SSCPORTAL Current Affairs Magazine For SSC Exams Vol 34 March 2017

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National Issue
Railways will soon move towards Aadhaar-based online
ticketing system
The Railways will soon move towards Aadhaar-based online ticketing system to prevent touts from blocking a
bulk of tickets, end fraudulent bookings and curb cases of impersonation.
The Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions in train tickets from
April 1. A three-month trial run for this is going on. The new measure was unveiled by Railway Minister Suresh
Prabhu.
As per the new business plan for 2017-18 unveiled by Mr. Prabhu, the Railways will move towards a cashless
ticketing system by installing 6,000 point-of-sale machines and 1,000 automatic ticket vending machines
across the country.
An integrated ticketing app will also be launched by May to promote cashless transaction.
Despite taking several steps, touts corner a bulk of tickets and sell those at much higher prices and this is
becoming a serious problem for the Railways.
The new business plan also envisages launching of new tourist trains connecting hill stations.
Dalai Lamas Arunachal visit increases tension between India

and China
The China-India border dispute came into sharp focus after the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned New Delhi
not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh the State which is at the heart of the Sino-Indian
dispute in the eastern sector.
Chinas sharp response against the visit by the Tibetan leader in exile followed a call by a former Chinese
boundary negotiator, who stressed that if the two sides managed to overcome their differences in the eastern
sector.
We have expressed concerns to the India, urged India to stick to its political commitments and abide by
important consensus the two sides have reached on the boundary question, refrain from actions that might
complicate the issue China said
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Also said that India should not provide a platform to the Dalai clique and protect the sound and stable
development of the Sino-India relations.
Centre delay imposing Ecological Sensitive Area restrictions

The Environment Ministry has dithered, for the second time in three years, from bringing into force a law that
will make about 56,825 sqkm of the ecologically-rich Western Ghats out of bounds for industrial development.
On February 27, the government resuscitated a draft notification that was first published in March 2014 that
specified how much land in various coastal States encompassing the Western Ghats would be earmarked as
practically-inviolate.
Because it wasnt made into a final law thanks to objections from States this lapsed in a year and a half
and on September 2015, a fresh draft notification with the same numbers was reintroduced. This too would
expire on March 4.
The reiterated February notification open to public comment for 60 days allows the Centre to create an
Ecological Sensitive Area (ESA) in the Western Ghats (WG), a 1,500 km, ecologically-rich strip along the west
coast spanning Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Regions declared as the ESA will not be allowed to host mining and quarrying projects and building thermal
power plants.
Ever since Madhav Gadgil recommended in 2011 that all of the Western Ghats be declared as the ESA with
only limited development allowed in graded zones States have forced the Centre to consistently delay
imposing the ESA restrictions.
Kerala managed to get this down to about 56,825 sqkm after widespread protests and an all-party resolution in
the State forced the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to exclude 3,117 sqkm of settlements
and agricultural land in the State from the ESA.
Union Environment Minister Anil Dave is expected to have fresh meetings with States on the issue next month.
Another source familiar with the matter said a draft notification allowed the government 545 days to decide on
taking a final call.
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India and South East Asian countries wants discussion on an

Access to Medicines report
A month after the 140th World Health Organisations (WHO) Executive Board meeting, a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) response has revealed that the United States government had opposed including
agenda items proposed by India.
The Indian government along with 11 South East Asian countries had proposed a discussion on an
Access to Medicines report by the United Nations High Level Panel that had recommended reforms in the
funding of biomedical research and development.
However, the set of documents released by Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), a not for profit organisation
that gives technical advice to governments, reveals that both the United States and the WHO opposed
including the proposal by India.
The 11 member-states Bangladesh, Bhutan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste as well as Brazil, Iran, and South Africa supported the inclusion of the
agenda item.
The delays by WHO to place the UN HLP recommendations on the agenda of the WHOs EB and
subsequently at the World Health Assembly have drawn widespread criticism from Asian civil society
organisations.
The U.N. report says there is a need for an RD treaty and it recommended reforms in the area of biomedical
R&D. The U.S. government has a policy of blocking all reforms that would lead to funding the R&D system in a
way that it prioritises diseases that kill millions of people in the developing world.
The U.N. Access to Medicines report had recommended solutions for remedying the policy incoherence
between justifiable rights of inventors, trade rules and global public health targets.
The report recommended that governments and the private sector must refrain from explicit or implicit threats,
tactics or strategies that undermine the right of WTO Members to use TRIPS flexibilities.
SC expressed grave concern on farmers suicide

The Supreme Court expressed grave concern over farmers suicide due to indebtedness and crop failure and
said it felt the government was going in a wrong direction in tackling the real problem.
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Asking the Centre to apprise it of the policy roadmap to address the burning issue, a Bench headed by Chief
Justice J.S. Khehar said the issue of farmers suicide was of extreme importance and paying compensation to
the families of such victims post-facto was not the real solution.
This issue is of extreme importance. Tentatively, we feel that you are going in a wrong direction. Farmers take
loan from banks and when they are unable to repay, they commit suicide.
The remedy to the problem is not to pay money to farmers after the suicide, but you should have schemes to
prevent this.
Farmers suicides have been happening for so many decades and it is surprising that no action has been
taken to address the causes behind suicides.
Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha, appearing for the Centre, told the Bench that the government has
initiated many schemes for farmers and the 2015 crop insurance scheme would drastically reduce such fateful
incidents.
The ASG said other schemes also needed to be strengthened to make farmers feel that the government would
stand behind them in distress.
He also referred to the studies conducted by renowned agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan and eminent
journalist P. Sainath on farmer suicides and suggested that they may also be asked to put forth their
recommendations.
Sustainable tourism to be promoted in India

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority is raring to go. In its quest to put the State on the international map, it
has partnered with the United Nations WTO to promote sustainable tourism across the state.
The U.N. has declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.
The decision comes 50 years after the celebration of the International Tourist Year on Tourism Passport to
Peace (1967) and 15 years since the International Year of Ecotourism (2002).
The General Assembly has invited WTO to facilitate the organisation and implementation of the Year, in
collaboration with governments, relevant organisations of the United Nations system, other international and
regional organisations and other stakeholders.
The A.P. Government has grabbed the opportunity. The first State in the country to forge a partnership with the
global body and [India is] one of the very few nations who have come forward for participation.
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The themes that the A.P. Tourism will focus are sustainable fishing culture in East Godavari district, beach
tourism at Yerada in Visakhapatnam, at Pulicat Lake and in Kondapalli village.
The Chinese-made nylon fishing nets have not entered the Andhra market as fishermen use only eco-friendly
hand-woven nets. This is a very healthy trend.
In Pulicat Lake, the myriad migratory birds, especially flamingos, are a big attraction. The natural habitat of
exotic birds is worth promoting in a big way. Even in the Pulicat Lake, no mechanised boats are used; only
rowing boats are available.
In the Araku tribal valley, tourists have a number of choices. They can relish the bamboo chicken, join the tribal
Dhimsa dance or simply observe the simplicity of the life of the tribes of this picturesque valley.
The tourism drive will be guided by three main themes: protection of environment, protection of the livelihood of
the local community and steps to ensure that the benefits of the tourism reaches the local community.
Major portion of the Kolleru Lake has dried up

With the onset of summer, a major portion of the Kolleru Lake has dried up, raising anxiety among residents of
lake-bed villages.
Many villages of fisherfolk and more than 50 other villages in the West Godavari and Krishna districts are likely
to suffer as the lake has dried up at the beginning of the summer season.
All that one can see now are parched fields, small pools and cattle and birds searching for food in the largest
freshwater lake in the country.
Bird lovers are worried about the drought-like situation as many species are flying off to the nearby water
bodies in search of food.
The lake is home for thousands of birds during the wintering season, especially spot-billed pelicans and
painted storks, which arrive from different places.
The pelicans also roost at Nelapattu in Pulikat Lake of Nellore district, Uppalapadu in Guntur district and
Cilemeelapuram village in Srikakulam district.
But more than 5,000 pelicans were counted at the Atapaka Bird Sanctuary, located in Kolleru Lake, and the
sanctuary has been identified as one of the biggest grey pelican habitats in the world.
Kolleru is the safest place for the pelicans and other migratory birds. Painted storks, grey herons, black-tailed
godwits, stilts and others are scattered in the lake and in nearby villages now.
The government should take measures to maintain the water level and protect them.
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The Atapaka Bird Sanctuary is a rich reserve and bird watchers from different places visit the lake every year.
When the water level in the sanctuary is good, birds have enough feed, but without that, the migratory birds fly
off to other places.
Water was being pumped into the sanctuary from the Polaraju drain. Four engines were used to maintain the
water level.
Confusion over INS Viraat

INS Viraat, the oldest aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, remains unclear as to whether it will be converted into
a luxury hotel or will it head to the scrapyard to be broken up.
The Defence Ministry is yet to take a decision on the proposal from the Government of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.)
to convert it into an entertainment hub in Visakhapatnam through a joint venture with the Government of India.
The Navy is keen on an early decision to avoid Viraat meeting the same fate as its predecessor Vikrant, which
eventually went to the scrapyard.
Responding to a call from the Defence Ministry to put forward proposals on INS Viraat, A.P. has proposed to
convert it into an offshore luxury hotel and build a Marina along with an entertainment zone around it.
The proposal for joint development has already been communicated to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar by
A.P. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Mr. Naidu has stated that his government intends to take forward the legacy of INS Viraat by making it a world-
class project on the lines of other global projects like USS Alabama, USS Constellation, and HMS Belfast.
INS Viraat, weighing 27,800 tonnes, is the worlds oldest aircraft carrier in service. It had served in the British
Navy as HMS Hermes for 25 years from November 1959 to April 1984 and after refurbishment, was
commissioned into the Indian Navy in May 1987.
The Navy had maintained Vikrant, Indias first aircraft carrier, at Mumbai for 17 years as various proposals to
convert it into a museum went back and forth unsuccessfully before the ship was eventually sent to the
scrapyard in 2014.
The Sea Harrier aircraft which flew off the deck of INS Viraat have already been withdrawn and the Navys 300
squadron which operated them has since inducted the newer multi-role Mig-29K fighter aircraft.
Now the ship which had won the Royal British Navy the Falklands Wars against Argentina in 1982 awaits its
fate.
MEA worried about safety of Indians

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was quick to react to the shooting of a Sikh U.S. citizen in
Washington, the third attack on a person of Indian origin in the past two weeks.
The Ministry said the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was in touch with local authorities who are
ascertaining the nature of the crime, though there is a suspicion of this being a hate crime.
Punjabs Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal urged Ms. Swaraj to intervene in the matter and address the
issue.
Despite the pleas, however it is unclear what the Indian government can do, especially given that two of the
men attacked are U.S. citizens.
The Modi governments policy has been to treat the entire diaspora as one large entity, not distinguishing
between Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), which can become a problem.
As a result, the Ministry is finding itself besieged by complaints from both categories, though there is little
jurisdiction or official responsibility for India when it comes to U.S. citizens.
Another problem that is emerging is the panic over all incidents involving citizens of Indian extraction being
called racially motivated attacks.
The incident is, however, an indicator of the task cut out for the government over fears that hate crimes are
allegedly on the rise because of the anti-immigration rhetoric of the Trump administration.
India runs out of life-saving HIV drug for children

Desperate over withdrawal of a life saving drug, children living with HIV (CLHIV) have written to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for help.
Tthe pharmaceutical company Cipla has in various forums cited delay in payments by the national programme
for the HIV medicines by several years and even non-payment of its dues in many cases.
Profits on child doses of HIV medicines are small and delayed payments are having a chilling effect on the
ability of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to convince the company to participate in the bids it
invited annually.
Stocks of Lopinavir syrup a child friendly HIV drug ran out after Cipla, the sole manufacturer of the drug,
stopped manufacturing it over the issue of non-payment from the Health Ministry.
Cipla is the dominant player in the Indian market across the HIV segment and has not stopped participating in
government tenders after the Health Ministry failed to pay Cipla for consignments sent in 2014.
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Since the syrup has gone out of production, they are not available in retail markets. Across the country, in
every State, there is no one to make this drug. The sole producer is not manufacturing it.
Experts say the critical shortages are proving to be both tragic and embarrassing for Indias HIV programme.
The government is abdicating its constitutional responsibility to make available life saving medicines for the
HIV community.
It is also unfortunate that the present management of Cipla is walking away from its commitment to access to
medicines all over the world, for which they are globally renowned.
UIADI dismissed reports of Aadhaar data misuse

Dismissing reports of misuse of Aadhaar biometrics for identity or financial thefts, the Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI) said personal data held by it were secure.
There has been no incident of misuse of Aadhaar biometrics leading to identity theft and financial loss during
the past five years when more than 400 crore Aadhaar authentication transactions have taken place.
Recently, a breach of Aadhaar data was reported after the UIDAI sent a notice to three firms for possible
unauthorised authentication attempt and storing of biometric data.
The notice it had served was shared widely on social media and questions were raised over the safety of
Aadhaar data.
The UIDAI said it had carefully gone into these reports, and asserted that the Aadhaar system has the
capability to inquire into any instance of misuse of biometrics and identity theft and initiate action.
UIDAI uses one of the worlds most advanced encryption technologies in transmission and storage of data. As
a result, during the past seven years, there has been no report of breach or leak of residents data out of
UIDAI.
UIDAI clarified that there were stringent provisions in the Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulations governing the
usage of e-KYC data, including storage and sharing, resident consent being paramount in both the cases.
Banks or mobile operators have to become UIDAIs authentication user agencies and authentication service
agencies to obtain e-KYC data of their customers from the UIDAI.
The e-KYC data can be given by the UIDAI to these agencies only after they obtain consent of their customers
and can be used only for the purpose for which it was obtained.
More than 111 crore people have Aadhaar in India, covering more than 99% of the adult population. According
to official data, more than 4.47 crore people have opened bank accounts using Aadhaar e-KYC.
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Aadhaar has helped the government transfer LPG subsidy under the PAHAL scheme, MGNREGS payments,
scholarships and pensions directly into the accounts of beneficiaries eliminating diversion and leakage of funds
by middlemen.
The direct benefits transfer has saved the government Rs. 49,000 crore during two-and-a-half years, the
release added.
Supreme Court asked why old notes deposition time reduced

The Supreme Court asked the government to respond on why it went back on its promise to extend the date of
deposit of demonetised notes to March 31, 2017 keeping in consideration the genuine concerns of citizens.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, D.Y. Chandrachud and S.K. Kaul gave the government time till
this Friday to respond to a bunch of petitions filed by companies and individuals.
Demonetisation scheme and the subsequent RBI notification had both assured that citizens would be able to
deposit demonetised notes beyond the cut-off date of December 31, 2016 till March 31, 2017.
In its order, the Bench highlighted the petitioners main prayer that despite the explicit postulation that final date
of deposit would be extended till March 31, 2017, no individual was allowed to deposit after December 31,
2016.
It is submitted that the petitioner had genuine reasons and yet no attention was paid to his predicament
though he brought it to the notice of the authorities, the Bench recorded the submissions of the petitioners.
Supreme Court indicated it may revive conspiracy charge

against some leaders
In a huge blow to BJP leaders, the Supreme Court indicated it may consider reviving the conspiracy charge
against them in the December 6, 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case.
The sudden development came on an appeal filed in the Supreme Court by the CBI in 2011, during the UPA
era, against the dropping of the conspiracy charge against L.K. Advani and other leaders such as Uma Bharti
etc.
We prima facie do not approve of the way these people have been discharged... And no additional charge
sheet filed so far? See, people cannot be discharged like this on technical grounds, Justice Nariman observed
orally.
Justice Nariman said: We will allow you [CBI] to file supplementary charge sheet by including the conspiracy
charge. We will ask the trial court to conduct a joint trial in a Lucknow court.
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The CBI, represented by Additional Solicitor General Neeraj Kishan Kaul, seemed to agree with the courts
observations and submitted that a joint trial should be conducted. This is what we want, Mr. Kaul submitted.
Mr. Venugopal pointed out that the CBI had appealed in the Supreme Court after an inordinate delay. But
Bench remained firm, saying it would choose to even condone the delay and hear the case on March 22, 2017.
The Babri Masjid demolition case stemmed from two crime files: Crime No: 197/1992 and Crime No: 198/1992.
Both were filed shortly after the disputed structure of Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.
Former Pakistani National Security Adviser admits of guilt in

26/11
The Mumbai attacks of 2008 were carried out by terror groups based in Pakistan, former Pakistani National
Security Adviser Maj. Gen. (retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani said.
In 2009, Maj. Gen. Durrani was sacked from the post of NSA after he called for action against those
responsible for the Mumbai attacks.
Responding to questions on the Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief, Mr. Durrani said Hafiz Saeed had no utility for
Pakistan. He should be punished.
India has repeatedly submitted proof of Mr. Saeeds role in the Mumbai attacks and has called for action by
Pakistan. However, Pakistan has maintained that there was no concrete evidence against him.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said terrorism was the single biggest threat to international peace and
security. India, he said, would continue to work tirelessly for a cohesive global response.
He reminded the audience that India had first submitted a resolution in the United Nations for a
Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) way back in 1996.
CAG to audit of various aspects of demonetisation

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India will soon begin an audit of various aspects of demonetisation
announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year.
Demonetisation per se is a banking and money supply issue and as such, outside the CAGs audit jurisdiction.
But the CAG is well within its rights to seek audit of fiscal impact of demonetisation, largely its impact on tax
revenues. That way the issue gets linked with the public exchequer.
There are other linkages of demonetisation with the public exchequer that will also be covered by the audit.
This would be expenditure on printing of notes, RBI dividend to the Consolidated Fund, etc. the CAG said.
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The huge amount of data generated by banks and the Income-Tax Department in the wake of demonetisation
would also be covered, he added.
Audit can look into various risks, such as errors and omissions in identifying the potential tax evaders, failures
to pursue the identified suspects, selective and arbitrary pursuance of leads and consequences thereof.
The CAG said he had conveyed to the government his stand on the recent move of the GST Council to delete
section 65 of the preliminary draft that authorised CAG to audit GST (Goods and Services Tax).
Indiato procure HIV drug from Global Fund for AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria
After running out of the child-friendly HIV syrup, Lopinavir, India is likely to procure the drug from a rapid supply
facility routed through the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), a multilateral donor
agency.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry released the first installment of the Rs. 6 crore payment due to Cipla
Pharmaceuticals the sole manufacturer of the drug.
While the immediate crisis triggered by unpaid bills is being sorted, the shortage of the drug itself still looms
large over Indias national HIV programme.
India has a cohort of over 600 children who require 36,000 bottles of Lopinavir syrup annually.
Cipla has been supplying anti retrovirals to governments and it has been upfront with our issues of payments
over the past several months.
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is likely to give the approvals accelerated attention, given the dire
shortage.
India had the highest bribery rate among the 16 Asia-Pacific

countries
India had the highest bribery rate among the 16 Asia-Pacific countries surveyed by Transparency International
between July 2015 and January 2017, with nearly seven in 10 people who had accessed public services in the
country during the period paying a bribe.
As much as 69% of the study group in India said they had paid a bribe, given a gift or done a favour to receive
services. Vietnam follows with 65%, Thailand 41% and Pakistan 40%. China reported a much lower 26%.
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Japan had the lowest incidence of bribery at 0.2 per cent. South Korea and Australia recorded 3% each, Hong
Kong 2% and Taiwan 6%.
While 46% to 60% of Indians said they paid bribes for various public services, including in public schools and
hospitals and for getting IDs, voter cards and permits and accessing utilities and the police.
The results from across the region show that it is a key law and order institution the police that was
thought to suffer most from corruption, the survey said.
While nearly two in five said the police were mostly or entirely corrupt (39%), many people in the region also
perceived political decision-makers at both the national and local level to be highly corrupt, it added.
SC for facilitation of single persons also to embrace

parenthood through surrogacy
The draft Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016, which is being examined by the Parliamentary Standing
Committee, expressly allows only infertile and legally-wedded Indian couples to have children through
surrogacy.
Supreme Court Bench allowed a representation to be made before the parliamentary committee to consider
including a specific provision in the Bill so as to facilitate single persons also to embrace parenthood through
surrogacy.
The representation will be forwarded to the office of the Solicitor-General of India, who will formally hand it over
to the legislative panel for consideration.
The Supreme Court is hearing a bunch of petitions on banning commercial surrogacy and the treatment of
babies as a commodity.
Mr. Naphade submitted how unmarried celebrities in India have been increasingly opting for surrogacy.
He further suggested that there should be a separate register maintained for surrogate children and sensitised
staff should conduct inspections on the ground in such cases.
However, the Bench did not seem inclined when another lawyer suggested that the draft Bill should also permit
overseas Indians to have surrogacy from India in view of a natural inclination to have children of the same
genetic make.
The draft Bill does not cover categories other than married Indian couples, like single women or men, gay or
lesbian couples, etc. The window for altruistic surrogacy is only open for childless Indian married couple.
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The Bill also does not allow married couple, who have children, adopted or surrogate or biological, to have
children via surrogacy.
The stated objective of the new Bill is to constitute a National Surrogacy Board, State Surrogacy Board and
appointment of authorities for regulation of practice and process of surrogacy.
In short, the law is meant to end commercial surrogacy or, as the Supreme Court had once in 2009, termed
fertility tourism in the country.
Defence Ministry has initiated the process to procure lakhs of

service medals
The Defence Ministry has initiated the process to procure lakhs of service medals for armed forces personnel
in the wake of a report that for almost a decade most military personnel were being forced to buy duplicate
medals from local markets.
Tender process would be processed on a fast-track basis to clear the backlog. According to official figures, as
on March 31, 2016, there was a backlog of 15,64,130 service medals.
Department of Medals in the Defence Ministry has not provided any medals since 2008, except for gallantry
and Distinguished Service medals presented by the President of India during investiture ceremonies.
Due to this, personnel have been forced to purchase duplicate medals from the local markets. The original
medals have the name of the soldier and badge number engraved on them.
Ministry had to receive rates from the Government Mint in Kolkata following which the tender would be floated.
Scientists have developed a nanodote, low-cost molecular

gel, to counter snakebite
Scientists have developed a nanodotea low-cost molecular gel to counter snakebite in a manner far
more effective than existing anti-venoms, an advance that may save thousands of lives in rural parts of India.
Worldwide,an estimated 4.5 million people are bitten annually.
Around 2.7 million suffer crippling injuries and more than 1,00,000 die, most of them farmworkers and children
in poor, rural parts of India and sub-Saharan Africa that have little healthcare.
U.S. Researchers synthesised a polymer nanogel material that binds to several key protein toxins, keeping
them from bursting cell membranes and causing widespread destruction.
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The human serum in the test tubes stayed clear, rather than turning scarlet from the venoms typical deadly
rupture of red blood cells.
India and other G4 nations open to innovative ideas on UN

In a bid to get the U.N. reform process moving, India and other G4 nations have said they are open to
innovative ideas and willing to not exercise veto as permanent members of a reformed Security Council until a
decision on it has been taken.
In a joint statement delivered by Indias Permanent Representative to the U.N. Syed Akbaruddin at an inter-
governmental negotiations meeting.
G4 nations India, Brazil, Germany and Japan emphasised that an overwhelming majority of the U.N.
member-states supported the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent membership in a reformed
Security Council.
Mr. Akbaruddin said the question of veto had been addressed by many from differing perspectives but the G4
approach was that the problem was not one of quantity but of quality of introducing restrictions.
Mr. Akbaruddin, on behalf of the G4, said the group was open to innovative and differing ideas compiled in a
composite text to achieve U.N. reform.
For the conduct of free and fair polls multi phase polls will
stay says CEC
Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Nasim Zaidi has said that long-drawn-out, multiple-phase polls are
here to stay because of the use of Central police forces for the conduct of free and fair polls.
Dr. Zaidi said it was the anxiety over the use of State police, and the preference for Central police forces by
political parties, candidates and even voters that had led to this state of affairs.
Our elections have become heavily dependent on Central forces as people have their own reservations about
the State police. The Commission, therefore, over the years, has come to depend on Central police forces.
Our anxiety and the anxiety of political parties that all polling stations should be covered by Central police has
led to this situation.
There have been examples in the past that voters too feel that to truly ensure an unafraid exercise of franchise,
Central forces are required.
Keeping all that in mind, there is no way out but to conduct polls in phases. Our voters have shown
unprecedented enthusiasm, so they are, at least, not fatigued by the length of the poll.
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Standing Committee says this years defence budget is not

sufficient
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence pointed out the bizarre reality that this years defence
budget is not sufficient to meet even the committed liabilities in the case of the Navy.
Overall the committee observed that the budgetary provisions for 2017-18 as well as the dismal status of
capital procurements do not reciprocate the seriousness required towards meeting defence needs.
This year, the allocation is Rs. 18,000 crore in the capital budget, whereas the committed liabilities itself are to
the extent of Rs. 22,000 crore, the report noted about the Navy.
This means that the allocation would not be sufficient to pay for the deals already contracted. These
observations were part of Report no. 29 on Demands and Grants tabled in the Lok Sabha.
For the Army, against the capital allocation of Rs. 25,254 crore, the committed liability being carried forward
from 2016-17 to 2017-18 itself amounts to Rs. 23,000 crore.
For the Air Force, the report noted that the budget allocated exclusively for new schemes is only Rs. 4,000
crore, which it noted would hamper the modernisation drive of the force as expenses related to the
procurement of aircraft and related equipment are high cost in nature.
The Committee also pulled up the defence ministry on its Make in India initiative.
In 2016-17, a total budget of Rs. 22,222,34 crore was actually spent on modernisation by the Air Force, of
which the report said only Rs. 268.10 crore, that is, about1% of the spending, was signed with Indian vendors.
India conveyed its concerns to Pakistan regarding the

movement of terrorists
India conveyed its concerns to Pakistan regarding the movement of terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC)
as well as repatriation of two of its nationals who crossed the LoC post-Uri terror attack.
The information was conveyed during an unscheduled call between the Indian Armys DGMO, Lt. Gen. A.K.
Bhatt, and his Pakistani counterpart Maj. Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, the Army said in a statement.
These concerns arise primarily from specific inputs of Pakistani regulars training terrorists for infiltration and
cross-border raids. The specifics of them have been shared with Pakistan DGMO.
As winter ends and summer sets in, infiltration sees a gradual increase along the LoC and the Army is gearing
up for a surge this year in view of the unrest in Kashmir. However, Pakistan rejected the observation on
terrorists along the LoC.
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National Investigation Agency had handed over the two Pakistani youths, Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan
Khursheed, to the Armys 16 Corps headquarters in Jammu.
They were arrested in connection with the last years terror attack on the military camp in Uri in which 19
soldiers were killed.
Women in organised sector to be paid maternity leave of 26

weeks
Calling it a humble gift to women in India, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya welcomed the Parliament nod
to the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Women working in the organised sector will now be entitled to paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12
weeks. The bill will benefit about 1.8 million women.
The new law will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people, and the entitlement applies only up
to the first two children. For the third child, the maternity leave entitlement will only be for 12 weeks.
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 takes India to the third position in terms of the number of weeks
for maternity leave, after Canada and Norway, where it is 50 weeks and 44 weeks, respectively.
The Rajya Sabha passed the The Enemy Property bill

The Rajya Sabha passed the The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, in the sixth attempt
after ordinances were passed to keep the Bill alive, following fierce objections by the Opposition parties.
The governments determination to pass the Bill was evident as 10 Union Ministers were present in the House
to ensure that it was passed.
The 49-year-old law was amended to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people
who migrated to Pakistan and China.
The Bill, which amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968, was passed by the Rajya Sabha despite the Opposition
demanding deferring of the debate on the draft legislation for a threadbare deliberation next week.
The measure was passed by the Lok Sabha in March last year. After this, the Rajya Sabha had sent it to a
select committee, following whose recommendations, the government had moved a number of amendments to
it.
Earlier when the Bill was taken up in the Upper House, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said many senior
members including the Leader of the Opposition are not present in the House for a variety of reasons.
Page 16
Elaborating on the measure, he said it was a principle that the government should not allow commercial
interests or properties of an enemy country or its citizens.
Mr. Jaitley said the right of the enemy property should vest in the government of India and not in the heirs of
the citizens of the enemy countries.
The amendments proposed include that once an enemy property is vested in the Custodian, it shall continue to
be vested in him as enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm has
ceased to be an enemy due to reasons such as death.
The new Bill ensures that the law of succession does not apply to enemy property; that there cannot be
transfer of any property vested in the Custodian by an enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm.
Also the Custodian shall preserve the enemy property till it is disposed of in accordance with the Act.
The amendments are aimed at plugging the loopholes in the Act to ensure that the enemy properties that have
been vested in the Custodian remain so and do not revert to the enemy subject or firm.
The Bill also prohibits civil courts and other authorities from entertaining disputes related to enemy property.
Linking the Godavari with the Penna on the cards

Highly advanced LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Survey will be taken up by Water and Power
Consultancy Services (India) Limited to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for supplying Godavari water
directly to Rayalaseema.
The State government is going whole hog for planning and executing another major interlinking of rivers project
that is expected to cost Rs. 80,545 crore.
After successful linkage between the Godavari and Krishna rivers through the Pattiseema project, now the
government is embarking on linking the Godavari with the Penna.
The project envisages transporting 20 tmcft from Godavari River to two reservoirs the existing Somasila
Reservoir in the Penna river basin and a new reservoir at Bollapalli.
The project report prepared by the AP Hydrology Department was selected over the one prepared by
WAPCOS.
The 320 tmcft of water will be transported from Godavari with the aid of 700 km of canal, nine lift irrigation
schemes, three old reservoirs and one new reservoir, three tunnels and one aqueduct across the Krishna river.
With the aid of 664 km of canal, one new reservoir and four old reservoirs to be taken up at an estimated cost
of Rs. 1,05,625 crore.
Page 17
Odisha, Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand come together for

elephant census
In what will probably be the first such attempt, the States of Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand
have decided to conduct a synchronised elephant census between May 9 and 12.
The four States together have the maximum number of human-elephant conflict-prone regions in India.
The States will conduct the census based on an identical set of rules using the direct and indirect counting
methods.
The direct counting method is based on sighting of elephants while the indirect method uses the dung decay
formula, in which the the analysis of elephant dung is used to estimate the population.
As per the 2015 census, Odisha has 1,954 elephants while Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal had
approximately 700, 275 and 130 elephants, respectively.
Earlier, field officials were deputed inside a forest area for direct counting. It was expected that the entire area
would be covered. But, that is not possible because of many reasons.
As a result, the population was underestimated in some places while duplication was reported elsewhere. A
simultaneous census will eliminate these factors.
BJP wins crucial states of UP and Uttarakhand

In what is regarded as a ringing endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, voters handed the BJP a three-
fourths majority in both Indias most populous State, Uttar Pradesh, and the neighbouring hill State of
Uttarakhand.
The BJP took 312 of the 403 Assembly seats in U.P., and its allies another 13 seats; in Uttarakhand, it won 57
of the 70 seats at stake.
Goa and Manipur delivered fractured mandates as the Congress fell short of the halfway mark in both States.
In Goa, the party tallied 17 seats in the 40-member Assembly, with the BJP close behind at 13.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party were on Saturday poised for a power tussle in Goa and Manipur
with both the States throwing up a fractured verdict.
While in Goa the Congress won 17 seats in an Assembly of 40, in Manipur the party got 28 seats in a 60-
member House. The BJP was close behind with 13 and 21 in Goa and Manipur respectively.
Given the scenario, smaller parties hold the key to government formation. In Manipur, political observers said
despite the Congress being tantalisingly close to the majority mark of 31, it would be advantage BJP.
Page 18
The National Peoples Party (NPP) and the Naga Peoples Front (NPF) have won four seats each and both are
inclined towards the BJP.
Twelve CRPF personnel were killed in an ambush by Maoists

in Sukma district
Twelve CRPF personnel were killed in an ambush by Maoists at the Bhejji forest area in Sukma district, along
the Chhattisgarh- Andhra Pradesh border.
The attack took place when a team of the CRPFs 219 battalion from Bhejji camp were heading to a road
construction site near Kottacheru village.
The Maoists triggered landmines and opened fire indiscriminately at the personnel. D.M. Awasthi, Special
Director General of Police, Anti Naxal Operations (ANO) unit of the Chhattisgarh police, said the team
consisted of 110 men.
Justice Karnan says contempt of court notice by SC is an

error
Describing the suo motu contempt of court notice issued by the Supreme Court against him as an error,
sitting Calcutta High Court judge C.S. Karnan said that the order should not be executed.
The development comes a day after the Supreme Court issued a bailable warrant against him.
Justice Karnan alleged that he was being targeted by the Supreme Court because he belongs to a Scheduled
Caste community. He also instructed CBI to start a probe against the seven Supreme Court judges including
CJI J.S. Khehar.
Last month the Supreme Court issued a contempt of court notice against him for allegedly degrading the
judiciary.
The order passed by the seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court is out of law. It should not be implemented
and executed against me, said Justice Karnan.
Justice Karnan further alleged that the SCs contempt order against him is ill-motivated. He also said that the
seven judges who passed the contempt of court order against him did so for their personal gains.
BIll to regulate surrogacy has some issues

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill was introduced in Parliament in November 2016. The Bill seeks to regulate the
surrogacy part of a rather flourishing infertility industry in the country.
Page 19
Defining surrogacy as a practice in which a woman undertakes to give birth to a child for another couple and
agrees to hand over the child to them after birth.
The Bill allows altruistic surrogacy wherein only the medical expenses and insurance coverage is provided
by the couple to the surrogate mother during pregnancy.
No other monetary consideration will be allowed. India has emerged a hub for infertility treatment, attracting
people from the world over with its state-of-the-art technology and competitive prices initially to treat infertility.
Soon after, with the prevailing socio-economic inequities, underprivileged women found an option to rent their
wombs and thereby make money to take care of their expenses often to facilitate a marriage, enable
children to get education, or provide for hospitalisation or surgery for someone in the family.
Once information of the availability of such wombs got out, the demand also picked up. Unscrupulous middle
men inveigled themselves into the scene, and the exploitation of women began.
Several instances began to emerge after women, in desperate straits, began to file police complaints when
they did not receive the promised sum. Other issues also began to crop up.
In 2012, an Australian couple commissioned a surrogate mother, and arbitrarily chose one of the twins that
was born. The time was ripe for regulation, or a revolt.
China says India and Pak entry into SCO will help security of
region
China hoped the admission of India and Pakistan into the Beijing-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) security grouping will contribute to security and stability in the region.
Currently, all sides are going through relevant legal procedures in accordance with the Memorandum of
Obligations signed at last years SCO summit at Tashkent to admit India and Pakistan, Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesperson said.
Both India and Pakistan are Chinas important neighbours and important countries in South Asia. China hopes
that India and Pakistan can enhance mutual trust and improve relations through more dialogues, she added.
Almost 20,000 women and children were victims of human

trafficking in India in 2016
Almost 20,000 women and children were victims of human trafficking in India in 2016, a rise of nearly 25% from
the previous year, according to government data released recently.
Page 20
The Ministry of Women and Child Development told Parliament that 19,223 women and children were
trafficked last year against 15,448 in 2015, with the highest number of victims recorded in the eastern state of
West Bengal.
Police officials attributed the rise to increased public awareness of trafficking-related crimes and more police
training.
The official said the actual figure could be much higher as many victims were still not registering cases with the
police, largely because they did not know the law or feared traffickers.
South Asia, with India at its centre, is one of the fastest-growing regions for human trafficking in the world.
Thousands of people largely poor, rural women and children are lured to Indias towns and cities each
year by traffickers who promise good jobs, but sell them into modern day slavery.
Some end up as domestic workers, or are forced to work in small industries such as textile workshops, farming
or are even pushed into brothels where they are sexually exploited.
In many cases, they are not paid or are held in debt bondage. Some go missing, and their families cannot trace
them.The 2016 data from the National Crime Records Bureau showed that almost equal numbers of women
and children were trafficked.
Figures showed there were 9,104 trafficked children last year a 27% increase from the previous year. The
number of women trafficked rose by 22 % to 10,119 in 2016.
West Bengal which shares a porous border with poorer neighbours Bangladesh and Nepal and is a known
human trafficking hub for that reason registered more than one-third of the total number of victims in 2016.
The desert state of Rajasthan recorded the second highest number of trafficked children in 2016, while the
western state of Maharashtra, where Indias business capital Mumbai is located, showed the second highest
number of trafficked women.
Manohar Parrikar to be sworn in as Goa Chief Minister

BharatiyaJanata Party leader Manohar Parrikar, who on Monday morning resigned as Defence Minister, will be
sworn in as Chief Minister of Goa at Raj Bhavan at 5.15 p.m. on 14th March.
Mr. Parrikar, along with members of his Cabinet, will be sworn in by Governor Mridula Sinha, said sources in
the Goa government.
According to a Raj Bhavan communication, Mr. Parrikar had been asked to prove his majority by convening a
session of the Assembly within 15 days of taking oath.
Page 21
BJP sources reiterated here that a majority of the Cabinet berths are expected to be offered to the coalition
partners.
After winning 13 seats in the February 4 election, in a fast-paced political development, the BJP cobbled
together a coalition of 21 legislators in the 40-member House.
This includes three MLAs each from regional parties, namely, the MGP and Goa Forward Party and two
Independents.
The Goa SurakshaManch (GSM) too has accused the Governor of violating the spirit of the Constitution by
allowing the BJP to grab power.
The ability to use computers remains low in the country

The ability to use computers remains low in the country, in spite of campaigns for digitalisation, an analysis of
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data reveals.
An estimated 8.8% of the rural population has computing ability. In urban areas, the figure is nearly four times
higher, at 30.2%.
Computing ability was defined as an users ability to operate a desktop, laptop, palmtop, notebook, smartphone
and tablets.
The study, supported by the Australian Research Council, claimed that computing ability is not linked to digital
infrastructure or internet penetration. The data was collated from the NSS 71st round of 2014.
Among the major States, Kerala has the highest computing ability at 32.3% in rural areas.
Mr. Parrikars sudden departure has put the brakes on Defence

Ministry initiatives
Uncertainty looms over South Block with Manohar Parrikar leaving charge of the Defence Minister.
Mr. Parrikars sudden departure has put the brakes on several major initiatives to overhaul defence
procurement, indigenisation, civil-military relations and so on.
Continuity is required in the Defence Ministry, especially when projects have a long gestation period. So unless
they are pushed continuously, the time lag will keep increasing and the process of indigenisation will keep
getting delayed.
Page 22
Among the top priorities is the policy on the strategic partnership model, which will spell out guidelines for tie-
ups between foreign manufacturers and the private sector in high technology areas to build military hardware
in India.
The other major issue is implementation of the Seventh Pay commission for the services, which was already
done for their civilian counterparts.
The issue is being looked into by the anomalies committee and there is growing resentment among the
services over the delay.
Beyond procurements and the implementation of the pay commission proposals, Mr. Parrikar had spent
considerable time and effort on issues such as reorganising the military to make it lean and lethal and the
appointment of a Chief of the Defence Staff.
The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016

passed by Lok Sabha
Heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during Partition will have no claim over the properties left
behind in India, with Parliament passing a Bill to amend a 49-year-old law.
The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968,
was passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha, incorporating the amendments made by the Rajya Sabha.
The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill earlier but certain amendments were introduced to it in the Rajya Sabha,
on the recommendations of a Select Committee. Those amendments had to be approved by the Lower House.
A statutory amendment seeking to introduce clarity with regard to those properties which had already been
acquired by the heirs of the enemy property owners, a reference to nationals of Pakistan and China.
According to the Bill, enemy property refers to any property belonging to, held or managed on behalf of an
enemy, an enemy subject or an enemy firm.
The government has vested these properties in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India, an office instituted
under the Central government.
After the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the Enemy Property Act was enacted in 1968, which regulates such
properties and lists the Custodians powers.
The government brought the amendment Bill in the wake of a claim laid by the heirs of Raja Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Khan, known as Raja of Mahmudabad, on his properties spread across Uttar Pradesh and
Uttarakhand.
Page 23
The matter is before the Supreme Court. Five ordinances were promulgated on the Bill. The last one expired
on March 14.
Indo-Bangladesh border fencing is almost complete

The total sanctioned length of fence along the Indo-Bangladesh border is 3,326 km, out of which 2,731 km has
been completed, an official press release issued in Kolkata said.
The sanctioned length of fence along Indo-Pakistan border is 2,063.06 km out of which 2,003.06 km has been
completed.
Along Indo-Myanmar border, a 10- km fence has been sanctioned and approximately 4 km has been
completed, the release said.
The government has adopted multi-pronged approach for security arrangements at the Indo-Pakistan Border
(IPB).
Union Cabinet approved Special assistance measure for the

successor State of A.P.
Union Cabinet, approved Special assistance measure for the successor State of A.P. by way of special
dispensation in funding of Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) and funding of the irrigation component of the
Polavaram project.
Centre spelt out the modalities for implementation of the announcements for providing assistance to A.P.
The Centre will provide special assistance measure to A.P., which would make up for the additional Central
share the State might have received during 2015-16 to 2019-20.
The special assistance will be provided by way of repayment of loans and interest for the EAPs signed and
disbursed during 2015-2016 to 2019-20 by the State.
On the Polvaram project, the Centre would provide 100% funding for the irrigation component.
The A.P. government would execute the project. However, the overall coordination, quality control, design
issues, monitoring, clearances-related issues. etc, are to be
Scientists in India have uncovered a pair of 1.6 billion-year-old

fossils
Page 24
Scientists in India have uncovered a pair of 1.6 billion-year-old fossils that appear to contain red algae, which
may be the oldest plant-like life discovered on Earth.
Until now, the oldest known red algae was 1.2 billion years old, said the paper in the journal PLOS Biology .
Scientists often debate the question of when complex life began on Earth, but they generally agree that large
multicellular organisms became common about 600 million years ago.
No DNA remains in the fossils to be analysed but the material structurally resembles red algae, embedded in
fossil mats of cyanobacteria inside a 1.6 billion-year-old phosphorite, a kind of sedimentary rock.
Advanced tools such as synchrotron-based X-ray tomographic microscopy allowed scientists to observe
regularly recurring platelets in each cell, which they believe are parts of chloroplasts, the organelles within plant
cells where photosynthesis takes place.
The fossils were discovered in sedimentary rocks in the Chitrakoot region of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh. The earliest traces of life on Earth in the form of single-celled organisms go back some 3.5
billion years.
Supreme Court have arrived at a consensus on contentious

issue in MoP
The Supreme Court Collegium may have arrived at a consensus with the Union governments proposal to
include the contentious national security clause in the draft Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for
appointment of judges.
The clause, which gives veto power to the government to reject a name recommended by the Collegium, has
been a bone of contention, delaying the finalisation of the MoP.
The clause may find a place in the new memorandum, provided the government revert to the Collegium with
specific and detailed objections against a name under the national security clause.
The MoP draft was handed over to the collegium in August 2016. But no progress was made in resolving the
differences till J.S. Khehar took over as the Chief Justice of India.
Chief Justice Khehar has repeatedly given positive signals once in open court and the other at a function
last week that he would have the MoP finalised soon.
Though both the judiciary and the government have maintained that the pendency of the MoP would not stand
in the way of judicial appointments.
Page 25
An amicable resolution in that issue would clear the air on the procedure for appointments of judges to the
higher judiciary.
The government approved the National Health Policy

The government approved the National Health Policy, which proposes to provide assured health services to
all in the country.
Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its nod to the policy which had been pending
for the last two years.
Union Minister J.P. Nadda is likely to make a suo motu statement in Parliament, elaborating on the salient
features of the policy.
In a major shift, the policy increases the gambit of sectors covered in the Primary Health Centre (PHC) level
and envisages a comprehensive approach.
For example, till now, the PHCs were only for immunisation, ante-natal check-ups and others. A major policy
shift is that now it will also include screening for non-communicable diseases and a whole lot of other aspects.
Under the new policy, there would also be a bigger focus on upgrading of district hospitals. The health policy,
which has been pending for the past two years, aims to provide assured health services to people as an
entitlement.
A Cabinet note, which had been given earlier, however, had not talked about making health a fundamental
right as it would have legal consequences but proposed assured health services.
The Centre cleared the long-awaited National Health Policy

2017
The Centre cleared the long-awaited National Health Policy 2017, which promises to increase public health
spending to 2.5% of GDP in a time-bound manner.
It also guarantees health care services to all Indian citizens, particularly the underprivileged.
Rights based activists said the government had fallen short of making health a fundamental right- a section
that was removed from the final draft passed.
While the policy seeks to reorient and strengthen public health systems, it also looks afresh at strategic
purchasing from the private sector and leveraging their strengths to achieve national health goals.
Page 26
The government will pursue ambitious targets like reducing Under Five Mortality to 23 by 2025 and Maternal
Mortality Ratio from current levels to 100 by 2020, and Infant Mortality Rate to 28 by 2019.
It also seeks to reduce neo-natal mortality to 16 and stillbirth rate to single digit by 2025. In September 2016,
the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to finalise the crucial health policy.guaranteeing assured health
services to all.
The policy has come after a gap of 15 years to address the current and emerging challenges necessitated by
the changing socio-economic, technological and epidemiological landscape
As a crucial component, the NHP2017 proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time
bound manner.
The Policy advocates a progressively incremental assurance-based approach but activists maintain that
without a legal consequence, guaranteeing health is an empty assurance.
Previous drafts of this policy proposed to make this a fundamental rights, failure to provide health would have
legal consequences. Removing that section just makes this an empty promise.
Such assurances have been made umpteen times by different governments since 1980s. Further, while the
policy promises to increase health spending to 2.5% of the GDP, it does not square up with the past three
budgets of this government.
Kochi with Nagpur and Ahmedabad selected for Mobilise Your

City programme
Kochi has been selected as one of the 100 cities in the world and one among the three cities in India for the
Mobilise Your City (MYC) programme.
The other two Indian cities selected under the programme are Nagpur and Ahmedabad.
The MYC will provide technical assistance with a grant of 3.5 million for the three cities through French
funding agency Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD).
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and the State government are in the process of getting the
bilateral agreement signed between the Union governments Department of Economic Affairs and AFD by the
end of March.
The MYC will assist Kochi in implementing low-carbon transit solutions with project-based approach.
The MYC is an initiative combining urban mobility objectives and climate considerations.
Page 27
It aims at providing solutions in a fully integrated manner, analysing different modes of transportation within the
urban fabric, with the objective of providing people long-term, sustainable, adequate, reliable and cost-efficient
transportation opportunities.
Historically significant Varkala to get National Centre for

Performing Arts
Historically significant Varkala will be home to the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA).
The centre, the second in the country after the premier NCPA at Nariman Point in Mumbai, will come up on two
acres on the government guest house premises. It is aimed at popularising culture, heritage, arts, and tourism.
The Rs. 10-crore first phase of the high-end tourism and cultural project is part of a Rs. 4,000-crore
comprehensive infrastructure and tourism development plan for Varkala, which has a prominent place on the
world tourism map.
Nearly 50,000 foreign and 1.60 lakh domestic tourists visit the place annually.
The centre will be developed to international standards and forge a tie-up with the Association of Asia-Pacific
Performing Arts Centre (AAPPAC), Singapore, for cultural and technology transfers across the globe.
CAG says IT department not putting to use its tools against

shell companies
CAG has pulled up the Income Tax Department for not putting to use the tools at its disposal for effective
action against shell companies that conceal unaccounted-for income and generate black money.
In its latest report, the CAG said the State departments website had a list of 2,059 suspicious dealers who had
issued invoices involving tax evasion of over Rs. 10,640 crore.
The auditor had sought details from the I-T Department in Mumbai on the assessees and the ultimate
beneficiaries, but despite reminders, the data were not provided.
In 2008-09, the MSTD had informed the Bombay High Court that it had investigated 1,555 hawala operators
involving 39,488 beneficiary dealers who had passed on an input tax credit of Rs. 1,333 crore in three years.
The accused claimed and got input tax credit against the declaration of fake tax invoices without actual
transactions involving the sale and purchase of goods.
To evade detection, payments were made against the invoices by cheque or bank transfers and the amounts
were later withdrawn from the accounts of hawala operators.
Page 28
The CAG relied upon the MSTD data for analysis and found that the Income Tax Department had not even
scrutinised all the assessees featuring on the list.
The shell companies are used to generating bogus bills showing inflated expenses on various counts.
They receive payments through the banking channel to project the transactions as genuine, and then return
the rest to the ultimate beneficiaries after charging a commission.
Unscrupulous tax consultants and chartered accounts are also involved in the setting up of such entities.
The CAG report recommended that in cases of false disclosure, the department should have moved the
Settlement Commission for withdrawal of immunity to the applicants.
EC rejected the speculative, baseless and wide allegations

on EVM
Election Commission rejected the speculative, baseless and wide allegations of some political parties that
Electronic Voting Machines had been tampered with, reiterating that the voting machines were fully tamper-
proof.
The EC did not receive specific complaints or concrete material from political parties or candidates about the
alleged tampering of EVMs during the recently held election process.
To enhance transparency, the EC has also introduced Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), which
generates a paper slip bearing the name and the symbol of candidates along with the recording of vote in
Control Unit.
So that in case of any dispute, paper slip can be counted to verify the result being shown on the EVM.
The EC used VVPAT in Nagaland by-election in 2013, which was a great success. The Supreme Court
ordered introduction of VVPAT in phases and also asked the government to sanction funds for procurement.
In June 2014, the Commission proposed to implement VVPAT at every polling station in the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections, for which Rs. 3,174 crore has been sought.
Apart from zero-rated goods, four tax rates under GST

Apart from zero-rated goods, four tax rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% have been proposed under the GST.
The cess is to be levied on four or five commodities and the caps have been approved by the Council. For
instance, the Council has approved a cap of 15% cess on luxury cars, but that is only for empowerment.
Page 29
A similar 15% cess cap has been approved for aerated drinks as well. The environment cess on coal, lignite
and peat has been capped at the existing rate of Rs. 400 per tonne.
For pan masala, which currently face an effective tax rate of about 135%, the ceiling on cess has been kept at
135% on an ad valorem basis (value of the product).
For cigarettes, which currently face a specific duty of Rs 4,170 for every 1,000 sticks apart from VAT and other
taxes, the ceiling has been kept at 4,170 for every 1,000 sticks and 290% on an ad valorem basis, with the
option to levy a combination of both.
By the next weekend, officials are also expected to finalise four pending draft regulations relating to issues
such as valuation under the GST regime, which will then be taken up by the GST Council at its thirteenth
meeting on March 31 in the capital, the minister said.
Five cities across the country will be the first to start using
plastic bank notes of Rs. 10
Five cities across the country with diverse geographical and climatic conditions will be the first to start using
plastic bank notes of Rs. 10 denomination, with the Centre approving a field trial.
The plastic bank notes are considered to be cleaner than paper currency, will last longer and are difficult to
counterfeit.
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to go ahead with the procurement of the
requisite plastic substrate material and approved the printing of Rs. 10 notes.
Supreme Court Collegium has handed over the finalised

Memorandum of Procedure
The Supreme Court Collegium has handed over the finalised Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for
appointment of judges to the government.
While maintaining the governments proposal for a national security clause in the MoP, the Collegium has
reserved to itself the right to reiterate a name rejected by the government.
Now, while accepting national security and public interest as the new ground of objection to appoint a
candidate as a judge, the collegium is learnt to have made it clear that the government will not have a right to
reject its recommendation.
Page 30
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The body of five senior-most judges of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar has made
it clear that if the government has objections on the ground of national security and public interest, it will
convey the same to the collegium. The collegium will then take a final call.
While accepting the government's demand to set up secretariats in the apex court and the 24 high courts to
assist collegiums in SC and HCs in selecting judges, the collegium has refused to accept the demand for
committees of retired or sitting judges to assist the collegiums. .
The government and the apex court have been trying to finalise the Memorandum of Procedure a document to
guide appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.
Separatist opposed the Pakistans move to declare Gilgit-

Baltistan as its fifth province
Separatists opposed the Pakistan governments move to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province.
In a joint statement, Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik said, Kashmir,
Ladakh, Jammu, Azad Kashmir [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir] and Gilgit-Baltistan is a single entity.
The separatists said since the political destiny of Jammu and Kashmir was yet to be decided any proposal to
declare Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth State of Pakistan was unacceptable.
Referring to Pakistan as a prime party to the Kashmir issue, the separatists said such a step may hamper the
disputed status of Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan have no authority or right to alter the geographical status
of the State, they added.
Recently, a committee, headed by Pakistans Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, had proposed giving the
status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan.
Ambitious project of NATGRID slow to move due to non-filing

of posts
The Union Home Ministry informed a parliamentary panel earlier this week that it couldnt get qualified IT
professionals to fill 35 posts in the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), an ambitious intelligence project
conceptualised by the United Progressive Alliance government after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.
The panel has asked the Ministry to re-publicise the posts and offer remuneration commensurate with that of
the private sector to attract the most qualified professionals.
The NATGRID is a centralised agency which stores sensitive personal information on citizens, from almost two
dozen agencies, to be made available for counter-terror investigations.
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These posts were not filled because of the non-availability of qualified professionals for various posts in the
organisation, Ministry officials were quoted in the report Demands for Grants (2017-18).
The panel, headed by the Congress leader and former Home Minister P. Chidambaram, had asked the Ministry
for the reasons for the cut in the NATGRIDs budget from Rs. 45 crore to Rs. 18.71 crore last fiscal.
The 2016-17 budgetary allocation included a provision of Rs. 11.50 crore under revenue head in connection
with the engagment of 35 consultants, the Ministry said.
The panel pulled up the officials and said: In a country like India, known worldwide for its highly skilled IT
professionals, it is simply not acceptable that the non-availability of professionals was the reason for not filling
the 35 posts of consultants.
The Committee feels that either the Ministry had failed to publicise the posts widely or the remuneration being
offered was not attractive enough.
The Committee recommends that the Ministry needs to clear the confusion looming large over the NATGRIDs
future by completing the construction of its main building at the earliest.
Govt proposed a labour code to provide social security cover

to the entire workforce
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has proposed a labour code which will provide social
security cover to the entire workforce in the country, including self-employed and agricultural workers.
Even households employing domestic help will also have contribute towards schemes including provident fund
and gratuity for the worker, according to a draft code on Social Security and Welfare proposed by the Labour
Ministry.
Factories employing even a single worker will have to contribute towards social security benefits, as per the
proposal.
Every working person in the country will be covered under the social security code whether she belongs to the
organised sector or the unorganised sector.
For the first time, we intend to cover agricultural workers along with self-employed people and target to provide
social security benefits to 45 crore workers, Said a top labour ministry official, on conditions of anonymity.
A National Social Security Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, has been proposed to streamline and make
policy on social security schemes related to all the ministries.
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Other members would include: Finance Minister, Labour Minister, Health and Family Welfare Minister along
with employer and employees representatives. The council will co-ordinate between central and State
governments, monitor the implementation of social security schemes.
ICAR and ICRISAT would work together on crop improvement

and agronomy programmes
In a bid to benefit small farmers in India and globally, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) would work together on crop
improvement and agronomy programmes for grain legumes and dryland cereals.
ICAR and ICRISAT, recently signed an agreement in New Delhi, in which climate smart crops, smart food and
digitalisation of breeding database were identified as some of the core areas of research.
The areas of focus over the next three years include - integrating systems modelling tools for upscaling climate
resilient agriculture, developing genetic and genomic resources of finger millet and enhancing genetic gains for
priority traits.
Meanwhile, ICRISAT director general Dr David Bergvinson said that dryland cereals and grain legumes are
branded as smart foods good for consumers, farmers and the planet as they diversify farming systems and
help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change.
On crop improvement front, the pact will facilitate research on pigeonpea and chickpea for insect resistance.
Indias longest road tunnel to open soon

Indias longest road tunnel, built on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, will open to traffic very soon
following the success of the trial run.
The work on the 9.2-km tube tunnel, which is part of a 286-km, four-lane project, started on May 23, 2011 in
the lower Himalayan mountain range and cost Rs. 3,720 crore.
The tunnel, which is located at an elevation of 1,200 metre, will be the first in India to be equipped with the
world-class integrated tunnel control system, through which ventilation, fire control, signals, communication and
electrical systems will be automatically actuated.
The tunnel will reduce the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar by two-and-a-half hours. The road
distance from Chenani and Nashri will now be 10.9 km, instead of the present 41 km.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the highway tunnel by month-end.
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Central govt is planning for one lakh toilets in madrassas

The Centre plans to build toilets in one lakh madrassas across the country as part of its efforts to revamp these
traditional learning centres.
Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the government also plans to introduce
mid-day meals.
More than one crore face arsenic contamination in West

Bangal
West Bengal has the highest number of arsenic-affected people in the country.
There are 83 blocks in eight districts Bardhaman, Malda, Hooghly, Howrah, Murshidabad, Nadia, North and
South 24 Paraganas where ground water is affected by arsenic contamination.
Bengal topped the list with more than 1.04 crore arsenic-affected persons as on March 4, 2017. Bihar comes
second with 16.88 lakh persons, with Assam in third spot with 14.48 lakh victims.
The total number of arsenic-affected people in the country is about 1.48 crore.
According to the WHOs guidelines for drinking water quality (2011), the permissible limit of Arsenic in
groundwater is .01 mg per litre. However, in India the permissible limit in drinking water has recently been
revised from .05 mg per litre to .01 mg per litre.
The ruling Trinamool Congress had claimed in its 2016 election manifesto that 91% of the population of
arsenic-affected areas in the State have been provided with clean drinking water.
The website of the PHE department also claims that arsenic contamination is getting under control and
Bengal is expected to be arsenic free in another couple of years.
World Bank wants Indus water treaty issue to be resolved

World Bank CEO reiterated that the Bank was keen on resolving the disagreements between the two nations
over the interpretation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following the construction by India of two hydroelectric
power plants.
Though the two nations have had no fresh conflict over the sharing of river waters for more than five decades,
differences cropped up after Pakistan opposed the construction of the Kishenganga (330 MW) and Ratle (850
MW) power plants.
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These are constructed by India on the Jhelum and Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir, over which Pakistan has
unrestricted rights under the treaty.
Even before Partition, the Indus had created problems among the states of British India. The problems became
international after the creation of two nations as the political boundary was drawn right across the Indus basin.
The World Bank (then IBRD), under the presidency of Eugene Black, helped in 1952 to settle the dispute
between the two nations on the sharing of the Indus river basin waters.
After eight years of hard negotiations, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ayub Khan signed the
IWT on September 19, 1960. The Bank is also a signatory to the treaty.
The IWT is a complex instrument, comprising 12 articles and eight annexures. It sets forth provisions of
cooperation between the two countries in their use of the rivers, known as the Permanent Indus Commission
(PIC).
According to the IWT, India has control over three eastern rivers of the Indus basin the Beas, the Ravi and
the Sutlej and Pakistan has control over the three western rivers the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum.
All six rivers flow from India to Pakistan. Among other uses, India is permitted to construct power facilities on
these rivers subject to regulations laid down in the treaty.
India had asked the bank for appointment of a neutral expert following Pakistans objections to two projects,
while Pakistan demanded the formation of a court of arbitration, alleging that India had violated the treaty.
In December 2016, the Bank announced a pause and asked both parties to resolve the issue amicably by the
end of January 2017.
India welcomed the Banks neutral stand, while Pakistan sought intervention of the Bank after being unable to
find an amicable solution to the dispute through the commission.
Given that India has remained the Banks single largest borrower since its inception with cumulative borrowings
from IBRD and IDA touching $103 billion, the bank did not perhaps want to upset it.
With buoyancy in foreign exchange reserves, the Bank needs India more than the other way round and this
has created some anxiety in the Bank circles about the future direction of their relationship.
India and Pakistan are important partners and clients of the Bank. In South Asia, Pakistan ($2,280 million)
received the highest lending from the Bank after India ($3,845 million) during the fiscal 2016.
Changing its stance, India has agreed to attend a meeting of the commission in Lahore next week. Like in the
1950s, Bank officials are again playing the role of mediator.
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Tuberculosis control remains a major challenge in India

At the end of 50 years of tuberculosis control activities, the disease remains a major health challenge in India.
As per new estimates, the number of new cases every year has risen to 2.8 million and mortality is put at
4,80,000 each year.
These figures may go up when the national TB prevalence survey is undertaken in 2017-18. Against this
backdrop.
Govt in its national strategic plan for tuberculosis elimination (2017-2025), has set a highly ambitious goal of
achieving a rapid decline in burden of TB, morbidity and mortality while working towards elimination of TB by
2025.
Though the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) has treated 10 million patients, the
rate of decline has been slow. Providing universal access to early diagnosis and treatment and improving case
detection were the main goals of the national strategic plan 2012-17.
But RNTCP failed on both counts, as the Joint Monitoring Mission report of 2015 pointed out.
Going by the current rate of decline, India is far from reaching the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
reducing the number of deaths by 90% and TB incidence by 80% compared with 2015.
Yet, the latest report for TB elimination calls for reducing TB incidence from 217 per 1,00,000 in 2015 to 142 by
2020 and 44 by 2025 and reduce mortality from 32 to 15 by 2020 and 3 per 1,00,000 by 2025.
Most importantly, the TB control programme plans to do away with the strategy of waiting for patients to walk in
to get tested and instead engage in detecting more cases, both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant.
The emphasis will be on using highly sensitive diagnostic tests, undertaking universal testing for drug-resistant
TB, reaching out to TB patients seeking care from private doctors and targeting people belonging to high-risk
populations.
The other priority is to provide anti-TB treatment irrespective of where patients seek care from, public or
private and ensure that they complete the treatment.
For the first time, the TB control programme talks of having in place patient-friendly systems to provide
treatment and social support.
It seeks to make the daily regimen universal; currently, the thrice weekly regimen is followed by RNTCP, and
the daily regimen has been introduced only in five States.
Though Bedaquiline, the drug for people who do not respond to any anti-TB medicine, is provided in six sites in
the country, the number of beneficiaries is very small.
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The report envisages a countrywide scale-up of Bedaquiline and Delamanid. In a marked departure, the report
underscores the need to prevent the emergence of TB in susceptible populations.
Poor health indicator states to get more share in National

Health policy
The long awaited National Health Policy (NHP), announced a few days ago, proposes to raise public health
expenditure as a percentage of the GDP from the current 1.15% to 2.5% by 2025.
The resource allocation to individual States will be linked with their development indicators, absorptive capacity
and financial indicators.
While public health expenditure as a percentage of GDP will reach 2.5% only by 2025, many of the goals listed
in the Policy have a deadline of 2025, some of them even sooner.
The policy stresses preventive healthcare by engaging with the private sector to offer healthcare services and
drugs that are affordable to all.
It wants to reduce out-of-pocket catastrophic health expenditure by households by 25% from current levels by
2025. It wants to increase the utilisation of public health facilities by 50% from the current levels by 2025.
The Centre is working on introducing a health card an electronic health record of individuals.
Like the Health Ministrys national strategic plan for tuberculosis elimination 2017-2025 report, the Policy wants
to reduce the incidence of new TB cases to reach elimination by 2025.
In a similar vein, the policy has set 2017 as the deadline to eliminate kala-azar and lymphatic filariasis in
endemic pockets, and 2018 in the case of leprosy.
In the case of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, it envisages a 25%
reduction in premature mortality by 2025.
The policy aspires to provide secondary care right at the district level and reduce the number of patients
reaching tertiary hospitals.
For the first time, there is a mention of public hospitals and facilities being periodically measured and certified
for quality.
But the most ambitious target is providing access to safe water and sanitation by all by 2020. As per the
January 2016 Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitations country paper, sanitation coverage was only 48%.
Other challenging targets set by the Policy include reducing the infant mortality rate to 28 per 1,000 live births
by 2019 and under five mortality to 23 per 1,000 live births by 2025.
Page 37
According to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4), IMR was 41 in 2015-16; it took 10 years to reduce
IMR from 57 to 41.
As against 62% children 12-23 months old, who were fully immunised in 2015-16 according to the NFHS-4
data, the Policy has set a target of 90% by 2025.
Parliamentary panel described the traffic situation in the

national capital as alarming
A Parliamentary panel has described the traffic situation in the national capital as alarming and said that the
Delhi Police has failed to improve it.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has observed that a large number of vehicles get
registered in Delhi everyday and the roundabouts at various crossroads, instead of traffic signals, caused
congestion.
In its report submitted to the Parliament, the panel headed by former Home and Finance Minister P
Chidambaram has taken note of the choked roads in Delhi which make evacuation of protected persons
difficult during a traffic congestion.
The committee has recommended that the Delhi Police needs to prepare a meticulous traffic management plan
and allocate adequate funds to address the issue.
Urgent measures should be taken for managing the city traffic in a better way such as construction of more
arterial roads and parking bays, declaring some roads as one-way.
Also coming up with effective emergency evacuation measures for protected persons and stringent measures
against traffic violators, the panel has recommended.
The proposed march of Jat protesters to Delhi called off

The proposed march of Jat protesters to Delhi in support of their demands, including reservation under the
Other Backward Classes, was called off after the government promised to expedite the process of granting
reservation to the community
The decision was taken following a marathon meeting of Jat leaders with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar and Union Ministers at Haryana Bhawan.
Few token dharnas by members of the samiti would continue till their demands were actually met.
Meanwhile, 18 police personnel, including an SP and a DSP, were among 35 injured when Jat protesters
clashed with the police on being prevented from marching towards Delhi.
Page 38
The four-month economic blockade in Manipur lifted

The four-month economic blockade in Manipur, imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC), was lifted,
following the successful talks between the UNC, the State government and the Centre.
The UNC imposed the blockade to protest the creation of seven districts by the then Congress government
because it violated Greater Nagalim envisaged by the group.
Asked whether the new BJP government would roll back the decision, an official of the Home Ministry said: At
the moment there is nothing like a roll-back; there are many stakeholders.
Tripartite talks succeeded in addressing the issues and UNC has agreed to lift the economic blockade.
Government of Manipur took note of the grievances of the UNC, including that of them not being consulted
while creating the new districts.
Recreation of the lost manuscript writing using ancient herbal

ink
By unravelling the science behind Assams ancient herbal ink mahi, researchers are planning to recreate the
lost techniques of manuscript writing. They say their efforts could boost heritage tourism.
The technique involves extracting mahi using cow urine from a cocktail of fruit pulp and tree bark such as
haritaki, amla, bibhitakhi or bhomora, mango and jamun often infused with the blood of eels or catfish.
Rust from iron tools or nails was added for an intense black hue.Mahi was used in early and medieval Assam
for writing on sancipat (folios made of the bark of the sanci tree) manuscripts.
Some folios were gifted by Kumar Bhaskar Barman, the then King of Pragjyotishpura (ancient Assam) to
Harshavardhana, an emperor who ruled north India from 606 to 647 C.E., a testimony to the period of use.
The endurance of the ink is proven by the stability of sancipat manuscripts. The key factor for this long-lasting
marriage between mahi and sancipat is the herbal concoctions resistance to aerial oxidation and fungal
attacks.
The major phytochemical constituents in mahi have been identified as phenolic acids, flavonoids and tannins
and their complexes with iron.
Though there are several recorded recipes for mahi formulation, one commonality exists for all: the season
during which it is concocted.
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Uttarakhand High court declares Ganga and Yamuna river as

living persons
In a first in the country, the Uttarakhand High Court, declared that the rivers Ganga and Yamuna were living
persons.On March 15, New Zealand river Whanganui became the first in the world to be granted a legal
human status.
to protect the recognition and the faith of society, rivers Ganga and Yamuna are required to be declared as
legal persons [or] living persons, stated the court order.
The Ganga and [the] Yamuna, all their tributaries, streams are declared as juristic [or] legal persons [or]
living entities having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living
person in order to preserve and conserve river Ganga and Yamuna, it added.
The two rivers, which are sacred for the Hindus, sustain millions of people in the country.
However, they have been in a state of neglect and even though several government initiatives, including the
Centres NamamiGange programme, are aimed at restoring their health, not much has been achieved yet.
The court ordered that the Director of the NamamiGange programme, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, and
the Advocate-General of Uttarakhand would serve as parents for the rivers.
And they would be the human faces to protect, conserve and preserve the rivers and their tributaries.
Govt says illegal mining to be controlled through satellite

imagery
Satellite imagery is being used to check illegal mining, which is a major problem, HRD Minister Prakash
Javadekar informed the Rajya Sabha.
He said that river mapping through satellites and licensing of up to 5 hectares of sand mining at the district
level is being undertaken.
To keep track of trucks transporting sand, they are being issued bar-coded receipts, he said.
India and Pakistan began discussions on the Indus Water

Commission
India and Pakistan began discussions on the Indus Water Commission after 22 months amid optimism that the
meeting may lead to resumption of the composite dialogue between the neighbours.
Page 40
Prior to the meeting, Pakistans Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif expressed the hope that both
countries would respect the sanctity of the Indus Water Treaty.
Because of the Pakistani position, Kishenganga and Ratle were not discussed in the latest round of talks. But
the designs of the PakalDul, Lower Kalnai and Miyar hydroelectric plants were taken up.
The talks were suspended in May 2015 after the Pakistani Commissioner objected to the designs of the
Kishenganga and the Ratle hydropower projects of India.
Last year, the secretaries of power of both countries agreed to third-party resolution through the World Bank.
But the World Bank announced late last year that Pakistan and India should hold bilateral talks.
Following the World Banks reluctance to pass an order, both sides would meet in Washington in April on the
Rutle project.
Gallantry award Kirti Chakra went to Major Rohit Suri

The second highest peacetime gallantry award Kirti Chakra went to a young officer, Major Rohit Suri, who was
part of the surgical strikes last year.
Seniormost Lieutenant General Eastern Army Commander Praveen Bakshi, who was side stepped in the
appointment of the Army Chief, was awarded the Param VishishtSeva Medal, the highest Distinguished
Service Medal.
Another member of the surgical strikes team Nb Sub Vijay Kumar was conferred the Shaurya Chakra for the
vital role during the close recce carried out prior to the assault which gathered crucial information about the
hideout and facilitated the mission planning.
In all, President conferred 13 Shaurya Chakras on military personnel, who were also involved in operations
against terrorists in the Pathankot Air Force station and the government institute near Srinagar in Jammu and
Kashmir.
Six of the 13 Shaurya Chakras were conferred posthumously.
Mr. Mukherjee also conferred Distinguished Service Medals on senior military officers which included 15
Param VishishtSeva Medals, three YudhSeva Medals (YSM) and 23 AtiVishishtSeva Medal (AVSM).
AICTE wants internship mandatory for technical education

Technical education institutions in India will soon have internships as a mandatory requirement for the award of
degrees.
Page 41
The All-India Council for Technical Education the regulator for maintaining norms and standards in technical
education has set the ball rolling to make internships a mandatory part of technical education in the country.
In other words, while the onus would first be on the technical educational institutions to put in place systemic
arrangements to facilitate internships.
It would soon transform into a regime where the onus would also be on the students to intern somewhere to
become eligible for the degree.
The purview of the AICTE is vast: it covers programmes of technical education, including training and research,
in engineering, technology, architecture, town planning, management, pharmacy, applied arts and crafts, hotel
management and catering technology, etc.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development under which the AICTE is an autonomous institution has
also been in the loop regarding this change.
Internships, it is felt, would make the students more industry-ready, providing a set of hands-on skills and
experience of the work environment in the industry to complement their academic and theoretical insights into
their discipline.
Supreme Court suggested out-of-court settlement for Ram

Janmabhoomi dispute
Suggesting an out-of-court rapprochement among rival parties in the 68-year-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri
Masjid title dispute, CJI advised peace negotiations instead of a pitched court battle, even offering help to
settle the fight amicably.
The dispute, which has seen much tension and violence over the past decades, debuted in court in 1950 when
Gopal Simla Visharad filed the first suit in the Faizabad civil court for rights to perform pooja to Ram Lalla.
The same year saw Paramahansa Ramachandra Das also file a suit for continuation of pooja and keeping
idols in the structure. Nine years later, in 1959, NirmohiAkhara followed with a third suit for directions to hand
over the charge of the disputed site.
U.P. Sunni Central Wakf Board filed the fourth suit in 1961 for declaration and possession. The fifth was in
1989 in the name of Ram Lalla Virajman for declaration and possession.
On September 2010, a three-judge Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court held that Hindus have the
right to the makeshift temple under the central dome of the Babri Masjid.
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The High Court ruled in favour of a three-part division of the disputed 2.77 acre area among the Sunni Waqf
Board, NirmohiAkhara and the Ram Lalla at the disputed site. The Bench had relied on Hindu faith, belief and
folklore.
The Sunni Waqf Board and other parties filed their appeals in the Supreme Court against the 2010 judgment.
The appeals have remained pending in the SC for the past six years.
CJI Khehar said parties should understand that these are sensitive issues involving religious sentiments. They
should adopt a give and take approach to arrive at a consensus, he suggested.
NDA government has proposed to make Aadhaar mandatory

for ITR
The NDA government has proposed to make Aadhaar mandatory for individuals to apply for a PAN
(Permanent Account Number) card and file income tax returns from July 1 this year.
Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley moved an amendment, to this effect, in the draft
Finance Bill 2017 that was taken up by the Lok Sabha.
Centre made it mandatory for beneficiaries to quote their Aadhaar number to avail themselves of benefits
under the PMKVY for skill development, and the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual
Scavengers.
The Centre had identified 31 schemes in which the Aadhaar could be made mandatory.
Notifications have been issued in recent months by departments to make Aadhaar compulsory for getting
subsidised foodgrains under the NFSA, jobs under the MGNREGA and pension benefits under the Employees
Pension Scheme.
The Cabinet Secretariat has asked all Ministries to issue a notification under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act,
2016, which makes the use of Aadhaar an identifier for delivery of subsidies or benefits or schemes to
beneficiaries.
India slipped down one place from 130 to 131 in Human

development index
India slipped down one place from 130 to 131 among the 188 countries ranked in terms of human
development, says the 2016 Human Development Report (HDR) released by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP).
Page 43
Indias human development index (HDI) value of 0.624 puts it in the medium human development category,
alongside countries such as Congo, Namibia and Pakistan.
It is ranked third among the SAARC countries, behind Sri Lanka (73) and the Maldives (105), both of which
figure in the high human development category.
The worlds top three countries in HDI are Norway (0.949), Australia (0.939) and Switzerland (0.939).
The HDI is a measure for assessing progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and
healthy life, access to knowledge, and access to a decent standard of living.
The report says 1.5 million people worldwide still live in multidimensional poverty, 54% of them concentrated in
South Asia. While poverty fell significantly from 1990 to 2015, inequalities sharpened in the region.
South Asia also had the highest levels of malnutrition in the world, at 38%, and the lowest public health
expenditure as a percentage of the GDP (1.6%, 2014). Indias public health expenditure was even lower, at
1.4% of the GDP.
However, it did make some gains between 1990 and 2015, improving life expectancy by 10.4 years in this
period. Child malnutrition also declined by 10 percentage points from 2015, and there was a modest gain in
infant and under-five mortality rates.
The report noted with approval Indias progressive laws, especially the Right to Information, National Food
Security, and Right to Education Acts.
Noting that women, on an average, have lower HDI than men across the world, the report pointed out that the
largest gender disparity in development was in South Asia, where the female HDI value is 20% lower than the
male value.
In South Asia, gender gaps in entrepreneurship and labour force participation caused an estimated income
loss of 19%. Between their first and fifth birthdays, girls in India and Pakistan have a 30% to 50% greater
chance of dying than boys, the report noted.
While Indias HDI value increased from 0.428 in 1990 to 0.624 in 2015, it still had the lowest rank among BRIC
nations. However, its average annual growth in HDI (1990-2015) was higher than that of other medium HD
countries.
Dalai Lama made another outreach to the Chinese people

Making another outreach to the Chinese people, the Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader, appreciated their
interest in Buddhism.
Page 44
The moves comes against the backdrop of his much-publicised visit to Northeast India, including Arunachal
Pradesh, which the Chinese government has opposed.
The spiritual figure is expected to travel to Guwahati by March-end to begin the Northeast trip. From Guwahati,
the Dalai Lama is expected to travel to Tawang, where he will hold a series of ceremonies.
The trip to Tawang has already drawn opposition from Beijing with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
criticising the plans because of Chinas territorial claims over the region.
The response of Mr. Jaishankar underlines the continued differences between India and China over a number
of issues including territorial claims, counter-terror measures and Tibet.
Cash transactions above Rs. 2 lakh became illegal

Cash transactions above Rs. 2 lakh could be illegal and attract a 100% fine from April 1 this year.
The Rs. 3 lakh ceiling on cash transactions this year, proposed in the Union Budget, has been revised to Rs. 2
lakh, with the government introducing an amendment to this effect in the Finance Bill taken up for
consideration by the Lok Sabha.
The tightening of the cap on cash transactions was one of 40 amendments to the Finance Bill proposed by the
Centre.
In the official amendments to the Finance Bill, the government has proposed that the limit of Rs. 3 lakh for
cash transactions, beyond which it is illegal, be reduced to Rs. 2 lakh.
India and Pakistan agreed on redesigning the Miyar

Hydroelectric project
India and Pakistan agreed on redesigning the Miyar Hydroelectric project, at the end of two-day talks of Indus
Water Commissioners in Islamabad, the state-run media reported here as the official announcement is
awaited.
It was also agreed that the Lower Kalnai and the PakalDul projects would be inspected again.
The talks between the two countries began after 22 months when Pakistan in 2015 skipped consultations
following objections on the Kishenganga and the Ratle hydroelectric projects by India.
Kishenganga is in arbitration while officials of the two countries are meeting in Washington next month on the
Ratle project on the invitation of the World Bank.
Page 45
Pakistans request for arbitration on Ratle is still pending with the World Bank, which is the guarantor of the
1960 Indus Water Treaty.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has defended the amendment to

link Aadhaar with PAN
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has defended the amendment to the Finance Bill, cleared by the Lok Sabha,
making an Aadhaar number mandatory for issuing a PAN card. The biometric security of Aadhaar, he said,
would prevent individuals holding multiple PAN cards and evading tax.
In a situation where it has come to light that one citizen has up to five PAN cards, to avoid that, we have linked
the PAN to Aadhaar, Mr. Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha.
About 98% of the adult population is covered by Aadhaar and 108 crore cards have been issued.
It is an anti-evasion measure and for the benefit of the country.
He also sought to allay concerns in Parliament about aggressive and unwarranted searches and seizures by
Income-Tax officials. The assessing officer, he said, could only make searches after recording the source of
their information regarding undisclosed income.
Mr. Jaitley said the Central Board of Direct Taxes had so far identified 18 lakh names whose large bank
deposits did not match their income profile. Communications had been sent to all the 18 lakh assessees and
and 8.78 lakh people had already responded.
The fear is that there will be many searches and seizures under Section 132A, he said. But before searching,
the assessing officer has to get the information about undisclosed income. The source of the information and
all other details have to be explained.
The political verdict of the people on demonetisation was clear, the Finance Minister said alluding to the
performance of the BJP in the recent Assembly elections in five States.
One of the benefits of demonetisation is that the anonymity associated with cash has been hurt and this will
have an effect on the economy. Crime does not end. But does cash incentivise crime? Experience from around
the world has shown that more cash leads to more tax evasion and more crime.
Mr. Jaitley said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was trying to implement the new tax regime by July
1,2017. The GST Council has met 12 times so far and all the significant decisions were taken by consensus.
Ceasefire violations and casualties reduced post surgical

strikes
Page 46
The Centre told the Rajya Sabha that ceasefire violations and casualties on the Indian side of the Line of
Control (LoC) and the international border had come down after the surgical strikes..
It said this in reply to a question as to whether terrorist activities had increased after surgical strikes along the
LoC.
The ceasefire violations by Pakistan have come down post-surgical strikes. There were 228 ceasefire
violations at the LoC in 2016 and 221 at the IB [international border]. However, till February 2017, there have
only been 22 ceasefire violations and six on the IB, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir
said.
The civilian casualties and injuries in 2017 have been zero at the IB and the LoC, whereas in 2016, there were
13 civilian casualties and 83 injured on the LoC and 8 casualties on the IB and 74 were injured. Five BSF
jawans lost their lives and 25 were injured along the international border.
While Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the government of not giving the full reply, Home
Minister Rajnath Singh disagreed with him.
Mr. Singh also put the onus on Pakistan for the resumption of dialogue, saying it should end cross-border
terrorism. Pakistan should at least make a beginning and say it is willing to talk and end the terrorist activities
Pakistan should take an initiative.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury asked why there was no movement on a dialogue with all stake-
holders in Kashmir despite an all-party delegation led by the government calling for it.
Listing some of the initiatives, Mr. Singh said the selection process for the armed police forces was over and
job opportunities for Kashmiri youth had increased.
Mars could once have had rings, and the Red Planet may
regain them again
Mars could once have had rings, and the Red Planet may regain them again, according to a new study.
A new model developed by scientists at Purdue University in the U.S. suggests that debris that was pushed
into space from an asteroid slamming into Mars around 4.3 billion years ago alternates between becoming a
planetary ring and clumping together to form a moon.
According to one theory, Mars large North Polar Basin or Borealis Basin which covers about 40% of the planet
in its northern hemisphere was created by that impact, sending debris into space.
That large impact would have blasted enough material off the surface of Mars to form a ring.
Page 47
As the ring formed, and the debris slowly moved away from the planet and spread out, it began to clump and
eventually formed a moon.
Over time, Mars gravitational pull would have pulled that moon towards the planet until it reached the Roche
limit, the distance within which a planets tidal forces will break apart a celestial body that is held together only
by gravity.
Phobos, one of Mars moons, is getting closer to the planet. According to the model, Phobos will break apart
upon reaching the Roche limit, and become a set of rings in roughly 70 million years.
Depending on where the Roche limit is, Mr. Hesselbrock and David Minton believe this cycle may have
repeated between three and seven times over billions of years. Each time a moon broke apart and reformed
from the ring, its successor moon would be five times smaller than the last.
Centre is contemplating an institutional mechanism to

improve safety in Indias dams
The Centre is contemplating an institutional mechanism to improve safety in Indias 5300-odd dams. Currently,
guidelines in this regard are not effectively enforced by the States.
The new law, which has been vetted by the Union Law Ministry and will now go to the Union Cabinet for
approval, proposes a Central authority and State-level bodies that will enforce regulation. Dam and project
proponents falling short could face a fine, though they are unlikely to face imprisonment.
There are around 4900 large dams in India and several thousand smaller ones. About 300 are in various
stages of construction. However, large reservoirs and water storage structures, in the past few decades, are
not seen as a model of safety.
Kerala, for instance, continues to fight with Tamil Nadu over threats posed by the Mullaperiyar dam on the river
Periyar. More recently, the Chennai floods of 2015, due to unusually-heavy winter rains, were thought to have
been compounded by an unprecedented release of water from the Chembarambakkam dam into the Adyar
River.
In 2014, an unscheduled release of water from the Larji hydroelectric project into the Beas river drowned 25
students from Hyderabad.
According to a Water Ministry official familiar with the dam safety bill, recent analysis of the state of Indias
dams found that half of them did not meet contemporary safety standards.
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The safety criteria include increasing the spillway (a design structure to ease water build-up) and preventing
over-topping in which the dam overflows and causes it to fail. The 1979 Machchu dam failure in Morbi,
Gujarat, is estimated to have killed at least 25,000.
Jaw successfully reconstructed using 3D printer

An Indian-origin surgeon in the U.K., with the help of a 3D printer, has successfully reconstructed a 53-year-old
cancer patients jaw using bone from one of his legs.
Dr. Daya Gahir of the Royal Stoke University Hospital in the West Midlands region of England specialises in
facial, head and neck surgery and conducts as many as 40 reconstructions a year.
His hospital acquired the software required to make full use of the 1,50,000 3D printer to make his task even
more efficient, including designing and manufacturing the surgical tools and performing the surgery.
They do at least 40 major head and neck reconstructions per year. Around 10 to 15 cases will be done in this
way using the printer.
Some of the leg bone was reshaped, as you have to replace bone with bone. We took away some of the skin
from the leg as well and replanted it back into the neck, he said, as he explained about the 12-hour delicate
surgery conducted on his patient Stephen Waterhouse recently.
Mr. Waterhouses jawbone had disintegrated after he underwent radiotherapy treatment for his throat cancer.
He was left with a crumbling jawbone, which Dr. Gahir was able to reconstruct using bone from his leg. If you
leave 7 cm of the leg bone on either side, you can take the rest as it carries only about 20% of the body weight
maximum, Dr. Gahir said.
Videoconferencing system introduced in Supreme Court to

help under trials
The Supreme Court opened a direct window to prisoners and undertrials languishing behind bars to help them
in their endeavour for justice in the highest court of the land.
The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC) under the chairmanship of Supreme Court judge
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, inaugurated its videoconferencing system to overcome geographical and procedural
odds and open a direct a channel of communication with undertrial prisoners and prison inmates.
The inmates can address their grievances through this system and this will curb delay in filing their matters
before the Supreme Court.
Page 49
It is the first time that panel advocates of the SCLSC will directly interact with thousands of inmates lodged in
hundreds of jails across the country.
TenkuThittu a dancer of Yakshagana school died

Well known artiste of the TenkuThittu school of YakshaganaGerukatteGangaiah Shetty died. He was 63. He is
survived by his wife and three sons.
Gangaiah Shetty collapsed on the stage while performing the role of Arunasura in the Yakshaganaprasanga,
KateeluKshetraMahatme, at Yekkar near Kateel. He died on the way to hospital in Mangaluru.
Gangaiah Shetty hailed from Gerukatte near Guruvayanakere in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada. He
performed in the DurgaparameshwariPrasaditaDashavataraYakshagana Mandali. He began to perform in 1970
in the Kateel mela and continued to perform in the same mela till he breathed his last.
Traditional Knowledge Database Library will cease to exist

The Traditional Knowledge Database Library (TKDL), a marquee organisation of the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research that has fought biopiracy for decades, will cease to exist in its current form.
It has no committed funds, most of its workforce has been removed and these staffers are litigating against
CSIR.
It will no longer be an organisation that once pro-actively scouted for intellectual property infringements by
Indian and foreign companies on traditional knowledge in areas.
TKDL is an online repository of about 300,000 formulations from Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems. Over
two decades, the body translated, scanned and digitised texts from their Sanskrit, Arabic and Urdu originals.
This was then made searchable, allowing patent offices in India, Europe, the United States, United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia and Japan to check if patent applicants of herbal concoctions, creams and drugs were
basing their claims on available traditional knowledge.
Even before TKDL opened, India overturned patents in the U.S. and Europe on neem and turmeric products.
Between 2009 and 2015, 219 patents were denied to Indian and foreign companies based on TKDLs
challenges, including Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Avesthagen, the governments Central Council For
Research in Unani Medicine, and Yale University in the U.S.
Since 2016 there have been no patent challenges by TKDL. The 100-odd employees on project contracts
including Ayurveda experts, intellectual-property analysts and IT staff are down to about 50.
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AI to set up aviation varsity in Hyderabad by 2020

Air India, after having installed a brand new second A320 simulator costing about Rs. 65 crore at the Central
Training Establishment (CTE) at Balanagarfor training pilots, is preparing a blueprint to establish an Aviation
University.
ATR simulator costs between Rs. 60 crore to Rs. 65 crore and is to be imported. It will be the first modern one
in the country and without this, trainee pilots are forced to go to Bangkok or Singapore for advanced training for
flying the turbo-prop short haul aircraft.
While there is an ATR simulator at Gurugram in Delhi in the private sector, the upcoming facility here will be
the first in public sector.
Air Indias subsidiary Alliance Air flies eight of these planes manufactured by the French-Italian aircraft
manufacturer ATR and has plans to acquire 30 more soon.
2016, CTE had trained a total of 200 pilots with the help of its two A320 simulators (AI flies 70 A320s including
four brand new) and 50 have already undergone training in 2017.
Rajasthan governments move to provide vitamin-enriched

food to help children
The State governments move to provide vitamin-enriched and ready-to-use therapeutic food to malnourished
children has borne fruit, with a large number of youngsters now leading healthy lives.
The Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) a project undertaken by the government
in December 2015 has helped in treating 9,117 children below 5 years who were suffering from severe acute
malnutrition (SAM).
UNICEF, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and Action Against Hunger are the project partners.
Karauli in eastern Rajasthan is among the 13 districts where the initiative was launched in its first phase.
Here, doctors at the primary health centres and accredited social health activists (ASHA) have been working to
identify and provide the nutrition kit to children.
The kit usually consists of an energy-dense nutrition supplement, locally known as Poshan Amrit , antibiotics
and de-worming tablets.
Page 51
Significant change to electoral funding norms

Corporate donations to political parties will no longer face any ceiling linked to firms profitability and companies
will no longer be obliged to inform their shareholders which partys coffers they contribute to.
These changes were introduced by the government in the amendments to the Finance Bill of 2017 cleared by
the Lok Sabha.
As of now, companies can only contribute up to 7.5% of their average net profits in the past three financial
years to political parties.
Moreover, they are required to disclose the amount of contributions made and the names of the political parties
to which they were made, in their profit and loss accounts.
The government has included an amendment to the Companies Act of 2013 to do away with the 7.5% of net
profits limit set on donations and the requirement for a company to disclose the name of political parties to
which they donate.
A clause has also been inserted in the Companies law to make it mandatory for all corporate donations to
political parties to be made by a cheque, electronic means, a bank draft or any other instrument notified by the
government.
The Centre has also reduced the maximum limit for cash donations to parties to Rs. 2,000 per person.
British authorities have started the legal process to extradite

Mallya
The British authorities have started the legal process to extradite wanted business tycoon Vijay Mallya to India.
However, it is not certain if the legal process would culminate in his return to India to face charges as India-
U.K. Extradition Treaty allows a wanted person to seek several guarantees before being extradited.
Turnaround plan from public sector banks mandatory for

capital infusion
The Finance Ministry has written to 10 public sector banks making it clear that the lenders would only get
further capital infusion once they submit a time-bound turnaround plan.
The Centre wrote to the state-owned lenders last week stipulating that the banks would each have to sign a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government, agreeing to stick to the turnaround plan.
The government wants 10 public sector banks to turn around in the next three years.
Page 52
The governments move to crack the whip on lenders comes after some banks had reported losses in the
financial year 2015-16 as well as for the nine-month period of the current financial year.
Bad loans zoomed following the Reserve Bank of Indias asset quality review, which required banks to classify
many accounts identified by the banking regulator as bad.
The RBI had said at the time that it wanted to clean up banks balance sheets by March 2017.
In its financial stability report, RBI had said banks may remain risk averse in the near future as they clean up
their balance sheets and their capital position may remain insufficient to support higher credit growth.
According to RBI data, gross non-performing assets of commercial banks increased to 9.1% of their gross
advances as of September 2016, from 5.1% a year earlier. Public sector banks share a disproportionate
burden of this stress.
The government is set to change a four-decade-old definition

of blindness
The government is set to change a four-decade-old definition of blindness to bring it in line with the
WHO criteria and ensure that the Indian data on blindness meets the global estimates.
As defined under the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), a person unable to count
fingers from a distance of six metres is categorised as blind in India, against the WHOs stipulation
of three metres.
We will bring the definition of blindness at par with the WHOs criteria. Because of the current
definition, we project a higher figure of blind people from India at any international forum. Thus India
gets presented in a poor light compared to other countries.
Also, she said, the data we generate under the programme cannot be compared with the global
estimates as other countries are following the WHO criteria.
Property will have a unique ID

Soon, your property will have a 10-digit unique ID.
The number,which will be geo-referenced with the latitude and longitude of the property, will replace
your existing PID number.
Page 53
Civil nuclear agreement between India and U.S. still in doubt

More than two years after India and the U.S. announced that the civil nuclear deal was done, its
actual operationalisation is in doubt over a number of developments.
According to the agreement over liability issues and the negotiations that followed former U.S.
President's visit to India in January 2015 and PM's visit to Washington in June 2016.
Two sides had agreed to work toward finalising the contractual arrangements by June 2017 for six
reactors to be built in Andhra Pradesh by Toshiba-owned Westinghouse and the Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
When completed, this was to be the first operationalisation of the Indo-U.S. civil nuclear deal, and
proof that both sides have effectively sorted out all their issues, including over the liability that
suppliers must accept in the event of an accident.
The reason for the concern is that the Indo-U.S. nuclear arrangement hinged on two major factors
the completion of the India-Japan Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA).
While the NCA was signed in Tokyo in November 2016, it is yet to be ratified by the Japanese Diet
(Parliament).
SC says using Aadhaar is a voluntary excercise

Supreme Court said obtaining the 12-digit Unique Identification number, which requires the holder to
part with his personal bio-metric data, and using it to avail himself of government subsidy was a
voluntary exercise.
The courts observations follows a series of recent government circulars making Aadhaar mandatory
to access welfare schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
and Employees Pension Scheme.
The government has made Aadhaar compulsory for beneficiaries, many from the poorest of the poor,
despite a Constitution Bench of the court directing the government in October 2015 that a citizen
cannot be compelled to have Aadhaar as a pre-condition to access Centrally sponsored welfare
schemes.
In short, the court had made it clear that the government was not free to discriminate between a
person who has the Aadhaar card and one who does not.
Page 54
However, a Bench found no fault with the governments choice to make Aadhaar mandatory for non-
welfare activities like opening a bank account or filing Income Tax returns or applying for a mobile
connection.
The recently-passed Finance Bill made Aadhaar mandatory for filing tax returns and getting a
permanent account number (PAN).
The courts observations came during a mentioning for an early date for hearing pending petitions
raising the issue of Aadhaar as a violation of the citizen's privacy. The court, however, did not agree
for an out-of-turn hearing.
The monsoon is likely to be below normal in 2017, says

Skymet
The monsoon is likely to be below normal in 2017, says Skymet, a private weather forecasting
company.
The rains from June to September are likely to be 95% (with an error margin of 5%) of the long
period average (LPA) of 887 mm.
Gujarat, Konkan, Goa, central Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu will get rainfall below
their normal quota. The chances of drought, or rains below 10% of the seasonal quota, are about
25%.
Over the past three months, international weather models have been warning of an El Nino,
characterised by the warming surface waters in the equatorial Pacific, during the latter part of the
year, which is known to cause poor rainfall six out of 10 times.
However, a favourable form of a current in the Indian Ocean, called the Indian Ocean dipole, is
widely expected to counter the effects of the El Nino during the monsoon.
Greater clarity on this will emerge only after April, say forecasters of the India Meteorological
Department (IMD). The IMDs estimate is expected next month.
At present, the IOD is in the neutral phase, but weather models are indicating that it may become
positive during the second half of the monsoon.
By then, the El Nino might also start reflecting its position, which, as per weather models, has over a
60% chance of coming into existence.
Page 55
Pre-monsoon rain would be less during April, eventually leading to intense heating of the land mass,
and will likely pick up pace during May, a Skymet press statement said.
SC says Centre should address the serious issue of farmers

suicide
The Supreme Court said the Centre should address the serious issue of farmers taking their own
lives and implement a comprehensive policy to be adopted by the State governments for preventing
the tragedy.
Additional Solicitor General P.S. Narasimha said the government was coming up with a
comprehensive policy to address the problems of the farmers.
He said now the government was directly procuring food grains from the farmers at the minimum
support price and they did not need to take the help of middlemen or market.
Insurance cover has been increased for the farmers. Earlier, it was for those who took agriculture
loan but now it has been extended to all the farmers.
Blood test diagnoses active TB cases with high sensitivity

In a marked departure from the current methods for active TB diagnosis that are based on the
presence of live bacteria in sputum samples, a rapid blood test that relies on two proteins for
diagnosis and quantification of the severity of active TB has shown promise.
The blood test accurately detects minute levels of two biomarkers CFP-10 and ESAT-6 that TB
bacteria release only during active infections.
In a pilot study, the new blood test was able to diagnose active TB cases with high sensitivity and
specificity. It was able to diagnose active TB even in people co-infected with HIV.
It was able to diagnose both pulmonary and extra-pulmonary TB cases with high sensitivity over
91% in the case of culture-positive pulmonary TB (PTB) and above 92% extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB).
And 82% in culture-negative PTB and 75% in EPTB in HIV-positive patients. In the case of HIV
coinfected cases, the sensitivity was 87.5% for PTB and 85.7% for EPTB cases.
Obtaining sputum samples is not always easy and is particularly difficult in the case of little children.
Biopsy samples are needed in the case of EPTB cases.
Page 56
Even Gene Xpert, introduced a few years ago to improve sensitivity and specificity, relies on sputum
samples, and as per a 2014 WHO update, Xpert has very low quality evidence for EPTB diagnosis.
Bipin Rawat, to be conferred the honorary title of General of

the Nepalese Army
The Chief of the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, will be conferred the honorary title of General of
the Nepalese Army during his ongoing visit to the Himalayan country.
Gen. Rawat is on an official visit to Nepal and Bangladesh from March 28 to April 2, his first foreign
visit after assuming office.
The President of Nepal, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, will confer the title of Honorary General of the
Nepalese Army to Gen. Rawat at an investiture ceremony.
General Rajendra Chettri, the Chief of the Nepalese Army, was conferred the title of Honorary
General of the Indian Army on February 3 during his first visit to India after assuming office.
This tradition, a reciprocal arrangement to honour each others Army chiefs with the honorary titles,
has been continuing uninterrupted since it began in 1969.
During his visit to Nepal and Bangladesh, Gen. Rawat will be visiting several important military
installations and meeting high-ranking dignitaries, including the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and
the Chief of the Army Staff.
A delegation led by Gen. Rawat will visit the Nepalese Army Mountain Warfare School at Jomsom
and the Pension Paying office at Pokhra.
From Nepal, Gen Rawat will proceed to Bangladesh, where he will meet the President, the Prime
Minister and the Chief of the Bangladesh Army.
Large brain sizes in primates may have been a result of their

diverse diet
Large brain sizes in primates may have been a result of their diverse diet, which included fruits and
vegetables, rather than living complex social lives, scientists have found.
These results call into question the social brain hypothesis, which has posited that humans and
primates are big-brained due to factors pertaining to social living.
Page 57
The findings reinforce the notion that human and primate brain evolution may be driven by
differences in feeding rather than in socialisation.
Researchers examined more than 140 primate species or more than three times as many as
previous studies and incorporated more recent evolutionary trees, or phylogenies.
They took into account food consumption across the studied species folivores (leaves), frugivores
(fruit), frugivores/folivores, and omnivores and several measures of sociality, such as group size,
social system, and mating system.
Results showed that brain size is predicted by diet rather than by the various measures of sociality
after controlling for body size and phylogeny.
Pellet guns may be used by security forces in Valley to

disperse rioters
The government informed the Lok Sabha that pellet guns may be used by security forces in the
Kashmir Valley to disperse rioters if other alternatives failed.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said the government constituted
a committee of experts on July 26, 2016 to consider non-lethal alternatives to pellet guns.
The committee has submitted its report, and the recommendations have been taken into account ...
for appropriate implementation, he said.
...the government has decided that the security forces will resort to various measures such as
PAVA-chilli [shells and grenades], Stun Lac [shells and grenades] and tear-smoke shells to disperse
rioters.
However, if these measures prove to be ineffective ... the use of pellet guns may be resorted to, he
said.
The Supreme Court asked the Centre to come up with alternatives to pellet guns used by security
forces against agitators and stone-throwing mobs on the streets of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Mental Health Bill passed in the Lok Sabha

The Mental Health Bill passed in the Lok Sabha after almost a six-year-long wait is expected to
revive the way mental illnesses are dealt with in the country.
Page 58
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While the Bill has been termed as progressive by the fraternity, a particular clause that emphasises
on advanced directive from the patient has been debated widely.
Bill has a clause that mandates the government to increase the number of mental health workers. It
also talks about free access to medication from the levels of Community Health Centres (CHCs) and
above.
The Bill prohibits Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) for minors. In adults, ECT can be given only
after the use of anaesthesia or muscle relaxant.
While this therapy is used by few medical practitioners who are rooted to age old treatments,
retaining ECT in the Bill has not gone down well with many progressive doctors who dont believe in
this therapy.
The Bill also restricts medical institutions from chaining patients or keeping them in seclusion.
The Bill states that a mentally-ill person shall have the right to make an advance directive that states
how he wants to be treated and who his nominated representative shall be.
The Bill further adds that the advance directive has to be certified by a medical practitioner or
someone registered with the Mental Health Board.
If a mental health professional/ relative/care-giver does not wish to follow the directive while treating
the person, he can make an application to the Mental Health Board to review/alter/cancel the
advance directive.
The Bill empowers every person to access mental healthcare and treatment from services run or
funded by the government. The right to access mental health care includes affordable, good quality
of and easy access to services.
In another progressive step, the Bill has made it mandatory for insurance companies to cover
hospitalisation due to mental disorders.
The Centre informed SC that appointment of Lokpal is not

possible now
The Centre informed the Supreme Court that appointment of the anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal,
is not possible now.
Page 59
Amendments to the Lokpal law, concerning the substitution of the LoP with the leader of the single
largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha on the high-power Lokpal selection committee, is still
pending with Parliament.
The committee comprises the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker, LoP and the Chief Justice of India
or a SC judge as per the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act of 2013. But the 16th Lok Sabha has no
recognised LoP.
Mr. Rohatgi said the implementation of the Lokpal law would remain in limbo till Parliament allowed
the single largest opposition party leader to take the place of the LoP in the latters absence.
The court reserved the case for pronouncement of judgment. During the hearing, Mr. Rohatgi said
Parliament may discuss the amendment in the Monsoon session along with other ones in the Lokpal
Bill.
The SC had earlier criticised the government for dragging its feet. on the appointment of Lokpal to
usher in probity in public life.
IMD sends warning to states about Heat waves

IMD forecast above normal temperatures this summer in Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and
Telangana.
The summer forecast is in line with a generally warm trend over previous months; 2016 was the
warmest year in a century, according to the IMD, with the country 0.91 C warmer than the 1961-1990
average.
The summer months of March-May last year were 1.36 C higher than the historical average, making
it the second warmest since 1901. The higher temperatures coincide with three, consecutive years of
weak monsoons.
IMD said that prevailing winds & clear sky conditions over northwest & adjoining central India has
led to heat wave conditions in West Rajasthan & Gujarat and at isolated places over West Madhya
Pradesh.
Delhi was already 7 C hotter than whats normal for the last week of March.
Page 60
Health of the citizen is more important than the commercial

interests says SC
The health of the citizen is more important than the commercial interests of the automobile industry,
the Supreme Court observed and ordered a freeze on the registration and sale of BS-III fuel
compliant vehicles.
From April 1, 2017, such vehicles that are not BS-IV compliant shall not be sold in India by any
manufacturer or dealer, that is to say that such vehicles, whether two-wheeler, 3-wheeler, 4-wheeler
or commercial vehicles will not be sold.
The court further prohibited registration of vehicles meeting BS-III standards on and from April 1.
All the vehicle registering authorities under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, are prohibited from
registering such vehicles on and from April 1, 2017, that do not meet BS-IV emission standards.
The seminal issue is whether the sale and registration and therefore, the commercial interests of
manufacturers and dealers of such vehicles that do not meet the Bharat Stage-IV emission standards
as on April 1, 2017.
It takes primacy over the health hazard due to increased air pollution of millions of our countrymen
and women. The answer is quite obvious.
Delhi LG asked AAP to give 97 crore used for self promotion in

govt ads
Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal directed Chief Secretary to recover Rs. 97 crore from the AAP for self-
promotion through government advertisements in alleged violation of Supreme Court guidelines.
The advertisements range from those which were published outside the territory of Delhi to those
mentioning the name of the party, publicising the views of its functionaries on development in other
states and those which targeted the opposition.
Mr. Baijals orders were based on a report by a three-member committee headed by former Chief
Election Commissioner B.B Tandon.
The committee was constituted by the Union Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on the
directions of the Supreme Court.
Page 61
India took historic step towards implementing a new,

consolidated GST
In a historic step towards implementing a new, consolidated indirect tax regime from the proposed
date of July 1, the Lok Sabha passed four Bills, relating to the implementation of the GST, following a
marathon nine-hour long debate.
The Lower House passed the Central GST Bill, Integrated GST Bill, GST Compensation Bill, and the
Union Territory GST Bills.
The fifth GST legislation, the State GST Bill, will need to be passed by the legislative assemblies of
each of the States and Union Territories with legislature.
The passage of the Bills followed a day-long debate in the Lok Sabha, in which Opposition leaders
raised several objections such as the disempowerment of Parliament in setting tax rates.
The reduction in the fiscal autonomy of the States, why there are several tax rates when the principle
is to be of one nation, one tax, and the need for the levy of additional cesses.
The recommendation of the rates will come from the Council. But the Council has two-thirds voting
by the States and one-third by the Centre. The GST Council has been given the power to only make
a recommendation regarding the model law.
The new TB vaccine (VPM1002) to be tested

In June this year, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India Pvt. Limited will begin a Phase II/III
vaccine trial for tuberculosis using a novel, recombinant BCG (bacillus Calmette-Gurin) vaccine.
The double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised trial will be carried out on 2,000 adults who have
been successfully treated (and cured) for TB. While 1,000 adults will receive the vaccine, the
remaining volunteers will receive a placebo.
A single dose of the vaccine will be administered, and the volunteers will be followed up for a year.
The trial will be conducted in 15-17 centres across the country.
The new TB vaccine (VPM1002), which will be tested, is based on the BCG vaccine that is in use.
However, it is more powerful and efficacious as it contains a gene, better recognised by the immune
system.
The vaccine will be first administered in 200 volunteers to test its safety. If there are no safety
concerns, the trial will continue in the remaining 1,800 volunteers, he says.
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The safety of the vaccine has already been tested in two Phase I trials 80 adults in Germany
(2009) and 24 in South Africa (2010) and one Phase 2a trial in South Africa in 2012 in 48
newborns who have not been exposed to HIV.
The results of the Phase 2a trial in newborns in South Africa, published in February this year in
Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, has confirmed the safety of the vaccine.
A new Road Accident Data Recording and Reporting Format

has been rolled out
A new Road Accident Data Recording and Reporting Format has been rolled out by the Ministry of
Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) with a view to moving closer towards an accurate,
consistent, and objective road accident database.
Besides, the comprehensive recording and reporting format, to be executed by all States and Union
Territories, is aimed at bringing out the underlying real cause of the road accident so that
stakeholders can take corrective and preventive steps.
The recording format, to be filled in by the police at the site of the accident, has five sections
specifically to record primary data on road accidents (and not to replace the FIR), capturing the
actual circumstances of the accident.
The five sections are: accident identification details, road-related details, vehicles involved in
accident, drivers details, and persons other than drivers involved in accident.
A committee, including experts from the IIT Delhi, IIT Khargapur, senior officers from the Police and
Transport Departments of States, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, WHO, and officers of
MoRTH, drafted the uniform recording format, which has been accepted by the Ministry.
As many as 55 indices, including weather condition, GPS location, surface condition of road, road
type, speed limit, visibility at the time of accident, physical divider, ongoing road works, and use of
safety device, have been incorporated in the new recording form.
Attack on African nationals in Greater Noida took a diplomatic

turn
The attack on African nationals in Greater Noida took a diplomatic turn after Nigeria summoned the
Indian envoy and demanded immediate action against the culprits.
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The summon, a rare occurrence in Indias bilateral ties with any African nation, happened even as
India gave an assurance that the perpetrators would be punished while the Rajya Sabha condemned
the attacks.
Mr Enikanolaiye, the senior-most diplomat of Nigeria, demanded that the perpetrators be prosecuted
so that future attackers are deterred from carrying out similar assaults.
Indias assured of tough action saying that the law of the land would take its course.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, speaking in the Rajya Sabha, said a probe had been
ordered and once this probe is over, action will be taken as per its findings.
Official spokesperson Gopal Baglay stopped short of terming the attack as racist and said the motive
behind the attack was being investigated.
Lok Sabha cleared the finance Bill after it rejected five

amendments of Rajya sabha
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley invited suggestions from the Opposition for clean and transparent
funding of political parties, as the Lok Sabha cleared the finance Bill after it rejected five amendments
recommended by the Rajya Sabha.
Opposition MPs accused the government of riding roughshod over Parliament over what they termed
some draconian provisions in the Bill.
The Rajya Sabhas amendments pertained to deleting the provisions relating to powers given to
taxmen to requisition books of account, power to survey and other such discretionary powers.
The Upper House had also approved that there should be a cap of 7.5% of net profit of the last three
financial years for donation to political parties.
It had also approved an amendment asking for the disclosure of donor names to political parties.
These amendments were rejected in the Lok Sabha.
Rajya Sabha had approved the deletion of Clause 51 of Section 132a of the Income Tax Act
which deals with powers to taxmen for requisition of books of accounts. It was a direct assault on the
right of individual.
Bhartruhari Mahtab of the Biju Janata Dal sought to know since when was there a provision in the
Income Tax Act, 1961, that the person whose House was being searched, or raided was disclosed
the reason.
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Mr. Mahtab also questioned whether political parties should run with funding from the corporate
sector. The floodgates would be opened for corporate funding for political purposes, he said.
Predictions by astrologers and analysts on results cannot be

published says EC
Predictions by astrologers, tarot readers and political analysts on results cannot be published or
broadcast by the media, bypassing the Representation of the People Act provision.
Provision bars exit polls during the conduct of elections, according to an Election Commission
advisory issued.
The EC observed that despite its notification prohibiting exit polls from February 4 till March 9
evening, some TV channels aired programmes projecting the number of seats likely to be won by
political parties in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
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International Issue
U.S. President called for adopting a merit-based immigration
system
U.S. President called for adopting a merit-based immigration system that could benefit high-tech professionals
from countries like India, modifying his hard-line campaign rhetoric with a promise to revive the American spirit
Mr. Trump, during his first address to Congress, noted that nations around the world, like Canada, Australia
and many others have a merit-based immigration system.
He said that such a system will save countless dollars and raise workers wages. He introduced the idea of a
meritbased immigration system after invoking the memory and words of late.
Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration, he said.
Sri Lanka to co-sponsor Human Rights Council session

Even as Sri Lanka prepares to co-sponsor a UN resolution at the ongoing Human Rights Council session,
seeking more time to fulfil its obligations, the countrys Tamil leadership has called for a time-table and strict
monitoring of government initiatives.
Currently working on a draft with the U.S., the U.K. and Montenegro, Sri Lanka will soon submit a resolution
that, it hopes, will give an extended deadline for the war-battered country to implement promises it made in
2015.
However, the countrys main Tamil political alliance has expressed disappointment over the governments
failure to fulfil its obligations in the last 18 months.
In October 2015, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution that Sri Lanka co-sponsored, calling for a
credible judicial process to probe the islands civil war excesses.
Sri Lanka assured the international community of a four-pillar approach to address truth, reconciliation,
accountability and non-recurrence.
While the governments apparently slow-paced efforts have made minority Tamils anxious, its attempt to draft a
new Constitution has hit a roadblock without adequate consensus among various political actors.
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UN criticised Sri Lankas slow progress in addressing wartime

crimes
Reports of abuses including torture remain widespread in Sri Lanka eight years after the end of a decades-long
civil war, the UN said, criticising the governments slow progress in addressing wartime crimes.
Sri Lankas President MaithripalaSirisena swept to power two years ago promising justice for the minority Tamil
community and a full investigation into alleged atrocities committed under the leadership of his predecessor.
But UN rights chief ZeidRaad Al Hussein said the island had made worryingly slow progress in addressing its
wartime past, warning this could threaten lasting peace and stability.
It pointed to the islands own Human Rights Commissions acknowledgement of complaints illustrating the
routine use of torture by the police throughout the country as a means of interrogation and investigation.
At least 1,00,000 people died in the conflict between Tamil separatists and government forces that ended in
2009.
The UN has been pushing for a special court to investigate allegations that government forces killed up to
40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of fighting.
Mr. Sirisena had agreed to a UN Human Rights Council resolution in October 2015 which called for special
tribunals and reparations for victims and gave Sri Lanka 18 months to establish credible investigations.
But the deadline lapsed without those commitments being met. The UN said coalition politics in the unity
government Mr. Sirisena formed after ousting former strongman leader MahindaRajapaksa were likely to
blame for the slow pace of progress.
In its report, the UN urged the government to prioritise the return of private land occupied by the military, adopt
laws allowing the creation of a hybrid court, and invite the UN rights office to establish a presence in the
country.
US temporarily banned travel from six Muslim-majority

countries
The Donald Trump administration issued a new executive order, temporarily banning travel from six Muslim-
majority countries to the U.S, after an earlier order ran foul of the countrys judiciary.
The new executive order bans travel from six countries Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen,
leaving out Iraq among countries that was in the earlier orders list.
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In an attempt to pass the judicial scrutiny, the order says that current visa and green card holders from these
countries will not be affected.
It also explains the basis for including the six countries, trying to remedy a lacuna in the earlier version.
Further, it avoids the preferential treatment offered to Christian refugees in the earlier order.
The new order will not come into effect until March 16, in contrast to the earlier order that became effective
immediately.
There will be a 90-day ban on the issuance of new visas for citizens of these six countries, and the refugee
programme will be suspended for 120 days.
The number of refugees to be admitted this year has been reduced to 50,000 from the 1,10,000 cap set by the
Obama administration.
The order said each of the six countries was either a state sponsor of terrorism, has been significantly
compromised by terrorist organisations or contains active conflict zones.
It also gives country-wise details, justifying the inclusion of each and also explains the exclusion of Iraq.
Iraqi forces advanced in west Mosul

Iraqi forces advanced in west Mosul and fighters in Syria seized a key supply route to Raqqa as twin U.S.-
backed offensives gained ground against the Islamic State (IS) group.
Supported by the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition, Iraqi government forces and a Kurdish-Arab alliance in Syria are
battling to push the jihadists from Mosul and Raqqa, the last two major urban centres under their control.
In Iraq, security forces advanced towards a compound of jihadist-held government buildings and a bridgehead.
In Syria, U.S.-backed forces on Monday cut off a key supply route between IS stronghold Raqqa and the
groups territory in Deir Ezzor province.
UN says South Sudan faces a risk of cleansing based on

ethinicity
A United Nations report describes South Sudan as teetering on the edge of genocide and experiencing ethnic
cleansing.
The report blames security forces for violations and warns that if no one is held to account, the viability of
South Sudan ... will be stymied.
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Commonwealth is launching an initiative to help tackle

domestic violence
The Commonwealth is launching an initiative to help member states tackle domestic violence, which it said
remained a stubborn stain on communities, disproportionately impacting women.
The Peace in the home programme will include toolkits to help governments across the Commonwealth
involve multiple agencies such as schools, doctors and hospitals, as well as government.
Law enforcement agencies to work together effectively, and will help countries highlight and share details of
initiatives that had been particularly successful at dealing with domestic violence.
There will also be a mentoring programme for women, and an initiative to address the issue of violence around
elections and politics.
The programme, which is being launched on Womens Day, will continue through to 2018, when there is
expected to be an accord on ending domestic violence in the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth initiative will build a coalition of governments, businesses, human rights institutions, civil
society and individual citizens to choral our efforts to address domestic violence.
China came up with formula to defuse Korean Peninsula crisis

China proposed a double suspension formula to defuse the crisis on the Korean Peninsula as part of its new
assertive approach to shoulder greater global responsibilities within the framework of the UN.
As a first step, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) may suspend its nuclear and missile
activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) military exercises,
Chinese Foreign Minister said.
This will help the parties to break out of the security dilemma and return to the negotiating table, he observed.
The Chinese Foreign Minister compared the missile tests of the North and the joint drills across the border in
South Korea to two accelerating trains coming toward each other.
Mr. Wang stressed that the DPRK and the U.S. were the main parties to the nuclear issue on the Korean
Peninsula, but as a next-door neighbour with a lips-and-teeth relationship with the Peninsula, Chinas role in
the resolution of the issue was indispensable.
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At a time when the U.S. appeared to be looking inwards, the Chinese Minister affirmed that his country would
champion inclusive globalisation, within the framework of the UN.
He said President Xi Jinpings January visit to international organisations had sent out a clear message that
China strongly supported multilateralism, along with its abiding commitment to the UN-centred multilateral
system.
In his free-wheeling annual press conference that lasted nearly two hours, Mr. Wang signalled Beijings support
for a trilateral relationship among China, Russia and the United States.
There will be no changes in the H-1B visa programme for

skilled temporary workers
There will be no changes in the H-1B visa programme for skilled temporary foreign workers before this years
selection process kicks off on April 1, the White House indicated.
The U.S. admits 85,000 people on H-1B visas every year, through a lottery process that begins with the filing of
applications on April 1.
President Donald Trump was focused on dealing with illegal immigration at the moment and the overall revamp
of the immigration process will come subsequently.
While Mr. Trumps preference for merit-based immigration as opposed to family-linked immigration could be
seen as beneficial for Indian tech workers, any direct correlation could be misleading.
Mr. Trump has spoken about merit-based immigration throughout his campaign, even while opposing
immigrant workers allegedly undercutting or replacing American workers.
Neither Mr. Trump nor his advisers believe the H-1B programme is merit-based, going by their public
statements so far.
Mr. Spicer had earlier said the administration was considering executive and legislative actions to overhaul the
H-1B programme.
While no measure is expected before the beginning of this years processing season, there could be changes
later in the year.
Top on the administrations priority is work permit for spouses of H-1B visa holders, which was introduced
through an executive action by the Obama administration.
Commonwealth trade summit concluded
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Commonwealth trade summit concluded on Friday as Ministers from across the bloc committed to boosting
intra-Commonwealth trade in the face of the growing clamour for protectionism globally.
India, meanwhile, announced a summit on trade amongst Commonwealth SMEs (Small and medium-sized
enterprises) in May.
The meeting of SMEs from across the Commonwealth, an initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the
Ministry of Commerce, will take place in New Delhi.
One of the ideas being considered is that of a Commonwealth ambassador, who will be commissioned to
identify tangible ways in which trade among Commonwealth nations could be promoted and raised to around
$1 trillion.
The role would lie within the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, headed by Lord Marland, who
also hopes that a Commonwealth Accord is achievable.
The accord is a standard of rules based on the shared experiences, rules and regulations that could be
subscribed to, and which, Lord Marland added, would help SMEs looking to enter new markets.
The trade meeting has gained increased significance as the United Kingdom seeks to increase its trade links
beyond the European Union, while India also looks at the Commonwealth with renewed focus.
Japanese and U.S. navies are conducting joint exercises in the

East China Sea
The Japanese and U.S. navies are conducting joint exercises in the East China Sea as tension intensifies in
the region following North Koreas missile tests.
The two sides launched the drill earlier this week, involving Japanese destroyers and a U.S. Navy carrier strike
group, the Sankei Shimbun daily and Kyodo News said, quoting unnamed Japanese and U.S. government
sources.
The Sankei said the drill was aimed at issuing a warning against nuclear-armed North Korea.
But is added the exercise was also meant to display the joint Japan-U.S. military presence in the East China
Sea, where Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets.
In Japan they are known as the Senkakus, while China claims then as the Diaoyus.
Chemical attack possibility in Iraq
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Red Cross issued a statement condemning in the strongest possible terms the use of chemical weapons in
Mosul, the second largest city of Iraq where the Iraqi troops have been fighting the IS terrorist group for over
four months.
The Red Cross said seven people, including children, with symptoms consistent with an exposure to a toxic
chemical agent were being treated at a hospital in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
According to WHO, and authorities at the West Erbil Emergency Hospital, the symptoms, such as blisters,
redness in the eyes, irritation, vomiting and coughing, are that of chemical attacks.
Who is behind the assault The needle of suspicion points to the IS. The attack happened in the eastern part of
Mosul, which has for weeks been under the Iraqi troops control. The city has been divided into east and west
by the Tigris river.
When the Iraqi troops began the battle for Mosul in October 2016, they started by attacking the eastern
suburbs of the city, slowing making moves into the ISs power centres.
This is not the first time the IS has been accused of using chemical weapons. In September and October last
year, IS fighters launched at least three chemical attacks in Qayyarah, 60 km south of Mosul.
The attacks came after the town was recaptured by Iraqi troops. They caused painful burns to at least seven
people consistent with exposure to low levels of a chemical warfare agent known as vesicants, or blister
agents.
Chlorine is commercially available as an industrial chemical, and terrorist groups often use it to make bombs.
But its not clear from where IS got sulfur mustard, a chemical warfare agent.
It is believed that the IS is involved in its production. In January, when the Iraqi troops recaptured Mosul
University from IS, they found chemistry labs had been converted into makeshift weapons labs.
Referendum on Scottish independence on the cards

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will ask the Scottish Parliament for authority next week for a second
referendum on Scottish independence.
Ms. Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, said that Scotland needed to be given the choice about the
kind of country we want to be, between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019.
While the 2014 referendum on independence was pegged as a once in a generation, the issue of
independence resurfaced in the wake of last Junes referendum, when Scotland voted overwhelmingly (62%)
to remain in the EU.
Page 72
In December, the Scottish government published a white paper Scotlands Place in Europe calling for the
U.K. to either remain in the single market or commit to an outcome that would enable Scotland to remain within
it.
Ms. Sturgeons announcement comes sooner than expected, marking a dramatic twist of events as the
government prepares to trigger Brexit.
The bill that would authorise the government to trigger talks on leaving the EU has returned to the House of
Commons and was set to be voted on Monday evening.
She added that the suggested timetable between 2018 and 2019 was to ensure that voters were able to
make as informed a choice as possible, as the shape of the Brexit deal became clear. Leaving it to after Britain
left the EU would make it difficult for Scotland that could face a lengthy period outside the EU.
Any effort by Westminster to block it from taking place would be like the government attempting to attempts to
puncture Scotlands life-boat, having sunk the ship.
While 55.3% of Scottish voters opted to remain in the U.K. in the 2014 independence referendum, recent polls
have suggested that gap has narrowed.
U.K. Houses of Parliament passed the Brexit bill

British Prime Minister Theresa May scored a parliamentary victory as both Houses of Parliament passed the
Brexit bill unamended, leaving her free to trigger Article 50 by the end of March as planned.
There had been speculation that Brexit talks could be triggered, but it is now expected to take place at the end
of month, following a meeting of EU heads of governments in Rome on March 25.
The legislation on Brexit has made rapid progress through the Houses of Parliament from late January.
The Brexit bill first made it through the House of Commons unchallenged, but peers in the House of Lords were
successful in introducing two amendments guaranteeing the right to remain of EU citizens in the U.K.
However, when the bill was returned to the House of Commons, these clauses were removed, and the House
of Lords subsequently chose not to make another challenge, passing the bill by a majority of 274 to 118.
The lack of any amendment to the original legislation means that the government will be able to commence
Brexit talks along the lines outlined by Prime Minister Theresa May in January and in a subsequent white
paper.
Pakistan is planning to declare Gilgit-Baltistan region as its

fifth Province
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Pakistan is planning to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region as its fifth Province, a move that may raise
concerns in India as it borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Pakistans Minister for inter-provincial coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told Geo TV that a committee headed
by Advisor of Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving the status of a Province to Gilgit-Baltistan.
He also said that a constitutional amendment would be made to change the status of the region, through which
the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passes.
Gilgit-Baltistan is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan. It has a regional Assembly and an
elected Chief Minister.
It is believed that Chinas concerns about its unsettled status prompted the move, which could signal a historic
shift in the countrys position on the future of the wider Kashmir region.
Military action against North Korea an option for U.S.

Military action by the United States against nuclear-armed North Korea is an option on the table if the threat
from the rogue regime escalates, Washingtons top diplomat Rex Tillerson said.
The strong comments from the Secretary of State, in Asia for his first foray into crisis management, appear to
signal a sea change in American policy towards the isolated country.
Mr. Tillersons tour comes after a missile launch last week that Pyongyang described as a drill for an attack on
U.S. bases in Japan.
The U.S. has 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea to defend it from the North, but the capital Seoul is within
range of Pyongyangs artillery and analysts believe any conflict could risk rapid escalation and heavy
casualties.
Mr. Tillerson announced the end of United States strategic patience the stance of the previous
administration under Barack Obama. Under that previous policy.
the U.S. ruled out diplomatic engagement with the North until it made a tangible commitment to
denuclearisation, hoping that internal stresses in the isolated country would bring about change.
Russias deputy Foreign Minister called for an end to a vicious circle of tough U.S. reactions to nuclear tests
by Pyongyang, which in turn further escalate tensions on the peninsula.
Mr. Tillersons said in Tokyo that 20 years of efforts to denuclearise the North had failed and promised a new
approach, without giving specifics.
Page 74
Mr. Tillerson will head to Beijing to press it to do more. Beijing shares U.S. concerns, but has also blamed
Washington for escalating tensions.
The issue is also made more complicated by the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense
anti-missile system to South Korea.
Finance ministers of G-20 dropped an anti-protectionist pledge

Finance ministers from the worlds biggest economies dropped an anti-protectionist pledge and a vow on
action against climate change after Washington refused to sign up to the commitment.
After a two-day meeting, ministers from G20 developed and developing nations said they were working to
strengthen the contribution of trade to our economies but failed to spell out a pledge to reject protectionism.
The conspicuous omission came amid a push by U.S. President Donald Trump to pursue an America First"
policy that includes penalising companies that manufacture abroad by heavily taxing their products.
Official date for triggering Brexit is Mar 29

The British government is set to officially kick-start the process of exiting the European Union next week. A
spokesperson for Downing Street confirmed that the process would commence on March 29.
Britain would be the first country in the EU to trigger Article 50 a section of the Lisbon Treaty that sets out
how a member state could commence the process.
A country will cease to be a member of the EU two years after the triggering of Article 50 unless it reaches an
agreement with the European Council to extend that period.
Triggering of Article 50 will take place after a crucial meeting of European heads of government in Rome, for
the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties at which leaders are expected to adopt a declaration on their vision
for the future of the union.
Britain has set out the parameters of what it hopes to negotiate in a white paper earlier this year, making it
clear that it plans to end freedom of movement from the EU and would be willing to end its membership of the
single market, and the European customs union to achieve this end.
The announcement of the timing for triggering Article 50 is likely to offer markets and businesses, preparing for
Britains exit, a degree of certainty.
UN releases World Happiness report 2017

A chilly climate isnt keeping Norway from basking in the glow of being named the worlds happiest country.
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It surged from fourth place in last years UN assessment all the way to the top spot, according to the World
Happiness Report 2017. Other top countries on the list included Nordic neighbours Denmark and Iceland, as
well as nearby Switzerland.
All of the top four countries rank highly on all the main factors found to support happiness: caring, freedom,
generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance, the summary explained.
Rounding out the top 10 were Finland, in fifth place, the Netherlands (6), Canada (7), New Zealand (8), and
Australia and Sweden tied for 9th.
The entire top 10 were affluent, developed nations, although money is not the only ingredient for happiness,
the report said.
In fact, among the wealthier countries the differences in happiness levels had a lot to do with differences in
mental health, physical health and personal relationships: the biggest single source of misery is mental illness,
the report said.
Another major country, China, has made major economic strides in recent years. But its people are not happier
than 25 years ago, the report found. China ranked 79th in the study of 155 countries.
The World Happiness Report 2017 was released by the United Nations on the International Day of Happiness.
It is the fifth such report since the first was published in 2012.
Amul Thapar nominated to court of Appeals

Amul Thapar, an Indian-American legal luminary, was on Monday nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump
to a key judicial position on the Court of Appeals.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Thapar will be part of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears appeals
from Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan.
Sri Lankas persistent failure to probe war-era atrocities

condemned by UN
The UN rights chief condemned Sri Lankas persistent failure to probe war-era atrocities, suggesting that the
government was afraid of punishing soldiers who committed abuses during the conflict.
The criticism from ZeidRaad Al-Hussein is the latest volley in an escalating war of words between the United
Nations and Sri Lanka over impunity for crimes committed during the 37-year civil war, which ended in 2009.
Mr. Hussein and the council have called for international judges to help investigate possible war crimes to
guarantee impartiality.
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But earlier this month, Sri Lankan President MaithripalaSirisena rejected the appeal, saying he would not
allow non-governmental organisations to dictate how to run my government, nor heed calls to to prosecute
my troops.
Colombo has also asked the UN for two more years to set up a war-era probe, after Mr. Sirisenas government
agreed to the terms of an October 2015 UN resolution calling for an inquiry to be formed within 18 months.
At least 1,00,000 people were killed during the separatist war between government forces and rebels from the
Tamil Tigers group, with atrocities recorded by both sides.
China is in the middle of a complex diplomatic dance with

West Asia
China is in the middle of a complex diplomatic dance with West Asia, by engaging rivals such as Syria, Saudi
Arabia, Israel and Iran, all at the same time.
Visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an
innovative comprehensive partnership between both countries.
Chinas focus in the partnership is on maximising absorption of Israels technology in hi-tech and other
advanced domains.
That dovetails well with the Made in China-2025 strategy of transitioning Chinas manufacturing to the
advanced level by leveraging the Internet, Big Data and robotics among the key tools.
In that endeavour, China is pursuing the industry 4.0 model pioneered by Germany. In his remarks as
paraphrased by Xinhua, President Xi singled out innovation cooperation as the motor driving overall ties with
Israel.
Israel hopes to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative fast becoming a litmus test defining the health of
any nations ties with China.
With energy, and infrastructure investments by China as the centre, the two countries ended up signing
agreements and letters of intent worth around $65 billion involving investment, energy, space and other areas.
Closer ties with Riyadh have not diluted Chinas strong relationship with Iran, Saudi Arabias archrival,
highlighting Beijings non-zero sum approach to the region.
China and Russia have been active partners preventing regime change in Syria, which is also strongly
backed by Iran.
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It adds: Under such circumstances, China should continue its present stance and work firmly on economic
cooperation. To strengthen its economic power and partnership in a low-profile manner is the right strategy for
China's Middle East policy.
Three teams from engineering colleges in India ranked among

the top 16 across Asia
Three teams from engineering colleges in India ranked among the top 16 across Asia in terms of the energy
efficiency of their prototype vehicles in a competition held in Singapore over the last weekend.
The Shell Eco-marathon, held in Singapore for the first time this year, was a competition in which 123 college
teams across Asia competed in designing a fuel efficient prototype vehicle.
The winners were those whose vehicles covered the most distance on a single unit of fuel petrol, diesel,
battery power, or hydrogen fuel cell.
The best performance from an Indian team came from Team AVERERA from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Banaras Hindu University. The teams prototype vehicle covered 132 kilometres on one kilowatt-
hour of energy.
Team Panthera from the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, the only all-girls team in the
competition, could not take part in the competition, having failed to complete the mandatory technical
inspection prior to being allowed to go on the track.
Oil prices, slow global growth, ramping up private sector

investment are challenges
Uncertain oil prices, slow global growth, ramping up private sector investment and tackling banks non
performing assets or NPAs are the major challenges facing the government, Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley said.
The Centre will focus on building infrastructure on a war footing and spend on rural development, he said.
India will continue to grow at 7%-8% a year and remain the worlds fastest growing economy. A further
increase in the growth rate would be possible if the global economic recovery improves.
Khalifa Masood named as responsible for attack on

Westminster
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Khalid Masood, a lone, British-born attacker, who was known to police, was named as responsible for the
attack on Westminster. The attack left four persons, including the alleged assailant dead, and around 40 others
injured.
Details of the 52-year-old attacker, who had been known by a number of aliases, emerged, as reports
suggested that the Islamic State (IS) had claimed responsibility, describing the assailant, who was shot dead
just within the parliamentary security cordon, as one of its soldiers.
Masood was known for a range of offences dating back as early as 1983, when he was convicted for criminal
damage, the Metropolitan Police said.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Theresa May described Masood as a peripheral figure, who had been
investigated several years ago in connection to concerns about violent extremism.
Khalid Masood, considered a peripheral figure by MI5, had been arrested earlier for violent crimes. The attack
left four persons, including the alleged assailant dead, and around 40 others injured.
Sri Lanka gets two more years for accountability mechanism

for war crimes
Sri Lanka was given two more years to set up its accountability mechanism to probe alleged war crimes
committed during the 37-year civil war in the UNHRC resolution adopted in Geneva.
The Foreign Ministry here said that 36 more countries had co-sponsored the resolution which was adopted
without a vote.This was in addition to the original sponsors the U.S., U.K., Montenegro and Macedonia.
The new resolution requests the government to fully implement the measures identified in the resolution of
2015.
This includes engagement with special procedure mandate holders in protecting human rights, asking the
UNHRC to provide advice and technical assistance.
The two-year time has been allowed despite strong opposition from the Tamil lobby which cited inaction by the
government in showing genuine commitment to the resolution.
UN rights council had called for international judges to help investigate possible war crimes to guarantee
impartiality.
Trump administration wants extra security for certain groups

The Trump administration has instructed all its diplomatic missions worldwide to identify certain groups that
need extra scrutiny and adopt a rigorous vetting process for issuing visas.
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Those applying for an American visa, including tourist and business visas, would be asked to furnish details of
their employment and residence for the last 15 years and all the phone numbers they used in the previous five
years.
The cable was sent after President Donald Trump signed a revised executive order restricting travel from six
Muslim-majority Muslim countries on March 6.
The cable says additional protocols have been put in place to prevent the entry into the US of foreign nationals
who may aid, support or commit violent, criminal or terrorist acts and ensure that those allowed to come in are
rigorously vetted.
The classified cable asks all its overseas diplomatic posts to immediately draw a set of criteria for a rigorous
vetting process for issuing visas to foreign nationals.
It was not clear if the move will have any impact on Indians. The cable instructed visa issuing officers to ask
additional questions to the applicants.
It would also require the applicant to share with visa officer all phone numbers, emails and social media
accounts used in the last five years.
Meanwhile, the White House signalled that U.S. lawmakers will go ahead with a showdown vote on Friday on
the Republican plan to replace Obamacare, despite signs the bill may not have the votes to pass.
The U.S. President had earlier warned Republicans that he is done negotiating the bill and wants a vote,
warning that if the effort fails, his predecessors health care reforms will stand, lawmakers in an emergency
meeting said.
President Donald Trump faced the biggest blow yet to his

young presidency
President Donald Trump faced the biggest blow yet to his young presidency as his bid to repeal Obamacare
went down in flames at the hands of rebel Republican lawmakers.
Barely two months into his term, Mr. Trump was forced to withdraw an embattled Republican health care bill,
moments before a vote, leaving his campaign pledge to dismantle his predecessors health care reforms
unfulfilled.
The defeat showed the limits of Mr. Trumps power to deliver on an ambitious legislative agenda despite
Republican control of both houses of Congress.
On Mr. Trumps agenda are a major overhaul of the tax system and a bill to upgrade infrastructure like roads
and bridges.
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Mr. Trump had thrown his full political weight behind the measure, spending days arm-twisting recalcitrant
Republicans, and he declared himself disappointed by the defeat.
The bills defeat marked a second major policy setback for the new President, who has seen his attempt to
curb travel from Muslim-majority countries twice frozen by the courts.
British government wants access to encrypted messaging

applications
The British government said that its security services must have access to encrypted messaging applications
such as WhatsApp, revealing it was used by the killer behind the Parliament attack.
Khalid Masood, the 52-year-old Briton who killed four people before being shot dead in a rampage in
Westminster, reportedly used the Facebook-owned service moments before the assault.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd told Sky News it was completely unacceptable that police and security services
had not been able to crack the heavily encrypted service.
Police said that they still do not know why Masood, a Muslim convert with a violent criminal past, carried out
the attack and said it was likely that he acted alone, despite a claim by the Islamic State (IS).
End-to-end encryption was vital to cybersecurity, to ensure that business, banking and other transactions were
safe but it must also be accessible.
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Business & Economy

Centre gives nod to sell three SAIL plants
The Centre has approved outright sale of state-owned SAILs three special steel units, including the Salem and
Alloy Steel plants.
SAIL has now sought advisers, including legal and merchant bankers, to carry out the strategic sale along with
transfer of management control in the three steel plants Alloy Steels Plant, Salem Steel Plant and
Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant.
The Maharatna PSU is scouting for transaction advisers from professional consulting firms, investment
bankers and financial institutions to provide advisory services and manage the disinvestment process.
The transaction adviser will advise SAIL on the modalities and timing of the strategic disinvestment of the three
steel plants and prepare a detailed operational scheme to successfully implement the process, indicating
tentative timelines for each activity.
The firm will also finalise the process of strategic sale as to whether it will be done through bidding or auction
and assist SAIL in fixing the range of the fair reserve price, considering the valuation of the divesting plants.
The government has budgeted to raise Rs. 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment in 2017-18.
The Centre currently holds 75% stake in SAIL, which is the largest steel producer in India.
Centre is considering proposals to amend the definition of

start-up
The Centre is considering proposals to amend the definition of start-up in the policy and looking to review
applications seeking benefits of start-up policy which were rejected.
Provision in the Start-up India policy which states that for the purpose of claiming the benefits of the
government schemes, start-up means an entity, incorporated or registered in India:
(a) not prior to five years, (b) with annual turnover not exceeding Rs. 25 crore in any preceding financial year
and (c) working towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialisation of new products,
processes or services driven by technology or intellectual property.
He said the government would retain the criterion of innovation as it is deliberately kept in the policy to
differentiate between a traditional firm and a start-up.
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However, he added the government would consider suggestions on making the definition of start-up more
broad-based.
Entrepreneurs from the biotechnology and medical devices sectors have informed the government of the need
for relaxation of the five-year time period to eight or ten years.
He said there were also suggestions that instead of turnover, the policy should consider the number of
employees in a firm or investment in plant and machinery.
As per the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, out of the 1662 applications received so far, only 146
applications can be considered for tax benefits as only these start-ups have been incorporated after April 1,
2016.
The study also mooted the establishment of a single window clearance for obtaining approvals and licences
from all departments, adding that the frequency of filing under labour and tax laws should be reduced.
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund begun talks with

two wealth funds
NIIF has begun talks with two sovereign wealth funds to become the first investors to come on board, following
the signing last fortnight of a government commitment to infuse Rs. 20,000 crore into the fund, CEO Sujoy
Bose said.
The NIIF plans to leverage the Centres financing equivalent to $3 billion to invest a far higher amount in
infrastructure firms and projects, in partnership with global, long-term investors eyeing infrastructure assets,
and fund managers that could create dedicated infra sector funds.
A big milestone was cleared two weeks ago when the Centre signed off on its initial commitment of Rs. 20,000
crore to the NIIF, he added.
The anchor investment by the government in NIIF will be split into two buckets a billion dollars will be
earmarked for a NIIF Direct fund that could directly invest in existing or new infrastructure firms or projects.
Sovereign funds, pension and insurance companies would bring in a similar amount, while the governments
stake would be kept at 49% of this fund, he said.
India is more attractive to foreign investors interested in infrastructure investments in emerging markets as it
now has several privately executed projects that are operational or are close to completion, Mr. Bose said.
The NIIF will also back platform companies that can scale up and deliver bigger projects as the sector has
seen fragmented players, the funds chief executive said.
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Government will soon unveil an alternative mechanism for

clearing FDI
The government will soon unveil an alternative mechanism for clearing foreign direct investment proposals in
the country, following the Budget announcement to abolish the Foreign Investment and Promotion Board.
The idea is to do away with one layer of approval that existed so that the process of investments becomes
easier, said Saurabh Garg, Joint Secretary, DEA, Ministry of Finance.
We would do [this] in a transparent manner so that existing proposals already in the pipeline get their
necessary approvals and we hope at a very early date to have the alternative mechanism in place and put in
the public domain.
Members of EPF can now opt to move their retirement savings

to NPS
More than eight crore members of the Employees Provident Fund, can now opt to move their retirement
savings to the National Pension System overseen by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
(PFRDA).
The PFRDA notified the procedure for EPF members to transfer their investments to the National Pension
System or NPS.
Terming members of EPF and Employees State Insurance Corporation (which provides medical care to
organised sector workers) as hostages, rather than clients.
He had promised to provide employees the option to leave the EPF and opt for the NPS and had also said that
employees below a certain level of monthly income could decide if they wanted to stop their own contributions
to the EPF.
In all, 24% of an employees salary is diverted to the EPF as a mandatory retirement saving scheme.
Subscriber looking to transfer funds from EPF to NPS must have an active NPS Tier-I account, which can be
opened either through the employer where NPS is implemented or online through eNPS on the NPS Trust
website.
The amount transferred from a recognised Provident Fund or superannuation fund to NPS would not be
treated as income of the current year and hence, would not be taxable.
While the return on EPF savings this year is expected to be 8.65%, the NPS offers multiple asset allocation
options and fund managers for its members to choose from, with varying rates of returns.
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The subscriber, either a government or private sector employee, must approach the concerned PF office where
their money resides, through her or his employer and request to transfer their savings to an NPS account.
FM asked ministries to gear up for speedier implementation of

different schemes
With Parliament likely to pass Union Budget 2017-18 before the beginning of the new financial year, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley asked ministries to gear up for speedier implementation of different schemes under their
watch.
The Finance Minister stressed on the challenges ahead for the government as a whole to ensure that
expenditure on schemes and projects starts from the beginning of the financial year to leverage the early
passing of the Budget.
The Finance Minister was addressing financial advisers of different central ministries and departments at a
conference in the national capital. The GFRs are rules and orders dealing with matters involving public
finances.
General Financial Rules were issued for the first time in 1947 bringing together in one place all existing orders
and instructions pertaining to financial matters.
These have subsequently been modified and issued as GFRs 1963 and GFRs 2005.
India has conveyed its concerns over the ongoing H-1B visa
issue to US
India has conveyed its concerns over the ongoing H-1B visa processing issue to senior level officials in the
U.S. administration.
I think our concerns at a very senior level have already been conveyed to the government of USA. I would not
like to get into the details except that Indian IT companies are giving good value addition to U.S. companies,
Govt said.
Centre has initiated talks with FMCG companies to sell their

products online
The Centre has initiated talks with FMCG companies to sell their products online in rural areas through
common service centres (CSCs) as it looks to increase the business for such centres.
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While a deal has already been worked out with Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda, negotiations are underway
with the likes of Procter and Gamble and Crompton Greaves, an official said.
There are more than 2.5 lakh CSCs across the country which enable people, particularly in rural areas, to
access government services online.
These services include ration card, birth certificate, train tickets and online form submission, among other
things.
Going beyond delivery of public services through such centres, the Centre is now opening up to tie-ups with
private companies for their products to be sold through CSCs to increase profits for Village Level
Entrepreneurs (VLEs).
For example, CSC also has a tie up with Videocon d2h and Reliance Jio to sell their connections.
The move will help VLEs who run CSCs to earn commission on the products sold while also enabling access
for customers in rural areas to these products.
Currently, by offering these online services, these centres together earn commission of more than Rs. 2 crore a
day. The Centre is eyeing to ramp this up to Rs. 10 crore a day.
World Gold Council expects a revival in demand for the yellow

metal
The World Gold Council (WGC) expects a revival in demand for the yellow metal in India in the current
calendar year after 2016 ended on a dismal note on account of a surge in gold price coupled with factors like
an increase in excise duty and demonetisation.
The global body expects Indian gold demand to be about 650-750 tonnes in 2017. Demand was just a little
more than 600 tonnes in the last calendar year.
Incidentally, the year 2016 saw gold demand in India falling to its lowest level since 2009 as government
policies along with weak rural sentiment kept consumers away.
While the gold trade body said that the outlook for 2017 was cautious, it added that demand was likely to
improve going forward.
It added earlier attempts by the authorities to clamp down on gold had failed as gold is too intimately ingrained
in the Indian society.
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The global body further stated that while demonetisation did dent economic growth, it was helping large
jewellery retailers and consumers in terms of transparency and quality.
Interestingly, WGC, conducted a consumer research in the first quarter of 2016 in which 63% of respondents in
India agreed with the statement I trust gold more than the currencies of countries.
The government is mulling opening more border haats

The government is mulling opening more border haats (border markets), encouraged by its success at the
India-Myanmar border, Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman Najib Shah said.
Mr. Shah pointed out that the informal trade with Myanmar through the border haat was functioning very
well.
Mr. Shah added that changes in some laws including the Customs Act will be made within the stipulated time-
period to ensure the smooth implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement, to which India is a signatory, had come into effect last month.
FM said that the electoral bonds will be made available ahead

of the elections
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the electoral bonds will be made available ahead of the elections and
would remain valid for a few days.
The concept of electoral bonds was introduced by Mr. Jaitley during his Budget 2017 speech in order to bring
some transparency to the electoral funding process.
These bonds have to be authorised under a scheme under the Income Tax Act, Mr. Jaitley said while
speaking at an event at the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library.
It will open for a limited period of time during the elections, or maybe a little before the elections.The life of a
bond will be just a few days. Knowing the manner in which people have laundered money, the bond should not
become a parallel currency.
A bond can be purchased by any donor only by cheque or electronic payment, only at authorised banks. You
can donate these bonds only to a political party. These are redeemable in only one account of that party,
registered with the EC.
Mr. Jaitley in his Budget speech had also announced that the cap on cash donations to political parties would
be reduced to Rs. 2,000 from the earlier Rs. 20,000.
Page 87
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Centre has issued draft rules to ensure confidentiality of

electronic payments
The Centre has issued draft rules to ensure integrity, security and confidentiality of electronic payments made
through prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), popularly called e-wallets.
The draft rules make it mandatory for e-PPI (electronic pre-payment instrument) issuers to develop an
information security policy that ensures that the systems operated by them are secure.
The Information Technology (Security of Prepaid Instruments) Rules, 2017, define an e-PPI issuer as a
person operating a payment system issuing prepaid payment instruments to individuals/organisations under
the aegis of RBI.
The rules make it compulsory for e-PPIs to publish on their websites and mobile applications both their privacy
policy and terms for use of their payment systems. The draft also details the requirements of a privacy policy.
The rules mandate that e-PPIs should carry out risk assessment to spot security risks and also ensure
adequate due diligence is done before issuing PPIs.
India sees opportunity to enhance bilateral cooperation with

U.S. in energy sector
President Donald Trump have already set in motion a series of measures that will deregulate American oil, gas
and coal sectors and India sees an opportunity to enhance bilateral cooperation in these areas in the coming
years.
Thirty percent of all increase in worlds energy demand from now to 2040 will be from India, and energy
cooperation will be an increasingly key component of bilateral relations, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan said.
This was the first ministerial level interaction between India and U.S. under the new administration.
India will start importing Liquefied Natural Gas from the U.S. in 2018 under contracts signed during the
previous Obama administration. Right pricing will enable India to ramp up imports from the U.S.
The Trump administrations focus is on making American oil and gas sector competitive in the world market
and it does not want environmental concerns holding back the sector.
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By deregulating oil and gas, and rolling back incentives available to nonconventional energy industry, the
Trump administration is hoping to create a boom in the U.S. oil and gas market.
Three Indian public sector companies, GAIL, Oil India and IOC and Reliance have invested in U.S. shale gas
production.
The Obama administrations focus was on pushing renewable energy cooperation with India, but Trump
administrations focus is different said an Indian official.
The countrys industrial production grew 2.7% year-on-year

The countrys industrial production grew 2.7% year-on-year in January despite the shock effect of
demonetisation, according to Central Statistics Office data released.
The growth was partly due to the base effect as output had shrunk 1.59% in January 2016. The performance
was better than the 0.38% contraction in December 2016, but lagged the 5.65% growth posted in November
2016.
The manufacturing sector, accounting for a little over 75% of the total Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew
2.3% in January, up from a contraction of (-) 2.94% in January 2016 and (-) 1.97% in December 2016.
Mining sector recorded a 5.3% growth in January, compared with 1.54% in January 2016 and 5.24% in
December 2016. Electricity production registered a 3.9% growth in January, lower than 6.56% in January 2016
and 6.28% in December 2016.
Capital goods output a crucial pointer to investment demand in the economy rose 10.7% from a low base
of a contraction of (-) 21.55% in January 2016 as well as from (-) 3.01% in December 2016.
Consumer goods output contracted (-) 1% in January indicating weak consumer demand. Consumer durables
output grew 2.9%.
The Centre has granted tax exemption for oil payments to Iran
The Centre has granted tax exemption for oil payments to Iran, a move also aimed at boosting Indias trade
with that country. The decision comes a little over a year after the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran.
IndusInd Bank has come forward to facilitate all Iran-related transactions.
Central Board of Direct Taxes, said the National Iranian Oil Companys (NIOC) income received in India in
Indian Rupees for sale of crude oil to an entity in India shall be exempt from (withholding) tax from August 16,
2016 onward.
Page 89
The related conditions include: (i) such income should stem from a pact/arrangement entered into by the
Centre or approved by it; (ii) the foreign company (NIOC) and the arrangement/ pact are notified by the Centre
and that (iii) the foreign company (NIOC) is not engaged in any activity, other than receipt of such income, in
India.
This will benefit Indian exports as payment in free foreign exchange with Iran has not yet stabilised though a
few banks have come forward.
The continuance of free foreign exchange mechanism and RPM will provide wider choice to Indian exporters
and Iranian importers particularly when Iranian currency is facing huge volatility.
Previously, following economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear activities, both the nations had agreed in
2012 that 45% of Indias oil import payments to Iran would be paid in rupees and deposited in UCO Bank as
that bank hardly had an exposure to the U.S. or the European Union.
In turn, Iran was to utilise that amount to pay for its imports from India. It is learnt that the balance in the rupee
account may not be sufficient to cover three months of Indias exports to Iran.
In FY16, India-Iran trade was $9 billion of which $6.3 billion were imports from Iran (of which $4.5 billion was
the oil import bill) while Indias exports were only $2.7 billion.
Of the $7 billion worth imports from Iran in April-December FY17, oil imports were $5.85 billion.
RBI prohibited NBFCs from lending more than 20,000 in cash

against gold
In a fresh push toward a less cash economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prohibited non-banking
finance companies (NBFCs) of all kinds from lending more than 20,000 in cash against gold.
The NBFCs have been told to issue cheques for loan amounts above this prescribed limit. Earlier, NBFCs had
been directed to disburse only high value loans of 1 lakh and above against gold by cheque.
The RBI has now decided to reduce the cash disbursal limit on loan against gold to 20,000 from 1 lakh in
line with the provisions of the Income- Tax Act. The RBI fiat comes into effect immediately.
The latest RBI fiat would only inconvenience small customers who don't want to wait in the bank and who
seek quicker disbursal of money. We have to manage the business anyway.
India Ratings (Ind-Ra) has maintained a stable outlook for

cotton textiles
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India Ratings (Ind-Ra) has maintained a stable outlook for cotton textiles for the next financial year following
steady input prices, healthy capacity utilisation and healthy domestic demand.
The agency has revised its cotton outlook to stable for fiscal year 2017-18 from negative for the fiscal year
2016-17.
The status will stem from fiscal incentives and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that will
improve the industrys export competitiveness, Ind-Ra said.
Favourable trade agreements with the U.S. and Europe will also lead to a significant increase in Indias exports
and a higher-than-expected domestic demand would be positive for the sector, it added.
Moreover, Ind-Ra said, the U.S. exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership is likely to realign textile trade and
investments, which were diverted to Vietnam over FY16-FY17, towards the Indian subcontinent.
The stable cotton outlook is in view of an increase in acreage, a rise in supply in the first quarter of FY18 (due
to demonetisation) and a decline in global inventory assisting with a balanced supply, Ind-Ra said.
It also expects operating profitability levels of Indian cotton ginners and exporters to moderate in FY18.
Airtel payment bank has opened more than one lakh saving
bank accounts
Airtel Payments Bank, offered by telecom major Bharti Airtel, announced that more than one lakh savings
accounts were opened in 100 villages across the state of Tamil Nadu.
Through the initiative, these villages in the southern state would have access to banking services along with
the option of making digital payments, a company statement said.
A network of more than 16,000 neighbourhood Airtel stores offer banking services to consumers.
By introducing the service, Airtel Payments Bank will not charge any processing fee from its customers and
merchant partners for digital transactions.
The payments bank, which was the first such bank to go live, has committed an investment of Rs. 3,000 crore
and plans to build digital payments with more than five million merchants.
Payment Banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to a maximum of Rs. 1 lakh per
account.
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BRICS to consider a proposal for investment policymaking to

boost investment
BRICS nations will soon consider a proposal to frame guiding principles for investment policymaking to boost
investment flows into BRICS as well as take steps to promote e-commerce among the five leading emerging
economies.
In addition, the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) meeting will also discuss
measures for closer cooperation among the BRICS countries for developing their respective national single
window for trade facilitation.
China, the current BRICS chair, wants to push investment facilitation and e-commercerelated issues, the
sources said. India was part of that meeting. China has also been at the forefront of a proposal for a global
pact on investment facilitation and promotion at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)-level.
India is also making efforts to ensure that the proposal on a global investment pact gains traction before the
WTO Ministerial Conference (MC) meeting. The MC meeting is the WTOs highest decision-taking body.
China, driving this years BRICS agenda, now wants the BRICS nations to separately adopt these principles
and enter into an investment facilitation agreement.
India had recently rejected a proposal by the European Union and Canada at the WTO-level for a global
investment pact that incorporates the contentious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
The ISDS mechanism allows firms to drag governments to international arbitration without waiting to exhaust
the available local remedies and seek huge compensation.
China has been leading the discussions on e-commerce at the global level. In November 2016, the WTO said
China had proposed that discussions at WTO should focus on the promotion and facilitation of cross-border
trade in goods enabled by the Internet.
Incidentally, there is a proposal for setting up a common payment gateway to promote e-commerce among
BRICS.
Retail and wholesale price inflation accelerated in February

Retail and wholesale price inflation accelerated in February, spurred by food and fuel prices, vindicating the
RBIs decision to change its monetary stance to neutral amid concerns about the persistence of price gains in
categories excluding food and fuel.
Page 92
While retail inflation as measured by the CPI quickened to 3.65%, from Januarys 3.2%, according to data, WPI
accelerated sharply to a 39-month high of 6.55%, a separate release from the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry showed.
In comparison, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based reading was 5.25% in January.
The RBI, which is aiming at CPI inflation of 5% by March-end with a mandate to achieve a medium-term target
of 4% plus/minus 2%, last month cautioned that vegetable prices may potentially rebound as the deflationary
effects of demonetisation wear off.
The central bank said at the time that a broad-based stickiness is discernible in inflation, particularly in
housing, health, education, and miscellaneous goods and services consumed by households.
Data showed inflation in the housing segment of the CPI quickened marginally to 5.02% in February from
4.98% in January. Inflation in the food and beverages category of the CPI was at 2.5% in February, quickening
from 1.3% in January.
Similarly, retail inflation in the fuel and lighting category accelerated to 3.9%, from 3.4% in the preceding
month.
Primary articles inflation in the WPI accelerated to 5% in February, from 1.3% in January. Within this, inflation
in the food articles segment sped to 2.7%, from a contraction of 0.56% in January.
Non-food articles inflation was at 6.5% in February, compared with 2% in January. The minerals segment saw
the third month of rapid inflation, with the rate accelerating to 31% in February, from 25% in January.
Wholesale inflation in the fuel and power segment quickened to 21% in February, from 18% in the previous
month. Within this, coal price inflation stood at 19%.
Inflation in manufactured products in the WPI eased marginally to 3.7% in February, from 4% in January
The Centre unveiled a scheme to create export-related

infrastructure
The Centre unveiled a scheme to create export-related infrastructure and boost the competitiveness of Indias
shipments.
The scheme would have a budgetary allocation of Rs. 600 crore, with an annual outlay of Rs. 200 crore per
year, and it would be implemented from FY18 till FY20, according to a Commerce Ministry statement.
The objective of the proposed scheme Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) is to enhance
export competitiveness by bridging gaps in export infrastructure, creating focused export infrastructure.
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It will also focus on first mile and last mile connectivity for export-oriented projects and addressing quality and
certification measures.
The scheme replaces a centrally sponsored scheme Assistance to States for creating Infrastructure for the
Development and growth of Exports (ASIDE).
The focus is not just to create infrastructure but to make sure it is professionally run and sustained. There will
be an Empowered Committee to periodically review the progress of the approved projects in the Scheme.
Moody's says BJP poll win will be credit positive for India
The BJPs electoral wins in the recent Assembly polls are a credit positive for the Indian sovereign as they
show broad-based popular support for the Centres economic, according to global credit rating agency Moodys
Investors Service.
The BJPs solid overall gains come despite the negative economic hit from demonetisation in late 2016 and,
although securing an Upper House majority in Parliament may take time.
A partnership between the Centre and the States under BJP could help circumvent federal hurdles to reforms
in areas such as land and labour laws, Moodys noted.
While Moodys maintains its lowest investment grade rating of Baa3 for India with a positive outlook, it said the
State elections had yielded substantial gains to the government.
Next year, 69 seats in the upper house, including 10 from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand, will come
up for re-election.
If the BJP-led coalition increases its seat tally to or closer to an outright majority, passage and implementation
of additional reforms will be easier.
DIPP wants start-ups to become Fast Track firms

To enable faster exit for start-ups and to bring the winding up process in line with global best practices, the
DIPP has written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to notify start-ups as Fast Track firms.
Once this is notified, start-ups shall be able to wind up their business within a period of 90 days from making an
application for the same, according to a government report on start-ups.
The DIPP is the nodal Central government body for the Start-up India initiative, while the MCA is the concerned
authority for notifications on winding up of companies.
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Fast Track firms will be start-ups with simple debt structures or those meeting certain criteria that will be
specified.
The Bharat Navodaya: Start-Up India Reform Report, released on March 6, had recommended expediting the
company winding up process in India, which is currently long-drawn and requires substantial documentation.
It pointed out that winding up in the U.K. can be initiated by downloading a simple form and calling for a
shareholders meeting.
In Singapore, a simple online application is needed to be made by a director or Company Secretary following
which, the process is quite straightforward. Most economic zones in UAE allow for winding down of the
business in two to three days.
The report said expediting the company winding up process in India would require the notification of Sections
304-323 of the Companies Act, 2013, relating to voluntary winding up.
Truck and bus drivers will soon have to undergo training in

fuel efficient driving
Truck and bus drivers will soon have to undergo training in fuel efficient driving at the time of applying for a new
or renewed driving license.
Beginning April 2018, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has proposed a training programme for
drivers of heavy commercial vehicles to help them save fuel while driving which would include classroom
lessons and driving performance tests.
The drivers will be required to attach the training certificate at the time of applying for a license for driving
heavy goods vehicle or heavy passenger motor vehicle.
According to the proposal, a driving performance test will be conducted first to evaluate fuel efficiency in terms
of kilometre or litre by using suitable set up and test procedure.
Additionally, the applicant will have to undergo classroom training on importance of fuel efficiency consisting of
discussion on drawbacks or shortcomings or negative points as well as encouraging or worthy or positive or
good habits noted or observed during initial driving test.
After the classroom or on-site training is complete, there will be another driving performance test to evaluate
the improvement in fuel efficiency.
The driving test will be conducted on a five-kilometre-long road with at least three speed breakers, according to
the proposed notification. Following the test, a certificate will be issued by the driving school.
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Fresh DGCA norms for pilots taking naps

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued fresh guidelines for airlines to address communication
lag while pilots are taking controlled rest during the flight.
The aviation regulator said the guidelines have been issued in the wake of two incidents of radio
communication failure involving Jet Airways and Air India aircraft in the European airspace.
Both the London-bound planes had to be escorted by air force jets after they lost contact with the air traffic
control.
The DGCA has asked airlines to maintain speaker volume at an appropriate level and not to switch it off or
keep it at minimum level during the flight.
IDSA seeks action to stop unauthorised sale in e-commerce

firms
The Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) has written to leading e-commerce firms, including Amazon,
Flipkart and Paytm, seeking action to stop unauthorised sale of products from member companies such as
Amway, Oriflame, Avon Beauty Products, Herbalife International, Modicare and Tupperware, on their
platforms.
since e-commerce is booming, direct selling companies cannot turn a blind eye to the online retail channel.
According to a recent IDSA and PHD Chamber survey, active direct sellers in India stood at over 40.31 lakh in
2015-16.
The gross sales by the Indian direct selling industry stood at Rs. 83,085 million in 2015-16 and are pegged to
grow to Rs. 2,58,261 million by 2024-25.
The association has reached out to Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, ShopClues and Paytm. While the first letter
was sent out in November last year, a subsequent reminder was sent to the online marketplaces in January.
However, till now, ShopClues is the only firm to have responded positively. They had told us that they will look
into the matter and try to close the gaps. They had said they will ask sellers to furnish an authorisation letter
before sale of such products.
As per the relevant clause of the guideline, any person who sells or offers for sale, including on an e-commerce
platform/marketplace, any product or service of a direct selling entity, must have prior written consent from the
direct selling entity to undertake such a sale.
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The Centre should not permit imports of sugar this year says
SISMA
The Centre should not permit imports of sugar this year (October 2016-September 2017) as output may
outstrip demand, said Palani G. Periasamy, president of South Indian Sugar Mills Association.
The current season started with an opening stock of 7.7 million tonnes and the production this year is expected
to be 20.3 million tonnes.
The total sugar consumption will be about 24 million tonnes and the closing stock for the current season is
estimated to be four million tonnes.
Though production has been hit in south Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu because of drought, it is
expected to be high in Uttar Pradesh this year.
Production in Uttar Pradesh this year was initially estimated to be 8.3 million tonnes. But it might go up to 9.5
million tonnes.
Usually, sugar produced in the south is supplied to the northern States too. But, this year, with production
affected in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, supply to north India might not be there.
Commerce dept wants benefits of keeping more than one IFSC

in India
The Commerce Department has asked the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) to comment on the
feasibility of having more than one International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India.
It has also sought comments from the DEA on the viability of the Maharashtra governments proposal for an
IFSC in Mumbai.
If the IFSC, proposed to be set up at the Bandra Kurla Complex in the countrys financial capital, gets all the
required clearances, it will be the second such centre in India following the Gujarat International Finance Tec-
City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar.
The DEA, in the Finance Ministry, is the nodal agency for formulation and monitoring of economic policies at
the macro-level such as the ones relating to the functioning of sectors like banking, insurance and capital
markets, including stock exchanges.
IFSC-related matters fall within the jurisdiction of financial sector regulators such as the Reserve Bank of India,
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and Securities and Exchange Board of India as well as the
Finance Ministry.
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The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act is pertinent in this case as IFSC is set up in a SEZ, and therefore, the
Commerce Department has a crucial role here as it is the nodal body at the Centre for SEZ-related matters.
The SEZ Act merely states that the Centre can approve only one IFSC in a SEZ, and does not bar more than
one IFSC in the country.
Citing examples in other countries, the Commerce Department, however, has said even advanced nations
have been finding it difficult to develop more than one major international financial centre in their respective
territory.
However, as the Centre had expressed reluctance to grant the Mumbai IFSC a special exemption from the
land norm, Maharashtra then sent a revised proposal stating that it is in possession of about 52 hectares for
the IFSC.
The Maharashtra government had proposed that the Mumbai IFSC can even enter into collaborations with the
GIFT City International Financial Services Centre as Mumbai has the advantage of being the countrys de facto
financial capital.
Four bills on GST cleared by cabinet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a Cabinet meeting which cleared the four bills to be introduced in
Parliament for implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
With the Cabinet approval of these four bills, the GST regime in India is in the final stages of culmination and
the GST law will most likely be implemented from July 1, 2017, according to a statement released by the
Finance Ministry.
The passage of the four GST-related Bills the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Bill 2017, the
Integrated GST (IGST) Bill 2017, the Union Territory GST Bill 2017 and the GST (Compensation to the States)
Bill 2017 will pave the way for the biggest reform in the area of indirect taxes in the history of independent
India.
The Centre was likely to introduce the bills together in Parliament this week and secure an early passage to
meet the proposed July 1 rollout target date for the new indirect tax regime.
Separately, States are expected to ratify the State GST Bills approved by the GST Council after getting them
passed in the respective Assemblies.
Paytm will offer insurance cover for money stored in its

wallets
Page 98
Paytmsaid it will offer insurance cover for money stored in its wallets by users.
Money lost due to fraudulent transactions as a result of theft, burglary, loss of device or unauthorised access of
users Paytm wallet will now be refunded. This cover is being provided to users at no additional cost.
Paytm wallet users will be insured up to a limit of Rs. 20,000 or their wallet balance whichever is lower, the
statement said.The company has partnered with Reliance General Insurance for the scheme.
In case of phone loss or theft, the customer needs to report the same to Paytm via e-mail or by calling its
customer care within 12 hours. Paytm claims to have about 20 crore wallet users in the country.
Paytms QR code-based payment solution is already powering more than 5 million merchants today and is
heavily used by consumers to pay for spends at kirana stores and tolls, it said.
Bharatiya Manila Bank to merge with SBI

The three-year-old BharatiyaMahila Bank will be merged with the State Bank of India (SBI) to expedite the
outreach of banking services to women, the Finance ministry said.
The objectives of affordable credit to women as well as propagation of women-centric products need to be
quickly achieved through a wider network and lower cost of funds, an official statement said on the benefit of
the merger for the SBI.
India pressed for expediting the negotiation process for a

global services pact
India pressed for expediting the negotiation process for a global services pact, that among other things, aims to
ease norms for movement of skilled workers across borders.
India had, in February, submitted to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) a legally-vetted proposal for a Trade
Facilitation in Services (TFS) Agreement.
The proposal was taken up by an expert committee at the WTO headquarters in Geneva recently, and it will be
considered for discussion by all the WTO members.
The proposed TFS, among other things, aims to ensure portability of social security contributions and cross-
border insurance coverage to boost medical tourism.
According to India, the proposed pact is similar to the WTOs Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in Goods,
that recently came into force, and aims to ease customs norms to boost global goods trade.
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India had specified that the proposed TFS pact is also about facilitation, that is making market access
effective and commercially meaningful and not about new (or greater) market access.
Phone service providers to reverify through Aadhaar

The Department of Telecommunications issued a notification, directing all phone service providers to reverify
details for all existing subscribers through Aadhaar-based e-KYC (Know Your Customer) process.
This follows a Supreme Court order last month in which it had approved the governments plan to record the
identification details of mobile subscribers through an e-KYC mechanism linked to Aadhaar.
The move will impact more than 100 crore mobile phone subscribers in the country, 90% of whom are prepaid
card users.
The process is likely to cost about Rs. 2,500 crore which will be borne by the service providers, according to
industry body COAI. Mobile connections used for data services will be verified using the alternate number.
The departments decision comes two days after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved an amendment to
the Finance Bill 2017 to make Aadhaar mandatory for individuals to apply for a PAN and for filing ITR this year.
Centre made it mandatory for beneficiaries to quote their Aadhaar number to avail themselves of benefits
under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana for skill development, and the Self Employment Scheme for
Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers.
The Centre had identified 31 schemes in which the Aadhaar could be made mandatory.
Notifications have been issued in recent months by departments to make Aadhaar compulsory for getting
subsidised grains under the NFSA, jobs under the MGNREGA and pension benefits under the Employees
Pension Scheme.
It added that any subscriber acquired through proof of identity or proof of address documents during the period
of reverification will also need to be reverified.
In January this year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended the use of Aadhaar-
based e-KYC for verification of existing mobile subscribers.
It had, however, proposed that this process should be optional to the service providers as well as mobile
subscribers.
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Competition Commission of India has imposed a penalty of

Rs. 591 crore upon CIL
Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty ofRs. 591.01 crore upon Coal India Limited
(CIL) on finding that CIL and its subsidiaries violated the Competition Act by imposing unfair and discriminatory
conditions in Fuel Supply Agreements (FSAs).
Apart from ordering CIL and its subsidiaries to cease and desist from anti-competitive practices, the CCI also
directed modification of the FSAs, a government statement said.
It added that CIL had also been directed to ensure uniformity between old and new power producers as well as
between private and PSU power producers.
The order follows the Competition Appellate Tribunal remanding the matter back while setting aside the CCIs
original order in which a penalty of Rs. 1,773.05 crore was imposed on the coal major.
Recapitalisation alone is not enough says Y.V. Reddy

Former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy said that the issue of NPA, most of which are with public sector banks,
needed more than just recapitalisation, and that the public sector banks were key to the modernisation of
Indias financial sector.
The common thread between fiscal policy, monetary policy, and financial sector policy is public sector banks,
Mr. Reddy said.
The future of the financial system and indeed modernisation of the financial sector of India depends on how
we overcome the intractable problem of the public sector banks.
The former RBI Governor and chairman of the 14th Finance Commission said that the effectiveness of
monetary policy depended not only on the actions of the monetary authority but also on other related policies
and the efficiency of transmitting institutions.
With over 70% of the banks and overwhelming proportion of the financial sector in the public sector, there are
issues of incentives and accountability and political interference.
The fact that the overwhelming proportion of the non-performing assets are with the public sector banks shows
that the reform will have to go beyond simply recapitalising the banks.
The former RBI governor added that a professional approach and a capacity to evaluate lending proposals
could not be expected from public sector institutions that are bailed out from time to time with taxpayers
money.
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Changes in the small savings schemes

On April 1, rates on small savings schemes offered by the post office are due for their next quarterly revision.
There is a good possibility that this revision, to be effective from April to June 2017, will see rates being cut.
But there is a window of opportunity until March 31 to lock into the prevalent high rates. This, you can do by
investing in those small savings schemes in which the rate at the time of investment stays till maturity.
Effective April 2016, the government changed the rate reset frequency on small savings schemes to every
quarter. Earlier, rates were being reset on an annual basis.
This change in the reset mechanism was meant to align rates on small savings schemes more dynamically
with market-linked rates that is, in sync with rate changes on government securities (G-Secs).
This was to narrow their wide rate gap over bank deposits which were ostensibly denting the latters inflows.
The first quarterly reset saw rates on small savings schemes being cut sharply (0.4 to 1.3 percentage points) in
the April-June 2016 quarter.
With G-Sec yields going rapidly downhill over much of the last year, the government should have slashed the
rates on these schemes further.
But it has also upped the chances of the government going for sharp cuts now. The case for a rate cut is aided
by a few factors. One, key state elections which may have held the governments hand so far are now over,
and with largely favourable results for the ruling party.
This could give the government adequate political leeway to cut rates. Sure, banks, flush with funds after the
demonetisation exercise, may not be nudging the government now to cut rates on small savings schemes.
But the government would still want to cut these rates and reduce its borrowing cost proceeds from small
savings schemes form part of the governments debt.
Next, despite G-Sec rates staging a comeback from December 2016, they are still far below the rates in April
2016 when small savings rates were last cut sharply.
From about 7.4 per cent last April, the 10-year G-Sec yield crashed to about 6.2 per cent in December and has
since then rallied to about 6.9 per cent.
Still, G-Sec yields are about 0.5 percentage points lower than in April, giving the government room and reason
to cut rates on small savings schemes.
Even if it does not cut rates, the possibility of the government increasing rates on small savings schemes
seems remote, given their wide disparity with market rates.
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Ergo: it makes sense to lock into the prevalent high rates being offered by the post office. These investments
are as safe as they get, being guaranteed by the government.
Also, the rates are superior to those being offered by comparably safe options such as bank fixed deposits
(about 6.5 per cent to 7 cent currently). But you have to pick and choose from among the various small savings
schemes.
Choose from fixed rate schemes offered by the post office. In these schemes, new rates announced each
quarter apply only to investments made in the quarter and hold till maturity.
This category comprises the National Savings Certificate (NSC), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS),
Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Post office monthly income scheme (POMIS) and post office time and recurring
deposits.
Despite the rate cuts since April, most of these schemes, except one to three-year time deposits, remain
attractive, offering higher rates than comparable options.
The best choices are the NSC (8 per cent currently) a five-year cumulative scheme open to all investors,
SCSS (8.5 per cent) a five-year quarterly payout scheme open to senior citizens and five-year time deposits
(7.8 per cent) an annual payout scheme open to all investors.
These investments also enjoy tax breaks under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act; this pegs up their effective
returns.
On the other hand, the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme are variable rate
products in which rates keep changing throughout the tenure.
Charges introduced by the banks

SBI has introduced and tweaked certain charges, and HDFC Bank has increased its charges on cash
transactions in bank branches. But aside from that, leading banks have not hiked charges on key transactions,
as many believe.
The charges that pinch customers the most on non-maintenance of minimum balance and cash deposits
and withdrawals at branches and ATMs have always existed.
Some that were temporarily waived off, post demonetisation, have only been restored.
Much of the big noise over bank charges has been thanks to SBI introducing charges on non-maintenance of
minimum balance. These charges had been withdrawn in 2012 and have been re-introduced now.
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Hence with effect from April 1, 2017, if the monthly average balance falls below Rs. 5,000 in savings account
(in metros), a charge of up to Rs. 100 plus service charge (depending on the shortfall) will be levied.
The minimum balance requirement and charges are a tad lower for rural, semi-urban, and urban areas at Rs.
1,000-3,000 and up to Rs. 50-80 respectively.
SBI has also made some minor changes in its ATM and cash transaction charges in branches. Transactions up
to five in same bank ATMs and three in other bank ATMs (in top six cites) are free, beyond which banks levy
charges.
SBI has increased charges on financial transactions (beyond free transactions) on its own ATM from Rs. 5 to
Rs. 10. Charges levied on other ATMs remain the same at Rs. 20. SBI allows inter-changeability between
branch and ATM transactions.
This means you will be allowed maximum 10 free transactions at 6 metros at SBI ATMs, if you have not done
any transaction at branch or other bank ATM.
If you hold a minimum balance of up to Rs. 25,000, then free withdrawals from branches have been capped at
two from four earlier, beyond which a charge (unchanged) of Rs. 50 is levied.
For minimum balance between Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000, SBI continues to offer ten free withdrawals.
HDFC bank, that levied Rs. 100 per transaction (cash deposits and withdrawals at bank branches) beyond five
free ones, has tweaked it to four free transactions and a charge of Rs. 150 from the fifth transaction onwards.
ICICI Bank, for instance, has always levied a charge on non-maintenance of minimum balance of Rs. 100 plus
5 per cent of the shortfall in required minimum monthly average balance. For HDFC Bank, charges range from
Rs. 150-600.
Axis Bank charges Rs. 10 for every Rs. 100 shortfall or Rs. 350, whichever is lower.
Charges on cash deposits and withdrawals, which have been at the centre of the recent upheaval, have
remained unchanged for leading banks, except HDFC Bank (mentioned above).
For ICICI Bank, after first four free transactions in a month at branches in the home city, Rs. 5 per Rs. 1,000 is
charged, subject to a minimum of Rs. 150 per month.
For SBI too, charges on cash deposits in branches have not been tweaked. Beyond three deposits a month,
the bank charges Rs. 50 per transaction. This charge was already in place, effective June 2016, and has not
been increased since then.
ATM charges too, that had been waived off due to the cash crunch, were restored by banks in January this
year, with no change in pricing structure.
Page 104
Beyond the limit for free transactions, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank continue to charge Rs. 20.
Only 14% of the airports and airstrips are equiped

A study by Crisil Research has found that only about 60 out of the more than 414 identified un-served and
underserved regional airports have the necessary infrastructure to support flight operations.
In other words, only 14% of the airports and airstrips listed under the scheme are equipped to handle small
aircraft, that is up to ATR 42.
Besides, the study has indicated that a passenger load factor (PLF) of about 50-60% would be required to
break-even at the EBITDA level even though the government has offered subsidies to operate flights on
regional connectivity scheme (RCS) routes.
These are some of the major challenges to operator participation in the scheme.
Though domestic passenger traffic in India has grown 10% a year in the five fiscal years ended 2016, to 85
million annually, it is concentrated in the 6 metro airports, which account for about 65% of the total domestic
passenger traffic.
In October 2016, the Government released the final RCS note, just months after a draft was circulated for
stakeholder consultation. Under this, airfares for a given distance are locked and are subject to a quarterly
revision based on CPI inflation.
Since these are not high-passenger traffic routes and require deployment of small aircraft that are costlier to
operate, the government has decided to encourage the players by providing several incentives, as seen in the
table.
But going by the findings of the research study, only up to 60 airports / airstrips including 12 underserved ones
are infrastructure-ready.
They have the required runway length of up to 1,600 metres that can handle an ATR 42 operation and the
terminal buildings.
These 55-60 airports could see an investment of Rs. 50-100 crore per airport for expansion and modernisation
to facilitate aircraft operations and passengers, depending on the airlines interest, she said.
As of January 2017, 19 states had consented to the mplementation of the scheme.
Of these 11 Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Mizoram, Puducherry, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have signed memoranda of understanding.
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Though subsidies are offered to operate on RCS routes, Crisils analysis indicates a PLF of 50-60% is required
to breakeven at the EBITDA level, assuming the highest possible revenue per RCS seat for a stage length of
500-525 km.
VGF bidding is a very crucial part of the scheme as it would determine the profitability of the airline. RCS
routes will be allocated to airlines on the basis of reverse bidding for VGF (ie, the lowest bid wins).
As per the scheme, airlines flying RCS routes should allocate 50% of the seat capacity as RCS seats, subject
to a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 40 seats. The airfare cap and VGF will be applicable only to these seats.
These seats are also not subject to any levies or charges imposed by airport operators, which account for
about 10-15% of the ticket price at metro airports.
The budgeted subsidies for regional aviation in China have risen from about $70 million in 2013 to $148 million
in 2016.
This is similar to Indias planned VGF collections of about Rs. 500-600 crore per annum (assuming the levy is
charged on existing fleet mix) of which 20% is funded by the state government and the rest through a levy on
flights on non-RCS routes.
Airport charges across all non-major airports are raised

Airfares are set to go up as the government has decided to raise airport charges across all non-major airports
operated by Airports Authority of India (AAI) by 5% every year beginning April 1.
This is the second time the government has raised airport charges in the last five months. The passenger
service fee, which is charged as a part of air ticket fare, will increase from Rs. 85 per passenger at present to
Rs. 89 in 2017-18.
The fee will subsequently be increased to Rs. 93 in 2018-19 and Rs. 98 per passenger in 2019-20, the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, following the Civil Aviation Ministrys decision on March 15.
The raise in fares will be applicable on non-major airports such as Amritsar, Nagpur, Bagdogra, Madurai,
Vijayawada, Jammu, Vadodara, among others, which handle an annual traffic of less than 15 lakh.
Besides, the user development fee at Amritsar, Udaipur, Trichy and Varanasi airports have been raised from
Rs. 165 at present to Rs. 173 in 2017-18.
A passenger service fee is charged by the airport operator for providing services such as baggage trolleys,
escalators, air conditioning at airport terminals, conveyor belt systems for baggage, wi-fi systems, public
address systems and other facilities.
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The civil aviation ministry has also mandated a 5% annual increase in landing, parking and route navigation
charges at all AAI airports for the next three years to be paid by airlines, which are likely to pass on the burden
to consumers.
Major domestic airlines had opposed the airport fee hike implemented in December as it constituted 10% of
their total operational cost.
The Centre has framed a regional connectivity scheme under which airfares will be capped at Rs. 2,500 for an
hours flight operated from under-served airports by offering subsidy along with various tax and airport
concessions to airlines.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had criticised the government for lack of consultation on the
raise in airport tariff ordered in December.
India had 36.74 crore (367.48 million) Internet subscribers in

September 2016
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indias quarterly Performance Indicators Report is the most authoritative
source for assessing the march of the Internet in India.
The latest report tells us that India had 36.74 crore (367.48 million) Internet subscribers in September 2016.
Based on a population count of 127.7 crore, this translates to 28.77 Internet subscribers per 100 people.
This is the Internet penetration number that often gets cited in articles on digital India. But thats a wrong
interpretation of these statistics.
While you have a surfeit of Internet access, the driver of your car or the security guard at your apartment is
unlikely to have any. Instead of expensive broadband or 3G, they probably head to a browsing centre if they
need to.
This simple illustration tells you that 36.7 crore Internet subscriptions dont equal 36.7 crore Indians connected
to the Internet.
In fact, after doing away with such duplicate connections, it is almost a certainty that 28% of Indias population
isnt connected to the Internet.
Depending on the number of connections hogged by the well-to-do city folk, the actual proportion may be half
or even one-third that number.
To gauge the true extent of Internet penetration, the question to ask is how many households in India have at
least one connection.
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The previous Census (2011) did this and found that 77 lakh households of the total 2,467 lakh households had
it; thats 3% of households. But then, the Census only asked people about whether they had Internet
connections on their computers/laptops.
TRAI data recognises that while urban India has 61.9 Internet subscriptions per 100 people, rural India gets by
with just 13.7.
Theres also a yawning gap in connectivity between States depending on the state of their network
infrastructure and relative affluence. While the city of Delhi alone boasts 2.2 crore Internet connections, the
entire North East has just 4.3 lakh.
Mumbai alone hogs almost half of the 3 crore connections in Maharashtra. In most States, urban areas
account for two-thirds of the Internet users.
Many users are logged on to poor quality connections too, not allowing for data-intensive applications. This is
not just due to patchy networks outside of the cities, but also because of the limited affordability of both devices
and Internet plans.
As per the TRAI report, of the 36.7 crore Internet subscribers, 17.5 crore are still on narrowband. That means
download speeds of less than 512 kbps. WiFi isnt as ubiquitous as we city folk think, with just 6 lakh
connections across the country.
While a majority of users access the web on their phone, nearly half of the mobile phone users (17 crore) are
still on the snail-paced 2G. The average GSM subscriber used just 236 MB of data in a month and spent Rs.
28 on it.
Clearly, for Indias digital divide to be bridged, network infrastructure outside the cities needs to be significantly
beefed up. The government is on the job, with the ambitious Bharatnet project to digitally connect 2.5 lakh
Gram Panchayats.
Govt is likely to come out with a set of measures for non-

performing assets
To deal with mounting bad loans afflicting banks, the government is likely to come out with a set of measures
for faster resolution of non-performing assets within a fortnight.
The policy may contain the processes relating to haircut and one-time settlement to be carried out by banks for
faster resolution of high-value cases, adding that the big-loan defaults constitute about 70% of the total non-
performing assets.
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This will provide a clear direction on the non-performing assets front and the government would be able to take
the bull by horns.
Indian Railways will invest Rs. 12,000 crore in a common

digital platform
Indian Railways will invest about Rs. 12,000 crore in developing a common digital platform for integrating
information from all its departments leading to savings of about Rs. 60,000 crore, said Suresh Prabhu, Railway
Minister.
In the last Rail Budget, I had announced an Enterprise Resource Planning system that will be an IT-based
platform for system-wide integration and planning, Mr. Prabhu said.
The Minister said Rs. 10,000Rs. 12,000 crore of investments will be required for the enterprise-wide digital
platform called IR-One ICT that will lead to benefits worth Rs. 50,000Rs. 60,000 crore to the Indian Railways
in the long run.
It might take at least two-three years to complete the first phase. With the common platform, the monitoring of
the entire Indian Railways operations can be done on a single platform.
Several passenger complaints can be solved. We may also get to know the vacancies in a train and the
number of people travelling. Maintenance issues can be handled remotely.
One ICT will cover all the aspects of the Indian Railways, including cost analysis, attendance, accounting,
asset management, medical management and land management.
Govt wants petroleum to come under GST

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said his Ministry was working towards bringing petroleum under the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) as it would benefit the states.
This (the inclusion of petroleum in GST) will benefit the states also, Mr. Pradhan said. The Minister said he
expected oil prices to remain in the $55$60 range in the near term.
When oil was at $40 a barrel, then the economic viability of the discovered small fields was looked at. Now it is
around $50 and the expectation is for it to remain in the $55-60 range in the near term, he said.
The DSF bid round was unveiled in May 2016. The bid witnessed as many as 134 e-bids for 34 contract areas
with 47 companies participating, either singly or in a consortium. Of these, bids were awarded for 31 contract
areas to 22 companies.
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According to the Ministry, the cumulative peak production from the awarded fields is expected to be about
15,000 barrels of oil per day and 2 million metric standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) over their economic
life.
The estimated total revenue from this would be about Rs. 46,600 crore of which the Centres royalty would be
Rs. 5,000 crore and the states royalties Rs. 2,100 crore.
The Minister also inaugurated a two-way online portal by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons developed
to facilitate contract management and the redressal of queries.
Of the 22 companies awarded the contracts, 17 were from domestic private sector, four public sector
companies and one foreign private company.
Social security benefits may be extended to anganwadi and

Asha workers
The Employees Provident Fund Organisations central board of trustees will meet to consider extending social
security benefits to volunteers under anganwadi , mid-day meal and Accredited Social Health Activists
schemes.
The EPFO has proposed to the Labour Ministry that a lower contributory rate of 10% of income towards the
Employees Provident Fund be allowed for scheme workers as against 12% contribution stipulated for the
organised workers.
According to estimates, there are 14 lakh anganwadi workers, 12 lakh anganwadi helpers, 25.50 lakh mid-day
meal workers in the country, as per the agenda of the EPFOs central board of trustees meeting.
There is no mandatory social security cover for such scheme workers at present.
However, the Centre can issue a notification to cover any class of establishments with a lower contributory rate
under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
This will only be applicable to scheme workers in organisations employing at least 20 workers. Providing social
security coverage to the unorganised workers has been one of the key demands of the central trade unions.
The EPFO will also consider a proposal to increase wage ceiling for its social security coverage to Rs. 25,000
a month from Rs. 15,000 a month at present in a bid to bring more workers under the provident fund net.
At present, EPF is optional for employees earning more than Rs. 15,000 a month. The EPFO had sent a formal
proposal to the Union Labour Ministry last year to increase the wage ceiling for EPF coverage to Rs. 25,000 a
month.
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The EPFO said that there is an immediate requirement to enhance wage ceiling under EPP & MP Act, 1952
to ensure workers remain eligible for provident fund benefits.
However, the move may lead to additional financial burden on the Union government as it contributes 1.16% of
the employees salary as subsidy towards the Employees Pension Scheme.
The wage ceiling hike will lead to additional burden of Rs. 2,708 crore per annum on the central government,
the EPFO said.
The previous wage ceiling was revised in September 2014 when the limit was increased from Rs. 6,500 to Rs.
15,000 per month.
At present, out of around 3.7 crore active members are subscribed to EPFO, close to three crore workers are
those in the earning category of Rs. 15,000 and below.
The Centre is working on an industrial policy for backward

areas of the northeast
The Centre is working on an industrial policy for backward areas of the northeast as well as the Himalayan
States to subsidise the cost of capital.
Cost of funds is high, and the government is working to bring this down and make funds easily accessible.
Norms were yet to be announced by the regulators concerned, including the RBI and the SEBI, regarding
regulations for online lending platforms.
On state-wise start-up policy, as of now there are 16 states that have their respective start-up policies and the
Centre has asked the remaining states to soon join the initiative.
The development of agriculture sector is a key priority area for the Centre. The government is encouraging
organic farming across the country and he has sought suggestions in this regard from the public.
Invest India the national investment promotion agency in the last one and a half years had promoted
foreign investments to the tune of $70 billion, of which already $3.1 billion worth of investments had come into
the country.
Amid weak global trade, India reported a 10% growth in

export-import
Amid weak global trade, India reported a 10% growth in export-import (EXIM) trade in 2016 as compared with
that in 2015, according to estimates by Maersk Lines, the worlds biggest container shipping line.
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The EXIM container trade volume grew by 10% for the full year 2016, which was double of 2015, Maersk
Lines said in its latest trade report.
Trade growth was also more balanced across both exports and imports as against 2015, where import
volumes grew four times faster than exports, it added.
Contrary to belief, the demonetisation exercise had limited impact on exports of select commodities, especially
the ones that rely on cash for trading, mainly meat exports, it said.
Increased demand from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kenya contributed to the overall export growth of
11%.
Imports grew 10%. Even though China remained the largest trading partner reporting 19% year on year growth
in 2016, trade volumes from South Korea registered the highest growth in imports at 41%.
In 2016, India forayed into new exports markets. Exporters increased focus in the Middle East and in East
Africa thus reaping benefits, even as they entered into new markets such as Central America, the report said.
Workers with EPFO will be eligible to receive medical

treatment from ESIC hospitals
More than eight crore workers contributing towards Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) may
soon be eligible to receive medical treatment from Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals
after their retirement.
The EPFOs central board of trustees will meet to consider passing on medical benefits under ESIC to
pensioners under Employees Pension Scheme linked to EPF accounts.
The ESIC has a network of over 1,400 dispensaries and over 150 hospitals across the country which will be
accessible to EPF pensioners once the plan is finalised.
The broad contours of the proposal will be discussed in the CBT meeting which has employers and
employees representatives.
Workers drawing salary up to Rs. 15,000 per month are entitled to medical benefits for treatment during
incidences of sickness, maternity, disability and death due to injury during work.
The ESI Act applies to factories with 10 or more workers and it is also applicable to shops, hotels, restaurants,
cinemas and road transport undertakings.
While 4.75% of a workers salary goes towards ESI as employers contribution, 1.75% of the income goes as
the employees share.
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Till March 2016, 2.13 crore insured persons were covered under the Insurance Corporations Act.
Beginning April, passengers may be able to fly on as many as

128 routes
Beginning April, passengers may be able to fly on as many as 128 routes connecting 70 big and small airports
across the country by paying Rs. 2,500 for an hours flight.
The Centre announced a list of routes awarded to five airlines which will operate flights under its regional
connectivity scheme, named UDAN ( Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik ).
Low-cost airline SpiceJet, Air India subsidiary Alliance Air along with regional airlines Turbo Megha Airways,
Air Deccan and Air Odisha Aviation won the rights to operate flights under the regional connectivity scheme
under which half of the seats on the plane will be capped at Rs. 2,500 per hours flight.
Some of the inactive airports that will soon witness regional flights include Shimla, Agra, Bikaner, Gwalior,
Kadapa, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Vidyanagar, Burnpur, Diu, Shillong, Kullu, Mysore, Jagdalpur, Salem, Utkela,
and Hosur.
The regional airlines will connect these destinations with their nearest bigger airports such as Delhi, Bengaluru,
Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur, among others.
As per the scheme, the Centre will subsidise the losses incurred by airlines flying out of dormant airports to
help airlines charge Rs. 2,500 for an hours flight to passengers.
80% of the subsidy will be collected by charging a levy of up to Rs. 8,500 on each departing flight of domestic
airlines and the rest 20% will come from the respective State governments.
The Centre had asked airlines to submit their proposed routes along with subsidy amount required to operate
the regional flight. This was followed by counter-bids from other airlines and the one asking for the least
financial support won the bid.
Government will provide subsidy to airlines for first three years of operations when they will have exclusive
flying rights on the selected routes.
Airlines which had won the first round of bidding under the scheme would require a subsidy of Rs. 205 crore for
running their operations. This would ultimately lead to the creation of 13 lakh seats in the regional aviation
market.
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Consumer interest is imp. in policy and not revenue

maximization says TRAI
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said that consumer interest should be at the centre of public policy
and not revenue maximization for the government.
It added that the commission concluded that such a regime needs revisiting solely base on the revenue
numbers of a few recent quarters.
The Telecom Commission, which is the highest decision making body in the Department of
Telecommunications, had in February written to TRAI asking it to review existing tariff rules to ensure financial
growth of the sector.
The commission had reasoned that promotional offers by a new player is leading into fall in revenues of other
telcos, and hence resulting in fall in governments earning.
The regulator, in the letter, argued that it is a well known fact that low tariff help in penetration of telecom
services in the rural and remote areas of the country where the teledensity still stands at 53.27% as compared
to urban teledensity of 170.15%.
It further stated that affordable telecom service and consumer interest are some of the key elements of
National Telecom Policy, 2012.
Paper meals coupon provided by employers to go digital

As part of Centres push towards digital payments and transactions, the paper meals coupon provided by
employers as perquisites to their staff will become digital from January next year.
RBI has issued Master Directions on the issuance and operation of prepaid payment instruments (PPI) in the
country to provide a framework for regulation, authorisation and supervision of entities operating payment
systems in the country.
Master Directions consolidate instructions on rules and regulations framed by the RBI under various Acts
including banking issues and foreign exchange transactions.
According to the new Master Directions, all paper meal vouchers like the Sodexo and Ticket Restaurant will
have to be issued in electronic form like cards which are reloadable.
The proposed directions also suggest that the prepaid meal instruments in paper voucher form shall not be
accepted beyond December 31, 2017.
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Apart from the deadline of December 31, the RBI also said the PPI issuers should obtain and maintain the
details of employees from the employers and the minimum validity of the prepaid meal instruments shall be
one year from loading.
Sodexo, which is one of the largest paper meal voucher providers in the country, said it was in line with the
governments move to power digital payment.
Sodexo is the largest player in the paper meal space with over 11,000 clients that includes about 25 lakh daily
users.
The company has even partnered with payment technology solutions company like First Data and Pine Labs to
create a propriety payment terminal that will accept Sodexo meal cards.
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Science & Technology

NASAs Europa Clipper set to launch in the 2020s
NASAs Europa Clipper set to launch in the 2020s will probe the habitability of Jupiters icy moon Europa.
When the mission was still in the conceptual phase, it was informally called Europa Clipper, but NASA has now
adopted that name as the formal title for the mission.
The moniker harkens back to the clipper ships that sailed across the oceans of Earth in the 19th century.
The mission plan includes 40 to 45 flybys, during which the spacecraft would image the moons icy surface at
high resolution and investigate its composition and the structure of its interior and icy shell.
Europa has long been a high priority for exploration because it holds a salty liquid water ocean beneath its icy
crust.
The ultimate aim of Europa Clipper is to determine if Europa is habitable, possessing all three of the
ingredients necessary for life: liquid water, chemical ingredients, and energy sources sufficient to enable
biology.
Great Barrier Reef is experiencing second straight year of

mass coral bleaching
Australias Great Barrier Reef is experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of mass coral bleaching,
warning many species would struggle to fully recover.
The 2,300-km reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures
during March and April.
Bleaching is once again occurring, the governments Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said after an
aerial survey off Australias eastern coast.
The agency said more bleaching was being observed in the central part of the reef, which last year escaped
widespread severe bleaching. The 2016 bleaching was more severe in the northern areas of the bio-diverse
site.
The back-to-back occurrence of widespread bleaching also meant there was insufficient time for corals to fully
recover.
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Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to
expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.
Corals can recover if the water temperature drops and the algae are able to recolonise them.
The Barrier Reef already under pressure from farming run-off, development and the crown-of-thorns starfish
escaped with minor damage after two other bleaching events in 1998 and 2002.
The reef scientists plan to conduct further surveys over the next few weeks to determine the extent and
severity of the bleaching.
Nearly two-thirds of shallow-water corals in a 700-km stretch of the reefs northern section were lost to last
years bleaching event, scientists have said.
Indian researcher has been able to increase wheat grain yield

by 20%
Indian researcher has been able to increase wheat grain yield by 20% and also improve the resilience of wheat
to environmental stress such as drought.
By using a precursor that enhances the amount of a key sugarsignalling molecule (trehalose-6- phosphate
(T6P)) produced in wheat plant, Dr. Ram Sagar Misra, has been able to increase the amount of starch
produced and the yield.
The technique The T6P molecule stimulates starch synthesis, which in turn, increases the yield. Since the
pathway of T6P molecule is the same in other plants, the yield can potentially be increased by using suitable
precursors.
While genetic methods can increase the T6P level two-three fold, the four precursor compounds were able to
achieve 100-fold increase in the sugar-signalling molecule level compared with plants that did not receive the
molecule.
In field trials using wheat, a tiny amount of precursor given to the plant increased the yield significantly the
grains produced were bigger as the amount of starch content in the grains increased by 13-20% compared to
controls that got only water.
To study the resilience of wheat to drought-like conditions when treated with the precursor molecules, the
researchers carried out two different studies.
Resilence to drought In the first case, four-week-old wheat plants already treated with the precursor molecules
were not watered for nine days to simulate a droughtlike condition.
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More trials on a larger scale are needed to confirm the role of the precursor molecules in increasing yield and
withstanding drought-like conditions.
Despite high institutional delivery, breastfed children are still

low
Despite institutional delivery being as high as nearly 79% nationally, the number of children in India breastfed
within one hour of birth is less than 42% near 43% in urban areas and 41% in rural India, according to
NFHS-4 data.
The Janani Suraksha Yojana cash incentives to pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics and opt for
institutional deliveries has led to a sharp increase in institutional delivery (from 39% in 2005-06 to 79% in
2015-16).
It nearly doubled number of children breastfed within one hour of birth in the last 10 years. Breastfeeding
babies soon after birth can prevent a significant number of neonatal deaths about 20% newborn deaths and
13% under-five deaths.
At 99.9% in both urban and rural areas, Kerala has the highest institutional births in the country. Tamil Nadu is
a close second with 99.2% institutional births in urban areas and 98.7% in rural areas.
Yet, Kerala and Tamil Nadu do not fare greatly when it comes to initiating breastfeeding within one hour of
birth. At 64%, Kerala is well below Goas average of 73%.
Similarly, Maharashtra with 90% institutional deliveries has 57.5% for early initiation of breastfeeding compared
to Tamil Nadus nearly 55%.
Bihar has shown the most improvement in initiating breastfeeding within one hour of birth from 4% in 2005-
06 to 35% in 2015- 16.
Other States that have shown good improvement on this front are Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. S
imilarly, all States have registered an improvement in the case of exclusive breastfeeding of children under age
six months.
While Goa has shown a dramatic increase from 17.7% in 2005-06 to nearly 61% in 2015-16, Chhattisgarh has
witnessed a drop from 82% to 77%.
According to NFHS-4 data, the national average for babies delivered by caesarean section is 28%, which is
more than three times the 2005-06 figure of 8.5%.
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Using biofuels to help power jet engines can reduce particle

emissions
Using biofuels to help power jet engines can reduce particle emissions in their exhaust by as much as 50 to
70%, according to a new NASA study that bodes well for airline economics and Earths environment.
The observations quantify the impact of biofuel blending on aerosol emissions at cruise conditions and provide
key microphysical parameters, which will be useful to assess the potential of biofuel use in aviation.
Contrails are produced by hot aircraft engine exhaust mixing with the cold air that is typical at cruise altitudes
several miles above Earths surface, and are composed primarily of water in the form of ice crystals.
Researchers are most interested in persistent contrails because they create long-lasting, and sometimes
extensive, clouds that would not normally form in the atmosphere, and are believed to be a factor in influencing
Earths environment.
Soot emissions also are a major driver of contrail properties and their formation.
The tests involved flying NASAs workhorse DC-8 as high as 40,000 feet while its four engines burned a 50-50
blend of aviation fuel and a renewable alternative fuel of hydro processed esters and fatty acids produced from
camelina plant oil.
GRAPES-3 experiment at TIFRs Cosmic Ray Laboratory in

Ootacamund is getting upgraded
The GRAPES-3 experiment at TIFRs Cosmic Ray Laboratory in Ootacamund is getting upgraded. The
telescope made news last year when it detected the effect of a solar storm that hit the earth in June 2015.
The upgrade will play a major role in getting precise information about the propagation of storms in the last
million miles (from the L-1 point) of their journey from the Sun to the earth.
The upgraded detector will have an increased coverage of the sky and improved capacity to determine the
direction of incident cosmic rays.
The latter property, of being able to discern the direction of detected particles, makes it unique among cosmic
ray detectors in the world; it can also to measure the intensity of the particles.
Since the enhanced facility can cover a wider field of view (from present 37% to 57%), the chances of spotting
solar storms will be higher.
The sun is at a distance of 150 million kilometres from the earth, and satellites have been placed at a distance
of nearly 1.5 million kilometres, at the so-called L1 point, where they orbit the Sun along with the Earth.
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Since charged particles from a solar storm will first impact the satellites before hitting the earth, they act as an
early warning system. Depending on the speed of the storm, it will take about 20-40 minutes to reach the earth
from the L1 point.
It is important to know the time when plasma will reach the earth, accurately, so that preventive and protective
measures can be put into place in case a solar storm were to strike the earth.
If the earths magnetic field were to be weakened by extreme solar storms, charged particles would shower on
to the planet.
Apart from rendering electronic devices defunct, charged particles in an extreme solar storm can also short
current carrying over-head high voltage lines, leading to large-scale transformers burn out and thereby, power
blackouts.
The up side is that the way to prevent such a disaster is well understood: simply switch off the power lines on
being informed of an approaching solar storm!
And for this to be possible, an accurate determination of the time taken for the solar storm to travel to the earth
is needed, which is where the GRAPES-3 set up comes in.
A group of marine researchers from Kerala is attempting to

combat corrosion of steel
Turning to nanotechnology, a group of marine researchers from Kerala is attempting to combat corrosion of
steel used for making fishing boats.
Corrosion of steel has been a major cause of concern for the fishing sector of Kerala where steel vessels have
almost replaced wooden ones.
There is enhanced threat of corrosion in the case of welding joints and the hull of a vessel. The non-availability
of good quality steel (BIS 2062 Grade B steel) as specified for boat-building has compounded the problem.
Conventional methods of coating of steel materials with ceramic, polymeric and electro-deposition are effective
only to a limited extent. Corrosion-protection methodologies usually employ organic or inorganic-based
coatings on steel.
The researchers pointed out that the major disadvantages shown by these coatings are poor adhesion, coating
defects, poor scratch resistance, optical transparency, low coating flexibility and vulnerability to abrasion.
Even the recently introduced nanomaterial-incorporated polymer coatings have their own set of challenges
they tend to develop pinholes and pores, which could lead to the penetration of corrosive agents into the matrix
followed by corrosion.
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Air Force will have 123 Tejas jets by 2024-25

If the present development and capacity enhancement plans go as scheduled, the Indian Air Force will have
123 Tejas jets, indigenously made light combat aircraft, on its fleet by 2024-25.
To enable this, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) is in the process of setting up a new assembly line for the
jets and is involving the private sector in a big way.
The IAF has placed orders for 40 jets in two batches of which the first 20 are in the initial operational
configuration (IOC) and the remaining 20 in the final operational configuration (FOC).
Last July, the IAF operationalised the first Tejas squadron, 45 Flying Daggers, with three aircraft. Two more
aircraft will join the squadron shortly.
Last November, the Defence Acquisition Council gave initial clearance for 83 aircraft in the Mk-1A configuration
with specific improvements sought by the IAF.
Apart from the development, the low production rate of eight aircraft a year is delaying the induction of Tejas
into the IAF.
The government recently gave sanction for setting up another assembly line to increase the production rate to
16 a year.
The IAF is in urgent need of new fighters and the LCAs will replace the MiG fighters which are being phased
out. The IAF is scheduled to phase out all 11 squadrons of MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters by 2024 on completion
of their technical life.
Scientists have developed a new wireless Internet based on

infrared rays
Scientists have developed a new wireless Internet based on infrared rays that is reportedly 100 times faster
than existing Wi-Fi networks.
The wireless network developed by researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands not
only has a huge capacity more than 40 Gbit/s but does away with the need to share Wi-Fi as every device
gets its own ray of light.
The wireless data comes from a few central light antennas, which can be mounted on the ceiling, that are able
to precisely direct the rays of light supplied by an optical fibre.
The antennas contain a pair of gratings that radiate light rays of different wavelengths at different angles
(passive diffraction gratings).
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Changing the light wavelengths also changes the direction of the ray of light. A safe infrared wavelength is
used that does not reach the retina in the eye.
If a user is walking about and a smartphone or tablet moves out of the light antennas direction, then another
light antenna takes over, researchers said.
The network tracks the precise location of every wireless device using its radio signal transmitted in the return
direction, they said.
Current Wi-Fi uses radio signals with a frequency of 2.5 or five gigahertz. The new system uses infrared light
with wavelengths of 1,500 nanometres and higher.
Researchers managed to achieve a speed of 42.8 Gbit/s over a distance of 2.5 metres.
The system has so far used the light rays only to download; uploads are still done using radio signals since in
most applications much less capacity is needed for uploading.
Large Hadron Collider accelerator helps in finding 5 new sub-

atomic particles
Scientists using the worlds largest and most powerful particle accelerator have discovered a new system of
five particles all in a single analysis.
The uniqueness of this discovery is that observing five new states all at once is very rare, researchers said.
The LHCb experiment is one of seven particle physics detector experiments collecting data at the Large
Hadron Collider accelerator at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research).
The collaboration has announced the measurement of a very rare particle decay and evidence of a new
manifestation of matter antimatter asymmetry, to name just two examples.
The new particles were found to be in excited states a particle state that has a higher energy than the
absolute minimum configuration (or ground state) of a particle called Omega-c-zero.
Omega-c-zero decays via the strong force into another baryon, called Xi-c-plus, (containing a charm, a
strange and an up quark) and a kaon K-.
Then the Xi-c-plusparticle decays in turn into a proton p, a kaon K- and a pion p+.
The next step will be the determination of the quantum numbers of these new particles characteristic
numbers used to identify the properties of a specific particle and the determination of their theoretical
significance.
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This discovery will contribute to understanding how the three constituent quarks are bound inside a baryon and
also to probing the correlation between quarks, which plays a key role in describing multi-quark states, such as
tetraquarks and pentaquarks.
Govt proposed a law to provide social security net to the 47.41

crore workforce
The Union government proposed an ambitious law to provide social security net to the 47.41 crore-strong
workforce of the country.
The proposed code on Social Security and Welfare intends to make a shift in the social security framework of
the country from an employment-based approach to a rights-based approach followed by some developing
countries such as South Africa.
This means claiming social security benefits will become a right for everyone who joins the workforce.
At present, the social security set-up in India is only restricted to the formal sector where the employers make a
contribution towards social security schemes such as provident fund, insurance and pension of the workers.
Only about 8% of the informal sector is covered under any social security scheme, according the National
Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS).
At present, 82.7% of the 47.41 crore workforce is in the unorganised sector and does not have access to any
kind of social security, according to the Labour and Employment Ministry.
When the draft code takes final shape in the form of a law, there will be universal coverage of social security
schemes guaranteeing equal treatment to all the workers.
According to the proposed law, factories employing even a single worker will have to contribute towards social
security benefits.
Also, even households employing domestic help will also have contribute towards schemes including provident
fund and gratuity for the worker.
Self-employed persons, including agricultural labourers, will also make contribution towards the schemes on
their own.
The existing social security schemes have a limited reach due to application of thresholds based on income
and number of workers in a factory.
For instance, the provident fund and pension contribution, administered by the Employees Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO), is mandatory only for factories employing at least 20 workers.
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Various researches have pointed out significant flaws in the present social security framework of the country.
The International Social Security Association (ISSA) in its Social Security Coverage Extension in the BRICS
report said that the best way to describe the social security coverage in India is a patchwork as there was a
total mismatch between the labour market realities and the history of social security laws.
Only 1% of the agricultural workers have been provided social security cover, even as close to all the casual
workers are deprived of any benefits and socially or economically deprived people had much less coverage
than the others.
It also said that wage workers in the unorganised sector too had close to no social security benefit.
Even the proportion of wage workers covered under any social security law declined from 32.6% in 1999-2000
to 28.6% in 2004-05 and further to 26.4% in 2009-10 due to increased casual workers entering the workforce
and a rise in informal sector.
One of the major issues with the draft law is that workers in the unorganised sector mostly are daily wage
earners and providing monthly contribution towards their social benefit schemes would be a big task.
Rapid pace of melting of earths polar ice

Scientists are alarmed at the rapid pace of melting of the earths polar caps.
The sea ice cover in the Arctic and the Antarctic hit new record lows for this time of year, marking the smallest
polar ice caps in the 38-year satellite record, U.S. government scientists said.
In March, the Arctic ice sheet should be at its biggest, but on March 7 the ice cover reached a record low
wintertime maximum extent, said a statement by NASA.
Data from the NASA-supported NSIDC in Boulder, Colorado, also showed that on March 3, sea ice around
Antarctica hit its lowest extent ever recorded by satellites at the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
The disappearing sea ice comes as the planet has marked three years in a row of record-breaking heat, raising
new concerns about the accelerating pace of global warming and the need to curb burning of fossil fuels which
spew heat-trapping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
The ice floating in the Arctic Ocean grows and shrinks on a seasonal cycle, reaching its largest size in March
and its smallest at the end of the summer melt in September.
This years Arctic maximum spanned 14.42 million sq.km. That is 95,829 sq.km. below the previous record low
in 2015. When scientists take account of the average sea ice extent for 1981-2010, this years ice cover is
12,19,884 sq.km. smaller.
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The ice in the Antarctic also follows a seasonal cycle but its maximum comes in September and its minimum
around February.
For the past two years, however, Antarctica saw record high sea ice extents.
Hubble space telescope has detected a supermassive black

hole
NASAs Hubble space telescope has detected a supermassive black hole that has been kicked out of the
centre of a distant galaxy by what could be the power of gravitational waves.
Weighing more than one billion suns, the rogue black hole is the most massive black hole ever detected to
have been kicked out of its central home.
Researchers estimate that it took the equivalent energy of 100 million supernovas exploding simultaneously to
jettison the black hole.
The most plausible explanation for this propulsive energy is that the monster object was given a kick by
gravitational waves unleashed by the merger of two hefty black holes at the centre of the host galaxy,
according to the scientists.
The images revealed a bright quasar, the energetic signature of a black hole, residing far from the galactic
core. Black holes reside in the centre of galaxies, so its unusual to see a quasar not in the centre.
The black hole had travelled more than 35,000 light years from the centre, which is more than the distance
between the sun and the centre of the Milky Way, according to the study.
First predicted by Albert Einstein, gravitational waves are ripples in space that are created when two massive
objects collide. The ripples are similar to the concentric circles produced when a hefty rock is thrown into a
pond.
Indian researchers found a new target that can be used for

new antibiotics
Indian researchers have found a new target that can potentially be used for developing new antibiotics that will
be effective against many bacteria.
The new target is made of two proteins, which form a complex that is responsible for the formation of biofilm,
that perform very important functions and are critical for bacterial ability to successfully infect humans.
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Bacteria form biofilms, a kind of matrix, during infection in plants and animals. The biofilm shields the bacteria
from antibiotics and helps bacteria survive harsh conditions such as extreme temperature or stress.
Now a study by Indian researchers has found the molecular signalling events that play a crucial role in biofilm
formation in Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax.
Till now, all attention has been on developing antibiotics that target disease-causing bacteria and not the
biofilm itself.
One of the basic questions that scientists have been trying to answer is how and when bacteria decide to form
biofilms.
A protein switch within the tiny capillaries of the brain

controls the blood flow
A protein switch within the tiny capillaries of the brain controls the blood flow that ensures optimal brain
function.
Researchers have uncovered that capillaries have the capacity to both sense brain activity and generate an
electrical vasodilatory signal to evoke blood flow and direct nutrients to nourish hard-working neurons.
Previously, capillaries were thought to be passive tubes, and the arterioles as the source of action.
Researchers have discovered that capillaries actively control blood flow by acting like a series of wires,
transmitting electrical signals to direct blood to the areas that need it most.
To achieve this feat, the capillary sensory network relies on a protein (an ion channel) that detects increases in
potassium during neuronal activity.
Increased activity of this channel facilitates the flow of ions across the capillary membrane, thereby creating a
small electrical current that generates a negative charge.
It is a rapid signal that communicates the need for additional blood flow to the upstream arterioles, which
then results in increased blood flow to the capillaries, researchers said.
Researchers also determined that if the potassium level is too high, this mechanism can be disabled, which
may contribute to blood flow disturbances in a broad range of brain disorders.
Tupolev-142M anti-submarine warfare aircraft to be

decommissioned
The Navys iconic Tupolev-142M anti-submarine warfare aircraft will be decommissioned.
Page 126
The planes have been the mainstay in guarding the Indian Ocean region for almost three decades.
The Soviet-era aircraft, one of the most formidable airborne reconnaissance platforms around the world, has
been part of major operations since its induction in 1988.
India in discussions with Sri Lanka and several Southeast

Asian nations for Dhruv
As part of efforts to enhance defence cooperation and boost exports with friendly countries, India is in
discussions with Sri Lanka and several Southeast Asian nations for the supply of Dhruv.
Supplying defence equipment and providing assistance in setting up domestic manufacturing capability have
become the new normal in Indias defence cooperation with regional countries.
This time, India is putting specific emphasis on maintenance and training in view of its experience of Dhruv
sales to Ecuador, which got embroiled in legal issues.
Amid much fanfare in 2009, India bagged a deal to supply seven of these helicopters to Ecuador worth $45.2
million after defeating several global platforms.
However, the euphoria was short-lived as four of them crashed. In October 2015, Ecuador unilaterally
terminated the contract and in 2016, put the three helicopters on sale.
Following this, HAL had moved a local court there. Of the four crashes, two had been attributed to pilot error
and one to mechanical failure.
Dhruv, designed and developed by the HAL, is powered by the Shakti engine jointly developed by it and
Turbomeca of France. Over 200 helicopters are in service with the Indian military.
The three Services have constantly complained about lack of spares and support for the fleet. The situation
has slightly improved in recent times.
To increase the delivery rate, the HAL recently set up a second assembly line in Kanpur, which is expected to
produce 12 helicopters a year.
Page 127
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