress on mater-
one third of those people would die of cancer. nal health shows people lives are at stake.
About 25% of smokers die or become ill during
their most productive years, adversely impacting SD Tendulkar Report on Poverty
families as well as economies. Earlier Tobacco
killed more men than women but this is slowly According to a recent Indian government com-
changing as smoking rates are increasing among mittee constituted to estimate poverty, nearly 38%
women in many countries including India and of India’s population (380 million) is poor. This
particularly among young women. The gap be- report is based on new methodology and the fig-
tween tobacco death rates between men and ure is 10% higher than the present poverty esti-
women is closing. Female smokers in India are mate of 28.5%.
dying eight years earlier than their non-smoking
peer group. Different Methodology
Smoking creates health problems among women The committee was headed by SD Tendulkar has
especially reproductive health .It not only ad- used a different methodology to reach at the cur-
versely affect the health of eggs produced ;it could rent figure. It has taken into consideration indi-
compromise the health of the expectant mother cators for heath, education, sanitation, nutrition
and the foetus.It is true for passive smokers as well. and income as per National Sample Survey Orga-
Tobacco consumers are more vulnerable to dis- nization survey of 2004-05.This new methodol-
ease especially cancer and particularly lung can- ogy is a complex scientific basis aimed at address-
cer. ing the concern raised over the current poverty
estimation.
There are many factors leading to increase in
women smoking. Smoking dulls the appetite and Since 1972 poverty has been defined on basis of
is seen as convenient and easy way of following the money required to buy food worth 2100 calo-
diet plan to help weight loss. In rural areas by ries in urban areas and 2400 calories in rural ar-
default women catch the smoking habit as they eas. In June this year a government committee
are required to light their husband’s hukkas .Some headed by NC Saxena committee estimated 50%
women smoke beedis as past time. Indians were poor as against Planning
Commission’s 2006 figure of 28.5%.
Indian government should do more public aware-
ness campaigns. The other ways would be more
Poverty is Biggest Problem
stringent legislation, high pricing and pictorial
warnings on cigarette packs.
Poverty is one of the main problems which have
attracted attention of sociologists and economists.
On current trends the goal of halving hunger
It indicates a condition in which a person fails to
would not be until 2035, 40 countries would have
maintain a living standard adequate for his physi-
equal enrolments for boys and girls until after 2025
cal and mental efficiency. It is a situation people
and current progress in cutting maternal mortal-
want to escape. It gives rise to a feeling of a dis-
ity rates was less than 1/5th of what was needed
crepancy between what one has and what one
to meet the goal. The total number of HIV/AIDS
should have. The term poverty is a relative con-
infections in 2007 was 33 million-the highest ever.
cept. It is very difficult to draw a demarcation line
According to Action Aid discussions at the UN
between affluence and poverty.
The project will have four components including., Departmental action against principal of Rajendra
“Improving Access to and Use of Services for Con- Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC),
trol of Malaria”, “Improving Access to and Use of where Amann Kachroo died after ragging
Services for Elimination of Kala Azar”, “Policy and
Strategy Development, Capacity Building and
Monitoring and Evaluation” and “Improving Po- SHO/SP, within whose jurisdiction a particular
lio vaccine availability”. college falls, shall be responsible for ensuring that
De-addiction measures in RPGMC where alcohol- The Prime Minister announced the launch of a
ism is rampant National Female Literacy Mission with an aim to
reduce female illiteracy by half. He said special
Raghavan Committee care would be taken of needs of women and chil-
dren and added that the Government has decided
The Raghavan Committee on ragging, constituted to extend the benefit of ICDS to every child be-
by the apex court to monitor implementation of low the age of six years by March 2012.
its omnibus order banning ragging in colleges,
submitted its 'not so happy' latest status report on Female Foeticide Scenario
12 August 2008 to a Bench comprising justices
Arijit Pasayat and Mukandakam Sharma. The 2001 census of India reveals a decline in the
overall child sex ratio for the age-group 0-6 years
Summarising its view after scanning of ragging from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001.Contrary to the
incidents across the country till August 5, the com- belief that the malaise is typical to rural ,back-
mittee through additional solicitor general Gopal ward areas, urban centers more literate and lib-
Subramaniam told the Bench that "overall progress eral have shown a drop from 935 in 1991 to 906
in the matter was slack, and more effort needed in 2001.
to be shown by regulatory bodies in the form of
regulations and directions" to achieve zero toler- In Delhi, the national capital, the child sex ratio
ance towards ragging. is an alarming 868.While the reasons for this vary
from higher female mortality at a younger age as
Expressing displeasure over the helplessness a result of neglect to infanticide and foeticide; the
shown by regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE, dismal numbers are a telling comment on the edu-
MCI and DCI, the committee said unless the fi- cated society that refuses to rid itself of its regres-
nancial grant to the institutions was linked to their sive male bias.
action against ragging, it would not be possible to
completely stamp out the menace from the cam- The Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Regulations
pus. The Bench, taking the suggestions on record, and Prevention of Misuse Act came into force in
said it would pass appropriate orders for effective 1994 to curb selective sex determination. With
implementation of its order on the ban on rag- rapid improvements in diagnostic technology the
ging in educational institutions. Act was amended in 2003 in order that it became
more comprehensive and was renamed the Pre-
The committee stressed the need to "give exem- conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques
plary punishment, as directed by the Supreme (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act.
Court, to students found guilty of ragging" so that
the seriousness with which the offence was To monitor the implementation of the PC & PNDT
viewed by the authorities should sink in among Act, the ministry of Health and Family Welfare
students. has set up a Central Supervisory Board as well as
state-level supervisory committees. A ministry
report indicates that there are 420 ongoing court/
police cases for violations of the law. Of these only sectors with decline in the employment for each
65 cases relate to identification and revelation of sector being 0.48 lakhs, 0.23 lakhs and 1.52 lakhs
the sex of the foetus, 43 are against people who respectively. In fact there seems to be a steady
have advertised facilities for sex selection and the decrease in employment rates on a monthly basis
rest are for non-registration of clinics/facilities. in the IT/BPO sector i.e. 0.24 lakhs loss of jobs
Apart from the nature of the Act, government increasing upto 0.33 lakhs in May.
inaction in most cases is due to the fact that the
patient, her family and the violators of the law The Labour Bureau, on analysis of 3003 establish-
are hand-in-glove. The Annual Report (2006) of ments which were previously covered in an analy-
the PC &PNDT division also identifies the non- sis, disclosed estimates which made a report on
availability of evidence or witnesses as the chief the effect of the global meltdown on employment
hindrance to implementing the law. The unscru- rates in India for the months April to June 2009.
pulous doctors and patients have developed their The report said that the government of India has
own sex determination code language to circum- been keeping a close watch on the dwindling
vent the law. For an instance if a doctor says col- employment rates due to the slowdown in
lect the report on Monday the family is meant to economy in all basic sectors. There has been how-
infer that the unborn child is a boy. Friday con- ever reason to cheer in some departments such as
notes the girl child. Also signing a report in blue the leather and automobiles sectors as there was a
ink indicates a boy while red ink is meant for baby slight increase in employment during this particu-
girls. The Annual Report mentions the fact the lar period. The worst hit among all sectors though
CMO or CS is usually not empowered enough to was the textiles sector which was down by 1.54
bring violators to book. Also abortions to limit lakhs during this quarterly period. An important
family size add to the difficulty of nabbing guilty. observation is the increase in employment in non-
Despite the loopholes the government has exerted exporting sectors as compared to the simultaneous
itself to advocate the girl child's right to live. A decline in the exporting sector as there has been
new website has been launched www.pndt.gov.in an increase of 0.35 lakhs in the non exporting sec-
with the facility to file a complaint online against tor.
doctors, maternity homes and clinics. The orga-
nizations like Sonological Society of India are also Contract Employment Replaced Regu-
supporting the government initiatives. lar Employment
Decrease in Employment Rate in India A trend developing these days has been attrib-
uted to the decline in the employment rate. It is
The Centre's estimates have revealed a decline in the increase in contract employment which has
overall employment rate by more than a lakh in replaced regular employment. This can be particu-
the first quarter of the calendar year 2009 contra- larly noticed in banks as all labour has been turn-
dicting its own claims of insulating the economy ing computerised. This has been proved by the
from the global meltdown. There was a decline in 0.40 lakh increase in employment in contractual
employment by 1.31 lakhs during the months of employment. Another important observation in
April to June 2009. Om a monthly basis, the em- the report by the Labour Bureau was that migrant
ployment rate in April dropped by .38 lakhs and workers returned to their hometowns during this
1.57 lakhs in May but fortunately saw a slight rise particular period resulting in the decline in em-
of 0.64 lakhs in June. ployment in export sectors.
UNESCO Listed 196 Languages as En- Some languages classified as extinct, including
dangered Cornish in the UK and Ssh in New Caledonia, are
being actively revitalised and could potentially
With 196 of its languages listed as endangered, become living again. Still there is disheartening
India, a nation with great linguistic diversity, tops news.
the UNESCO's list of countries having maximum
number of dialects on the verge of extinction. In- There are 199 languages in the world spoken by
dia is closely followed by the US which stands to fewer than a dozen people, including Karaim
lose 192 languages and Indonesia, where 147 are which has six speakers in Ukraine and Wichita,
in peril. spoken by 10 people in the US state of Oklahoma.
The updated data represents a multi-fold increase
Among the 196, 84 fall in the unsafe category from the last atlas compiled in 2001 which listed
where children speak the language but it's re- 900 languages threatened with extinction.
stricted to certain domains some of these include More than 30 linguists worked on the Atlas, which
Tulu, Konkani, Gharwali and Kumaoni. 103 are highlights how the phenomenon of disappearing
endangered as they're only spoken by grandpar- languages is evident in every region and in vary-
ents and the older generations sometimes partially ing economic conditions. The database, which is
and infrequently and nine are extinct where no continually supplemented, corrected and updated
speakers are left. on user contributions, ranks the dying languages
as unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endan-
The facts were revealed in the latest Atlas of gered, critically endangered and extinct.
World's Languages in Danger of Disappearing
unveiled by the UN's cultural agency UNESCO Grading System in Central Board of
on the eve of International Mother Language Day. Secondary Education (CBSE)
The atlas classifies around 2,500 of the 6,000 lan-
guages spoken worldwide as endangered. The Government on Aug 31, 2009 announced that
it will introduce grading system in all Central
It further adds that nearly 200 languages have Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools and
fewer than 10 speakers and 178 others have be- make Class X board exams optional from coming
tween 10 and 50 speakers. It reveals that over 200 academic year (2010-11).
languages used in the world have died out over
the last three generations, 538 are critically en- Union Human Resource Development minister
dangered, 502 severely endangered, 632 definitely Kapil Sibal said that Central Advisory Board of
endangered and 607 unsafe. Education (CABE) supports making Class X ex-
amination optional in CBSE system. The Class X
The language of Manx in the Isle of Man died in board exams will become optional in all CBSE
1974 with the death of Ned Maddrell while Eyak schools from the coming academic year (2010-11).
in Alaska met its demise last year when Marie The CBSE has prepared the format of an aptitude
Smith Jones passed away. exam which schools can use to test Class X stu-
dents on their level of understanding in each sub-
According to the database, nearly one-third of all ject. The emphasis, however, will be on continu-
of the world's languages are spoken in sub-Saharan ous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) through
Africa, and it is estimate that 10 per cent of them the year instead of a single public exam at the end
will disappear during the course of the next cen- of Class X.
tury. However, the situation of languages is not
equally dire worldwide. For example, Papua New
Guinea, the most linguistically diverse with over
800 languages believed to be spoken there, has 88
relatively few endangered languages.
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
96
Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Social Problems & Welfare Schemes)
Number of Female Post Graduates in Government on sept 7, 2009 has proposed to take
Urban India Rises up a new scheme on a pilot basis, called “Pradhan
Mantri Adarsh gram Yojana” (PMAGY) for inte-
According to the latest report of the National grated development of 1,000 villages, each hav-
Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the number ing more than 50% SC population.
of post graduates in every 1,000 males surveyed The scheme aims to implement various develop-
has increased from 28 in 2001-02 to 35 in 2006-07 ment projects in these villages, with an additional
in urban India. The number of female post gradu- fund of Rs 10 lakh per village to meet those re-
ates has increased from 19 to 26 during the same quirements that cannot be met from existing
period. The number of male and female graduates schemes. If the pilot scheme is successful, it may
during the same period has increased from 97 and be expanded.
67 to 111 and 82, respectively. The incidence of
illiteracy in rural areas has declined from 39.5% National Mission on Education
in 2001-02 to 34.9% in 2006-07. In urban sector,
the same has declined from 19.4% to 16.5% dur- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has
ing the same period. What is significant is that in approved a scheme, National Mission on Educa-
both urban and rural sectors, the illiteracy rate of tion, to use the Information Communication Tech-
nology (ICT) to provide personalized and interac- and the associated factors which influence them.
tive knowledge modules to students. The scheme The report examined the effectiveness of some of
will cost Rs 4,612 crore in the 11th Plan. Over the important food-based interventions like the
18,000 colleges across India will get computer in- Public Distribution System, the Integrated Child
frastructure and connectivity, including all depart- Development Services and the Mid Day Meal
ments in 419 universities, deemed universities and Scheme and recommends measures for improved
institutions of national importance. In another performance.
decision, the Cabinet approved the Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan to increase enrol- A survey by the Indian health ministry, backed
ment rates in secondary education from 52.56 per by UNICEF, had found that almost 46 percent of
cent at present to 75 per cent in 2012. Under the children under the age of three are undernour-
scheme 11,188 new schools will be built and ished.
44,000 existing schools strengthened and 1.79 lakh
additional teachers will be appointed. 2008 State of World Population Report
Use of Auto Disable Syringes made The United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA),
Mandatory launched the 2008 State of World Population Re-
port in the Philippines in 2008 at EDSA Shangri-
The Directorate General of Health Services has la Hotel.
made it mandatory for all states to use Auto Dis-
able (AD) syringes in all Government hospitals and The theme of the report is ‘Reaching Common
health centres with reference to April 1, 2009. Ground: Culture, Gender and Human Rights’. The
The action came in the wake of a national study report, which coincides with 60th anniversary of
conducted by the Indiaclen Programme Evalua- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is
tion Network on behalf of the Ministry of Health, based on the concept that the international hu-
Government of India, and World Bank, entitled man rights framework has universal validity. Hu-
'Assessment of Injection Practices in India' in 2002 man rights express values common to all cultures
- 2005 which brought to light that in India nearly and protect groups as well as individuals. The re-
two thirds of the injections are administered in port endorses culturally sensitive approaches to
an unsafe manner and also all the injections ad- development and to the promotion of human
ministered in India, one third carry a potential rights, in general, and women's rights, in particu-
risk of transmitting blood borne virus. AD syringes lar. Cultural sensitive approaches are essential for
eliminate the possibility of reuse and hence the reaching the Millennium Development Goals
risk of infection through blood. (MDGs), including the fifth goal namely to im-
prove maternal health.
UNWFP Report
The Constitution (109th Amendment) Bill 2009
The United Nations World Food Programme Parliamentary approval was accorded to a consti-
(UNWFP) said that most rural Indians are victims tutional amendment bill extending the reserva-
of malnutrition, despite the introduction of sev- tion for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled
eral government schemes to end the problem on Tribes (STs) in parliament and state assemblies for
Feb 21st, 2009. another 10 years, with the Lok Sabha passing the
measure on August 4th, 2009. The Constitution
A UNWFP with MS Swaminathan Research Foun- (109th Amendment) Bill 2009 had been adopted
dation report said that 40 per cent of children by the Rajya Sabha.
under the age of three are underweight and a third
of all men and women suffer from chronic energy The measure also extends nomination of members
deficiency. It also stressed nutritional outcomes of the Anglo-Indian community to the Lok Sabha
and the state assemblies by another 10 years. The The scheme will help meritorious students belong-
bill, moved by Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily ing to poorer sections of the society to meet their
passed in a division vote with 385 of the members day-to-day expenses while pursuing college/uni-
present voting in favour, while one voted against versity education, who are not benefited by any
and one abstained. other scholarship scheme.
Out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, 79 have been reserved As part of the second package, the committee gave
for SCs and 42 for STs and out of 3,961 assembly its approval for introduction of a new centrally
seats, 543 are reserved for SCs and 527 for STs. sponsored scheme of 'Inclusive Education of the
Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS)' at an expen-
New Pension Scheme (NPS) diture of Rs.12.6 billion.
The New Pension Scheme (NPS) has been All disabled children passing out of the Class VIII
launched on ‘Labour Day’ on May 1st, 2009 for all stage (middle school) in government, local body
the citizens. This followed the confirmation by and government-aided schools will be identified
the National Interim Pension Regulator of the for enrolment in the secondary stage (Class IX to
scheduled launch of the Mega Pension Plan. XII). As part of this initiative an estimated 520,000
disabled children will be provided education dur-
According to the Pension Fund Regulatory and ing the 11th Plan period.
Development Authority (PFRDA), the necessary
infrastructure for the roll out of the NPS is now Urban-India Led in Unemployment
ready and it will be available to all the citizens.
Under this scheme, the Central Government em- Unemployment rates are much higher among edu-
ployees who joined on or after Jan 1, 2004 are also cated individuals, especially the ones in urban ar-
covered under this. eas, according to the Indian Labor Market Report
2009 published by Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Besides the government employees, bank branches (TISS) 07 April 2009.
and post offices will be used to collect contribu-
tions for all the citizens. Six pension fund manag- Among emerging sectors, the retail sector is the
ers will plan schemes and manage funds. A cen- largest employer, followed by construction, the
tral record-keeping agency has also been ap- report says. While the segments including hospi-
pointed. All these institutions will be regulated tality, transport, communication and wholesale
by an independent regulator, PFRDA. and retail trade, have witnessed temporary recruit-
ment. The case of temporary recruits is far less
Rs 22.6 Billion for Poor, Disabled Stu- pronounced in the segments such as financial in-
dents termediation, mining and quarrying and real es-
tate. The report is based on the survey conducted
Indian government has approved two schemes by the National Sample Survey Organisation
worth Rs.22.6 billion to provide scholarship to (NSSO).
needy meritorious students and help 520,000 dis-
abled students to pursue education at the second- While Goa has the highest unemployment rates
ary level on Sep 18,2008. of 11.4 percent, followed by Kerala at 9.1 percent,
states, which enjoy the lowest unemployment
In the first scheme, the cabinet committee on eco- rates, are Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh - 0.5 per-
nomic affairs gave its approval for implementa- cent and 0.8 percent, respectively, shows a state-
tion of central sector scheme of scholarships for wise analysis of the trend.
college and university students worth Rs.10 bil-
lion during the 11th Five Year Plan period.
Gender-wise, urban women have the highest unemployment rates (9.2 percent) while the lowest is ac-
counted for by rural women at 7.31 percent. It is desirable that the existing pattern of the Indian labor
market - a dichotomy in gender, region, social security, and education - must undergo significant changes
to favor more human development.
The percentage of urban women, who are not part of the labor force, is higher than that of their rural
counterparts. While in most states, the percentage of rural women, not part of the labor force, is nearly 60-
70 percent, the corresponding figure for their urban counterparts is close to 80 percent.
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Economy
ASEAN and India Sign the Much Awaited Free Trade Area
Towards the new building blocks for the evolving Economic and Commercial Relations
regional architecture for cooperation, we proposed
several new measures. Among these are: realizing Egypt has traditionally been one of India’s most
India-ASEAN trade target of US $ 50 billion by important trading partners in the African
2010, simplification of visa regime for continent. The India-Egypt Bilateral Trade Agree-
businesspersons travelling from India to ASEAN ment has been in operation since March 1978 and
and vice-versa, launching of an India-ASEAN is based on the Most Favoured Nation clause.
Health Care Initiative with a focus to provide ba- India emerged as Egypt’s third largest trading part-
sic drugs at low cost, setting up of an India-ASEAN ner behind the US and Italy in 2006. In 2007,
Green Fund for undertaking pilot projects to tackle India’s rank was fourth behind the US, Italy and
issues associated with Climate Change, an ex- Saudi Arabia. Both in 2006 and in 2007, India was
panded Open Skies Policy with ASEAN, and a tar- the largest importer of Egyptian products, mainly
get of 1 million tourists to India from ASEAN re- on account of oil and gas. India’s rank among the
gion by the year 2010. Our thrust remains to cre- top countries to Egypt improved from 19th in 2005
ate an “arc of advantage” linking India with South to 14th in 2006 to 11th in 2007 and 9th in 2008.
East Asia.
Major Egyptian exports: oil and gas, coking coal,
Recently, India finalized text of Trade-in-Goods raw cotton, rock phosphate, and marble
Agreement under a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
with the ASEAN block, which will ensure lower- Major Indian exports: frozen meat, cotton yarn
ing of duties and free flow of trade in goods. This and synthetic yarn, rice, diesel, tobacco, electri-
Trade-in-goods (TiG) agreement is likely to be cal machinery, soybean, chemicals, automobiles
signed in near future. The agreement will create a and components, sugar, pharmaceuticals and tea.
market of over 1.5 billion people in the region.
India and ASEAN will also negotiate Agreement Bilateral Investment
in Trade-in-Services and Investment as a single
undertaking as soon as possible. India and Egypt signed the BIPA in April 1997,
which entered into force in November 2000. Ac-
India has a stake in ASEAN’s stability in deepen- cording to Egyptian sources, India is the 12th larg-
ing economic integration and community build- est foreign investor in Egypt with a total invest-
ing. In this regard PM has announced ment of approximately US$ 750 million in close
operationalisation of the India-ASEAN Science to 40 projects. Egyptian investments in India are
and Technology Fund with an initial corpus fund limited to a 10% stake of Orascom Telecom in the
of 1 million US dollars. then Hutchison-Essar which has since been
bought by Vodafone
India-Egypt MoU for cooperation in
trade and economic fields Indian Projects in Egypt
Picking up the threads of a relationship that had Alexandria Carbon Black (ACB) set up by Grasim
gone dry for almost a quarter of a century, India India Limited with TRENCO and ATC as Egyp-
and Egypt on November 18, 2008, took the high tian partners has been the leading successful joint
road, setting up a strategic dialogue and signing a venture. Established in 1994 in Alexandria with a
rash of agreements during President Hosni capacity of 20,000 tonnes, its capacity has since
Mubarak’s first visit to India in 25 years. India and been increased to 180,000 tonnes. It exports 93%
Egypt signed five agreements, including an extra- of its product generating foreign exchange rev-
dition treaty and one on cooperation in outer space enue or savings of close to US$ 100 million for
and an MoU for cooperation in trade and economic Egypt annually.
fields.
A new acrylic fibre plant, Alexandria Fibre Co. for a turnkey project for the design, supply and
was also set up in Alexandria by the Aditya Birla construction of 196 km long 500 kV double cir-
Group in February 2006 with an initial investment cuit line. The project is funded by the European
of $ 60 million and a capacity of 18,000 tonnes Investment Bank.
per year.
Oil and Gas
Other major investments include the JV between
Asian Paints and SCIB Chemical, (Orascom Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has equity
Group); in October 2004, HDFC facilitated the and management stake in two gas distribution
setting up of EHDC (Egyptian Housing Develop- ventures in Fayoum and Cairo as well as in Natgas.
ment Company) by acquiring 10% equity and pro- OVL and its partner IPR Red Sea Inc. have an-
viding technical as well as management assistance; nounced two oil field discoveries in the North
IFFCO has signed an agreement with Al Nasr Ramadan Concession in the Gulf of Suez. GSPC
mines to establish a phosphoric acid plant in Up- of Gujarat has bagged two oil and gas exploration
per Egypt entailing an investment of over $ 550 blocks in Egypt, one in the Mediterranean off-
million; the Oberoi Group has been managing a shore and the other in the Western Desert.
hotel and Nile cruises; ESSEL of India has set up a IT: The Global Solutions Centre (GSC) of Satyam
JV for manufacturing laminated tooth paste tubes Computer Services was inaugurated in Cairo on 5
for Proctor and Gamble in March 2008. WIPRO has established a similar fa-
cility in Cairo. TCS is also in negotiations with
Egypt; Dabur India Ltd. has established a 100% theEgyptian Ministry of IT for setting up opera-
owned facility for the production of its cosmetics tions in Egypt.
line; Niletex, a 100% Indian company manufac-
tures PVC water-storage tanks; M/s. Auto Tech India and South Korea signed a CEPA
Engineering, another 100% Indian company,
manufactures auto valves; Kirloskar Brothers as- After more than three years of negotiations, In-
semble diesel engines and irrigation pump sets in dia and South Korea signed a Comprehensive Eco-
Egypt; Ranbaxy has an Egyptian subsidiary for nomic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on August
manufacturing pharmaceutical formulations; 9, 2009, covering trade in goods, services and in-
Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and vestment, and international property rights. Both
Mahindra & Mahindra are marketing their ve- countries agreed to gradually lower tariffs over a
hicles in Egypt, and Bajaj Auto dominated the 10-year period, once the South Korean National
three-wheelers market. Marico, an Indian con- Assembly ratifies the agreement. The CEPA ne-
sumer goods company acquired ‘Fiancee’, a cos- gotiations had started in March 2006 and were
metics line and ‘Hair Code’’, a hair care brand from concluded in September 2008.
Egypt’s Ready Group. The Sanmar Group com-
pleted acquisition of a caustic soda unit of Trust The Cabinet had approved the pact in July 2009.
Chemicals of Egypt, located at Port Said in 2007, Under the CEPA, India will eliminate duties on
at a cost of US$ 250 million. In June 2007, an agree- 75 percent of products imported from South Ko-
ment was signed between South Asia Petrochemi- rea on a custom-value basis during the eight years
cals Ltd. of India and ECHEM of Egypt to set up after the CEPA becomes effective. South Korea
the first PET resin plant in Egypt with a total in- will remove duties on 93 percent of products from
vestment of USD 100 million. In November 2008, India during the same period.
Kernex Microsystems were awarded a US$ 17.5
million contract by the Egyptian National Rail- South Korea first time made such deal with an
ways for modernization of 136 level crossings. In emerging economy and India signed first time with
December 2008, KEC International Ltd. bagged a major developed country. India’s agreement with
an order valued at US$ 135 million awarded by South Korea also allows for protection of vulner-
the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company
Copyright © 2009 | WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
104
Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : ECONOMY)
able industries, such as farming and forestry, Mukherjee urged industry leaders and the Afri-
which both countries have conceded to establish can continent to seek benefits from this opportu-
a lower level of market opening. nity.
The CEPA comprises six agreements relating The External Affairs Minister also laid emphasis
mainly to opening up of trade in goods, services on agriculture and food security for cooperation
and customs. It would give a boost to the more between India and Africa, and said that Indian
than USD 10 billion bilateral trade. companies have started exploring opportunities in
the production of pulses, cereals and oil seeds. This
South Korea expects that agreement on CEPA will will directly affect the farming communities by
increase exports and diversify investment, and also providing partnerships to undertake contracts in
pave the way for future agreements with other this sector.
South Asian nations. India, a more service-driven
country, will benefit from the possibility of greater Mukherjee further advised the two regions to cre-
human resource exchange, including allowing ate a deep and wide economic engagement with a
Indian software experts and engineers easier ac- focus on investment and technical tie-ups. De-
cess to the South Korean market. Trade between scribing India’s huge manpower as its biggest
the two countries has been growing: it reached strength, he called for cost effective and interme-
US$15.6 billion in 2008, and should grow by an- diate technologies at par with the human re-
other US$3.3 billion in 2010 after the deal is courses.
signed. In 2007-08, India exported USD 2.85 bil-
lion worth of goods to South Korea, posting a rise He informed that the trade between India and
of 13.5 per cent over the previous year. Africa has reached 30 billion US dollars and there
is a huge capacity to reach to greater heights.
CEPA Mukherjee also finalized the framework agree-
ment for professional trading with South African
The CEPA is similar to a free trade agreement Customs Union.
(FTA), with a comprehensive coverage of trade in
goods and services and investments, as well as in- On the other hand, Rwandas President, Mr. Paul
tellectual property rights. Kagame stressed on the need to have a compre-
hensive strategy on Africas development chal-
India-Africa Business Partnership lenges. He agreed with Indias view to reform In-
ternational financial institutions. He urged the
Summit
African business community to utilize financial
support for effective strengthening of economic
A two-day India-Africa Business Partnership sum-
relations. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath also
mit in New Delhi on January 19-20, 2009 has
expressed his hope that India will come out of the
ended successfully in which External Affairs Min-
global financial meltdown unharmed and will con-
ister Pranab Mukherjee called for increased coop-
tinue growing. He said the inflow of the Foreign
eration and dialogue with African nations on cru-
Direct Investments (FDI) is satisfactory and it is
cial global issues, including Jihadi terrorism.
expected to cross 30 billion dollars this year.
Mukherjee also referred other issues like climate
change, food and energy security, health, marine
The business partnership conference includes
piracy and democratization of financial institu-
more than 250 delegates and 30 African countries,
tions. Addressing the global financial crisis, he said
which has been jointly organized by the Ministry
that the model of international financial architec-
of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of
ture has come into question. He, however, gave
Indian Chambers and Commerce and Industry
an optimistic statement saying that India will grow
(FICCI).
at seven percent and continue the upward trend.
meeting with Ethiopia was held on 5th June 2006 dians in Switzerland and there are over 800 Swiss
at New Delhi. Sh. Jairam Ramesh, Hon'ble Minis- nationals working in India. There is potential for
ter of State for Commerce, Govt. of India and the greater movement of workers between the two
H.E. Mr Ahmed Tusa, State Minister of Trade and countries in future. This bilateral Social Security
Industry, Govt. of Ethiopia co-charied this JTC Agreement will enhance trade and investment
meeting. between the two countries. India has signed simi-
lar agreements with Belgium, France and Germany
Social Security Agreement to Enhance in the recent past.
Cooperation
Economic Scenario
India and Switzerland signed a Social Security
Agreement on September 03, 2009 in New Delhi, Switzerland and India continue to be natural part-
in presence of theVice-President of the Swiss Con- ners constantly working together to strengthen
federation and Minister of Economic Affairs, Ms. their relationship in various fields. In the recent
Doris Leuthard. The Agreement was signed by years, economic relations between the two coun-
Shri. K.Mohandas, Secretary of Overseas Indian tries have been hoisted to a higher level of impor-
Affairs Ministry and Mr. PhilippeWelti, Ambas- tance. This is reflected in the pace at which our
sador of the Swiss Confederation in India. On the total bilateral trade has increased from Swiss
occasion, Shri. Mohandas said that this is an im- Francs 1.16 billion in 2002 to Swiss Francs 2.62
portant agreement, which will further boost the billion in 2006, reflecting an increase of 125 per
friendly relationship between the two countries. cent in four years. This positive trend in the last
This Social Security Agreement will enhance co- years is set to continue: In the first eleven months
operation on social security between the two of 2007, Swiss exports to India have gone up by
countries. It will facilitate the movement of pro- 30 per cent whilst Indian exports to Switzerland
fessionals between the two countries. The de- have increased by 25 per cent, as compared to the
tached workers sent by Switzerland- based com- same period of the previous year.
panies to their Indian subsidiaries, or those sent
by Indian companies to their branches in Swit- In terms of foreign direct investments, Switzer-
zerland will be exempt from social security con- land has remained amongst the top 10 foreign in-
tribution in the host country for a period of 72 vestors in India. About 150 Swiss companies have
months. While working abroad, these employees formed joint ventures or subsidiaries, and many
will only be subject to the social security regula- more have representatives or agents in India. The
tions of their home country. The Agreement pro- Swiss technology-driven companies, including
vides that an employed or selfemployed person, small and medium businesses, play a major role in
other than detached workers shall be subject only the trade and investment flows to India. As more
to the legislation of the host country. and more Indian companies are now venturing
abroad, Switzerland is offering many attractive
The Agreement provides for refund of the contri- advantages as a business and investment location,
butions at the time of relocation. In so far as Swit- especially for those Indian companies which
zerland is concerned, the person will be refunded would like to cover their European business ac-
the contributions in accordance with the Swiss tivities from within Switzerland.
legislation. In so far as India is concerned, the per-
son will be paid the withdrawal benefit or the The Swiss Business Hub India (SBHI) which is part
pension in Switzerland or a third country, as the of Osec Business Network Switzerland and which
case may be, in accordance with the Indian legis- is located in the Consulate General in Mumbai and
lation at the time of relocation. The Agreement the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi offers a wide
will come into effect after the fulfillment of the range of services to assist small and medium-sized
national requirements. There are over 11,000 In- enterprises (SMEs) from Switzerland and
Liechtenstein in their efforts to penetrate the In- IMF will make the general SDR allocation on Aug
dian market. 28 following formal approval by its board of gov-
ernors last week of the proposal to allocate SDRs
The Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce (SICC) equivalent to $250 billion to provide liquidity to
is a key actor in promoting Swiss-Indian bilateral the global economic system by supplementing the
trade and investment. SICC is a bi-national, non- Fund's member countries' foreign exchange re-
profit association with over 320 Swiss and Indian serves.
members. It has offices in Zurich, Delhi, Banga-
lore, Mumbai and Chennai. The Chamber provides The SDR allocation was requested as part of a $1.1
members in Switzerland and India access to first- trillion plan agreed at the G20 summit in London
hand information and expertise thanks to the res- in April and endorsed by the International Mon-
ervoir of know-how offered by its board and ex- etary and Financial Committee (IMFC) to tackle
tensive partner network in both countries. the global financial and economic crisis by restor-
ing credit, growth and jobs in the world economy.
Recent years have also seen exchange of high-level The equivalent of nearly $100 billion of the gen-
visits, and intensification of the dialogue between eral allocation will go to emerging markets and
the two governments to ensure that together they developing countries, of which low-income coun-
can explore new ways and means to further tries will receive over $18 billion, IMF said Thurs-
strengthen the trade and investment ties. Nota- day.
bly, India has been identified as a country of high
importance in the framework of Switzerland's The allocation will provide each participating
Foreign Economic Strategy. The EFTA countries country with SDRs in amounts equivalent to ap-
(Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) proximately 74 percent of its quota, and could in-
and India will soon launch negotiations for a crease Fund members' total allocations to an
broad-based agreement on trade and investment. amount equivalent to about $283 billion, from
The Indo-Swiss joint economic commission meet- about $33 billion (SDR 21.4 billion).
ing that used to be held every four years will now
be held every year. Separately, the fourth amendment to the IMF ar-
ticles of agreement providing for a special one-
The instruments mentioned above and our bilat- time allocation of SDRs has now entered into force.
eral agreements on the Double Taxation Avoid- The special allocation will be made to IMF mem-
ance, Promotion and Protection of Investments bers on Sep 9, 30 days after the effective date of
and an MOU on Intellectual Property Rights, will the fourth amendment, and will raise the ratios
ensure that an increasing number of Swiss and of members' cumulative SDR allocations to quota
Indian companies will find a shared interest in using a common benchmark ratio as described in
doing business together. The future looks very the amendment.
bright, and both sides are continuing their efforts
to deepen and widen the bilateral trade and eco- The total of SDRs created under the special allo-
nomic ties. cation would amount to SDR 21.5 billion (about
$33 billion).
India will Get the Equivalent of About
$4.78 Billion The special allocation will make the allocation of
SDRs more equitable and correct for the fact that
India will get the equivalent of about $4.78 bil- countries that joined the Fund after 1981 -- more
lion as its share of International Monetary Fund's than one fifth of the current IMF membership --
(IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) worth $250 had never received an SDR allocation, IMF said.
billion to provide liquidity to the recession hit glo- The fourth amendment, which was proposed in
bal economic system. September 1997, required approval by three fifths
of the IMF membership with 85 percent of the FDI equity inflow to India from the US during
total voting power. This threshold has been the period April 2000- June 2008 was US$ 5.4 bil-
reached following the recent approval by the US. lion. Trade and economic cooperation has emerged
The special and general allocations will bring Fund as an important pillar of India-US relations – evi-
members' cumulative total of SDR allocation to dent in the rising bilateral trade volume and an
SDR 204 billion (about $316 billion). enhanced interest to strengthen this trend.
The general SDR allocation is a key example of a India is one of the faster growing export destina-
cooperative multilateral response to the global tion for US exports. In 2007, the growth rate was
crisis, offering significant support to the Fund's 75%. It has slowed down in the first six months
members in this challenging period, IMF said. of the current year but is still a healthy 26%. Our
main imports from the U.S. are aircraft and avia-
India-Singapore ink pact on tourism tion machinery, other machinery, precious stones
and metals, organic chemicals, optical and medi-
On August 4, 2009, India and Singapore signed a cal instruments. In 2008, export of fertilizers from
joint action plan on tourism cooperation. Minis- the US has increased significantly.
ter of Tourism Kumari Selja and Singapore Senior
Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Edu- India’s exports to United States, though still sig-
cation S. Iswaran witnessed the signing by tour- nificantly larger than our imports, are growing at
ism officials of India and Singapore. The plan re- a much slower pace. India’s major export prod-
iterates provisions of cooperation enshrined in the ucts include gems and jewelry, textiles, organic
bilateral agreement on tourism signed between chemicals and engineering goods. The rise in the
India and Singapore on January 24, 1994. value of rupee, hike in transport costs, competi-
tion from Bangladesh, Vietnam as well as some
India-US Economic Partnership Latin American countries that have some duty
advantages in textiles and apparel sector and the
The growing economic partnership between the continuous bonding requirement imposed on
US and India has been one of the pillars of the shrimps since 2004 are the major factors contrib-
transformed bilateral relationship. The USA hap- uting to the decline.
pens to be India’s largest export destination and
also one of the leading foreign investors in India. US-bound investment from India has increased
The complementarities between the two econo- significantly since 2002, growing by about 75%
mies have made the two sides to seek a strong eco- on average per year. The value in 2006 is estimated
nomic engagement to leverage the advantages to be about $2 billion and in 2007, the increase
available with each other. has been very rapid with announced Indian in-
vestments in US estimated at about $13 billion.
Bilateral Trade and Investment: The India-US The trend seems set to continue in 2008 with deals
bilateral trade stood at US$ 33.9* billion in 2007- reported upto May 31 totalling more than $ 8 bil-
08.During the year 2007-08, merchandise exports lion.
from India to US increased by 9.81% to US$20.7
billion as compared to US$ 18.8 billion in 2006- Trade Missions and Business Events
07 and merchandise exports from US to India in-
creased by 12.57% to US $ 13.2 billion in 2007-08 » High level trade Missions led by the Governor
as compared to US$11.7 billion in 2006-07. of Minnesota and the Governor of Utah
visited India in Sept-Oct 2007.
Indian IT and IT enabled services including R&D
and Engineering services exports to the US were » An Infrastructure Summit was organized by the
approximately US$ 24 billion in 2007. The total
CEOs forum in Mumbai in Oct 2007. struct a railway project between Delhi and
Mumbai. This is the single largest overseas project
» Launch of Initiative- "Investing in America: The being financed by Japan and reflect ed growing
Indian Story" economic partnership between the two. India is
also one of the only three countries in the world
with whom Japan has security pact, the other two
» September 2007 – New York, USA by FICCI-
being Australia and the United States.As of March
US India Business Council (USIBC)with 2006, Japan was the third largest investor in India
support of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, with an estimated total investment of US$2.12
Government of India billion.
will resume on the basis of the draft negotiating cal Sciences (AIIMS) on January 24, and has since
texts issued in December 2008. been recuperating.
Agreement in the Fields of Small-Scale Languages Spoken: French (official), Fon, Ge,
Industries Bariba, Yoruba, Dendi
India and the West African nation of Benin signed Significant Economic A ctivities: Benin’s
five agreements on march 4,2009 in the fields of economy is chiefly based on agriculture with cot-
small-scale industries, cultural and scientific co- ton accounting for 40% of GDP and about 80% of
operation and diplomatic exchange. The agree- export receipts. Other products include cashew,
ments were signed after delegation level talks palm oil, high quality marble limestone and tim-
headed by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan ber.
Singh and the visiting President of Benin, Boni
Yayi. Cotonou port is a major transit market for many
West and Central African countries.
New Delhi also offered Benin a liberalised line of
credit for its developmental needs. Global Trade and Investment
Earlier, Yayi was accorded a ceremonial reception India is among the biggest export markets (cotton
at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. and cashews) while China is the main source of
imports.
Talking to media, Yayi extended his support to
India in the fight against terrorism. He also Total imports with major exporting countries:
favoured New Delhi’s inclusion in the reformed US$ 866 million (2004) China, France, UK, Thai-
United Nations Security Council to have a demo- land, Belgium, India
cratic world order.
Total exports with major destinations of exports:
Yayi is scheduled to meet President Pratibha Patil, US$ 670.9 million (2004) India, China, Thailand,
Vice President Hamid Ansari and the leader of Indonesia, Italy
the Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani.
ASSOCHAM –KCCI set up Groups to
During his five-day visit to India, he will also visit Promote Bilateral Trade
Agra, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Welcoming the resumption of talks between In-
Wednesday’s engagement was Dr. Singh first of- dia-Pakistan, The Associated Chambers of Com-
ficial one after undergoing by pass surgery five merce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and its
weeks ago. Dr. Singh underwent a ”redo” coro- counterpart Karachi Chamber of Commerce &
nary artery bypass surgery to remove five block- Industry (KCCI) have set up Special groups in re-
ages in his heart at the All India Institute of Medi- spective countries to strengthen institutional links
for formulating concrete action plan to boost bi- kistan for specialized treatment in India under a
lateral trade. new scheme
The Chamber has already been invited by KCCI, vii. Draw a new scheme of scholarship to fixed
Pakistan for holding business-to-business initia- number of Pakistani students and researchers for
tives and a small group comprising its SAARC higher courses, with minimum one-year duration.
Committee Chairman Mr. Ravi Wig and Secre-
tary General D.S. Rawat are scheduled to visit viii. Allow more cultural groups from Pakistan :
shortly to carry on negotiations further. literary figures, musicians ghazal singers.
Sajjan Jindal, President, ASSOCHAM said, “the Concrete Items identified by ASSOCHAM &
Chamber strongly believes that relations between KCCI are :
the two neighbours must improve and beginning 1. India could source commodity supplies, Sugar
has to be made – both countries cannot afford to being prime item. Pakistan wheat cold be explored
continue to carry past baggage at the cost of their in view of apprehended shortage of same in India
mutual growth and well being”. this year.
In the past, ASSOCHAM has been participating 2. Tea : (Pakistani annual demand of 140 million
in Pakistan’s trade fair in Karachi every year, kg can be better met from India – current tea ex-
hosting Pakistani business delegations, undertak- ports from India only 5 million kg).
ing special market survey and business studies on
Indo-Pakistan trade ties and in March hosted 3. Medicines : India products most competitive
former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf dur- in Pakistan.
ing his visit to India.
4. Gems and Jewellery : Pakistani businessmen
The proposed roadmap of ASSOCHAM–KCCI are keen to source these items from India, cur-
Group contains: rently being done via Dubai.
i. Creation of a dedicated freight transshipment
facility along with the land route through Wagah 5. Indian Nano and other models would be very
border – at present passenger traffic and freight good buy for average Pakistani customers in terms
traffic is handled at single terminal leading to of (a). price (b) quality (c) after-sales-service.
delays for goods traffic.
6. Joint venture proposal could be submitted for
ii. Reduce overheads and delivery period to cre- assembly and manufacture of such vehicles in Pa-
ate attractive possibilities and incentives for the kistan.
businesses on both sides to trade in many non-
traditional items. 7. From Pakistan : Apart from Sugar, cement
wheat, dryfruits which are traditionally-identi-
iii. People-to-people contacts need to be facili- fied items for exports to India, ASSOCHAM feels
tated which may create conditions of cordiality that footwear, leather products, sports goods, plas-
and goodwill in the first instance leading ulti- tic wares could also be sourced from Pakistan.
mately to more trading opportunities.
8. New areas of cooperation could include Educa-
iv. Advocate relaxation in travel restrictions, more tion The educational institutions should enter into
for bona fide travelers mutually beneficial tie-ups as Indian institutions
are doing with several institutions abroad.
v. Increase frequency of train and bus services
vi. Explore possibility for more patients from Pa- 9. There should be common understanding on is-
sues like Environment, especially when it comes
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Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : ECONOMY)
to protecting our interests in international fora and ing bilateral collaborations in energy and research.
multilateral negotiations. India appreciates French support for permanent
membership of India in the UN Security Council.
According to Chamber, Indo-Pak trade during last Alongwith other developing countries India is
four years (2004-05,2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007- committed to continue dialogue and collaboration
08) record growth of 74% , 39%, 97% and 19% with the G8. France also believes the G-8 needs
respectively and the total volume reached $ 2 bil- to be expanded over time to G-13 including In-
lion in 2008 and therefore, tremendous potential dia. India and France agree on the need for im-
yet to be tapped. ASSOCHAM study (2008) pre- proved global economic governance to ensure that
dicted 40-50% rise in bilateral trade as possible globalization and interdependence work for the
target. benefit of all.
Presently, more than 25% of total Pakistani im- Both countries are fully committed to consolidat-
ports of Indian origin goods take place through ing their relationship in the field of defence by
Dubai and Singapore. Facilitating direct trade increasing the range, level and frequency of their
would be mutually beneficial to both sides, and military exchanges, joint exercises, joint
the trade level would jump dramatically. programmes and prospects in the fields of defence
industry, research and technology.
India-France agreed to liberalise visa
regime This commitment is well evidenced between the
two countries by the possibility of joint develop-
The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh ment, as early as feasible, of Short Range Surface-
and President Nicolas Sarkozy held a bilateral sum- to-Air Missiles (SRSAM) and of the Kaveri engine
mit in Paris on September 30, 2008 at which they for Light Combat Aircraft. Discussions concern-
reaffirmed the importance attached by both coun- ing the upgradation of Mirage-2000 aircraft are
tries to their strategic partnership and their com- also well under way and are expected to be
mitment to further strenghthening bilateral co- finalised by next year.
operation in a wide range of areas. Both sides re-
iterated their intention to keep up the momen- Bilateral trade to reach 12 billion Euros by 2012
tum of regular high level exchanges. In accordance with the commitment agreed upon
by the two countries during President Nicolas
India and France agreed on the need for greater Sarkozy’s State visit to India in January 2008, to
international cooperation to deal with challenges double bilateral trade to reach 12 billion Euros by
facing mankind. Both countries are committed to 2012, both sides will make sustained efforts in this
international peace and security, nuclear non-pro- vital area of bilateral cooperation. Small, medium
liferation, the fight against terrorism and the need and micro enterprises of both countries need to
to ensure food security and energy for all coun- be further encouraged to increase their coopera-
tries. tion. The two sides also agreed to further liberalise
their visa regime to facilitate issuance of visas for
Both countries recognised the need to promote business purposes, particularly concerning stu-
the development of stable sustainable, efficient and dents and young people working as trainee or as
affordable energy sources, including nuclear en- volunteer in French companies and for people-
ergy. In this context, they welcomed the agree- to-people contacts. An agreement on Social Secu-
ments adjusting the international civil nuclear rity for the benefit of business enterprises and
cooperation framework to enable collaborations professionals of the two countries has been con-
with India. India and France welcome the signa- cluded. This constitutes an important step forward
ture of a bilateral agreement for civil nuclear co- in facilitating two way investments. The two sides
operation, which will form the basis of wide-rang- welcome the creation of the High Level CEOs
Forum which would have its first meeting by the Festival in Astana and Almaty are initiatives by
end of the year. the Indian Embassy to further strengthen relations
between India and Kazakhstan and increase un-
The two countries have agreed to hold dialogue derstanding and cooperation between the two
on environmental issues and have set up a joint peoples through the wonderful medium of good
working group on climate change and technology food.
transfers and their financing. The group should
hold its first meeting by the end of the year. He underlined that this year has been eventful
and momentous in India-Kazakhstan bilateral re-
Following the agreement of 25 January 2008 es- lations. Ambassador Sajjanhar expressed confi-
tablishing the Agence Française de dence that relations between the two countries
Développement (AFD - French Development will improve significantly as a result of these ini-
Agency) in India, both sides welcome the signa- tiatives.
ture of the MoU between the AFD and the De-
partment for Economic Affairs of the Indian Min- He also welcomed a delegation of 12 leading tour
istry of Finance which will allow the AFD to start operators from India who are presently in
its operations in India. Kazakhstan through the courtesy of Air Astana
to promote relations in the area of tourism be-
It was agreed to work towards concluding a visa tween the two countries.
free agreement for diplomatic and official pass-
port holders. The Agreements and MoUs signed Kairat Sarybai underlined the importance of fur-
reflect the wide range of bilateral interaction be- ther improving the growing bilateral relations
tween India and France and will provide signifi- between the two countries. He fondly recounted
cant impetus to realising the full potential of the his visit to India with President Nazarbayev in
comprehensive strategic partnership between the January 2009. Senator Akan Bizhanov underlined
two countries. the cultural relations between India and
Kazakhstan.
India Week and Food Festival” in
Astana and Almaty A graceful Odissi dance performance by Ms.
Nurgul Amirbekova, a Kazakhstani artiste who
The Embassy of India in Kazakhstan has organized studied Indian classical dance in Delhi for three
an “India Week and Food Festival” in Astana and years under scholarship from the ICCR added
Almaty from September 8 to 18,2008 in collabo- colour and splendour to the event.
ration with the Rixos President Hotel Astana, In-
tercontinental Hotel Almaty and Air Astana as part The Embassy also displayed Indian Objects d’Arts,
of its continued efforts to promote people-to- tourist information materials, and Indian books
people contacts and strengthen bilateral relations including recipe books at the venue. After the
between India and Kazakhstan. conclusion of the official function the guests were
treated to a variety of exotic Indian food delica-
India’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan Ashok cies.
Sajjanhar, Kairat Sarybai, Assistant to Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Akan The Embassy has invited a team of four leading
Bizhanov, Member of Parliament (Senate) ad- chefs headed by Mr. Marut Sikka to organize the
dressed the gathering of about 100 specially in- Indian Food Festival in Kazakhstan. They will be
vited guests. delighting gourmands and connoisseurs of authen-
tic Indian delicacies during the five-day long Food
In his inaugural address, Ambassador Sajjanhar Festival, both in Astana and Almaty. The inaugu-
informed the gathering that the week-long Food ral event was widely covered in the Kazakh me-
dia.
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Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : ECONOMY)
and end-of-contract benefits, health services and measures to improve the liqui-dity of the finan-
holidays. cial sector and its relaxed monetary policy, and
predicts that the fiscal stimulus packages offered
India to get Boeing’s maritime recce by the government would soften the economic
aircraft downturn and further strengthen domestic de-
mand.
The US administration has cleared the $2.1 bil-
lion contract for US aviation major Boeing to sup- Rs 10,000 crore project deal with Israel
ply eight P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India,
the largest American arms sale to India to date. The Union government has inked the Rs 10,000
The deal surpasses an earlier $1 billion Lockheed crore project deal with Israel to develop new-gen-
sale of six C-130J Super Hercules military trans- eration medium range surface to air missile sys-
port planes to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The tems, capable of detecting and destroying hostile
Indian Navy is Boeing’s first international cus- aircraft and spy drones at a range of 120 km.
tomer for the P-8, a long-range maritime recon-
naissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft ca- India, US ink $2.1 bn defence deal
pable of broad area, maritime and littoral opera-
tions. The first flight test is scheduled in 2009 and The Union government has signed the biggest-
initial operational capability is slated for 2013. ever defence deal with US—a $2.1 billion con-
Boeing will deliver the first P-8I around 2013 and tract for eight Boeing P-8I Long-Range mari-time
the remaining seven by 2015. Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft for Navy. India
India to seek additional $5.2b from World Bank will get the first P-8I towards end 2012 or early
2013, with the other seven following in a phased
As a contra-cyclical measure, India proposes to manner by 2015-2016. The contract also provides
seek an additional assistance of $5.2 billion from an option for India to order four to eight more
the World Bank for recapitalisation of State- such planes. Armed with torpedoes, depth bombs
owned commercial banks and infrastructure and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, the P-8I will also
projects. India, at present, receives $3.2 billion be capable of anti-submarine warfare and anti-
annually from the World Bank. India also plans surface warfare. They will replace the eight age-
to increase its share in the quotas of multilateral ing and fuel-guzzling Russian Tupolev-142M tur-
development banks like the International Mon- boprops currently being operated by Navy.
etary Fund and Asian Deve-lopment Bank after
major stakeholders in these institutions bring for- India to attend meeting on Turkish pipeline project
ward the issue of quota review and expanding in India has decided to attend a trilateral meeting
accordance with current realities that will give along with Turkey and Israel to join a pipeline
proper representation to the emerging economies. project that may help it access crude supplies from
However, there is no proposal to commit any ad- Central Asia and the Caspian region. The first leg
ditional resources towards the overall fiscal stimu- of the proposed pipeline will supply crude from
lus of $1.1 trillion announced by the G-20 sum- the Caspian region to Ceyhan port on Turkey’s
mit. Mediterranean coast. After the crude reaches the
Ceyhan port, it will be transported through an
South Asia doing better due to India’s resilience undersea pipeline to Israel from where it would
India’s economy is estimated to have grown by be connected to the Ellat port on the Red Sea. It is
7.1 per cent in 2008, providing an anchor of eco- from here that India could take crude through
nomic stability in the region, concludes the Eco- tankers and avoid the choke points of Suez Canal.
nomic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific
(ESCAP) 2009. It predicts 6 per cent economic
growth for India in 2009. The ESCAP notes India’s
India-Oman $100-million fund for people into poverty. Global growth is also ex-
financing multi-sector projects pected to be negative, with an expected 2.9% con-
traction of global GDP in 2009.
On November 8, 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh left on a three-day visit to the Sultanate of Global GDP growth is expected to rebound to 2%
Oman and Emirate of Qatar to further boost the in 2010 and 3.2% by 2011. In developing coun-
bilateral ties between the countries. India and tries growth is expected to be higher, at 4.4 % in
Qatar signed two agreements on defence and se- 2010 and 5.7 % in 2011, albeit subdued relative to
curity during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s the robust performance prior to the current cri-
visit. Accelerating efforts to prop up growth as sis.
the global slump is threatening their ascending
economic trajectory, India and Oman put together Global integration and the expanding role of pri-
a $100-million fund for financing multi-sector vate actors in international finance have brought
projects in the two countries. huge benefits, but have also widened the scope
for turmoil. Today, developing countries rely
heavily on private flows and many countries are
Australia India Institute in Melbourne
being hit by a collapse in corporate finance, with
big companies and banks that were powering
Australia has decided to provide more than 80 lakh
growth now in distress.
dollars to set up Australia India Institute in
Melbourne. A joint project of the University of
The risk of balance-of-payments crises and cor-
Melbourne, La Trobe University and the Univer-
porate debt restructurings in many countries war-
sity of New South Wales, the new Institute will
rant special attention, the report cautions.
help Australians to know and understand India
better.
Charting a worldwide recovery will require quick
implementation of detailed reforms and an even-
Global Development Finance 2009: tual shift away from governments having high
Charting a Global Recovery stakes in the financial system to a resumption of
private sector control of the banking system, the
World Bank has published a report on global report says. In addition, the big expansion of the
economy “Global Development Finance 2009: money supply in advanced countries will need to
Charting a Global Recovery” on June 22, 2009.Ac- be unwound and fiscal deficits will need to be cut
cording to report amidst global economic reces- in the medium term, to maintain debt
sion and financial-market fragility, net private sustainability and avoid another debt crisis as seen
capital inflows to developing countries fell to $707 in the 1970s and 1980s.
billion in 2008, a sharp drop from a peak of $1.2
trillion in 2007. International capital flows are Outlook for the Developing Regions
projected to fall further in 2009, to $363 billion.
Global Development Finance 2009: Charting a East Asia and Pacific The East Asia and Pacific
Global Recovery, warns that the world is enter- region has felt the full brunt of the crisis because
ing an era of slower growth that will require of its close trade links with high-income coun-
tighter and more effective oversight of the finan- tries and because of declining investment as well
cial system. Developing countries are expected to as a drop in exports and industrial production.
grow by only 1.2% this year, after 8.1% growth Growth for the region is projected to be 5% this
in 2007 and 5.9% growth in 2008. When China year, although several EAP countries are projected
and India are excluded, GDP in the remaining to see GDP decline. Recovery across the region is
developing countries is projected to fall by 1.6%, expected to begin in the second half of 2009 and
causing continued job losses and throwing more into 2010, reflecting substantial fiscal stimulus in
China and a modest recovery of export demand in GDP is projected to expand 4.6 percent in 2009,
rich countries. However, the turnaround is ex- down from 6.1 percent in 2008. Regional output
pected to be gradual, with regional GDP forecast is then expected to increase by 7 percent in 2010
to increase by 6.6 percent in 2010 and 7.8 percent and 7.8 percent in 2011. However, threats to long-
by 2011. term growth include the possibility of heightened
fiscal pressures if the global recession is prolonged,
Europe and Central Asia has been the region most and large fiscal deficits.
adversely affected by recent developments, in large
part because many countries in the region entered Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hard by reduced
the crisis period suffering from substantial imbal- external demand, plunging export prices, weaker
ances. Large current account deficits and domes- remittances and tourism revenues, and sharply
tic overheating made many countries vulnerable lower capital inflows, notably FDI. Growth is ex-
to the abrupt reversal of capital flows and weaker pected to decelerate sharply this year to 1 per-
export demand that the crisis generated. GDP is cent, down from 5.7 percent on average over the
projected to fall by 4.7 percent in 2009, recover- past three years. By 2010, growth is forecast to
ing to grow by about 1.6 percent in 2010. rise by 3.7 percent. Sharp cuts in remittances and
official aid flows also represent a risk for the re-
Latin America and the Caribbean entered the cri- gion, because many Sub-Saharan countries rely on
sis supported by stronger fiscal, currency, and fi- aid flows for budget support and because remit-
nancial fundamentals than in the past. However, tances are a vital cushion against poverty.
it too is feeling the crisis in part because of falling
commodity prices, but also on the financial side SEBI unveils norms for pledging of
as foreign funds were withdrawn quickly. Flex- shares
ible exchange rates in many countries in the re-
gion were able to absorb much of the initial shock The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
and avoid systemic problems even as equity mar- has spelt out the reporting norms for companies
kets tumbled. Regional GDP is expected to de- whose promoters have pledged shares to a third
cline by 2.3 percent in 2009, and to reach 2 per- party. The market regulator has asked companies
cent growth in 2010. to disclose details of the promoters’ pledged shares
within seven days of the date of receiving infor-
The Middle East and North Africa region has been mation from the promoters. In a circular dated
less directly affected by the credit crunch than January 28, 2009, SEBI said the promoters, who
other regions, but local equity and property mar- have pledged shares, have to disclose the details
kets have come under intense pressure, and de- to the company within seven days of such a trans-
veloping countries in the region have suffered action. Further, the market regulator said that
from much weaker conditions in the high-income companies should disclose all the details pertain-
countries in the region. Remittances, services ing to the promoters’ share pledge, if at the end of
exports and FDI flows from these countries and any quarter, the total number of such pledged
high-income Europe are expected to fall in 2009 – shares exceeds 25,000 or one percentage of the
cutting into incomes. Growth is projected to halve total shareholding, whichever is lower.
to 3.1 percent in 2009, then edge up to 3.8 per-
cent in 2010 and 4.6 percent in 2011, partly be-
Government fiddle opens floodgates to
cause the slowdown has been less pronounced in
MENA than in other regions and oil demand and FDI
prices are expected to remain low.
The Union government has relaxed guidelines on
South Asia has witnessed considerably diminished Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for companies
capital inflows and a falloff in investment growth. owned and controlled by Indian citizens. This ef-
fectively means foreign investment in FDI-re- clean energy companies lost 61% of their value
stricted sectors like telecom, defence production during 2008.
and single-brand retail can cross set limits. The
new guidelines also say that an investment made According to UNEP estimates, the world needs
by a non-resident entity into an Indian company $750 billion to finance a sustainable economic re-
would be counted as foreign investment. Under covery by investing in the greening of five key
the existing norms, if a firm with, say, 40% for- sectors: buildings, energy, transport, agriculture
eign equity and 60% Indian equity had invested and water.
Rs 100 crore in another firm, Rs 40 crore of this
amount would be treated as FDI. Under the re- One billion go hungry world over
vised norms it will now be treated as zero FDI.
Relaxation in foreign direct investment (FDI) One in six people in the world or more than one
norms would not apply to sectors such as multi- billion are now hungry, a historic high due largely
brand retail, gambling, atomic energy and lottery to the global economic crisis and stubbornly high
where the government prohibits foreign invest- food prices, according to Food and Agriculture
ment. Organization (FAO). Compared with 2008, there
are 100 million more people who are hungry,
Green energy investments in develop- meaning they receive fewer than 1,800 calories a
ing nations rise 27% day, FAO said. Almost all the worlds undernour-
ished live in developing countries, where food
The global economic crisis hasn’t deterred the prices have fallen more slowly than in the richer
developing countries from their green energy in- nations, the report said. Poor countries need more
vestments, which surged 27% in 2008 to $36.6 aid and agricultural investment to cope, it said.
billion. According to a recent report of United
Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) on Glo- The silent hunger crisis, affecting one-sixth of all
bal Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment, of humanity, poses a serious risk for world peace
2009, global investment in clean energy witnessed and security, said the Director-General of FAO,
a four-fold increase in 2008, compared to 2004. Jacques Diouf. Soaring prices for staples, such as
Of the $155 billion invested in 2008 in clean-en- rice, triggered riots in the developing world in
ergy companies and projects worldwide, China, 2008. Hunger increased despite strong 2009 ce-
India, Brazil and African countries, among oth- real production, and a mild retreat in food prices
ers, contributed almost a third of the amount. from the highs of mid-2008. However, average
While China led investments in Asia with an 18% prices at the end of 2008 were still 24% higher in
increase over 2007 to $15.6 billion, green energy real terms than in 2006.
investments in India grew 12% to $4.1 billion in
2008. Globally there are now about 1.02 billion people
hungry, up 11% from 2008’s 915 million. The es-
However, growth in clean energy sectors stalled timates are based on analysis by the US Depart-
in developed countries, said the report, which is ment of Agriculture. Asia and the Pacific, the
being jointly prepared by the UNEP and global world’s most populous region, has the largest num-
information provider New Energy Finance. ber of hungry people at 642 million. Sub-Saharan
Africa has the highest hunger rate, with 265 mil-
The total transaction value in the sustainable en- lion under-nourished, representing 32% of the
ergy sector—including corporate acquisition, as- region’s population.
set refinancing and private equity buyout— dur-
ing 2008 was $223 billion, an increase of 7% over
2007. However, the capital raised via stock mar-
kets fell 51% to $11.4 billion as share prices of
The policy brief for a Global Green New Deal, Deduction (the popular section 80C) increased to
developed by economist and the UN ahead of the Rs 3 lakh from present Rs 1 lakh. Thus, a person
G-20 meeting of world leaders in London on April with taxable income of Rs 10,00,000 is likely to
2, 2009, highlights the benefits of investing a sig- save approx Rs 1,20,000 annually.
nificant amount of the $ 3 trillion-worth of glo-
bal stimulus packages in five areas. The UN Envi- » Corporate tax rates, including for foreign com-
ronment Programme said these areas include rais- panies, reduced to 25% from 34%.
ing the energy efficiency of old and new build-
ings, and more emphasis on renewable energy
sources. The three other areas are: sustainable
» Net wealth tax exemption limit increased to Rs
transport, including hybrid vehicles, high-speed 50 crores from Rs 30 lakhs.
rail and bus rapid transit systems; the planet’s eco-
logical infrastructure, including freshwaters, for- » Wealth tax rate cut to 0.25% from 1%.
ests, soils and coral reefs, and sustainable agricul-
ture, including organic production. » Indefinite carry forward of tax losses.
New Direct tax code » Deduction for donation towards scientific re-
search @ 125%.
Making the process of paying taxes simpler for the
common man has always been on top of the UPA’s
agenda. This was amply demonstrated today with » Agriculture income stays outside tax net.
the government initiating radical tax reforms by
releasing the direct tax draft code that aims to » Deductions for Royalty income of authors who
moderate tax rates and at the same time tries to are individual residents up to Rs three lakhs and
make it easier for a layman to understand and cal- deduction for Royalty income on patents for indi-
culate his tax liability. vidual residents up to Rs three lakhs.
» Cost inflation adjustment to be available for (k) Cost of acquisition/improvement nil if not de-
transfers anytime after one year from end of year terminable.
in which asset is acquired (earlier 3 yrs, except for
shares). (l) Roll over benefits for capital gains tax exemp-
tion trimmed to only one residential house.
» Base date for capital gains tax shifted from April (m) Profits on sale of business capital assets/un-
1, 1981 to April 1, 2000—capital appreciation up dertaking no longer treated as capital gains, but as
to 2000 not taxable. business income.
» Maximum penalty down to two times tax (n) Loss on sale of business capital assets not al-
amount (from three times tax) lowable, to be only depreciable.
(b) Reintroduction of capital gains tax on listed (p) For self occupied property, no deduction for
shares & MF units. interest and principal loan repayment.
(c) Tax saving schemes like PPF and retirement (q) Income from letting of machinery, plant, fur-
benefit schemes to be taxed on withdrawal time niture included if letting of building is inseparable
on “Exempt, Exempt, Tax” (EET) methodology of from the same.
taxation, for savings done after introduction of the
new code. (r) Rent free accommodation to govt employees
made taxable.
(d) Deduction for rent paid restricted to Rs 2,000
per month. (s) MAT linked to gross assets rather than book
profit @ 0.25% for banking companies and 2% for
(e) Profit-linked incentives dropped. others.
(f) Period consumed in recovering all capital and (t) No carry forward credit for MAT in later years.
revenue expenditure same as tax holiday.
(u) In case of conflict between double tax treaty
(g) Area based exemptions given earlier to con- and code, the one that is later in point of time
tinue. shall prevail
(h) Definition of income to include all accruals Some new concepts have also been added to the
and receipts of revenue and capital nature unless code. These are:
otherwise specified. (a) Tests for residency changed.
(i) Receipt of LIC policy taxable except for pure (b) Foreign companies, even if partly held/man-
life insurance policy. aged from India, will become “resident”.
(j) Distinction between short term and long term (c) Concept of ‘resident but not ordinarily resi-
assets done away with. dent’ dropped.
(l) New tax regime for trusts, institutions carry- » Double India’s exports of goods and services by
ing on charitable activities. 2014.
New Foreign Trade Policy » A high-level panel to look into dollar needs of
exporters.
India has extended tax holiday and duty refund
for exporters, while allowing duty-free capital » Six 'Made in India' shows to promote Brand In-
goods import under its Foreign Trade Policy to dia.
insulate them from protectionism induced by re-
cession abroad. The new five-year policy was re-
leased on August 27, 2009 by Commerce Minister
» Directorate of Trade Remedy Measures to safe-
Anand Sharma. It sets a target of $200 billion guard exporters.
worth exports for 2010-11, a feat that India failed
to achieve in 2008-09 due to a slump in global » Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme extended
demand in the face of financial crisis. till December 2010.
Extension of income tax holiday for export units » A single window system for export of perish-
for one more year and continuance of duty re- able agri produce.
fund scheme till December 2010 and enhanced Value addition norm for tea halved to 50 per cent.
assistance for the scheme for development of mar-
kets are among the measures in the FTP. The aim
of the policy, which would be reviewed after two
years, would be to "arrest and reverse declining
trend of exports”.
International Yearbook of Industrial rates would anchor interest rate expectations that
Statistics 2009 could spur investment demand. With concerns
over rising inflation, the RBI has decided to leave
According to recently released International Year- Cash Reserve Ratio at 5 per cent and the repo and
book of Industrial Statistics 2009 by United Na- reverse repo rates at 4.75 per cent and 3.25 per
tions Industrial Development Organisation cent, respectively.
(Unido), the share of developing countries in the
world’s manufacturing value-added output has The RBI has projected inflation at 5 per cent from
almost doubled in the last 18 years due to the shift the 4 per cent forecast earlier. India’s GDP is pro-
of production units and outsourcing of services jected to grow to 6 per cent in March 2010 “with
from developed nations. Developing countries an upward bias”. Export demand remains weak.
produced almost 30% of world manufacturing The services sector is sluggish on lagged impact of
value added (MVA) at the end of 2008 as com- weak industry growth, but the business outlook
pared to 16% in 1990. The per capita MVA has turned positive.
doubled as early as 2006, while the industrialised
world achieved merely 30% increase. Among According to the RBI, its policy initiatives since
industrialised countries, Japan accounts for most mid-September 2008 aimed at providing ample
MVA per capita, followed by Switzerland, rupee liquidity and ensuring continued flow of
Singapore, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, USA, Ger- credit to all productive sectors has shown results.
many and Austria. Luxemburg, Republic of Ko- These actions have resulted in augmentation of
rea, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, United actual/potential liquidity of over Rs 5,61,700 crore.
Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Italy and France The liquidity situation has remained comfortable
come lower down the list. since mid-November 2008 as evidenced by the
LAF window where the Reserve Bank has been
For India, the growth rate of MVA output rose absorbing nearly Rs 1,20,000 crore on a daily av-
from 6.9% in 2000-2005 to 12.3% in 2005-2007. erage basis during 2009-10.
The MVA per capita grew 10.6 % in 2005-2007
compared to 5.2% in 2000-2005. The share of Prime Minister’s Employment Genera-
MVA in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) tion Programme
stood at 14.8% in 2006 compared to 13.8% in 2001.
Manufacturing still contributes around 15% of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
GDP in India. International Yearbook 2009 ranks (MSME) had launched on aug 15,2008 a new credit
India among the world’s leading 12 producers of linked subsidy programme called Prime Minister’s
textiles (ranked 4th after China, the U.S. and Italy); Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) by
electrical machinery and apparatus (5th); basic merging the two schemes that were in operation
metals (6th); chemicals and chemical products till 31.03.2008 namely Prime Minister’s Rojgar
(7th); leather, leather products and footwear Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Genera-
(10th); coke, refined petroleum products and tion Programme (REGP) for generation of employ-
nuclear fuel (10th); machinery and equipment ment opportunities through establishment of mi-
(12th); and motor vehicles (12th), based on 2007 cro enterprises in rural as well as urban areas.
figures. Among the leading developing countries, PMEGP will be a central sector scheme.
India figures among the top five.
The subsidy levels, the cost limit of projects or
RBI Policy Review units that could be established under PMRY which
was extended to rural areas as well in 1994-95,
Announcing the first quarter policy review for were quite low and unattractive compared to those
Financial Year 2009-10, RBI Governor D. available to the beneficiaries in REGP. While the
Subbarao said the apex bank’s status quo on policy maximum subsidy admissible was Rs.12500 and
the maximum cost of project that could be estab- which will place the funds of Government sub-
lished was Rs.5 lakh under PMRY, the maximum sidy with the participating banks which in turn
subsidy that was admissible was Rs.4 lakh and the will disburse the same to the beneficiaries on re-
maximum cost of project that could be established ceipt of applications and their own contribution
was Rs.25 lakh under REGP for a beneficiary be- ‘upfront’ in accordance with the guidelines of the
longing to General category. scheme.
There were more attractive programmes for cre- Budget Estimates 2008-09 have provided Rs.823
ation of self employment opportunities being op- crore for PMEGP which includes Rs.83 crore to-
erated by many State Governments. Recovery wards Backward and Forward linkages including
rates of loans under PMRY were also consider- EDP training, publicity, marketing support, e-
ably less than those under REGP. tracking of applications, physical verification of
projects and so on. An estimated 6.17 lakh addi-
PMEGP improves upon the subsidy levels and cost tional employment opportunities are targeted to
limits of projects compared to those available so be generated in 2008-09. The estimated total out-
far under PMRY and REGP, while simultaneously lay for subsidy under PMEGP is Rs.4485 crore in
strengthening the selection process, implementa- addition to Rs.250 crore earmarked for providing
tion and monitoring mechanism. Higher levels of Backward and Forward linkages to the micro en-
subsidy have been proposed for beneficiaries be- terprises between 2008-09 to 2011-2012 leading
longing to marginalized sections of the society like to an estimated generation of around 37.38 lakh
Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, Other Backward additional employment opportunities. The scheme
Classes, Minorities, Women, Physically Handi- will be got independently reviewed after two years
capped, etc. to ensure inclusive growth. of its implementation.
The upper limit of the cost of project that could Lean Manufacturing Scheme
be setup in the manufacturing sector is Rs.25 lakh
while that in the business/service sector is Rs.10 The government on July 29, 2009 launched 'Lean
lakh. There are no ceiling limits of annual income Manufacturing Scheme' for the micro, small and
in respect of beneficiaries while a minimum edu- medium units to enhance the manufacturing com-
cational qualification of VIII standard pass will be petitiveness of the sector, battling the global de-
required for beneficiaries in respect of projects mand recession.
costing more than Rs.10 lakh in manufacturing
sector and more than Rs.5 lakh in business/ser- Objective
vice sector. The beneficiaries would be identified,
inter alia, with the help of Panchayats, Special The objective of this scheme is to enhance the
Awareness Camps and will be provided with a manufacturing competitiveness of the micro, small
mandatory Entrepreneurship Development and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by applying lean
Programme (EDP) training of a duration of two techniques to identify and eliminate waste in the
to three weeks. manufacturing process.
The scheme envisages electronic tracking of ap- The scheme would be implemented initially in 100
plications, 100 per cent verification of projects/ clusters (in the industries having potential for
units that will be established and model project improvement in competitiveness and productiv-
profiles have been updated in association with ity) on pilot basis in one year.
banks. The scheme will be implemented at the
national level through Khadi and Village Indus- Initially, under this scheme the government has
tries Commission (KVIC), an organization created made a provision of Rs 31 crore.
under an Act of Parliament reporting to MoMSME The clusters, each a group of about 10 units, would
be selected from different parts of the country and use the online compliance facility launched by the
would undergo lean interventions for about a ministry of corporate affairs for all registered firms,
year. the MCA-21, to calculate the actual savings and
capital formation in the private sector. Currently,
During the end of the first year, an impact assess- savings and investment estimates of the corporate
ment study would be carried out for these 100 sector are estimated by culling out the savings,
clusters and the outcome of the report will form capital investments and paid up capital of the 5,000
the basis for upscaling this programme to cover biggest firms and ‘blowing these up’ to arrive at
another 300-500 clusters in the subsequent year. overall aggregates.
Consultants would be deployed to identify clus-
ter- specific needs who will suggest specific lean Companies are already complying under the MCA-
techniques for intervention in the selected mini- 21 programme, but are currently filing their bal-
clusters. ance sheets and profit and loss accounts by simply
scanning them and uploading them.
As engaging consultants is quite expensive for
MSME units, the government will contribute up The gross domestic savings rate shot up from
to 80 per cent of this fee while the remaining 29.8% in 2003-04 to 37.7% in 2007-08 largely
charge will have to be borne by the beneficiary thanks to corporate savings almost doubling over
units as part of the scheme. the period. So a move to reflect India Inc’s savings
and investment numbers accurately is significant
The purpose of the lean techniques would be to at a time when experts believe India’s savings and
assist MSME units in reducing their manufactur- investment rate will be hit hard by the current
ing costs through proper personnel management, global slowdown. The domestic investment rate
better space utilisation, scientific inventory man- as a proportion of GDP increased from 27.6% in
agement, improved process flows and reduced 2003-04 to over 39% in 2007-08.
engineering time.
The Rangarajan Committee, appointed in Decem-
Lean Manufacturing Programme will also lower ber 2007, has segregated its recommendations to
costs and improve the quality of products, which capture better savings and investment data from
will enable these products to compete in national the private sector, public sector and households.
and international markets. The idea is to capture the rapid structural changes
in the income levels and saving behavior in the
There are about 13 million MSME units in the Indian economy in recent years.
country which employ over 42 million people. The
sector contributes over 45 per cent to the country's To calculate household savings better, regulators
industrial production and 40 per cent to the total like the Insurance Development Regulatory Au-
exports. thority, the Pension Fund Regulatory Develop-
ment Authority, Securities Exchange Board of
C. Rangarajan committee on savings India and the National Bank for Agricultural and
and investment Rural Development have been asked to furnish
data with as little time lag as possible on savings
A high-level panel headed by Rajya Sabha MP and deposits under their ambit from life insurance sav-
former Reserve Bank of India governor C ings, pension funds, stocks and mutual funds and
Rangarajan, has suggested a holistic overhaul of co-operative banks.
the methods used to arrive at national savings and
investment aggregates, in a report submitted to Most importantly, to get a clearer asset-liability
the Centre on march 16,2009. profile of Indian households, the Rangarajan com-
mittee has asked the CSO to present total house-
Among the most significant changes mooted is to hold savings differently. Currently, only the net
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127
Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : ECONOMY)
financial savings are reported by deducting gross ties. The goal has been to provide benchmarking
financial liabilities from gross financial assets and tools for business leaders and policymakers to iden-
physical assets. tify obstacles to improved innovation and com-
petitiveness and stimulate discussion on strategies
To get more data on deposits with non-banking to overcome them. This time and earlier in 2007,
finance companies, the panel has suggested that a INSEAD based its innovation analysis on the Glo-
census be undertaken by the MCA and the RBI bal Innovation Index (GII) and Framework, a
every five years. At the same time, unregistered highly comprehensive index for measuring global
firms’ deposits need to be estimated through innovation, which captures the microeconomic
sample surveys. and macroeconomic parameters and variables.
Global Innovation Index 2008 CII has over the years, taken a pioneering role in
building a culture of innovation in Indian indus-
The Second Global Innovation Index 2008 (GII) try and society. It is CII’s belief that the only way
jointly published by Confederation of Indian In- for Indian industry to have sustainable and inclu-
dustry and INSEAD Business School, has once sive growth is to adopt innovation as a business
again placed United States at the top of the Global strategy. With this belief, a number of initiatives
Innovation Rankings on Jan.7,2009. India, on the have been taken by CII in the area of innovation.
other hand, is ranked a lowly 41.The GII that has To make a successful plan and roadmap for ac-
studied 130 countries has ranked Germany in the tion, there is a need for India to align the mea-
second position, followed by Sweden, the United surement gauge with similar benchmark practices
Kingdom and Singapore. adopted globally.
The European economies including the Nordic Innovation is no longer restricted to the vertical
ones continued to do well in 2008. Switzerland, structures of R and D laboratories and universi-
Denmark and the Netherlands figured in the top ties. Therefore an approach that goes beyond the
10 apart from Germany, Sweden and UK that fig- number of patents registered, number of articles
ure in the top 5. However, France was the biggest published in research journals and percentage of
loser slipping from the 5th to 19th position. GDP spending on R and D measuring innovation
Singapore and South Korea are two Asian coun- is needed. This is the key assumption behind the
tries figuring in the top 10. However, Japan has approach used in this study.
slipped to the 9th position from the 4th and India
its last year’s ranking of 23rd to the 41st position. The GII while arriving at the results has made a
With China ranked at 37th, most BRIC countries distinction between inputs and outputs while
have been ranked lower than last time. Israel and measuring innovation in an economy. Inputs are
Qatar from West Asia and Middle East find places aspects that enable an economy to stimulate in-
in the top 25. There are other countries from the novative and outputs are the results of innovative
Middle East just below this quartile. activities within the economy. The input pillars
include Institutions and Policies, Human Capac-
The GII results have revealed that innovation is ity, General and ICT Infrastructure, Market So-
correlated with income levels in a country. For phistication and Business Sophistication.
example, the innovation levels in the OECD coun- The output pillars that provide evidence of the
tries are much more than non-OECD countries. results of innovation within the economy are
There are few countries from Africa that are in- Knowledge Creation, Competitiveness and Wealth
cluded in the rankings with only South Africa Creation.
coming in at the 43rd position. Over the years,
through its own research, INSEAD has examined
the many factors enabling national economies to
achieve sustained and higher innovation capabili-
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128
Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : ECONOMY)
of the numbers on land, employment and environment, prolonged poverty and changes in the demo-
graphic balance.
The study makes two more alarming conclusions: the population of 60 plus would exceed that of those
aged between 0 and 14 years, leading to substantial future ageing in India by 2051. Further, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan would account for almost half of the country’s population by 2101.
These four States, with their high fertility rate, currently account for 40 per cent of the country’s numbers,
and are characterised by low literacy levels and low health indicators such as high infant and maternal
mortality.
There is, however, a difference between population projections of India by the Registrar General of India
(RGI) and those by the PFI/PRB. Contrary to the RGI’s projection of 1,399 million population of India by
2026, the PFI/PRB projections indicate 1,464 million by the said year. The new demographic study puts
the country’s population at 1825 million in 2051, reaching up to 2181 (crossing the two billion mark) by
2101.
These differences stem mainly from the assumed total fertility rates (TFRs) in the country’s four most
populous States—UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan. Whereas the PFI study concludes that TFR of 2.1 will be
achieved in UP between 2051-56; Bihar (2061-66); MP (2041-46) and in Rajasthan between 2051-56, the
RGI assumes these States would achieve the TFR targets much earlier.
As per the PFI, India, with the final TFR of 1.85, will achieve two billion population by 2101; growth will
peak in 2081-2086, after which the population decline will start. The population of Kerala and Tamil Nadu
would start declining in 2041-2051; that of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal would do so around 2061.
The study adds: “The priority for India should be to contain the unacceptably high numbers of maternal
and infant deaths, improve quality health services for institutional deliveries; meet the unmet needs of
family planning services and focus on adolescents and youth (10 to 34 years) to make them productive
through gender-sensitive education.”
In its overall ranking, India is ranked lowest among nearly 99 per cent of the world’s population. The
the four BRIC countries. The neighbouring China report said that in an age of uncertainty, society
has jumped 17 places to 57th rank in 2008 on the globally needs a new compass to set it on a path of
back of narrowing gender gaps in educational at- real progress. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) pro-
tainment, economic participation and political vides that compass by measuring what truly mat-
participation. Nepal ranked 120, Pakistan 127, ters to us, our well-being in terms of long, happy
Bangladesh 90 and Sri Lanka 12 in 2008. The Phil- and meaningful lives and what matters to the
ippines at 6 and Sri Lanka 12 remain distinctive planet, our rate of resource consumption.
for being the only Asian countries among the top
20. The survey noted that there is actually a negative
In terms of economic participation and opportu- correlation between GDP growth and change in
nity, India has been ranked 125th. The country is HPI scores between 1990 and 2005. The index is
placed at 25th rank in terms of political empow- based on high life expectancy, high life satisfac-
erment, while it is ranked 116th and 128th in tion and ecological footprint a measure which
terms of educational attainment and health and takes into account carbon emissions by individu-
survival, respectively. als.
India is way ahead of many developed economies, In an effort to boost the confidence of visitors and
including the US and the UK, in terms of happy tourists after the Mumbai attacks, the Union Min-
lives and eco-friendliness, with the country cor- istry of Tourism, India has launched a new scheme
nering the 35th spot among 143 nations. The 'Visit India 2009' offering various incentives to
‘Happy Planet Index (HPI)’ compiled by UK-based foreign tourists and tourism industry. These value
New Economics Foundation has placed India at addition services will be offered to tourists visit-
the 35th position while the list is topped by Costa ing the country during the period April 2009 -
Rica. March 2010.
Going by the report, the US is at the 114th spot The incentives would offer one complimentary
while the UK is better placed at 74th position. international air passage for traveling companion,
Among the BRIC nations, Brazil and neighbouring one night complimentary stay in the hotel booked
China are ranked higher at ninth and 20th places, by the traveler, complimentary sightseeing in any
respectively. Russia is a distant 108th. one city of their choice and a complimentary ru-
ral eco holiday. The idea is to provide one addi-
The survey noted that “the countries that are tional service for every service paid for, by the
meant to represent successful development are tourists with the help of top airlines and organi-
some of the worst-performing in terms of sustain- zations like Hotel Association of India (HAI) and
able well-being. The index provides a measure of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).
the ecological efficiency with which happy and
healthy lives are supported. All three major airlines of the country — Air In-
dia, Jet Airways and Kingfisher —have joined this
According to the report, ecological footprint of a endeavor of the government by providing the ad-
person is a measure of the amount of land required ditional air passage for traveling companions. Fur-
to provide for all the resource requirements for thermore, all member hotels of the HAI will be
that person, plus the amount of vegetated land offering the service of complimentary night stay
required to absorb his CO2 emissions and the CO2 in the hotel booked by the tourist. Members of
emissions embodied in the products he consumes. the IATO, an organization recognized by the Min-
The survey covered the countries that account for istry of Tourism, will offer one complimentary
local sightseeing tour in any one of the cities vis- Indian population, while at the same time seizing
ited by the tourist. opportunities to become a global player by intro-
ducing globally competitive products based on new
The Department of Tourism also has plans to or- molecules. Currently India is at a nascent stage in
ganize road shows in countries like Singapore, drug discovery and the industry is focusing on
Canada, UK, Japan and Australia, in joint venture strategies to earn while learn. Key building blocks
with the IATO. The ongoing year will see a rise in the value chain could be focused to facilitate
in the advertisements and marketing through the drug discovery. These have been discussed.
trade fairs and exhibitions to draw the attention
of foreign tourists from across the world. More- A key factor to retain competitiveness is low cost
over, there are possibilities of constructing heli- of innovation and process management. In the
pads in various places to introduce the helicopter current context of rapidly rising wages for select
services for the tourists. skilled population, efforts to widen the skill base
and strategies to generate the skill base have been
Report of the Task Force for Exports of discussed.
Pharmaceutical Products
To achieve such objectives, the existing human
The Task Force to recommend measures for in- resources in conventional methods of drug discov-
creasing exports of pharmaceutical products was ery need refurbishing alongside acquisition of
constituted in July, 2006.This Task Force submit- newer tools of drug discovery. A larger team of
ted its report on December 12, 2008.The Task force experts comprising chemistry, biology, biotech-
enunciated a vision for Indian pharmaceutical nology, etc., need to find select viable strategies
R&D as: for India in drug discovery. Drug discovery is a
To provide intellectual capital to make available product of strong efforts at universities, public
safe, cost-effective, contemporary, quality thera- institutions and industry. The direction of effort
peutics to the people of India and help reduce has been specified.
percentage of mortality and morbidity while
emerging as a significant player in the global mar- Citing the unique opportunity for India to become
ket place." a leading centre for clinical trials, the report sug-
gests basic changes in the legislation allowing im-
In consonance with this vision, a grand dream for port of animals, contract research and a legal sta-
production, export and investment in pharmaceu- tus for institutional animal ethics committee. Es-
tical R&D was evolved. This report suggests the tablishment and operationalisation of a cGMP,
measures by which such a dream and vision could GLP and GCP monitoring authority has been rec-
be realised. ommended.
Priority areas for Indian pharmaceutical R&D have The Prevention of Money Laundering
been identified. India’s expertise in developing (Amendment) Act, 2009
new and innovative processes for known mol-
ecules needs to be exploited in a greater measure. A Bill aimed at effectively combating money-laun-
While India forged ahead in conventional phar- dering, terror financing and cross-border economic
maceutical technologies, it lagged behind in com- offences was passed by Parliament and has come
plex technologies, specialty pharmaceuticals and into force with effect from June 01, 2009.
new drug delivery systems. Investment impetus
required in these areas has been specified. The Prevention of Money Laundering (Amend-
ment) act, 2009 seeks to ensure a legal framework
Priority needs to be given for initiation of new to check such crimes. The new law seeks to check
drug development for diseases of relevance to the use of black money for financing terror activities.
Financial intermediaries like full-fledged money Cabinet okays Rs 25,000 cr for NBFCs
changer, money transfer service providers such as
Western Union and International Payment gate- The government has set in motion the process of
ways, including VISA and MasterCard have also providing liquidity support of up to Rs 25,000 crore
been brought under the ambit of The Prevention to cash-strapped Non-Banking Finance Companies
of Money-Laundering Act. (NBFCs) to enable them to pay existing liabilities
as was announced in the second stimulus package
Consequently, these intermediaries, as also casi- to spur sagging economic growth. A Stressed As-
nos, will be brought under the reporting regime set Stabilisation Fund, set up for acquiring the
of the enforcement authorities. It would also check stressed assets of IDBI, would function as a Spe-
the misuse of promissory notes by FIIs, who would cial Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to provide money to
now be required to furnish all details of their non-deposit taking systemically important NBFCs.
source. The Act would check misuse of “proceeds The SPV would issue government guaranteed se-
of crime” be it from sale of banned narcotic sub- curities, subject to a total amount of securities not
stances or breach of the Unlawful Activities (Pre- exceeding Rs 20,000 crore with an additional Rs
vention) Act. 5,000 crore, if needed. The funds will be used by
NBFCs only to repay existing liabilities he said,
Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) adding the RBI would issue guidelines for pricing
act will enable India’s entry into Financial Action and lending in consultation with the Department
Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body of Financial Services.
that has the mandate to combat money launder-
ing and terrorist financing. The Act will address Maha-navratna status
India’s international obligation and empower the
enforcement directorate to search the premises The Planning Commission had recommended
immediately after the offences are committed and Maha-navratna status to BHEL, Bharat Petroleum,
police have filed a report. Hindustan Aeronautics, Hindustan Petroleum,
Indian Oil, NMDC, Power Grid Corporation, REC
Satyam Scam and SAIL. Maha-navratna status would give these
companies freedom to make investments up to
Ramalinga Raju, the politically-connected pro- 50% of their net worth, while the investment cap
moter-chairman of Hyderabad headquartered on a single project would go up to 25% of their
Satyam Computers was lying for years to share- net worth. The tag will also have given them
holders, employees and the world at large, build- greater functional autonomy for forming joint
ing up to India’s largest corporate fraud of over Rs ventures.
7,000 crore. India’s fourth largest IT company—
after TCS, Infosys and Wipro—was for years cook- Union government to infuse capital in
ing its books by inflating revenues and profits, thus
three PSU banks
boosting its cash and bank balances; showing in-
terest income where none existed; understating
In order to strengthen the Public Sector Banks,
liability; and overstating debtors position (money
the Union government has decided to infuse Rs
due to it). This wasn’t some fly-by-night operator
3,800 crore into three State-run banks—Central
that had been caught out. Satyam is listed on the
Bank of India will get Rs 1,400 crore, while UCO
NYSE, boasts 185 Fortune 500 companies and the
Bank and Vijaya Bank will get Rs 1,200 crore each.
US government among clients and employs 53,000
people. The Union government has entrusting the
The capital infusion would be done in two
probe to the Serious Fraud Investigations office,
tranches—the first tranche would be made avail-
or SFIO.
able during 2008-09 and the remaining in 2009-
10. The capital infusion will help these banks to
raise capital adequacy over 12%, much above the 18 years, will be added to the list.
Basel II norms of 9%. The government holding in
Central Bank of India currently stands at 80.2% Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and
cent, in UCO bank 76%, while in Vijaya Bank it is stamp duty
53%.
Developers of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will
Steps to boost exports now get a blanket exemption from stamp duty on
land purchases within the notified area for non-
During 2008-09, India did achieve an export core activities such as building hotels, housing
growth of 30.9 per cent till September 2008, but complexes, shopping malls and golf courses. For
since then there has been a setback due to the the developers of the 500-odd SEZs in the coun-
global recession. The following sops have been try, slated to bring in investments of over Rs
announced by the Union government to boost 100,000 crore, this ends the uncertainty that had
exports: Customs duty under export promotion cropped up after some States had voiced their
capital goods scheme cut to 3 per cent from 5 per opposition. The exemption, however, will be
cent; Special incentive of Rs 325 crore for various available only after formal approval of the zone.
sectors like handmade carpets, leather and tech- For land bought after in-principle approval, the
nical textiles from April 1, 2009; Threshold limit State government may either give the exemption
for recognition as premier trading house reduced upfront or collect the duty and refund it after the
to Rs 7,500 crore; Benefit of 5 per cent under “fo- zone has been set up. If under some circumstances,
cus product, focus market scheme for export of notification of a zone is cancelled, the State gov-
handmade carpets; Authorised persons of gems ernment will be entitled to withdraw the conces-
and jewellery units can personally carry imported sion and recover the same from the developer.
gold of up to 10 kg; Obligation under export pro-
motion capital goods scheme extended till 2009- India ranks low in public
10 for sops availed during 2008-09; Opening of an
health spending
independent office of DGFT at Srinagar.
As per a WHO study, India ranks 171 out of the
Unique ID project 175 countries in the world in public health spend-
ing. This is less than some of the sub-Saharan Af-
Marking the beginning of the Herculean task of rican countries. For a country of one billion, In-
providing every Indian citizen with a National dia spends 5.2% of the GDP on healthcare. While
Identity Card, the UPA government has ear- 4.3% is spent by the private sector, the govern-
marked Rs 100 crore for setting up the Unique ment continues to spend only 0.9% on public
Identification Authority of India (UIAI) in the health. When the economic growth index is mov-
annual plan of 2009-10. The project is aimed at ing forward, the wellness index is dipping.
establishing citizenship, addressing security-re-
lated issues and containing frauds, especially in While India ranks among the top 10 countries for
government run schemes. The UIAI will be re- communicable disease, it is, today, world leader
sponsible for creating and maintaining the core of chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and
database and laying down all necessary procedures coronary artery disease.
for issuance and use of the unique ID card, in-
cluding arrangements for collection, validation and One of the key findings of the commission was
authentication of information, proper security of that by improving the health condition, the
data and rules for sharing and access of data. Ini- economy of the country will improve. But it has
tially, the UID number will be assigned to all vot- been reverse in India. There is growth in GDP
ers by building on current electoral roll data. Pro- but there has been no increase in healthcare spend-
gressively, other persons, including those below
ing. This inadequate public health spending has from overall sectoral ceilings. The decision to
forced the public to depend on private sector. change the FDI policy guidelines was taken by
the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
India’s health scenario currently presents a con- (CCEA).
trasting picture. While health tourism and pri-
vate healthcare are being promoted, a large sec- According to new guideline foreign investment
tion of Indian population still reels under the risk through investing Indian company would not be
of curable diseases that do not receive ample at- considered for (calculating) the indirect foreign
tention of policy-makers. investment in case of Indian companies 'owned
and controlled' by resident Indian citizens and
Best E-Governed State Indian companies owned and controlled ultimately
by resident Indian citizens.
Tamil Nadu is the best e-governed State in India,
according to a study by IDC India. Apart from its In another amendment, the CCEA decided that
high IT spends, the southern State has also scored government approval would be required for trans-
high on parameters such as citizen and business ferring the ownership of an Indian company that
satisfaction. The other States in the top five in- has a joint venture with a foreign firm in any sec-
clude: Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and tor covered by FDI caps.
Andhra Pradesh.
The CCEA approval of changes in FDI norms fol-
lows the recommendations of a group of minis-
India’s per capita income
ters headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee.
Rising by almost 60 per cent since 2003-04, India’s
per capita income, which indicates what an aver-
age person earns, has increased to Rs 33,283 in
2007-08, as per the quick estimates of national
income released by the Central Statistical
Organisation (CSO). The per capita income, in- (IMP) Get UPSCPORTAL, IAS, Jobs,
creased by 12.7 per cent (at current prices) during Results, Notification ALERTS in Email.
2007-08, while country’s population inched up by
1.4 per cent to 1.38 billion by the end of the fis- Step-1: Fill Your Email address in form below. you will get
cal. a confirmation email within 10 min.
Change in base year of the Wholesale Step-2: Varify your email by clicking on the link in the email.
Price Index IMP: (check Inbox and Spam folders)
The Union government has decided to change the Step-3: Done! Now you will regular Alerts on your email.
base year of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) se-
ries from 1993-94 to 2004-05. The move is aimed
at tracking changes in price level accurately.
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