http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.

) 2011 New Bill to bring CAG under RTI Anew Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Bill, likely to be introduced in the Parliament, that will bring the institution of CAG under the ambit of the Right to Information Act. The new Bill would seek to replace the CAG Act, 1971, and empower the institution to audit accounts of the panchayati raj institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and public-private partnership (PPP) entities. Constitutional right overrides practices : Speaker While allowing the Opposition members to move cut motions on the demands for grants of various ministries, which were taken up for adoption without any discussion, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar ruled that Constitutional right is a superior right and it overrides practices. In her observation, Ms. Kumar noted that the right to move cut motions is an important right of the members of the House provided in the Constitution which cannot be curtailed. The right to move a cut motion flows from the power vested in the House under Article 113 of the Constitution to assent to any demand subject to a reduction of the amount specified in that demand. This Article or any of the Rules do not make any distinction between the demands which are discussed in the House and those which are guillotined.Article 113 used the words any demand . It is thus clear that cut motions can be moved on all demands submitted to the House under Article 113 (2), Ms. Kumar said in her ruling. Lok Sabha passes green tribunal Bill TheLok Sabha adopted the lg National Green Tribunal (NGT) Bill, 2009.Itenvisagesthe settingupofanational tribunal, a judicial body exclusively to deal with environmental laws and to provide citizens a right to environment. Themain Bench ofthetribunal will beset up in Bhopal, the site of humanity s one of the worst industrial tragedies. TheTribunal would havefour circuit Benches. It would deal with all environmental laws on air and water pollution, the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Biodiversity Act. With this effort, India would join Australia and New Zealand, which have such specialised environment tribunals. The Tribunal would monitor the implementation of environment laws. Its members would be chosen by a committee. Foreign education institutions Bill tabled Amid opposition by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the government introduced the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and

Operations) Bill in the Lok Sabha. The Bill, which seeks to regulate the entry and operation of foreign education institutions, had been pending for the past four years due to stiff opposition from the Left. According to the Bill, the enactment of legislation regulating entry and operation of all foreign NATIONAL EVENTS WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 16 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs institutions is necessary to maintain the standards of higher education in the country as well as protect the interests of students, and in the public interest. The foreign institution shall not impart education unless it is recognised and notified by the Centre, and offers education which is in conformity with the standards laid down by the statutory authority in India and those offered by it to its students enrolled on its main campus, in addition to maintaining a corpus fund of not less than Rs. 50 crore. The Centre can refuse to recognise and notify an institution if it is not in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with other foreign states, the public order, decency or morality; or for reasons of sensitivity of the location. The government can withdraw recognition and rescind the notification on grounds of violation of the provisions of the proposed legislation. The government also introduced three more bills on higher education including the one that seeks to provide for establishment of educational tribunals for effective and expeditious adjudication of disputes involving teachers and other employees and other stakeholders, and to adjudicate penalties for unfair practices. Lok Sabha passes labour welfare Bill Amidst furore, the Lok Sabha passed, without discussions, a slew of labour welfare measures, including a Bill to raise the ceiling of gratuity for employees in private sector to Rs.10 lakh from Rs.3.5 lakh. A corollary benefit of the gratuity ceiling enhancement is that the amount will also qualify for exemption from income tax. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill said the present ceiling of Rs.3.5 lakh was fixed in 1997 and there had been representations from trade unions and individuals to remove or enhance the ceiling on the maximum amount of gratuity payable under the Act. Based on the representations and wide consultation with all stakeholders, it was proposed to enhance the ceiling of Rs.3.5 lakh on the maximum amount of gratuity under the act. The Lok Sabha also passed the Employees State Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2009, to provide for medicare to workers in the unorganised sector, especially those below the poverty line (BPL). The Bill, proposes that the Employees State Insurance Corporation should participate in the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to cover BPL workers in the unorganised sector. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill said it also proposed to increase the age limit of dependents from 18 to 21 years and provide for claims for accidents occurring at work or while going to

work.The legislation was brought to the House in 2008 to replace an ordinance and was then sent to the concerned parliamentary standing committee. Bill to regulate clinics The Lok Sabha passed the Clinical Establishments Bill to regulate private hospitals and clinics across the country. It would also ensure that no clinic runs unless it has been duly registered in accordance with the prescribed procedure, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said. According to the Bill, every establishment will have to follow minimum standards of facilities and services for registration and continuation of operation. The establishments will have to provide the medical examination and treatment as may be required to stabilise the emergency medical condition of any individual, who is brought to the facility The Bill envisages the setting up of a National Council for Clinical Establishments and State councils to regulate the medical facilities. The State councils will be responsible for compiling and updating the State register of clinical establishments and sending monthly returns in digital format for updating the national register. A State government will set up district authorities for registration of health units, with the collector and district health officer as members. Use of narco analysis, brain-mapping unconstitutional: Court In a major blow to investigating agencies, the Supreme Court held unconstitutional and violation of the right to privacy the use of narco analysis, brain-mapping and polygraph tests on accused, suspects and witnesses without their consent. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 17 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Article 20 (3) of the Constitution [No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself] protects an individual s choice between speaking and remaining silent, irrespective of whether the subsequent testimony proves to be inculpatory or exculpatory. The Bench said: Article 20 (3) aims to prevent the forcible conveyance of personal knowledge that is relevant to the facts in issue. The results obtained from each of the impugned tests bear a testimonial character and they cannot be categorised as material evidence. Narco analysis technique involves the intravenous administration of sodium pentothal, a drug which lowers inhibitions on part of the subject and induces the person to talk freely. The other two techniques measure changes in aspects such as respiration, blood pressure, blood flow, pulse and galvanic skin resistance. The truthfulness or falsity on part of the subject is assessed by relying on the records of the physiological responses. Court won t stop admissions to deemed varsities The Supreme Court declined to restrain the 44 deemed universities recommended by the Tandon Committee to be de-recognised, from making fresh admissions for the academic year 2010-2011. A Bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra did not accept the argument advanced by the Centre that no fresh admissions should be permitted as that would cause prejudice to the students. Nothing unconstitutional about MPLAD scheme, rules Supreme Court The Supreme Court held that the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme, under which every MP is allotted Rs. 2 crore a year for constituency development, was intra vires the Constitution. Governors can t be removed at Centre s whims, says Court The Supreme Court held that a Governor cannot be removed on the ground that he/she is out of sync with the policies and ideologies of the Union government or the party in power at the Centre. Nor can he/she be removed on the ground that the Union government has lost confidence in him/ her. The Bench said that as a Governor was neither an employee nor agent of the Union government, it was rejecting the contention that a Governor could be removed if the Union government or the party in power lost confidence in him. Writing the judgment, Justice Raveendran said, What Article 156 (1) of the Constitution [under which a Governor holds office during the pleasure of the

President] dispenses with is the need to assign reasons or the need to give notice, but the need to act fairly and reasonably cannot be dispensed with by Article 156(1). The President, in exercising power under Article 156(1), should act in a manner that is not arbitrary or unreasonable. In the event of challenge of withdrawal of the pleasure, the court will necessarily assume that it is for compelling reasons. Consequently, where the aggrieved person is not able to establish a prima facie instance of arbitrariness or mala fides in his removal, the court will refuse to interfere. Supreme Court allows mining in undisputed Obulapuram areas Giving a major relief to the Reddy brothers, the Supreme Court has allowed mining in Obulapuram mines in the reserve forests bordering Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. A Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan allowed mining operations within 150 metres of the border. This order was passed on an Andhra Pradesh government appeal against an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court allowing mining by the Obulapuram Mining Company. The Supreme Court earlier stayed mining activities and ordered a survey by the Survey of India (SoI). The SoI, in its report, alleged discrepancies and overlapping in the lease sketches of six Obulapuram mines, including three belonging to the Reddy brothers. It suggested that the entire lease sketches be reviewed and that no mining be allowed during the demarcation work. Constitution-Watch WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 18 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Supreme Court upholds quota in local bodies The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity ofArticles 243 D (6) and T (6), providing for reservation of seats in any panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in panchayats and municipalities in favour of backward classes. A five-judge Constitution Bench upheld Articles 243 D (4) and 243 T (4) reserving chairpersons posts in local bodies, irrespective of whether the beneficiaries are SCs, STs and women and even if it is a single post. These Articles were inserted by way of Constitution 73rd and 74th Amendments. The Bench disposed of appeals challenging these amendments as also the Karnataka law in this regard. Writing the judgment, the CJI said, The nature and purpose of reservation in the context of local selfgovernment is considerably different from that of higher education and public employment. In this sense, Articles 243-D and Article 243-T form a distinct and independent constitutional basis for affirmative action and the principles that have been evolved in relation to the reservation policies enabled byArticles 15(4) and 16(4) cannot be readilyapplied in the context of local self-government. The Bench, however, made it clear that the ceiling of 50 per cent vertical reservation in favour of SC/ST/ OBCs should not be breached in the context of local self-government. The Bench said, These chairperson posts cannot be equated with solitary posts in the context of public employment. It held that Articles 243-D (6) and T (6) are constitutionally valid since they are in the nature of provisions which merely enable State Legislature to reserve seats and chairperson posts in favour of backward classes. The Bench said, As we have considered and decided only the constitutional validity of Articles 243-D (6) and 243-T(6), it will be open to the petitioners or any aggrieved party to challenge any State legislation enacted in pursuance of the said constitutional provisions before the High Court. Supreme Court notice to Haryana over Mirchpur Dalits Taking a serious view of 150 Dalit families from Mirchpur village in Haryana s Hisar district being forced to leave the village after two of them were killed allegedly by the dominant Jat community, the Supreme Court issued a stern notice to the Haryana Government for its response to a petition highlighting their plight. Mirchpur, about 150 km from Delhi, is a large village comprising about 1,700 Jat (dominant caste) households, 250 Balmiki families, 350 Chamar, 25 Dom and a handful of Brahmin households. Inclusion in select list is no guarantee of appointment : Supreme Court A person whose name appears on the select list does not acquire any indefeasible right of appointment, the

Supreme Court has held. Writing the judgment, Justice Chauhan said: Mere inclusion of a candidate s name in the select list does not confer [on him] any right to be selected, even if some of the vacancies remain unfilled. The candidate cannot claim that he has been given a hostile discrimination. The select list cannot be treated as a reservoir for the purpose of appointments, that vacancy can be filled taking the names from that list as and when it is so required. In the instant case, the Orissa government advertised for filling 15 vacancies of junior clerk in June 1995, with an indication that the number might be increased. Accordingly, the authorities decided to fill 33 vacancies, though a select list of 66 persons was prepared. Persons whose names figured on the list but were not appointed moved the StateAdministrative Tribunal, which inApril 2000 directed the government to offer appointments to all candidates until the entire select list was exhausted. Allowing the State s appeal and setting aside the orders of the tribunal and the High Court, the Supreme Court gave this judgement Moily hints at change in judges appointment process The government is thinking of making changes in the appointment procedures, as the present practice (collegium) does not fully reflect the two Supreme Court judgments that led to the creation of the existing system. India may be among the few countries in the world where judges appoint themselves, a practice that started after 1993, replacing the system of government picking the judges for higher judiciary The changes could be made either through judicial action or legislative method, he said. The 1993 and 1998 Supreme Court judgments led to the present Memorandum of Procedure [which WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 19 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 governs the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts]. But the system does not fully reflect the two judgements in letter and in spirit, Mr. Moily said. Under the collegium system, top five Supreme Court judges recommend names of judges to the government for their transfer or elevation. Divorce to become easier To make divorce easier under Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act, the Union Cabinet cleared amendments for introduction of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as an additional ground. The amendment will enable either the husband or wife to seek divorce on this ground. Based on the recommendations of the LawCommission as well as theSupreme Court, the clause on irretrievable breakdown will be in addition to the existing grounds for divorce that include adultery, cruelty, desertion, conversion to another religion, unsoundness of mind, virulent and incurable form of leprosy, venereal disease in a communicable form, renouncement ofthe world and not heard as being alive for a period of seven years. Taking note of the lacuna in the law, the Supreme Court, in its judgment in the case of Naveen Kohli vs Neelu Kohli, had recommended to the Centre to seriously consider amending the laws to incorporate irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for grant of divorce. Autonomous NHRC has no say over funds allocation TheNational Human RightsCommission (NHRC),which reflects the country s concern for protecting and promoting human rights, iswaging a lone battletoprotect its own rights. A statutory body, the NHRC enjoys full functional autonomy and has its own investigation team to probe allegations of human rights violations. But in this case, it can only be a mute, hapless spectator to its financial freedom being curtailed by the government. The allocation for the NHRC is approved by an expenditure committee, which is headed by the Commission s Chairperson and includes the Secretary (Expenditure). The NHRC gets its financial allocation from the Consolidated Fund of India. According to the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993, which bestows powers on the Commission and governs its functioning, Set up in October 1993, the NHRC is currently headed by the former Chief Justice of India, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, and has four members, all of whom enjoy the status equal to that of a sitting Supreme Court judge. The Commission has been graded in the prestigious A category by the accreditation committee of the International Coordination Committee, a United Nations body which meets every year in Geneva.

With new Bill, Bar Council will lose academic role Notwithstanding the Bar Council of India s opposition, the Higher Education and Research Bill 2010, approved by the Human Resource Development Ministry, takes away the BCI s power to control legal education. Even as the draft Bill was under consideration, Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily assured the legal profession that the BCI s interests would be protected and that he would hold discussions with the HRD Ministry to sort out the matter. The Bill Suggested that Bodies like the BCI and MCI will have the power to prescribe standards of higher education for professional practice. They can only set requirements to determine eligibility and conduct licensing examinations to assess the competency of a student emerging from the higher education system for pursuing professional practice. This is in line with global practices in education, said the Task Force which proposed the Bill. In circumstantial evidence, guilt should point to the accused: court When a criminal case is based entirely on circumstantial evidence, the chain of circumstances should be complete in all respects, and the pointer of guilt should continuously be on the accused, the Supreme Court has held. Any deviation will result in his acquittal, giving him the benefit of the doubt, said a vacation Bench of Justices Deepak Verma and K.S. Radhakrishnan. It was acquitting five persons who were awarded life imprisonment in a murder case. It was a well-settled law that the prosecution must stand or fall on its own legs, and it could not derive any strength from the weaknesses of defence. This is trite law, and no decision has taken a contrary view, the Bench said. Constitution-Watch WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 20 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Let litigation make way for settlement culture: Kapadia Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia underlined the need for spreading a settlement culture for the success of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution system. The absence of the settlement culture among litigants was the single most important factor in the flooding of courts with cases. In foreign countries, people preferred settlement to litigation and that was why mediation was successful there, he said. Communal violence bill: activists, government at loggerheads From the framing of its first draft in 2005 to the heated debates that have followed it, the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill has been mired in controversy. The government feels that civil society organisations want to take over its powers; civil society organisations believe the government is simply not prepared to go far enough. At the heart of the battle is a fundamental question: Can an independent body assume, temporarily, the powers of the government? The government s draft bill, for instance, suggests a Union Home Minister headed 11-member National Council to oversee relief and the rehabilitation of victims. This has been rejected by civil society activists, which has, instead, proposed a Communal Harmony Justice and Reparation Commission (CHJRC), with national, State and district councils, and a mandate that goes beyond responsibility for relief, compensation and rehabilitation to include the power to recommend the notification of the application of the Communal Violence Law. The government is not amused. The State is responsible for maintenance of law and order. If the State fails in its task, it has to be made accountable those powers can t be handed over to civil society members, unless you want to change the Constitution, senior government official said. The draft bill s suggestion to declare certain areas communally disturbed areas has also come in for criticism, with civil society activists sa ying th is will give th e gover nment t he opportunity to use the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). The government s argument is that this provision has nothing to do with the Disturbed Areas Act, which allows the use of the AFSPA. PF scam: Supreme Court stays proceedings The Supreme Court stayed all further proceedings in the Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam case before a special CBI court in Uttar Pradesh. In the scam, in which judges were named, crores were fraudulently withdrawn from the PF accounts of Class IV employees Nod for Constitutional Amendment on

reservation for women in Panchayats With the Standing Committee on Rural Development approving the Constitution (110th Amendment) Bill, 2009, the stage is set to enhance reservation for women to not less than one-half of total number of offices in the Panchayats. In its report tabled in both Houses of Parliament, the committee said it agreed with the proposed amendments and recommended consideration of the Bill with certain modifications for better clarity and appropriate reflection of demographic representations. Committee chairperson Sumitra Mahajan maintained that all experts, NGOs and representatives of State governments unanimously supported the Bill. Noting that the Bill aimed at enhancing reservation of seats for women to 50 per cent, the committee underscored the difficulty in defining it with mathematical precision and suggested that the effect of the provision should be not less than one-half. The Ministry of Law and Justice too proposed changes to the same effect. On the reservation of offices of chairpersons in panchayats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in proportion to the total number of such offices in the panchayats, the committee stressed that their population was spread in rural as well as urban areas and, hence, suggested that it should be linked only to their rural population for an appropriate reflection of demographic representation. The Ministry has agreed to link it to the rural population. President calls for innovative methods to liquidate arrears President Pratibha Patil called upon the State governments, the Bar and the Bench to find innovative methods to liquidate backlogs of cases in courts in a time-bound manner. Inaugurating the two-day all-India seminar on judicial reforms, organised by the Confederation of Indian Bar (CIB), the President pointed out that government WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 21 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 agencies being one of the biggest litigants must exercise restraint from routinely instituting litigation and clogging the system. She said: The justice delivery system has been affected by an explosion of litigation. Current figures reveal that the arrears in High Courts exceed 40 lakh cases, while in the subordinate Courts, it surpasses 270 lakh . She said Alternative Dispute Resolution, including arbitration, conciliation, negotiation and mediation could decrease the cost and time of litigation, improve access to justice and preserve social relationships. Death penalty has deterrent effect: NHRC chairperson Amid continuing debate over whether death penalty should be abolished in India, NHRC chairperson K.G. Balakrishnan has favoured continuance of the provision which has a deterrent effect in a country where various types of crimes are on the rise. The former Chief Justice of India said capital punishment was awarded in the rarest of rare cases and there were adequate safeguards in the law. Centre appoints members to Law Commission The Centre has appointed two full-time and seven part-time members to the 19th LawCommission of India, which was reconstituted in September 2009. Retired Supreme Court Judge P.V. Reddy was appointed Chairman of the Commission in March this year. The Commission has been given the mandate to review/repeal obsolete laws; to identify laws which require changes or amendments and to make suggestions for their amendment; to consider in a wider perspective the suggestions for revision/ amendment given by Expert Groups in various Ministries/Departments with a view to coordinating and harmonising them; To suggest suitable measures for quick redressal of citizens grievances, in the field of Law; to examine the Laws which affect the poor, and carry out post-audit for socio-economic legislation; to take all such measures as may be necessary to harness Law and the legal process in the service of the poor; to keep under review the system of judicial administration to ensure that it is responsive to the reasonable demands of the times and in particular to secure elimination of delays, speedy clearance of arrears and reduction in costs so as to secure quick and economical disposal of cases without affecting the cardinal principle that decisions should be just and fair. The Commission will also suggest steps for: simplification of procedure to reduce and eliminate technicalities and devices for delay so that it operates not as an end in itself but as a means of achieving justice; improvement of standards of all concerned with the administration of justice; to examine the

existing laws with a view to promoting gender equality and suggesting amendments there-to; to revise the Central Acts of General Importance so as to simplify them and remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities; to examine the impact of globalisation on food security and unemployment, and recommend measures for the protection of the interests of the marginalised. Raise retirement age of Supreme Court judges too : BarAssciation. The All India Bar Association (AIBA) has urged the Union government to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court Judges too from 65 to 68 years and that of the judicial officers in courts below the High Courts from 60 to 62 years. It welcomed the decision to increase the retirement age of High Court judges from 62 to 65 years. In a statement, AIBA chairman Adish Aggarwala and its vice-chairman S. Prabhakaran said that over 40 lakh cases were pending in the 21 High Courts of the country, which are facing a shortfall of 265 judges, out of the sanctioned strength of 895 judges. Increasing the retirement age of High Court judges without increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court judges would create chaos in the judicial administration of the country. Petition against order on 69% quota Contending that the Supreme Court had erroneously allowed the Tamil Nadu government to provide 69 per cent quota, exceeding the 50 per cent limit imposed in earlier judgments, a petition seeking review of this order was filed. On July 13, the Supreme Court disposed of a writ petition filed by Voice Consumer Care Council in 1994 challenging the 69 per cent quota law by directing the State to reconsider the same in the light of the various judgments concerning reservation to other backward classes. The Supreme Court even permitted the State Constitution-Watch WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 22 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs to increase the 50 per cent limit in case the quantification of data of OBCs in the State as determined by the State Backward Class Commission justified such an increase Court to decide on 100 p.c. quota for STs in tribal areas The Supreme Court referred to a Constitution Bench for hearing an important question of law as to whether 100 per cent reservation in posts for teachers could be made in favour of Scheduled Tribes in schools in scheduled areas. The special leave petition (SLP) was directed against a Full Court judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High court that upheld a Government Order (G.O.), which provided for 100 per cent reservation for tribals. The Constitution Bench will also decide whether such reservation was ultra vires the basic structure of the Constitution or not. It will also consider the scope of paragraph 5 (1), Schedule V whether the exercise of power conferred therein could override fundamental rights; does the power extend to subordinate legislation; and does the provision empower the Governor to make a new law. Reservation under Article 16 (4) should not exceed 50 per cent. High Court awards two-thirds of disputed Ayodhya site to Hindu parties, one-third to Sunni Waqf Board Sixty years after the matter first went into litigation, a Special Full Bench of the High Court of Allahabad has ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood for 500 years until it was demolished in 1992 shall be divided into three parts. A two-thirds portion is to be shared by two Hindu plaintiffs and one-third will be given to the Sunni Muslim Waqf Board. By a 2-1 majority verdict, plaintiffs representing Lord Ram, the Nirmohi Akhara and the Waqf Board were declared joint title-holders of the property. The Bench asserted that the portion under the central dome of the demolished threedome structure where the idol of Ram Lalla had been kept in a m akeshift t empl e was t he birthplace of Lord Rama as per faith and belief of the Hindus. Bill coming to set up regulatory body for medical education Putting to rest uncertainty over the fate of the proposed National Council for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH), a separate regulatory body for medical education, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a bill to set up the council would be introduced in Parliament soon. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, after extensive consultations, has prepared a draft Bill for setting up the council. The Bill will seek to create an enabling environment that will address issues of

quality, quantity and equitable distribution of medical education resources, Dr. Singh said at the convocation of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The Ministry has been demanding a separate regulatory body for medical education, while a task force, set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has also prepared a draft Bill for a National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) that seeks to bring medical education and legal education under its purview. The Ministries have been involved in the turf war for several months now. While all this was on, the Union Law Ministry also drafted a Bill for establishing a separate regulatory body for legal education. Announcing the government s vision of making the AIIMS one of the 10 best medical universities in the world by 2020, Dr. Singh said though not an easy job, the government would support all endeavours in this direction. Describing as a good document the Valiathan Committee Report set up following the agitation against Other Backward Classes reservation to revamp the premier institution the Prime Minister said the government would consider the recommendations expeditiously and do what was best in the interest of the Institute. Judge visits Gulberg Society B. U. Joshi, judge of the Special Court hearing the Gulberg Society massacre case of the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, visited the site for a spot survey. At least 69 people, including the former Congress member of the Lok Sabha, Ehsan Jaffrey, were killed in the massacre in the Chamanpura locality of old Ahmedabad city on February 28, 2002. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 23 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Constitution-Watch Can SC/ST benefits in one State be carried over to others? Is a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe in a State entitled or not to benefits or concessions allowed to SC/ST candidates in employment in another State? The Supreme Court referred this question to a larger Bench. A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar, in its order, said: A very important question of law as to the interpretation of Articles 16(4), 341 and 342 arises for consideration in this appeal: whether the Presidential Order issued under Article 341(1) or 342(1) of the Constitution has any bearing on the State s action in making provision for reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens, which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State? The extent and nature of interplay and interaction among Articles 16(4), 341(1) and 342(1) is required to be resolved. All about anti-defection law The 10th Schedule to the Constitution, popularly referred to as the Anti-Defection Law, was inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985. The grounds of disqualification are specified in Paragraph 2 of the 10th Schedule. A member would incur a disqualification under paragraph 2 (1) (a) when he voluntarily gives up his membership of a party and under 2 (1) (b) when he/ she votes (or abstains from voting) contrary to the directive issued by the party. Two important questions arise in this regard: what would constitute the member voluntarily giving up of membership of a party? And, what is the full import of 2 (1) (b), wherein voting/abstention from voting against the party is mentioned? The Supreme Court, in the Ravi Naik vs. Union of India case, has interpreted the phrase voluntarily gives up his membership. It says: The words voluntarily gives up his membership are not synonymous with resignation and have a wider connotation. A person may voluntarily give up his membership of a political party even though he has not tendered his resignation from the membership of that party. Even in the absence of a formal resignation from membership, an inference can be drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up his membership of the political party to which he belongs. In another judgment in the case of Rajendra Singh Rana vs. Swami Prasad Maurya and Others, the Supreme Court held that the act of giving a letter

requesting the Governor to call upon the leader of the other side to form a Government itself would amount to an act of voluntarily giving up membership of the party on whose ticket the said members had got elected. Court rejects plea to make property a fundamental right The Supreme Court has dismissed a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to make right to property a fundamental right under the Constitution. Though the right to property was deleted by the 44th Constitution Amendment in 1978, it was challenged only in 2007 in the context of acquisition of large extents of land for Special Economic Zones, and the court issued notice to the Center. Shunglu gets Supreme Court judge status V.K. Shunglu, who heads the two-member high-level committee set up to probe the alleged financial irregularities in the Commonwealth Games (CWG), has been given the status of a Supreme Court judge. The government notification, issued by the Cabinet Secretary, has invested Mr. Shunglu, a former Comptroller and Auditor General, with greater authority, and will provide him with greater resources in the form of secretarial and other support staff. Stephen Schwebel to head Kishanganga arbitration court Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, former President of the International Court of Justice, will head the Court of Arbitration being constituted to resolve the Kishanganga hydroelectric project dispute between India and Pakistan. Judge Schwebel is an expert on international law and dispute settlement. As per the provisions under the Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 under the aegis of the World Bank, the arbitration court has to have seven members, including the chairman. Already India and Pakistan have named two international experts each to represent them. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 24 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs The dispute is over India s 330 Mw hydroelectric project on Kishanganga, a tributary of the Jhelum in Jammu and Kashmir. According to India, the treaty allows it to divert Kishanganga waters to the Bonar Madmati Nallah, another tributary of the Jhelum, which falls into the Wullar lake before joining the Jhelum again. Pakistan has objected to this saying India s plans to divert waters will obstruct the flow of the river affecting its Neelam-Jhelum project downstream. The matter could not be resolved during the Permanent Indus Water Commission-level bilateral talks and Pakistan decided to take the issue to a court of arbitration. Policy of Chief Justice from outside State to continue The Supreme Court collegium has decided to put on hold its decision to review the nearly two decadesold transfer policy that the Chief Justice of a High Court must be from outside the State. The collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia and JusticesAltamas Kabir, R.V. Raveendran, Dalveer Bhandari and D.K. Jain, at a meeting .Decided to continue the present system of having the Chief Justice from outside the State. Media can t report on sexual assault on children without consent In an attempt to rein in the media, the draft Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2010 prevents reporting on any child involved in an offence without complete and authentic information and without the consent of the child or his or her guardian. The publisher or owner of the media or the studio or photographic facilities shall be jointly held liable for the acts and omissions of his employees. The Bill, piloted bytheWomen and Child Development Ministry, seeks to protect children against sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography, and provide for establishment of special courts for trial of such offences. The gender neutral draft describes a child as an individual under 18. House passes Bills to rename Orissa, its language The Orissa (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2010 and Constitution (113th Amendment) Bill, 2010 for change of name of the language were moved byHome Minister P. Chidambaram on the basis of resolutions passed by the Orissa Assembly. The Bills provide for change of name of State to Odisha and language to Odia. Parliamentary panel holds Justice Sen guilty of misconduct A Parliamentary Inquiry Committee has held Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court guilty of misconduct tantamount to misbehaviour, warranting his removal as a judge. The report, tabled in the Rajya Sabha said the two

charges misappropriation of Rs.33,22,800 which Justice Sen had received in his capacity as Receiver appointed by the High Court and misrepresentation of the facts with regard to the misappropriation to the High Court stood proved. The Committee headed by Justice B. Sudershan Reddy of the Supreme Court rejected as untenable Justice Sen s contention that as the probe pertained to his conduct as Receiver and not as judge, the Committee could not go into it. The Committee included Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal and eminent jurist Fali Nariman. The conduct of a Judge under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, viz., whether a Judge whose conduct is under investigation. Sen is second judge to face removal proceedings Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court is the second judge in the country s history to face removal proceedings in Parliament. The first was V. Ramaswami, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who later became a Supreme Court judge, though the motion for his removal failed. The report of a three-member committee, headed by Justice B. Sudershan Reddy of the Supreme Court, said it felt that Justice Sen was guilty of misbehaviour under Article 124(4) read with Article 217(1) (b) of the Constitution. Article 124(4), when read withArticle 217(1) (b), states that a High Court judge shall not be removed from his office except on the grounds of proved misbehaviour. The word, proved, only means proved to the satisfaction of a requisite majority of Parliament. Under the Judges Inquiry Act, the motion will now have to be moved in the Rajya Sabha and debated upon. Justice Sen will be given an opportunity to rebut the charges, either in person or through WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 25 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 counsel. After the debate ends and the judge is heard, if the House decides to put the motion to vote, the resolution has to be passed by a two-thirds majority in both Houses in the same session, failing which the motion is deemed dropped and can only be taken up if the entire process is repeated afresh in any subsequent session. The resolution is then sent to the President who orders the removal of the judge. National litigation policy planned: Moily The Union government has envisaged a national litigation policy to reduce the pendency of cases in various courts, Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily has said. He said the award of the 13th Finance Commission to the States would be based on their implementation of the policy. The Central and State governments are the main litigants in most of the cases and the policy aimed at expeditious disposal of all cases. IT-enabled services would be pepped up to deliver judgments without delay. The policy would make lawyers and judicial officers more accountable. According to him, population and litigation explosion, institution of fresh cases, lopsided prioritisation of cases, accumulation of first appeals and delay in filling vacancies in High Courts were the reasons for the high rate of pendency. More fast track courts would be set up to ensure that no case was pending for more than a year. Gram nyayalayas and mobile courts in panchayats were the other options to adjudicate a case within six months from the date of filing. Mr. Moily said setting up of commercial benches in High Courts had been planned to deal with cases involving more than Rs. 5 crore. This would help dispose of such cases within a year. Set up Armed Forces Grievances Redressal Commission: Court The Supreme Court directed the Centre to constitute theArmed Forces Grievances Redressal Commission to look into the grievances of serving or former members of the armed forces (the Army, the Navy and theAir Force) or their widows or family members for pension or other issues and make suitable recommendations expeditiously to the Central government in this regard. The Commission to be headed by the former Supreme Court, Judge Kuldip Singh, will also frame and recommend to the Central government a scheme for proper rehabilitation of discharged soldiers. The Bench appointed the retired Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, S.S. Sodhi, as vice-chairman, and General V.P. Malik, retired Chief of Army Staff, and Lt. Gen Vijay Oberoi, retired Vice-Chief of Army Staff, as members. The Centre could, at its discretion, appoint a retired civil servant as another member. These grievances include the grievances relating to

pay; allowances; one rank, one pension; other pension matters; suitable benefits to be granted to war veterans, war widows; promotion matters; rehabilitation of soldiers who are discharged at a young age, etc. Supreme Court appoints mediator The Supreme Court has appointed K.T. Thomas, former Supreme Court Judge, as mediator to deal with the controversy regarding the constitution of a selection committee to appoint Melsanthi (chief priest) of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala. The controversy arose following allegations of irregularities and improprieties in the appointment of the chief priest. A demand was raised for the constitution of a selection committee to bring about transparency in the appointment. Can Sikhs claim minority status in Punjab? issue for Constitution Bench The Supreme Court indicated that it would refer for adjudication by a Constitution Bench the issue whether Sikhs, who form a majority population in Punjab, can claim minority status in that State. A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar gave this indication during the course of arguments on a batch of appeals from the State of Punjab and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) against a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which held that Sikhs were not minorities in Punjab and could not claim minority rights. In May 2009, the court stayed the operation of the judgment. The State and the SGPC argued in the Supreme Court that the High Court erred by striking down the minority status of the Sikhs. They said that going by the definition of Sikhs as explained in the Sikh Gurdwaras (SG) Act, 1925, only about 53 lakh, roughly one-third of the electoral college of the SGPC, were Sikhs as Constitution-Watch WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 26 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs against the 1.66 crore total voters in the State. They disputed the High Court s reasoning to conclude that Sikhs were a majority by virtue of a Census report that pegged their population in the State at 59.2 per cent. The State said this figure, taken from the 2001 census, was based on a counting of all sects belonging to Udasis, Nirmala Sadhus, Sant Nirankari Mandal, Dera Sacha Sauda, Radha Soami Satsang. They are not Sikhs within the meaning of Sikh Court bans diesel vehicles in Ranthambhore The Rajasthan High Court has directed the authorities to stop the plying diesel vehicles inside the Ranthambhore National Park. The court expressed its displeasure over the non-compliance of the earlier court order in this regard. Action Plan for 60 Naxal-hit districts With the aim of giving a fillip todevelopment schemesin tribal and backward regions, mostly affected by Naxal violence, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the commencement of an Integrated Action Plan (IAP) in 60 selected districts. The IAP would be an additional central assistance scheme on a 100 per cent grant basis. It is aimed at quick resolution of problems concerning healthcare, drinking water, education and roads. In 2010-11 alone, each of the 60 districts will be given a block grant of Rs. 25 crore, with the total coming to a whopping Rs. 1,500 crore. In 2011-12, the grant will go up to Rs. 30 crore each. This is in pursuance of the Finance Minister s announcement in his budget speech of 2010-11 and the Prime Minister s address to the National Development Council on July 24. Schemes would be decided by a committee, headed by the District Collector. The Superintendent of Police and the District Forest Officer would be its members. The IAP would be reviewed for implementation in the 12th Plan at a later stage, Mr. Chidambaram said. The existing Kalahand-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) plan would continue, with an annual allocation of Rs. 130 crore for all the eight districts in Orissa put together. The eight KBK districts have been included in the IAP. They would get an additional block grant of Rs. 25 crore each in the current year and a suitable additional amount under both State and district components of the IAP in the subsequent years. The scheme would focus on effective implementation of the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. While the district component would be administered by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the State component would be administered by the Planning Commission. Constitution Bench to decide on RTI vs right

to judicial immunity A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will decide the conflict between the right of citizens to obtain information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and the right to immunity enjoyed by the judiciary not to disclose information pertaining to appointment of judges. A Bench comprising Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar referred to the Chief Justice of India, S.H. Kapadia, for posting before a Constitution Bench of appropriate strength the issues raised in the appeal preferred by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court judgment directing furnishing of information on appointment of judges. The Bench said the questions that arise for consideration are whether the concept of independence of judiciary requires and demands the prohibition of furnishing of the information sought; whether the information sought amounts to interference in the functioning of the judiciary; and whether the information sought cannot be furnished to avoid any erosion in the credibility of the decisions and to ensure a free and frank expression of honest opinion by all the constitutional functionaries, which is essential for effective consultation and for taking the right decision. It also covers the question of whether the information sought is exempt under Section 8 (i)(j) of the RTIAct. Court orders FIR against Roy, Geelani A Delhi court ordered the police to register an FIR against writer Arundhati Roy, hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, revolutionary poet Varavara Rao and four others for allegedly making anti-India statements at a convention on Kashmir Azadi: The Only Way, organised in New Delhi on October 21. JudicialAccountability Bill introduced in Lok Sabha The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill providing for a mechanism to deal with complaints against judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Law Minister Veerappa Moily even as Opposition MPs were demanding a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 27 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Constitution-Watch The Bill sets judicial standards and makes judges accountable for their lapses and mandates judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court to declare their assets and liabilities, including those of their spouses and dependents and to file an annual return in this regard. This will be displayed on the website of the Supreme Court and the High Courts concerned. The Bill to replace the Judges Inquiry Act retains its basic features, contemplates setting up of a national oversight committee, to be headed by a former Chief Justice of India, with which the public can lodge complaints against erring judges, including the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justices of the High Courts. At present, there is no legal mechanism for dealing with complaints against judges, who are governed by Restatement of Values of Judicial Life, adopted by the judiciary as a code of conduct without any statutory sanction. The five-member committee to be appointed by the President will have a serving judge of the Supreme Court and a serving High Court judge, both nominated by the Chief Justice of India; the Attorney-General; and an eminent person nominated by the President. On receiving a complaint, the committee will forward it to a system of scrutiny panels. In the case of a complaint against a Supreme Court judge, the scrutiny panel will consist of a former Chief Justice of India and two sitting Supreme Court judges, and in the case of a complaint against a High Court judge, the panel will have a former Chief Justice of the High Court and two of its sitting judges. The members of the Supreme Court panel will be nominated by the Chief Justice of India, and that of the High Court panels by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned. The scrutiny panels will have the powers of a civil court. For instance, they can call for witnesses andevidence. They will be requi red to give their reportwithin three months to the oversight committee. Inthe ca se of a complaint against a Chief Justice, theoversight committee itself will co nduct the scrutiny. On receiving the report from the scrutiny panels, the oversight committee will set up a committee to furtherinvestigate the case. Like the scrutiny panels, theinvestigation committee will have the powers of a civil court; it will have the power to frame definite charges. If the charges are not proved, the investigationcommittee can dismiss the case. Otherwise, it will give a report to the oversight committee, which can issuean advisory or warning or re commend minorpunishment if the charges are not too serious. If thecharges are se rious, the committee can request thejudge concerned to resign. If the judge does not doso, the oversight committee will forward the case to the President with an advisory for his removal. The Bill mandates that judges should not have close association with individual members of the Bar and not allow any member of their immediate family to appear before them in courts. Judges should not

contest any election to any office of club, society or other association, except those associated with the law or any court. Further, they should not have any bias in judicial work or judgments on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Paramilitary forces not adhering to norms onsexual harassment, says House panel A parliamentary committee has criticised the paramilitary forces, especially the Border Security Force, over lack of strict adherence to Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment. The Committee on Empowerment of Women, in its report on Women in Paramilitary Forces tabled in both Houses of Parliament, said the guidelines of the Supreme Court were not being scrupulously followed in the paramilitary forces. The report said it had been made mandatory for all paramilitary forces to set up complaint cells headed by lady officers to investigate cases of sexual harassment, in pursuance of the apex court judgment. As per the government policy, 10 per cent vacancies are to be filled by women in the forces. However, their representation is negligible, as it is 0.56 per cent in the BSF, 1.38 per cent in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, 2.04 per cent in the Special SecurityBureau and 0.90 per cent in the Assam Rifles. The panel, headed by Chandresh Kumari, asked the Union Home Ministry to devise a strict monitoring mechanism to look into cases of sexual harassment in the forces. Wage Boards report by December 31: Justice Majithia The final report of the Wage Boards, set by the Labour and Employment Ministry, one for the working journalists and the other for other employees of the newspapers and news agencies, would be submitted to the Centre before December 31 and there is no question of seeking any further extension, said Justice Gurbax Rai Majithia, Chairman of the Board. Court admits it erred, upholds commutation of death penalty In a rare instance, the Supreme Court has admitted that its earlier judgments, in one and the same case, upholding the death sentence awarded by the trial court and confirmed by the High Court were a mistake and violation of human rights of the accused. The court in a second review upheld the Assam Governor s order commuting the punishment to life sentence. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 28 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Writing the judgment, Justice Ganguly said: Humanrights are the basic, inherent, immutable andinalienable rights to which a person is entitled simplyby virtue of his being born a human. They are suchrights which are to be made available as a matter ofright. The Constitution and legislation of a civilised country recognise them since they are so quintessentially part of every human being. That iswhy every democratic country committed to Rule ofLaw put into force mechanisms for their enforcementand prote ction. In the instant case, the Assam trial court held Ram Deo Chauhan alias Raj Nath Chauha guilty ofmurdering four members of a family in March 1992and slapped the death penalty on him. This wasconfirmed by the Gauhat i High Court and later by theSupreme Court in July 2000. Give Lavasa a hearing, court tells EnvironmentMinistry The Bombay High Court stayed the status quo noticeissued by the Ministry of Envi ronment and Foreststo the Lavasa Corporation, asking it to stopconstruction on i ts 5,000-hectare township site. A Division Bench of Justices N.D. Deshpande andD.K. Deshmukh observed that the N ovember 25 notice had been issued without hearing Lavasa. The Bench, which took over the case after the Chief Justice recused himself from hearing it, directed theMinistry to give Lavasa a h earing and decide byDecember 16 whether the construction work should be stayed or not. It adjourned the hearing on Lavasa spetition till December 16. The court directed Lavasa to approach the Ministryfor a hearing by or on Decembe r 9. In the court, Lavasa voluntarily made a statementthat it would not carry out any further constructionuntil the Ministry passed an order on December 16. The Ministry had issued the show-cause to Lavasa, asking why environmental clearances had not beentaken before starting constructi on, and directed it tostop work until it responded to the notice. The Bench observed that the Ministry should havegiven Lavasa notice before direc ting it to stop work. Also why did the Ministry issue notice six years afterconstruction activity had begun in the hill station atMulshi, Pune, the court asked. Supreme Court notice to States on derecognition of deemed varsities The Supreme Court issued notice to all States seekingtheir response to the Tando n committee reportrecommending de-recognition of 44 deemed universities (DUs) for not meeting the prescribedstandards and that these instit utions be affiliated to the respective State universities. A Bench consisting of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma passed this order observing that it was necessary to hear the views of the States before any order was passed as about two lakh students were sought to be shifted to the State universities if the Tandon committee recommendation was to be accepted. The Bench posted the matter for final hearing on January 11, 2011 and asked the parties concerned to complete the pleadings and file written submissions by then. Mental illness can be included under disability Mental illness or retardation can be brought within the term disability under sections of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation)Act 1995 (PWD Act),

the Madras High Court has said. Reddys mining illegal, cancel 3 leases: court panel The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee has declared illegal the mining done by the Reddy brothers through three leases in Obulapuram mines in the Bellary reserved forest area, and recommended that the licences be cancelled and exemplary cost recovered from them. In November last, the Forest Bench asked the Committee to examine whether mining was going on in the forest area of the Bellary region in Anantapur district, comprising the border areas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and if so, what action should be taken to stop it. Senior counsel Harish Salve presented the report to the Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and K.S. Radhakrishnan. It granted the Reddy brothers and others two weeks to file their response. The Committee said that besides the three leases of the Reddy brothers, the licence of Anantapur Mining Corporation (AMC) should be cancelled as its renewal was granted almost 17 years after it had expired. Bar Council urges President to probe charges against Balakrishnan The Bar Council of Kerala resolved to petition the President to order a comprehensive investigation into allegations against the former Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, and his close relatives. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 29 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 From 1st April, education becomes a fundamental right India has join a group of few countries in the world, with a historic law making education a fundamental right of every child coming into force. The Right to Education Act, 2009 that became effective from (1st April) makes elementary education a fundamental right under Article 21 (A) of the Constitution. Every child in the age group 6-14 will be provided elementary education in the ageappropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighbourhood. The act will directly benefit close to one crore children who do not go to school at present. Nearly 92 lakh children, who had either dropped out of schools or never been to any educational institution, will get elementary education as it will be binding on the part of the local and State governments to ensure that all children in the 6-14 age group get schooling. As per theAct, private educational institutions should reserve 25 per cent seats for children from the weaker sections of society. The Centre and the States have agreed to share the financial burden in the ratio of 55:45, while the Finance Commission has given Rs. 25,000 crore to the States for implementing the Act. The Centre has approved an outlay of Rs.15,000 crore for 2010-2011 for the purpose. The school management committee or the local authority will identify the drop-outs or out-of-school children aged above six and admit them in classes appropriate to their age after giving special training. India launches Census 2011, the biggest-ever in history India (April 1) launched Census 2011, the biggestever census attempted in the history of mankind enumerating the country s 1.2 billion population and classifying usual residents according to their gender, religion, occupation and education. The massive exercise, to be spread over next 11 months, will mark a milestone as the first-ever National Population Register (NPR) will also be prepared in which all persons aged over 15 years will be photographed and fingerprinted to create a biometric national database. With this India will probably become the first democratic nation in the world which would have got its population fingerprinted in a year from now. As the first citizen of the country, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil was the first person to be listed in the decennial exercise. The Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari was the next one to be listed by the Census officials The 15th National Census exercise, since 1872, will

see over 25 lakh officials capturing the socioeconomiccultural profile of its citizens. It will cost around Rs. 2,209 crore while the expenditure on NPR will be Rs. 3,539.24 crore. The exercise will also consume more than 11 million tonnes of paper. The second phase, called the Population Enumeration phase, will be conducted simultaneously all over the country from February 9 to 28, 2011, and the entire exercise would be completed by March 5, 2011. While the Census is a statutory exercise conducted under the provisions of the Census Act 1948 the NPR is being created under the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and Citizenship Rules (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards), 2003. Two forms will be given to each household, the first relating to houselisting and housing census which will have 35 columns relating to drinking water, amenities like power, and sewer, the second will relate to NPR which will seek usual and basic details on 15 counts like the name, place and date of birth, address, occupation and nationality. All 640 districts, 5,767 Tehsils, 7,742 towns and more than six lakh villages will be covered. Child rights panel to monitor RTE implementation The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been mandated to monitor the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. A special division Governments s New Initiatives & Various Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 30 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs within the NCPCR will undertake this task in the coming months and a special toll-free helpline to register complaints will be set up. Centre halts HPV vaccine project In the wake of reports of violation of ethical guidelines and exploitation during the clinical trials of HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine, meant to prevent cervical cancer among women, the Centre advised the State governments to suspend the vaccine programme until the issue is settled. Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research V.M. had asked the Health Ministry, the State governments and the people not to go ahead with the programme. Rammohan to probe attack The former Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF), E. N. Rammohan, was appointed to probe the circumstances leading to the massacre of 76 CRPF personnel in Dandewada district of Chhattisgarh . Centre grants 282.25 crore for Maritime University The Centre provided financial support of Rs. 282.25 crore to the Indian Maritime University (IMU), Chennai, to meet capital expenditure and recurring deficit. NRHM completes five years, best performing States to be honoured As the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) completes five years. A mid-term review of the programme claims that it has unleashed a lot of positive synergies and the government should make all efforts to further deepen such processes of community health in a manner that every household is able to seek its entitlement to care. The 7,00,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) the first port of call across the country have demonstrated their ability to link households to facilities. Ministry moots National Mission on monsoon The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has proposed a National Mission on monsoon towards developing reliable dynamic models for forecasting the monsoon over the next three to five-year period through a multiinstitutional effort. Though the focus will chiefly be on seasonal forecast, the mission will include aspects of short (up to 3 days) and medium-range (up to a week) predictions as well. The currently operational model for long-range or seasonal forecast used by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is not a dynamic one but a statistical one. It uses a set of historically determined atmospheric variables with significant statistical correlations to the total rainfall received by the country as a whole during June-September. However, improving and perfecting statistical models will not form part of the mission, Dr. Ajit Tyagi, Director-General of the IMD, clarified. The IMD has

also been using open source dynamic models such as the Global Forecasting System (GFS) and the Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) System of the U.S. for limited area 3-day forecast as well as 5day forecast, with some success. The mission is yet to be formalised for it to be approved by the Planning Commission and then the Cabinet. The details are being worked out, said Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, MoES. The project proposal is being prepared. In January, we had a meeting of people involved in model development and have a working knowledge of models. Mostly these are models developed elsewhere, such as the Climate Forecasting System (CFS) of the U.S. or that of the U.K. Met Office, but have been slightly modified to be applicable for monsoon prediction. All that activity is slowly getting into frame. But these atmospheric or ocean-atmosphere coupled models need to be improved greatly through a coordinated effort. We have to create a forum for that, he added. I feel, it is a good initiative, said M. Rajeevan of the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory of ISRO at Gadanki and formerlyof the National Climate Centre at the IMD, Pune. (Locate these H.Q in Atlas) National Integration Council reconstituted The government has reconstituted the National Integration Council (NIC) which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The NIC has 147 members, including Union Ministers, Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories with Legislatures. Set up in the early 60s by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the NIC held its first meeting in 1962. The council reviews matters relating to national integration and makes recommendations over such issues. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 31 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Government s New Initiatives and Committees The NIC aims at finding ways and means to combat the menace of communalism, casteism and regionalism. It has held 14 meetings so far, with the last one in October 2008 during the first innings of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Rajasthan sets up panel to look into Gujjars issue The Rajasthan government appointed a sevenmember committee headed by the former High Court judge, Justice I.S. Israni, to look into all aspects of the issue of providing reservation to Gujjars under a special category, even as fresh talks between Gujjar supremo Kirori Singh Bainsla and government emissaries remained inconclusive. Commission on Centre-State ties submits report The Commission on Centre-State relations submitted its report to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram .The panel was constituted by UPA-I in April 2007 to take a fresh look at the relative role and responsibilities of the various levels of government and Centre-State relations. It was asked to make recommendations to help address the emerging challenges.The commission Chairman and former Chief Justice of India, M. M. Punchhi, presented the report to the Home Minister which runs into seven volumes. Centre gets time to submit EIA report on Sethu alignment With the Centre seeking time for completion of the Environment Impact Analysis (EIA) on an alternative alignment for the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project without cutting acrossAdam s Bridge or Ramar Sethu, the Supreme Court deferred judgment till February 2011.(Locate In Atlas) Panchayats should play a big role in helping us tackle Maoists: Manmohan April 24 is observed as Panchayati Raj Day because on this day in 1993, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment was implemented, setting up the threetier panchayats system village panchayats, panchayat unions and district panchayats for grass roots-level governance. Dr. Singh said he was happy that the local bodies poll was held regularly and about 28 lakh people were getting elected through 600 district panchayats, 6,000 intermediate panchayats (panchayat unions) and 2.3 lakh village panchayats. On the proposed 50 per cent reservation in local bodies for women, the Prime Minister said that when implemented, the women representatives strength would go up to 14 lakh from the present 10 lakh (with one-third reservation), adding that he was happy that the present strength of women (10 lakh) in local bodies was more than the seats reserved for them.

Committee to probe MCI irregularities Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad constituted a three-member team to probe irregularities committed by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and stayed the permission it granted to the Gyan Sagar Medical College in Punjab to take a fresh batch of students for 2010-11. K. Desiraju, Additional Secretary of the Health and FamilyWelfare Department, will head the fact-finding committee, which has All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) dean Rani Kumar and a senior officer of the Directorate-General of Health Services (DGHS) as its other members. The committee has been directed to submit its report within a week. UID number gets brand name, logo The 16-digit unique identification number to be assigned to each individual by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will now come under the new name AADHAR and will also bear a logo. The brand name and logo for the unique number were made public at a meeting chaired by UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, who said the symbols were necessary to make the scheme and the number recognisable and communicate the spirit and essence of the mandate to the people and win their confidence. The number will be the AADHAR or foundation through which the citizen can claim his/her rights and entitlements when assured of equal opportunities, as symbolised by the logo, which has the halo of the Sun on the imprint of a thumb. Atul Sudhakarrao Pande, whose design was picked from among 2,000 entries. The UIDAI rewarded him with a cheque for Rs.1 lakh. In public interest, Centre keen on intervening in MCI The Centre is contemplating bringing in an ordinance to amend the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 empowering the government to i nt er ven e i n th e event of MCI mem bers, including the president and the vice-president, being unable to perform and on grounds of misconduct. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 32 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs The ordinance seeks to fix the term to a maximum of two of the president and the vice-president and give the Union Health Ministry powers to make arrangements in the event the office of president falling vacant in unforeseen situations as it has arisen now. The functioning of the Medical Council of India has come to a virtual standstill following the arrest of its president, Ketan Desai, on corruption charges. These amendments are expected to incorporate major changes suggested by the Ministry in the amendment Bill, tabled in 2005, which were turned down by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health. The government be able to intervene in the MCI in the larger public interest as did the Human Resource Development Ministry in the case of the All-India Council for Technical Education and the University Grants Commission under Section 20 (1) of theAICTE and the UGC Acts though these were nominated bodies. The MCI is an elected body with no such provision for intervention by the Centre. A provision for intervention was turned down by the Standing Committee on the ground that it would seriously jeopardise the independent working of the MCI and decision making of its president and vice-president. Elders pass Tamil Nadu Council Bill Amidst opposition by the Left Parties and the AIADMK, the Rajya Sabha passed a Bill proposing to create a 78-member Legislative Council for Tamil Nadu, 24 years after it was abolished. Supreme Court to examine validity of Tandon committee The Supreme Court said it would examine the validity of the constitution of the Tandon Committee set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to go into the working of the deemed universities in the country. The Professor Tandon Committee had earlier recommended de-recognition of 44 institutions for failing to meet the prescribed standards and said that these institutions after de-recognition would be affiliated to the respective State universities. During the resumed hearing, Justice Bhandari heading a Bench told Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam that when there were allegations against Professor Tandon himself that he was heading a deemed university and it was not appropriate for him to head the Committee, we have to examine the whole issue. The enumerator is not an investigator or verifier, Mr. Chidambaram The enumerator is not an investigator or verifier, Mr. Chidambaram said, pointing out that 21 lakh enumerators mostly primary school teachers had no training or expertise to classify the answer as OBC or otherwise. There is a Central list of OBCs and State-specific

lists of OBCs. Some States do not have a list of OBCs while some have a list of OBCs and a sub-set called Most Backward Castes, he said. Quoting the Registrar-General, Mr. Chidambaram said issues regarding methodology, avoiding phonetic and spelling errors, stage of canvassing of caste, maintaining integrity of enumeration and doing an accurate headcount of population would arise. The census is done under the authority of the Census Act, 1948. Census 2011 will be the 15th national census since 1872 and the 7th since Independence. Population census is the total process of collecting demographic, economic and social data. What is published as the census data are only aggregates; the information relating to the individual is confidential and not shared with anyone or any authority, he said. Amid protests, Nuclear Liability Bill introduced in Lok Sabha The contentious Nuclear Liability Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha amid protests and walkout by Left and NDA members, who termed it illegal, unconstitutional and anti-people. The Civil Liabilityfor Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010, which provides for payment of compensation in the event of a nuclear accident is a pre-requisite for U.S. nuclear companies to enter India, and an enabling condition for their French and Russian counterparts. The Bill, whose passage is essential to operationalise the nuclear deal with the U.S., was moved by Minister of State in the Department ofAtomic Energy Prithviraj Chavan. It provides for a maximum liability of Rs. 500 crore on the part of the operator in case of an accident. In the event of an accident, countries are also entitled to compensation of 300 million special drawing rights. However, to join the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, India will have to ensure that it has a national legislation, consistent with the provisions in the annexure of the Convention. Now India is not a party to any international nuclear liability convention. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 33 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Make Selection of child rights commission transparent Child rights organisations and civil society representatives have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention in the selection of the chairperson and members to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). As the NCPCR, the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women are important mechanisms set up to play a critical watchdog role, it is imperative to ensure proper and fair selection to these statutory bodies, says the citizens appeal. It has been made following allegations of irregularities, malpractices and lack of transparency in the NCPCR selection process. It has pointed out that the rules framed under the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act 2005 have failed to lay down a detailed selection process, leaving scope for favouritism and undemocratic and non-transparent methods of selection. The result: selection of undeserving candidates. This has caused a great loss to the children who have waited all these years to find a body of people who could act as their ombudsmen, says the appeal. India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, reiterating its commitment to its children. Pharmacopoeia Commission coming The government decided to set up a Pharmacopoeia Commission at a cost of Rs. 14.08 crore for developing indigenous medicines with the aim of raising the country s share in the $62-billion global herbal drug market. The Commission for development of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani medicines would be set up in the wake of increasing cost of modern healthcare drugs and demand for herbal medicines. The Commission, to be housed in Ghaziabad, would set standards for drugs in the Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani medical systems. Earlier, a Committee set up bythe Planning Commission for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha) sector approved the setting up of the Commission. The panel will be responsible for publication and revision of standards on Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani drugs, as well as their formulation, development and publishing standards. The global trade in herbal drugs is worth $62 billion. Of this, China s share was $19 billion, against a meagre $1 billion of India, a senior official said. The Commission would strive for India increased its market share. The Commission would be an autonomous society headed by an eminent technical person. It should work with immediate effect and would eventually become

self-sustainable. President signs ordinance on MCI President Pratibha Devisingh Patil signed an ordinance empowering the government to dissolve the Medical Council of India, a regulatory body responsible for maintaining standards of medical education. With the promulgation of the ordinance, the government created a seven-member Board of Governors that took over the functioning of the 30member executive council, the highest decisionmaking body of the MCI, that stands dissolved. The remaining council has been kept in abeyance. Amending the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, the government has inserted Article 3 (a) through the ordinance that authorises the government to intervene in matters of national policy. In case of a dispute over national policy, the view of the government will prevail. Panchayats in tribal areas to control forest management Panchayats in tribal areas will soon be controlling forest management at the ground level, replacing the control of the Forest Department. It was decided to remove Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) from the control of the District Forest Officer and instead bring them under the control of the gram sabhas and panchayats. This will be implemented in the tribal areas which come under PESA, or the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. Currently, about Rs. 1,000 crore in funding is routed through the one lakh JFMCs across the country for various forestry-related schemes. The money would now be routed through the panchayats in tribal areas. Forest Department staff will be made accountable to the panchayats on relevant issues. Panchayat institutions will be consulted before declaring their lands as wildlife reserves and their consent will be needed to declare a community reserve. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 34 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs The Ministry of Environment and Forests will examine how to make the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 compliant with the PESA. Green India Mission to double afforestation efforts by 2020 The Green India Mission, part of India s plan to fight climate change, proposed to double the area being taken up for afforestation and eco-restoration over the next decade. The first draft of the Mission released, projects an ambitious target of 20 million hectares by 2020, at a cost of Rs. 44,000 crore. Public consultations has been undertaken across the country from June 11, following which the draft will be finalised. Earlier, the Prime Minister had spoken of undertaking afforestation in 6 million hectares of degraded forest land as part of the Mission, which is one of the eight Missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. (About 10 million hectares would anyway be treated by the Forest department and others without the Mission s interventions). The more ambitious target in this draft, however, emphasises a holistic approach to greening, making it clear that the project will not just be limited to trees and plantations, but would focus on restoring diverse ecosystems. It would not only strive to restore degraded forests, but also protect and enhance relatively dense forests. The nine sub-missions include, separate targets for moderately dense forests, degraded forests, degraded scrub and grasslands, mangroves, wetlands, urban forest lands and institutional areas with tree cover, degraded and fallow agricultural land, wildlife corridors, more efficient stoves and alternative energy devices for better fuel wood use, and enhanced livelihoods for communities dependent on biomass and non-timber forest produce. The Mission envisages a key role for local communities and includes a four-level monitoring framework. The new and restored forest areas will act as a carbon sink. They are expected to absorb an additional 43 million tonnes of green house gases every year. This means that India s forests will be able to absorb 6.35 per cent of the country s annual emissions by 2020. The draft is rather vague on the source of funding, merely saying that the resources will be mobilised as additionality from the Planning Commission. It adds that the deficit, if any, will be taken care of by developing projects for seeking assistance from international funding agencies, UN organisation, etc. Rural health care course in advanced stage of finalisation : Union Health Minister The Union Health and FamilyWelfare Ministry to take forward the process of consultation on the proposed bachelor of rural health care course.

There are 25,000 PrimaryHealth Centres in the country, where qualified doctors are supposed to be available. The three-year course has broadly been approved by all the States and universities. Under the scheme, local students will be trained in providing basic health care in far-flung and remote areas where doctors normally do not go. They, however, will not be allowed to perform surgeries or complicated procedures. The Centre proposes to open medical schools at the district level, where these courses will be conducted. The students will then be asked to go back to their villages to provide health care, but they cannot practise in urban areas. The infrastructure for opening medical schools with an intake of 25-50 students will be provided by the Centre, while the States will recruit, on contract, retired medical professionals, aged up to 65 years, as faculty. With the functioning of the Medical Council of India having been taken over by a Board of Governors, the process is expected to be put on fast track. Final decision on NCHER rests with Centre, says Kapil Sibal Under criticism from his Cabinet colleagues, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal sought to clarify that the final decision on the proposed National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) remained with the government at the highest level and that the decision would be acceptable to the Ministry. At the end of a daylong consultation organised by the task force on the draft NCHER bill with academics from across the country, Mr. Sibal said the bill was the property of the task force. The government could change its title and take the final call. The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry and the Bar Council of India oppose the idea of WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 35 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 transferring medical and legal education to the Human Resource Development Ministry, which is piloting the legislation and which has set up the task force. The task force decided to set up an informal committee of four eminent persons. It will study the drafts of the NCHER and National Council for Human Resource in Health (NCHRH) bills to ensure there was no overlap. The committee will comprise Srinath Reddy and Ranjit Roy Choudhary (both members of the HCHRH task force) and M.K. Bhan and Syeda Hamid, both members of the NCHER task force. The draft NCHER bill before it was placed before the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) next month. After the CABE approved it, the draft Bill would be sent to the government. NCHER new draft to address States concerns Taking into account the concern expressed by some States that the proposed National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) the overarching regulatory body would centralise higher education, the revised draft of the NCHER Bill proposes to constitute a general council for giving wider representation to the States and educational and research institutions across different areas. Every decision of the proposed commission will have to be placed before the general council for approval. With veto powers, the general council can, by twothirds majority of its members present and voting, bring amendments to the measure or regulation proposed. The new draft also re-defines Central government to incorporate the Ministry concerned with the subject matter, suggesting that the Health and FamilyWelfare Ministry deal with matters relating to medical education, while the Human Resource Development Ministry would be concerned with higher and technical education but under the purview of the NCHER. While there is no clarity over which Ministry deals with legal education, agricultural education has been left out of the ambit, it being a State subject. However, the task force is likely to suggest amending the Constitution to bring agriculture in the Concurrent List such as education and health. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal had strongly opposed the proposed panel, with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi even writing to Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal describing the Commission as a body of seven wise men who would take decisions for the States at the Centre. Social Security Fund for unorganised workers Noting that it was committed to extending social security cover to all sections, the Government said it had decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for workers in the unorganised sector. The National Social Security Fund for workers in the

unorganised sector would cover weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers and bidi workers with an initial allocation of Rs. 1000 crore, the UPA government s Report to the People 2009-10 released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. It said several other important steps have been taken for the benefit of workers in the organised sector like carrying out amendment in the Workmen Compensation Act, 1923 to enhance benefits to the workers. Besides, the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 had been amended for providing safety and occupational health care to plantation workers. Further, Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 had also been amended to raise the limit of maximum gratuity payable from Rs. 3.5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh. The benefit will not attract any interest rate. The report card said comprehensive amendments had also been made in the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 to improve the quality of delivery of health care and other benefits provided to the insured persons in the organised sector. The amendment would also enable ESI infrastructure to be used to provide health care to workers in the unorganised sector. As the industrial training institutes across the country were being upgraded to train more than five crore people within the next five years, the report card said 60 ITIs, located in minority concentration districts would be upgraded as part of the Prime Minister s New 15-point programme. The 15-point programme for ensuring targeted development to minorities and the government s thrust on improving their education status find mention in the report card. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 36 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs South Asian University start functioning from August 2010 The South Asian University (SAU) has begin its first academic session from August with 50 students. They were taken from the eight member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Though the university the first of its kind in the region has been allotted land in the Capital for its campus, classes for the first year will be held in the School of Physical Sciences building at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The building is currently lying vacant and JNU has agreed to lend the premises to SAU to start a temporary campus. The concept of a world-class university was initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the 13th SAARC summit at Dhaka in 2005, with a formal agreement for establishing the institute signed in April 2007 during the 14th summit in New Delhi. The foundation stone of the SAU campus, at a 100acre plot in Maidan Garhi, was laid in 2008. The initial investment for the university is being made by the Indian government. All SAARC member countries will contribute towards operational costs, and the university will also raise money from international financial institutions, educational foundations and donors. The SAU will focus on research and postgraduate level programmes, and will ultimately have 12 postgraduate science and non-science faculties, as well as a small faculty of undergraduate studies. At full strength, the university will have 7,000 students and 700 teachers. A flagship Institute of South Asian Studies will also be established. Centre considering safety board Keeping aviation safety uppermost in its mind, the Centre is mulling over creation of an independent board on the lines of the United States National Transportation Safety Board in a bid to separate the roles of aviation regulator and investigator. With concerns over civil aviation safety coming into sharp focus after the May 22 Air India Express crash at Mangalore, which claimed 158 lives, the Centre has stepped up efforts to revamp safety and probe mechanisms. NTSB s role In the U.S., the NTSB investigates all major accidents, including air crashes, accidents at sea or on highways. It also assists other nations in probing such accidents. The NTSB sent a team to India after the Mangalore crash. IM declared terror outfit The government has declared the Indian Mujahideen (IM), suspected to be a shadow outfit of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist outfit. The IM is allegedly involved in the serial bomb blasts

in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore and Mumbai. It has been added to the list of terror groups under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The IM came to light after the February 23, 2005 blast in Varanasi. Its hand was suspected in the incident. In 2008, it was allegedly involved in many terror attacks. Intelligence agencies believe that the outfit is also a front group of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (HuJI). Ganga clean-up plan proposal submitted A consortium of seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) has submitted a proposal to the Union government on the Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP) to clean up the river in the next 12-18 months. To be carried out under the government s Technology Development Mission, the project will be executed in mission mode at a cost of Rs.15-18 crore, according to Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment and Forests. The GRBMP would be comprehensive and look at socio-cultural, legislative, economic and institutional capacity building and public participation aspects. The seven IITs involved in the project are IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, IITGuwahati, and IIT-Roorkee. Vinod Tare, professor of Environmental Engineering and Management at IIT-Kanpur, will be the mission co-ordinator, the mission activities will be overseen by the Mission Management Board chaired by the director of IIT-Bombay. Pranab to head group on caste census Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will head the promised Group of Ministers (GoM) that will WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 37 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 examine the modalities of enumeration of caste in Census 2011. The GoM was constituted on June 4, nine days after the Union Cabinet took a decision to do so. Cabinet sitting on Plachimada report The verdict of the Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate in the Bhopal gas tragedy case, which has given rise to widespread consternation, has brought into focus the delay in the State government initiating action on the K. Jayakumar Committee report on the ecological damage caused by Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Company Limited at Plachimada in Palakkad district (Thiruvananthapuram) Kerala. The Cabinet is yet to take a decision on the report submitted on March 22. The Water Resources Department, which had constituted the committee, had submitted the report to the Cabinet roughly a month ago after getting it vetted by the Law Department. Centre seeks help of panchayats to counter naxalism To implement its two-pronged strategy to counter the spread of naxalism, the Centre has sought the help of the panchayats. Secretary of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj A.N.P. Sinha has written to the Chief Secretaries of the nine States where several districts are covered by the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. The Ministry proposed amendments to the PESA Act. It hoped that Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which, Mr. Sinha said were characterised by poverty, illiteracy, weak infrastructure and deprivations would tackle naxalism. The States are expected to amend the Panchayati Raj Act in consonance with PESA. This would define a village and also the powers of the gram sabha. The changes in laws and rules and executive instructions on mines and minerals, excise, money lending, and land acquisition would allow a role to gram sabhas in these matters. GoM on Bhopal case reconstituted The Centre, under fire from the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy for the way the legal case has panned out over the last 26 years, announced the reconstitution of a Group of Ministers (GoM) to go into the relief and rehabilitation measures for those affected by the world s worst industrial disaster. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram replaces Arjun Singh, who is no longer in government, as the head of the panel. Government moots amendments to RTI Act The Right to Information (RTI) Act will be amended to avoid frivolous or vexatious requests and prevent the Centre from disclosing information relating to the Cabinet papers so as to ensure the smooth functioning

of the government. The amendment proposals are: Section 2 of the RTI Act so as to remove difficulty in ascertaining whether a particular NGOshould be treated as a public authority or not. Section 4 soas toenlarge the scope ofsuo motu disclosure. Section 7 to avoid frivolous or vexatious requests Section 8 to slightlymodifythe provision about disclosure of Cabinet papers to ensure smooth functioning of the government and to take care of the sensitivity of the office ofthe CJI. Sections12 and15tomake a provision about givingcurrent change of the post of Chief Information Commissioner to anyCommissioner. Section 13 and 16 to bring the provisions on a par with similar provisions in otherActs. Section 19 to incorporate a provision for constitution of Benches ofthe Commission. Section 24toincorporatea provisionabout partial exemption of organisations possessing sensitive information. The government, however, made it clear that the amendments would be introduced only after consultations with the stakeholders. Task forces unable to decide on medical education Given the complexities of bringing medical education under the National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER) as against within the purview of the National Council on Human Resource for Health (NCHRH), the task forces of the two proposed bodies decided to explore the possibility of allowing both institutions to come up but with some linkages with each other. The members of the task forces, who met , felt there was a cultural disconnect between the two draft Bills. While the NCHER Bill strove to make universities Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 38 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs and research institutions highly autonomous, the NCHRH Bill was based on far too many government controls on medical institutions and hospitals. Instead of trying to force uneasy compatibility, the members sort of agreed that both bodies could be created through different legislation as announced by President Pratibha Patil in her speech to the joint session of Parliament, and then find some possible connection. The task force on NCHRH, set up by the Health Ministry, might also go in for are look at the draft to make the institutions more autonomous. Petroleum Ministry to fuel tribal development The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministryplans to reach out to tribals, providing them LPG connections and offering them small dealerships to make them stakeholders in the development process. The UPA government would like to extend the LPG reach to rural areas where the coverage as of date is only 20 per cent. Government plan to increase this coverage to 75 per cent by 2015 and have sought the help of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas would release 85 lakh new LPG connections every year and the tribal regions could become major beneficiaries of this scheme. Mullaperiyar dam panel meets The five-member Empowered Committee headed by the former Chief Justice of India, Justice A.S. Anand, to go into the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam meets for the first time after it was constituted pursuant to the orders of the Supreme Court on February 18. By the order dated February 18, the Supreme Court, acting on a suit filed by Tamil Nadu, directed the constitution of the committee and said the panel would submit its report in six months after considering all aspects, including Kerala s demand for a new dam as well as the safety of the existing one. SubsequentlyTamil Nadu filed an application for recall of the order contending that the relief it asked for in the suit concerned only the question whether Kerala s law was ultra vires the Constitution or not. But the committee had been delegated even judicial powers, which were an exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Draft bill on voting rights for NRIs cleared A long-standing demand of the NRIs for voting rights in India may finally see the light of the day with a Group of Ministers (GoM) clearing a draft bill on the issue, paving the way for its consideration by the Union Cabinet. Drafted almost fours years back by the Overseas Affairs Ministry, the Representation of the People s (Amendment) Bill was cleared by a GoM headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony. The government moved the bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2006 proposing amendments to the Representation

of the People s Act to make provision for voting rights to non-resident Indians. The bill was then sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee and later it was referred to the GoM. India among worst countries in human trafficking India has been ranked as a Tier II Watch List country only one level better than worstperforming Tier III countries such as Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe in the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) compiled by the United States State Department. Given the definition of Tier II Watch List in the TIP, this implies that India ranks among those countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act s (TVPA) minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. Additionally, one of the three following conditions was found in India: First, that the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking was very significant or was significantly increasing. Second, there was a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking from the previous year. Third, the determination that India was making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by India itself, to take additional future steps over the next year. In terms of the definition of trafficking under the TVPA, a person may be a trafficking victim regardless of whether they once consented, participated in a crime as a direct result of being trafficked, were transported into the exploitative situation, or were simply born into a state of servitude. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 39 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 The TIP adds that at the heart of this phenomenon lies the myriad forms of enslavement, including forced labour, sex trafficking, bonded labour, debt bondage among migrant labourers, involuntary domestic servitude, forced child labour, child soldiers and child sex trafficking. While most of South Asia ranks along with India as a Tier II Watch List country, Pakistan is notably ranked as Tier II one level better than India. Most developed countries, even some developing countries such as Colombia and Nigeria, were ranked as Tier I countries in the TIP, that is, countries whose governments fully complied with the TVPA s minimum standards. Two doctrines for greater synergy among triservices Seeking to build greater synergy among the triservices and enhancing its joint fighting capabilities, the armed forces released two doctrines, one for perception management and psychological operations and the other for air and land operations. Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik released the two joint operational doctrines, formulated by the Doctrine Directorate of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (IDS). The IDS was set up after the 1999 Kargil war to bring about synergy among the three services. Nod for amending Central Educational InstitutionsAct The Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006 that will allow the institutions to implement the 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in six years instead of the stipulated three years and exempts some Central institutions from implementing the quota for the OBC where implementation of thisAct exceeds themaximum limit of reservation as fixed by the Supreme Court. The amendment seeks to provide a balance between the State level policy and the national policy on reservation, particularly in the north-eastern States. As per the proposed amendments State seats (the seats earmarked to be filled from amongst the eligible students of State in which the Central Educational Institution is situated), if any, in a Central Educational Institution (CEI) situated in the tribal areas referred to in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution shall be governed by the reservation policy of the State government concerned in the matter of admissions of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes. If the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes or both taken together in a CEI exceed 50 per cent of the annual permitted strength, that CEI shall be exempt from making any reservation for the OBCs.

If such a CEI is situated in the north-eastern States, including Sikkim but excluding the non-tribal areas of Assam, the percentage of seats reserved for the SC or the ST candidates shall not be reduced from the level obtaining on the date immediately preceding the date of the commencement of the Act; while in case of the CEI situated in other areas the percentage of seats reserved for the SC or the ST candidates in that CEI shall stand reduced to 50 per cent. If the seats reserved for the SC or the ST candidates or both taken together in a CEI fall short of 50 per cent of the annual permitted strength, the percentage of seats reserved for the Other Backward Classes shall be restricted to such shortfall. Employment policy soon, says Kharge The government would soon announce a National Employment Policy (NEP), and with this, employment creation would be mainstreamed into all macroeconomic decision-making, Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has said. The National Policy on Skill Development had set a target of training 500 million people by the year 2022. The 11th Plan was keen on developing labourintensive small and micro industries to encourage employment programmes for the rural poor. Sibal proposes merger of entrance tests In a move that could affect thousands of students seeking admission to professional colleges, the Centre is considering the merger of the Central Board of Secondary Education-conducted All India Pre Medical Test and the All India Engineering Entrance Examination. The proposal was made by Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal at the meeting of the State Education Ministers. This is being done to reduce the multiplicity of entry to higher education institutions and to save the students from sitting for two separate exams, . He said those wanting to write both the tests will have the choice to do so. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 40 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs While physics and chemistry would be commonly tested in both exams, the medical student can answer only the biology paper and the engineering student only maths. Plan for National Commission for Higher Education endorsed The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) broadly endorsed the setting up of the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) as an apex/regulatory body, entrusted with framing policy, and to bring within its ambit, medical education and other disciplines of higher education and research. Though there was general consensus at the 57th meeting of the CABE the highest advisory body to Centre and States on education it was decided that the State governments and other members could send in written comments and suggestions within four weeks to enable the task force on NCHER to finalise the draft of the Bill, which would then be presented to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) for consideration. This was done in response to some States expressing apprehension that the move would infringe upon their autonomy. The proposal for the National Academic Depository Bill 2010, for the creation and maintenance of a national electronic database of academic records and awards, also received a nod at the meeting. State Education Ministers also endorsed the Centre s move to have a core curriculum in science and mathematics at class XI and XII. The Council of School Board of Education has already prepared the core curriculum. The State boards can frame their syllabus on the basis of the curriculum. The core curriculum will bring uniformity in the course content in the school boards. This will give a level playing field to students from urban and rural areas, Mr. Sibal said. It will be helpful in holding a common entrance test for admission into the universities. Raise PDS grain price forAPL population The government may shift to per capita allocation of foodgrains and raise the price of wheat and rice meant for the Above the Poverty Line (APL) population under the Public Distribution System (PDS) to meet the objectives of the proposed National Food Security Bill. Raising the price ofAPLfoodgrains is an unavoidable adjustment, the Planning Commission has said in a note it has prepared for the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council (NAC) and circulated, among others, to the economic wing of the Prime Minister s Office. If APL grain prices are not raised, the supply would have to be limited, and this would defeat the objective of delivering food security for all, the Planning

Commission note says to buttress its case for bringing the APL grain prices on par with market rates. The Commission has suggested differential rates of foodgrains for the Below the Poverty Line (BPL) and the APL populations. The Antyodaya Anna Yojna beneficiaries would continue to get their quota of grains at Rs.2 per kg. It is assumed that the higher rates of APL grains would reduce the demand and the diversion of grains to the open market. As against per household allocation, the Commission s suggestion is to shift to per capita (individual) allocation, estimated between six and seven kilos per month. This shift would equal an average household size of five members and give the government the flexibility to allocate less grains for a smaller household. The Tendulkar panel had suggested that the number of BPL households would be 7.4 crore based on the March 2005 population and 8.1 crore based on the March 2011 projections. The States have estimated the poor households at over 11 crore. While the Centre is committed to an allocation of 25 kg per BPL household at Rs.3 per kg, the Planning Commission note suggests that the government should continue with the allocation of 35 kg per month per poor household, for which the foodgrains requirement would be 31.1 million tonnes with an estimated food subsidy of Rs.49,314 crore. For the allocation to the 8.1 crore poor households, the grains requirement would be 33.9 million tonnes with an estimated subsidy of Rs.53,676 crore. To meet the additional requirement of foodgrains, the Food Ministry would have build an average buffer stock of about 25 million tonnes as against 14.2 million tonnes at present. In years of shortages or drought, the requirements could be met through imports. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 41 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 GoM to help coordinate energy security issues A Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has been set up to help coordinate energy security issues that have an international angle. Civilian nuclear power deals, the India-Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline proposal, and regional energy cooperation are likelyto come under its ambit. The GoM s mandate includes, consideration of the external energysecurity interface, specific proposals to strengthen energy security that require support from other countries and other areas, where policy intervention is required to augment availability of energy through international cooperation. Government sources indicate that this could include overseas acquisition of oil and gas, the civilian nuclear power deals being signed with various countries, clean energy cooperation in the context of climate change and the now-on, now-off proposal to run a gas pipeline from Iran, through Pakistan. A large number of issues involving neighbouring countries could also be on the agenda, according to the sources. Ansari for top priority to children in development agend Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari expressed serious concern over the plight of children in India and pitched for top priority for their development with a focus on eradicating malnutrition. In his inaugural address at the Statistics Day 2010 celebration function to commemorate the birth anniversary of Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, a recognised global leader in statistics, Mr. Ansari said: The commitment to make children a priority of our development agenda...exists, using statistics to present the sorry plight of children in the country. India is home to one-fifth of the world s children [around 440 million ] and they constitute 42 per cent of our population. These young citizens of the country constitute a potential demographic resource that could propel the nation to higher orbits of economic progress and human development. Realising the potential, however, cannot be taken for granted, he said. Mr. Ansari also released a statistical publication titled Mid-Term Statistical Review of Millennium Development Goals -India Country Report 2009 to mark the occasion, and conferred the national award in statistics to renowned statistician Prof Alok De. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh and a citation. New panel to study Vedanta mine impact on

tribals Dongria Kondhs of Lanjigarh in Orissa may have received some respite, with the government setting up yet another committee to reconsider how a proposed Vedanta mine in the area could affect the tribe. The Envir onment and Forests Ministry constituted the four-member committee to make recommendations on a proposal to divert over 660 hectares of forest land for the Lanjigarh Bauxite mines, submitted by the Orissa Mining Corporation for a project to be implemented jointly with Vedanta Aluminium. The committee will examine, apart from the diversion of the land which comes under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, issues of settlement of rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, says a Ministry release. The committee will examine the specific impact on the livelihood, culture and material welfare of the Dongria Kondhs, a notified Primitive Tribal Group. The committee will be headed by National Advisory Council member N.C. Saxena. This panel was set up as a follow-up to concerns raised by a three-member committee which submitted its report after site inspections in January and February 2010. (Locate In Atlas) Krishna tribunal rejects A.P. s plea The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, hearing the dispute between Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra on the issue relating to Alamatti dam across Krishna river, has dismissed an interlocutory application filed by Andhra Pradesh seeking a fresh survey by the Survey of India to verify the value of Full Reservoir Level (FRL) or crest level with reference to Great Trignometrical Suvery (GTS) bench mark at Bagalkot, Kolhar or Muddhbihal. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 42 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs The tribunal, headed by its Chairman Justice Brijesh Kumar noted in its order, that the tribunal did not find any case made out by Andhra Pradesh that there was a dispute with regard to FRL with reference to the Temporary Bench Marks at Block no. 49 based on which the construction was undertaken. President inaugurate Congress of Mathematicians President Pratibha Patil inaugurate the International Congress of Mathematicians, held in Hyderabad from August 19 to 27. The congress is by far the biggest and most prestigious international meeting of mathematicians. It has been held once in every four years without a break, except for the war years, for over 100 years now. The first congress was held in Zurich in 1897. The congress this year assumes importance for India and Asia, as it is being held for the first time in the country and for the third time in the continent after the one held in Japan in 1990 and China in 2002.About 3,000 top mathematicians from across the world are expected to participate. The President will present the Fields awards, the most coveted global award for achievements in mathematics. They are traditionally announced and given away at the meetings of the congress. There can be up to four awardees for the Medal. Named after J.M. Fields, a Canadian mathematician, it is awarded only to mathematicians under the age of 40. Ms. Patil would also present three other prestigious awards: the Nevanlinna Prize, named after famous Finnish mathematician, Rolf Herman Nevanlinna, for work on mathematical aspects of computer science; the Gauss prize, named after German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss for mathematical work that had practical application of great import and the Chern prize named after Chinese mathematician Shiing Shen Chern, for outstanding life-long contributions to mathematics. The Chern prize will be presented for the first time at the congress. Among other highlights of this year s congress is the presentation of a one-time international prize of Rs. 10 lakh for popularising mathematics after Leelavathi, the immortal mathematical treatise by the Indian mathematician, Bhaskaracharya, at the concluding ceremony of the congress. Oversight committee set up to monitor Bhopal clean-up The government has set up an oversight committee to coordinate and monitor the clean-up of the Bhopal gas leak disaster site, even as three scientific bodies submitted their final reports and recommendations on the environmental damage and the remediation process. The committee, which was one of the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers on

the issue will be chaired by Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, and cochaired by Madhya Pradesh Minister for Gas Relief Babulal Gaur. It was set up as a compromise, ending the tug of war on who would control the Rs. 310 crore remediation process, which is being paid for by the Centre, but implemented by the State. The 16-member panel s mandate is to provide technical, financial and logistical oversight and support to the State government in taking steps toward waste disposal, decontamination and remediation. More than quarter of a century after the disaster, toxic wastes continue to contaminate the soil and groundwater in and around the site. Revised NCHRH draft gets Health Ministry approval The Union Health Ministry approved the revised draft for the proposed National Council for Human Resource in Health (NCHRH), which will be an overarching body for the health sector. The new draft proposes a National Committee for Accreditation and a National Medical Education and Training Board that will register and accredit medical colleges and prepare curricula for all streams of education in the health sector. The powers of the existing councils, including the Medical Council of India, will be substantially reduced and they will deal only with licensing, continuing education and ethics. These bodies, though under the general supervision of the NCHRH, will be entirely independent in their structure and functioning, and will consist of senior professional, selected or nominated through a rigorous process. The NCHRH will be a 15-member body. Nod for Nalanda University Bill The Union Cabinet cleared the Nalanda University Bill 2010, paving the way for the establishment of Nalanda University at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,005 crore. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 43 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 The Bill has been drafted by the Ministry of External Affairs, following a consensus arrived at the East Asia Summit held in Thailand in October 2009. The Nalanda Mentor Group, chaired by Professor Amartya Sen, will draft the statutes for the university. The proposed university will have schools of Buddhist Studies; Philosophy and Comparative Religions; Historical Studies; International Relations and Peace Studies; Business Management in relation to Public Policy and Development Studies; Languages and Literature; and Ecology and Environmental Studies. Bihar has acquired 500 acres of land in Rajgir, near the original Nalanda University site. Centre proposes Unified Command to fight Naxals In a bid to give a sharp edge to anti-Naxal operations, the Union government asked Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal, worst affected by Maoist violence, to set up a Unified Command. The Unified Command will have a retired Major General as a member. The four States were asked to appoint an Inspector-General-rank police officer to take care of anti-Naxal operations; and appoint an IG (CRPF) as IG (Operations) for that State to work in close coordination with the IG (Anti-Naxal operations) of that State. Assam and Jammu and Kashmir have Unified Commands in place, headed by the respective Chief Ministers. The Centre also offered the four States more helicopters, logistics support and intelligence sharing to fight the Maoist menace. It sanctioned about 16,000 additional Special Police Officers, taking the total number of such posts to about 30,000. It also decided to fund the establishment or strengthening of 400 police stations in the affected districts at Rs. 2 crore a police station on an 80:20 basis over two years. The States were asked to set up an empowered group, chaired by the Member-Secretary, Planning Commission, to modify the norms and guidelines to implement development schemes having regard to the local needs and conditions in the affected districts. It was decided to improve road connectivity in 34 worst affected districts. A number of roads and bridges are proposed to be included at a cost of Rs. 950 crore by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry. (Locate In Atlas) Poverty more in India than sub-SaharanAfrica New U.N. index builds up fuller picture of poor lives; Madhya Pradesh comparable to Congo. There are more poor people in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a study reveals. More than 410 million people live in poverty in the Indian States, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, researchers at Oxford University, England,

found. The intensity of the poverty in parts of India is equal to, if not worse than, that in Africa. When the vast central Madhya Pradesh, which has a population of 70 million, was compared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the war-racked African state of 62 million inhabitants, the two were found to have near identical levels of poverty. Multidimensional poverty index The study is based on an innovatory multidimensional poverty index , or MPI, developed by specialists at Oxford. To be used for the first time in the authoritative and influential United Nations Human Development Report when it is published this autumn, it will replace a simpler method of calculating poverty introduced over a decade ago. The index uses ten major variables including access to good cooking fuel, schooling, electricity, nutrition and sanitation. Poverty has long proved difficult to define. The World Bank bases its definition on household income and estimates that a quarter of the developing world lives on $1.25 a day or less. However, relying simply on money excludes everything that is outside the cash economy and doesn t look at issues such as housing [or] access to safe water said William Orme, a spokesman for the United Nations Development Programme in NewYork. To compile the index, researchers analysed data from 104 countries with a combined population of 5.2 billion, 78 per cent of the world total. About 1.7 billion a third live in multidimensional poverty, they found. This is 400 million more than are estimated by the World Bank to be in extreme poverty. The new index is also designed to track variations within countries much better. So while the poverty rate is more than 80 per cent in the rural Bihar, it is about 16 per cent in Kerala. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 44 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs China was ranked 46 out of 104, three places behind Brazil. India came in 63rd, just after Togo, but ahead of Haiti. Rupee joins elite club Even though not fully convertible, the Indian rupee will soon have a distinct identity. With a blend of the Devanagari Ra and Roman R as its unique symbol, the Indian currency will be joining the elite club of the US dollar, the European euro, the British pound sterling and the Japanese yen to mark its presence in the global arena. Designed by Bombay IIT post-graduate D. Udaya Kumar, the symbol was approved by the Union Cabinet to distinguish the currency of the over $ 1trillion economy from the rest, such as the rupee or the rupiah of Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Unlike the pound sterling among the four currencies with distinct identities, the Indian currency symbol will not be printed or embossed on paper notes or coins. It would be included in the Unicode Standard and major scripts of the world so as to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media. Task force to design curriculum for rural heath care cadre The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has set up a task force to frame the curriculum for the Bachelor of Rural Health Care course, which is expected to be rolled out in a few months. A new cadre of health care workers for rural India is expected to help in overcoming the huge shortage of human resource in the sector. The government is also seriously contemplating encouraging the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and the Multi Purpose Male Workers (MPW) to get enrolled for this course if they fulfil the basic eligibility criteria of passing Class XII from a government-recognised school. There are now more than 7,00,000 ASHAs in villages and a large number of these have completed four rounds of basic community health worker training while the Mission Steering Group of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has already approved appointment of 53,305 Multi Purpose Male Workers. They will be appointed at the sub-centres in 235 backward districts for three years by the Centre and subsequently the States will have to find resources for these appointments. Both these categories of health care workers can be absorbed as Rural Medical Assistants after they successfully complete the threeand-a-half-year Bachelor of Rural Health Care course. The Bachelor of Rural Health Care course is proposed to be conducted by a medical school attached to the district hospital and will be affiliated to an examining university for conferring the degree. The medical

practitioners will be registered with the State Medical Council concerned. The three-year degree course with six months of rotational internship will make the students Rural Medical Assistants who will be employed at the subcentres. The admission will be district-based as far as possible and the degree holders will be allowed to handle common ailments. There is also a proposal to re-employ retired medical college teachers until the age of 70 in addition to allowing Medical Officers with MBBS degree or PG degree with certain stipulated experience to teach in these medical schools. 2008 riots: probe panel blames MUSA, Assam police intelligence wing The Justice P.C. Phukan Commission of Inquiry probing the clashes between Bodos and Muslims in northern Assam s Udalguri district onAugust 14, 2008, that later turned into a full blown communal clash in the district as well as in the neighbouring Darrang district, has held the Muslim Students Union ofAssam (MUSA) responsible for starting the violence. The Commission, in its report tabled on the floor of the Assembly, also said that there was total failure of the intelligence wing of the police as far as incidents of August 14, 2008, in Udalguri district were concerned. The Assam government instituted the judicial probe on October 31, 2008 to ascertain the circumstances leading to the incidents that took place at Rowta, Bhalukmari and Hatkhola areas of the district during a bandh called by the MUSA. Draft law unveiled for Innovation Universities Breaking free of conventional higher education concepts, the Manmohan Singh government has taken the first step towards implementing its proposal for creating 14 Innovation Universities by circulating the draft legislation for comments by various stakeholders. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 45 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 The Innovation Universities are aimed at making India a global knowledge hub. Each one to be built around a theme or subject, these unique universities will enjoy total autonomy in appointments, collaborations, resource generation and nomenclature of degrees. The universities will be open to all irrespective of nationality, gender, ethnicity and disability, provided at least half the students admitted to any programme are Indians. There is, however, no mention of castebased reservation. The establishment of the 14 universities is expected to set benchmarks for excellence for other institutions of higher learning through path-breaking research and promoting synergies between teaching and research. Each university will stand for humanism, tolerance, reason and adventure of ideas and search for truth. It is expected to attempt to provide a path for humankind free from deprivation and seek to understand and appreciate nature and its laws for the well-being of the people. New pension scheme for low-income workers The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) introduced a new scheme, NPSLite , to target the economically disadvantaged sections and promote small savings during their productive life. Swavalamban Scheme Having extended the New Pension System (NPS) to all citizens with effect from May 1 last year, the PFRDA has also made available the Swavalamban Scheme, which grants an incentive of Rs.1,000 for all eligible NPS accounts, to all NPS-Lite account holders as well if they meet the prescribed criteria. In his budget speech, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would contribute Rs 1,000 annually to each NPS account opened in 2010-11. The Swavalamban initiative would be available, he said, to persons who joined the NPS with a minimum annual contribution of Rs. 1,000 and a maximum of Rs 12,000 during the fiscal 2010-11. The NPS-Lite, according to the PFRDA, has bee n d e s i g n e d t o e n s ur e a n u lt r a l ow admin istra tive and tr an sactiona l cost for making small investments viable with the help of non-governmental organisations and other micro-finance agencies so as to reach the target group. Inclusion of castes in Central OBC list cleared Based on the recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes, the Union Cabinet approved the inclusion/amendment of the names of castes and communities in the Central Lists of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in respect of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Daman & Diu.

Following this, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry will notify for the first time the Central list of OBCs in respect of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, and make amendments in the lists for the others. Centre finalising urban health mission The Centre is in the process of finalising the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) to provide better healthcare facilities to urban slumdwellers. The ambitious Rs.33,000-crore scheme is expected to bring within its purview domestic helps, vegetable vendors, vulnerable populations such as migrants, rag-pickers and street children. The Mission, aimed to correct structural imbalances in the public health system in urban areas, including that of infrastructure and human resource, will focus on urban slumdwellers who get the benefit of neither routine immunisation nor programmes to control vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue. Reproductive and child health will also be brought under the Mission. It will cover all cities with a population of more than one lakh. According to the 2001 census, almost 4.26 crore people lived in slums in 640 cities and towns having a population of 50,000 and more. In the cities with a population of one lakh and above, a 3.73-crore slum population was expected to reach 6.25 crore by 2008, putting greater strain on infrastructure. The under-five mortality among the urban poor is 72.7, significantly higher than the urban average of 51.9. Several health indicators among the urban poor are worse than those in the rural areas. More than 46 per cent of the urban poor children are underweight and almost 60 per cent are left out of the immunisation net. Once in place, the seven-year NUHM will seek to reduce the infant mortality rate to 30 per 1,000 live births and maternal mortality rate to 100 per 1,00,000 live births by 2015. The Mission will have four components outreach services, primary urban health centres, referral services and emergency medical services. The plan is to have one outreach session in every slum every Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 46 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs month and setting up 4,214 public urban health centres. The government is also looking at the possibility of providing individual health security cards for individuals or a family. While for the first two years the Centre and the State will share the burden in the ratio of 85:15, from the third year (2012-13) onwards, urban local bodies will have to share 10 per cent of the cost, as per the draft. Congress launches Adarsh Gram Yojana in Rajasthan The Congress launched Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) in Rajasthan s Sriganganagar district. aims at integrated development of 1,000 villages, where a majority of the population belongs to the Scheduled Castes. PMAGYis a replica of U.P. sAmbedkar Village scheme, which was drawn up for the development of SCdominated villages, way back in 1991, and which has been refined and improved over the years. The latest version, the Dr. Ambedkar Gramin Samgra VikasYojana, came into force on September 14, 2007, a few months after Mayawati s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came to power. Under this scheme, all gram sabhas are to be saturated with 13 different development programmes. The scheme launched in January 2008 will conclude in March 2012, on the eve of the Assembly elections in the State and a total of 17,100 gram sabhas are to be covered in the process. UP, has the largest number of SC-dominated villages in the country . Model village scheme a success in Rajasthan A two-year-long pilot project launched by a commercial group working in the renewable energy sector under its corporate social responsibility initiative to develop 14 model villages covering 1,000 marginalised and poor households in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan has helped build up local sources of livelihood for the target population. The project involved appointment of village development committees (VDCs) with focus on livestock development, health care, solar energy lighting and water security. The selected villages have turned self-sufficient with the creation of livelihood opportunities, empowerment of rural communities and enhancement of water and food security. Jaipur-based Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society extended support to the commercial group in the project s implementation. It encouraged the VDCs to make their own decisions and plan their own development agenda. The pilot project, launched in 2008, has benefited 515 households through the solar lighting system, 100 families through improved agricultural practices, 500 people through health care intervention and cataract surgeries, and one lakh animals through vaccination.

The villages with empowered VDCs have 1,000 families which benefited directly from interventions and another 1,000 with indirect benefits. Manmohan to set up sub-committee on urbanisation Going beyond the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he would set up a sub-committee of the National Development Council (NDC) to go into the complex challenges of urbanisation. The NDC approved the mid-term appraisal of the 11th Plan, scaling down the annual average growth target to 8.1 per cent from 9 per cent targeted earlier. The sub-committee would be headed by Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, he said, adding that he had decided to do so on the urging of several chief ministers who attended the NDC meeting. Mr Reddy s report, which would be submitted within a year, would then be an input into the Twelfth Plan. Goa-Karnataka water row:Centre asked to spell out stand on tribunal The Supreme Court asked the Centre to spell out whether there was any proposal to set up a tribunal to adjudicate the river water dispute between Goa and Karnataka on construction of a project across the Mandovi river. In its suit, Goa contended that the project contemplated by Karnataka in the inter-State river of Mandovi involved diversion of water outside the basin and it was not permissible. It said any abstraction of water by the upstream State of Karnataka would deprive the inhabitants of Goa of drinking water and consequently affect their rights. Refuting the contentions, Karnataka said the proposed diversion of water was only 7.56 tmc ft annually out of the total availability of 180 to 220 tmcft, as estimated by the Central Water Commission, and the proposed diversion was mainly for drinking water requirement. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 47 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 It said the government had no intention of utilising the waters actually without obtaining the clearances under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. It maintained that trans-basin diversion from the surplus Mandovi basin to the deficit Krishna basin for meeting drinking water supplies was permissible. (Locate In Atlas) Medical ethics violation to be made punishable offence With the number of incidents related to violation of medical ethics increasing, particularly those involving clinical trials by foreign pharmaceutical companies, the Centre has now decided to bring such cases within the purview of law. The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry is in the process of amending the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to make violation of medical ethics an offence punishable under law. This is likely to be done by adding a separate chapter on medical ethics in theAct, that would also prescribe punishment for such offences.At present, medical ethics violation cases, such as negligence, are dealt with under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In a recent episode in Indore, doctors were accused of carrying out clinical trials for a multinational drugs company on patients without obtaining their consent, which is mandatory as per the guidelines of the Drugs Controller-General of India (DCGI). The doctors are also reported to have been given monetary incentives and free foreign trips for carrying out the trials. Earlier, the Centre ordered suspension of clinical trials on tribal girl students in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, carried out by a non-governmental organisation, Path-International, for U.S-based pharmaceutical company MERCK for HPV (human papilloma virus) virus to prevent cervical cancer. Already, the Lok Sabha has passed the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation Act) Bill, 2010 that makes it mandatory for all clinical establishments to provide medical care and treatment to stabilise any person in an emergency condition. Once the Bill is passed in Parliament, this will be the first time emergency medical care is made obligatory under law in the country. As per the Bill, all clinical establishments will be required to register themselves with the State Council for Clinical Establishments. These include hospitals, maternity homes, nursing homes, dispensaries, clinics and similar facilities with beds that offer diagnosis, treatment or care for illness or injury or pregnancy under any recognised system. The legislation will help in addressing unregulated growth of the private sector, often accused of inadequate treatment, excessive use of higher

technology, medical malpractices and negligence. Sibal: 60 million students will go to colleges by 2020 Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal said that the government aimed to send 30 per cent of the school going population to colleges by 2020. At present, a mere 12.4 per cent of India s 220 million school going population could get higher education. Mr. Sibal said that to accommodate 60 million students in colleges by 2020, the country would need 800 more universities and 35,000 more colleges. Defining honour killing, a challenge to GoM The tricky issue of defining honour killings and getting the States on board, as law and order is a State subject, will engage the Group of Ministers (GoM) at its preliminary meeting on August 6 to discuss how to end the pernicious practice. In the draft bill under consideration, the expressions dishonour and perceived to have brought dishonour have been defined as acts of any person adopting a dress code which is unacceptable to his or her family or caste or clan or community or caste panchayat, choosing to marry within or outside the gotra or caste or clan or community against the wishes of his or her family or caste or clan or community or caste panchayat, and engaging in certain sexual relations which are unacceptable to his or her family or caste or clan or community or caste panchayat. Any change in the law in this case a proposed amendment to the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and the Special Marriages Act, 1954 will need to involve the States. Indeed, at the July 8 Cabinet meeting, where the decision to set up the GOM was taken, it was also decided to write to the States, as they will have to implement any new law. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 48 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Tribunal confirms SIMI ban extension A one-member Tribunal, headed by a Delhi High Court Judge, confirmed the extension of the ban on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) for two more years. The Home Ministry extended the ban on the outfit for the same period in February. SIMI has been banned since 2001. Justice Sanjiv Khanna confirmed the ban after hearing Additional Solicitor-General A.S. Chandhioke and counsel for the outfit. With the confirmation of the extension of the ban, the outfit will remain banned till February 7, 2012. Turf war on legal education escalates as Law Ministry floats own Bill Even as the turf war between the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Health and FamilyWelfare over regulation of higher education and research is yet to be sorted out, the Union Law Ministry has decided to establish its own regulatory body for higher legal education and research. The Law Ministry has prepared a draft Higher Legal Education and Research Bill, 2010 that seeks to establish a National Commission for Higher Legal Education and Research a seven-member body that will regulate, specify norms and standards of academic quality for accreditation, and benchmark higher legal education institutions. The Bill seeks to provide for regulation of various aspects of higher legal education and research; grant of recognition to law schools, colleges and institutions and revamping legal education to meet the needs and challenges of all sections of society. The Human Resource Development Ministry has already prepared a draft Bill for setting up a National Commission on Higher Education and Research that has in its purview all fields of higher education including technical, legal, medical and agriculture. However, the Health and FamilyWelfare Ministry has also prepared a draft of the National Council on Human Resources in Health which also proposes to regulate medical education and research. The National Commission for Higher Legal Education and Research is the third such regulatory body proposed to be set up by the government. Chidambaram urged to push Child Protection Scheme Krishna Tirath, Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development, has sought the personal intervention of Home Minister P. Chidambaram in ensuring that the Union Territories start implementing the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). Under the ambitious scheme, State governments and Union Territories should enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre, affirming their commitment to implement the scheme. Thereafter, they are required to prepare the

implementation schedule and submit it, along with the financial proposal, to the Ministry for release of funds. However, only Chandigarh and Puducherry have conveyed their willingness to implement the scheme. The Centrally sponsored ICPS was initiated in 200910 for improving the well-being of children as well as reducing their vulnerabilities to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation from their families. The scheme aims at creating a social safety net for children in need of care and protection, children in conflict displaced children and children of prisoners. The main components of the scheme are a programme for juvenile justice, an integrated programme for street children and a scheme for assistance to children s homes. The in-country adoptions have been merged into the ICPS. The institutional services financed under the ICPS include shelter homes, children s homes and observation homes, open shelters for children in need in urban and semi-urban areas, and family-based noninstitutional care through sponsorships, including adoption. UnionMinistryseeksmorefundsunderMPLAD scheme The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking approval for its plan to increase the fund allocation under the Members of Parliament LocalArea Development (MPLAD) scheme to Rs. 5 crore from the existing Rs. 2 crore per annum. The Planning Commission, however, has strongly opposed the move, saying this would result in limiting resources for other flagship schemes. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 49 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Five centres for advanced legal studies to be set up The Union Law Ministry proposes to establish five regional centres for advanced legal studies and research. According to the draft of The Centres for Advanced Legal Studies and Research Bill, 2010, prepared by the Ministry, the intention is to establish an autonomous networked Centre for Advanced Legal Studies and Research in each region with the objective of carrying out cutting edge research on various aspects of law, with the thrust on new and emerging areas. It is also aimed at providing common facilities for legal research for a group of law schools or for national law universities in general. The centres will maintain linkages and institutionalised interaction with law schools and universities and serve as a think-tank for advising the government in national and international fora. It will promote academic excellence, including continuing legal education for faculty, by providing refresher courses on various aspects of higher legal education and research. Cabinet nod for Swavalamban for unorganised workers The Union Cabinet approved implementation of the Swavalamban scheme to cover workers in the unorganised sector and provide old age security to all, especially the vulnerable sections. Under the scheme, the government is to provide an assistance of Rs. 1,000 a year as co-contribution to every NPS (New Pension System) account of 10 lakh unorganised sector workers, starting this fiscal for four years, till 2013-14 to cover 40 lakh subscribers. According to an official statement, the pension assistance is aimed at inculcating the habit of saving in this section of workers and would be subject to the beneficiary contributing any amount from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 12,000 a year towards the NPS account. While the government will provide Rs 1,000 crore over a four-year period , the funding may be required to be enhanced, should the subscriber enrolment exceed the expected number, the statement said. The scheme is to be managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority(PFRDA), and the government would release its contribution to it. Towards this end, the government will also provide Rs. 100 crore to the PFRDA for creation of public awareness of NPS and enlistment of subscribers. Parliament passes Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill The Rajya Sabha passed by voice vote the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2009 that allows any person or an enterprise to seek registration or trade mark in any of the 84 member countries of the Madrid Protocol through a single application. The Bill was passed by

the Lok Sabha in December 2009. At present, an applicant has to approach different countries in different languages with separate fee. Nod for Bill for tighter control over sensitive technology exports The Rajya Sabha has approved amendments to the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, to enable the government to impose quantitative restrictions in case of import surge in merchandise to protect the domestic industry. The proposed amendments are necessary to instil a sense of confidence among the technology providers, and to ensure that trade in sensitive technologies, including dual-use technologies, is appropriately regulated, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said while piloting the amendment Bill. GoM to discuss illegal mining, iron ore export ban A Group of Ministers (GoM) will discuss. Issues pertaining to illegal mining, a ban on iron ore exports, the new mining legislation and setting aside a share in the profits of mining companies for the development of tribal areas. The 10-member GoM, led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will discuss the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)Act, aimed at attracting domestic and foreign investment in mining and making the grant of mining concessions transparent and expeditious. It will also go into illegal mining and strengthening of the provisions in the legislation. The divergent views of the Ministry of Steel and the Ministry of Mines over a ban on iron ore exports too will be discussed. Officials said the aim of making the companies set aside a part of their equity or profits was to ensure development of these tribal areas through a corpus fund. This money could be placed at the disposal of Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 50 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs the local administration for the welfare of the people. This, the government reckoned, would help to contain the rising protests against mining in tribal areas. Parliament passes SBI (Amendment) Bill The Rajya Sabha passed the State Bank of India (Amendment) Bill providing for reduction of government equity to 51 per cent from a minimum of 55 per cent. The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill. With the passing of this Bill, decks have been cleared for the State Bank of India to raise fresh funds from the capital market. Defending the amendment, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee assured them that the dilution of government stake would not be rushed through. It is just an enabling provision and it does not mean that tomorrow it is going to be implemented, he said, replying to a debate on Bill. He added that there was no intention of interfering with the working of the bank. As regards to rights issues, he said the SBI had not yet come up with such a proposal and the government ould consider it as and when the bank decides. Categorisation in school admissions will be nondiscriminatory: Sibal Schools could now be allowed to follow a rational and non-discriminatory system of categorisation of students. However, the selection would have to be random and transparent within the system. This follows the inability expressed by a majority of schools in taking in students without screening, as prohibited under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. This broad consensus on categorisation of students emerged during a meeting between the Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and a cross section of stakeholders comprising educationists, academics, principals of schools, as well as representatives of civil society and nongovernmental organisations convened to elicit suggestions on the implementation of the provisions of the RTE Act. The objections over disallowing screening of students had been raised by private schools and even Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodayas who pointed out that these schools had been set up to cater to a specific section of society, and if these sections did not benefit, the entire purpose of such institutions would be defeated. However, this is true only for schools at the primary level. The Ministry will come up with new procedures for boarding schools and those that take students from Class VI onwards. Twenty-five per cent reservation will apply to all schools without any exception but boarding schools could be allowed income criteria as a category, Mr. Sibal explained. Commission to probe illegal mining The Centre has set up a Commission of Inquiry to

look into cases of illegal mining of coal, iron ore and manganese across the country. The decision seems to be a fallout of the cases involving the controversial Reddy brothers in Karnataka and some multinational companies. The inquiry will cover the most affected States of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The Commission has been asked to submit its report in 18 months. But it will also submit interim reports to the Cabinet. The Commission could be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Court. The Prime Minister will take the decision. (Locate In Atlas) Plan to give tribals a share of mining profits The Centre is planning to give a 26 per cent share in mining profits to tribal people and to set up a regulatory body to check illegal mining, Union Minister of Mines B.K. Handique informed the Rajya Sabha. The draft of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill prepared on the basis of the policy directions set forth in the 2008 National Mineral Policy and the recommendations of the Hooda Committee, and now with a Group of Ministers was aimed at doing justice to tribal people of areas where mining would be carried out, he said. He said the Bill also had provisions to deal with ecological balance in mining. It would also suggest steps to help the States tackle illegal mining; to discourage and prevent sub-optimal and unscientific mining; to make the regulatory mechanism more conducive to technology and investments; and to provide security of tenure to concessionaires. Nutrition scheme for adolescent girls cleared TheCentre cleared for implementation the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls known as Sabla aimed at enhancing their nutritional and economic status. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 51 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 The scheme will be run along with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) project in anganwadi centres in 200 select districts, targeting girls in the age group 11-18. The districts will be selected using a set of indicators and will be a combination in equal proportion of good, moderate, and not-so-wellperforming districts. Adolescent girls will be provided take-home rations. States can also opt for serving cooked meals, the standards of which will have to be set. Separately, the Women and Child Development Ministry will explore the feasibility of implementing a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme as an alternative in 100 more districts. Cash transfer will be contingent on conditions to be laid down being fulfilled. An allocation of Rs.4,500 crore has been made for implementing Sabla during the remaining period of the 11th Five-Year Plan. For 2010-11, a budget provision of Rs,1,000 crore has been made. In the initial years, 40-50 per cent of the girls accessing the scheme or 0.92-1.15 croreper annum are expected to be covered in the 11th Plan. While the scheme will be implemented at the ICDS anganwadi centres though infrastructure is inadequate there, alternative arrangements will be made in schools, panchayats and community buildings. The cost of the scheme will be shared equally by the Centre, the States and the Union Territories on provision of nutrition including 600 calories and 18-20 gm of protein which will cost Rs. 5 a beneficiary per day for 300 days a year for school girls in the age group 11-14 and all others aged 1518. Nod for National Innovation Council Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave the green signal for the setting up of a National Innovation Council headed by Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, to give shape to the Government s decision to observe the current decade (2010-2020) as the Decade of Innovation. The Council will have a mandate to evolve an Indian model of innovation that focuses on inclusive growth and creating an appropriate eco-system conducive to fostering inclusive innovation. Enemy Property Bill back in amended form The controversial Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2010 is back. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acceded to the request of a crossparty delegation of Muslim MPs, including several Ministers, who met him on August 4, to withdraw this law as it would throw into question the possession of ancestral property by citizens whose parents or grandparents migrated to Pakistan after Partition, it was listed for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha. However, the House was adjourned before it could come up.

The Bill, in its earlier form, would have prevented Indian family members of those who migrated to Pakistan at the time of Partition from going to court to regain possession of the property of their forefathers that had been seized as enemy property and had been vested in a custodian. The government s keenness to pass the Bill was demonstrated by the fact that it had got the President to promulgate an ordinance on July 2, which means it is currently in operation. The Enemy Property Bill, 2010 is intended to replace this ordinance amending an Act of 1968 to contend with court judgments that adversely affected the powers of the custodians and the Government of India. Created in the aftermath of the 1965 war, the Enemy PropertyAct has been on the statute book since 1968 and controls the fate of 2,168 properties left behind by those who renounced their Indian citizenship and migrated to Pakistan. The definition of enemy provided under Section 2(b) excludes citizens of India as an enemy, or enemy subject or enemy firm. Under the circumstances, the respondent, who was born in India and his Indian citizenship not being in question cannot by any stretch of imagination be held to be enemy or enemy subject under Section 2(b). Similarly, under Section 2(c) the property belonging to an Indian could not be termed an enemy property. Project Damini launched Inspired by the Project Damini to check crime against adolescent girls, a programme initiated by the Karimnagar district police in collaboration with the Rainbow, a voluntary organisation of woman doctors of Karimnagar town, the Duddilla Sripada Rao Charitable trust had launched the programme in the Centenary colony of Kamanpur mandal. The Damini programme was well-designed to educate the youth to follow the right path to excel in their chosen career. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 52 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Cabinet clears Educational Tribunals Bill The Union Cabinet cleared a bill seeking to create a mechanism to provide for speedy resolution of matters relating to disputes in institutions of higher education. The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010 was given the go-ahead at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Bill proposes to set up a two-tier structure of Educational Tribunals at the national and State level to adjudicate on the gamut of disputes that arise in the higher education system. The tribunals will act as forums for fast-track and speedy resolution of issues in institutions in order to build an effective system of checks and balances in higher education. The State tribunals will adjudicate on matters concerning teachers, employees and students of institutions in the respective States. The national tribunal would deal with all matters concerning regulatory bodies in higher education and also matters involving institutes located in two or more States. The Bill also provides for imprisonment up to three years or fine of Rs. 10 lakh or with both to those who fail to comply with the orders of the State or the National Educational Tribunals. The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha earlier, was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee concerned for its scrutiny. The Standing Committee had recommended several changes, apart from pointing out that the Bill was drafted in haste without proper consultation, particularly with the private sector. However, the Ministry has not accepted any of the recommendations. Bill on whistleblowers tabled in Lok Sabha The government introduced a legislation that would protect whistleblowers and provide severe punishment to those who expose the identity of, or try to victimise, such people. The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill, 2010 also provides for setting up a regular mechanism to encourage disclosure of information on corruption or wilful misuse of power by public servants, which cause demonstrable losses to the government. The Bill, introduced by Minister of State for Personnel Prithviraj Chavan, brings under its ambit employees of Central and State governments, public sector firms, local authorities and societies, among others. According to its Statement of Objects and Reasons, the Bill seeks to provide punishment for false or frivolous complaints as well. The legislation was necessitated as it was felt that there were impediments in eliminating corruption in the government due to lack of adequate protection to complainants.

Act as per law, Sirpurkar panel advised Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari s office has advised Justice V.S. Sirpurkar panel to act as per law in the matter of investigating allegations of corruption and land grabbing against Justice P.D. Dinakaran. (He was the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court till recently and has since been transferred to the Sikkim High Court.) The Sirpurkar committee, being a panel with all the powers of a civil court, is free to frame its procedures, it has been conveyed. Opposition MPs want torture bill referred to select committee In a bid to remove the flaws in the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, Opposition members of the Rajya Sabha gave notice for an amendment motion on the Bill to refer it to a Select Committee of the House. The Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on May 6 without any change, has not been vetted by any committee. The Bill is meant to harmonise the country s law with the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). It is flawed in its definition of torture, the punitive measures for torturing any person, the limited time-period for a victim to file a complaint and the inbuilt protection it provides to a torturer. Parliament approves Bill to regulate foreign funds Parliament has given its stamp of approval to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Bill, 2010, already passed by the Rajya Sabha and adopted by the Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals or associations or WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 53 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 companies. It will prohibit acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for activities detrimental to the national interest or national security. Originally, the Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2006, and referred to a standing committee, which made 14 recommendations in 2008, of which 12 were accepted. The Upper House accepted the Bill later. Replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for HomeAjayMaken said the Bill would prevent powers which want to use foreign funds to divide the country on religious basis. Those organisations, with fictitious or benami accounts, which had indulged in conversions directly or indirectly, created communal tension, supported sedition or had diverted funds earlier would be barred from receiving foreign contributions any more. The Bill had sufficient provisions to ensure that genuine non-governmental organisations involved in developmental activities did not suffer. Over 40,000 organisations in the country receive foreign contributions and of them, only 18,000, report the funds transfer and submit accounts. The rest are dormant. The Bill will ensure that every five years the organisations renew their registration so that the dormant ones can be weeded out. There was a provision in the Bill where if any organisation received funds over Rs.10 lakh in an instance, the bank concerned would immediately inform the government so that government agencies would track the source of such funds, he said. This law would prohibit certain individuals and organisations to accept overseas funds and they include cooperative societies, candidates during elections, correspondents, editors and publishers of newspapers, judges and government servants, members of legislature and political parties. Free LPG connections for BPL families planned The Centre is all set to launch a scheme of granting domestic LPG connections free of cost to the below poverty line (BPL) families. The scheme, covering around 35 lakh families every year, is likely to be launched on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti). The initiative was taken by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada. Now, a consumer has to pay Rs. 1,250 as security deposit for getting an LPG connection and Rs. 150 for a pressure regulator. To get over the cost issue, the government will provide for subsidisation of the entire amount. About 5.5 crore new LPG connections are proposed to be released till 2015 to touch the figure of 16 crore customers, with most connections being released in rural areas Cabinet urged to decide on classification of coal mines

The Prime Minister s Office (PMO)-appointed pan el i s understood t o have sought the intervention of the Union Cabinet to take a call on classification of coal bearing areas in the country as no mining zones and providing for alternative coal blocks to those who have been affected by this new no-go zones policy. The committee, headed by Planning Commission member (Energy) B.K. Chaturvedi, feels that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) should decide on the row between the Coal and Environment Ministries over classification of nearly half of coal-bearing areas in the country as no-mining zones. Cabinet approves new labour Bill The Union Cabinet approved the introduction in Parliament of the simpler version of the bill relating to the Labour Act to benefit establishments employing up to 40 workers in maintaining registers and submitting returns electronically under 16 labour laws. The new bill Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill, 2010 (Appendix-III) will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. It will be moved after withdrawing the earlier one the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2005. Surrender bogus ration cards or face penal action: Centre The Centre has warned bogus ration card holders to surrender their cards or face penal action. As part of a campaign, the government has cancelled about 174 lakh bogus ration cards in various States in the last one year. In a recent letter to the States and Union Territories, the Union Food Ministry cited the Supreme Court s Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 54 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs direction in the matter and invoked the provisions under the Public Distribution System (Control) Order, 2001, to initiate criminal proceedings against those who infringed on the provisions of the order. Pranab launches pension scheme for unorganised sector workers Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee launched a pension scheme for workers in the unorganised sector who do not have access to the social security net. I launched the scheme to coincide with the 78th birthday of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This scheme will help those who are not covered under any social security scheme, Mr. Mukherjee said after unveiling the programme at a function in Murshidabad district. Under thescheme which isnamed Swavalamban subscribers would get Rs.1,000 from the government each year for a subscription amount of Rs.12,000 per year.The scheme will remain valid for this financial year and for the next three consecutive fiscals. Mr. Mukherjee has already allocated Rs. 100 crore for thescheme in the budget for 2010-11. It will be managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authorityof India. A subscriber can enter the scheme at the age of 18 years and will be eligible for pension after turning 60. Antony launches e-governance projects Stressing on the need for a quick and timely payment of pension to those who retire from the armed forces, Defence Minister A.K. Anonty urged the department to use technology for the purpose. Launching three e-governance projects of the Defence Accounts Department on its foundation day, the Minister hoped this would ensure quick and accurate disbursement of pension. The three web-enabled online automation projects are: titled Suvigya, Aashraya, and Sankalan . Padgaonkar, M.M. Ansari, Radha Kumar named J&K interlocutors The Centre named three interlocutors to hold a sustained dialogue with all sections of people in Jammu and Kashmir. Noted journalist Dilip Padgaonkar, Information Commissioner M. M. Ansari, and Delhi Policy Group trustee Radha Kumar have been entrusted with undertaking a sustained dialogue to understand their problems and chart a course for the future, an official release said. It said all three interlocutors had done credible work in public life and brought with them a significant understanding of political and economic issues, specially in the context of Jammu and Kashmir. The government hopes that after interacting with all shades of political opinion they will suggest a way forward that truly reflects the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, specially youth.

Cabinet nod for amendments to Seeds Bill The Union Cabinet approved additional amendments to the Seeds Bill. 2004. The amendments however did not include the clause on price regulation of seeds that is being demanded by members of Parliament . On the demand of the MPs and civil society groups, the government has approved an amendment to raise the maximum penalty for misrepresentation/ or suppression of facts, procedural violation or nonperformance of the seeds without intention to one year and Rs. 5 lakh. There was a provision for cancellation of registration as well, The additional amendments also provide for nomination on the proposed National Seed Committee of the chairpersons of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority and the National Biodiversity Authority. The amended Seeds Bill, 2010, seeks to regulate the quality of seeds and planting material, to curb the sale of spurious and poor quality seeds, increase private participation in seed production and distribution and liberalise import of seeds and planting materials. The Bill that seeks to repeal and replace the existing Seeds Act, 1966, also has a provision that no transgenic variety of seed would be registered unless cleared under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Such seeds would have to be labelled and conform to specific standards. NIMHANS to be declared institute of national importance The Union Cabinet approved the proposal to declare the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, as an institute of national importance. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 55 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 With the Cabinet also approving the introduction of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences Bangalore Bill, 2009 in Parliament, the NIMHANS will be counted in the league of premier institutes such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi; the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI), Chandigarh, and the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry. This will facilitate the NIMHANS to develop patterns of teaching, with the flexibility to devise new courses, constantly evolving syllabi. The institute will be able to take up new courses that are required and are not currently part of the Medical Council of India-approved courses. Conditional maternity benefit scheme launched To improve maternal and child health, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) a monetary scheme for pregnant women and lactating mothers on a pilot basis in 52 districts in this FiveYear Plan. Each pregnant and lactating woman will receive Rs. 4,000 in three instalments between the second trimester of pregnancy until the child is six months old. Each beneficiary has to open an individual account (if she does not have one already) in the nearest bank or the post office for cash transfer, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram told journalists after the Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The scheme, to be implemented through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme infrastructure and personnel, will cost Rs. 1,000 crore. Some personnel will be hired on a contractual basis. The scheme will be fully funded by the Centre and Rs. 390 crore and Rs. 610 crore have been allocated for 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively. Under the scheme, cash transfers will be made to all pregnant and lactating women as incentives based on fulfilment of specific conditions relating to mother and child health and nutrition. However, government employees and Central and State Public Sector employees have been excluded from the scheme as they are entitled to paid maternity leave. It is expected that in the initial years, about 13.8 lakh pregnant and lactating women in 52 districts could avail themselves of the benefit. The beneficiaries will be pregnant women of 19 years and above and for the first two live births (benefits for still births will be as per the norms of the scheme). Since the IGMSY will be implemented by the States through the existing ICDS system and supported by

additional contractual staff, anganwadi workers and helpers will receive an incentive of Rs. 200 and Rs. 100 respectively a pregnant and lactating woman after all the due cash transfers are made. There will be steering and monitoring committees at all levels to oversee the scheme. A special cell to monitor the scheme will be set up within the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Population stabilisation target date pushed back to 2070 With the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) continuing at 2.8 per cent, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has pushed back the target date for achieving population stabilisation to 2070 from 2045, stipulated in the National Population Policy (NPP) 2000. The NPP 2000 laid down meeting the unmet need for family planning and health care infrastructure as an immediate objective; its mid-term objective was to achieve a TFR of 2.1 per cent by 2010 and the longterm goal was to attain population stabilisation by 2045. It is estimated that nearly half the population growth will be from just seven States and 22 per cent from Uttar Pradesh alone. This is against the combined contribution of 13 per cent from the southern States of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Airport licensing mandatory from July 2011 No airport in the country will be able to undertake any air transport service from July next if it is not licensed by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by June-end, according to a notification issued by the government. The DGCA makes safety audit of airports to grant licence to operators, including the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The licensing procedure has been initiated in keeping with the standards notified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 56 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs There were 63 airports that needed to be licensed. These include 53 operated by the AAI. The rest of them, including those in Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, Bangalore and Hyderabad, were owned either by the private sector or joint ventures. While the DGCA had issued Initial Licences to 15 airports, it had inspected 14. Besides, there were 22 defence airports with civil enclaves where civil aviation operations took place. The issue of their licensing had been taken up with the Defence Ministry Modi working group moots price stabilisation fund In its first and final meeting, the Working Group on ConsumerAffairs, set up byPrime Minister Manmohan Singh in April, reached a near-agreement on a draft Action Plan that recommends setting up of Special Courts under the Essential Commodities Act to try offences and to constitute a price stabilisation fund for government intervention when prices become unreasonably high. The plan suggests delisting essential commodities like rice, pulses and edible oils from the Future Markets, to contain inflation. It recommends raising the detention period to one year from six months for black marketing under the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supply of Essential Commodities Act, 1980. NAC consensus on food security After months of hard bargaining with the Planning Commission and the government, the Sonia Gandhiled National Advisory Council (NAC) appeared to have got a consensus on a universal food security system with legal guarantees, even though with differential entitlements. However, the NAC has expanded the concept of below the poverty line (BPL)-PDS beneficiaries, virtually doubling their number to 75 per cent of the population, designating them as priority households and making them eligible to receive 35 kg of subsidised foodgrains (Re. 1 per kg for millets, Rs. 2 for wheat and Rs. 3 for rice) every month. The remaining 25 per cent described as general households will be entitled to 20 kg of foodgrains per household at a price pegged at 50 per cent of the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The NAC-cleared food security framework, which will form the basis of the Bill also envisages legal guarantees for additional entitlements, beyond the PDS to address the nutritional requirements of the most vulnerable sections of society. Simultaneously, it has recommended a total overhaul of the PDS system. Centre banks on horticulture to usherin golden revolution The Central government is pinning its hopes on the strengthened National Horticulture Mission (NHM)

to usher in a golden revolution in the sector. Although the Mission had achieved results, as was evident from an improved utilisation of funds, a need was felt to fine-tune the operational guidelines for holistic development of the sector and for sustainable results. This would be implementable from the current financial year. With financial assistance from the Centre, an additional area of 16.57 lakh hectares has been bought for horticultural crops in the last five years under the NHM. About 2.78 lakh hectares of senile orchards have been rejuvenated and 2,192 nurseries established. Not only this, scientific infrastructure facilities, disease forecasting units, bio-control laboratories and plant health clinics have been set up with the involvement of the Indian Council of Scientific Research, State agriculture universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras. Under post-harvest management too, packing h ouses, col d st or a ge un i ts, con t rol led atmosphere storage units, refrigerated vans and mobile/primary processing units have been set up. Besides, wholesale and rural markets have been established. Mr. Pawar saw in these developments the setting-in-motion of a selfper pet uat in g cycl e based on i ncrea sed productivity and improved quality leading to higher incomes for farmers. The guidelines for the new Hub-and-Spoke Terminal Markets in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode had been revised recently to make it more attractive for private investment, the Minister informed members. Shunglu panel gets broader mandate The high-level committee set up by the Centre to look into the conduct of the Commonwealth Games would WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 57 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 have a much broader mandate, going beyond allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds. Even while focussing on alleged misappropriation, irregularities, wasteful expenditure and wrongdoings in the conduct of the Games, the terms of reference of the panel approved, It include examination of weaknesses in management and issues relating to coordination among various agencies involved in the development of infrastructure and conduct of the Games. The panel, headed by the former Comptroller and Auditor-General of India, V.K. Shunglu, would look at planning and execution of development projects and contracts for service delivery, with reference to time, cost and quality and the role of advisers, consultants and officials of the Organising Committee. NAC to monitor abolition of manual scavenging The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) urged the Centre to coordinate with all State and local governments and also Central government departments, including the Railways, to ensure that the pernicious practice of manual scavenging is fully abolished the latest by the end of the 11th Plan period. This, it said, would require a new survey in every State and Union Territory, with wide public involvement, of the remaining dry latrines and manual scavengers, demolition of all dry latrines, psychosocial and livelihood rehabilitation in modern marketable skills of all manual scavengers and their families, and special programmes for education including higher education and computer education of all children of manual scavengers. The NAC has asked the Ministry of Social Justice to formulate 100 per cent Centrally-sponsored schemes to support the rehabilitation initiatives. UID numbers soon for schoolchildren All schoolchildren will soon have unique identification numbers (UID), which will help intracking their movement in educa tional institutions and academic records. The system will help in tracking students mobility by creating an electronic registry, right from the primary level through secondary and higher education, as also between the institutions. Imprinting of the UID number on the performance records of students, including marksheets, merit certificates and migration certificates, will be helpful to prospective employers and educational institutions. The UID number will also help in dealing with problems such as fake degrees. It could be utilised while dematting of academic certificates, as also education loans and scholarship schemes. Iris scanning would be done for children aged between 5 and 15, while finger print marks would be added subsequently. Infants and children below the age of five

will get the number, but their biometric identification will be done only after the age of five. Proposed rail link passes through elephant corridor Concerns have been voiced about one of the three proposed railway lines in the project to provide railway connectivity to Bhutan, as it would pass through an important elephant corridor in north Bengal. The project, announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Bhutan in May2008, is keenly awaited by the people of the country because it will be the first time that rail network will come to Bhutan, said Tshering Wangda, the Consul General. The two other links are proposed to connect Pathsala and Rangia in Assam to Nganglam and Samdrup Jongkhar in Bhutan respectively, he added. However, if the Hasimara-Phuentsholing link is constructed according to the current proposal, it will cause disruption in an elephant corridor in a region where the elephant is already suffering the onslaught of the Railways. Not an inch of the proposed line will be constructed on the land of the Forest department, but it will pass trough Dalsingpara, which is very close to the Jaigaon forest area and a vital elephant corridor, said R. P. Saini, field director of the Buxa Tiger Reserve. (Locate In Atlas) NAC favours statutory minimum wages for MNREGS workers Going against the view of the United Progressive Alliance government, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has favoured the payment of statutory minimum wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). The NAC s line is in conflict with the January 1, 2009 notification issued by the Union Ministry of Rural Development, delinking the MNREGS wages from The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and freezing the former at Rs.100. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 58 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs The notification, issued under Section 6(1) of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, led to a situation where MNREGS workers in several States were paid less than the prevailing minimum wages. In its defence, the Ministry quoted Section 6(1): Notwithstanding anything contained in the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Central government may, by notification, specify the wage rate for the purpose of the Act. The NAC s contrarian position follows a recommendation made by the Aruna Roy-headed working group on Transparency, Accountability and Governance. A posting on the NAC website said: There was general agreement on the recommendations of the working group. There was general agreement that workers should be paid minimum wages as notified under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. NCDC to become apex institute The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) formerly known as the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) is all set to become the apex institute for communicable diseases on a par with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, U.S. Established in 1909 as Central Bureau of Malaria at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, the institute was renamed Malaria Survey of India in 1927. It was shifted to Delhi in 1938 and renamed as the NICD in 1963 and in July 2009 as NCDC. Government to step up oil and gas exploration The government, which was aggressively pushing for exploration of conventional oil and gas, had taken steps to tap shale gas to reduce the country s import dependence, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora said . India launched its 9th NewExploration Licensing Policy (auction)offering 34blocks, covering approximately88,000 sq.km. (for exploration of hydrocarbons), he said while inauguratingthe Petrotech-2010exhibitionin in NewDelhi. The previous eight licensing rounds since 1999 had resulted in the enhancement of exploration coverage of the Indian Sedimentary Basin from 11 per cent to 58 per cent. India imports 75 per cent of its crude oil requirement. Therefore, it is important that theIndian SedimentaryBasin may be explored vigorously to bridge this gap. Mr. Deora said the government was creating strategic oil and gas reserves as insurance against supplydisruptions. Underground crude oil storages were being built at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore in Karnataka that would hold sufficient reserves to cover the nation s requirement for 15 days. Oil firms being encouraged to secure assets abroad: Manmohan Stating that the growing Indian economy would

require tremendous amount of energy sources to maintain its pace, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India was encouraging its oil companies to acquire gas and oil assets abroad to meet the increasing demand that is likely to grow by 40 per cent in the next decade. Delivering the inaugural address at the three-day Petrotech 2010 Oil and Gas Conference at Vigyan Bhavan (New Delhi). India, which consumed over 138 million tonnes of fuel in 2009-10, imports three-fourth of its oil needs and one-third of its gas requirement. It imported $79.5 billion worth of 159.2 million tonnes of crude oil. Demand over the next 10 years will increase by over 40 per cent, whereas the increase in supply from the maturing domestic oilfields is expected to be around 12 per cent. Interlocutors submit report to Chidambaram The interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir submitted th eir r epor t to Un ion Home Minister P. Chidambaram after their maiden visit to the State. Dileep Padgaonkar, who leads the three-member team, said he was hopeful of a solution, but did not have a magic formula. The interlocutors briefed Mr. Chidambaram about their visit from October 23 and presented their report, which included recommendations. Forest panel to recommend withdrawal of clearance to Posco After 10 days of back and forth discussion, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) plans to recommend withdrawal of the clearance granted to the South Korean giant Posco for its Rs.54,000crore integrated steel plant in Orissa. If Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh accepts the recommendation of the FAC, a key statutory panel in his Ministry, India s largest foreign direct investment project could be shut down in its current location. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 59 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 All work on the Posco project has already been suspended on the Environment Ministry s orders, following a report on the FRA violations by the N.C. Saxena panel. Another committee set up under the leadership of the former Environment Secretary, Meena Gupta, then found there were many violations in the project, including those related to the FRA. While Ms. Gupta recommended that a further comprehensive impact assessment report and a deadline for the FRA implementation be ordered, all the other members of her committee called for a withdrawal of the clearance. At its meeting on October 25 to discuss the Meena Gupta panel s report, the FAC members expressed differing opinions on how to deal with the Posco project. 8 Indian States have 421 million multidimensionally poor people Eight Indian States are home to 421 million multi dimensionally poor people, more than the figure of 410 million in 26 poorest African countries. The Multidimensional Poverty Index which identifies serious simultaneous deprivations in health, education and income at the household level in 104 countries brought out in the latest United Nations Human Development Report has calculated that South Asia is home to half of the world s multi-dimensionally poor population, or 844 million people. The rates of multidimensional poverty are, however, relatively low in most of East Asia and the Pacific including China and Thailand. In Delhi, the rate is close to Iraq and Vietnam s (about 14 per cent), while that of Bihar is similar to Sierra Leon and Guinea s (about 81 per cent), according to the report released. The Indian States include Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, often referred to as the BIMARU States. The report s new Inequality-adjusted HDI, measuring the effect of inequality in 139 countries, shows South Asia with an average 33 per cent loss due to inequality in health, education and income the second largest for a development region after sub-Saharan Africa. India loses 30 per cent overall on the Inequalityadjusted HDI, including 41 per cent in education and 31 per cent in health. Women s inequality remains a major barrier to human development throughout Asia, the 2010 report shows. The new Gender Inequality Index which captures gender gaps in reproductive health, empowerment and workforce participation in 138 countries shows that six countries of East Asia and the Pacific fall in the lower half in gender inequality, with Papua NewGuinea among the lowest. Several countries in East Asia and the Pacific have little or no female representation in Parliaments,

although the Philippines and Indonesia have elected women leaders in recent decades. South Asia is characterised by relatively weak female empowerment with an inequality loss of 35 per cent compared with 16 per cent in developed nations. India ranks 122 out of the138 countries on the Global Instability Index based on 2008 data with nine per cent of the parliamentary seats held by women, and 27 per cent of adult women having secondary or higher levels of education compared to 50 per cent among men. The Multidimensional Poverty Index, the Inequalityadjusted Index and the Gender Inequality Index have been added as new indicators in this year s report, which runs into its 20th year. It spotlights countries that made the greatest progress in recent decades as measured by the HDI, with China, Nepal, Indonesia, Lao PDR and South Korea making it to the Top 10 Movers list. Among the South Asian countries, Nepal is second among the top movers on non-income HDI, while India is among the top 10 movers in GDP growth. Sonia, Tata in Forbes list of 68 people who matter Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata are among the five Indians named among the most powerful people in the world in Forbes list this year of 68 people who matter. India s business tycoons Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and steel giant ArcelorMittal Chairman Lakshmi Mittal also make this year s list (2010). Chinese President Hu Jintao has topped the 2010 Forbes list of the World s Most Powerful People. For the top spot, Mr. Hu pipped United States President Barack Obama, who comes in at second place. Forbes list picks 68 who matter, out of the 6.8 billion people on the planet. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 60 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Ms. Gandhi debuts at the 9th spot in this year s list of the world s most powerful people. Incidentally, she was not featured in Forbes recent list of the world s most powerful women. Dr. Singh, universally praised as India s best Prime Minister since Nehru, is ranked 18th on the list. He has moved up in the list from being 36th last year. Mr. Ambani, who has a net worth of $29 billion, comes in at the 34th spot. His ranking too improved from his last year s 44th place. The 53-year-old business maharaja is Asia s richest person, who certainly likes to live like a king, Forbes said. Occupying the 44th spot is Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of the world s largest steel company ArcelorMittal. The 60-year-old steel magnate has a net worth of $28.7 billion. London s wealthiest resident, Mr. Mittal is sponsoring London s 2012 Olympic games, paying for most of a 400-foot twisting steel tower to be named ArcelorMittal Orbit at the city s Olympic Park. Mr. Tata, having dropped two notches from last year, comes in at the 61st position in the list of the world s most powerful people. Cabinet approves Bill for women s protection at workplace The Union Cabinet approved the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010, that ensures a safe environment for women at work place, both in the public and private sectors, in the organised and unorganised sectors. The Bill, to be introduced in Parliament in the winter session beginning next week, will help in achieving gender empowerment and equality. Domestic help have, however, been kept out of the purview of the proposed law that also proposes a fine of Rs. 50,000 if found violating the provisions of the law. The Bill proposes a definition of sexual harassment, as laid down by the Supreme Court in Vishaka vs State of Rajasthan (1997). Additionally, it recognises the promise or threat to a woman s employment prospects or creation of hostile work environment as sexual harassment at workplace and seeks to prohibit such acts. It provides protection not only to women who are employed but also to any woman who enters the workplace as a client, customer, apprentice, daily wage worker, or in ad hoc capacity. Students, research scholars in colleges/universities and patients in hospitals have also been covered. The Bill provides for an effective complaints and redressal mechanism. Under the proposed Bill, every employer is required to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee. Since a large number of the establishments (41.2 million out of 41.83 million as per Economic Census, 2005) in the countryhave less than 10 workers for whom it maynot be feasibletoset upan Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), it provides for setting up of Local Complaints Committee

(LCC) tobe constituted bythe designated District Officer at the district or sub-district levels, as the need be. This twin mechanism would ensure that women in any workplace, irrespective of its size or nature, have access toa redressal mechanism. The LCCs will enquire into the complaints of sexual harassment and recommend action to the employer or District Officer. Since there is a possibility that during the pendency of the inquiry, the woman may be subjected to threat and aggression, she has been given the option to seek interim relief in the form of transfer either of her own or the respondent or seek leave from work. The Complaint Committees are required to complete the inquiry within 90 days and a period of 60 days has been given to the employer/District Officer for implementation of the recommendations of the Committee. The Bill provides for safeguards in the case of false or malicious complaint of sexual harassment. However, mere inability to substantiate the complaint or provide adequate proof would not make the complainant liable for punishment. Implementation ofthe Bill will be the responsibilityof the Central government in case of its own undertakings/ establishments and of the State governments in respect of every workplace established, owned, controlled or whollyor substantiallyfinanced byit as well as of private sector establishments falling within their territory. Through this implementation mechanism, everyemployer has the primary duty to implement the provisions of law within his/her establishment while the State and Central governments have been made responsible for overseeing and ensuring overall implementation of the law. The governments will also be responsible for maintaining data on the implementation ofthe law. In this manner, the proposed Bill will create an elaborate system of reporting and checks and balances, which will result in effective implementation of the law. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 61 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Nod for scientific institution in Thiruvananthapuram The Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a national centre for molecular materials in Thiruvananthapuram at a cost of Rs. 76.7 crore. The centre will be the first of its kind in the country, pursuing high-end science and developing technologies in niche areas such as sensors for biomedical devices, materials for better harvesting of solar energy, and space electronics. It will collaborate with other academic institutions and actively interact with industry and other user groups. It will come up on a 40-acre land provided free of cost by the State government. India to join convention on removal of ship wrecks India has decided to join the Nairobi International Convention on Removal of Wrecks and adopt international norms in shipping. The Union Cabinet cleared the path by approving amendments to the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, which proposes to enable a more purposeful approach towards removal of wrecks and salvage. These amendments which have become necessary consequent to India s accession of the Nairobi Convention would seek to address problems arising from the increasing number of wrecks and remove discrepancies in the existing rules and regulations so as to bring them in line with developments in international shipping, maintained official sources. Adopted by 64 countries, the convention lays out a firm jurisdictional basis for dealing with hazardous wrecks, apart from aiming at improving navigational safety and maritime security. (Locate In Atlas) Draft bill moots harsh punishment for sexual offences against children The draft Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2010, describes any kind of physical contact with sexual intent though without the actual penetration as sexual assault. It describes a child boy or girl as an individual below the age of 18 and suggests that in cases where penetrative sexual assault is committed against a child between 16 and 18 years (both inclusive), it should be considered whether the consent for such an act has been obtained against his or her will; or through fraud, deceit, coercion, undue influence, threats; or when the child did not have the capacity to understand the nature of the act; or if it was committed without the child s consent. The punishment recommended in such cases is imprisonment up to five years. Where a person is prosecuted for violating any of the provisions of the proposed Bill, and where the victim is below 16 years, the burden of proving that

he has not committed such violation shall be on the accused person. But harsher punishment, ranging from a minimum of 10 years to life term, has been recommended for those accused of aggravated penetrative sexual assault. Policemen, personnel of the security forces and the armed forces, and public servants found guilty of sexual offences against children will be tried under this category. It will include managements of hospitals, educational institutions, jails and even private institutions. Sexual offences committed in a place of custody or care or protection, or when under the guardianship or foster care, too fall under this severe category. Committing this offence with a deadly weapon, physically incapacitating the child or causing the child to become mentally ill or unfit to perform regular tasks, even causing pregnancy, or inflicting the child with Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or any other life threatening disease will be treated under the category. The Bill seeks to protect children against offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography and provide for establishment of special courts for trial of such offences. GoM to decide on change in gas allocation policy The Group of Ministers (GoM) meet on November 10 to decide on a change in the government s gas allocation policy and allocate natural gas to power plants that are likely to come up in the next two-three years. Till now, the Centre has maintained that owing to the scarcity of gas, it does not favor reserving gas allocation for plants that are still to become operational. But now it is ready to review the policy and make allocations to plants that are likely to come up till 2012. These include the expansion programme of theAnil DhirubhaiAmbani Group s Samalkot power project. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 62 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs At its last meeting on July 28, the GoM, headed by Union Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee, asked the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to give the completion report for seven projects, including the 2,400-MW Samalkot plant in Andhra Pradesh. The CEA stated that commissioning of these projects during the 11th Plan was subject to the suppliers and the developers adhering to the contractual and erection schedule, and a real assessment could be made only after substantial work was done on the ground. The GoM will consider allocating 4.67 mmscmd to the 1,500-MW Bawana project in Delhi; 3.08 mmscmd to Lanco s 770-MW Kndapalli expansion project in Andhra Pradesh; 3.07 mmscmd to GMR s 768-MW Vemagiri expansion project in Andhra Pradesh; 2.62 mmscmd to the 702-MW Pipavav project in Gujarat; 1.31 mmscmd to the 351-MW Hazira unit of the Gujarat State Electricity Corporation; and 0.84 mmscmd to the 225-MW Kashipur project in Uttarakhand. Reliance Industries Limited is expected to turn out 80 mmscmd of gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields some time in 2012 or 2013. It now produces 57-58 mmscmd. Food Security law soon: Centre The Centre informed the Supreme Court that it would soon put in place the National Food Security legislation after taking into consideration the recommendations of the National Advisory Council. This law would address the court s concerns over making foodgrains allotment to the States. Attorney-General G. E. Vahanvati said that in terms of the 1993-94 poverty estimates, the number of additional BPL families, on the basis of the 2010 population estimates, worked out to 1.17 crore, and not seven crore as stated by the petitioner PUCL. In its affidavit, the Centre said: For the increase of 1.17 crore BPL families between 2000 and 2010, the additional requirement of foodgrains at 35 kg a family a month works out to 4.09 tonnes a month. As per the directions of the Supreme Court, the government has already made an additional ad-hoc allocation of 2.5 million tonnes for six months, which works out to 4.17 lakh tonnes per month. The affidavit said the NAC had recommended subsidised grain to every family of the 150 poorest districts, but no recommendation was given for their special coverage. Tribunal upholds extension of ban on LTTE Observing that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) still remains a threat to the country s security, Justice Vikramajit Sen of the Delhi High Court, constituting the one-man Tribunal, upheld the May 14, 2010 notification of the Centre extending the ban on the outfit for two years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Apprehend NDFB faction leaders,

Chidambaram tells security forces Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram instructed the security forces to apprehend the leaders of the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) and the perpetrators of the brutal killing of 22 civilians in Assam from November 8 to 11 and bring them to justice. The Centre condemns the action of the NDFB (antitalk) faction, and warns the faction that the NDFB is an unlawful association and will be dealt with firmly in accordance with law. Its leader Ranjan Daimary is in judicial custody, but seems unwilling to control the criminal actions of his faction, the statement added. It was noted during the review meeting that the aspirations of the Bodo people have been met substantially by the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in 2003. It is a splendid model of self government. It has done good work for the development and prosperity of the people living within its jurisdiction especially the Bodo people, the statement added. It was also noted that the NDFB was not satisfied with the creation of the BTC and put forward demands, some of which fall outside the purview of the Constitution. Recently, the NDFB has been split into two factions. Judicial accountability Bill a cure worse than disease: Justice Shah Highlighting serious lacunae in the proposed Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010, the former Chief Justice of the Delhi and Madras High Courts Ajit Prakash Shah cautioned that the measure was an example of cure being worse than the disease. Analysing judicial accountability and its nuances, Justice Shah said there must be a balance between the competing principles of judicial independence, on the one hand, and accountability and transparency, on the other. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 63 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 His primary objection is that the Bill seeks to provide a straightjacket definition of misbehaviour under Section 2(j), which tends to lose its elasticity and become both under-inclusive and over-inclusive. A minor, inadvertent breach of judicial standards could constitute misconduct, and in so far as the definition is exhaustive, it is incapable of catching within its fold any misbehaviour that might not be covered by this provision. Secondly, he said, the Bill tended to render the Oversight Committee just a post office referring each complaint to the Scrutiny Panel. This was likely to lead to multiplicity of complaints against judges and also a colossal waste of time. Justice Shah s major objection is to the composition of the Scrutiny Panel which consists of three members, two of whom would be judges sitting in the same court as the judge against whom a complaint has been made. It would be difficult for judges to dispassionately decide a case against one of their own colleagues and sitting with them day in, day out. Also, the composition and tenure of the Investigation Committee was undefined. Theoretically, therefore, it was possible for a layperson without any knowledge, experience and standing to be part of an inquiry panel against a sitting judge of a superior court. Justice Shah said the Bill would create an atmosphere of total secrecy, more regressive than the present system, and there did not appear to be any rational reason for the change. The idea of minor punishment was unworkable and it had the potential to seriously undermine judicial status. This is an area where only a binary system of punishment can work. Either the judge is guilty and must be impeached, or he is not, and no action must be taken against him, Justice Shah said, observing that the challenge was to develop mechanisms of accountability that did not undermine judicial independence. Experts group to study NAC proposals on food security Bill In a significant move, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has formed an experts group chaired by the chief of Prime Minister s Economic Advisory Council, C. Rangarajan, to examine the recommendations of the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council on the proposed food security Bill. Chidambaram: India better equipped to meet security challenges Listing a number of measures taken over the past two years to enhance India s capability to meet security challenges, particularly from global terror outfits,

Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the country was better equipped to meet these challenges than before. He said despite the usual administrative bottlenecks, implementation of various action plans to strengthen security, modernise police forces and add capacity has gathered pace. The Central forces were being equipped with assault rifles, carbines, bullet proof jackets, mine protected vehicles, armoured troop carriers and night vision equipment, he added. The Intelligence Bureau was also setting up four more regional training centres and every Central paramilitary force was augmenting training capacity. He said 20 counter-insurgency schools had been sanctioned in nine States. The National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was expected to become operational by 2011-end if a decision on its inception was taken by this year-end, he said. The NCTC would be set up for strengthening the intelligence-sharing and analysing mechanism in the country. Referring to the proposed National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), He said the proposed NATGRID would facilitate quick access to information on an individual, like details of banking, insurance, immigration, income tax, telephone and Internet usage. Centre for privatisation of higher education Suggesting increased private partnership as a viable financial model to enhance investments in the education sector, the government has recommended raising fees in higher education institutions and allowing schools to function as profit-making bodies with a regulatory mechanism in place. For students belonging to weaker sections, there could be provision for financing grants for pursuing higher education, repayable after students start earning so as to ensure sustainability of the system, Mid-Year Analysis for 2010-11 tabled in the Lok Sabha recommended. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 64 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs While appreciating the creation of new institutions and various reforms proposed by the Ministry of Human Resour ce Developmen t, in cluding establishing a National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER) as an overarching regulatory body for higher education, the analysis, nevertheless, says adequacy of teachers both in numbers and quality remains a cause for concern. Panel suggests strengthening of AIIMS governance Keeping in view the problems faced by the All-India Institute of Medial Sciences (AIIMS), a high-power committee has recommended the strengthening of the internal governance system of the country s premier institution and insulating it from avoidable political, bureaucratic and faculty interference. It is high time the internal affairs of the AIIMS are dealt with in a strong democratic pattern for better decision-making and its growth. The administrative and decision-making powers need to be decentralised. For the purpose, external persons, except experts in the relevant fields, should ideally be kept out of important decision-making bodies, says the committee. The panel was constituted for examining the recommendations of the Valiathan Committee. It reckons that the academic, hospital affairs and faculty selection issues need more autonomy, so that they came under the the purview of the institute. Internal committees need to be formed to make recommendations on these matters. One-man panel to examine spectrum allotment from 2001 The Union government formed a one-member committee to examine the processes and procedures followed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in the grant of licences and allocation of spectrum during both the National DemocraticAlliance and United Progressive Alliance regimes. Retired Supreme Court Judge Shivaraj V. Patil will examine the appropriateness of the procedures adopted by the DoT in the issuance of licences and spectrum allocation during 2001-2009. The committee would have the power to call for any record or summon officials for any clarification or questioning. Through the inquiry, the Ministry would be able to know the entire gamut of procedures adopted since 2001 in the allocation of licences and spectrum, including the controversial 122 licences granted in 2008. Visa-on-arrival for five more countries As a New Year gift to Buddhist pilgrims, the government has decided to extend visa-on-arrival facility to five ASEAN countries from January 1. visa-on-arrival (VoA) facility will be extended to Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The scheme will be operational from the New Year, 2011.

India launched the VoA in January on a pilot basis for Singapore, New Zealand, Japan, Finland and Luxembourg. Panel recommends lower interest on farm loans A working group on agriculture constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has suggested that the government provide farm loans to farmers at four per cent interest rate, raise the minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce to 50 per cent higher than the actual cost of cultivation and expand diesel subsidy scheme across the country. The Working Group on Agriculture Production headed by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda submitted its report to the Prime Minister. Chief Ministers of Bihar, Punjab and West Bengal were members of the group. To focus attention on agriculture and for better coordination among various ministries, the group called for setting up a Scientific Advisory Council of Agriculture with the Prime Minister as the chair. While asserting that the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission on four per cent interest on credit and higher MSP be implemented, the group called for support price for potato, onion and garlic. Supporting encouragement to private sector, the group said that the market for agriculture produce must be freed ofall restrictions on movement, trading, stocking, finance and exports. No monopoly, including that ofAgriculture Produce Marketing Committee or corporate licensees should be allowed. Agriculture land ceiling for corporates should be fixed at 25 times the cap for individual farmers. There should be proper policy framework for land lease and contract farming. Indian companies should be encouraged for contract/lease farming in foreign countries. NHRC moots super-specialty hospital The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has recommended a multi super specialty hospital in Kasaragod to treat the victims of Endosulfan. The NHRC will recommend to both the Central and State governments to set up a multi super-specialty hospital and palliative care centres on a priority basis to provide timely and effective treatment to the victims, WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 65 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Mr. Balakrishnan (NHRC Chairman) said after talks with people s representatives and voluntary organisations involved in rehabilitation efforts. AICC: Indiano longerflag-bearerofThirdWorld The draft foreign policy resolution of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) noted that India has moved awayfrom leading the non-aligned movement. Beyond the past we want to look to the future, it noted at the end of a 12-page resolution that was issued along with three other resolutions 125 years of the Indian National Congress, economic and political summit. The Indian foreign policy had evolved from leading from the front the Third World and movements for emancipation ofAsia andAfrica. It was now committed to seeking a leadership role for an equitable global order, the resolution said. With economic growth on a continuously upward trajectory, India was committed tocontributing in terms ofcapacity as well as delivery which it is increasingly doing in the near neighbourhood and Africa. First seaplane service launched In a boost to coastal tourism, Mr. Patel launched the first seaplane service in the country at the Juhu aerodrome and named it Jal Hans. This will benefit tourism on the Andaman and Nicobar islands, he said. The amphibian plane will run on the Andaman and Nicobar islands. A joint venture has been formed between Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) and the Andaman and Nicobar administration on an equal profit-sharing basis. The Cessna 208A seaplane, which has a seating capacity of eight passengers and two pilots, is Canada-made, six years old and costs around Rs. 8 crore. It can travel up to 250 km an hour and can land on calm waters. It can also land using the wheels configuration. Krishna Tribunal grants highest share of waters to A.P. The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II allocated the highest share of Krishna river waters to Andhra Pradesh but distributed the surplus waters, which was hitherto flowing into the State. The shares of other basin States Karnataka and Maharashtra were also raised. The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Brijesh Kumar, permitted Karnataka to raise the storage level in theAlmatti dam to524.256 metres from 519.6 metres, a measure seen by Andhra Pradesh as depriving its lower Krishna delta region of water supply. The tribunal, however, directed Karnataka to make regulated releases of 8 to 10 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) from the dam to Andhra Pradesh in June and July. The tribunal asked the Centre to set up a Krishna Water Decision-Implementation Board with representation from all the three States.

In its order, announced in an open court, the tribunal allocated a total share of of 1,001 tmcft to Andhra Pradesh, 911 tmcft to Karnataka and 666 tmcft to Maharashtra with certain restrictions imposed on each State in keeping with the dependable flows of the rivers on which the allocations have been made. Since the decision of the tribunal has the force and decree of the Supreme Court, no appeal against the award can be filed in any court except before the tribunal itself. The order of the tribunal can be reviewed or revised after May 31, 2050. States which came up with projects that do not fall within the purview of the tribunal s order may have to modify them. KWDT-II was constituted in 2004. 2.5 times pay hike recommended for newspaper employees The Wage Boards for working journalists and nonjournalists and other newspaper employees submitted their recommendations to the government, recommending 2.5 to 3 times hike in basic pay and fixing the retirement age at 65. The revised basic pay has been computed after merging the existing basic pay, the dearness allowance and the 30 per cent interim relief already granted besides 35 per cent variable pay, said Chairman of the Wage Boards Justice G.R. Majithia. The recommendations have been proposed to be implemented from January 8, 2008. Taking into account the concept of grade pay introduced in the Sixth Pay Commission, the Boards introduced variable pay for all employees working in newspaper establishments and news agencies. Consequently, the Boards proposed a variable pay of 35 per cent. This will be implemented from July 1, 2010. As per the recommendation, current basic pay would rise by 2.5 to 3 times, a Wage Board official said. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 66 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs The Boards were constituted three years ago for the purpose of fixing or revising rates of wages in respect of working journalists and nonjournalists and other newspaper employees. Single parliamentary panel on MPLAD schemesuggested Seeking to put an end to duplication in work and fast-track the decision making process, Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has urged Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to constitute a single Parliamentary Committee comprising members from both Houses to monitor the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund scheme. The scheme was implemented on December 23, 1993 to provide a mechanism for the Parliamentarians to recommend works of developmental nature to create durable community assets in various constituencies. The Ministry is the nodal agency responsible for policy formulation, release of funds and monitoring implementation of the scheme. Under the scheme, every sitting Member of Parliament gets Rs. 2 crore a year for carrying out developmental works in his or her constituency. The Ministry has proposed to increase this amount to Rs. 5 crore. United Andhra Pradesh with constitutional empowerment of Telangana best way forward The Srikrishna Committee has favoured maintaining the status quo of a united Andhra Pradesh and described the demand for a Telangana State as the second best option. In its report, which was made public, the Committee found the option of a united Andhra Pradesh the most workable in the circumstances and in the best interests of the social and economic welfare of people. In this option, it is proposed to keep the State united and provide constitutional/statutory measures to address the core socio-economic concerns about the development of the Telangana region, it said. The report was submitted to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on December 30. The 461-page report lists six options (I) maintaining the status quo; (II) bifurcation of the State into Seemandhra and Telangana, with Hyderabad as a Union Territory, and the two States developing their own capitals in due course; (III) bifurcation of the State into the Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions, with Hyderabad being an integral part of Rayala-Telangana; (IV) bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana, with an enlarged Hyderabad metropolis as a separate Union Territory; (V) bifurcation of the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per the existing boundaries, with Hyderabad serving as the capital of Telangana, and Seemandhra having a new capital; and (VI) keeping the State united by simultaneously

providing certain definite constitutional/statutory measures for socio-economic development and political empowerment of the Telangana region creation of a statutorily empowered Telangana Regional Council. The Committee found the fifth option the second best, with a rider that separation is recommended only in case it is unavoidable and if this decision can be reached amicably among all the three regions. Considering the option of bifurcating the State into Telangana and Seemandhra as per the existing boundaries, the Committee felt that the continuing demand for a separate Telangana had some merit, and is not entirely unjustified. In case, this option was exercised, the apprehensions of the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema people and others who settled in Hyderabad and other districts of Telangana about their investments, property, livelihood and employment would need to be absolutely addressed. Maintaining the status quo was the least-favoured option. It also found the second and third options not practicable. The Committee felt that the fourth option of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra and Telangana, with an enlarged Hyderabad metropolis as a separate Union Territory, was likely to meet with stiff opposition from the Telangana protagonists, and it might be difficult to reach a political consensus on making this solution acceptable to all. On the sixth option of keeping the State united, the Committee said it could be done through the establishment of a statutory and empowered Telangana Regional Council with adequate transfer of funds, functions and functionaries. The Regional Council would provide a legislative consultative mechanism for the subjects to be dealt with by the Council. The five-member Committee, headed by the former Supreme Court judge, B. N. Srikrishna, was appointed WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 67 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 on February 3, 2010. It examined in detail the issues pertaining to the current demand for a separate Telangana as well as the demand for a united State. The Committee examined all aspects of the situation. Keeping in view the local, regional and national perspectives, it gave the six options. GoM on paid news set up The Union government has set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine the problem of paid news and suggest policy measures to combat it It will be headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The other members are: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Human Resource Development Minister Kabil Sibal. It is likely to discuss the report on paid news prepared by journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and K. Srinivas Reddy for the Press Council of India (PCI). Rangarajan panel differs with NAC on food entitlements for non-poor The Experts Group chaired by the Prime Minister s EconomicAdvisoryCouncil Chairman, C. Rangarajan, favours mandatory entitlement of subsidised foodgrains to the priority category (Below the Poverty Line) as recommended by the National Advisory Council (NAC). But the Group does not think that it is feasible to extend to the general category (Above the Poverty Line) legal entitlement of subsidised foodgrains under the Public Distribution System (PDS). The panel has suggested that the subsidised grain for the poor be linked to inflation and indexed to the Consumer Price Index in the coming years. This means the rate at which 35 kg of wheat (at Rs. 2 a kg) and rice (Rs. 3 a kg) is given per month to a poor household will be revised at a later date. The panel, formed byPrime Minister Manmohan Singh to study the recommendations of the Sonia Gandhiheaded NAC on the proposed National Food Security Bill. Dr. Rangarajan has gone with the Tendulkar Committee s estimate of the poor at 41.8 per cent in rural areas and 25.7 per cent in urban areas, and added 10 per cent to it to cover those living on the margins to arrive at a figure that matches the priority number suggested by the NAC. Government s New Initiatives and Committees WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 68 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Mayawati sets up special force for guarding monuments of Dalit icons Not waiting for Governor B.L. Joshi s approval for the Special Zone Protection Force (SZPF) Bill and an ordinance by the same name meant for constituting a force for guarding monuments of Dalit icons, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati decided to constitute a special force of ex-servicemen with immediate effect. The SZPF proposal envisages the constitution of a battalion comprising about 1,200 security personnel, and would be headed by an ex-Army officer of colonel rank. The recruitment process and the service rules would be the same as applicable elsewhere in the country. About Rs.8 to 9 crore would be spent on constituting the force in the first year and it is likely to be set up. NMR trial run on April 14 The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) will be operated soon. Service on the narrow gauge track was stopped after landslides triggered by heavy rains hit the Mettupalayam-Coonoor sector on November 8, 2009. It is a World Heritage site, declared by UNESCO in 2005. (Locate In Atlas) Indus-like inscription on South Indian pottery from Thailand A fragmentary pottery inscription was found during excavations conducted by the Thai Fine Arts at Phu Khao Thong in Thailand about three years ago. The discovery of a Tamil-Brahmi pottery inscription of about the second century CE at the same site was reported earlier The two characters incised on the pottery now reported are not in the Brahmi script. They appear to be graffiti symbols of the type seen on the South Indian megalithic pottery of the Iron Age-Early Historical Period (second century BCE to third century CE). What makes the discovery exciting is that the two symbols on the pottery resemble the Indus script, and even the sequence of the pair can be found in the Indus texts, especially those from Harappa. The symbol looking vaguely like an N appears to be the same as the Indus signs 47 or 48 The symbol on the Thai pottery resembles a diamond. It occurs in the Indus script in diamond or oval forms Signs 261 and 373. (Locate In Atlas) Pharma company clarifies on effects of Gardasil vaccine MSD Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, the company that markets Gardasil in India, has said that the vaccine can help prevent cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers and genital warts caused bythe HPV (human papilloma virus) types 6, 11, 16 and 18, as also some protection against 10 additional cervical cancers. Centre appeals for lifting stay on Lafarge mining The Centre pleaded for lifting the stay on mining operations imposed by the Supreme Court on the

Lafarge Umiam Mining company in Meghalaya, as there was nothing adverse in the Task Force s environment impact assessment report. (Locate In Atlas) Obulapuram: No major encroachment in first mine The Survey of India (SoI) informed the Supreme Court that there was no major encroachment or illegal mining in so far as the first mine spread over an area of 68.5 hectares was concerned in the Obulapuram mines owned by Karnataka Minister G. Janardhan Reddy and his brothers in Bellary area. During the last hearing, the court had ordered fresh survey of all the three mining fields and till then stayed mining activities and lifting of extracted raw material. (Locate In Atlas) Maheshwar dam oustees start indefinite protest About 800 people affected by the Maheshwar hydel dam project have launched an indefinite protest in the capital, demanding that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests put a halt on the project until the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of villagers catches up with the construction of the dam. Political News & Various Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 69 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 MCI president remanded to five-day police custody Ketan Desai, president of the Medical Council of India, and three others arrested by the CBI in a Rs.2-crore bribery case. Dr. Desai was arrested by the CBI in New Delhi for allegedly granting permission to start admission in the medical college in violation of MCI rules in lieu of heavy monetary considerations, CBI officials said Kerala tops in devolving powers Kerala has been adjudged the best State in the country in devolving powers to local self-government institutions. Kerala received an aggregate of 74.74 points. Karnataka with 69.45 points andTamil Nadu with 67.06 points came second and third respectively. Government relieved as cut motions fail Thanks mainly to the support provided by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government survived a trial of strength in the Lok Sabha as the cut motions moved by the Opposition parties were defeated. With this, the hope of a grand alliance of all Opposition parties against the government s economic policies, especially those resulting in price rise, suffered a setback when the political Right and the Left together registered a total of 201 votes for their cut motions against 289 by the government. Daimary sent to 12-day police custody National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) founder-chief Ransaigra Nabla Daimary (alias D.R. Nabla or Ranjan Daimary) was remanded to 12 days in police custody by the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Guwahati. He had been arrested and handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) by Bangladesh at the Dawki sector of India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya. The Assam police later took him into their custody . Kasab pronounced guilty of waging war againstIndia After a 271-day trial, a special sessions court pronounced Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, guilty of waging war against India. The 1,522-page judgment convicted Kasab of conspiring to wage war, along with nine other terrorists and 20 co-conspirators in Pakistan, and of murder and abetment to murder, among other offences. Among the 20 wanted accused indicted by the court are Lashkar operatives Hafeez Saeed, Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah and Abu Hamza. At NGOs instance, Muivah puts off visit to ancestral village National Socialist Council of Nagaland leader T. Muivah, put off his visit to his ancestral village in Manipur. Mr. Muivah, who arrived at Viswema village from the

NSCN (Isak-Muivah) headquarters near Dimapur, said he responded to a request by four non-governmental organisations to postpone his visit to Somdal village in Manipur s Ukhrul district to facilitate proper arrangements. The Manipur government is opposing his visit on the ground that it will disturb communal amity. But a defiant Muivah said he would visit his village. The NSCN(IM) has been demanding the formation of a greater Nagaland by merging Naga-populated areas of adjoining States, but the plea has been rejected by the Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments. CCI clears Paradip Port proposal, highway projects The Union Cabinet s Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) cleared a proposal to develop a multi-purpose berth at Paradip Port at an estimated cost of Rs.387 crore. The project envisages the construction of facilities for handling containers and clean cargo, totalling five million tonnes per year, with a view to decongesting the port and reducing the turn-around time for vessels. It is scheduled to be completed within three years. Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the panel also gave the green signal for a host of highway development projects, including the six-laning of the Hosur-Krishnagiri section of National Highway 7 at a cost of Rs.535 crore and the two-laning of the DindigulTheni section of NH-45 (extension) and the TheniKumli section of NH-220 in Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of Rs.501 crore. (Locate In Atlas) Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 70 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Conditional clearance for crest gates at Narmada Dam The Union government said that the environment sub-group under the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) had only conditionally allowed installation of (17 mt-high) crest gates (to be kept in raised position) at the Narmada Dam, under construction in Gujarat. The NCA, chaired by the Union Water Resources Secretary, gave instructions in 2008 that the next stage of construction at the dam would first be considered in the Environment and Rehabilitation and Resettlement sub-groups, after consultation with the Grievances Redressal Authorities set up in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. the Supreme Court said in 2000 that the NCA would give permission to raise the height of the dam from time to time after it obtains clearances from the Rehabilitation and Resettlement sub-group (including consultation with the three Grievance Redressal Authorities of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra) and the environment sub-group. This sets at rest the controversy with regard to the permission for raising the height of the dam. (Locate In Atlas) Centre s gas pricing policy will prevail, rules Supreme Court Holding that gas is a national asset and the Centre s pricing policy will prevail over any private agreement, the Supreme Court has directed Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) of the Mukesh Ambani group to initiate renegotiations with Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. (RNRL) of the Anil Ambani group for fixing the price of gas to be supplied to RNRL. Disposing of a batch of appeals, a Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and P. Sathasivam rejected RNRL s claim that it was entitled to get 28 mscmd of gas from the KG Basin at $2.34 mBtu in terms of a 2005 Memorandum of Understanding between Anil and Mukesh without any price approval by the government. AADHAR not mandatory, says Nilekani Unique Identification Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani ruled out making AADHAR, the unique identity number of each individual, mandatory for all citizens, and said it would be optional. The proposed law seeking to grant statutory status to the UIDAI would seek to put in place a frame work to protect the data across the country from being misused, Mr. Nilekani said. He underlined the need for checks and balances to protect the data from both private and government users. Bill Gates signs agreement with Bihar to boost health standards In a move to bolster Bihar s public health standards, the State government signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation. The Bihar government and the Foundation anticipate the programmes and activities governed by the memorandum to have a five-year duration, from 2010 to 2015. According to the MoC, the Foundation will provide technical, management and program design support via NGOs in the areas of maternal, neonatal and child health; maternal and child nutrition; vaccinepreventable diseases, tuberculosis, pneumonia and Kala-azar, among others. Four Chola inscriptions found near Kancheepuram Four inscriptions, two of Raja Raja Chola (regnal years 985-1014 A.D.) and two of the earlier Chola period of 10th Century A.D., have been discovered at Siru Karumbur village, near Kaveripakkam, 20 km from Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu on the initiative of Sri Vijayendra Saraswati of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. They throw light on the artistic and temple-building activities in the northern region (Tondaimandalam) of the Tamil country during the Chola period and Raja Raja Chola s firm grip on the region. Kaveripakkam was an important township and army camp from the time of the Pallavas. It was originally called Kavidhipakkam Kavidhi is the title conferred on an army commander. An inscription of the Pallava king Nandivarman of 8th Century A.D. mentioned Kavidhipakkam and another Pallava king, Nandivarman III, established a Brahmin settlement, Avani Narana Chaturvedimangalam, there. When the Cholas captured Tondaimandalam, the Pallava heartland, theystationed an army at Kavidhipakkam to protect the region s northern boundaries. When Parantaka Chola (regnal years 907 955 A.D.) stationed his son Rajaditya at Kavidhipakkam to guard the Chola territory, Rashtrakuta king Krishna III invaded the region and Rajaditya was WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 71 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 killed circa 949 A.D. in a battle at nearbyTakkolam. So the Cholas lost their hold on Tondaimandalam. (Locate In Atlas) Assam to initiate talks process with ULFA The Assam Cabinet decided to initiate the process of talks with the insurgent United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), even without Paresh Barua, the selfstyled commander-in-chief of the outfit. Of the 15 central committee members of ULFA, six are currently in jails. These include ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, self-styled foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury, finance secretary Chitraban Hazarika, cultural secretary Pranati Deka, ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain. Vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi and central publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary are on bail, while general-secretaryAnup Chetia is lodged in a Bangladesh jail. ThreeULFAcentral committeemembers have remained untraceable since the crackdown against the insurgent outfit bythe Royal Bhutan Army in 2003, while another member, Robin Handique, passed away. Deemed universities unhappy with the new UGC guidelines As per the new UGC (Institutions Deemed-to-be Universities) Regulations 2010, notified on May 21, the chancellor of a deemed university, appointed by the sponsoring society or trust, will have to be an eminent educationalist or a distinguished public figure other than the president of the sponsoring society or his/her relative. The chancellor can be a member of neither the society nor the trust. The new guidelines were issued with a view to plugging deficiencies detected in the recent review of deemed universities, which indicated that such institutions functioned as family fiefdoms. These institutions will not be granted the deemed university status under the fresh guidelines, while the position of pro-chancellors has been abolished. The proposed deemed-to-be university will have to be registered either as a non-profit society under the Societies Registration Act or as a non-profit trust under the Public Trust Act. The new guidelines also make it mandatory for an institution to be in existence for at least 15 years before seeking deemed university status, against the earlier 10 years, except under the category of De-novo Institutions or Innovative Universities. India granted access to Headley: Jones India has been given access to David Coleman Headley, Pakistani-American Lashar-e-Taiba operative, who has confessed to his role in the Mumbai attacks, United States National Security Adviser James Jones said. Keshub Mahindra, 6 others get 2-year jail for Bhopal tragedy A court in Bhopal convicted all the seven accused,

including the former chairman of Union Carbide, Keshub Mahindra, in the Bhopal gas tragedy case and awarded them a maximum of two years imprisonment. The verdict came 26 years after the tragedy on the night of December 2-3, 1984 ravaged the city, killing over 3,000 people immediately and thousands more in the following months. Dozens of tonnes of poisonous methylisocyanate gas leaked out from theUnion Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant and over 35,000 people were killed in the aftermath of the leak, according to rights activists. Warren Anderson, chairman of the U.S.-based Union Carbide group, who was named an accused in the tragedy, was absconding throughout the trial period. Interestingly, the court did not mention his name. The accused were convicted under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the IPC. Sawai Man Singh Medical College signs MoU with US college The Rajasthan Government s Sawai Man Singh Medical College has signed a memorandum of understanding with the prestigious Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, NewYork, U.S., for a student exchange programme and collaboration in medical education and research. Cyclone Phet floods Rajasthan Most parts of north India received moderate to heavy rainfall, causing the mercury to dip sharply as flash floods triggered by Cyclone Phet inundated low-level areas of Rajasthan. Nearly 300 people in Lathi village in Jaisalmer district were evacuated while rail and road traffic continued to be affected due to heavy rains that lashed the desert State for the last two days. (Locate In Atlas) Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 72 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs India among least peaceful places in world India is among the least peaceful of major countries in the world and is getting even less peaceful year on year. This was the major finding of the Global Peace Index Report (GPI), an annual publication by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), athink tank focussed on researching the relationship between economics, business and peace. According to the 2010 report, which considered a range of peace-related variables among 149 countries, India s rank was 128, six ranks lower than its 2009 position. Some of India s key neighbours in South Asia ranked in the bottom 20 per cent along with India Sri Lanka was ranked 133rd, Pakistan 145th and Afghanistan 147th. However, Nepal did much better, ranked in 82nd place and Bangladesh in 87th. Bhutan, ranked at 36th, narrowly missed being in the top 20 per cent of nations. While most developed countries including those of Western Europe and Canada, ranked in the top 20 per cent of peaceful nations, the United States was an anomaly, ranking at 85th, outranked by countries such as Rwanda, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Bosnia and Herzegovina. India also ranked 19th out of 25 countries in the AsiaPacific region. The leader in the region, New Zealand, was also the most peaceful nation globally. Close on its heels were Iceland and Japan. Iraq was estimated to be the least peaceful, accompanied at the bottom of the table by Somalia, Afghanistan and Sudan. The identification and weighting of indicators in the GPI, which is compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, was undertaken by an international panel of experts in the study of peace. (Locate In Atlas) Rajasthan to have tribunals for senior citizens Rajasthan will have more stringent laws to tackle the instances of neglect of elderly by their children. The State also proposes to set up tribunals at subdivisional levels with the Sub Divisional Officer presiding over it to monitor the status of the senior citizens in the area and book the erring wards. Villagers protest against proposed atomic plant Government officials who came to carry out soil testing for a proposed atomic power plant in Gujarat s Bhavnagar district had to go back due to resistance and demonstrations by local villagers. The proposed 8,000 MW capacity plant, a joint venture of the Central and State governments with the support of the United States, is to be set up close to the Alang ship-breaking yard in coastal Saurashtra. The people of five villages are protesting as they fear they will lose their land if the project comes up. Government claimed that most of the land coming under t he power project wa s governm ent wasteland and not much of land acquisition would be required from private sources. But the people in the region were against an atomic plant to in

the area, apprehending serious health hazards. Omar inaugurates Sindhu Darshan festival In an attempt to promote the Indus river as an icon of communal harmony, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah inaugurated the three-day long Sindhu Darshan festival in Ladakh s Leh region. The Sindhu Darshan, first organised in 1997, is celebrated on the full moon day (Guru Poornima) in June every year. Nirmalgram Puraskar to 1,720 villages in Maharashtra Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan presented the Nirmalgram Puraskar to 1,720 villages, in recognition of their achievement of full sanitation, at a function. The Nirm algra m Pur askar is a form of encouragement given to villagers under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). TSC is a programme to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with the broader goal of eradicating the practice of open defecation. The Nirmalgram Puraskar has encouraged a healthy competition among villages. It is because of these efforts and general awareness that the sanitation coverage in rural areas has registered an impressive growth from 22% in 2001 to close to 60 per cent now. P.C. Thomas, ex-MP, gets 3-year poll ban President Pratibha Patil, as per the opinion of the Election Commission, has disqualified the former MP, P.C. Thomas, from contesting elections for three years from May 19, 2010 for corrupt practices during election. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 73 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 He has been disqualified under sub-section (1) of the Section 8A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The charge against him was that he used his religious background to woo voters. Chief Electoral Officers told to check paid news The Election Commission (EC) has directed the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to observe maximum vigil, by enforcing existing provisions of law, to check paid news or surrogate advertisements in the print and electronic media during elections. The Commission said the recent phenomenon of paid news, which is assuming an alarming proportion as a serious electoral malpractice, was causing concern to it. The paid news had to be seen as an attempt to circumvent the provisions of Sections 77 and 123 (6) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, which prescribes accounting and ceiling of election expenses, and makes exceeding the prescribed limits a corrupt practice. The provisions of Section 127A of the RPA make it mandatory for the publisher of an election advertisement and pamphlet to print his/her name and address as well as that of the printer, and failure to do so attracts imprisonment up to two years and/or a fine of Rs.2,000. Section 171 H of the IPC prohibits expenditure on advertisement without the authority of the candidate. For the purpose of Section 127A (1) of the RPA, election pamphlet or poster means any printed pamphlet, handbills or other document distributed for promoting or prejudicing the election of a candidate or group of candidates ... Thus, paid news would also fall in the category of other document liable to be included in election pamphlet and poster, the directive said. We ll move CBI to probe Mahanta in Veterinary scam, says Gogoi The Assam government will move the Central Bureau of Investigation to reopen the Rs. 400-crore Letterof-Credit scam in the Veterinary Department and investigate the prima-facie case against the former ChiefMinister andAsom Gana Parishad leader, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. This was stated by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. The CBI had named several politicians including Mr. Mahanta in the scam. But the then Governor, Lt. Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha, on February6, 1998 declined the CBI sanction for prosecuting Mr. Mahanta on the ground that there was no prima facie charge against him. Mr. Mahanta has claimed that the case against him has already been settled. It has not been settled. We will write to the CBI to investigate the prima facie case against him, Mr Gogoi said speaking at a seminar organised by the State unit of the National Students

Union of India as part of the birthday celebrations of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Mr. Gogoi was reacting to the charge made by Mr. Mahanta and other AGP leaders that his government was involved in a financial scam in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council. This case is now being handled by the CBI. On December 29, 2006, a CBI court special judge sentenced Rajen Bora, kingpin in the scam, and three others to five-year rigorous imprisonment in one of the 15 cases, the trial of which began in 1996. Manipur truckers still keep off NH 39, landslips disrupt the other lifeline Despite the All-Naga Students Association, Manipur, and the Naga Students Federation (NSF) suspending their blockade of National Highways 39 and 53, normal road transport to Manipur is yet to resume. For, the Transporters and Drivers Council of Manipur (TDC) is sticking to its decision not to ply on NH 39, between Imhal and Dimapur, and a large number of trucks bound for Imphal through NH53 are stranded owing to heavy landslips. The TDC is insisting on an assurance from the Nagaland government and the Centre of compensation for the damage caused to vehicles during the prolonged economic blockade. They also want an undertaking from authorities that illegal taxes allegedly being collected by underground groups and other organisations in Nagaland from vehicles plying on NH 39 will be stopped. Manipur government spokesman and Cabinet Minister N. Biren told that overall the supply situation had not improved despite the suspension of the blockade. The government would continue to persuade the TDC to allow vehicles to ply on NH 39 so that the acute scarcity of food grains, medicines, fuel and fertilizers, caused by the 67-day siege, could be overcome. (Locate In Atlas) Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 74 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Coimbatore all decked up for grand Tamil meet A sense of excitement, tinged with Tamil pride, has gripped the city of Coimbator on the eve of the World Classical Tamil Conference beginning on June 23. There was a celebratory atmosphere in the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, the venue of the WCTC. Aesthetically fashioned structures to hold the inaugural event, academic sessions, seminars, exhibitions and cultural events attracted wide attention. Sonia lays foundation of Rohtang tunnel near Manali UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who is also heading the National Advisory Council, laid the foundation of the 8.8-km-long Rohtang tunnel at Dhundi near the famous tourist resort of Manali. While addressing a public gathering at Solang Nallah later, Ms. Gandhi said the idea of the tunnel was conceived by late Rajiv Gandhi and even the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during his regime, inaugurated the approach road to the tunnel site from the South Portal. Praising the efforts of Border Roads Organisation in constructing the tunnel, she said the tunnel would provide all-weather connectivity for the civilians and armed forces personnel and an alternative link to the residents living on the border areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir. The idea of constructing a tunnel beneath the Rohtang Pass at 13,000 feet was envisaged in 1983 and its construction received an impetus after the Kargil conflict. It was to be made as an all-weather alternative strategic route to Ladakh from Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Avalanche protection On May 26, 2002, after the detailed feasibility study in 1987, Mr. Vajpayee laid the foundation of the access road to the tunnel costing Rs.180 crore and the access road to south portal tunnel site was completed in 2005. About 18 avalanche protection structures have been erected on it. The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the tunnel project in September 2009 at a cost of about Rs.1,495 crore. The tunnelling would be completed in 2015 and that would reduce the distance between Manali and Keylong by at least 48 km, said the BRO sources. High altitude More than six to seven feet of snow is reported from the high altitude (13,044 ft.) Rohtang Pass during winter and it remains closed for six to eight months. Another tunnel The BRO is also studying the feasibility of constructing a tunnel beneath the Shinkula Pass (15,920 ft.). It has to conduct a feasibility study for construction

of a tunnel beneath this pass that would reduce the present distance of 470 km between Manali and Leh by 100 km, they said. (Locate In Atlas) Karnataka s conditional offer of water The Karnataka government has offered to release water from Alamatti dam for crops and other purposes in Andhra Pradesh in time , that is after the kharif season begins, if Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra allow it to increase the dam height to 524 metres. Karnataka made its proposal before the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal on the Krishna Waters in New Delhi through its counsel with intimation to Andhra Pradesh s counsel P. Sudharshan Reddy, according to Shailender Kumar Joshi, Secretary, Irrigation. Karnataka government had taken this stand in compliance with a consensus arrived at the all-party meeting convened by its Chief Minister with leaders of Opposition parties on Alamatti recently. (The Supreme Court, disposing of the Alamatti, had restricted the height to 519.66 metres. It said any further increase in height by Karnataka would be at its cost and risk.) The offer came in response to the complains by Andhra Pradesh that the kharif season for the established ayacuts in the State, including that of Krishna delta (over 14 lakh acres) and that under Nagarjunasagar (nearly 25 lakh acres) was getting postponed by three months every year. (Locate In Atlas) Aviation sector can absorb up to $120 billion investment by 2020' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the aviation sector as vital to India s sustained economic growth and said it played a major role in generating WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 75 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 tourist flow, accelerating industrial development, creating new jobs and integrating the country. Inaugurating the new, world-class Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport Dr. Singh said it was estimated that India s aviation sector could absorb up to $120 billion of investment by 2020. Analysts predicted that domestic traffic could reach 160-180 million, and international traffic in excess of 50 million by 2020. In a few years, India has become the ninth largest aviation market in the world. We now have 10 scheduled airlines operating in our country, compared with two in 1990. In the same period, the scheduled aircraft deployed by the Indian carriers has gone up four times, from 100 to about 400, Dr. Singh said. Congress 125th anniversary fete in Kolkata The celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the Indian National Congress will be held in the cityof Kolkata from September 22 to 26. Maharashtra panel to check printing of book on Shivaji With the Supreme Court lifting the ban on James Laine s controversial book on Maratha king Shivaji, Maharashtra government set up a three-member committee to explore options to stop its printing and circulation in the State. India chapter formed to campaign against Israel The India chapter of the international movement to campaign for academic and cultural boycott of Israel has been formed by a group of intellectuals. Just as it was in the case of the international call against South Africa in the apartheid years, we are confident that this boycott will be effective in contributing to international pressure on Israel to abandon its oppression and expulsion of the indigenous population based on military aggression, legal discrimination and persecution and economic stranglehold, said an appeal made by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Babli: parties arrive at consensus Ahead of their meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on July 26, political parties in the State of Andhra pradesharrived at a consensus during an all-party meeting to fight unitedly against construction of Babli and 13 other projects across the Godavari by Maharashtra. By a resolution supported by leaders of all the parties who attended, the meeting demanded immediate stoppage of construction of Babli project. It requested the Prime Minister to intervene and provide a permanent solution to the issue of construction of projects across the Godavari and the Krishna by the upper riparian States without Central clearances. (Locate In Atlas) A first for women

Women constables of the Border Security Force take part in the Beating Retreat Ceremony at the IndiaPakistan Attari-Wagah border near Amritsar.For the first time in over four decades women BSF personnel have been made part of the routine ceremony. Women constables were appointed last year to perform duty on the International Border, but their role was confined to routine patrolling and managing crowds. ISO certification for Rashtrapati Bhavan On a day when President Pratibha Patil completed three years in office, Rashtrapati Bhavan was presented with an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14001:2004 Certificate for having emerged as the country s first urban habitat with excellent environmental management systems. A year after she assumed office, Ms. Patil initiated a project, Roshni Programme, which was aimed at making the President s Estate a plastic-free zone and pushed for introduction of energy-efficient practices. The ISO certificate from the Bureau Veritas India (BVI) that was presented to the President s Secretary, Christy Fernandez, is in recognition of the practices adopted by the President s office and the residents of the estate in switching over to energy-efficient and best practices including water harvesting, solar energy and solid waste management. Nariman: action against deemed varsities irrational Even as the Supreme Court has decided to examine the validity of the Tandon Committee constituted by the Human Resource Development Ministry, senior counsel Fali Nariman argued that the Centre s threatened action of withdrawal of recognition to 44 deemed universities, on the recommendations of the panel, is invalid in law. The Professor Tandon Committee had recommended de-recognition as these institutions failed to meet prescribed standards, and said they Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 76 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs would be affiliated to the respective State universities. Its report has been questioned by the universities concerned. A Bench of Justices Bhandari and Deepak Verma has been hearing petitions relating to the deemed universities. Madrasas will be kept out of RTE Act Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal held out the categorical assurance that madrasas would be kept out of the purview of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Mr. Sibal said the Muslim fear that the Act would endanger madrasa education was unfounded in the context of the constitutional guarantees available to the community to establish and run their own educational institutions. 115 killed in Leh flash floods At least 115 people were killed and over 370 injured, and many more are missing as flash floods caused by torrential rain hit Leh town and adjoining villages. Several buildings were washed away. A cloudburst that occurred between 0030 and 0100 hours triggered torrential rain, mudslides and flash floods. Rescue operations have been taken up on a war-footing. Dispute-free Village Scheme to get United Nations recognition The United Nations has decided to recognise the Mahatma Gandhi Tanta Mukti Gaon Mohim (Disputefree Village Scheme) of the Maharashtra government. The scheme was introduced as a way to get rid of small disputes in the village and thus bring about harmony. It was also seen as a measure to reduce the work pressure on policemen. Pune Rural SP Pratap Dighavkar will present the model to the U.N. at their NewYork headquarters on August 11. DD, AIR can t implement TRAI proposal by 2013 With Prasar Bharati setting 2017 as the deadline for itself to shift completely to the digital mode, it might not be possible to implement the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India s recommendation to phase out analogue television by 2013, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, said. Doordarshan is actively converting to digital, Ms. Soni said. The Centre sanctioned over Rs.1,500 crore to digitalise both Doordarshan and All India Radio under the 11th Five Year Plan. However, since this involved a timetable lasting till 2017, she felt the TRAI recommendations may not be immediately viable. Serious deficiencies in three freight corridor project contracts: CVC The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has found serious deficiencies in three multi-crore contracts awarded by the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL). The three contracts that came under the CVC scanner

are: construction of 54 major bridges on the SuratMumbai corridor at a cost of Rs. 419 crores; construction of a new rail line of about 105 km on the Mughal sarai-Sone Nagar section in which the consultant s estimate was revised from Rs.568 crore to Rs. 665 crore and which was awarded at Rs.781 crore without quantifying assessment for reasonableness of rates; and the Rs. 133 crore contract for general consultancy services for the BhauprMandrak section of about 300 route km for electrification, signalling and telecom system. The manner of functioning of the DFCCIL had caused concern to the Planning Commission DeputyChairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in March and he wrote to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. Given the exceptionally large financial implications [about Rs. 80,000 crore] of this project on the Railways budget, it would be desirable to have the Financial Commissioner on its [DFCCIL] Board. It would also be useful to appoint some independent directors to lend greater quality to the deliberations of the Board, Mr. Ahluwalia had suggested. Hoverport in Chennai soon The Coast Guard will establish a hoverport in Chennai, its headquarters for the Eastern region, to house hovercraft patrolling waters off the city once the State government hands over the required land. Dissatisfied with 300% pay rise, MPs hold up Lok Sabha Hours after the Union Cabinet cleared a 300 per cent salaryhike, from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 50,000, for members of Parliament and doubled their perks, they appeared to be a dissatisfied lot and stalled the Lok Sabha proceedings thrice during the day, demanding more money. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 77 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Though the Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the Bill seeking a three-fold increase in the basic salary of MPs, it fell short of the Rs. 80,001 recommended by a joint parliamentary committee, which stated that an MP should get at least Re. 1 more than the top Central government bureaucrats. Besides salary, an MP gets an allowance of Rs.1,000 for each day the Parliament is in session or for taking part in House committee meetings. This has been doubled. A member is also entitled to a constituency allowance of Rs.20,000 a month and an office expense allowance of Rs.20,000 a month. These perks have also been doubled. The increase will be given with retrospective effect from May 2009, when the 15th Lok Sabha was constituted. However, the increase will be implemented when the Bill seeking amendment to the Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, is brought in Parliament and passed by both the Houses. Polavaram: government hails Orissa s stand The Andhra Pradesh government has hailed the statement reportedly made by Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Delhi that Polavaram project would not cause any submergence in Orissa. The agreement signed by Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh providing for construction of Polavaram with the condition that if Andhra Pradesh would have to build flood banks to prevent submergence in Orissa and Maharashtra or pay monetary compensation. While formulating Polavaram project, the Andhra Pradesh government included a budget of Rs. 600crore for the construction of flood banks. (Locate In Atlas) Gegong Apang arrested in Rs. 1,000-crore PDS scam Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Gegong Apang was arrested by sleuths of a Special Investigation Cell (SIC) probing the Rs. 1000-crore scam in Public Distribution System (PDS) in Arunachal Pradesh. Mr. Apang, who is credited to be second longest serving Chief Minister after former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, pleaded innocence and alleged that it was a political conspiracy to tarnish his good image. My work as your sepoy has just begun, Rahul tells tribals All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi told the Dongria Kondh tribals living in and around the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa that his work as their sepoy in New Delhi had just begun. He congratulated the tribals on emerging successful in their fight against the proposed mining of the

Niyamgiri hills by Vedanta. Assam, Arunachal move to end tension Assam and Arunachal Pradesh resolved to undertake confidence building measures to end tension along the border between them. A high level meeting in Dispur to discuss the situation in the tense areas bordering Sivasagar district in Assam and Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh decided that Arunachal Pradesh would remove the bunkers set up between Charaipung and the Teok river. The area will now be jointly patrolled by police from both States. $220-million World Bank credit for Bihar The World Bank approved a $220-million credit for Bihar to support its rebuilding efforts in areas affected by the 2008 Kosi floods. Asia-Pacific region needs greater attention, says Manmohan Singh Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underscored the gradual shift of economic and political power to Asia and asserted that greater attention would have to be paid to the entire Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region, including South-East Asia, needs much more attention by us, and this must seep into our defence and foreign policy planning as never before. There is a palpable desire on the part of the countries of this region to enhance cooperation with us, which we must reciprocate, Dr. Singh told the Annual Combined Commanders conference. Defence Minister A.K. Antony said New Delhi could not lose sight of the fact that Beijing was improving its military and physical infrastructure. Both Dr. Singh and Mr. Antony mentioned the Maoist problem among other internal security challenges that needed focussed attention. Dr. Singh reiterated that Naxalism was a serious challenge to internal security. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 78 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs 2G spectrum scam: court notice to CBI, Raja The Supreme Court issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Centre, and Union Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja on a special leave petition seeking a thorough investigation into the 2G spectrum allocation scam, which cost the exchequer an estimated loss of Rs.70,000 crore. Chidambaram to lead all-party team to J&K The all-party delegation, visiting Jammu and Kashmir to assess the ground situation in the State which has been in the grip of violence since June, will be led by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Raise retirement age of government doctors To overcome the shortage of medical practitioners, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has recommended enhancing the retirement age of government medical professionals to 70 years from the existing 65 years. It has also suggested relaxations in the land requirement for setting up new medical colleges. Kanishka bomb-maker Reyat found guilty of perjury Inderjit Singh Reyat, the sole person convicted in the 1985 bombing of Air India s Kanishka flight that killed 329 people, has been found guilty of perjury by a Canadian court for lying under oath during the trial of the world s deadliest airline bombing. Reyat (58), who had earlier confessed to helping make the bomb that destroyed the Air India Flight 182, showed little emotion as the verdict was read in a Vancouver courtroom after jurors deliberated for more than 20 hours. After he was convicted of perjury, with which he was charged in 2006, Reyat was ordered into custody, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. United Stock Exchange begins operations New bourse for currency derivatives, the United Stock Exchange of India (USE), began operations and witnessed good volumes in the first hour of trade. After the NSE and MCX, the USE is the third bourse offering currency trading in the country. Rs. 500-crore relief for Uttarakhand Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced Rs.500 crore in assistance to the flood-affected Uttarakhand, a day after Congress president Sonia Gandhi sought a liberal package. Coast Guard arrests more Myanmar poachers offAndamans The Coast Guard has arrested 24 Myanmarese poachers off theAndaman and Nicobar islands, taking the total number of poachers arrested during the last 20 days to 88. SouthAsian writing festival in Britain Britain s first major literary festival devoted entirely to south Asian writing represented by what the organisers said would be a blend of established and new voices from the region was held from October

15 to 25 . Centre unveils 8-point formula for Kashmir The Centre will appoint a group of interlocutors, under the chairmanship of an eminent person, to begin the process of sustained dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir with political parties, groups, st uden t s, civi l society a n d ot her stakeholders. The decision to begin the process of sustained dialogue was part of an eight-point initiative taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Gogoi launches country s first model district health project Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi launched the Morigaon Model District Health Project, Health Department s ambitious project, in collaboration with The Earth Institute, Columbia University, and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Morigaon becomes the first district in the country to have started the project and is among the five districts in the country (the rest being one each in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar) to have been selected under the model district health project. Tembhli becomes firstAadhar village in India Ranjana Sonawne: 782474317884. With this number, Ranjana has become the first Indian to get the UID (Unique Identification). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Allaince Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched the Aadhar project presented UIDs to ten people. (Locate In Atlas) WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 79 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Sharad Pawar urges northeast to raise food production Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar urged the north-eastern States to produce more to ensure food security. His Ministry had taken the initiative, in consultation with the governments of the region, to design plans for each State keeping in view their distinct physiography, topography, climatic and soil conditions, he said. Mr. Pawar underscored need to wean away farmers in the hills from jhum cultivation. He asked them to adopt agriculture practices that did not cause any harm to the soil and environment. Special programmes would be initiated by the Ministry in this regard. It would meet every six months to assess the agriculture scenario in the region and initiate corrective steps to step up production. Sanskriti Express to offer glimpses of Tagore s life Indian Railway s tableau on wheels featuring the life and times of one of India s most famous cultural icons, Rabindranath Tagore, is all set to roll into on Gandhi Jayanthi day. The Sanskriti Express , flagged off from Howrah on May 9 to mark the 150th birth anniversary fete of Tagore, is scheduled to reach Chennai Central .The five-coach exhibition will offer glimpses into the various facets of Tagore as poet, philosopher, painter and musician. The coaches have names that evoke association with the Nobel Laureate. EC rejects Press Council s proposal on paid news Asserting that the Election Commission (EC) will have to work within the Constitutional provisions, relevant acts and electoral laws, it rejected the view of the Press Council of India that its recommendations on paid news should be binding on the EC. It turned down another proposal of the PCI for deputing journalists/senior citizens as election observers to monitor paid news. There was no need for this as the EC, through its circular on June 8, 2010, already directed the setting up of district-level committees and State-level committees to monitor such news during the polls. Mr. Quraishi said expenditure observers would be suitably briefed about the issue to exercise vigilance and coordinate with the district-level committees. He wanted the PCI to forward a district-wise list of independent journalists/citizens for inclusion in the committee to scrutinise paid news. Opioid substitution therapy being promoted in Manipur to check drug abuse After blockades and bandhs, the most-talked-about subject in the insurgency-hit Manipur, perhaps, is drug abuse in its latest avatar of Opioid Substitution

Therapy (OST), said to be a medically-safe drug administered in a safer mode under medical supervision. The OST, also known as the oral substitution therapy, is proven to have reduced possible harm like opioid abuse and overdose, the spread of HIV, and other blood borne viruses like hepatitis-C and infections like abscesses for the drug users. NACO s support: Initiated by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), the OST programme was made operational in Manipur in March 2006 on a pilot basis. In January 2008, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) supported the programme by funding it partly and integrating it into the existing target intervention programmes as a component of harm reduction. Heroin and spasmo proxyvon (locally know as No 4 and SP respectively) are the commonly used drugs in the State. Water released from Vaigai Dam Water was released from the Vaigai Dam for irrigation of 1.50 lakh acres of agriculture lands in Madurai, Dindigul and Sivaganga districts. Minister for Adi Dravida Welfare A. Tamilarasi released the water. A total of 1,50,043 acres of land 1,42,008 acres in Madurai district, 1,996 acres in Dindigul district and 6,039 acres in Sivaganga district would be benefited. (Locate In Atlas) Meira to lead team for IPU meet A delegation of Parliamentarians to the 123rd assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is being led by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.The assembly will be held in Geneva from October 4 to 8. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 80 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs UNESCO team to visit Visva-Bharati varsity A United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) team will be visiting the Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, to consider the possibility of declaring it a world heritage site. The Ministry of Culture, through the Archaeological Survey of India, sent a dossier to the UNESCO for nominating Santiniketan as India s official entry for World Heritage Sites. Santiniketan was nominated as the official entry in 2010 keeping in mind that the country is celebrating the 150 th Birth Anniversary of the National Poet Rabindranath Tagore. If the nomination is accepted Santiniketan will become the 30 th site in India to be declared so and the third in West Bengal. The Sunderbans National Park and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, popularly known as the toy-train were declared World Heritage sites in 1987 and 1999 respectively. What began as a school in 1901, started by Rabindranath Tagore transformed into a unique experiment in education. After he won the Nobel Prize in 1913, the school was expanded into a university. It was renamed Visva-Bharati defining the poet s vision as a place where the world makes a home in a nest. (Locate In Atlas) ED issues Blue Notice against Lalit Modi The Enforcement Directorate has issued a Blue Notice an international alert to law enforcement agencies against the former Indian Premier League chairman, Lalit Modi, in its probe into the finances of the T20 cricket tournament. The Blue Notice alert, which will be executed by Interpol, has been issued to gather further information about Mr. Modi s whereabouts and his activities which are not known to the ED as he is in a foreign land, sources said. The objective of a Blue Notice, according to Interpol, is to collect additional information about a person s identity or activities in relation to a crime. Monsanto against mandatory labelling of GMO product Monsanto, the biotechnology major, holds the view that mandatory labelling of products made from geneticallymodified organisms (GMOs) in India would make no sense. It favours options such as companies voluntarily labelling products as not containing GMOs, and individuals making a personal decision not to consume food containing GM ingredients. During an interview Gyanendra Shukla, Director (Corporate Affairs) of Monsanto India Ltd, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had determined that GM crops did not differ from nonGM crops, and that products containing GMOs need not be labelled. Genetic engineering techniques:

Genetic engineering techniques use DNA molecules from different sources that are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. New version: Having introduced Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton, known as Bollgard I, in 2002, Monsanto is now testing a version of GM cotton that incorporates the properties of Bollgard II and Roundup Ready Flex cotton. Currently, 250 companies in India sell Bt cotton seeds, most of them deriving their technology from Monsanto. India elected to U.N. Security Council India was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with an overwhelming number of countries endorsing its sole candidature from the Asian group. In polling for 10 seats that took place at the U.N. headquarters in New York, India received the highest number of votes 187 out of 192 among all countries in the fray. BlackBerry: fresh deadline The Centre asked Research In Motion (RIM) to provide the final solution to its BlackBerry encrypted email and messenger services for interception by the Indian law enforcement agencies by December 31, 2010. The government had earlier extended the August 31 deadline to October 31, 2010. The Ministry of Home Affairs decided to further extend the deadline till this year-end after meeting representatives of RIM and Department of Telecommunications (DoT). RIM has sought more time in view of technical discussions on the WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 81 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 BlackBerry Messenger Service (BMS) and BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) with the security agencies. Working towards permanent seat in expanded UNSC: Krishna Thanking the member states of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that elected India as a nonpermanent member of the organisation, Union External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said diplomats working around the clock had ensured that India won well over the two-thirds required to record a win or endorsements from at least 128 members out of the total strength of 192. India had no competitor from Asia group after the withdrawal of Kazakhstan earlier this year. The last time India was part of the UNSC was in 199192. It suffered a shock defeat in 1996 when it lost to Japan despite banking on solidarity among developed countries. India will take over as a UNSC nonpermanent member from Japan on January 1, 2011, for the seventh time. The UNSC has five permanent members the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom who have veto rights. There are also 10 rotating members who have the right to vote, but cannot veto a resolution. However, on the issue of a permanent seat in an expanded UNSC, Mr. Krishna said the five permanent members were not as enthusiastic as developing nations and felt they were delaying the process. On the other hand, theGroup of Four (G-4) India, Brazil and Germany and Japan (with South Africa kept in the loop) have been trying to hasten the process of reforms. India tops Commonwealth countries in underweight children: report In a newreport, Commonwealth or Common Hunger, Save the Children, an NGO, claims that 64 per cent of the world s underweight children live in the 54 Commonwealth countries, and India has both the highest number and the highest proportion of underweight children. The 54 countries are home to a third of the world s children but two-thirds of the children under five are under-nourished. More than two-thirds of the children who are stunted (88.5 million or 68.6 per cent) and nearly half of those who are underweight (95 million or 48.7 per cent) live in just seven Commonwealth countries. With 43 per cent of India s children underweight and seven million under five severely malnourished, the possibility of the country shining in future sporting events like the Commonwealth Games appears bleak, said Save the Children CEO Thomas Chandy. The critical period, when malnutrition can have the most irrevocable impact, is during the first 33 months

from conception to a child s second birthday. After this period, it is much harder to reverse the effects of chronic malnutrition and the effects are life-long or life-threatening. In 2000, 198 countries including India committed themselves to halving hunger and malnutrition by 2015. India is one of the seven Commonwealth countries which are not showing adequate progress on what is the first Millennium Development Goal. In fact, India has achieved just 0.9 per cent progress, which is nowhere near achieving the target by 2015, says Mr. Chandy. Commonwealth Games comes to a colorful end With 38 golds, India took the second place in the medal table for the first time. Badminton ace Saina Nehwal clinched a crucial gold in women s singles as India edged past England. The Indian competitors breached the formidable hundred barrier, bagging 101 medals in all. Australia finished on top with 74 golds. They sang and danced well into the curtains came down on the 12-day Commonwealth Games that ended in an unprecedented medal haul and number two position for India in the medals tally. India eventually more than doubled its medals tally of the previous Games, in Melbourne, by taking 101 medals including 38 gold medals. The country had finished fourth in 2002 and 2006. Centre orders probe into CWG issues The Centre appointed a high-level committee headed by the former Comptroller and Auditor-General, V.K. Shungloo, to look into all aspects of organising and conducting the Commonwealth Games. According to the Prime Minister s Office, the committee will give its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in three months. The terms of reference will be announced shortly. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 82 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Adult HIV prevalence on the decline in the country: NACO report The estimated adult HIV prevalence in the country has declined from 0.45 per cent in 2002 to 0.29 per cent in 2008, the latest official data has shown. Similarly, the estimated number of people living with HIV also declined from 2.73 million to 2.27 million over the same period. However, there is a significant variation in the trends with the data showing that the HIV epidemic has stabilised in the four highprevalence States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In a report by the National AIDS Control Programme (NACO) on its Response to the HIV Epidemic in India, it was suggested that an overall decline in HIV prevalence among ante-natal care (ANC) clinic attendees had been noted at all-India level and in the high prevalence States of south and northeast. Barring Andhra Pradesh with a HIV prevalence of one per cent, all States had shown less than one per cent median among the ANC clinic attendees. Keep minister, MPs out of AIIMS governance: IIM Recommending major changes in the governance system to make the All India Institute of Medical Sciences a world-class institution, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has said there should be no political interference in the functioning and management of the AIIMS. It has also suggested opening up the AIIMS to international faculty. Ideally, the Union Health Minister should not be the chairperson of the AIIMS the highest decisionmaking body and president of the Governing Body, the IIM said in a presentation. The Ministry asked the IIM to draw up a governance plan to make the AIIMS more efficient and restore its glory. Too centralised: Describing decision-making at the AIIMS as too centralised, the IIM recommend that larger faculty teams be involved by including faculty representatives in the Institute Body as well as in faculty recruitment and selection. Three of them may be included in the Body, in the place of MPs, with a fixed three-year tenure. Mobile phone can be a livelihood tool: UNCTAD Mobile phones and other forms of communication technology can be used to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods in developing countries, says the latest United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report. Better access to information and better chances of communicating through information and communication technologies (ICTs) can help poor people raise their incomes significantly, says the UNCTAD Information Economy Report 2010 titled

ICTs, Enterprises and PovertyAlleviation . After Lancet s superbug blow, praise for India s rural doctors scheme The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry might still be awaiting formal clearance for its much debated Bachelor of Rural Health Care course that aims to create a cadre of healthcare workers for the rural areas, but the Centre has received global appreciation for trying to find an innovative solution to a deeply entrenched problem which is not unique to India. Currently, the shortage of doctors in rural India stems from the unwillingness of most doctors, who were born and trained in urban areas, to move to rural areas. The rural MBBS scheme aims to train people from rural areas in those rural areas, in the belief that they will stay, which offers some hope of providing medical care to large parts of rural India that currently lack it. TRAI curbs coming on unsolicited calls Harassed mobile subscribers may soon get muchneeded relief from unsolicited telemarketing calls and SMS as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to come out with a set of regulations to curb this menace. TRAI recently released a consultation paper on Review of Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications Regulations seeking views from various stakeholders on how to tackle the issue. Now it is formalising its recommendations, which will be sent to the government for further action. Though the Department of Telecommunications set up a National Do Not Call Registry in 2007 for subscribers to avoid unsolicited calls, it failed to produce the desired results. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 83 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 New Oxford centre for study ofAsian heritage Oxford University is to launch a new centre to study the archaeological and cultural heritage of Asia. It is claimed to be the only centre of its kind in Europe. The university said that although Asia had some of the world s richest archaeological and artistic forms of heritage, little was known or taught about this period in Britain. MSP for wheat, pulses up The Centre announced a modest hike of Rs. 20 per quintal in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat to be procured from farmers for the Targeted Public Distribution System. The hike in pulses, however, is substantial. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the Agriculture Ministry s proposal for raising the MSP of wheat to Rs. 1,120 per quintal for the 2010-11 rabi season from Rs 1,100 per quintal last year. The MSP of gram has been hiked to Rs. 2,100 from Rs. 1,760 per quintal, while the MSP of masur dal has been raised to Rs. 2,250 from Rs. 1,870 per quintal last year. Announcing the decisions, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the MSP of mustard/ rapeseed was hiked by Rs. 20 to Rs. 1,850 per quintal, while the MSP of sunflower was up to Rs. 1,800 per quintal from Rs. 1,680 per quintal last year. The MSP of barley was fixed at Rs. 780 per quintal against Rs. 750 per quintal last year. The hike in the MSP of pulses points to the government s efforts to raise the total production of pulses to at least 16.5 million tonnes from an average of 14.5 million tonnes. The country imports about 3 to 4 million tonnes of pulses annually to bridge the gap between demand and supply. The shortfall has already resulted in a sharp escalation in the price of pulses in the last two years. Higher support price for pulses in the kharif crop season this year resulted in a sharp increase in the cultivation of pulses with the seasonal production estimated to rise to 6 million tonnes this year as against an output of 4.3 million tonnes last year. Indian Statistical Institute celebrates first World Statistical Day Number crunchers at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) joined the world in celebrating the first World Statistics Day. A day that noted an interesting play of numbers on the calendar, with the date registered as20.10.2010. The decision to declare October 20 as World Statistics Day was taken by the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year. The ISI has been observing the birth anniversary of its founder, P. C.

Mahalanobis, which was declared as the National Statistics Day by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006. WHO questions methodology of Lancet study on malaria mortality Expressing serious doubts over the high estimates of 200,000 malaria deaths in India as reported in the latest edition of The Lancet, the World Health Organisation (WHO) questioned the methodology adopted by the authors of the study. The Lancet uses verbal autopsy method which is suitable only for diseases with distinctive symptoms and not for malaria. Malaria has symptoms similar to many other diseases, and cannot be correctly identified by the local population. The use of verbal autopsy for malaria may result in many false positives. In this method, deaths due to fever from any cause are likely to be misinterpreted as malaria in areas with high incidence. In areas with low malaria incidence, the symptoms are difficult to distinguish, and would result in overestimates of malaria deaths, a statement issued by the WHO. Malaria is endemic in many States of India. Maximum cases are reported from the North Eastern States, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and a few districts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Approximately 50 per cent of malaria cases reported in the country are due to Plasmodium Falciparum (a type of malaria which causes death), the statement said. Elephant declared a heritage animal The Center declared elephant a national heritage animal to step up measures for their protection. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 84 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs 10 years on, Iron Lady refuses to end her fast On November 2, Irom Sharmila will complete 10 years of her fast demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, in Manipur. The protest started on November 2, 2000. Upset at an encounter at Mallom, in which 10 innocent persons including a middle-aged woman were mowed down by 8 Assam Rifles personnel, Ms. Sharmila began her fast. Two days later, she was arrested on the charge of trying to commit suicide. The law allows authorities to detain her for one year in one-go. At the end of every year she is released. However, instead of going home, she continues fast, and the police to re-arrest her within 48 hours. Ms. Sharmila was honoured by South Korea with the country s highest human rights award. Recently she was given the Rabindranath Tagore award, carrying Rs. 51 lakh in cash and a citation. Despite appeals by many, she has refused to break her fast. The Manipur government withdrew the AFSPA from seven Assembly segments on August 12, 2004. However, this gesture failed to satisfy Ms. Sharmila. She says she will continue her fast until the Act is repealed completely in all areas. But the government feels that if the Act is repealed, rebels may feel emboldened. Gujjars, Bakerwals demand separate region in J&K Demanding a separate Pir Panchal region or area and a Tribal Hill Council in Jammu and Kashmir, the Gujjars and Bakerwals, both Scheduled Tribe communities in the State, urged for strong recommendations from the three-member team of interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir in their report to be submitted to Prime Minister of India for an irreversible provision along with constitutional guarantees to reserved categories while deciding the Kashmir issue. Narmada Bachao Andolan completes 25 years In the Narmada valley/The fight is still on thus sang the people of Bhadal in Madhya Pradesh, where Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar was heading a prayer meeting as part of the activities marking the completion of 25 years of the people s movement. (Locate In Atlas) 10,000 villages to get power from renewable energy sources Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah announced that 10,000 remote villages across the country would be electrified with renewable energy sources by March 2012 under an innovative initiative that will also generate employment. India drops to 87th rank in Integrity Index India has fallen three places to 87th in Transparency

International s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, in which 178 countries were surveyed. India s integrity score has fallen to 3.3 out of 10 in 2010 while it was 3.5 in 2007 and 3.4 in 2008 and 2009. Transparency International India chairman P.S. Bawa said the recent damaging revelations in the Commonwealth Games contracts seems to have increased the perception about corruption and caused the country to further drop in the CPI ranking. India s score of 3.3 places it slightly above its 91st ranked neighbor Sri Lanka, and below China which is ranked 78th with a score of 3.5. Among the countries that make up the bottom of the table are war-torn Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Myanmar, all of whom have scored between 1.1 and 1.5. The countries in the South Asian region have performed miserably with Bangladesh at 134, Pakistan at 143 and Nepal at 146. Bhutan is the sole exception, scoring a creditable 5.7 and ranked 36th in the world. Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore have the highest Integrity Index of 9.3.. India signs nuclear liability treaty India signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), thereby delivering on the last of its commitments stemming from the landmark 2005 nuclear agreement with the United States. The international covenant which provides a framework for channelling liability and providing speedy compensation in the event of a nuclear accident was signed at the International Atomic Energy Agency offices in Vienna by Dinkar Khullar, India s Ambassador to Austria. The IAEA is the depository of the CSC, which has so far been signed by 14 countries and ratified by four, including the U.S. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 85 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 The CSC will enter into force only when at least five countries with a minimum of 4,00,000 units of installed nuclear capacity ratify the treaty. Even if India ratifies it and Indian officials say this is unlikely to happen soon the CSC will not enter into force unless at least one or two countries with a large civilian nuclear programme also do so. With India signing the CSC and the Obama administration issuing the requisite Part 810 licensing certifications, the stage is now set for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. to begin fullfledged commercial negotiations with General Electric and Westinghouse for supply of two 1,000-MWe reactors. Three rounds of discussions have already been held, Indian officials say, but these have largely been exploratory in nature. India promised the U.S. in 2008 that it would sign the CSC, a treaty that requires signatories to pass a domestic liability law in conformity with a model text. Washington s aim was to ensure that its companies were legally exempted from any liability burden in the event of an accident occurring in an Americansupplied nuclear reactor. Though India passed its liability law the U.S. has objected to Sections 17(b) and 46 of the Act which open the door for legal action against nuclear suppliers if an accident is caused by faulty or defective equipment. Washington says these provisions violate the CSC, a charge New Delhi rejects. With GE and Westinghouse lobbyists up in arms, the U.S. side initially suggested that the Manmohan Singh government find a way to delete or negate the two offending sections. When the impossibility of this was pointed out, they suggested that NPCIL be asked contractually to accept the entire liability burden of its suppliers in the event of an accident. This suggestion has also been vetoed. Leaving aside the explosive political implications of a public sector company granting a free pass to an American supplier, legal advisers have pointed out that neither NPCIL nor the government can sign away the provisions for tortious and criminal liability that have been embedded in the new law. The CSC provides no forum for signatories to challenge each other s national laws. Article XVI allows for arbitration as well as adjudication by the International Court of Justice, in the event of a dispute. But the U.S. entered a reservation while ratifying the Convention in 2008 declaring that it does not consider itself bound by [these] dispute settlement procedures. When it eventually ratifies the treaty, India is likely to make a similar declaration. That would leave the Supreme Court of India as the only forum competent to rule on the compatibility of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act, 2010 with India s international obligations stemming from

its accession to the CSC. Protesters block NH 17 in Mangalore Traffic on the busy National Highway No. 17 came to a standstill for over five hours as members of various organisations marched from the Nanthoor junction to Talapady in protest against the pathetic condition of the road. (Locate In Atlas) GAIL to lay sub-sea pipeline GAIL (India) Limited, a government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, will lay sub-sea pipelines from the gas terminal of Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) at Vypeen in Kochi to National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Kayamkulam, for transportation of re-gasified LNG (liquefied natural gas). Out of the 120 km pipeline, 117 km will be offshore while 1.5 km each will be on-shore at Vypeen and also Kayamkulam. A feasibility study was conducted earlier by EIL, an engineering consultancy company, for the project to supply LNG by means of pipelines to be laid on the Kochi-Bangalore-Mangalore and Kochi-Kayamkulam routes. The PLL terminal is to be commissioned in the last quarter of the financial year 2011-12, according to the company. (Locate In Atlas) IIM-Kozhikode, IIT-Kanpur to partner with Yale The Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikhode entered into a partnership with the Yale University for academic leadership development programmes. Under the programme, vice-chancellors and deans will be introduced to best practices of institutional management in the United States. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 86 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Superbug study authors blame poor sanitation for bacteria After creating a huge controversy by claiming that foreign patients who were treated in India developed antibiotic resistance, authors of the superbug New Delhi metallo-B-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) bacteria study published in the United Kingdom-based medical journal The Lancet now say that poor sanitation and unregulated antibiotic use presented an immense challenge and should be of great concern to the Indian health authorities and the World Health Organisation. India to get its first AC double-decker train India s first air-conditioned double-decker train is expected to be launched on the Howrah-Dhanbad sector before the Diwali celebrations. While a few old double-decker coaches are still operational on the Mumbai-Surat route currently, the new coaches that are built with a crashworthy design will also have state-of-the-art facilities for passenger comfort. Developed at the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, eight double-decker coaches were recently brought to Howrah for conducting trial runs before the official flagging-off ceremony. The new coaches built according to Eurofoma design will accommodate 128 passengers each and can run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph due to the presence of air-springs in their under-carriages. Medha-led campaign exposed scam in 2008 The National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM) led by Medha Patkar exposed the Adarsh Housing Society scam in 2008 by filing complaints with the Defence Ministry and the Environment Department and the State government, say activists Simpreet Singh and Santosh Daundkar. On the basis of the NAPM s complaint, the Defence authorities initiated action and the Department of Environment issued a show cause notice to the Society. The NAPM activists applied for information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and filed a complaint on August 27, 2008 with the Department of Defence, the Maharashtra government, the Department of Environment, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). Acting on the complaint, the Ministry of Defence initiated an inquiry and ordered an investigation. The Department of Environment, Maharashtra, had served a show cause notice to the Adarsh Society. The scandal was related to the allotment of land at Colaba that was under the possession of the Army. After the Kargil War, a fewArmy personnel demanded the land for building flats to accommodate and reward the heroes of the Kargil operation and those who had laid down their lives for the protection of the motherland. They said the initial list of the Society members

comprised 40 members and included only Defence personnel. Now there are 103 members of which only 37 belonged to the Army and only three had any connection with the Kargil War. 9 Indian research institutes get TTI grant The Think Tank Initiative (TTI), a partnership of major donors, has awarded $21 million in grants to 16 independent policy research institutions in South Asia, nine of them from India. These includes : The Indian Institute of Dalit Studies; Public Affairs Centre; Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy; Institute of Rural Management; National Council of Applied Economic Research; Centre for Policy Research; Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability; and the Institute of Economic Growth and Centre for the Study of Developing Societies from India. The TTI is a multi-donor programme dedicated to strengthening independent policy research institutions in the developing world. Mayawati launches welfare scheme for the poor To empower the poorest of the poor, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati launched a new welfare scheme whose basic objective is to enable the beneficiaries to meet their daily needs. Named Uttar Pradesh Mukhya Mantri Mahamaya Garib Arthik Madad Yojana , The scheme was announced by the Chief Minister on her 54th birthday on January 15. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 87 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 About 31 lakh people belonging to Below Poverty Line families stood to benefit from the measure. Around 50 per cent of the beneficiaries will belong to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Under the scheme, the beneficiaries are entitled to a monthly financial assistance of Rs.300. Cyclone Jal likely to bring heavy rain The severe cyclonic storm Jal, which lay centred 500 km east southeast of Chennai, bring heavy rain in and around Chennai. Global meet on Crisis and Hegemonic Dilemmas World-renowned political and economic experts participate in a three-day conference on The Global Crisis and Hegemonic Dilemmas the India International Centre(New Delhi). India to hold higher education summit Taking forward deepening ties between India and the United States in the education sector, India announced the holding of a higher education summit next year. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his opening remarks during a joint press conference with the U.S. President Barack Obama. Manmohan to attend G-20 meet in Seoul Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for Seoul to attend the G-20 Summit that will review the global economic situation and the status of recovery. No loss to exchequer: DoT No guidelines were violated in the 2G spectrum allotment, and it was the government s conscious policy decision not to go in for auction as the aim was to increase tele-density rather than maximising revenue, the Department of Telecommunications informed the Supreme Court This was the DoT s response to the petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation seeking action on the basis of the draft audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) that the scam involving Communications Minister A. Raja caused the exchequer a loss of Rs.1,39,652 crore, and helped a few private persons and companies make a corresponding gain. The matter will come up before a Bench of Justices G. S. Singhvi and A. K. Ganguly for further hearing. The affidavit maintained that all decisions on the 2G spectrum allocation were taken as per the government policy that had been followed by Mr. Raja s predecessors since 1999, and no loss was caused to the exchequer. It said the decision not to auction the spectrum was taken on the basis of the 1999 National Telecom Policy, and the recommendations of the 10th and 11th Plans, and of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Since 2003, from the time of the National Democratic Alliance

government, the first-come-first-served policy was being followed in the spectrum allotment. Furthermore, the guidelines for the Unified Access Service licence regime, issued in November 2003, were also followed. Celebrating 60 years of ICCR To mark 60 years of its cultural diplomacy, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations hosted an international seminar on Indian Culture in a Globalised World at its Azad Bhavan premises. Inaugurating the seminar that also marked the 122nd birth anniversary of ICCR s founder Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Vice-President Hamid Ansari recalled that Jawaharlal Nehru had described the Maulana as an extraordinarily interesting companion at a time they were incarcerated in adjoining cells in a British jail. According to ICCR President Dr. Karan Singh, the seminar was conceptualised to trace the contemporary state of Indian culture in global society and explore what role this vibrant culture can play in this beautiful but conflict-ridden world to show it the way to peaceful co-existence. Niyamgiri tribals to step up stir Tribals living in and around the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa s Kalahandi district are up in arms once again. The Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, an organisation of tribals that has been opposing Vedanta s alumina refinery, said it would intensify the agitation. The announcement came a day after a group of pro-Vedanta organisations approached the Orissa High Court challenging a recent order of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests withdrawing the terms of reference for expansion of the capacity of the refinery from one million to six million tonnes per annum. (Locate In Atlas) Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 88 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Jammu and Kashmir out of U.N. list of disputes Jammu and Kashmir has been removed from the United Nations list of unresolved disputes, in a setback to Pakistan which has been asking the world body to intervene on the issue. CAG: role of TRAI, Telecom Commission undermined The Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG) of India report on the 2G spectrum allocation process clearly highlights how the role of two important government bodies the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Telecom Commission responsible for the growth of the telecom sector was undermined. Referring to the TRAI as a helpless spectator, the CAG report pointed out that the Telecom Commission (the decision-making body in the Department of Telecommunications), which could have helped in ascertaining the true value of 2G spectrum, was not properly consulted. Mamata opens work on eastern freight corridor Once completed, the eastern dedicated freight corridor will bring about an industrial revolution in West Bengal, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed at the inauguration of the work on the project. The 1,806-km eastern corridor will extend from Dankuni to Ludhiana and pass through several mining and industrial towns such as Asansol, Dhanbad, Sonnagar, Khurja and Saharanpur. It is being designed for a maximum train speed of 100 kmph. (Locate In Atlas) A quarter of total deaths from pneumonia among children occur in India: survey Pneumonia, which is the world s leading infectious killer among children, claims the lives of nearly 1.6 million children under five every year, with more than 3,70,000 or nearly one-quarter of deaths occurring in India alone. A Pneumonia Report Card released by the International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC), on behalf of the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia, evaluates prevention, protection and treatment efforts in India and in 14 other countries with the most child pneumonia deaths against the pneumonia intervention targets established in the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP) issued by the World Health Organisation and the United Nations International Children s Emergency Fund in 2009. India has the highest number of pneumonia-related deaths in the world. The 15 countries evaluated in the Report Card including Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda are responsible for nearly three-quarters of all pneumonia deaths. Children in these countries are anywhere from 17 to

400 times more likely to die of pneumonia than a child living in the United States. Cancel 69 licences of 6 operators: TRAI After the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) report on 2G spectrum allocation highlighted the nonfulfilment of rollout obligations by new telecom operators, the Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (TRAI) recommended cancellation of 69 licences of six operators, including five new ones, who were sitting on spectrum and failed to provide services in the circles allotted to them. The companies under the scanner are Etisalat DB (earlier Swan) that has failed to roll out services in 15 circles, Videocon Communications (earlier Datacom Solutions) in 10 circles, Uninor (Unitech Group) in 8 circles, Loop Telecom (earlier Shipping Stop Dot Com) in 20 circles, Sistema-Shyam in 11 circles andAircel in 5 circles. NCW favours law to control television programmes Concerned over blatant vulgarity on prime time television, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has demanded that the Prohibition of Indecent Representation of Women and Children Bill, 2008 the amended Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 be passed immediately to ensure monitoring of the content on the electronic media. The demand comes in the wake of public outrage over two reality shows Bigg Boss and Rakhi ka Insaf. The proposed Bill had a provision to set up a central authority to regulate and prohibit indecent representation of women, she noted. The scope of the proposed Bill would be extended to electronic media, Internet and also to SMS and MMS clips. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 89 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Ban on export of iron ore upheld The Karnataka High Court upheld the State Government s ban on transport and export of iron ore. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice S. Abdul Nazir passed orders upholding the Government Orders of July 26, 2010, and July 28, 2010, banning transport of iron ore and its export from ten ports. Thirty-two companies, including V.S. Lad and Sons, Kumaraswamy Minerals, Sesa Goa and others had challenged the two orders on the grounds that the State had no jurisdiction and authority to pass such orders. Karnataka produces iron ore fines and ores and accounts for around a quarter of India s exports of over 100 million tonnes a year. A large amount of iron ore exported from India is believed to land in China, which is the world s largest steel producer. India is reckoned to be the third largest exporter of iron ore in the world. Gowda: Probe should cover BMIC project also The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president, H.D. Deve Gowda, welcomed the decision of the Yeddyurappa government to begin a judicial probe, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, vis-vis land allotment since 1994 and wanted the Karnataka government to include the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project too in the terms of reference of the commission. Project to improve dams in State to be taken up in 2011-12 The World Bank-funded Rs.745-crore Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP), covering 104 dams in the State of Tamil nadu will be launched in the next financial year (2011-2012). Theyinclude Manimuthar, Nambiyar, Poygaiyar, Vadaku Pachaiyar, Kodaganar, Veedur, Gomukhi, Mordhana, Advinainainar, Kadamparai, Mukkurthi, Servalar, Avalanche and Glenmorgan, according to the two departments officials. Of the project cost of Rs.745.49 crore, 80 per cent will be contributed by the World Bank and the rest by the State government. Tamil Nadu accounts for the maximum number of dams (104). Madhya Pradesh comes next with 50 dams, followed by Orissa, 38, and Kerala, 31. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, dams under the control of the State power utilities are also covered. The total cost of the project in the four States is around Rs.2,100 crore, of which about one-third is earmarked for Tamil Nadu. The project will aim at assuring the full reservoir capacity of project dams, achieving effective utilisation of the stored water, and managing and monitoring the long-term performance of the dams. Manipur Cabinet to recommend extension of AFSPA

The Manipur Cabinet has decided to recommend to the Union government extension of the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in the State for a year with effect from December 1. Many sections have been demanding the repeal of the AFSPA, alleging that the State and the Central forces had been abusing the provisions of the Act to violate human rights. Irom Sharmila completed 10 years of fasting on November 2, demanding the same. As there is no indication that the Act would be repealed, she is continuing her fast unto death. Navi Mumbai airport gets the green signal After a year-long tussle between the Civil Aviation and Environment Ministries, the Navi Mumbai airport finally got the green signal. Children s Film Festival begins in Krishnagiri The six-day Children s Film Festival began at Krishnagiri. Krishnagiri District Collector V. Arun Roy inaugurated the festival at the Shanthi Theater in the town. Nitish tidal wave sweeps Bihar In the manner of a tidal wave sweeping aside anything and everything in its way, the ruling Janata Dal (United)Bharatiya Janata Party alliance smashed through the barriers of region, caste and gender to post the biggestever victory in an Assembly election in Bihar. The Opposition stood demolished; leader of the Opposition Rabri Devi lost both Raghopur and Sonepur seats. The JD (U) and the BJP together capturing four-fifths ofthe seats (206) in the 243-member House. The alliance fought the election on the twin issues of development and rule of law. The JD(U) won 115 of the 141 seats it contested, while the BJP made a near clean sweep, bagging 91 of the 102 seats it contested. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 90 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs The Rashtriya Janata Dal-Lok Jan Shakti Partyalliance finished a distant second with 25 seats (RJD 22; LJP 3), while the Congress brought up the rear with four seats, five less than its previous tally. Number portability launched Mobile Number Portability that will allow cell phone users to switch operators without changing numbers has been launched in Rohtak (HARYANA) Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal launched the service in Haryana. Dam rehabilitation work from January The Kerala government will implement the World Bank-funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) from January. The project, which aims at improving the safety and operational performance of selected structures, will cover dams, barrages and regulators, totalling 19, of the Irrigation Department and 12 projects of the Kerala State Electricity Board. The first phase of the project, covering the Malampuzha, Walayar, Peechi and Neyyar dams. The project has mainly two components comprehensive rehabilitation and improvement of dams and associated appurtenances and institutional strengthening for dam safety. The first will include hydrological assessments, preparation of asset management plans and emergency preparedness plans, development of an emergency warning system, public awareness campaigns and floodplain mapping. The second component aims at improving the effectiveness of the Irrigation Department and the electricity board in overseeing dam safety from the structural and operational point of view. Dam managers will be assisted with the development of appropriate skills and modern tools to operate and maintain dams adequately. (Locate In Atlas) Ujjwal Nikam to represent India at convention on terrorism in U.N. Criminal lawyer and special government counsel in the 26/11 attack case, Ujjwal Nikam, will represent India at a global convention on terrorism to be held at the United Nations in New York from December 1. Legal experts from as many as 25 countries, including Pakistan, will participate in the three-day conference, organised by the U.N. Security Council. Inquiry ordered into leakage of Radia tapes The Union government ordered an inquiry into how the recorded tapes of conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and various businessmen, politicians and journalists were leaked. Whilethe Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which had tapped the conversations, will conduct the inquiry, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been asked to submit a report to the government after finding out who leaked the conversations, how and to whom, sources in the Home Ministry said.

The CBDT and its subordinate departments like the Income-Tax Department had conducted phone tappings over a period of time for which the sanction was accorded by the Ministry. The order to probe the Radia tapes leakage came within hours of Tata group chief Ratan Tata approaching the Supreme Court, seeking action against those involved in the leak of tapes containing his conversation with Ms. Radia. Mr. Tata contended that the leakage had infringed upon his fundamental right to life, which includes right to privacy. The CBI has informed the court that Ms. Radia s role will be investigated as part of the inquiry into the 2G scam. Srinagar-Leh NH reopens afterclearing of snow The Srinagar-Leh National Highway, which was closed following heavy snowfall, was reopened to release vehicles stranded on either side of the Zojilla pass. (Locate In Atlas) WHO: strengthen health systems to ensure early detection of HIV/AIDS Although new HIV infections show a downward trend in countries of the World Health Organisation s SouthEast Asia Region, particularly India, Thailand, Nepal and Myanmar, HIV/AIDS is still a serious public health problem. Perhaps the most vulnerable group are children with HIV/AIDS, whose number has increased by 46 per cent between 2001 and 2009. Elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is possible by 2015 and WHO is committed to this goal. Globally, an estimated 33.3 million people live with the virus, and 2.6 million were newly infected in 2009. In theWHO South-EastAsia Region, 3.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, largely in India, Indonesia, WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 91 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand. In 2009, there were an estimated 2,20,000 new HIV infections in the region, and 2,30,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. The populations at highest risk of contracting HIV include female sex workers, homosexual men, transgender populations, and people who inject drugs. Issues of health care access, stigma and ignorance, and the imperative to prevent transmission of HIV to a new generation are central to the response to HIV/AIDS. Regionally, women constitute 37 per cent of the 3.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and without any intervention, about a third of infants born to HIV-positive mothers could acquire HIV. Gogoi orders probe into Hill Council fund irregularities Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that he has asked the Chief Secretary N.K. Das to inquire into release of Rs 272 crore in excess of the budget provisions of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council (erstwhile North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council) after a special audit by Principal Account General, Assam, revealed discrepancies in funds released by the State government and those received by the tribal council. Mr Gogoi said that he had asked the Chief Secretary to submit the report by December 15. If the probe reveals any financial irregularity or misappropriation then the State Government would refer the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation, he said. Manipur has highest HIV infection prevalence: NACO Even though the overall HIV infection prevalence rate has shown a 50 per cent decline during the past decade in India, among the States, Manipur continues to top the list with an adult prevalence of 1.40 per cent, followed by Andhra Pradesh (0.90 per cent), Mizoram (0.81 per cent) and Nagaland at (0.78 per cent). It is estimated that India had approximately 1.2 lakh new HIV infections in 2009 as against 2.7 lakh in 2000. While all high-prevalence States indicate a clear declining trend from 0.41 per cent in 2000 to 0.31 per cent in 2009, HIV has notably declined in Tamil Nadu, according to the latest figures released by the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO). The total number of people living with HIV infections in the country is close to 24 lakh, including 9.3 lakh women.However, low-prevalence States such as Chandigarh, Orissa, Kerala, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have shown rising trends in the past four years. In Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, the estimated adult HIV prevalence is greater than the national average of 0.31 per cent, while Delhi, Orissa, West Bengal,

Chhattisgarh and Puducherry have a prevalence rate ranging between 0.28 to 0.30 per cent. Of the 1.2 lakh-odd new infections in 2009, the six high-prevalence States account for only 39 per cent of the cases while Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat account for 41 per cent of new infections. Children account for 3.5 per cent of all infections while 83 per cent are in the age group of 15-49 years. Of all HIV infections, 39 per cent (9.3 lakh) is constituted by women. Andhra Pradesh has 5 lakh, Maharashtra, 4.2 lakh, Karnataka, 2.5 lakh and Tamil Nadu, 1.5 lakh people living with HIV infections. West Bengal, Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are to have more than one lakh infected people while Punjab, Orissa, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have between 50,0001,00,000 infections each. Now only six national parties in India With the Election Commission taking strong action against those parties not fulfilling the minimum eligibilitycriteria for getting recognition as national or State parties, the number of national parties in the country has come down to six from seven. The total number of State parties is 52 and registered unrecognised parties, 1112. Now, the six recognised national parties are the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI (M), the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Nationalist Congress Party. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which was earlier considered a national party, will henceforth be only a recognised State level party in Bihar, Jharkhand and Manipur. Its recognition in Nagaland has been withdrawn in view of its poor performance in the 2008 Assembly election there. For getting national party status, a political party should have recognition in at least four States. A State party is entitled to exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to its candidates in the States where it is recognised, and a candidate of a national Party can use the reserved symbol throughout India. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 92 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs Top musicians meet Manmohan Top classical musicians met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about government attention and priority to the promotion of the classical arts through various measures, initiatives and funding. Top musicians, including Hariprasad Churasia, Shivkumar Sharma, Birju Maharaj, Zakir Hussain, Sajan and Rajan Mishra, Arvind Parikh, Sudha Raghunathan, U. Srinivas, Ajoy Chakraborty, Ravikiran, T.N. Krishnan and Purvi Parikh, met the Prime Minister at his office in Parliament under the banner of the recently-formed All-India Musicians Group. Former Culture Secretary Ashok Vajpeyi was also present. The performers urged Dr. Singh to appoint a committee of experts to review the state of classical music education, suggest measures to promote the traditional guru-shishya parampara institutions in the country and to invite the corporate sector to promote the classical heritage of India. They also wanted the Ministry of Culture to create a national repository of Indian Classical Music and establish a National Museum of Indian Performing Arts. With the intention of familiarising young minds with the nation s cultural heritage, the artistes urged the government to strengthen education in music and fine arts in schools and higher educational institutions and include music in the school curriculum, build a cadre of music teachers and improve the lot of music teachers in the country. Pratibha s nod for probe into Prasar Bharati CEO case By giving her assent to a Supreme Court inquiry into allegations of financial irregularities by Prasar Bharati CEO B.S. Lalli, President Pratibha Patil has begun the long process to remove him from the post. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had initially forwarded the proposal, after the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) indicted Mr. Lalli of financial irregularities, favouring certain broadcast companies and breaching Parliamentary privilege, mostly in regard to Doordarshan s cricket telecast rights. As the framers of the Prasar Bharati Act had wan t ed t o en sure th e a ut onom y of the organisation, they made it very difficult to summarily remove the CEO or any other member of the Board. The Act says that Board members can only be removed from office by order of the President of In dia on t h e gr oun d of misbehaviour after the Supreme Court has conducted an inquiry, which must also be referenced to it by the President. The Act also allows the President to suspend the concerned member until he/she passes an order following the Supreme Court s inquiry.

Compulsory voting not feasible, says Quraishi Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said the Election Commission was not in favour of introducing compulsory voting. It is not desirable, it is not feasible. Democracy and compulsory voting do not go together, he said. In the the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, as many as 30 crore voters did not vote. If we fine them with even Re.1, we will have to file 30 crore cases, he said, pointing out that 2,57,928 cases were already pending in courts. Nation-wide consultations on complete reforms to electoral laws The Union Law Ministry and the Election Commission have proposed to organise nation-wide consultations with political parties, NGOs and other stakeholders on a proposal for making comprehensive reforms to electoral laws. The exercise will cover a slew of issues ranging from criminalisation of politics, funding of elections, to auditing and financing of political parties, adjudication of election petitions and review of the anti-defection law. A nine-member core committee, headed by Additional Solicitor-General Vivek K. Tankha, has prepared a background paper, which will form the basis of the discussions. Among other things, opinion is being sought on whether the electronic voting machine should have a button labelled none of the above to allow voters to register that they were not in favour of any of the candidates. The consultation would also cover issues such as whether a person should be restricted to contest from one seat, and whether, whenever a general election was due there should be a total ban on Central and State governments issuing advertisements in any manner for six months prior to the date of expiry of the term of the Lok Sabha. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 93 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Hyderabad to host www 2011 meet The conference, with the theme of Web for All, will witness the largest gathering of researchers from across the world with keynote addresses by speakers like Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world-wide web, on the future of web technologies. Scheduled in India for the first time, it is the fourth in an Asian city. It was to be held in India in 2008, but China bagged it. The conference is the latest in the series of international events that started with Geneva, the birthplace of the world-wide web in 1994. Peace accord on Karbi Anglong in sight; settlement formula worked out The insurgent United People s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) of central Assam s Karbi Anglong district, the Centre and the Assam government are inching towards inking a peace accord. The three sides are expected to freeze the settlement formula when the militant outfit holds the crucial next round of formal peace talks with Centre s interlocutor P.C. Haldar in Delhi. The frozen settlement formula will form the basis of the peace accord to be signed to pave the way for UPDS to lay down arms and return to the mainstream, to usher in permanent peace in the hill district. Some key points which they have agreed on are: the present Karbi Anglong district to be replaced with a new territorial entity to be known as Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territory (KAAT) under the amended provisions of Sixth Schedule. The proposed territory shall have three revenue and administrative districts East Karbi Anglong, Central Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong with headquarters at Koilamati, Singhason and Hamren respectively. The proposed territory will be governed by Karbi Anglong Territorial Authority (KATA). The KATA shall have 50 seats of which 45 will be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, five will be open, and five seats will be filled through nominations. The UPDS was formed in 1999 in a merger of the erstwhile Karbi People s Front (KPF) and Karbi National Volunteers (KNV) formed in 1994. The UPDS entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2002 and holding negotiations with the government since then. (Locate In Atlas) Follow Gujarats lead in fighting climate change The former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and the chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), R.K. Pachauri, recommended that climate change should become the centre of all developmental policies and actions, and advised other States to follow the lead given by Gujarat in this direction. Speaking at a function for the release of a book, Convenient Action: Gujarat s Response to Climate Change written by Chief Minister Narendra Modi,

which details the steps taken in Gujarat to meet the challenge, Mr. Kalam said the problem of climate change could not be viewed in isolation, and that India must immediately adopted long-term programmes like the Integrated Water Connections and Energy Independent Mission and focus on renewable sources of energy to achieve the goals in the next two decades. Mr. Kalam said he was inspired by Mr. Modi s beautiful book and Gujarat s programme on linking rivers, which helped rejuvenate the Sabarmati river and solve many of health and other problems in Ahmedabad. Mr. Kalam said he had always believed that Statewise linking of rivers was a must, and had given detailed proposals to States like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. He said this would not only solve perennial water problems, both for drinking and agricultural purposes, but also arrest the flooding of large areas every year and save over $500 million, which the government was forced to spend for short-term relief measures for the flood-affected. Mr. Modi who was acclaimed as only the second political leader in the world, after former U.S. VicePresident Al Gore, in writing a book on climate change said that Indian scriptures written thousands of years ago had mentioned possible climate change and had given solutions, but not many people had the intention to follow the same. He said his inspiration came from Mr. Gore s book An Inconvenient Truth, which highlighted the resistance that people usually develop for any inconveniences caused by the problems arising out of climate change. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 94 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs West Bengal announces 17 % quota for OBC students The West Bengal government has decided to reserve 17 per cent seats in all government and governmentaided colleges for students belonging to the other backward classes (OBCs), with effect from the coming academic session. India to have its own design standard soon India will soon have its own design standard, IMark , which will certify that the stamped products have been designed using ethical practices and conform to environmental norms. Announcing this at a two-day design summit organised in the Capital, National Institute of Design director Pradyumna Vyas said the new design standard will be launched in March next year. Rajasthan Gujjars should also get ST status Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir have thrown their weight behind the Rajasthan Gujjars in their ongoing struggle for grant of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. In an appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi through the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, the J&K Gujjars wanted the Rajasthan Gujjars treated on a par with them and those in Himachal Pradesh. ST status was given to the J&K and Himachal Gujjars more than two decades ago, the foundation pointed out. 17,368 farm suicides in 2009 At least 17,368 Indian farmers killed themselves in 2009, the worst figure for farm suicides in six years, according to data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This is an increase of 1,172 over the 2008 count of 16,196. It brings the total farm suicides since 1997 to 2,16,500. The share of the Big 5 States, or suicide belt Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in 2009 remained very high at 10,765, or around 62 per cent of the total, though falling nearly five percentage points from 2008. Maharashtra remained the worst State for farm suicides for the tenth successive year, reporting 2,872. Though that is a fall of 930, it is still 590 more than in Karnataka, second worst, which logged 2,282 farm suicides. Navratna varsities in the offing The Centre is working on the concept of having Navratna universities, on the lines of the famous Ivy League varsities, to meet the challenge of making higher education developmental, environmentally sound, and all-inclusive, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said Mr. Sibal said the government was also planning to set up 14 Innovation Universities. The unique institutions would set benchmarks in academics and research comparable to the best in the world with regard to problems of hunger, water, poverty and diseases through cutting-edge science and

technology. At the same time, there would be emphasis on arts and social sciences. Manmohan stresses value-based application of science Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cautioned the nation against tendencies of putting the products of science to illiberal uses. Inaugurating the 98th Indian Science Congress at Kattankulathur, Dr. Singh pointed out that science had made strides even in societies that were neither modern nor liberal, and the products of science had been put to illiberal uses. Dr. Singh presented awards of the Indian Science CongressAssociation (ISCA) to 26 persons, including five Nobel laureates Martin Chalfie, R. Timothy Hunt, Thomas Steitz, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, and Ada E. Yonath. Thousands flee troubled Assam-Meghalaya border One person was killed when the police opened fire on a mob of arsonists in Goalpara district of lower Assam. There were also reports of exodus of over 10,000 Rabha people from Meghalaya s East Garo Hills district in the wake of escalation of violence in ethnic clashes between the Rabha and Garo communities in Mendipathar area on the Assam-Meghalaya border. WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 95 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011 Reddys mining illegal, cancel 3 leases: court panel The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee has declared illegal the mining done by the Reddy brothers through three leases in Obulapuram mines in the Bellary reserved forest area, and recommended that the licences be cancelled and exemplary cost recovered from them. In November last, the Forest Bench asked the Committee to examine whether mining was going on in the forest area of the Bellary region in Anantapur district, comprising the border areas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and if so, what action should be taken to stop it. Senior counsel Harish Salve presented the report to the Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and K.S. Radhakrishnan. It granted the Reddy brothers and others two weeks to file their response. The Committee said that besides the three leases of the Reddy brothers, the licence of Anantapur Mining Corporation (AMC) should be cancelled as its renewal was granted almost 17 years after it had expired. Political News & Reports WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 96 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::

http://upscportal.com/civilservices/current-affairs ORDER BOOKS ONLINE: http://upscportal.com/civilservices/order books WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM 347 http://www.flipkart.com/books/9381362082?affid=kalinjargm ::: BUY THIS BOOK ONLINE :::