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Daily Gist : 25th May
1. JOHN NASH IS NO MORE
2. India set to become water scarce by 2025: report
3. China sets up Silk Road gold fund
4. Russia’s new law draws U.S. ire
1.LAC differences may stall India-China CBMs
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The China-India track on a possible new round of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) is expected to see a contest between New Delhi’s insistence on the clarification of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and Beijing’s focus on the elaboration of a “code of conduct” among border troops.
“It was formally documented in the Peace and Tranquility accord that was signed in 1993 in the backdrop of friction such as the one caused during the Wandung incident of 1986 in Arunachal Pradesh. Neither side wanted a repeat of such an eventuality,”
India’s reassertion on LAC clarification follows observations by Huang Xilian, a senior official in the Asia department of the Chinese foreign ministry.
In an interaction with a visiting Indian delegation on Wednesday, Mr. Huang had signalled China’s preference of deepening the code of conduct regime between the two countries over the LAC clarification process.
2.WAWRINKA[Switzerland] WINS FRENCH OPEN
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Stan Wawrinka stunned Novak Djokovic[SERBIA] 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 to win the French Open. The eighth seed has two Grand Slam titles after winning the Australian Open last year.
3.Teesta deal figures in joint statement
One of the key contentious issues between India and Bangladesh — the sharing of Teesta river waters — finally made it to the joint statement, reaffirming India’s commitment to settle the issue “as soon as possible.”
According to the statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi “conveyed that deliberations are under way involving all stakeholders with regard to conclusion of the Interim Agreements” on at least two rivers, Teesta and Feni. While it was not very different from what was said in the joint statement in 2011, there was one critical difference. In 2015, the Chief Minister of West Bengal visited Bangladesh and participated in key meetings. Later in the evening, Mr. Modi said he would “make it [Teesta deal] happen.” “We should not lose hope ever about this deal,” he added.
India, however, addressed another long-standing demand of its neighbour — to stop the construction of the Tipaimukh Hydro-Electric Power Project on the Barak river on the eastern edge of Bangladesh.
Tipaimukh project
“Prime Minister Modi also conveyed that the Tipaimukh project is not likely to be taken forward in its present form due to statutory requirements on the Indian side, and that India would not take any unilateral decision that may adversely impact Bangladesh,” the statement said. Besides, the statement reiterated India’s earlier position of not initiating “any unilateral decision on the Himalayan component of their river-interlinking project which may affect Bangladesh.”
The two countries signed and exchanged 22 instruments, including four agreements, three protocols, 14 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) and one letter of consent on a range of issues.
More power supply
A few topics were elaborately treated in these instruments. Firstly, much stress was laid on augmenting power generation and supply. The Palatna project will be operational and 100 MW power will go to Bangladesh, while overall supply will be augmented from 500 to 1,000 MW. “Both sides welcomed the consensus to evacuate power from the north-eastern region of India (Rangia/Rowta) to Muzaffarnagar of India through Bangladesh,” the statement said.
Both sides also claimed to have made substantial advance in connectivity. India will get access to its north-eastern States through Bangladesh, while Bangladesh will have access to Nepal and Bhutan. Moreover, the Bangladesh shipping industry will substantially gain from an agreement on waterways connectivity.
India has also agreed to “remove all barriers to ensure unfettered bilateral trade (to)…narrow the trade imbalance.”
The Bangladesh Television will enter into an agreement to allow BTV in the Prasar Bharati’s DTH platform.
The Indian proposal on opening Special Economic Zones (SEZs) was appreciated by Bangladesh, while both Prime Ministers “expressed satisfaction” at the proper utilisation of the $800-million credit line provided to Bangladesh in 2011. India will now provide a second credit line of $2 billion to the neighbouring country.
Visa office
The agreements have addressed another contentious issue — the demand and supply gap in visas. “Prime Minister Hasina appreciated the concurrence of the government of India to the opening of a Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh in Guwahati as well as the upgrading the Bangladesh Visa Office in Agartala to an Assistant High Commission. Mr. Modi appreciated Bangladesh’s nod for opening of India’s Assistant High Commissions in Khulna and Sylhet,” the statement said.
Both the Prime Ministers underscored the need to preserve the “memory and legacy” of the 1971 liberation war. With the ratification of Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), both sides agreed that this was the most constructive and fruitful phase of cooperation between the two countries in recent times.
4.BSF may take over security along India-Myanmar border
The back-to-back attacks on security forces in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh in the past week have prompted the Union government to reconsider the Union Home Ministry’s long-standing demand for handing over the India-Myanmar border to the Border Security Force, Ministry sources said here on Sunday.
Khaplang Pangmi, chairman of the Myanmar-based NSCN(K); Kughalu Molatonu, general secretary; Alezo Chakesang from Nagaland, information secretary; and other senior members of group and its affiliate organisations have been named in the first information report filed by the National Investigation Agency in the Manipur case.
5.G7 summit opens with tough line on Ukraine
The leaders of Germany and the United States hammered home a tough line on Russia on Sunday at the start of a G7 summit dominated by crises in Ukraine and Greece.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel kicked off the day by treating U.S. President Barack Obama to some traditional Bavarian beer garden hospitality, with frothy ale, pretzels and oompah brass music played by locals in lederhosen.
But after the smiles in the sunshine, both leaders issued a stark warning to President Vladimir Putin over what Mr. Obama said was his “aggression” in Ukraine.
The Greek crisis threatened to overshadow the G7 summit, which Ms. Merkel has hoped to focus on other pressing global issues — from climate change and Islamist extremism to women’s rights, public health initiatives and the fight against poverty.
21-07-15
1.National policy to counter IS threat planned
A senior government official told The Hindu that to devise a strategy to counter the Islamic State threat, “we have decided to come up with a new national policy.”
“To begin with, we will bring all the stakeholders concerned to a common table and share the various strategies that can be adopted,” according to the official.
Since the recruitment by the militant outfit is done online, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in June this year gave the go-ahead for the creation of a revamped “cyber security architecture” within the Intelligence Bureau comprising 500 officials.
The need for a specialised wing was realised following the growing threat of radicalisation of youth through cyber means.
2. India facing over 17 cases of international arbitration
India’s move to insert safeguards against offshore litigation follows the initiation of more than 17 cases of international arbitration against it by global companies including Vodafone and Deutsche Telecom under bilateral investment agreements with various countries.
Many of these offshore arbitrations allege tax terrorism by Indian authorities for the retrospective tax notices against several global companies, while some were triggered by the SC’s cancellation of the 2G licences.
“India is unlikely to reverse any policy affecting investments made by foreign investors on Indian soil…We don’t normally roll back say foreign direct investment caps in any sector…however, if something necessitates rollbacks then the BIPPAs (bilateral investment protection and promotion agreements) will protect the government against offshore arbitration…there will also be protection against allegations of tax terrorism,” a top official told The Hindu .
The U.S. is keen to sign the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) to provide comfort to American companies that they will not be treated unfairly in India. India sees it as another way of making itself a more attractive destination to foreign investors.
The commercial and strategic dialogue will be held on September 21-22 in Washington, just days before Mr. Modi lands in the U.S. to attend the UNGA. In particular, in the talks held on Friday, the two sides looked at similar agreements India has already concluded. While the U.S. preferred a model BIT close to the India-Japan CEPA, Indian officials pushed for something closer to the Canadian investment treaty. “The final model BIT could be somewhere between those two,” one official source said.
“India is unlikely to reverse any policy affecting investments made by foreign investors here”
3.Modi to visit Ireland, Turkey
After clocking 16 countries between March and July this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set for the next international tour that will include Ireland, Turkey and the United States, where he will attend the Annual General Assembly meeting of the United Nations in New York in September.
There could also be a possible stopover in Frankfurt on his way back from the U.S.
The Prime Minister will also travel to the U.K. in November and dates are being finalised for his visit to Russia for an Inter-Governmental Commission meeting.
Mr. Modi, who has earlier travelled to Astrakhan as Gujarat Chief Minister in 2006, is keen that the meeting should be held in the Caspian city. The Astrakhan visit could be towards the end of November or early December.
Astrakhan is an important destination as it is part of the North South Transport Corridor, which is being fast-tracked. The North South Corridor will allow India better connectivity to Russia, bringing down freight rates.
Astrakhan is a city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on two banks of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of 28 meters below sea level.
4.Navy aligns indigenisation plan with ‘Make in India’
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The Navy has unveiled a 15-year plan to achieve full indigenisation in all phases of warship construction, from ship-building to systems to weapons, and aligned it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India.” The Navy wants to involve private industry in a big way in this initiative.
The Indian Naval Indigenisation Plan 2015-2030 is aimed at enabling the development of equipment and systems through the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian industry over a 15-year period, the Navy said in a statement.
A warship can be broadly divided into three segments — float, move and fight. The Navy has achieved 90 per cent indigenisation in the float category, while the move (propulsion) and fight (weapons) components stand at 60 and 30 per cent respectively, which are priority areas to be addressed.
Among platforms, a major area of concern is helicopters. “This is one area where there is a huge opportunity for indigenisation of our future naval aviation assets,” Navy Chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan said last week.
The Navy issued its first 15-year indigenisation plan in 2003 and then revised it in 2008. The current revision was done to dovetail it with the ‘Make in India’ pitch. The Navy has individual plans for capacity augmentation — the Indian Maritime Capability Perspective Plan for fleet augmentation, Maritime Infrastructure Augmentation Plan and the Maritime Cooperation Roadmap all of which are from 2012 to 2027.
The plan’s objective is to have a 200-ship navy by 2027 as was recently stated by Vice Chief of Navy Vice Admiral P. Murugesan.
5.Stephen Hawking launches biggest-ever search for alien life
British cosmologist Steven Hawking on Monday launched the biggest-ever search for intelligent life in the universe in a 10-year, $100-million (143-million-euro) project to scan the heavens.
“In an infinite universe, there must be other occurrences of life. Somewhere in the cosmos, perhaps, intelligent life may be watching,” Hawking said at the launch event at the Royal Society science academy in London.
“Either way, there is no bigger question. It’s time to commit to finding the answer, to search for life beyond Earth. We must know.”
The project will use some of the biggest telescopes on Earth, searching far deeper into the universe than before for radio spectrum and laser signals.
5.U.N. endorses Iran nuclear agreement
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution that endorses the historic deal on Iran’s nuclear programme and clears a path for international sanctions crippling its economy to be lifted.
Representatives of all 15 countries on the council voted by raising their hands.
6.Greek banks reopen, taxes rise
Three-week shutdown had cost the economy €3 billion
Greece’s government hiked taxes and began paying billions of dollars to its creditors on Monday, as banks reopened following a three-week shutdown imposed to prevent a disastrous run on cash machines.
Greeks woke up to widespread tax rises — on everything from sugar and cocoa to condoms, taxis and funerals — as part of a tough reform package agreed last week in exchange for a three-year bailout of up to €86 billion that the government hopes will stop it from crashing out of the Eurozone. The nation’s banks were thronging with customers after a shutdown estimated to have cost the crisis-hit economy €3 billion.
Limited bank services
The banks were ordered to close on June 29 after anxious citizens emptied cash machines in a dramatic escalation of the country’s debt crisis.
Banks are continuing to offer only limited services — with a ban on most transfers to foreign banks among the capital control measures that are still in place — but a daily cash withdrawal limit of €60 ($65) has been relaxed.
The European Union meanwhile confirmed that it had paid out a €7.16 billion emergency loan to Greece so it can meet debts of €4.2 billion due to the European Central Bank (ECB) on Monday as well as outstanding sums owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A source close to the Greek finance ministry told AFP the payment had begun.
Taxes have gone up from 13 per cent to 23 per cent on a wide range of goods and services, although the tax on medicines, books and newspapers eased from 6.5 per cent to 6.0 per cent. — AFP
7.“Africa’s Pinochet” goes on trial
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Chadian dictator Hissene Habre (in picture from AFP) went on trial on Monday in Senegal, a quarter of a century after his blood-soaked reign came to an end, in a trial seen as a test case for African justice.
Once dubbed “Africa’s Pinochet”, the 72-year-old has been in custody in Senegal since his arrest in June 2013 at the home he shared in an affluent Dakar suburb with his wife and children. Habre — backed during his presidency by France and the United States as a bulwark against Libya’s Muammar Qadhafi — is on trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture in Chad from 1982 to 1990. — AFP
8.Investment protection pact in the offing
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will seek the Union Cabinet’s approval for a model investment protection agreement that will enable India to safeguard against offshore arbitration and international litigation from global companies and also resume talks with the U.S. on a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
One of the reasons talks between the two countries have been on hold since February 2014 is India’s move to get ready the model agreement that will guide all bilateral negotiations.
Diplomatic sources concede that there are still many serious differences over the BIT, mainly on arbitration and IPR, but the two sides made headway when Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal visited Delhi last Friday.
Once the BIT negotiations start up, diplomatic sources believe they could take up to six months to finalise, and up to about two years to ratify.
‘Symbolic value’
“Even so, it will have huge symbolic value for the relationship if we are able to announce something in the next meeting between the U.S. President and PM Modi,” the sources told The Hindu pointing to the aim of taking trade from $100 billion to $500 billion.
1.Cyber surveillance to keep an eye on IS
An application which will also help the city police to keep a 24/7 tab on hate campaign on social networking sites is being developed
Alerted by attempts of terror group Islamic State (IS) to recruit members online, the city police are unveiling plans to create their own cyber surveillance system to keep an eye on such moves.
An application that can identify online hate campaign patterns or websites that try to lure people towards terror outfits such as IS, is being developed by Hyderabad police with the help of IT experts. Using this application, policemen trained in cyber security systems would monitor online round-the-clock, looking out for hate campaign organisers or terror outfits attempting to recruit operatives using websites.
City police top brass realised that online circulation of objectionable pictures and content has potential to create law and order problems. “Circulation of some photos through social networking sites triggered communal violence in Sangareddy of Medak a few years ago. Similar incidents, though of less intensity, were reported in city as well,” said a police officer.
Some youngsters from city who were trying to cross border to join IS were caught at West Bengal and were let off after counselling. “They were lured to IS through online communication, mainly through social websites and emails,” the officer explained.
The city police had purchased high-end computers and servers along with training some policemen on the techniques of online surveillance.
2.New Development Bank of BRICS opens in Shanghai
The Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping has formally opened the New Development Bank (NDB) as a dedicated channel of alternate finance, which will focus on emerging economies and the Global South.
Top officials of the new bank, which opened on Tuesday in Shanghai, stressed that the NDB would not rival but complement the western backed International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, born out of the Bretton Woods Conference of the forties. However, the emergence of the NDB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) — a China-led initiative to fund infrastructure in Asia — was hastened by the reluctance by the West, especially the United States, since 2010, to grant emerging economies a greater say within the IMF.
The IMF reforms “would have shifted more power to developing and emerging market economies; however, these reforms have since stalled as a result of the US Congress’ failure to ratify the implementing legislation domestically,” notes an article in the Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.
Rejecting the possibility of a rivalry between the two newly established banks, NDB’s first President Kundapur Vaman Kamath stressed that after a meeting in Beijing with the AIIB, the NDB had decided to establish a “hotline” with the AIIB to forge closer ties between “new institutions coming together with a completely different approach”.
3.‘India, Japan and U.S. can shape China’s peaceful rise’
Coordination among India, Japan and the U.S. on security cooperation and economic ties are essential because they can fundamentally talk about how they can “shape China’s rise in a peaceful way”, said Nicholas Szechenyi, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow – Japan Chair at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
“India has unique interests with China, as does Japan and as does the U.S. They may not always align completely, but fundamentally if we are going to encourage China’s rise in a way that favours regional stability, I think this element of regional coordination among likeminded states is critical. Therefore India, Japan and U.S. have an important role to play,” Mr. Szechenyi told The Hindu on Tuesday.
The Japanese Cabinet on Tuesday approved a defence white paper for 2015 which sounded alarm over China’s “one sided maritime activities” in the South China Sea. China’s land reclamation in South China Sea has increased tensions in the resource rich region which is contested by several nations.
On the Japanese white paper and their reinterpretation of the constitution, Mr. Szechenyi said the “collective self-defence” by Japan was defensive in posture meant to deter an aggression. On India’s role, Mr. Szechenyi pointed that Japan is set to join India and the U.S. in the Malabar maritime exercises in the Bay of Bengal and it is a sign of increased engagement and good way to “express shared interests”.
4.BRICS bank to bolster Asian infrastructure funding
Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who along with economist Nicholas Stern conceptualised the formation of a BRICS-led New Development Bank, which opened in Shanghai on Tuesday has said the NDB is “going to try to be a 21st century institution.”
In an interview with the website Democracy Now , Mr Stiglitz observed: “The other institutions have been trying to adapt from the 20th century — 1944 was when they were founded — but, you know, it’s difficult to move these big institutions, particularly difficult.” The NDB planned to issue its first loans in April next year, Mr. K. V. Kamath, a former head of ICICI Bank and first President of the NDB, announced earlier this month. China will pitch in $41 billion to the NDB — the highest within the BRICS group. Consequently, it will have a 39.5 per cent share of voting rights. Brazil, India and Russia will each pump in $18 billion, while South Africa’s contribution would stand at $ 5 billion. The bank is expected to start operations at the end of this year or early in 2016. The NDB will have an initial capital of US$50 billion, which will be raised to US$100 billion within two years.
At a seminar following the opening ceremony, Lou Jiwei, China’s finance minister said that the NDB will supplement the existing international financial system, and explore innovations in governance models.
Separately in a statement, Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, pointed out that “the New Development Bank joins a growing number of multilateral institutions - including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) - that are working to address the world's huge infrastructure needs. Emerging markets and low-income countries face an annual gap of 1 trillion to 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars in infrastructure spending.” The AIIB and the complementary $ 40 billion Silk Road Fund are expected to fund some of projects along Beijing-proposed Belt and Road initiative, aimed at the integration of Eurasian economies.
The first chair of the board of governors will be from Russia, the first chair of the directors from Brazil, and Mr. Kamath is the first president from India. The bank was formally set up at a meeting in Russia on July 7 this year
5.New Development Bank of BRICS opens in Shanghai
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The Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping has formally opened the New Development Bank (NDB) as a dedicated channel of alternate finance, which will focus on emerging economies and the Global South.
Top officials of the new bank, which opened on Tuesday in Shanghai, stressed that the NDB would not rival but complement the western backed International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, born out of the Bretton Woods Conference of the forties. However, the emergence of the NDB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) — a China-led initiative to fund infrastructure in Asia — was hastened by the reluctance by the West, especially the United States, since 2010, to grant emerging economies a greater say within the IMF.
The IMF reforms “would have shifted more power to developing and emerging market economies; however, these reforms have since stalled as a result of the US Congress’ failure to ratify the implementing legislation domestically,” notes an article in the Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.
Hotline for closer ties
Rejecting the possibility of a rivalry between the two newly established banks, NDB’s first President Kundapur Vaman Kamath stressed that after a meeting in Beijing with the AIIB, the NDB had decided to establish a “hotline” with the AIIB to forge closer ties between “new institutions coming together with a completely different approach”.
The AIIB and the complementary $ 40 billion Silk Road Fund are expected to fund some of projects along Beijing-proposed Belt and Road initiative, aimed at the integration of Eurasian economies. Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who along with economist Nicholas Stern conceptualised the formation of a BRICS-led bank, has said the NDB is “going to try to be a 21st century institution”. In an interview with the website Democracy Now, Mr Stiglitz observed: “The other institutions have been trying to adapt from the 20th century — 1944 was when they were founded — but, you know, it’s difficult to move these big institutions, particularly difficult.”
The NDB will have an initial capital of US$50 billion, which will be raised to US$100 billion within two years.
The NDB planned to issue its first loans in April next year, Mr. Kamath, a former head of ICICI Bank had announced earlier this month. China will pitch in $41 billion to the NDB — the highest within the BRICS group. Consequently, it will have a 39.5 per cent share of voting rights. Brazil, India and Russia will each pump in $18 billion, while South Africa’s contribution would stand at $ 5 billion. The bank is expected to start operations at the end of this year or early in 2016.
At a seminar following the opening ceremony, Lou Jiwei, China’s finance minister said that the NDB will supplement the existing international financial system, and explore innovations in governance models.
Separately in a statement, Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, pointed out that “the New Development Bank joins a growing number of multilateral institutions - including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) - that are working to address the world's huge infrastructure needs.”
6.N. Korea says no to Iran-like deal
North Korea said on Tuesday it had no interest in following Iran down the path of nuclear dialogue, insisting it was already a nuclear weapons state and therefore beyond any logical comparison with Tehran.
One week after the historic deal that cleared a path to lift sanctions crippling Iran’s economy in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme, Pyongyang rejected any suggestion that it might follow suit.
North Korea “is not interested at all in the dialogue to discuss the issue of making it freeze or dismantle its nukes unilaterally,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.
“It is illogical to compare Iran’s nuclear agreement with the situation of (North Korea) which is exposed to constant provocative military hostile acts and the biggest nuclear threat of the U.S.,” the spokesman told the North’s official KCNA news agency.
Both Tehran and Pyongyang, allies since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, have been subjected to tough economic sanctions over their controversial nuclear programmes.
The deal reached with Iran was touted by some as a possible blueprint for eventual negotiations with North Korea, with U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman saying she hoped it would give Pyongyang “second thoughts” about the nuclear path it was pursuing.
But the North’s foreign ministry spokesman said the two situations were “quite different“.
North Korea “is a nuclear weapons state both in name and reality and it has interests as a nuclear weapons state,” he said.
North Korea has staged three successful nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
The six-nation talks to curb its nuclear ambitions-- involving both Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan --have been in limbo since Pyongyang stormed out in 2009. — AFP
23-07-15
1.Spotlight on Indian American’s book
A documentary based on Pulitzer Prize winner and Indian American doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book on cancer “ EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES “ has been nominated for an Emmy Award.
2.Rural electrification scheme to be launched on Saturday
Ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the government’s flagship Deendayal Upadhyaya Rural Electrification Programme on July 25 in Patna, Minister for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.
“The Prime Minister will launch the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) on July 25 in Patna. It is a national scheme and is open for all the States,” the Minister told reporters here.
The Rs. 43,033-crore rural electrification scheme, which will replace the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), was approved by the Cabinet last November.
Government to replace all incandescent bulbs in the country with LED lights in next three years
3.India protested U.S. sales: Sushma
India has “conveyed concerns” to the U.S. over its approval of military sales including attack helicopters and Hellfire missiles worth nearly a billion dollars to Pakistan, the government said on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question in Parliament, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India had “noted” the State Department’s decision to go ahead with the defence sales, which were announced in April this year. The sales included 15 AH-1Z attack helicopters, 1,000 Hellfire missiles, engines, targeting and positioning systems and other equipment worth $952 million.
“The government has consistently conveyed to the U.S. that it must take into account India-U.S. relations and the impact on India’s security in deciding its military assistance to Pakistan,” Ms. Swaraj said.
MEA sources told The Hindu that the concerns had been conveyed at “various levels, both to the State Department and to the White House”, without disclosing exact dates, or what the U.S. response was.
The government’s statement is the first time that India has articulated its objections over sales to Pakistan quite so clearly. The decision to arm Pakistan was particularly upsetting as President Obama had announced an accompanying aid outlay of $1 billion for the year, as well as a six-fold increase in FMF or Foreign Military Financing to $265 million within days of visiting India in January this year.
‘Not for offensive capabilities’
To questions about the announcement of the added military sales, State Department spokesperson Marie Harf had said they were not meant for offensive capabilities. “They are for internal counter-terrorism uses inside Pakistan — so to be very clear about that, going after terrorists inside their own country,” Ms. Harf said on April 8 this year. A recent Congressional report has also disclosed that the U.S. has given military hardware, including F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan amounting to $5.4 billion since the 9/11 terror attacks.
In her statement, Ms. Swaraj said the government “keeps a constant watch on all developments that have a bearing on national interest and takes necessary steps to safeguard it.”
India also took up China’s announcement of a $46 billion package for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, that included funding development projects in Pakistan occupied Kashmir when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing in May, and Ms. Swaraj had raised concerns over the Russian offer of Mi-35 helicopters to Pakistan when she met Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin in 2014.
The Pakistan government has criticised India for expressing such concerns in the past.
The hardware includes 15 AH-1Z attack helicopters, 1,000 Hellfire missiles, targeting & positioning systems
4.Mandarin lessons for ITBP
Taking forward its intention to avoid any skirmish at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) is not only making its men well-versed in Mandarin, but also giving them lessons in the Tibetan language.
For the first time, a Chinese Language Cell has been created at the ITBP Academy in Mussoorie to teach Mandarin.
5.‘N-power output set to register huge increase’
Nuclear power generation in India which is currently at 5,780 MW from 21 operational reactors is expected to increase to 10,080 MW on progressive completion of projects under commissioning/ construction by 2019, the government informed Parliament.
A capacity of 1,000 MW has already been added with the start of commercial operation of Unit-1 at Kudankulam in December 2014. In addition, one Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor of 500 MW capacity at Kalpakkam is in advanced stage of commissioning while approvals have been accorded for several other projects.
To facilitate import of reactors from foreign countries, an Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) of Rs 1500 crore was launched on June 12, 2015 by General Insurance Corporation of India to provide insurance cover to the liability as prescribed under Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010.
6.Panel rejects demand for lowering Centre’s say
The Congress in its dissent note to the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill opposed the plan to allow the States to levy 1 per cent additional manufacturing tax.
The AIADMK’s note said the GST Council, as a constitutional body, “impinged” on the legislative sovereignty of both Parliament and the State legislature and would jeopardise the autonomy of the States in fiscal matters.
Significantly, the committee rejected the Opposition’s demand for lowering the Centre’s say in the GST Council. It recommended that the representation in this decision-making body be retained at the proposed level of one-third of the total for the Centre and two-thirds for the States.
“Accepting the Congress’s demand for reducing the Centre’s representation to one-fourth opens up the possibility of the States always overruling the Centre, and it would cease to have a say on the GST,” a top government source told The Hindu .
On the States’ demand for the levy of one per cent additional tax over and above the GST on inter-State supply of goods, the committee recommended an amendment. As the proposed levy was likely to have a cascading effect on taxes, it should be on “all forms of supply made for a consideration,” it said.
A committee, headed by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, has been deliberating on ways of reducing the cascading effects of the proposed additional levy.
“Accepting the Congress demand for reducing Centre’s representation to one-fourth opens up possibility of States overruling the Centre”
7.China has rigs close to disputed waters: Japan
China has put 16 drilling rigs close to its de facto maritime border with Japan, Tokyo said Wednesday, in the latest twist in a row over gas fields in waters disputed by the two countries.
The Japanese government released diagrams showing the location of platforms which it says could exploit undersea reserves over which the two countries are at loggerheads.
“It is extremely deplorable that China is unilaterally developing resources while the border has not been settled,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
The platforms have all appeared despite a June 2008 agreement in which the two countries said they would jointly develop the area in the wake of friction over who had the rights to exploit the resources.
Of the 16, 12 have been installed in the last two years, Japan said. — AFP
Date:24-07-15
t. proposes to strip RBI chief of veto power on monetary policy
The Union government on Thursday proposed to strip the Reserve Bank Governor’s veto vote on India’s monetary policy. The government also proposed to grant itself the power to appoint four of the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee, whose remit will include decisions on setting interest rates to maintain inflation at the targeted level.
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The revised draft of the Indian Financial Code, put out by the Union Finance Ministry for comments, proposes that the Reserve Bank “Chairperson” shall head the committee, with no reference to the Governor. It is not clear from the draft if a re-designation is planned.
An earlier draft had proposed to give the Governor the right to overrule the monetary policy committee decision. If the inflation target is not met, then the Reserve Bank will have to explain the reasons and propose remedial actions.
Under the revised draft, the non-government members of the committee are to be drawn from the Reserve Bank.
The Reserve Bank’s Board will nominate one of its executives as the fifth member of the committee. The “Chairperson” will nominate one of its employees as the sixth member.
The move comes in the wake of a severe breakdown of talks between the Centre and the Reserve Bank over amendments to the RBI Act, which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced in his Budget speech.
Seeing the Reserve Bank’s opposition to them, the Finance Minister later dropped the proposed amendments from the Finance Bill.
2. Will not allow Chinese military bases, Maldives assures India
New Delhi concerned over decision to allow foreign ownership of islands
The Maldives government’s move to allow foreign ownership of its islands will not affect India’s strategic interests, Maldives President Abdullah Yameen said on Thursday, after ratifying the constitutional amendment on freeholds.
The decision could benefit countries like China that are eager to build land holdings in the Indian ocean.
‘Too small’
“We are too small a country to upset a close neighbour like India,” new Maldivian Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb told The Hindu in an exclusive interview. “We are open for business, but not open to give up our sovereignty to any country, including China.”
The conciliatory statements from Male come a day after India raised concerns over the land law amendment that was passed overnight on Tuesday by the Maldivian People’s Majlis (Parliament).
In his statement, President Yameen specifically referred to India’s objections to China building military bases, or using reclaimed islands for them, as it is accused of doing in the South China Sea.
New Delhi concerned over decision to allow foreign ownership of islands
3.R.K. Pachauri removed as TERI head and Ajay mathur was new TERI chief
Nobel laureate and climate scientist R.K. Pachauri was on Thursday removed as the Director-General of TERI by its governing council. At a meeting in Bengaluru, the top decision-making body named Ajay Mathur, currently the Director-General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency of the Central Government, as its new Director-General. He will take over after he is relieved from his current position. Accused of sexual harassment by a junior colleague in February this year, Mr. Pachauri was found guilty of misconduct by the organisation’s Internal Complaints Committee in May. According to the official statement, the current leadership of TERI was discussed at the GC meeting in Mumbai in September 2014.
3.SAARC satellite to cost Rs. 235 cr.
The launch of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) satellite has been pegged at an estimated Rs. 235 crore and the cost associated with the launch will be met by the country, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
It will enable full range of applications and services to the member-nations in the areas of telecommunication and broadcasting applications namely television, direct-to-home, very small aperture terminals, tele-education, telemedicine and disaster management support, Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh said in the Rajya Sabha.
The satellite was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SAARC summit in Nepal in November last.
The Indian Space Research Organisation will build the satellite with 12 Ku-band transponders and launch it using the Indian Geostationary Launch Vehicle Mk-II.
A one-day conference was held in New Delhi on June 22 to discuss the proposal in which delegations from all the SAARC member nations participated.
4. Smart windows to set ambient heat and light for your home
Made of new materials, smart windows which can automatically control heat and light passing through them may soon become a reality, shows research.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are one step closer to engineering materials that will allow windows to let in light without transferring heat and, conversely, to block light while allowing heat.
By allowing indoor occupants to control the energy and sunlight passing through a window more precisely, the new materials can significantly reduce costs for heating and cooling buildings.
The scientists have engineered two new advancements in electrochromic materials — a highly selective cool mode and a warm mode — not thought possible several years ago.
The cool-mode material is a major step toward a commercialised product because it enables control of 90 per cent of near infrared light and 80 per cent of the visible light from the sun and takes only minutes to switch between modes.
This could help reduce energy costs for cooling buildings and homes during the summer. The researchers reported the new architecture in Nano Letters .
“We believe our new architected nanocomposite could be seen as a model material, establishing the ideal design for a dual-band electrochromic material,” Delia Milliron, lead researcher, says.
“This material could be ideal for application as a smart electrochromic window for buildings,” she adds.
In a second research paper, she and her team have reported how they can achieve optical control properties in windows from a single-component film. — IANS
They can let in light without transferring heat or block light while allowing heat
5. Pakistan Navy not invited for International fleet review 2016
The Indian Navy has not invited Pakistan’s Navy to the International Fleet Review (IFR), which will be hosted for the first time by the Eastern Naval Command here for five days from February 4, 2016.
At an informal interaction with presspersons here on Thursday, a Navy official said 39 navies, including those of China, the U.S. and Japan, had confirmed participation. Seventy navies had been invited. Asked why Pakistan was not on the list, he said the External Affairs Ministry had “sent a circular” to the Pakistan High Commission.
Some 400 dignitaries, including the chiefs of staff of several navies, will attend the event.
The President and the Prime Minister are likely to be here for three days.
Visakhapatnam was chosen as the venue because the Andhra Pradesh government was keen on hosting the event, the official said.
the 5-day event will be held at vizag in february
6. Live in relation not a crime AG to SC:
7. Creditors satisfied with second round of Greek reforms
Greece’s creditors will head to Athens shortly to open talks on a huge new international bailout, the government said on Thursday, as Parliament approved a second batch of reforms needed for negotiations to go ahead.
Greece’s finance ministry said representatives from the European Union (EU), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), from whom it is seeking a third bailout worth up to €86 billion ($93 billion) over three years, were likely to fly in on Friday.
Greece and its creditors last week struck a bailout-for-reforms deal aimed at preventing Athens from crashing out of the Eurozone as it struggles to pay its enormous debts.
Parliament passes law
As dawn neared on Thursday, the Greek Parliament passed legislation on changes to the civil justice system, a bank deposit protection scheme and measures to shore up the liquidity of Greece’s banks — reforms demanded by the creditors before talks can go ahead.
EU Commission spokeswoman Meena Andreeva pronounced the troika satisfied with the vote, saying the reforms had been made law in a “timely and overall satisfactory manner”.
The bill passed by a resounding 230 votes out of the 298 Members of Parliament present, after a marathon five-hour debate that nonetheless exposed deep divisions in the governing Syriza party over whether to accept more austerity.
Mutiny in Syriza
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras suffered his second major mutiny in a week, with 36 Syriza MPs defying him to vote against the bill or abstain.
A week earlier, 39 of his lawmakers had opposed a first bill linked to the bailout, which approved sweeping changes to Greece's taxes, pensions and labour rules. In both cases, Mr. Tsipras was forced to rely on Opposition parties to get the legislation passed.
The tough reform package sparked five hours of fiery debate on Wednesday night, with weary lawmakers clashing on everything from Marxism to submarines into the early hours and the speaker of Parliament comparing the bailout deal to “a coup”.
Some 6,000 anti-austerity demonstrators staged a protest near Parliament ahead of the debate, with a handful of them lobbing a few petrol bombs in the direction of the police. — AFP
8. Pakistani intelligence sought huge data collection tools: report
Pakistani intelligence sought to tap worldwide Internet traffic via underwater cables that would have given the country a digital espionage capacity to rival the U.S., according to a report by Privacy International.
The report says the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency hired intermediary companies to acquire domestic spying toolkits from Western and Chinese firms for domestic surveillance.
It also claims the ISI sought access to tap data from three of the four “landing sites” that pass through the country’s port city of Karachi, effectively giving it access to Internet traffic worldwide.
9. ‘Staggering execution spree’ in Iran
Amnesty International on Thursday protested at what it called a “staggering execution spree” in Iran so far this year that has seen almost 700 people put to death.
“Iranian authorities are believed to have executed an astonishing 694 people between 1 January and 15 July, 2015,” said the London-based rights group, in what it termed an unprecedented spike.
“At this shocking pace, Iran is set to surpass the total number of executions in the country” recorded by Amnesty for the whole of 2014.
A sinister picture
Said Boumedouha, deputy head of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the spike “paints a sinister picture of the machinery of the state carrying out premeditated, judicially-sanctioned killings on a mass scale”.
Amnesty said the surge “reveals just how out of step Iran is with the rest of the world when it comes to the use of the death penalty”.
For its part, Human Rights Watch has accused Saudi authorities of waging a “campaign of death” by executing over 100 people in the first six months of 2015, more than during the whole of last year.
Amnesty said the reasons for this year’s “shocking surge in executions are unclear but the majority of those put to death in 2015 were convicted on drug charges”. — AFP
Unlike in Saudi Arabia, executions in the Islamic republic did not even stop during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, says the group
10. Centre, RBI differ on debt management body
The Reserve Bank has rejected the Union Finance Ministry’s “diluted” proposal for a non-statutory Public Debt Management Authority, and instead proposed a public debt management cell to be headed by the Finance Secretary.
11. Tata Power plans 18,000 MW generation capacity by 2022
Tata Power has announced plans to grow its business by scaling up the generation capacity to 18,000 MW by 2022 from the current generation capacity of 8,750 MW and growing its value added businesses 10 fold by that time.
The company said in seven years it would achieve coal or coal equivalent capacity of 25 million tonnes per annum and would have a distribution capacity of 4,000 MW of power.
Of the 18,000 MW capacity, 20-25 per cent would come from clean and green sources, the company said on Thursday.
The future growth areas include the 1,600 MW coastal Maharashtra project at Dehrand for which the company has completed the acquisition of private land for the project and the 380 MW Dugar Hydroelectric project that would come up through a joint venture.
The company is also planning the 1,980 MW Tiruldih Power Project for which around 40 per cent of the required land has been acquired.
Recently, the company signed a share purchase agreement with Ideal Energy Projects Ltd., promoted by IRB group, to acquire a 270 MW power project located near Nagpur, Maharashtra.
So far as green energy is concerned, Tata Power’s 126 MW Dagachhu Hydro Power Corporation (DHPC) in Bhutan achieved full commissioning in 2014-15.
The company said in seven years it will achieve coal or coal equivalent capacity of 25 million tonnes per annum and will have a distribution capacity of 4,000 MW of power.
12. Reliance Group arm signs MoU with Augur
Both the parties will collaborate on new technologies for the civil and military market as part of the ‘Make in India’ policy.
Continuing its efforts to build capabilities in defence manufacturing Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group through its entity Reliance Unmanned Systems has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Augur Overseas Operation of Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Augur Aeronautical Centre, to manufacture Aerostats and Airships in India.
Earlier, Augur Aeronautical Centre had tied up with Pipavav Defence, a company that was recently acquired by Reliance Group.
As per the MoU, both the parties will collaborate on new technologies for the civil and military market as part of the ‘Make in India’ policy. The two companies have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) firm with Reliance having 51 per cent stake as per Government’s policy.
“The joint venture will be involved in development, production, sales, modification and life support for different sizes of Aerostats and Airships. This JV will address the requirements of domestic market and also addressable regional/global markets,” Reliance Group said in a statement on Thursday.
“As part of the existing arrangement, the first medium size Aerostat envelope was delivered recently. This was after successful acceptance tests were performed at Pipavav facilities. The tests included integration and simulated mooring; verification of equipment and functioning of Aerostat envelope together with pressurisation system,” Reliance Group said.
Aerostat radars are deployed extensively in the surveillance, reconnaissance and communication roles by the armed forces. These are also useful in detecting low-flying fighter aircraft.
Reliance Group said the estimated requirement by Indian armed forces including the paramilitary forces was about 40 systems in the next five years and this would cost about Rs.12,000 crore.
During times of natural disasters, Aerostats are used to bring in emergency supplies such as food, water and blankets for the affected people. Aerostats also find application in the tourism industry.
Apart from Augur Aeronautical Centre, major players in this field include TCOM-LP and Lockheed Martin. Aerostats are currently manufactured in the U.S, Germany and France.
25-07-15
1. Visa rules relaxed for Pak. minority pilgrims
Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan, visiting India on a group pilgrim visa, will no longer have to report to the police.
The Home Ministry announced on Friday that it had streamlined the procedure as the minority communities are facing problems while visiting India. “Relaxation has also been granted to facilitate their entry and stay in India,” a statement said.
Under the revised guidelines, each group will have 50 people and a leader. The individual members will not be required to report to the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO). The group leader alone will have to report to the FRO at each place of visit within 24 hours of arrival.
2. Brain starved of hormone can spark binge eating
Absence of a hormone in the brain may trigger overeating in people who eat for pleasure rather than as a response to hunger, researchers say.
In lab experiments, researchers found that when the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone was reduced in the central nervous system of mice, they overate and consumed more high-fat food.
GLP-1 peptides are small sequences of amino acids that have many functions, including how our bodies regulate eating behaviours. They are secreted from cells in both the small intestine and the brain and are supposed to let our brain know when we are satisfied and should put down the fork.
3. NASA probe discovers bigger, older cousin to Earth
EARTH-LIKE PLANET DISCOVERED
NASA’s Kepler mission has confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet, Kepler-452b, in the “habitable zone” around a Sun-like star.
4.Bar on entry of journalists, NGOs into jails
The government has banned the entry of journalists, NGO activists and filmmakers into jails for writing articles or taking interviews of inmates. A government order comes in the wake of the controversy over British filmmaker Leslee Udwin’s documentary India’s Daughter , shot in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, where she interviewed one of the convicts of the December 16 gang-rape victim.
“No private individual/press/ NGO/company should ordinarily be allowed entry into the prison for doing research, making documentaries, writing articles or interviews etc,” Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Kumar Alok said in an advisory sent to all States and Union Territories.
However, State governments may consider allowing visitors/press/ documentary makers if the authorities feel that a particular documentary/ article/ research is for the purpose of creating a positive social impact or the proposed work is relating to prison reforms.
5. Landmark trade pact on slashing tech tariffs
Major trade powers have reached a deal to cut tariffs on around 200 technology products, a decision that could pave the way for lower prices for consumers.
The Geneva-based World Trade Organization says 49 of its members including the United States, China and the 28-country European Union reached a tentative accord that caps three years of talks.
The products on which import duties will be scrapped under Friday’s deal include GPS navigation equipment, medical scanners and new-generation semiconductors.
The deal, which should be finalized by December, expands the scope of the 1996 IT Agreement involving 81 countries. WTO chief Roberto Azevedo called it a ‘landmark’ agreement that covers trade in products valued at over $1.3 trillion a year, or some 7 per cent of global trade. — AP
WTO says 49 of its members including the U.S., China and the 28-country EU reached a tentative accord that caps three years of talks.
28-07-15
1.Abdul Kalam, ‘People’s President’, passes away
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, widely acclaimed as the “people’s president” for his warmth and accessibility, passed away on Monday after collapsing on stage during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong. He was 83.
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Mr. Kalam, a scientist by training who had earned several sobriquets, including Missile Man, and played a critical role in India’s nuclear tests in May 1998, was President between 2002 and 2007. He had been fielded as the National Democratic Alliance candidate by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The former President, who continued to be active even after demitting office and travelled the length and breadth of the country delivering lectures and meeting people, died while doing what he loved best – talking to students. He was reportedly brought dead from IIM to Bethany hospital in the Meghalaya capital.
The Centre announced a seven-day mourning.Every year, the former President came to Shillong to deliver lectures, wrote Patricia Mukhim, editor of the Shillong Times , in a Facebook Post. Mr. Kalam, the country’s 11th President, was one of India’s most eminent scientists, and had the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions.
Apart from leading the Indian Space Research Organisation’s satellite launch programme, Mr. Kalam headed the country’s guided missile programme for many years.
As scientific adviser to the Defence Minister, the former President led the “weaponisation of strategic missile systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests.”
2.DNA profiling Bill triggers debate
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Stuartpuram, a village in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh was known for decades as an abode of thieves as the place housed two of the many ex-criminal tribes that the colonial, Criminal Tribes Act of 1924 had declared criminal by birth.
Now, after facing several generations of stigma that included frequent police raids, Sturatpuram is finally teeming with upwardly mobile youth, many of whom are into higher education and small time professional lives.
Will India’s DNA profiling Bill affect the future of these individuals? Will criminal history, credentials of which could be questionable, be linked to people and communities for a lifetime and more, only to be invoked when needed?
The government is planning to pass the Bill in the current session of Parliament.
While scientists who vouch by the DNA Bill give a go ahead for it while brushing aside privacy concerns and fear of social and political misuse of the data, those opposing the legislation fear that the bill could result in large scale violation of human rights.
Potential for misuse
“DNA can reveal very personal information about people. And biometric data collection of the scale of this kind has a high potential for misuse and hence the bill itself should have powerful safeguards for privacy that it currently lacks,” said Chinmayi Arun, Research Director of the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, New Delhi.
Legal experts said that the scope of the Bill was too wide to be implemented in the country. As it allowed the use of DNA data in relation with offences including abortions, paternity disputes and crimes against the law of nature, it could make the databank too large for any sort of use, experts said.
“Does the Bill mean to say that once a criminal always a criminal?” asked Thushar Nirmal Sarathy, an advocate and human rights activist from Thiruvananthapuram.
The data is collected and stored under indices including, crime scene index, suspects index, offender’s index, missing persons index, unknown deceased persons’ index, volunteers’ index, and such other DNA indices as may be specified by regulations made by the Board.
DNA fingerprinting experts found that the whole process could further slow down the legal framework in the country. G.V. Rao, forensic DNA expert and RTI activist from Hyderabad said that in a country “where the conviction time for major offences is anywhere between 10 to 20 years, there is hardly any need to add DNA profiling to people’s misery. The country is not prepared to conduct such a cumbersome process.”
Scientists were, however, not too worried about the privacy concerns. “The DNA profiling is being done legally in various Western countries and it was successful in solving a large number of crime cases. Coming to privacy concerns, there are enough safeguards in place including punishment for misusing the data,” said N. Madhusudhan Reddy of DNA Fingerprinting Service, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad.
A DNA expert, Lalji Singh, former Director of CCMB, said “the biggest advantage of Human DNA profiling Bill, if it becomes an Act is that all that the courts have to do will be to follow the DNA evidence.”
‘The Bill could result in large scale violation of human rights’
3.Physicist P. Hariharan passes away in U.S.
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Eminent physicist P. Hariharan died on Sunday in Berkeley, California. He was 89.
Dr. Hariharan was the son of Prof. H. Parameswaran (H. P. Waran) of Presidency College and the son-in-law of Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer. He was born on December 24, 1926.
He worked at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi from 1949 to 1951 and then at the National Research Council, Ottawa from 1951- 1954. On returning to NPL, Dr. Hariharan received a Ph.D for his work on photographic resolving power. Subsequently, he held key posts at several scientific institutes and organisations and was also an honorary visiting professor at the University of Sydney.
Dr. Hariharan’s research contributions include the design of a new three-beam interferometer, the double-passed Fabry-Perot interferometer, and the first practical radial-shear interferometer. He was also the first to apply digital phase-shifting techniques to holographic interferometry for measurements of vector displacements and strains. Dr. Hariharan has published more than 200 papers and has authored four books. Dr. Hariharan was a recipient of several awards, including the Joseph Fraunhofer Medal of the Optical Society of America, the Thomas Young Medal of the Institute of Physics, London and the Walter Boas Medal of the Australian Institute of Physics.
Dr. Hariharan is survived by two children, Dr. Iswar Hariharan and Dr. Lakshmi Hariharan, with whom he was living in the United States.
4.A visionary and a dreamer
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A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, Bharat Ratna and far-sighted architect of India's space and missile programmes, passed away in Shillong on Monday.
Kalam was an institution-builder and a team-builder, a visionary and a dreamer, who always wanted to build a strong and self-reliant India. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Defence Minister R. Venkataraman, scientific advisor to the Defence Minister V.S. Arunachalam and Kalam were a formidable team in the early 1980s who wanted to weld into India into a puissant country in science and technology. Kalam devised every stratagem in the book to beat the embargoes and sanction regimes including the Missile Technology Control Regime imposed on India following the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1974 and later in 1998.
As K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said, "Kalam had a single-minded approach in leading projects and his connect with other scientists and the younger generation distinguished him from everybody else. His taking over the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) programme as its Project Director led to its spectacular success in 1980 and it was the turning point in India's space programme.”
In the 1960s, Kalam was at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station near Thiruvananthapuram, and he built ISRO's sounding rocket programme to probe the upper atmosphere. The scientist’s puckish sense of humour came to the fore during celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the first sounding rocket. Now President, Kalam began his address to the gathering from Rashtrapathi Bhavan thus: “Ten , nine, eight, seven...” His countdown sent ISRO’s scientists and engineers into raptures.
Rockets in his DNA
Civilian rockets, military missiles and aircraft were in his DNA. He was fond of saying that "It was a joy to study the structure of an aircraft” when he was a student of aeronautical engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology, Chromepet, Chennai. In 1983, Kalam left ISRO and joined the DRDO as director of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) at Hyderabad. As director of DRDL, he envisioned India's Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and led teams that built India's Agni, Akash, Prithvi and Nag missile programmes.
Brahmos tie-up
He was instrumental in forging India's collaboration with Russia to build the world's first supersonic cruise missile called BrahMos. As Director-General of DRDO and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, he played an important role India's nuclear tests in 1998.
Dr V. K. Saraswat, former DRDO Director-general, said, “Kalam was an institution-builder, team-builder, visionary, dreamer and motivator of men.”
Kalam never hesitated to take a stand on issues - be it in support for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, the setting up of the neutrino observatory in Theni, India's nuclear weapons programme or the strategic missile programme.
Murree peace talks:[VIP] :
5. India ignored as Pak. takes charge of Afghan-Taliban talks
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As representatives of the Afghanistan government prepare for another round of talks in Pakistan with Taliban representatives on Friday, India is being frozen out of the talks. The official stand of the government is that it is “supportive of the peace process” provided “it brings genuine peace and internationally accepted red lines.” However, officials in Delhi and Kabul have toldThe Hindu that India is far from comfortable with the “direction the talks are taking,” saying that “all red lines have been violated so far.”
In 2010, former President Hamid Karzai had listed these ‘red lines’ as an acceptance of the Afghan constitution; peace or a ceasefire as a pre-condition for talks; and following an ‘Afghan-owned, Afghan-led’ process, which had been endorsed by the UPA government.
ISI presence
In contrast, the current round of talks initiated by President Ashraf Ghani is happening without a ceasefire in place, where Taliban representatives are pushing for the re-establishment of an Islamic Emirate, rather than the constitution. In addition, the talks are being hosted by the Pakistan government, with senior ISI intelligence officials sitting in on all the discussions that were held on July 7 in the Pakistani hill station of Murree between Afghan officials and Taliban leaders produced by Pakistan.
Pakistan Army Chief Raheel Sharif has also been credited by both US Generals as well as the Afghan President Ghani’s government for “facilitating” the talks.
“Far from Afghan-owned, these talks seem to be ISI-controlled and ISI-led,” one official told The Hindu.
The next round of talks are expected to be held Pakistan on July 31, according to a representative of the Afghanistan Peace council.
Initial negotiations between Afghanistan Peace envoys and various Taliban leaders in this round began in May this year, with representatives of the UN, US and China attending as observers at a meeting in Doha in early May. This was followed by a second round of talks in Urumqi, in China’s Xinjiang province in the third week of May. However, the “Murree peace talks” of July 7-8, as they are referred to by the Pakistan government, were the first officially acknowledged round of talks from all sides.
Unlike other abortive attempts for talks, officials in the US and China characterised the Murree talks as a success. On July 8, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States welcomed the talks, calling them “an important step toward advancing prospects for a credible peace”, adding that the US “acknowledged and appreciated Pakistan's important efforts to host these conversations,” while Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying saying China viewed the talks “positively”.
“A second face-to-face meeting in less than a month clearly suggests a forward movement,” a senior Pakistani official told Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune on Monday. “A truce and other CBMs will top the agenda when both sides meet on July 31,” he added. The Taliban has also brought up other demands, including the release of Taliban leaders from US custody in Guantanamo Bay, and of removing other leaders from the UN sanctions list under Resolution 1267.
India has made no official statement about the current round of talks, which have blind-sided the government with their speed and progress. Officials remain sceptical about whether the talks will resolve the violence in Afghanistan, as the Taliban continues to carry out attacks in the country.
“With each round of talks, both Afghanistan and the international community are accepting that the Taliban is a legitimate representative of Afghans, when in fact they are a terror group under Pakistani control,” said a senior diplomat.”
However officials in New Delhi and Kabul concede that given that India has little say in the outcome, the government will take a more “realistic” position. “We will convey our unease and concerns,” one official told The Hindu , “but quietly, and only to those willing to listen.”
US and China characterised the Islamabad-hosted ‘Murree talks’, attended by ISI officials, as a success
6. India a source, destination, transit country for trafficking: U.S. report [VIP]
Unveiling a closely watched annual anti-trafficking report this week the U.S. State Department retained India’s classification as a “Tier II” nation for human trafficking concerns, which implied that the U.S. viewed India as a country whose government did not fully comply with its Trafficking Victims’ Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards, but was making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.
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Speaking at the release of the 2015 “Trafficking in Persons” report, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said its purpose was not to “name and shame,” but to expose the $150 billion human trafficking industry for what it actually was — a massive, global, shadow economy built on official complicity, egregious rights violations and abuse and criminal operations.
While India’s ranking has been at the Tier II level since 2011, it was until 2010 ranked as a Tier II “Watch List,” nation, implying that the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking was highly significant or increasing; that there was a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or that the assessment of its progress in combating human trafficking was based on future commitments made by the Indian government.
The TIP report was also seen as significant in recent years in the context of the controversy surrounding Devyani Khobragade, the Indian Deputy Consul General in New York who was, in December 2013, arrested and subjected to a strip-search for alleged visa violations relating to the underpayment of her domestic employee Sangeeta Richards, prompting a major diplomatic crisis and tensions in the bilateral space.
The indictment of Ms. Khobragade by a grand jury in New York in January 2014 stemmed from charges linked to human trafficking under the U.S. TVPA.
In this context the Indian government was said to have issued revised guidance to its diplomats abroad who employed domestic workers, presumably to bring the latter’s pay in line with local laws.
However the 2015 report seemed ambiguous in its assessment of India on this count, noting, and “The government did not provide information on anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.”
The report however urged New Delhi to ramp up its reporting of anti-trafficking data, noting that India continued to be “a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.”
It said that while the Indian government was making significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, law enforcement progress was unknown as the government did not provide adequate disaggregated anti-trafficking data and official complicity remained a “serious concern.”
The U.S Trafficking in Persons report for 2015 says official complicity remained a “serious concern”
7. When TV channels forgot the code[VIP]{need for regulating media}
Seven years ago, television news channels reporting the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai were pilloried for the manner in which the incident was reported. The channels also faced flak for giving away operational details of the counter-offensive.
The UPA government was criticised for failing to engage the media in an emergency situation. A self-regulatory code followed after some self-introspection.
On Monday morning, as terrorists struck in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, television channels temporarily forgot the code, particularly the clause that dealt with reporting on a terror attack.
Some channels even reported a hostage situation had developed and some captives were killed in the attack.
8. Beijing, Moscow enhance cooperation in S. China Sea
Military tensions in the Pacific are on the rise as the United States cements its China oriented “Asia Pivot” amid visible signs of naval collaboration between Beijing and Moscow.
Beijing is closely monitoring Washington’s decision to step up aerial monitoring and attack capability in the Pacific as part of a five-year plan.Last week, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, disclosed in a five-page “navigation plan” that Washington would beef up the aerial component of the U.S. Pacific Command.
Aerial command posts
He revealed Pentagon’s intent to deploy the latest E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes-new aerial command posts, which would be central to surveillance network in the skies.The strengthening of the “Asia Pivot” — a “containment” doctrine targeting China — has escalated tensions over competing sovereignty claims over islands in the South China Sea.
The Chinese, sensing deviation from its previous hands-off stance, are especially concerned about a recent surge in U.S. activism in the South China Sea.
Last Monday, the Chinese defence ministry slammed the surveillance mission undertaken by U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Scott Swift, who, for seven hours, flew on a reconnaissance mission aboard a P-8A plane in the South China Sea.
Philippines a close U.S. ally, and a country which has a dispute with China in the South China Sea, welcomed Admiral Swift’s flight, calling it a demonstration of Washington’s political will to stand by its allies who have territorial disputes with China. Apart from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei and have claims over islands in the South China Sea.
The Russians, already allied with China in game-changing strategic projects in Eurasia, have now become unambiguous in accusing Washington of pursuing a “containment” policy towards Russia and China.
“We are concerned by U.S. policies in the region, especially since every day it becomes increasingly focused on a systemic containment of Russia and China, “Russian Deputy-Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov told Russia Today.
He also announced that Russia planned to join its Asia-pacific allies in May next year, in counter-terrorism naval exercises in the South China Sea. The Russians have also announced beefing up its military presence in Kuril islands, heightening the dispute in the area with Japan, a top U.S. ally in the Pacific.
U.S. is likely to beef up the aerial component of the U.S. Pacific Command
9. Royal Bengal Tiger count falls rapidly
The tiger population in Bangladesh has declined sharply to 106 from 440 last year, according to a survey.
The loss of habitat, unchecked wildlife poaching, animal-human conflict in the forest and lack of forest management are the main reasons behind the rapid fall in the tiger population, say experts.
The year-long survey ended in April was based on footage from hidden cameras and found the number of tigers between 83 and 130. Bangladesh’s Forest conservator Dr. Tapan Kumar Dey said more scientific method was used in the new census, which found only 106 big cats in the Sundarbans.
“It’s a more accurate figure,” said the country’s top wildlife official.
The new tiger census project was carried out under ‘Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection in Asia Project’ with financial support from the World Bank. The Bangladesh-India Joint Tiger Census Project conducted the tiger census examining some 1,500 images and footprints of tigers taken from the Sundarbans through camera trapping and found the horribly low figure of tigers.
Wildlife experts said the methodology applied in the new tiger census is better rather than pug marks used in the past.
There are apparently 74 tigers on the Indian side of the Sundarbans, the mangrove forest that stretches for nearly 4,000 miles across both countries.
One of Bangladesh’s top tiger experts, Dr. Monirul H Khan, said the 2004 census that used pugmarks to count tigers was not actually a reliable and scientific method.
29-07-15
1. Centre returns controversial Gujarat Bill
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The controversial Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill, 2015, has been sent back to the State following an objection by the Information Technology (IT) Ministry.
The Home Affairs Ministry, which sent the Bill for an inter-ministerial consultation, returned it with the objections raised by the IT Ministry. This means the Bill will not be sent for Presidential assent and cannot become law yet.
Any Bill passed by an Assembly on issues contravening Central laws needs Presidential assent.
The Gujarat House passed the Bill again on March 31 this year, after it was rejected thrice by two former Presidents — the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2004 and Pratibha Patil in 2008 and 2009.
The Bill was first introduced as the GUJCOC Bill in 2003 — when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister — with provisions like increasing the period to file charge sheet from 90 to 180 days and strict conditions for granting bail to an accused.
2. E-visa facility for Chinese tourists from tomorrow
The electronic tourist visa facility for Chinese nationals announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May will be rolled out from July 30 onwards.
Along with the citizens of China, the e-tourist visa facility will also be offered to the nationals of Hong Kong and Macao from Thursday, an official said.
Brushing aside concerns raised by intelligence agencies, Mr. Modi, during his visit to China announced that the e-tourist visa facility would be offered to Chinese nationals.
India had last year launched e-tourist visa facility (which was earlier called ‘tourist visa on arrival enabled by electronic travel authorisation’) for more than 40 countries, including the U.S. The scheme was later extended to 36 more countries with effect from May.
Under the e-visa scheme, an applicant receives an email authorising him or her to travel to India after it is approved and he or she can travel with a print-out of this authorisation. On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then stamp the entry into the country.
The number of foreign tourists availing themselves of the e-tourist visa facility has increased by over 700 per cent in May as compared to the same period last year.
3. Find out difference between curative petition and review petition.
4. Pak. gets $336m to support forces in Afghanistan
Pakistan on Tuesday received $336 million from the United States for its ongoing role in combating a Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The injection of cash, which comes as the Taliban steps up its annual summer offensive launched in late April, has helped Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves reach a fresh high of about $19 billion, state bank officials said.
Regular payments to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) programme began in 2001 when Pakistan joined the US-led coalition in Afghanistan as a “frontline ally.”
Pakistan provides use of its air bases and other facilities in exchange for the reimbursements.
The central State Bank of Pakistan in a one-line press note said it had received a total of $336.8 million under the CSF programme, which is the first tranche of a $1.5 billion for the current fiscal year ending June 2016. Pakistan has received a total of $13 billion in CSF payments since the programme began.
U.S.-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan last December, leaving local forces to battle militants alone, but a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.
The Afghan government meanwhile conducted its first face-to-face talks with Taliban cadres on July 7 in a Pakistani hill station, aimed at ending the 14-year insurgency.
But despite the willingness to engage in talks there has been no let-up in militant attacks, which are taking a heavy toll on civilians.
Almost 1,000 civilians were killed in the conflict during the first four months of this year, a sharp jump from the same period last year, according to the U.N.
— AFP
30-07-15
1. Whistle-blower, rights activist win Magsaysay Award
Whistle-blower officer Sanjeev Chaturvedi and human rights activist Anshu Gupta are among the five winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year.
Sanjeev Chaturvedi, who won the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year, is a 2002-batch Indian Forest Service officer who is fighting a protracted battle with the Centre over alleged harassment for his tough stance on corruption during his tenure as Chief Vigilance Officer of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here. He has been technically without an official assignment for a year.
Anshu Gupta, founder of the non-governmental organisation Goonj, was being recognised for “his creative vision in transforming the culture of giving in India, his enterprising leadership in treating cloth as a sustainable development resource for the poor, and in reminding the world that true giving always respects and preserves human dignity.” He left his corporate job to start the non-profit organisation in 1999.
Other winners
Kommaly Chanthavong from Laos has been recognised for her efforts to develop the ancient Laotian art of silk weaving, Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa from the Philippines for “her single-minded crusade in preserving the endangered artistic heritage of southern Philippines”. Kyaw Thu from Myanmar, the statement said, is being recognised for “his generous compassion in addressing the fundamental needs of both the living and the dead in Myanmar.”
2. ‘IS plans to attack India’
Islamic State plans to trigger “a war in India to provoke an Armageddon-like end of the world scenario,” says an IS paper obtained through the Pakistani Taliban.
3. India under pressure to declare emission targets
Ahead of the UN climate summit in Paris in December this year, India is under growing pressure to announce its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), containing emission reductions targets, at the earliest date.
On Tuesday, top French climate ambassadors Laurence Tubiana and Nicholas Hulot met with ministers, including Union Environment and Forests Minister Prakash Javadekar, to discuss India’s progress on determining its contributions ahead of the Paris summit.
Sources say both the U.S. and French negotiators are keen that India makes some sort of announcement when Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. The negotiators said they are hopeful that most of the climate agreement text would be ready by October.
“We are looking forward to India for leadership on the climate action front,” said Ms. Tubiana, special representative of Laurent Fabius, the French minister of foreign affairs and international development, for the Paris Climate 2015 conference (COP21). While France cannot impose the domestic commitment of various countries - each country will have to commit to its own set of goals for reducing global warming, so as to maintain the global temperature rise to within 2 degrees celcius,
In March this year, the European Union announced its INDCs of at least a 40 per cent domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2030. India is yet to make its contributions clear.
Sources say the government told the visiting French negotiators that India’s current priority is to give access to energy to about 300 million people, which cannot be achieved without the use of coal. Switching to a low-carbon economic model for developing countries like India would require access to cheap capital by way of climate financing. “The G20 summit happening in Turkey in November, a little ahead of the Paris summit, might be a good forum to discuss some of the climate-financing related issues,” Ms. Tubiana said.
31-07-15
1. Kerala State ready with draft anti-superstitions law
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2.PM’s U.S. trip to have digital, diaspora focus
An Indian community gathering and a Digital India conclave, which will assemble CEOs, tech-entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, researchers and professionals in Silicon Valley, and a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama in New York will be the highlights of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States in the last week of September.
3.Antrix-Devas deal: ED files money-laundering case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money-laundering case to probe alleged Rs. 578-crore “wrongful” gain to private multimedia company Devas by Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO. A criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act has been filed by the agency’s zonal office here after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR in the case, registered in March this year. “The agency has named various individuals and entities in its complaint who were earlier named in the CBI FIR. The proceeds of crime in this case are being detected and summons will be issued soon,” official sources said. — PTI
4.Beijing slams U.S. for militarising South China Sea
China has slammed the U.S. for militarising the South China Sea and escalating tensions that have been fuelled by maritime disputes in these waters, which are vital for the conduct of international trade.
China’s Defence Ministry on Thursday accused Washington of staging patrols and joint military exercises. At the heart of the sharpening rhetoric is the territorial dispute in South China Sea which has pitted China with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
Obama’s ‘Asia Pivot’
Military activity in the Pacific has been accelerating following President Barack Obama’s “Asia Pivot” or “Rebalance” doctrine, which has led Washington to position 60 per cent of its forces in the Pacific. In Beijing, the “Asia Pivot” doctrine is seen as a China-containment policy.
The Chinese have been especially piqued by last Monday’s surveillance mission undertaken by U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Scott Swift, who, for seven hours, flew on a reconnaissance mission aboard a P-8A plane in the South China Sea.
Last week, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the chief of U.S. naval operations, disclosed in a five-page “navigation plan” that Washington would beef up the aerial component of the U.S. Pacific Command.
On Thursday, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said at a news briefing that the U.S. was fuelling the “China threat” in a bid to drive differences between China and other claimant countries in the South China Sea.
For a long time, the U.S. had carried out frequent, widespread, close-in surveillance of China, by sending ships and aircraft to the region, he added.
“Recently they have further increased military alliances and their military presence, frequently holding joint drills.”
Mr. Yang stressed that China’s on-going naval exercise was routine and did not target a third party.
1-08-15
1. Centre to pump Rs. 70,000 cr. into PSU banks through
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF):
The Modi government on Friday announced a big-bucks boost to investments in the economy. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told Parliament that the Centre will over the next four years infuse Rs.70,000 crore out of budgetary allocations into state-owned banks.
Later, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha told reporters that the proposed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) that the Union Cabinet had approved on Wednesday will make equity investments of Rs. 20,000 crore every year in commercially viable long gestation projects which will help to kick-start the economy.
The Centre will own 49 per cent of this new Mumbai-based fund, which won’t be answerable to Parliament nor audited by the CAG. It will be run on a commercialbasis by managers, who will be paid globally competitive salaries.
2. Two-thirds of rural households still use firewood for cooking
Over two-thirds of households in rural India still rely on firewood for cooking, new data from the National Sample Survey (NSS) Office show. In contrast, a similar proportion of households use liquefied petroleum gas for cooking in urban areas, but 14 per cent of urban households — including nearly half of the poorest 20 per cent — still rely on firewood.
In North Indian States, cow-dung cake remained one of the major fuels for cooking for a third of rural households in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, a quarter in Haryana and a fifth in Bihar. The use of cooking fuel is sharply dictated by class — the use of firewood drops steadily with rising incomes in rural and urban areas, and LPG use is highest among the richest classes. The data show 87 per cent of Scheduled Tribe households and 70 per cent of Scheduled Caste households in rural India use firewood, compared with 57 per cent of others.
T.N.’s record
Tamil Nadu had the highest use of LPG among rural households, with over a third using it for cooking, followed by Kerala and Punjab. The use of LPG was least in Chhattisgarh (1.5 per cent of households) followed by Jharkhand (2.9 per cent) and Odisha (3.9 per cent).
The majority of households in the country uses electricity as its primary source of lighting, but over a fourth of rural households still rely on kerosene. The percentage of households using kerosene was as high as 73.5 per cent in Bihar and 58.5 per cent in U.P.. Over the past decade, the proportion of households using kerosene to light their houses has, however, halved in rural India. The use of electricity was the highest in rural A.P., Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where nearly all rural households used electricity to light their homes. In contrast, just 40 per cent of rural U.P. households had electricity.
3. Vaccine developed to fight Ebola
The Ebola virus is likely to be eradicated once for all as a new vaccine developed against the disease by Public Health Agency of Canada has shown 100 % efficiency in a trial that was carried out in Guinea.
The preliminary data extracted from the vaccination of 4,000 people suggest that the vaccine “works to protect” humans from the Ebola attack.
The scientific accomplishment, which has been authenticated by the medical journal, The Lancet , is likely to bring the West African epidemic to an end.
A dummy virus (vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV) was designed with diluted elements of Ebola. As the risk-free virus enters a human body, it alarms the immune system, which launches a scathing attack on the intruder, killing it along with the deadly Ebola virus.
Until July 26, about 11,279 people have died from 27, 748 Ebola infected cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The scientists have deployed “the ring” vaccination methodology in the vaccine trial, which means, 4000 people who had had a minimum or a maximum contact with 100 diseased persons were vaccinated with VSV. The scientists observed that the vaccinated community blocked the virus. One person complained about fever, which wasn’t worrying since it subsided naturally.
4. Division 30
A anti ISIS group trained by USA to fight ISIS and not the asad regime in Syria.
2-08-15
1. Centre to counter IS dogmas
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The government will build a “counter-narrative” to the jihadi ideologies propagated by militant outfits such as the Islamic State (IS), to wean youngsters away from the group that has found traction among many educated Muslim youths worldwide.
For this, the government will rope in “moderate Muslims” and “learned people” from the community and give them a presence in cyberspace.
“The erudite Muslim leaders would provide a counter to the extreme ideologies of Islam and help in giving another perspective to the theory propagated by the IS,” said a senior official of the Home Ministry.
After undermining the influence of the IS among the young men in the country, the Home Ministry for the first time called a meeting of 12 States to frame a “national coherent strategy”. The Hindu was the first to report on July 21 that the Ministry called such a meeting to discuss the extent of the problem.
The constabulary in the State police forces would be trained in the social media as they are the ones who go around for beat-patrolling and can provide vital intelligence inputs.
The meeting, chaired by Home Secretary L.C. Goyal, lauded the efforts of the Telangana Police. By government estimates, at least 13 young men have left the country to join the IS and 20 have been stopped.
2. Supreme Court official quits over Memon hearing
Anup Surendranath, Deputy Registrar (Research) in the Supreme Court, resigned on Saturday, saying what happened in the Supreme Court during the hearing of the petitions of Yakub Memon, leading to his execution on July 30, “must count amongst the darkest hours for the Supreme Court of India”.
03-08-15
1.Tribal leaders oppose ST status for Dhangars
Tribal leaders and the Dhangar (shepherd) community in Maharashtra are locked in a fight over the latter’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.The Dhangar community is currently included in the OBC category in the State.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), prior to the Assembly elections, had promised to fulfil the community’s demand for inclusion in the ST category. However, nine months into assuming power, the BJP has not acted on the demand and is now coming under fire from the community which stood behind the party and its allies during the elections.
Meanwhile, tribal leaders of the State, cutting across party lines have written a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, reminding him that inclusion of Dhangars in the ST category would go against the Constitution.
“Dhangar is a caste and not a tribe. Some of their leaders are falsely claiming that Dhangad tribe and Dhangar are similar. This claim has not been proved since Independence,” said advocate K.C. Padvi, also a Congress MLA from Nandurbar district, in a letter to the Chief Minister. The letter is signed by all tribal MLAs belonging to the BJP, the Congress, the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the CPI(M).
Dhangar representatives do not buy the argument. “A small mistake in nomenclature has deprived us of benefits given to the STs. We supported the BJP as it promised to fulfil our demand. We are confident that it will do it,” said Mahadev Janakr, a Dhangar leader and MLC from Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, an ally of the BJP.
Crucial votes
While, Dhangars and tribals are almost equal in terms of voters, with each having around 10% population, the geographical distribution of the former gives them an advantage.
2.Death toll in WB floods crosses 50:Cyclone KOMEN
The regional weather office said Cyclone Komen, which had earlier turned into a deep depression, had weakened into a low-pressure system and had gone to Jharkhand. “We are expecting partly cloudy skies and isolated rain in a few places. But overall there is no forecast of heavy rain,” senior meteorologist D. Pradhan said.
Kolkata received 23.1 mm of rain in the 24 hours to 5.30 p.m. on Sunday.
The depression formed over Jharkhand and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal moved west-southwestwards and was centred on Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand, about 70 km east-northeast of Ranchi this morning.
As a result, the weather may deteriorate over the next few days and rain would occur at most places over Gangetic West Bengal during the next 24 hours, an official release said.
3.Land Bill: govt. may take ordinance route again
The contentious Land acquisition Bill could be heading for the ordinance route for the fourth time in eight months as the Joint Committee on Parliament scrutinising the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015, is scheduled to seek more time to finalise its report.
4. India to host meeting of 14 Pacific island nations [VIP]
After trying to keep pace with China in relations with Africa and Central Asia, India is now trying to match it neighbour’s growing footprint in the South Pacific.
Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC):
On August 21, India will host the heads of 14 island nations at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), in what is seen as a first step towards greater engagement with the region, which is important from an economic and geostrategic standpoint.
The upcoming summit in Jaipur is expected to pave the way for agreements in agriculture, food processing, fisheries, solar energy, e-networks for coordination in telemedicine and tele-education, space cooperation and climate change, all of which were mentioned as areas of potential cooperation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Fiji in 2014.
Mr. Modi had then proposed that FIPIC summits be held regularly. He had set the ball rolling for reinforcing ties with the island nations by announcing visa on arrival for their nationals, funds for small business, line of credit for a co-generation power plant for Fiji, and a special adaptation fund for technical assistance and capacity building for countering global warming.
China’s strong foothold
Even as New Delhi has begun charting out a plan for forging bilateral and regional ties with these island nations, China has significantly expanded its foothold in the region, from increasing business and trade ties to setting up diplomatic missions in each of these countries.
In its report “The geopolitics of Chinese aid: mapping Beijing’s funding in the Pacific”, the Lowy Institute of International Policy says China is now the largest bilateral donor in Fiji and the second largest in the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Tonga. The report also says that between 2006 and 2013, China provided $333 million in bilateral aid to Fiji, even more than Australia ($252 million) and almost three times that of Japan ($117 million), while in Samoa and Tonga, the sum of Chinese aid is second only to Australia’s. China’s foray into the South Pacific, which began as a move to offset Taiwan’s interests in the region, is becoming a cause for concern for India, which now wants to have economic and strategic engagements with the 14 island nations.
T.P. Sreenivasan, a former diplomat who served as the head of Mission in Fiji and seven other South Pacific Island States between 1986 and 1989, told The Hindu that India’s strong relations with Fiji, which has considerable influence in the region, was a “strong point” which could help counter the growing Chinese influence. “Most of the economies in the region are based on agriculture, fisheries and small-scale industries and India’s capacity in these sectors is even better than Europe and China; it can cultivate relations with the island nations based on its technology. Even small investments will make a big impact in these regions; many of these countries send their nationals to India for education though programmes sponsored by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations; so India should make a beginning,” he said. He said relations with Fiji had improved in India’s favour in the past decade and not only those of Indian origin but also Fijians were friendly towards Indians, which worked to New Delhi’s “advantage”.
5.Lodha panel seeks five-month extension
The Justice R.M. Lodha Committee, investigating the 2013 IPL betting controversy, has urged the Supreme Court for a five-month extension to recommend reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and complete its investigation into the alleged involvement of IPL chief operating officer Sundar Raman.
The Supreme Court-appointed committee, in a judgment on “punish first and debate later, has been given six months to complete its mandate.
6. India foils U.K. firm’s bid to patent Ayurvedic mix
India has once again foiled an attempt by a major European major dermaceutical company to take patent on a medicinal composition containing turmeric, pine bark and green tea for treating hair loss. “India once again has been successful in protecting its traditional knowledge by preventing an attempt made by Europe’s leading dermaceutical laboratory — Pangaea Laboratories Limited, to take patent on a medicinal composition containing turmeric, pine bark and green tea for treating hair loss,” a statement issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology said.
Traditional Knowledge Digital Library located the patent application filed at European Patent Office by Pangaea Laboratories Limited and filed pre-grant opposition along with prior-art evidences from TKDL, proving that turmeric, pine bark and green tea, are being used for treating hair loss, since long in Ayurveda and Unani. — PTI
7. Challenges emerge within Taliban to Mansour’s leadership
The brother of late Taliban leader Mullah Omar on Sunday joined a growing challenge to the extremist group’s newly appointed leader, even as it offered a purported statement of support from Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Mullah Abdul Manan told AP that new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was “selected” by a small clique of his own supporters. That comes after Mullah Omar’s son, Yacoub, also warned Mansoor didn’t have the support of the wider Taliban.
8. Obama to unveil strongest climate plan in U.S. history
In the strongest action ever taken in the United States to combat climate change, President Barack Obama will unveil on Monday a set of environmental regulations devised to sharply cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s power plants and ultimately transform America’s electricity industry.
The rules are the final, tougher versions of proposed regulations that the Environmental Protection Agency announced in 2012 and 2014. If they withstand the expected legal challenges, the regulations will set in motion sweeping changes that could shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants, freeze construction of new coal plants and create a boom in the production of wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.
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As the President came to see the fight against climate change as central to his legacy, as important as the Affordable Care Act, he moved to strengthen the energy proposals, advisers said. The health law became the dominant political issue of the 2010 congressional elections and faced dozens of legislative assaults before surviving two Supreme Court challenges largely intact.
“Climate change is not a problem for another generation, not anymore,” Obama said in a video prepared for posting on Facebook at midnight Saturday. He called the new rules “the biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken to combat climate change.”
The most aggressive of the regulations requires the nation’s power plants to cut emissions 32 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, an increase from the 30 per cent target proposed in the draft regulation.
That new rule also demands that power plants use more renewable energy like wind and solar power. While the proposed rule would have allowed states to lower emissions by transitioning from plants fired by coal to plants fired by natural gas — which produces about half the carbon pollution of coal — the final rule is intended to push electric utilities to invest more quickly in renewable sources, raising to 28 per cent from 22 per cent the share of generating capacity that would come from such sources. — New York Times News Service
9. West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region
04-08-15
1.A community festival in sync with nature
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The Bheemanna puja celebrated on Monday by the tiny Tenugollu community in Adilabad, also known as Koli or Mudiraj community, displays the environmental consciousness among people. The one-day festivity, which involves consecration of a wooden statue of god Bheemanna followed by fetching teak leaves from the local jungle, exhibit how perfect was the environmental understanding in traditional societies which helped them achieve harmony with nature.
2.Greens in Andhra Pradesh cry foul over Kolleru diversion plan
The Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to divert most of the rivulets and drains that pour into the Kolleru lake, a protected wildlife sanctuary, and instead route them to the Polavaram Right Main Canal (PRMC). Environmentalists suspect that this is a backdoor move to reduce the size of the Kolleru lake.
As per the international Ramsar Convention, inflows to a protected wetland cannot be diverted for other purposes.
The government is building the Polavaram Right Main Canal (PRMC) to irrigate the Krishna delta. But in doing so, two rivulets, Budameru and Tammileru, and 70 drains major and minor drains, will cease to flow into the Kolleru.
Kolleru is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India. It is an important wetland with as many as 257 water fowl, 81 of them migratory. The lake is a roosting spot for the grey pelican. Kolleru was designated a Ramsar wetland in 2002. Though it was protected up to contour +10 by the international convention, the Central and State Governments have been able to protect it only until contour +5 by declaring it a wildlife sanctuary.
3.Naga problem was a legacy of British rule, says Modi:Naga Peace accord signed
The agreement was the culmination of over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 16 years.
After the government signed a peace accord with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Unfortunately, the Naga problem has taken so long to resolve because we did not understand each other. It is a legacy of the British rule. The colonial rulers had, by design, kept the Nagas isolated and insulated. They propagated terrible myths about the Nagas in the rest of the country…They also spread negative ideas about the rest of India among the Naga people. This was part of the well-known policy of divide and rule of the colonial rulers.”
Joyson Mazamo of Naga Hoho, the apex body of the Naga tribes, told The Hindu : “Until and unless we see the contents of the accord, it is difficult to say anything. We were not involved in the talks with the government, though. The I-M group does not represent the entire Nagas but it has popular support.”
The group met Mr. Modi in June this year and demanded a lasting solution to the Naga problem. Mr. Mazamo added: “We want integration and want all arbitrary boundaries removed.”
The NSCN (I-M) has been fighting for an independent Nagaland, but later on demanded a ‘Greater Nagaland’ by slicing off parts of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to unite 1.2 million Nagas. The demand was opposed by the three States. In 2012, the UPA government formulated an agreement to be signed with the Naga groups, but it was shot down by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh of the Congress.
After Monday’s accord, NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah, who signed the pact, said in a statement, “Better understanding has been arrived at and a framework agreement has been concluded, based on the unique history and position of the Nagas and recognising the universal principle that in a democracy sovereignty lies with the people.”
He said: “After decades of confrontation and untold sufferings, the Nagas decided to have political dialogue with the Government of India in view of the acknowledgement that the government will seek a peaceful solution, leaving aside the military solution.”
Though Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was present at the ceremony, sources said, the Home Ministry was kept out of the loop in the entire process. It is learnt that none of the senior officials of the Ministry, which is involved in the day-to-day operations in the north-east, was involved in it. The agreement was the culmination of over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 16 years, with the first breakthrough coming in 1997 when a ceasefire agreement was sealed.
Before the agreement was signed, Mr. Modi spoke to leaders of various parties, including the former Prime Ministers, Manmohan Singh and H.D. Deve Gowda, Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh, Mayawati of the BSP, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
He also spoke to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Tamil Nadu counterpart Jayalalithaa, besides Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Acharya and Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang and DMK president M. Karunanidhi.
‘We want integration and want all arbitrary boundaries removed’
4. Ban on 857 porn sites temporary, says Centre
The government on Monday clarified that its move to ban 857 adult content websites, which has kicked up a storm on the social media, is ‘temporary’ and was in response to the Supreme Court’s directions to address the menace of pornography, especially child pornography.
The Telecom Department is working on a long term policy, which could include the setting up of a regulatory body or an ombudsman, to regulate such sites, a top ministry source briefed reporters.
“What we have done is temporary.... The government is acting purely on the Supreme Court observation that government needs to take stand on the issue of blocking of pornography websites in the country, especially child pornography.... Free and open access to such content is an issue,” the source said.
While hearing a PIL petition by advocate Kamlesh Vashwani to block porn websites in India, Chief Justice H.L. Dattu, in July, had remarked, “The issue is definitely serious and some steps need to be taken. The Centre is expected to take a stand…let us see what stand the Centre will take,” and had directed the government to reply in four weeks.
The next hearing in the Supreme Court for this matter is scheduled on August 10.
In a late night communication to Internet services providers on Friday, the government had said the service providers should control “open and free” access to the identified 857 websites as an “interim measure” to protect the Indian cultural fabric and prevent gross misuse of technology, another source said.
The source added this will not violate right to personal liberty as being debated as adults will still be able to access the sites using virtual private networks (VPNs) or proxy servers.
“The government must be away from the whole process (dealing with obscene/explicit content online)… One of the ideas is to set up a regulatory body or let there be an ombudsman to take a call on such issues,” the sources said.
‘Free access to child pornography an issue’
5. U-turn by BJP could help Land Bill clear House hurdle
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A jubilant Congress claimed victory on Monday, when clear indications emerged that the Narendra Modi government, after months of standing firm, had virtually agreed to return almost entirely to the text of the Land Acquisition Act passed during the UPA’s tenure in 2013.
The likelihood of an impending climb-down by the government came at a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the Bill when all 11 BJP MPs on the 30-member panel moved amendments, seeking to bring back key provisions of the 2013 Act.
These include provisions relating to
Consent and social impact assessment (SIA),
Dropping the section that exempted a special category of projects from the consent and SIA clauses,
Agreeing to go back on the idea of an industrial corridor, and
Restoring the clause on penalties for defaulting officers.
It also withdrew the expression “private entity,” which was “private company” in the 2013 Act.
The other members on the JPC belong to the Congress (5), the Trinamool Congress (2) and the Janata Dal (United), the Samajwadi Party, the BJD, the Shiv Sena, the NCP, the BSP, the TRS, the LJP, the CPI(M) and the TDP (all one each).
Meanwhile, Trinamool members Derek O’Brien and Kalyan Banerjee walked out of the meeting, saying that as the amendments were circulated only in the morning, they had little time to study them. The Trinamool has been seeking the withdrawal of the Modi government’s Bill. With the Assembly elections due in Bihar later this year and its rivals making the Land Bill a key poll issue, the government appears to have decided that discretion is the better part of valour.
6.Only 8.15% of Indians are graduates, Census data show
Despite a big increase in college attendance, especially among women, fewer than one out of every 10 Indians is a graduate, new Census data show.
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Over the weekend, the office of the Census Commissioner and Registrar-General of India released new numbers on the level of education achieved by Indians as of 2011.
They show that with 6.8 crore graduates and above, India still has more than six times as many illiterates.
While rural India accounts for only a third of all graduates, the rate of increase in graduates was faster in rural than in urban India over the last decade, and fastest of all among rural women. From 26 lakh graduates 10 years ago, nearly 67 lakh rural women are now graduates. Rural Indians are more likely to have non-technical graduate degrees than urban Indians, while urban India accounts for 80 per cent of all Indian technology and medicine graduates.
Among those with a graduate degree or above, the majority (over 60 per cent) are those who have a non-technical graduate degree.
7. Centre inks peace accord with Naga insurgent outfit
The government signed a peace accord with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), one of the largest insurgent outfits, which has been demanding a unified Naga identity and a separate ‘Nagalim’ State for over six decades.
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The details of the accord were not released by the government, and there is no clarity on the “sovereignty clause,” being demanded by the insurgent group.
Besides the IM faction, there are two more groups — Khole-Kitovi (KK) and Reformation (R) — which were not part of the accord.
They have signed a ceasefire agreement with the government till April 27, 2016.
In March this year, the Khaplang faction, led by S.S. Khaplang, broke the ceasefire with India and is suspected to be behind a series of violent attacks in Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, where 18 personnel were killed in an attack on an Army convoy.
R.N. Ravi, the Naga interlocutor, signed the accord with the NSCN-IM at a much publicised ceremony at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence. Besides Mr. Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval were present.
8. Obama takes ‘biggest step’ to tackle climate change
Hundreds of businesses including eBay, Nestle and General Mills have issued their support for Barack Obama’s clean power plan, billed as the strongest action ever on climate change by a U.S. President.
The rules, being announced on Monday, are designed to cut emissions from power plants and have been strengthened in terms of the long-term ambition as originally proposed by the president last year, but slightly weakened in the short-term in a concession to states reliant on highly-polluting coal.
White House adviser Brian Deese said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules represented the “biggest step that any single president has made to curb the carbon pollution that is fuelling climate change”. The U.S. is the world’s second biggest carbon emitter after China.
The rules are expected to trigger a “tsunami” of legal opposition from States and utilities who oppose the plans, which will significantly boost wind and solar power generation and force a switch away from coal power. Republican presidential hopefuls moved quickly to voice their opposition, saying they would be economically damaging.
But 365 businesses and investors wrote to 29 state governors to strongly support the rules, which they said would benefit the economy and create jobs.
Mindy Lubber, the president of Ceres, a network of investors that organised the letter, said: “The clean power plan is the right measure at the right time. It’s a flexible, practical and economically sound blueprint to transition America toward a low-carbon future.”
Other signatories included Unilever, L’Oreal, Levi Strauss, L’Oreal, Staples, renewable energy company SunEdison and Trillium Asset Management, which manages $2.2 billion in assets. It is the largest group of businesses to support the rules so far.
The final rules propose a 32 per cent cut in carbon emissions from power plants by 2030 on 2005 levels, up from the initial proposal of 30 per cent.
However, states will only have to comply by 2022 rather than 2020 as originally proposed, and will be able submit their plans on meeting the targets by 2018 instead of 2017.
America’s Natural Gas Alliance, a trade body, said it was “disappointed and discouraged” by the rules. The Solar Energy Industries Association, on the other hand, said they were “historic” and “critically needed.” The new rules will give a “give a head start to wind and solar deployment”, according to a White House fact sheet.
05-08-15
1. Citizenship soon for those who fled religious persecution
In a move that will have far-reaching implications in Assam and some parts of north-west India, the Union Home Ministry will amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant citizenship to undocumented migrants who fled religious persecution in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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The migrants include not just Hindus but also Buddhists, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sikhs and Jains.
Top Home Ministry sources have confirmed that a Bill is in the works to amend the Act and make changes to some provisions in the Foreigners Act, 1946, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, and the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950. The Law Ministry has vetted the amendments.
“This is an idea floated right after the Modi government came to power, but it was found that many people who fled into India fearing religious persecution do not have valid documents, or have their visas expired. Therefore, these people are illegal migrants and ineligible for citizenship,” a top official said. Several high-level meetings were held by the Ministry with the Law Minister, the Law Secretary and the Home Secretary to remedy the situation.
“Basically, two changes need to be made to the Passport Act, 1920, and Passport Rules, 1950, to exempt people who fled religious persecution from Pakistan or Bangladesh from being termed illegal migrants and offer them long-term visas while their case for citizenship is being considered,” a source said.
2.Iran’s top sculptor dedicates work to Cecil the lion
Iran’s top sculptor Parviz Tanavoli is to dedicate a work to Cecil, the lion who was killed by an American dentist in Zimbabwe sparking an international outcry.
“The cruel killing of the Zimbabwean lion known as Cecil broke my heart,” said the 78-year-old, who has created many distinctive sculptures of lions in a career spanning six decades.
“In memory of him, I will be dedicating one of my latest lions to him in order to keep his memory alive and to help stop cruelty to animals,” he told the ISNA news agency.
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Mr. Tanavoli, who usually works in bronze and other metals and is a leading proponent of the Saghakhaneh style that captures elements of Iranian culture, said it still saddened him that Iran’s last lion died some 50 years ago. —
Zimbabwe has urged the extradition of Walter Palmer, the so-called trophy hunter from Minnesota who attracted widespread derision after shooting the lion and posing for a picture next to its body. — AFP
3.The hills are alive ...
An issue that was swept under the carpet has become the talk of the town overnight, thanks to a YouTube video. Kodaikanal Won’t , a groovy rap video released by the NGO , is the latest social media anthem that highlights the popular outcry against the mercury contamination in Kodaikanal by Hindustan Unilever’s thermometer factory. The video, released last Friday, takes on the corporate giant and demands that the company’s CEO Paul Polman “make amends now”. The video is part of a campaign launched by the workers of the now-closed factory and urges viewers to sign an online petition.
“It is a struggle that has been going on for the past 14 years. None of us knew about it. I wanted to do my bit using the medium I knew,” says filmmaker R. Rathindran Prasad, who directed the video
4.Ban only on sites promoting child porn, says Centre
ovt. to partially lift the curbs on pornography sites
Following massive uproar over its move to ban 857 pornography sites, the Union government on Tuesday said the ban would be lifted. However, sites that promoted child porn would continue to be prohibited.
The government on Friday asked Internet service providers to restrict “open and free” access to 857 porn websites to protect Indian cultural fabric. On Monday, The Hindu had reported that the ban was ‘temporary’.
“The government has decided that the ban will be partially lifted. The Supreme Court petition pertained to child pornography, so sites promoting it will continue to be under the ban. A communication will soon be sent out to Internet services providers. Other considerations will be looked into after court hearing,” a source in the Telecom Ministry said.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting called by Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and attended by IT Secretary R.S. Sharma and Additional Solicitor-General Pinky Anand.
“The action taken by the government was basically to comply with the observation of the Supreme Court when it asked the department to take action on the list of alleged porn sites provided by the petitioner,” Mr. Prasad said.
‘Serious issue’
“The issue is definitely serious and some steps need to be taken,” Chief Justice H.L. Dattu had remarked while hearing a public interest litigation petition by advocate Kamlesh Vashwani to block porn websites. “The Centre is expected to take a stand … let us see what stand the Centre will take.”
He had directed the government to reply in four weeks. The next hearing in the Supreme Court on this matter is scheduled for August 10.
The Telecom Department is working on a long-term policy, which could include the setting up a regulatory body or an ombudsman to regulate such sites, a top Ministry source had told The Hindu . “The government must stay away from the whole process [dealing with obscene/explicit content online] … One of the ideas is to set up a regulatory body or let there be an ombudsman to take a call or such issues.”
5. Citizenship issue can affect relations with neighbours
The cut-off date proposed for victims of religious persecution from Pakistan and Bangladesh who can apply for citizenship is December 31, 2014. Citizenship by registration (a minimum stay of seven years) and naturalisation (a minimum of 12 years) will be the two routes.
The External Affairs Ministry has cautioned the Home Ministry that the move could hurt India’s relations with its neighbours. Nevertheless, the political call has been taken.
The Citizenship Act, 1955, would have to be amended to reflect the exemption from the status of illegal migrant. “Section 2, sub-section 1’s clause (b) will have a proviso which will reflect this exemption,” a source said.
The amendment to the Passports Act, 1920, and Passport Rules, 1950, will have to be notified and tabled in Parliament for two months to allow for objections, if any, before being deemed clear. The amendments to the Citizenship Act, 1950, will be cleared as a Bill after being debated in Parliament.
On Monday, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said in Silchar: “No person who came from Bangladesh because of persecution or harassment will have to leave Assam or India. The NDA government will soon bring in necessary amendments to the Citizenship Act.”
“At his first public rally in Assam during the 2014 election campaign, Narendra Modi had said Hindu Bangladeshis would be removed from camps and given citizenship,” a senior BJP leader said.
6. Nine U.S. satellites to be flown from Sriharikota
In a small but significant progress in the chequered Indo-U.S. space equations, Indian satellite launchers will for the first time put a few U.S.-made satellites into space from Indian soil.
ISRO’s commercial venture Antrix Corporation recently signed contracts to launch nine micro and nano spacecraft separately as small co-passengers on the PSLV light-lifter during this year and next, according to information from ISRO officials.
“As on date, Antrix Corporation Ltd. has signed agreement to launch about nine nano / micro [U.S.] satellites during the 2015-2016 timeframe from the Sriharikota launch pad,” an ISRO spokesman confirmed to The Hindu without elaborating. He clarified that they were not for U.S. space agency NASA; and they would go piggyback with other satellites.
A micro satellite weighs in the band of 10-100 kg and a nano satellite in the range of one to 10 kg.
ISRO did not share the agency or agencies that have signed the launch contract; or whether they were for Earth observation, university-built spacecraft or those carrying scientific experiments of research institutions.
On Monday, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar was reported to have mentioned in Chennai that ISRO would launch its first ever U.S. spacecraft.
The U.S. contracts are seen as the first fruit of the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) that the Department of Space signed with the U.S. in July 2009. The TSA leaves the door open for ISRO to launch small non-commercial or experimental spacecraft that are made in the US — or even those of other countries which contain U.S. components.
Until the TSA was signed, even that leeway was not available for ISRO which aspires to take baby bites in the big global launch service business. Most satellites made around the world use some or other U.S. components.
ISRO and the U.S. have been working at a bigger accord, the CSLA (Commercial Satellite Launch Agreement) which, when sealed, will bring in the business of launching bigger commercial Earth observation or other satellites.
ISRO’s PSLV launcher, which has done 30 flights with just one failure since 1993, has a good record and is considered low-priced and reliable for small satellites. To date, it has put into orbit 45 small and mid-sized foreign satellites of 19 nations for a fee.
Radar satellite
Another positive outcome with the U.S. is the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), signed about two years ago, to co-develop a radar imaging satellite and launch it from India around 2019-20. It will be the first synthetic aperture radar satellite in dual frequency.
ISRO bags first ever bunch of U.S. launch orders
7. S. China Sea tensions flare at ASEAN talks
Southeast Asian diplomats said on Tuesday that China’s controversial island-building drive is raising regional tensions, with the Philippines slamming its “unilateral and aggressive activities”.
The U.S. and some Southeast Asian states have watched with growing alarm as Beijing expands tiny reefs in the South China Sea, topping some with military posts to reinforce its disputed claims over the strategic waters and fanning fears of future conflict.
The flashpoint issue has taken centre-stage at the annual security forum hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that began on Tuesday. But China has insisted it will not discuss the dispute during the meetings.
That prompted a sharp rebuke from the Philippines, which, along with Vietnam, has been involved in the most direct territorial confrontations with China.
Hitting out
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told fellow ASEAN foreign ministers at an afternoon meeting that “massive reclamation activities” and construction by Beijing in the disputed sea had “undermined peace, security and stability”. Beijing claims control over nearly all of the sea, a key shipping route thought to hold rich oil and gas reserves. — AFP
8. Russia bids at U.N. for vast Arctic territories
Russia has submitted its bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square km of Artic sea shelf extending more than 650 km from the shore.
Russia, the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway have all been trying to assert jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic, which is believed to hold up to a quarter of the planet’s undiscovered oil and gas. Rivalry for Arctic resources has intensified as shrinking polar ice is opening up new opportunities for exploration.
Russia was the first to submit its claim in 2002, but the U.N. sent it back for lack of evidence.
The ministry said that the resubmitted bid contains new arguments. “Ample scientific data collected in years of Arctic research are used to back the Russian claim,” it said.
Russia expects the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to start looking at its bid in the fall, the ministry said.
In 2007, Moscow staked a symbolic claim to the Arctic seabed by dropping a canister containing the Russian flag on the ocean floor from a small submarine at the North Pole. Amid tensions with the West over Ukraine, the Kremlin also has moved to beef up Russian military forces in the Arctic. — AP
9. Amalendu Krishna of TIFR wins Ramanujan Prize
Dr. Krishna has been honoured for his contributions in the area of algebraic K-theory, algebraic cycles and theory of motives.
The Ramanujan Prize for 2015 has been won by mathematician Amalendu Krishna of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. The prize is awarded jointly by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the International Mathematical Union (IMU) to a person under 45 working in a developing country.
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Dr. Krishna has been recognised for outstanding contributions in the area of algebraic K-theory, algebraic cycles and the theory of motives. “I feel happy that this prize will motivate more young Indians to pursue science and do well in that. It means a lot … to see my family feeling proud of my work,” he said.
M.S. Raghunathan, a member of the selection committee and Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, said Dr. Krishna was among the top mathematicians under 45 in the country. “His work in algebraic geometry (more specifically about cycles and motives) has attracted considerable attention. He has been attacking some hard problems and has come up with some very original ideas that constitute significant progress on them,” he said.
The website of the Ramanujan Prize says the selection committee will, in particular, favour those candidates who have overcome adversity. Can the word “adversity” apply to working in places like India or China? Professor Raghunathan said: “People have raised the issue … eventually the IMU and the ICTP decided that while there are institutions in these countries where the conditions are good, a large majority of researchers still work in difficult conditions compared with their Western counterparts. This is an issue over which the Abel Foundation [which funded the prize originally] withdrew its support for the prize, and the Department of Science and Technology stepped in with the necessary funding.”
Dr. Krishna is from Bihar and did his schooling and early college education there. “[Born into a middle class family and] growing in the conditions of disadvantage, it was very difficult to motivate oneself to take up science as a profession. There was not much happening around to help students orient themselves. I was then lucky to join the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata … I worked hard and eventually survived,” he said.
The pure and challenging nature of maths keeps him hooked. “This subject is often so complex that most of the problems I try to solve, I land up not able to solve. That keeps me always grounded,” he said.
Instituted in 2005, the Ramanujan Prize carries a citation and a cash of $15,000. The winner is invited to give a talk at the ICTP.
This is the second time it is being awarded to an Indian, with Sujatha Ramadorai having won it in 2006.
07-08-15
1. Egypt unveils $9-bn ‘new Suez Canal’
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi unveiled an expanded Suez Canal on Thursday in a lavish ceremony, with the first ships passing through the waterway in what Egypt hopes will boost its economy and global standing.
The former army chief formally opened the $9 billion waterway to the cheers of hundreds of guests, including foreign dignitaries.
The event in the port city of Ismailiya was attended by heads of state, including French President Francois Hollande.
The government says the project will more than double the canal’s annual revenue to $13.2 billion by 2023. — AP
2.GST Bill: Centre wants T.N. on board
The Modi government wants Tamil Nadu on board for the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill meant to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The government is currently in hectic parleys with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazahgam government in the State which gave a dissent note to the report of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Bill. The panel, in its report tabled in Parliament on July 22, endorsed nearly all of the Bill’s clauses.
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“It is not that the GST Bill can be taken through Parliament on the back of the AIADMK’s strength in the Rajya Sabha … we are dependent on the Congress in the Upper House, but the government doesn’t want a big State such as Tamil Nadu to be left out of such an important national policy issue,” an official source told The Hindu .
Apart from Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, another producer State, is not on board, but the government is confident that as it is ruled by the BJP, it will fall in line.
The government is pulling out all the stops to ensure that the GST Bill goes through in this session. “We are taking a beating in the international investors’ community for the delay in the passage of the GST legislation,” another official source said.
Its efforts, at the moment, are to ensure that Parliament can be extended beyond August 13, the scheduled date for closure of the current session, since the Congress is showing no signs of giving up its protests. “Parliament might have to be reconvened after Independence Day,” it said.
In an interview to a TV channel on Thursday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: “The Monsoon Session washout doesn’t mean the end of GST. The April 1, 2016 deadline is ideal for both States and Centre. The Congress must come to the negotiating table as it was its Bill. Politics is a process and there is no stalemate in democracy. Mere stubbornness can’t thwart the process.”
The government is engaged in back-channel talks with the Congress, top BJP sources say. “The problem with the GST Bill is that it can’t be done without the Congress,” Chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament on Land Bill S.S. Ahluwalia said.
He indicated that all contentious issues would be removed from the Land Bill and the committee’s report would be tabled on August 11. Mr. Ahluwalia met Mr. Jaitley, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Nirmala Sitharaman and officials of the two Ministries to discuss the government’s strategy on the Bill at North Block on Thursday.
A source present at this meeting, however, clarified that there was no question of meeting the Congress demand for resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj or any of the two BJP Chief Ministers, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
‘Monsoon session washout doesn’t mean the end of GST’
3. China and Iran may barter weapons for oil
China appears set to reap the “peace dividend” following Iran’s sanctions-lifting nuclear accord by selling Tehran 24 J-10 fighter jets in exchange for a 20-year access to a major Iranian oil field.
China will barter the 24 fighter planes for access to the giant Azadegan oil field under the weapons-for-oil deal, reports , a Taiwanese news website.
Iranian authorities claim that the Azadegan field has oil-in-place reserves of about 33.2 billion barrels and recoverable resources estimated at about 5.2 billion barrels.
China has not confirmed the report, which, analysts say could buttress the case of Israel, Iran’s foremost regional rival, against the nuclear deal that Tehran has signed with the six world powers last month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the deal a “historic mistake”.
Quoting foreign sources, the Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post is reporting the ultimate irony that J-10s now going to Iran are an adaptation of the Lavi aircraft, whose manufacture Israel terminated in the 1980s at the prototype stage.
“The Lavi was built and developed by Israel Aircraft Industries, though the government eventually decided to terminate the programme due to the high costs of production and after the U.S. offered to sell Israel F-16s as an alternative. After the cancellation, the Israeli government resolved to sell the plans to China,” observes The Jerusalem Post.
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According to the Taiwanese portal, the J-10 fighters have a range of 2940 km, which will cover Iran’s entire air space as well as of the Persian Gulf. However, analysts say that the transfer of only 24 planes, or two squadrons, is unlikely to shift West Asia’s strategic military balance that is heavily tilted in favour of Israel.
China signed an agreement in 2009 to supply 36 J-10B planes to Pakistan, but none of the aircraft, which were part of $ 1.4 billion contract, has been delivered to Islamabad as yet.
Iran is significantly reliant on military aircraft to protect its vital national assets, including its sole civilian nuclear power plant, as well as strategic gas fields. The Fars News Agency of Iran has reported quoting a senior air force commander that the country’s F4 fighter jets are protecting the Bushehr nuclear power plant as well as the giant South Pars oil and gas field.
“At present, Shahid Yasini air base is responsible for fulfilling missions to provide cover and defend the Islamic Iran’s airspace and economic lifeline using F4 aircraft, in addition to conducting tactical and combat missions,” air force commander Esmayeel Lashkari was quoted as saying.
The Bushehr plant began operations in September 2011, but full commercial production is expected to start later in 2015.
Observers point out that if the reports about the China-Iran deal are true, it would confirm that despite the nuclear deal in which the Americans played a significant role, Iran is unlikely to loosen ties with its traditional allies in Eurasia, including China.
4.Ban on Indian drugs based on scientific reasons: EU
A day after India deferred trade talks with European Union (EU), protesting the ban on 700 generic drugs, the bloc said the ban was based on scientific and not trade considerations.
“The Commission stresses that the decision concerning a ban on 700 generic drugs was based on scientific and not trade considerations and in accordance with the advice of the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA),” Daniel Rosario, European Commission Spokesperson for Trade said in an email response to The Hindu.
India said the decision was taken as the government is “disappointed and concerned by the action of EU in imposing legally binding ban on the sale of around 700 pharma products clinically tested by GVK Biosciences, Hyderabad” on 16 July, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The meeting between chief trade negotiators of the two sides was scheduled for end of this month.
“The Commission takes note of the press release issued by the Indian Government about the deferral of jointly agreed talks between the Chief Negotiators on the EU-India Free Trade Agreement. The Commission would like to stress that the purpose of this meeting at Chief Negotiators level was to explore the possibility of resuming the FTA talks, and was not meant to constitute in anyway a full-fledged negotiation round. The Commission remains committed to continue working towards conclusion of an agreement between India and the EU that will be acceptable to both sides. For this reasons, the Commission hopes that a solution will be found to the current deferral,” European Commission Spokesperson for Trade said in his email in reaction to India’s action.
India and EU have been negotiating for the proposed free-trade agreements since 2007. The talks have seen set backs due to differences regarding lack of access for Indians to EU’s labour market and high taxes imposed on liquor and car imports from Europe. The latest development comes as yet another setback for the talks to progress further.
The country could lose about $1-1.2 billion worth of drug exports because of the decision taken by the European Commission to ban the drugs, according to Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).
India exported $15.4 billion worth of pharmaceutical products in 2014-15, with Europe accounting for $3 billion, or 20 per cent of the total. Out of the $3 billion, exports of generic medicines constituted about $1 billion and drug ingredients accounted for the rest.
The country could lose about $1-1.2 billion worth of drug exports because of the decision.
5.Gold crashes to four-year low
Continuing its slide for the fourth consecutive day, gold prices on Thursday dipped below Rs.25,000 by losing Rs.40 to trade at over four-year lows of Rs.24,980 per 10 gram at the domestic bullion market.
Moreover, the precious metal was trading at five-year lows in the global market.
Besides, there was an easing demand from jewellers as retailers deferred their buying plans on hopes of further dip in the yellow metal prices.
6.EPFO plans to invest Rs 5,000 cr in equities
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), for the first time since its inception in 1951, would invest in equities with a corpus of Rs.5,000 crore initially through SBI Mutual Fund.
For this purpose, SBI-ETF NIFTY and SBI SENSEX ETF are the two index-linked ETF schemes chosen from the State Bank of India-promoted SBI Mutual Fund. EPFO manages a corpus of Rs.6.5 lakh crore of pension fund of five crore subscribers.
“If foreign pension funds can invest in our equity market and make money, why can’t we take advantage.”
8-08-15
1.India decides to boycott CPU meet
Will not participate unless Pak. invites J&K AssemblySpeaker or association shifts the venue
New Delhi has decided to boycott the 61st conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union (CPU) to be held in Islamabad unless Pakistan extends an invitation to the Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, or the CPU changes the venue of the meeting.
India’s decision stems from Islamabad’s refusal to invite the J&K Speaker on the grounds that it is in violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1991(1951) of March 30, 1951 and resolution 122 (1957) of January 4, 1957. Pakistan has also said the invitation to J&K would contradict the fundamentals of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
India’s strong reaction comes amid escalating tension between New Delhi and Islamabad over ceasefire violations along the border in Jammu and Kashmir and over the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the recent terror strikes.
2.Tripura passes resolution against death penalty
The Tripura Assembly has passed a resolution requesting the Centre to amend Section 302 of the IPC to abolish capital punishment. The resolution is apparently a fallout of the recent hanging of Yakub Memon, convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
Congress MLA Jitendra Sarkar moved a motion in the Assembly on its opening day on Friday against the death penalty and replaced it with life sentence unto death.Chief Minister Manik Sarkar strongly opposed capital punishment terming it as murdering someone for committing a murder. Leader of the Opposition Sudip Roy Burman quoted Mahatma Gandhi to raise his objection to the death sentence. However, Ratan Lal Nath of the Congress favoured continuation of capital punishment.
Mr. Nath did not object when the Speaker put the motion to vote. The Speaker declared the motion to have been passed unanimously. The adopted resolution would be sent to union government and the Law Commission for consideration.
3.India follows global trends in taking on cyber attacks
The number of cyber attacks in the country stood at nearly 50,000 during the first five months of 2015, with most of these attacks on computer networks of Indian organisations originating from countries such as the U.S., Pakistan, China and Bangladesh, Parliament was informed on Friday.
“The trend in increase in cyber attacks is similar to that worldwide. A total number of 22,060, 71,780, 1,30,338, and 49,504 cyber security incidents, including phishing, scanning, spam, malicious code and website intrusion, were reported to Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) during the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (up to May), respectively,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Prasad said attackers are compromising computer systems in different parts of the world and use masquerading techniques and hidden servers to hide the identity of the systems from which the attacks are launched.
“In such cases, CERT-In notifies the organisation concerned regarding the cyber attacks and requests for logs of network devices, servers and other related components for analysing the attacks and identifying sources of attack,” he said.
Analysis of attack methodology is done based on available log provided by the organisations.
“According to the logs as analysed and made available to CERT-In, the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the computers from where the attacks originated belong to the countries, including the U.S., Europe, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Brazil, Turkey, Iran, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the UAE,” the Minister said.
The Minister said a total of 27,605 and 28,481 websites were hacked during the year 2012 and 2013, respectively. In the year 2014 and 2015 (up to May), the number was 32,323 and 9,057, respectively.
A majority of them originate from the U.S., Pak., China and Bangladesh, says Telecom Minister
4.Another secular blogger hacked to death in Dhaka
Rarely three months after the killing of a blogger in Sylhet, unknown assailants armed with machetes hacked to death secular blogger Niloy Chatterjee Neel at his home in Dhaka on Friday.
Niloy, who used the pen-name Niloy Neel, was killed after the gang broke into his apartment on the top floor of a four-storeyed building in Dhaka’s North Gorhan around 1.45 p.m.
The police said Niloy was a member of the “Gonojagoran Moncha”, a platform for youths demanding capital punishment for war criminals. Five attackers entered his house posing as potential renters.
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When they were refused entry, they forced their way in, confined Mr. Chatterjee in a room and slashed his head and neck. According to Niloy’s family members and the police, the assailants were armed with machetes and entered the flat in two groups after the Juma (Friday) prayers.
Niloy, who frequently blogged against communalism and fundamentalism on his website ‘Istishon’ (Station), recently received death threats from religious fanatics.
Family and friends said, following repeated threats, Niloy removed his pictures from his Facebook page and changed his place of residence to Kolkata.
The Bangladesh branch of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, Ansar al-Islam, claimed the killing and warned of more to come, according to monitoring group SITE.
“If your ‘freedom of speech’ maintains no limits, then widen your chests for ‘freedom of our machetes’,” the group, which also claimed to have murdered secular blogger Oyasiqur Rahman Babu in March, said in posts on Twitter and Facebook.
Niloy,40, who worked for an NGO, is the fourth secular blogger to be killed in the Muslim-majority nation since February, when Bangladeshi-born US citizen Avijit Roy was hacked to death in Dhaka. Roy’s wife and fellow blogger, Rafida Ahmed Bonya, was also badly wounded in the attack. In May, secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was hacked to death in north-eastern Sylhet on his way to work.
Two years ago, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was hacked to death near his home in Dhaka’s Mirpur.
Underground radical Islamist groups are reportedly behind the attacks. Their brutality is posing a major threat to free thinkers in the country.
Though the police have made some breakthrough in a few cases and arrested suspected killers, no punishment has been handed down so far.
Bloggers in hiding
Activist groups say they fear that Islamist hit squads have lists of the real names and addresses of the bloggers.
Asif Mohiuddin, a blogger who survived an attack in Bangladesh in 2013, described Chatterjee as an atheist “free thinker” whose posts appeared on several sites.
“He was critical against religions and wrote against Islamist, Hindu, Christian and Buddhist fundamentalism,” Mohiuddin, who is now based in the German capital Berlin, told AFP by phone.
The police meanwhile said Chatterjee was one of the organisers of the large-scale protests in 2013 against Islamists convicted of war crimes dating back to the 1971 conflict when Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan. (With inputs from AFP)
Niloy Neel wrote against communalism and fundamentalism; demanded capital punishment for war criminals
5. National handloom day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Chennai on a day's visit to launch the National Handloom Day on August 07 2015.
09-08-15
1.ISRO hopes soar for another indigenous GSLV launch success
Towards this month-end, national space agency ISRO hopes to realise its second consecutive success with the indigenous GSLV launcher boosted by its Indian cryogenic third stage.
The upcoming GSLV-D6 is the ninth in the series of the indigenous medium-lift satellite launch vehicle. It is for now slated to take off on or around August 27 from Sriharikota. Its passenger, the 2,140-kg communication satellite GSAT-6, was taken to Sriharikota from Bengaluru on July 20.
ISRO Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, A.S. Kiran Kumar, told The Hindu: “Our last GSLV launch with the indigenous cryo stage was in January 2014 and it was a success. [A success this time] will mean that ISRO can go ahead and have two GSLV launches a year as planned.
“Each success adds to the reliability and continuity of the vehicle. We now have a viable version. The basics have already been demonstrated. There is a lot of confidence and we are already working on the next lot.”
Satellites from home
The forthcoming launch will notch a significant milestone in the nation’s elusive GSLV programme, which was taken up in the mid-1990s and tried out for the first time in April 2001. The launcher will enable India to put into space two-tonne-class communication satellites from home — rather than on costly Western launchers.
Six early GSLVs, called Mark I, used Russian-made cryo stages. Mark II uses the homegrown cryo stage.
The next four or five GSLV launches would be for domestic use: INSAT-3DR and a spare to replace the meteorology satellite INSAT-3D; GISAT and its follow-on; and GSAT-6A to replace GSAT-6 after a few years.
Mr. Kiran Kumar said: “This flight will also test a few new technologies. One of them is the satellite antenna, which is unfurlable and of six metres in diametre. We are looking forward to testing this out as it has some advantages. It can give concentrated energy density for the same power. So far in older INSATs, we have routinely used antennas with diametres of 2.2 to 2.8 metres.”
As for its older and successful PSLV light-lift launcher, ISRO has made 30 flights since 1995 and has also commercially put 45 small and medium foreign satellites into orbit. Their launch fees earned ISROs business entity Antrix Corporation revenues totalling about Rs. 102 crore.
It is the ninth in the series of the indigenous medium-lift satellite launch vehicle.
2. The Creative Cities Network: Jaipur and Varanasi from India nominated to be added to the network.
The Creative Cities Network is a project under the patronage of UNESCO. With the aim of celebrating and maintaining cultural diversity, the alliance formed by member cities share their experiences in promoting the local heritage, as well as discuss plans on how to cope with the influx of globalization.
The Creative Cities Network aims to find and enrich a member city’s cultural identity in the midst of a growing trend towards internationalism.
The project focuses on the main product of excellence of these cities, and finds ways to maintain its relevance in city life, local economy and social development. The fields of excellence are classified among: Literature, Film, Music, Craft and Folk Art, Design, Media Arts, and Gastronomy.
Despite the general knowledge that change (towards modernity) is generated from urbanization, the Network aims to adapt and harness the proliferation of technology and social development to further a city’s product of excellence. In doing so, the city becomes a center for the protection of a past industry and its eventual preservation.
3.Foxconn plans to invest $5 billion
In a major push for the ‘Make in Maharashtra’ initiative, Taiwanese electronic contract manufacturer Foxconn has committed to invest $5 billion (over Rs.31,500 crore) in Maharashtra to set up large scale research & development (R&D) and manufacturing facilities for its global requirement. This investment will spread over three years.
4.P-Notes require more stringent monitoring
Way back in 2005, the then Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Y. V. Reddy spoke on the need for a view be taken on the ‘quantity and quality of FII flows’ and expressed the need for taxing or capping such flows. Immediately, the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram denied any such moves, constraining Mr. Reddy to clarify his statement.
The issue again came up for discussion recently as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money in its third report pointed out to the Supreme Court that the overseas derivative instruments (ODIs), popularly known as Participatory Notes (P-Notes), were used from destinations such as the Cayman Islands, a tax haven.
India allowed FIIs to invest in Indian capital market since 1992. As the Know-Your-Investor or Know-Your-Client (KYC) norms were applicable for these foreign funds, the FIIs started to issue P-Notes, which helped the beneficiary (end-user) to remain anonymous. P-Notes are, in essence, overseas derivatives instruments (ODIs), which have Indian stocks and derivatives as their underlying securities.
As per reports, P-Notes comprise around 15 to 20 per cent of the total FII investments in the country since 2009. While it held around 25 to 40 per cent in 2008, it was as high as 50 per cent in 2007.
Concerned with tax evasion through the stock market route and in an effort to curb black money, the SIT also suggested to the Government to obtain details of beneficial ownership or the end-user, which should be known to the capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Around the same time when Mr. Reddy had raised the issue of hot money, the then SEBI Chairman M. Damodaran also presumably held the same view of Mr. Reddy on such foreign inflows. However, in those days, the Government or the Finance Ministry was reluctant to take further action and forced the financial regulators to retract on their stand. The investments through P-Notes were legitimised by SEBI in 2002, when D. R. Mehta was the Chairman of the capital market regulator.
Mr. Reddy had said that there was scope for enhancing quality of flows through a review of policies relating to eligibility for registration as FIIs, and assessment of risks involved in flows through hedge funds, participatory notes, sub-accounts etc. “Strict adherence to ‘Know Your Investor’ principle, especially in regard to flows from tax-havens, including beneficial ownership would enhance quality,” he pointed out. His concern: The magnitudes of FDI/ FII flows are tending to be large and volatility has perhaps increased. The impact of such flows on the stock markets is discernible, but perhaps less evident at this juncture in corporate ownership and control.
Now under the new Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) regime, which came into effect from 2014, the regulator had segregated the FIIs into several categories.
“The fundamental worry we are having is that whether hot money or inappropriate funds are coming into the country,” said Harish H. V. Partner, Grant Thornton India LLP. According to him, there is always been a suspicion that this route has been used for laundering funds.
“While some PNs may be genuine some others could be illegal funds. But FPIs should give conformity to the funds that brought in with all documentation,” he said.
However, Sandeep Parekh, Founder, Finsec Law Advisors, said that these were highly regulated products and beneficiary was known on a monthly basis to SEBI and daily basis to FPI. “But there is no daily monitoring of the beneficial ownership (end-user) by the regulator, which is a must.”
SEBI officials also reportedly accepted the views of the SIT, though not fully. The SIT in its third report on July 25 had suggested to the regulator to put in place an effective mechanism to monitor any unusual rise in stock prices and inform other agencies such as CBDT and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for necessary action.
The outstanding value of ODIs at the end of February 2015 stood at Rs.2,715 lakh crore. The top five locations of end-beneficial owner of ODIs were Cayman Islands, the U.S., the U.K., Mauritius and Bermuda contributing to 31.3 per cent, 14.2 per cent, 13.5 per cent, 9.9 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively of total ODIs outstanding.
“This translates to roughly Rs.85,006 crore. The Cayman Islands had a population of 54,397 in 2010...It does not seem conceivable that a jurisdiction with a population of less than 55,000 could invest Rs.85,000 crore in one country,” a note from Ministry of Finance stated on the recommendations of SIT.
The SIT report stated that obtaining information on ‘beneficial ownership’ of P-Notes is of crucial importance to prevent their misuse. In this, the “final beneficial owner” of ODIs is known.
P-Notes are giving a varied and ulterior connotation to investors, especially among the retail and long-term investors in the country. It is the duty of the regulator to remove the doubt in the minds of genuine investors while curbing the black money in the country.
These are highly regulated products and beneficiary are known on a monthly basis to SEBI and daily basis to FPI. But there is no daily monitoring of the end-user by the regulator, which is a must.
10-08-15
1.Kayyara Kinhanna Rai passes away
Centenarian Kannada poet and freedom fighter Kayyara Kinhanna Rai passed away at his residence at Badiyadkka in Kasaragod district of Kerala on Sunday.
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Born on June 8, 1915, he left an indelible impression not only as a poet but also as a social activist, teacher, scholar, journalist and people’s representative. He was a champion for integrating the region around Kasaragod, north of Chandragiri, with Karnataka, an aspiration of the Kannada-speaking minority in Kerala after the 1957 States reorganisation.
mittee on Lokpal Bill gets extension till September
The parliamentary committee examining the Lokpal Bill has got a two-month extension till September. This is the second extension as the panel could not finish its work by July-end.
The 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by Congress MP E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, is examining the Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 18 and was referred to the committee on December 22. The committee was asked to submit its report by March 25, 2015, but sought an extension till July 30 to complete its task.
The Bill provides for the establishment of an anti-corruption watchdog, Lokpal, for the Union government and the Lokayuktas for the States to inquire into graft charges against public functionaries.
2.India plans to barter surplus sugar for pulses from abroad
The Centre is planning to barter surplus sugar in the country for pulses that are being imported at high prices and the Ministries of External Affairs and Commerce and Industry are working together on the proposal, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday.
Speaking at an ‘International conference on science, technology and public policy to achieve zero hunger challenge’ organised by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, she said India was now importing pulses from neighbouring countries and even from countries as far as Canada.
3.Idea came from PM’s Australia visit:
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The idea to crowd-source material for the Independence Day address came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia, when asked for suggestions on what he should say at the community reception held by Indians in Australia in his honour.
4.Environment Ministry pushes for contentious hydel projects
With the appointment of the third committee of experts by the Union Environment Ministry to review a few contentious hydroelectric power projects in Uttarakhand, activists see an attempt to shift the debate away from the danger they pose to changing their design in tune with the disaster-prone State.
The Ravi Chopra Committee and the Vinod Tare Committee had warned against the projects, including the six on which the Supreme Court is yet to give a decision.
The Hindu reviewed the minutes of the two meetings of the newly formed committee held in June and July.
1. Lata Tapovan (171 MW),
2. Alaknanda Badrinath (300 MW),
3. Kotlibhel 1A (195 MW),
4. Jhelum Tamak (128 MW),
5. Bhyundar Ganga (24.8 MW), and
6. Khirao Ganga (4.5 MW), are the projects that will be reviewed again by the new committee.
At a meeting held in July, the developers of the six projects presented design modifications to the new committee, so that they could be implemented once the issues of muck disposal, impact on biodiversity and disaster mitigation plan were addressed. The modifications were discussed last year too, but the first committee rejected them. Since the developers again failed to present acceptable modifications, the committee has said they should come up with the required modifications.
In the latest affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Ministry has also underscored the importance of design modifications, almost ruling out the possibility of cancellation of the projects even if they don’t meet the criteria.
Environmentalists have been objecting to the formation of the new committee, suspecting that the Ministry is forming committee after committee to get the green signal for the contentious projects.
On the formation of the third committee, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, E. Theophilus of the Uttarakhand-based Himal Prakriti, and Bharat Jhunjhunwala, a former professor of the IIM-Bangalore, had written to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
‘A violation’
“Not only is this a violation but also a clear indication of your ministry’s malafide intentions to overwrite and compromise the findings of previous committees…It is hence clear that till the time you [Mr. Javadekar] do not get a report that gives a green signal to these hydropower projects you will continue to form one committee after another, regardless of the reality on the ground,” they said.
In its affidavit in the SC, the Ministry highlights design modifications, almost ruling out their cancellation in disaster-prone Uttarakhand
5.India on top in exporting beef
India retains its top spot as the world’s largest exporter of beef, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and has extended its lead over the next highest exporter, Brazil. It must be noted, however, that the U.S. government classifies even buffalo meat as beef.
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According to the data, India exported 2.4 million tonnes of beef and veal in FY2015, compared to 2 million tonnes by Brazil and 1.5 million by Australia. These three countries account for 58.7 per cent of all the beef exports in the world. India itself accounts for 23.5 per cent of global beef exports. This is up from a 20.8 per cent share last year.
Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows that most of India’s buffalo meat exports go to Asian countries — Asia receives more than 80 per cent, while Africa takes around 15 per cent. Within Asia, Vietnam is the largest recipient, at 45 per cent.
India’s buffalo meat exports have been growing at an average of nearly 14 per cent each year since 2011, and fetching India as much as $4.8 billion in 2014. Last year, India for the first time earned more from the export of buffalo meat than it did from Basmati rice.
Several databases, including the United Nations Food and Agricultural Outlook, show that meat consumption in India is increasing. However, the data also shows that beef consumption has been falling over the years, down -44.5 per cent in 2014 from the level it was in 2000. This fall in consumption has been taking place regardless of the political party in power. Chicken consumption, however, was up 31 per cent in that period.
6.Trade, terror high on PM’s Gulf agenda
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make his first visit to the Gulf region and West Asia this weekend, with a trip to the United Arab Emirates, marking the first time an Indian PM will land in the UAE in more than three decades.
Mr. Modi is expected to fly to Abu Dhabi on August 16 to discuss investment and trade opportunities as well as cooperation on terrorism with the UAE leadership, and then to Dubai on August 17, where he will address the Indian community at the Dubai sports city cricket stadium.
In 2014-2015, trade between India and the UAE crossed $59 billion with the balance of trade in favour of India, making the UAE one of India’s biggest trading partners.
Mr. Modi will also push for greater cooperation on terrorism with Dubai, which has in the past assisted India with information on criminals and terrorists who had operations based out of the emirates, especially after the two countries signed two bilateral security agreements in 2011, on the transfer of sentenced persons and on combating terrorism.
In the past few months, the MHA has been particularly keen on working with the UAE and other Gulf countries on the spread of terror finance networks as well as curbing Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), and those will come up in the discussion between Mr. Modi and Sheikh Nahyan. Finally, Mr. Modi's visit will be seen as part of a “balancing act” in the region, given his proposed plans to visit both Israel and Iran in the upcoming year.
The last time an Indian PM visited UAE was Indira Gandhi in 1981, while President Pratibha Patil made a 5-day state visit in 2010.
7.Nepal inks breakthrough pact on new Constitution
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Disaster bridges the differences and helps in making a deal
Nepal’s rival parties have signed an agreement drawing up the country’s internal borders in a breakthrough that paves the way for a new national Constitution, the country’s Prime Minister said Sunday.
Spurred by April’s devastating quake, Nepal’s parties struck a historic deal in June to divide the country into eight provinces but left the crucial task of delineating state borders to a federal commission.
Midnight deal
The new agreement, signed after midnight on Saturday, came after days of negotiation and resolves a major issue that has blocked progress on the charter since 2008. As a result, the commission will no longer be required to set state boundaries.
“A Constitution with federalism and demarcation has been ensured,” Prime Minister Sushil Koirala wrote in a post on Twitter. “I call on everyone to not be stuck on minor disagreements and work to build and develop the country,” Koirala said.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal said that “the agreement was reached last night and it has moved the Constitution writing process a step forward.”
The deal comes after a series of public consultations held across the Himalayan nation last month.
In some cases, the consultations were marred by violence, especially in the southern plains, which are home to the Madhesi community, who expressed anger about a lack of detail on where and how new internal borders will be drawn.
“We have tried to understand the public stance and strike a balance on conflicting feedback responses,” Rijal said.
Opposition parties have long pushed for new provinces to be created along lines that could favour historically marginalised communities like the Madhesis. Other parties have attacked this model, calling it a threat to national unity. As a result of the negotiations, the number of provinces was reduced to six. — AFP
8.Typhoon Soudelor kills 14 in China
Typhoon Soudelor killed fourteen people in eastern China after parts of the country were hit by the heaviest rains in a century, state media reported on Sunday.
Twelve of the casualties were reported in and around Wenzhou city, where downpours caused mudslides and several houses collapsed on Saturday night, Xinhua news agency said.
Wencheng county saw downpours of 645 millimetres in 24 hours — the heaviest rains in 100 years — after the typhoon made landfall on Saturday night, it said.
About 1.58 million people in the city were affected by the typhoon by Sunday afternoon, the agency said, estimating direct economic losses at 4 billion yuan ($644 million).
Billed as the biggest typhoon of the year earlier in the week with winds of up to 230 kilometres (140 miles) an hour, Soudelor has since weakened. — AFP
11-08-15
1. Individuals to come under terror ban list
The government is all set to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) to bring in a clause that would pave the way to “designate individuals” along with terror organisations under the “banned list of entities.”
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Presently, there is no provision for an individual, suspected of having terror links making it to the list of terrorist entities banned, maintained centrally by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Under Section 35 of the UAPA, there are 38 groups in the list of banned terrorist organisations, the latest one to have been added being the Islamic State (IS).
2.Not for moral policing: Centre
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After blocking over 850 porn websites, the Union government on Monday told the Supreme Court it was not a “totalitarian state” bent on conducting moral policing.
The government clarified its stand on the controversial porn ban, saying ‘it does not want to intrude into the private spaces and bedrooms of citizens’ if somebody wanted to watch porn in the privacy of his room.
However, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi made it clear before a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu that child pornography was a strict ‘no-no’, with India being no exception from the developed world in banning child pornography.
“Child porn sites have to be blocked,” Mr. Rohatgi said.
He said the need for a law banning other forms of porn was a topic for a larger debate, probably in Parliament or a public forum and not in court.
‘Totalitarian state’
“We cannot become a totalitarian state. Somebody wants to watch porn in the privacy of his room, can we prevent that? We are now talking Digital India reaching 100 crore people. We are at a stage when the Prime Minister has asked citizens to put what he should say in his Independence Day speech ... we can’t stop people from watching this and that,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted.
The A-G detailed how difficult a task it was to track and stop ban violators with fast disappearing geographical barriers.
A matter of privacy
“Two adults want to watch something they feel is entertainment, what is the role of the State in this? We cannot be present in everybody’s bedroom ... In the old days, there were magazines. All one had to do was stop the distribution of the publication.
“Now how can we stop someone from watching porn on their mobile phones? We cannot block it,” he said.
‘Protect children’
He said Internet users should protect children in their families by liberally making use of parental controls and child locks on their computer systems.
Software to be developed
Mr. Rohatgi said similar software was being developed to be used in mobile phones also.
“Steps have to be taken to not stop these contents at the gateway of the country, but at your end, on your mobile phones,” Mr. Rohatgi said.
3. Space-grown lettuce on ISS menu for the first time
Astronauts have harvested a crop of ‘Outredgeous’
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Astronauts onboard the International Space Station will for the first time eat food that was grown on the orbiting laboratory after harvesting a crop of ‘Outredgeous’ red romaine lettuce.
“Expedition 44 crew members, including NASA’s one-year astronaut Scott Kelly, are ready to sample the fruits of their labour after harvesting a crop of ‘Outredgeous’ red romaine lettuce Monday, August 10, from the Veggie plant growth system on the nation’s orbiting laboratory,” the U.S. space agency said.
The astronauts will clean the leafy vegetables with citric acid-based, food safe sanitising wipes before consuming them.
They will eat half of the space bounty on Monday, setting aside the other half to be packaged and frozen on the station until it can be returned to Earth for scientific analysis. NASA’s plant experiment, called Veg-01, is being used to study the in-orbit function and performance of the plant growth facility, and its rooting “pillows,” which contain the seeds.
NASA is maturing Veggie technology aboard the space station to provide future pioneers with a sustainable food supplement — a critical part of NASA’s Journey to Mars.
As NASA moves toward long-duration exploration missions farther into the solar system, Veggie will be a resource for crew food growth and consumption. It also could be used by astronauts for recreational gardening activities during deep space missions.
The first pillows were activated, watered and cared for by Expedition 39 flight engineer Steve Swanson in May 2014. After 33 days of growth, the plants were harvested and returned to Earth in October 2014. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the plants underwent food safety analysis.
The second Veg-01 plant pillows were activated by Kelly on July 8 and grew again for 33 days before being harvested. The seeds had been on the station for 15 months before being activated. The Veggie system was developed by Orbital Technologies Corp (ORBITEC) in Madison, Wisconsin, and tested at Kennedy before flight.
Veggie, along with two sets of pillows containing the romaine seeds and one set of zinnias, was delivered to the station on the third cargo resupply mission by SpaceX in April 2014.
The collapsible and expandable Veggie unit features a flat panel light bank that includes red, blue and green LEDs for plant growth and crew observation.
After the first crop of lettuce was returned from the space station, Dr Gioia Massa, the NASA payload scientist for Veggie at Kennedy, began working with a team of flight doctors and NASA safety representatives to get approval for the crew to eat the produce.
“Microbiological food safety analysis looks very good on the first Veg-01 crop of romaine lettuce,” Massa said.
— PTI
NASA is maturing Veggie technology to provide future pioneers with a sustainable food supplement
addiction may weaken immune system
Spending too much time online can damage your immune function, warns a new study.
People with high levels of Internet addiction problems are 30 percent more likely to catch colds and flu than those who spend less time on the Internet, the findings showed.
“Those who spend a long time alone on the Internet experience showed reduced immune function as a result of simply not having enough contact with others and their germs,” explained one of the researchers Phil Reed, professor at Swansea University in Wales, Britain.
5.Change in law will help choke terror funds, says official
Islamic State (IS) recruit Areeb Majeed was arrested when he returned to India for fighting along with the IS in Syria. The offence was not committed in India but since the IS was banned in March, his case could be handled.
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“Designating individuals as terrorists would help in keeping a check on their travel and we can also impose a ban. It will also enable us to freeze their bank accounts, used for terror financing. Most importantly, it will help us make a strong case in court,” said an official.
6.After spate of attacks, Afghan President lashes out at Pak.
In a sudden shift from his previous, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has lashed out at the Pakistani government. While Afghanistan had made “sincere efforts for peace,” groups based in Pakistan continued to “send messages of war,” he said in Kabul.
The remarks are his toughest words against Pakistan since he took office, opened talks with Pakistan and then more recently sent representatives to peace talks with the Taliban in the Pakistani town of Murree.
“Pakistan still remains a venue and ground for gatherings from which mercenaries send us message of war,” President Ghani told a press conference convened shortly after a massive suicide attack targeted the Kabul international airport, where at least 5 people were killed and more than 16 wounded. The attack is a part of one of the deadliest waves of violence unleashed by the Taliban in the past week. The group claimed responsibility for this and three other big bombings since Friday in which more than 50 have died.
President Ghani called the recent attacks in Kabul a “turning point for Afghanistan,” adding that “the incidents of the past two months in general and the recent days in particular show that the suicide training camps and the bomb making facilities used to target and murder our innocent people still operate, as in the past, in Pakistan.”
Condemning the attacks, the MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup called them cowardly. “India always stands with Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism,” he said.
Meanwhile Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had “taken note” of Mr. Ghani's comments, and maintained it “stands shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan in grief” over the attacks.
President Ghani’s comments, that came a day after he telephoned Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Raheel Sharif to demand a plan of action against terrorists attacking Afghanistan, are being described as a “potential game changer.” “He has clearly put Pakistan on notice,” a senior Indian official told The Hindu . “He is not a man given to rhetoric and has shown his patience is limited.”
On his first visit to Pakistan last year, Mr. Ghani had taken the unprecedented step of visiting the Pakistani military headquarters in Rawalpindi. He built a close relationship with the civilian and military leadership there, after which Afghan and Pakistani intelligence agencies, National Directorate of Security (NDS) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), negotiated an MoU. His remarks on Monday indicate a rethink of that relationship and put a question mark over the reconciliation and talks process with the Taliban based in Pakistan. “The security of our people and the national interests of Afghanistan lay the basis of our relationship with Pakistan. We can no longer tolerate to see our people bleeding in a war exported and imposed on us from outside,” Mr. Ghani said, asking if Pakistan’s shelter to violent groups should qualify it as “friend or enemy.”
Within Afghanistan, some experts said Mr. Ghani’s comments displayed his realisation of the “hopelessness” of the situation. “This was bound to happen,” former National Security Advisor Aimal Faizi told The Hindu. “It was a blunder to have believed the Pakistani military would stop the attacks, and Ghani’s remarks show he has little hope about the Taliban’s ability to deliver peace after the announcement of Mullah Omar’s death,” Mr. Faizi added.
12-8-15
1.Sundar Pichai to spearhead Google
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His name may not ring a bell, but Sundar Pichai has worked on some of Google’s best-known products — from the Chrome browser to the Android mobile software.
2.PM’s sudden UAE trip takes many by surprise
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE has set off speculation for the suddenness of its announcement, which has caught many within the government and even the organisers in Dubai by surprise.
Officials said the PM’s decision to travel to the UAE was conveyed only last Wednesday. External Affairs Ministry officials said South Block officials had to scramble to make arrangements and organise security.
Officials said the decision to go on the trip was taken only last Wednesday.
3.India rises by 13 places in Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index
TOURISM INDEX: INDIA CLIMBS UP
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According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2015, of the World Economic Forum, India ranks 52nd this year from 65th in 2013.
4.Soon, space programmes will use indigenously made titanium sponge
Titanium sponge is a porous form of titanium that is created during the first stage of processing. In its natural form, titanium is widely available within the earth’s crust. After being extracted, it is processed to remove excess materials and convert it into a usable, although costly, product.
The national Space programme can now fully bank on made-in-India titanium sponge that goes into making its satellite and launch vehicle parts.
The titanium sponge plant initiated and sponsored by the Indian Space Research Organisation nine years back became operational at Chavara in Kerala last month.
Only six other countries produce titanium sponge commercially.
This will mean a big saving on foreign exchange considering that the Indian Space Research Organisation alone has been importing a significant 200-300 tonnes of titanium sponge each year from Russia, Japan or China, the space agency said on Monday.
The precious commodity was being imported because of the absence of a plant to make high-quality sponge although “the country has the third largest reserve of minerals bearing titanium,” ISRO said.
Nationally important sectors of aerospace and Defence extensively use alloys of titanium, (scientifically shortened to Ti) because of the high strength and non-corrosive quality of these materials.
5.Suhasini Haidar wins Prem Bhatia Award
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The Prem Bhatia Memorial Award for the Best Political Reporting-2015 was awarded to Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic and Strategic Affairs Editor with The Hindu, at a ceremony on Tuesday.
Ms. Haidar was awarded for her 21-year-long career reporting on and analysing the bewildering variety of conflicts and surges around the world. Reversing worldwide trends, she switched from reporting on television to writing in print. Ms. Haidar has reported on conflicts in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Tibet. In her endeavour to report from the heart of conflict zones, she was injured while reporting from Kashmir in 2000 when a car, booby-trapped with a gas cylinder packed with explosives in its boot, exploded.
The prestigious award, instituted by the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust, carries a cash prize of Rs. 2,00,000 and a citation. Prem Bhatia, former Chief Editor of The Tribune, was one of India’s eminent and influential journalists, whose career spanned six decades.
13-08-15
1. As U.S. changes tack, India redraws UNSC bid
The letters have been uploaded () for public reading, the first time countries have put their official positions on paper.
While the Chinese Ambassador wrote that China wants “small and medium-sized countries” to “take turns to serve in the Security Council”, the Russian Ambassador made it clear that none of the current members’ powers would change, saying: “The prerogatives of the current Permanent Members of the Security Council, including the use of veto, should remain intact under any variant of the council reform.”
Sources said the government was particularly surprised by the letter of U.S. Ambassador Samantha Powers that said the U.S. was “open to a modest expansion” of the membership, and wanted specific countries that would be considered to be named in advance, thereby rejecting the current text-based process that India had been pushing for. “This document puts into doubt everything the U.S. has conveyed to India bilaterally on the issue,” one diplomat told The Hindu.
The India-U.S. Joint Statement issued during President Barack Obama’s visit in January said: “President Obama reaffirmed his support for a reformed U.N. Security Council with India as a permanent member.” However, unlike countries such as Kazakhstan and Romania, which specifically mentioned India as their approved candidate for the seat, the U.S. made no mention of India. Of particular concern is the U.S. Ambassador’s statement that “It is critical that any reform proposal enjoy broad consensus among member states,” as that mirrors the position of a group of 13 countries, including Pakistan, called the Uniting for Consensus Group.
Things could go down to the wire in the next few weeks as it is imperative that the consolidated document uploaded by the President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, at least be accepted by the countries as a basis for discussing UN reform next year. Negotiations over reform and expansion of the U.N. Security Council have run on for more than seven years, and Indian officials feel that the fact that countries have committed to positions is a positive development for the process. If, however, one of the P-5 countries — for instance, China — decides to veto a resolution to accept the document, India’s hopes for a permanent seat in the near future will be in danger. “We would be back to square one unless that happens,” an official said.
2.Russian tie-up to boost ISRO’s semicryogenic launcher plan
The national space programme looks set to ride on a new thaw in the 40-year-old Indo Russian Space ties, as indicated by the just unveiled memorandum of understanding between the Indian Space Research Organisation and Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS).
The MoU covering wide-ranging areas and which was firmed up in June is “just the beginning”. The development of the new, higher-power semi-cryogenic engine could be an immediate beneficiary, according to A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Programme.
Mr. Kiran Kumar told The Hindu , “[The MoU] is the initial process, a lot of discussions must be held before it takes a concrete shape. We would work on future systems of common interest. We have identified several areas and established working groups to go through them. We have to see how it develops.”
The ISRO is working on its new-generation, Rs. 1,800-crore third rocket programme, called the semi-cryogenic launch vehicle, to beef up its current portfolio of the PSLV and the GSLV. It will use space-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen as fuel and is meant to pitch spacecraft totally weighing six to ten tonnes to heights of 36,000 km. This would be double the lifting power of the GSLV and triple that of the PSLV. Only the U.S. and Russia have this technology.
Mr. Kiran Kumar said: “We are looking at using Russian testing facilities for the semi-cryogenic engine. We will be ready with the engine [SCE-200] in six to eight months. Although we will have our own test facility at Mahendragiri, ours will take some time to come up.”
Mutual advantages
About the spin-offs to the Russians, he said today, all space agencies looked at working with each other for many mutual advantages.
ISRO and ROSCOSMOS signed the MoU separately in May and June, Union Minister of State for Space, Atomic Energy & PMO Jitendra Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Unlike in the 1990s, when the GSLV cryogenic technology transfer pact was stymied by U.S. geopolitics, the two sides do not envisage any transfer of technology in the cooperation.
The MoU includes new areas such as navigation. India is building its regional fleet of navigation satellites; Russia is completing its GLONASS global navigation constellation on the lines of the U.S. GPS. The two expect to augment each other’s reference signals for sharpness through ground receivers.
The other areas to be pursued are the ambitious Indian human space programme; outer space exploration, development of space systems and components; training and scientific exchanges.
The ‘new thaw’ is said to have been triggered in April this year when the two countries celebrated the 40th anniversary of the then Soviet Union putting into space the first Indian experimental satellite, the 358-kg ‘Aryabhata’, in 1975.
Then followed Bhaskara-1, IRS-1A and first Indian astronaut flying in space in the Soviet Soyuz T-11 in 1984.
ISRO working on semi-cryogenic launch vehicle, its new-generation third rocket programme,to beef up its current portfolio of PSLV and GSLV.
3.Iran Minister eyes trade beyond oil
Investment in infrastructure, oil imports and ironing out troubles over the planned Chabahar port development project are on the agenda as Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif meets the government in Delhi on Friday.
Mr. Zarif, who successfully negotiated the nuclear deal with the P-5 and EU countries, is in India as part of a “briefing tour” to speak about the deal.
He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Mr. Zarif will also call on Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who had served as Ambassador to Iran from 1990-1992.
Officials said Mr. Zarif’s visit would serve as a “follow-up” to the meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the Ufa SCO summit in July.
“The dual focus of their negotiations was to turn the India-Iran buyer-seller relationship into a real partnership, while bringing diversity to our economic ties,” a senior official told The Hindu . To that end, India and Iran will look to discuss investment in each other’s countries after all U.N. and Western sanctions are lifted.
In particular, Iran is keen on Indian expertise and investment in rebuilding railways, as part of a total of $8 billion in infrastructure projects. “Iran is ready to welcome Indians, even without a bidding process,” Iran’s Ambassador to India Gholamreza Ansari had told The Hindu in an interview last month. Meanwhile, officials said Mr. Modi had told President Rouhani that India was keen for Iran to also invest in India’s proposed $1 trillion infrastructure development.
15-08-15
1.Indian-origin women scale legal heights
Renu Mandhane to head Ontario rights panel; Richa Naujoks on TrustLaw shortlist.
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Two women of Indian origin, both legal luminaries, have done the nation proud on the eve of Independence Day.
If Renu Mandhane, an Indo-Canadian international human rights law expert, is set to be the next Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Indian-American attorney Richa Naujoks, nee Gautam, has been shortlisted for the TrustLaw Lawyer of the Year Award of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, media reports said.
2. India, U.S. push to tackle mounting threats, online and offline
In a fresh bid to tackle the mounting threats in cyberspace and from more traditional terrorist foes such as the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, senior officials from the Indian and U.S. governments came together here this week to boost collaborative efforts under the aegis of the 2015 U.S.-India Cyber Dialogue.
Even as this “whole-of-government” initiative was under way in the U.S. capital, U.S. Assistant to President Barack Obama for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco, met Indian Deputy National Security Adviser Arvind Gupta to discuss U.S.-India collaboration against “Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and other terrorist threats.”
The latter discussion comes scarcely weeks after an alleged LeT operative was, for the first time since Ajmal Kasab of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, captured alive in the border region near Pakistan.
In a series of meetings on August 11 and 12, leaders from both sides appeared to define the cyber space threat in the broadest terms, including within its ambit enhanced cyber security information sharing, cyber incident management, combating cyber crime, Internet governance issues, norms of state behaviour in cyber space and even cyber security cooperation in the context of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India,” initiative.
Ban on porn sites
The discussion of “norms of state behaviour in cyber space,” has additional significance in the context of the Indian government’s recent announcement that it would be banning 857 websites allegedly hosting pornographic content, but then revoking this ban following an uproar on social media and elsewhere over this move’s perceived trampling on the right to privacy.
The talks may also have presented the Indian side with an opportunity to discuss questions about the U.S. National Security Agency’s global Internet and telephone communications surveillance programme, which has come under fire since whistle-blower Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed possible abuses of the programme and has generated pressure to rein in the NSA’s spying activities.
In addition to Mr. Gupta, officials participating in the cyber security dialogue included U.S. Cyber Security Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President Michael Daniel, Department of State Coordinator for Cyber Issues Christopher Painter and the Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary for Policy Planning, Counterterrorism, and Global Cyber Issues Santosh Jha.
The joint statement coming out of the meetings noted that in addition to the formal dialogue, the delegations met with representatives from the private sector to discuss issues related to cyber security and the digital economy, and the Indian delegation also met Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Further, the statement announced, the two countries had decided to hold the next round of the Cyber Dialogue in Delhi in 2016.
16-08-15
1.‘Start-up, stand up’ campaign is Modi’s new route to push growth
In his second Independence Day address as Prime Minister here on Saturday, Narendra Modi acknowledged that whether it was the goal of ending corruption or electrifying 18,500 more villages in 1,000 days, nothing could be done without the efforts of “Team India”, the 1.25-billion people of the country.
Demonstrating his felicity for coining catchy titles for government campaigns, the Prime Minister announced the “Start-up India, Stand up India” scheme aimed at promoting entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid.
Each of the 1.25 lakh bank branches across the country, he said, should encourage at least one Dalit or Adivasi entrepreneur and one woman entrepreneur. But Mr. Modi disappointed ex-servicemen as he failed to announce the implementation of the long-pending one rank, one pension scheme.
2.‘Tiny bit’ found in India too
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When the entomologists laid insect traps in Yercaud in Tamil Nadu a few months ago, they did not expect that India would join the club of countries that are home to a unique insect.
For, they were surprised to find the world’s smallest flying insect, a fairyfly that goes by the name Kikiki huna.
Measuring a mere 0.16 mm, Kikiki huna is a multicellular organism that is smaller than single-celled organisms.
Kikiki huna has been found in Chidambaram as well. While the insect’s functions are yet to be determined, Kikiki was first discovered in Trinidad around 20 years ago and later in Hawaii.
It has also been found in Australia and Argentina. It derives its name from Hawaiian which means ‘tiny bit’.
Prashanth Mohanraj from the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR), Bengaluru, said Kikiki huna is an engineering and artistic marvel.
A marvel
“It can do everything that a larger insect can do. It has a brain, a nervous and digestive system. It is the sheer marvel of creation… it is a great find as we didn’t expect it to turn up in our traps,” he said.
He said that like all fairyflies, Kikiki huna lays its eggs in the eggs of other insects. “The entire life stage is passed in the single egg, from which it emerges as an adult,” he said.
Not visible to the naked eye, the tiny insect has eluded many entomologists, said Abraham Verghese, director of NBAIR. He said that the challenge is now to study the tiny insect and understand its role.
National pride
“Insects in our country are poorly known… we still have over a lakh species to identify. Each has a role to play in the ecosystem,” he said.
Dr. Mohanraj said that the presence of such exquisitely crafted organisms within the confines of our borders should be a source of national pride and ensuring their continued survival should be our duty.
3.Kalam award for ISRO scientist
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, on Saturday, presented the first APJ Abdul Kalam award to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist N. Valarmathi, who led the team that successfully launched Radar Imaging Satellite RISAT-1 in 2012.
The award was announced by Ms. Jayalalithaa in memory of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who passed away last month.
4.Naga accord is a framework: Rijiju
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5. ‘Scientific ambitions behind DNA Profiling Bill’
This week, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) uploaded a slightly modified draft of the Human DNA Profiling Bill on its website, opening up the controversial Bill, now tabled in Parliament, for public scrutiny.
Legal researcher Usha Ramanathan, a member of the Committee formed by the Centre in 2013 to review this Bill, spoke to The Hindu about the modified draft Bill which continues to raise several critical concerns relating to privacy, ethical usage of DNA samples and uses of the proposed DNA database. In February this year, she wrote a dissent note to the DBT highlighting the Bill’s controversial provisions, but her concerns remain unaddressed.
“Like the Unique Identification (UID) project in which the government collected biometric samples of citizens to create a general database, marketing it as ‘Aadhaar’ or the basis for citizens to seek entitlements, the DNA database too aims to collect citizen DNA samples and make a database out of it. In UID, biometric data samples were collected from willing or coerced citizens, but there was no way people could opt out of the database once in it, as no consent clause or guidelines for sample collection were specified for it. The DNA Profiling Bill too brings similar concerns,” she says.
Biometric through Aadhaar
With the Supreme Court now coming down heavily on the government for insisting on biometric profiling of citizens through Aadhaar, the question is whether the government ought to push the draft DNA Bill in its current form, given its unresolved concerns. The Bill contains provisions for a volunteer’s index and collection of “such other DNA indices as may be specified by regulation,” which, Ms. Ramanathan says, is problematic, as it is not sure who might be coerced into giving biological samples under these provisions.
The Director of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics in India (CDFD), based in Hyderabad, will always be the ex-officio member-secretary of the DNA Profiling Board as per the Bill. That the agency has been given considerable powers to take decisions regarding DNA sample usage and regulate DNA profiling in India is itself a cause for concern, she says. The reason is the 12th plan (2012-17) document put up on the Department of Science and Technology (DST) website, describes the CDFD as intending to conduct “Human population analysis with a view to eliciting signature profiling of different caste populations of India to use them in forensic DNA fingerprinting and develop DNA databases.” An identification form for DNA sample tests, put up on the CDFD website, of which The Hindu too accessed a copy, includes an entry column for filling ‘caste and origin of State’ information. Ms. Ramanathan says this is the source of current concerns regarding how an agency empowered by the proposed law might use DNA samples to profile people on the basis of caste.
Further, Schedule I under the Act, in the ‘List of Matters for DNA Profiling’ allows for data collection on maternity or paternity disputes, issues relating to pedigree, surrogacy and immigration or emigration as well.
The Board, in which CDFD plays a central role, will also control how privacy concerns are addressed. With the ongoing Supreme Court case on Aadhar not taking a definitive stance on privacy, the privacy concerns raised by the DNA database project too hang in the balance, she says. The UIDAI vs. CBI case has revealed the difficulties of safeguarding a database — apart from the technical difficulties — when such a database has been created, she says.
There are clearly scientific ambitions fuelling the DNA database project, Ms. Ramanathan says. In the same 12th plan document, CDFD is also described as aiming to work on molecular genetics, cytogenetics, biochemical genetics, newborn screening centre and develop a national database for genetic disorders.
No studies have been done on the costs involved in pursuing the extraordinary ambitions that the Bill sets out, she has pointed out in the dissent note submitted to the government. “The DNA database annual report of UK shows that the UK Home Office spent £2.2 million in 2013-14 in running the National DNA Database on behalf of the UK police forces. Can India afford to pump in such vast sums of money to aid a scientific agency’s research ambitions?” she asks.
‘Govt. may use DNA samples to profile people on the basis of caste’.
6.Mixed reaction to Modi’s Red Fort address
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7.EC suspends Aadhaar linkage initiative
Following the Supreme Court’s August 11 orders on Aadhaar, the Election Commission of India issued notices on Thursday suspending “with immediate effect till further orders” all activities to collect and feed Aadhar numbers of voters as part of its National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme. It has also duly withdrawn all publicity activities to collect Aadhaar numbers of citizens for seeding in the electoral database.
The directions have made it clear though that all other activities under NERPAP to “purify” the poll process will continue. Meanwhile, civil liberties activists have called for delinking the already merged voter ID card details from the Unique Identification (UID) number.
Activist group’s plea
In a letter written to the Chief Election Commissioner on Saturday, the Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties has highlighted that the UIDAI in a 14-page document titled ‘Strategic Vision: Unique Identification of Residents’ prepared by Wipro Ltd and submitted to the Processes Committee of the Planning Commission envisaged the close linkage that the UIDAI would have with the Electoral Database in 2006-2007 itself.
Referring to the proposal to merge the Election ID cards with UID as an exercise in rewriting and engineering the electoral ecosystem, the letter underlines that the use of biometric technology and EVMs is not as innocent and as politically neutral as it has been made out to be. Given that it amounts to surveillance of the citizen’s political choices, the organisation has further demanded that all databases containing such information be dismantled immediately.
It has also withdrawn all publicity activities to collect Aadhaar numbers for seeding in electoral database.
8. Two Indian children scale Kalapathar peak in Nepal
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Two Indian siblings, 5-year-old Kandarp Sharma and 8-year-old Ritwika, have successfully climbed the Kalapathar peak, which is higher than the highest peaks in the U.S., Europe and Antarctica, to reach the base camp of Mount Everest, becoming the youngest climbers to reach the destination.
9.Diaspora high on agenda of Prime Ministers’s UAE visit
That is, however, only one part of the story. As Arif, the manager of a grocery store at the camp, says: “It will be good to see an Indian Prime Minister meet real NRIs of the Gulf, with their real problems.” Migrants live six or seven to a room and eat in company-run messes.
The excitement at the camp is palpable, with even those not in the chosen 300 joining in. “Actually, I was told by my Bangladeshi colleague that Prime Minister Modi would be visiting, there is a lot of excitement here,” Mr. Arif says.
Official sources describe Mr. Modi’s visit to the camp as an acknowledgement not just of the diaspora but also of the UAE as host country. “This is the Prime Minister’s first visit to the region, and he has picked the UAE mainly for this reason,” an External Affairs Ministry official said.
First on the Prime Minister’s itinerary is a visit to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, which is being looked at as a nod to the Muslim population of India. But official sources said it was to pay homage to the former ruler of the Emirate, Sheikh Zayed, rather than a domestic political statement.
17-08-15
1. China, Russia set for naval assertion in Sea of Japan
China and Russia are stepping up their military collaboration by holding another round of naval exercises, this time in the Sea of Japan, following recent measures adopted by Tokyo that could deepen its military ties with Washington.
On Saturday, the Chinese navy dispatched seven Chinese warships for the Sea of Japan. They will join the Russian Navy’s 16 surface ships, two submarines, 12 naval aircraft, nine amphibious vehicles and 200 marines.
The drills are an extension of Joint Sea-2015 (I), another naval exercise that the two countries had held in May in the Mediterranean Sea, on the doorstep of Europe, and in the backdrop of the crisis in Ukraine. The nine-day manoeuvres under Joint Sea-2015 (II) will simulate anti-submarine combat, evident from the presence of the two Russian submarines, air defence and other related missions.
The presence of the 200 marines, which each side will field, underscores the decision by the two forces to stage a joint beach landing, an intent that has grabbed attention on account of several island disputes in the Pacific.
The Chinese are fielding two destroyers and an equal number of frigates, which will be replenished by the supply ship Taihu .
The contingent, which also includes two landing craft and 21 units of amphibious equipment essential for a beach landing, will arrive at the Russian port of Vladivostok on August 20.
Apart from the Sea of Japan, these drills will also take place in the Peter the Great Gulf and waters off the Clerk Cape.
The Chinese Defence Ministry had earlier stated that the exercise is meant to “bolster the comprehensive strategic cooperation and partnership between Russia and China, and to increase the military capabilities of both countries to counter maritime threats.”
The Joint Sea-2015 (II) is being timed with the growing militarisation of the Pacific under President Barack Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” doctrine, which empowers the U.S. Pacific Command to draw nearly two-thirds of all American forces under its wing.
In tandem, Japan is taking legal measures that could detach Tokyo from its post-war pacifism, and, instead, allow it join forces with the U.S. in operations that do not necessarily pose a direct threat.
23-08-15
1. As sparring worsens, NSA talks are off
The curtains came down by Saturday night on the dramatic spectacle around holding India-Pakistan talks, less than a day before Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz was due to land in New Delhi, with bitter accusations and acrimony marking the exchanges.
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Pakistan accused India of “concocting terror incidents and keeping the LoC [Line of Control] hot”, while India said Pakistan was using firing at the LoC and terror attacks to “run away from the talks”.
If on Friday, the two nations sparred by exchanging media statements, on Saturday, they sparred at press conferences addressed by Mr. Aziz in Islamabad, followed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi. The deadlock over the talks, due to be held between Mr. Aziz and India’s NSA Ajit Doval from 10 a.m. on Monday morning at Hyderabad House here, remained the same, however. While India said Mr. Aziz could not meet Kashmiri separatist Hurriyat leaders during his visit, and would have to restrict the agenda to issues of terrorism, Pakistan said it would accept no conditions and would have an “open agenda”. In a late-night statement, the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry said: “The scheduled NSA-level talks cannot be held on the basis of the preconditions set by India.” The talks “would not serve any purpose if conducted on the basis of the two conditions set by Ms. Swaraj”.
2. Bengal tops the list in human trafficking
The highest number of cases of human trafficking in the country is from West Bengal, which alone accounts for 20 per cent of all reported cases in India.
According to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 5,466 cases of human trafficking were recorded in the country in 2014 of which 1,096 were from West Bengal.
The number of victims of human trafficking is also the highest in the State at 1,200. In all, 8,099 victims of human trafficking were registered in India during 2014.
Tamil Nadu recorded the second highest number of 509 cases, less than half of what has been registered in West Bengal.
Under the category of human trafficking, crimes under Section 370/ 370 A of Indian Penal Code include bringing girls from abroad and procuring, buying and selling girls for prostitution.
West Bengal also accounts for the bulk of cases relating to procuring minor girls.
With 509 cases registered in 2014, Tamil Nadu comes next.
3. Users face risk of digital amnesia
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Today, getting access to information is child’s play, courtesy Google. With so much information available, people tend to transfer most of the memory functions to their smartphones, raising the spectre of digital amnesia.
According to a survey by the Internet security solutions provider Kaspersky, 50 per cent of users treat the Internet as an extension of their brain, while 74 per cent use their smartphones to connect to the information highway.
The survey, conducted among a little over 1,000 Indian respondents between June 23 and July 2, found that half of them were not so much interested in remembering facts as they were about where they sourced the information from.
About 25 per cent respondents said they ‘strongly agreed’ that they just need to remember the source of the information, 47.8 per cent said they ‘slightly agreed’ with the statement. Likewise, 26.5 per cent respondents ‘strongly agreed’ that almost everything they need to recall or know is on their smartphone while 37.80 per cent ‘agreed slightly’ with this. As a result, memory is the first to be affected. Additionally, since digital communication has become incredibly high with websites such as Twitter, human minds can’t possibly store so much of information without some help. “It is not just about reliance but rather something more severe, an addiction,” the survey said.
“It is very important to limit the dependence on smartphones primarily because of its addictive properties. The mind is a muscle and if it’s not used for the reasons it was made, it will become lazy. The smartphone addiction may lead to digital amnesia, which should not be taken lightly,” Altaf Halde, Managing Director (South Asia) at Kaspersky Lab said.
The survey, however, pointed out that the trend of smartphone dependency seems to decrease as the age increased; smartphones have not been around long enough to influence a 55-year-old as it is influencing a teenager.
24-08-15
1.The flawed reasoning in the Santhara ban
The Rajasthan High Court, in a judgment on the August 10, 2015, declared the Jain practice of Santhara, which involves a voluntary fast-unto-death, an offence punishable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This decision in Nikhil Soni v. Union of India, is likely to have far-reaching consequences, not only amongst the Jain community in Rajasthan but also across the country. Unfortunately, it conflates several important issues of constitutional law, and symbolises the confusion over the fundamental guarantee of religious freedom in our constitutional jurisprudence.
The court’s judgment is superficially reasoned, misconstrues findings of the Supreme Court, and, most significantly, ignores vital considerations that go to the root of a person’s right to ethical independence.
It is undeniable that Indian secularism — a form quite distinct from western conceptions of the term — envisages the intervention of the state in matters of religion, where general social welfare or substantial civil liberties are at stake. But, what our Constitution, properly interpreted, does not permit is the bestowal of any specific discretion on the courts to tell us which of our beliefs and practices are essential to the following of a religion. By directing the State government to move towards abolishing the practice of Santhara, and by holding that the practice is tantamount to an attempt to commit suicide, punishable under Section 309 of the IPC, the High Court in Nikhil Soni has created a damaging precedent, which requires immediate re-examination.
Santhara, which is increasingly widely practised by Jains in India, is a voluntary tradition of fasting till death, that Jains believe will help them attain ultimate salvation. As pointed out in The Hindu ( “Santhara in the eyes of the law”, August 15) by Shekhar Hattangadi, Santhara is embedded in deeply philosophical beliefs. The practice is premised on a foundational idea that the act of fasting, as an exercise of bodily autonomy, allows a believer to attain a state of utter transcendence. However, the court has now found that such matters of integrity, of choosing how one wants to lead life, do not enjoy any constitutional protection, and that voluntary fasting is nothing but a performance in self-destruction. By any reasonable construction, fasting ought to be considered indistinguishable from an act specifically aimed at ending one’s own life.
Effectively, the judgment in Nikhil Soni is predicated on two primary grounds. First, that the guarantee of a right to life does not include within its ambit a promise of a right to die, and therefore, that the practice of Santhara is not protected by Article 21 . Second, that Santhara, as a religious practice, is not an essential part of Jainism, and is hence not protected by Article 25 , which guarantees a person’s right to religious freedom and conscience. While on the first ground, the court’s reasoning is difficult to accept, on the second ground, the court’s finding is premised on a wrongly considered doctrine, carved by the Supreme Court in its earliest rulings on the right to freedom of religion.
As the Rajasthan High Court correctly recognises in Nikhil Soni , Section 309 , which criminalises the attempt to commit suicide, has been found to be constitutionally valid by the Supreme Court, in 1996, in the case of Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab . However, the Supreme Court was concerned here primarily with the unnatural extinguishment of life. To die through an act of suicide, the court held, is not an extension, or a recognised corollary, of one’s right to life under Article 21. But contrary to what the High Court holds in Nikhil Soni , as a recent intervention petition filed by the Delhi-based Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy points out, the Supreme Court in Gian Kaur explicitly recognises that a person’s right to life also partakes within its ambit the right to live with human dignity. “…This may include the right of a dying man to also die with dignity when his life is ebbing out,” the court wrote, in Gian Kaur . “But the “right to die” with dignity at the end of life is not to be confused or equated with the “right to die” an unnatural death curtailing the natural span of life.”
A dignified choice
The Jaina practitioners contend that Santhara is not an exercise in trying to achieve an unnatural death, but is rather a practice intrinsic to a person’s ethical choice to live with dignity until death. These arguments were brushed aside by the Rajasthan High Court. It simply found, based on an incorrect reading of Gian Kaur , that there is no dignity whatsoever in the act of fasting, and that therefore, there exists no freedom to practise Santhara as an extension of one’s right to life under Article 21. But, perhaps, even more damagingly, the court in Nikhil Soni also rejected arguments that sought to locate such liberty in Article 25. Here, though, the folly in its reasoning wasn’t as much a product of its own making, as it was a consequence of a vague doctrine established by the Supreme Court.
Plainly read, Article 25 guarantees to all persons an equal entitlement to freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion. The right is subject only to public order, morality, and health, and other recognised fundamental rights. However, as the debates in the Constituent Assembly demonstrate, these community exceptions were included purely to ensure that the guarantee of religious freedom did not come in the way of the state’s ability to correct age-old social inequities. It wasn’t the Assembly’s intention to allow organs of state any substantial latitude in determining which religious practices deserved constitutional protection. But, in practice, perhaps out of an anxiety to ensure that the state is not constrained in passing legislation to remedy social evils, the Supreme Court has interpreted Article 25 in a manner that has greatly restricted the scope of religious liberty.
Interpreting religious practices
The court’s constriction of this freedom has been achieved by invoking a rather curious principle: that Article 25 protects only those exercises that are considered “essential religious practices.” Through the 1960s, this doctrine, which was first envisaged in the Shirur Mutt case, decided in 1954, ingrained itself as an integral part of India’s constitutional theory. The court, on a case-by-case basis, often examined individual religious canons to determine what constituted an essential religious practice. Significantly, the court began to examine whether a particular exercise was indispensable to the proper practice of a religion.
This interpretation has allowed the court authority to determine for the people what their religious beliefs and practices, through a correct reading of their religious texts and customs, ought to comprise. Invariably, the determination of what constitutes an essential religious practice, therefore, amounts to a very particular form of moral judgment — a form of cultural paternalism that is quite antithetical to a liberal democracy.
It is this authority, which the High Court in Nikhil Soni , has invoked to rule that the criminalisation of Santhara would not breach a Jain’s right to religious freedom. “We do not find that in any of the scriptures, preachings, articles or the practices followed by the Jain ascetics, the Santhara…has been treated as an essential religious practice, nor is necessarily required for the pursuit of immortality or moksha ,” the judgment states. This analysis, as is evident, does not consider whether a person indulging in Santhara performs the act out of an intrinsic belief that the practice flows from his religion, but rather adopts an almost-avowedly paternalistic outlook. It tells followers of Jainism that under a purportedly proper interpretation of their religious texts, Santhara is simply not an essential practice. As a result, the question of whether a Jain’s right to religious freedom is violated by prohibiting Santhara is examined in a wholly unsatisfactory manner.
If, and when, the Supreme Court sits on appeal over the judgment in Nikhil Soni , it must ask the right questions: of whether any social inequities arise out of the practice, of whether any other right of its practitioners are violated through Santhara, of whether the rights of any other person are infracted when a person goes on fast. In so doing, the court must also reconsider its now age-old doctrine of essential practice, which has caused a substantial weakening of the state of religious freedom in India.
(Suhrith Parthasarathy is an advocate practising at the Madras High Court. )
The court’s determination of what constitutes an essential religious practice amounts to a form of cultural paternalism, quite antithetical to a liberal democracy
25-08-15
1.Five-pronged strategy to check Naxalism: Minister
Union Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary has stated that the Centre has been adopting a five-pronged strategy to contain left wing extremism (LWE) in the country to a large extent in the next two-three years.
However, containing their presence would not be by using force (armed forces) alone but by taking up development programmes in the naxal-affected areas and creating awareness among the communities there against taking to the path of violence being adopted by the LWE groups, Mr. Chaudhary said here on Monday.
The Centre would utilise modern technologies such as drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as part of its strategy to contain the LWE, the Union Minister said and claimed that the extremists’ impact had come down to about 10-15 districts from about 108 districts in 10 States in the past. It was limited to parts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he said.
As part of combating the LWE groups effectively, the Centre was procuring six modern helicopters for the use of armed forces engaged in the task. Two of the choppers had already arrived and four more would come soon, Mr. Chaudhary told media persons.
Besides, the Centre was planning to develop the LWE-affected areas in the fields of education, health, communication and others. About 400 fortified police stations were already constructed in such areas and there were plans to set up 2,100 BSNL towers to provide mobile phone network. The cell towers would be constructed in CRPF camps, which would also have ATMs.
2.Indian American Federal judge Vince Chhabria elevated
A 46-year-old Indian American Federal judge is among 11 persons elevated as full-time judges in California State by President Barack Obama.
Vince Chhabria was appointed the Bay Area’s first Indian American Federal judge.
The appointment was made as Mr. Obama transformed most of the Bay Area’s Federal judiciary, filling 11 of the 14 full-time judgeships on the region’s Federal court — the most dramatic makeover of a district court bench in the nation.
The Bay Area judges, appointed to lifetime tenure, are a generally young, demographically diverse group that will be deciding Silicon Valley tech showdowns, civil rights challenges and major Federal criminal law questions for the foreseeable future, the report said.
San Francisco-born Mr. Chhabria, whose father came to the U.S. from Mumbai on a college scholarship, is a graduate with honours from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. — PTI
3.IS blows up Palmyra temple
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4.North, South Korea agree to defuse crisis
North and South Korea wrapped up marathon talks on Tuesday with an agreement aimed at defusing a crisis that had pushed the rivals to the brink of armed conflict.
The South’s lead negotiator, National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-Jin, said the North had agreed to a key demand to voice “regret” over recent mine blasts at the border that maimed two South Korean soldiers. In response, the South conditionally undertook to halt loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts into North Korea.
The two also agreed to work towards a resumption next month of reunions for families separated by the Korean War, Kim told reporters.
The negotiations in the border truce village of Panmunjom had played out against a dangerous military stand-off, which triggered a rare artillery exchange over the border last week. — AFP
5.The new Great Game in Asia[VIP]
Two strategic agreements currently being negotiated by the world’s trading giants will likely determine the global balance of economic power for years to come: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The TPP and RCEP are not radically different instruments — they are both free trade agreements (FTAs) designed to lower tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade between countries that conduct the bulk of global commerce.
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The TPP negotiations are led by the U.S. and involve 11 other nations that share a Pacific Ocean coastline. Seven of those countries — Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam — are also party to RCEP negotiations. RCEP comprises the ASEAN nations and six others: India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to trade in goods and services, both agreements cover the critical area of intellectual property rights. RCEP is the more modest of the two, seeking to implement and build on World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments incrementally.
Committing beyond WTO
TPP seeks to frame a new agenda for global trade, requiring countries to commit beyond their existing multilateral obligations under the WTO. TPP negotiations broke down earlier this month, after countries were unable to find common ground over IPR protections the U.S. sought to introduce, especially in cyberspace.
In contrast, RCEP negotiations have seen progress, albeit haltingly. The Press Trust of India reported last week that ministerial delegations from RCEP member countries will meet in Malaysia in August to “finalise modalities”. RCEP is an important agreement for India, as it involves many, if not all, of the country’s major trading partners.
Their basic nature aside, both agreements reflect a competing political dynamic. The Trans-Pacific Partnership has become the centrepiece of U.S.’s Asia policy, with the Barack Obama-led administration investing considerable political and diplomatic capital in it. Revealingly, Singapore’s Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam, in his visit to the U.S. in June, also agreed that the TPP had little to do with economics and Singapore was pushing it — although it had a free trade agreement with the U.S. — for strategic reasons.
RCEP is not a China-led process, but involves Beijing as a key player. China is acutely conscious of RCEP’s political significance — earlier this year, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng suggested China will “continue to unswervingly push forward and quicken the pace of China’s free-trade agreement strategy”. If such a comprehensive regional agreement were to be inked ahead of the TPP regime, it would be a shot in the arm for China.
The RCEP story would underline three crucial conclusions: first, that China is willing to engage actors within a pluri-lateral setting, and set aside competing political interests, especially around South China Sea concerns, for overall economic gain. Second, that Beijing leadership is capable of absorbing multilateral instruments into domestic law to secure regional interests even if it goes against established economic policies, especially on IPRs; third, and most important, China is comfortable with conceiving and implementing international norms while it emerges as a hegemon in the Asia-Pacific. These conclusions, if affirmed, would signal a decisive shift in the regional locus of power from the U.S. to China.
What does this political narrative mean for India, with its renewed ambition to ‘Act East’? Regrettably, the discussion around FTAs and mega-regional agreements in India has focused solely on their economic aspects, with scant attention paid to the underlying strategic dimensions. The TPP has invited reflexive criticism for ‘rewriting’ rules of global trade.
As highlighted in the infographic, the RCEP is different, but no smooth ride either. Keen to protect their digital economies, Japan and South Korea have sought strong IPR protection measures. India, meanwhile, has dug its heels in, suggesting it would not budge from the bare minimum that is required for TRIPS compliance. This is a commendable position to take but does not serve any strategic purpose. Indian government is yet to articulate a strategic vision for the Asia-Pacific region that combines economic and political interests.
On the foreign policy front, it has moved closer to the U.S., but wants to remain invested in RCEP. At the same time, it does not want to be seen as being too close to China, whose IPR and cyber policies leave a lot to be desired. If this reflected a “multi-alignment” policy, India’s negotiating line in RCEP would have been calibrated to respond to specific concerns from across the table, but the draft text does not seriously evaluate whether domestic IPR policy can accommodate RCEP provisions.
IPR protection in cyberspace, as highlighted through the infographic, is one of the most important themes — and a major source of disagreement — in both TPP and RCEP. TPP provisions would require a major restructuring of India’s IP enforcement framework, and may not be immediately feasible. But Japan’s prescriptions suggest that it is possible for India to find a middle ground in RCEP. Many of Japan’s concerns relate to legal standards — how Internet applications should be classified, the nature of procedural guidelines on intermediary liability, the scope of technology protection measures, and the range of penalties imposed.
Case-by-case interpretation
These concerns are already accounted for in Indian law. With some creative diplomacy, New Delhi could propose treaty language that resonates strongly with the Indian position. Enforcement of IPR claims is anyway conducted bilaterally, which allows the Indian government to interpret RCEP provisions on a case-to-case basis.
To be sure, Indian negotiators have acknowledged the strategic importance of RCEP. Last year, the Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rightly suggested RCEP negotiations must move from a “narrow, bilateral benefit” paradigm to a “balanced, regional benefit” model. India’s negotiating position, which currently speaks to no one in particular, must reflect this reality.
Even if India were to successfully navigate its way through RCEP, larger questions remain. By hitching its wagon to RCEP, is India tipping its hat to China’s primacy in the region? Why is India not part of TPP negotiations, even if as an observer? Joining the TPP club may be political anathema, but India’s policymakers would do well to learn from Chile, a TPP negotiator, which has successfully resisted several U.S. changes to the draft treaty text. Chile’s IPR laws in particular are in sharp contrast with the U.S. position, but that has not deterred its leadership from actively pursuing negotiations. After all, if you’re not on the table, then you’re on the menu.
( Arun Mohan Sukumar heads the Cyber Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi )
Joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership club may be political anathema, but India’s policymakers would do well to learn from Chile, which has successfully resisted U.S. changes to the draft treaty text
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) requires countries to commit beyond their existing multilateral obligations; Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is more modest and seeks implement and build on the existing commitments incrementally
India is yet to articulate a strategic vision for the Asia-Pacific region that combines its economic and political interests; New Delhi has moved closer to Washington on the foreign policy front but wants to remain invested in the Beijing-led RCEP without getting too close to China.
6.Can’t bring political parties under RTI, Centre tells SC
Political parties cannot disclose their internal functioning and financial information under the Right to Information Act as it will hamper their smooth functioning and become a weak spot for rivals with malicious intentions to take advantage of.
This was the answer given by the Union government to the Supreme Court against making political parties publicly accountable under the RTI Act.
The affidavit filed by the Department of Personnel and Training said the Act “never visualised or considered to bring political parties within its ambit.”
The Supreme Court had earlier issued notice to six national parties, including the BJP and the Congress, asking them why they can’t come clean and explain their hesitation to disclose complete details of their income, expenditure, donations, funding, including donor details, to the public under the RTI Act.
The other major parties to receive the notice were the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The EC and the Centre were also asked to file responses. Disclosure of info will help rivals, says affidavit.
26-08-15
1.Muslim population growth slows
India’s Muslim population is growing slower than it had in the previous decades, and its growth rate has slowed more sharply than that of the Hindu population, new Census data show. The decadal Muslim rate of growth is the lowest it has ever been in India’s history, as it is for all religions.
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The Muslim population still grows at a faster rate than the Hindu population, but the gap between the two growth rates is narrowing fast.
Nation in numbers
India now has 966.3 million Hindus, who make up 79.8 per cent of its population, and 172.2 million Muslims, who make up 14.23 per cent. Among the other minorities, Christians make up 2.3 per cent of the population and Sikhs 2.16 per cent.
The Registrar-General and Census Commissioner released the data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011 on Tuesday evening.
The data on religion comes after a significant delay. The 2001 Census data on religion was released in 2004 and the 2011-round results were expected in 2014. However, the numbers remained unreleased, even as a draft of the key data was selectively leaked. The data comes in the backdrop of much fear-mongering over Muslims and their population, and RSS thinkers were quick to term the new data as proof of the end of Hindus, even while the numbers belie their claim. The distribution of data is of the population by six major religious communities — Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain — and “Other religions and persuasions” and “Religion not stated”.
Muslim fertility rates in India are falling faster than among Hindus, Pew Research’s Future of World Religions report showed recently, and the Muslim community is expected to reach replacement levels of fertility by 2050.
2.Muslim sex ratio improves further
The data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011, released on Tuesday, show that between 2001 and 2011, Hindu population grew by 16.76 per cent and that of Muslims by 24.6 per cent. The population of both communities grew faster during the previous decade, at 19.92 per cent and 29.52 per cent, respectively. As a long-term trend, say demographers, the communities’ growth rates are converging.
“This is completely along expected lines, and has been an ongoing process,” P. Arokiasamy, demographer and Professor at the International Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai, told The Hindu . “With rising education and changing family expectations, declining fertility is an expected demographic phenomenon. It begins among better educated groups with better access to health care — as in India’s southern States — and then other groups catch up and converge,” Dr. Arokiasamy explained. In Kerala, for instance, the Muslim fertility rate (while higher than among the Hindus) is extremely low, especially compared with all communities in the northern States, he said. The numbers show that the sex ratio among Muslims, already better than among Hindus, has further improved.
The sex ratio among Muslims now stands at 951 females for every 1,000 males, substantially better than 936 in 2001, while among Hindus, it is 939 females for every 1,000 males, a slight improvement over the 2001 value of 931. Assam remains the State with the largest Muslim population as a proportion (34.22 per cent) and saw the largest increase in the Muslim proportion between 2001 and 2011, followed by Uttarakhand and Kerala.
As has been the case since Independence, the rate of increase of the Muslim population is higher than that of the Hindu population as a result of higher Muslim fertility, higher child mortality among Hindus and a greater life expectancy among Muslims, demographers say.
3.Fix call drop problem urgently, PM tells officials
After he was apprised of the status of mobile connectivity across the country in a meeting with the senior bureaucrats of the infrastructure ministries on Monday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed serious concern over the issue of “call drops” and asked officials to explain the steps being taken to address the problem, which, he said, directly affects the common man.
He directed that steps be taken urgently to resolve the problem, and also to ensure that the problems in voice connectivity do not extend to data connectivity in the future, according to an official release. The Prime Minister also reviewed the progress of digital infrastructure, rural infrastructure, and connectivity sectors at the meeting with the officials.
Mr. Modi sought details from officials on the preparations for providing electricity to all unconnected villages in the country within 1000 days, the target he set in his Independence Day address earlier this month. He directed the officials to monitor progress on a real-time basis, the release said.
He directed officials to explore the possibility of leveraging existing resources, including railway and other communication infrastructure, to provide mobile connectivity in remote, unconnected areas. He emphasised that the targets for digital infrastructure should be synchronised with the targets for the Digital India initiative.
“The Prime Minister said that with enough funds now being provided for infrastructure creation, the onus is on the ministries concerned to ensure that these outlays are converted into proportionate outcomes,” the release said.
Mr. Modi also reviewed progress of solar energy-related projects, especially with regard to railway stations and airports and gave directions for speeding up the work related to setting up of Railway Universities.
Asks them to ensure that problems in voice connectivity do not extend to data connectivity in future.
What is call drop issue?
4.Another circular on Sanskrit Week
In the hope of “revitalising the use of simple Sanskrit in the youth,’’ the Central Board of Secondary Education has once again asked all its affiliated schools inside and outside India to observe Sanskrit Week beginning Wednesday. But, it is not mandatory.
Not mandatory
In a circular issued on Monday, the CBSE has argued that “it is important to familiarise oneself with Sanskrit if one has to understand the growth of Indian civilisation and culture.’’
While suggesting various “child-centric’’ activities to be organised during the week, the CBSE has made it clear that it is not mandatory for schools to join in. As for reporting back to the Board on what schools did to celebrate Sanskrit Week, the circular states that “schools may also prepare a detailed report regarding… activities.”
Competitions
The activities suggested include ‘kavita rachna’ (poetry writing), essay competition interlinking Sanskrit with other modern Indian languages or similar subjects, “Sanskrit Shloka Antyakshari’ (recitation competition of shlokas), ‘Yuva Sansad (youth parliament) on Indian languages,’ screening of a Sanskrit film, interaction with eminent scholars in Sanskrit and a national-level essay competition.
A similarly-worded circular issued last year by the Board had riled political parties in Tamil Nadu resulting in Chief Minister Jayalalithaa writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi objecting to an official celebration of Sanskrit in the State.
5.Yunus to help Maharashtra in reviving MSMEs
Social entrepreneur and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh will guide Maharashtra on microfinance and how to revive dying Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the State.
On a special invitation extended by the State government, Mr. Yunus — the founder of Grameen Bank — will hold a discussion with top ministers and bureaucrats on September 6.
Apart from sharing his experience, he is also expected to discuss the government’s thrust on a road-map for future development of the MSME sector in the State.
At present, the State is suffering from the closure of high number of small scale industries. Out of the total number of 2.54 lakh, around 30,549 units are closed for various reasons, ranging from lack of finance to unavailability of skilled labour.
“We have been annually allotting money for this sector in every budget. Despite that, the small scale industry is facing a number of problems. It’s an effort to learn from him and know how he succeeded,” said Finance Minister Sudhir Munguntiwar.
While Mudra Bank will be ensuring capital flow for this industry, the State is also exploring ways to ensure finance to small scale industries through Self Help Groups (SHG). “Mr. Yunus will be the ultimate authority to guide us on this front,” said Mr. Munguntiwar.
6.“LeT may benefit from Indo-Pak. tensions”.
Sounding a warning over the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s plans to “indigenise” its operations in Jammu and Kashmir, a U.S. expert on the LeT says the group responsible for the Mumbai 26/11 attacks could benefit from tensions between India and Pakistan. “Even when I had spoken to members of the LeT earlier, they had confirmed that they were looking to “get things going”.
“I do not believe we are going to see a return to the levels of violence we saw in Kashmir during the 1990s or post-2000. What we might see and what we are seeing is a rise from a few years ago,” says Professor Stephen Tankel, who has written a book on the LeT’s rise, and was appointed senior adviser at the U.S. Department of Defence for 2014.
Significantly, Dr. Tankel says he has seen “no evidence” of a “strategic shift” in the Pakistani establishment’s support for the LeT and its leader Hafiz Saeed after the Peshawar massacre in December.
In the aftermath of the brutal attack that saw the death of more than 140 schoolchildren, Islamabad had drawn up a “National Action Plan” vowing to crack down on all terror groups.
“LeT has uses for the Pakistani state both externally and internally,” Dr. Tankel told The Hindu in an interview, explaining why no crackdown has occurred on the LeT.
“LeT doesn’t support attacks on Pakistan, it provides intelligence about the other militant groups, it has been used to attack other groups such as the TTP [Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan]. It has internal utility as a result.” However, he does feel there is a “debate within the establishment” over whether groups such as the LeT should be cut off by the state, while the Army was clearly going after groups such as the TTP and the LeJ [Lashkar-e-Jhangvi] in recent months. The Pakistani government has always denied that it provides any support to the LeT and its off-shoot, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, claiming that it had banned the organisations on several occasions.
“U.S. can’t wave a magic wand”
Dr. Tankel rejects the idea held by many in India that the U.S. has focussed more on Pakistani action against the Haqqani network that attacks its troops in Afghanistan than it does the LeT that targets India. “The U.S. can’t wave a magic wand and get Pakistan to take certain actions,” Dr. Tankel replied to a specific question about the ease of mobility for Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, and a lenient plea bargain to 26/11 conspirator David Headley in the U.S.
“The Haqqanis have attacked the U.S. primarily; so they do get more focus. But the U.S. has pressured Pakistan to prosecute the LeT, restrain them from further attacks, and to take actions against their leaders,” he says.
Based on his study of the group in Pakistan and operatives in Europe and other countries, Dr. Tankel says there are growing divisions within the LeT, including on the succession plan for Hafiz Saeed.
“I think there are divisions in the LeT between those who want to push for political influence in Pakistani society, and those who want to stick to militancy. Also those who want to globalise, and those who don’t. There are those more willing to abide by state diktats, and some who want to fight the state. And then there is the generational shift,” he says explaining that the group could face pressure from those such as the Islamic State.
He says that as a result, an “Osama-style” operation against Hafiz Saeed may not actually shut down the LeT’s operations against India.
“Any plan of Indian operatives targeting Hafiz Saeed would have a very destabilising effect on the region. So I can’t suggest it. I would just say the costs and benefits have to be weighed,” Dr. Tankel, who is writing a second book about the U.S.’s counter-terrorism partners, said.
The terror outfit looking to “get things going”.
7.Muslim population growth slows
Gap with Hindu growth rate narrows.
India’s Muslim population is growing slower than it had in the previous decades, and its growth rate has slowed more sharply than that of the Hindu population, new Census data show.
The decadal Muslim rate of growth is the lowest it has ever been in India’s history, as it is for all religions.
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The Muslim population still grows at a faster rate than the Hindu population, but the gap between the two growth rates is narrowing fast.
India in numbers
India now has 966.3 million Hindus, who make up 79.8 per cent of its population, and 172.2 million Muslims, who make up 14.23 per cent. Among the other minorities, Christians make up 2.3 per cent of the population and Sikhs 2.16 per cent.
The Registrar-General and Census Commissioner released the data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011 on Tuesday evening.
The distribution of data is of the total population by six major religious communities — Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain — besides “Other religions and persuasions” and “Religion not stated”.
The data are released by sex and residence up to the levels of sub-districts and towns.
As has been the case since Independence, the rate of increase of the Muslim population is higher than that of the Hindu population as a result of higher Muslim fertility, higher child mortality among Hindus and a greater life expectancy among Muslims, demographers say. However, Muslim fertility rates in India are falling faster than among Hindus, Pew Research’s Future of World Religions report showed recently, and the Muslim community is expected to reach replacement levels of fertility by 2050.
Muslim sex ratio improves further
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The data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011 show that between 2001 and 2011, Hindu population grew by 16.76 per cent, while that of Muslims by 24.6 per cent. The population of both communities grew faster during the previous decade, at 19.92 per cent and 29.52 per cent, respectively. As a long-term trend, say demographers, the communities’ growth rates are converging.
“This is completely along expected lines, and has been an ongoing process,” P. Arokiasamy, demographer and Professor at the International Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai, told The Hindu. “With rising education and changing family expectations, declining fertility is an expected demographic phenomenon. It begins among better educated groups with better access to health care — as in India’s southern States — and then other groups catch up and converge,” Dr. Arokiasamy explained. In Kerala, for instance, the Muslim fertility rate (while higher than among the Hindus) is extremely low, especially compared with all communities in the northern States, he said.
The numbers show that the sex ratio among Muslims, already better than among Hindus, has further improved.
The sex ratio among Muslims now stands at 951 females for every 1,000 males, substantially better than 936 in 2001, while among Hindus, it is 939 females for every 1,000 males, a slight improvement over the 2001 value of 931. Assam remains the State with the largest Muslim population as a proportion (34.22 per cent) and saw the largest increase in the Muslim proportion between 2001 and 2011, followed by Uttarakhand and Kerala.
|Religion |Numbers (Per cent of the population) |
|Hindu |96.63 crore (79.8 %) |
|Muslim |17.22 crore (14.2%) |
|Christian |2.78 crore (2.3%) |
|Sikh |2.08 crore (1.7%) |
|Buddhist |0.84 crore (0.7%) |
|Jain |0.45 crore (0.4%) |
|Other Religions & Persuasions (ORP) |0.79 crore (0.7%) |
|Religion Not Stated |0.29 crore (0.2%) |
Growth rate
The growth rate of population in the decade 2001-2011 was 17.7%. The growth rate of population of the different religious communities in the same period was:
|Religion |Growth |
|Hindu |16.8% |
|Muslim |24.6% |
|Christian |15.5% |
|Sikh |8.4% |
|Buddhist |6.1% |
|Jain |5.4% |
The Census data on religion comes after a significant delay; the 2001 Census data on religion was released in 2004 and the 2011 round results were expected in 2014. However, the numbers remained unreleased, even as a draft of the key data was selectively leaked earlier. The data comes in the backdrop of much fear-mongering over Muslims and their population, and RSS thinkers were quick to term the new data as proof of the end of Hindus, even while the numbers belie their claim.
28-08-15
1.Get rid of quota or make all its slave, says leader of Patel group
“Either free the country from reservation or make everybody the slave of reservation,” said Hardik Patel, 22, dressed in a half-sleeved white shirt and army combat trousers, at his office in Bopal on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
2.Centre unveils list of 98 smart cities; U.P. & T.N. strike it rich
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Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday urged local and international investors to put their money on the Smart City Mission, assuring them that it was a safe bet.
Mr. Naidu unveiled a list of 98 cities with Uttar Pradesh taking the largest share of developing 13 smart cities followed by Tamil Nadu, which qualified to develop 12.
“Both national and international investors are looking for opportunities in the backdrop of the recent financial crisis,” said Mr. Naidu.
“People are searching for safe investments. I offer smart cities as the safest investment because land is going to be there, structures are going to be there, so the returns are assured,” he said.
With an aim to achieve “inclusive growth”, the Smart City Mission promotes integrated city planning, where the government’s policies such as Swachh Bharat Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation complement each other.
Taking a tough stance over the delay of project approvals at the State-level, Mr. Naidu said the new parameters set by the Ministry have created a “perform or perish” situation where municipal councils “cannot afford to miss this opportunity of recasting the country’s urban landscape”. The Ministry will impose fines on States that violate the timeline of 60 days of finalising the projects.
“I held three consultations with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Environment,” Mr. Naidu said.
3.Another Pakistani militant held in Kashmir
Four others killed in gunbattle with security personnel
Another Pakistani militant was captured and four more were shot dead in a fierce gun battle deep in the Rafiabad jungles of Baramulla as the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police wound up a four-day joint operation on Thursday.
The captured militant, who initially identified himself as Sajjad Ahmed, 22, is said to be from Muzaffargarh, on the banks of the Chenab river, in southwest Punjab of Pakistan. Security agencies said the five made up a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
4.IMD deficit forecast comes true
As the season enters its final phase, the forecast of a below-normal monsoon made by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has come true with the rainfall deficit standing exactly at the 12 per cent it has predicted. Private forecaster Skymet, which had forecast a normal monsoon, concedes that with the season nearly done, the rainfall is not likely to increase. “The country-wide cumulative rainfall [deficit] figure now stands at 12 per cent. The daily average rainfall figure will start taking a dip after a couple of days. Thus, we can expect that this [the average rainfall] figure will not rise much,” Skymet said on Wednesday.
The IMD says the southern peninsula and central India have been the worst hit, with rainfall 20 per cent and 15 per cent below normal, respectively. Northwest India, east and northeast India received 6 per cent less.
Only three — West Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh and Gangetic West Bengal — of the 36 sub-divisions in the country have received surplus rainfall, and 15 have received normal. Half the sub-divisions received deficient rainfall, the IMD says. The department defines rainfall as deficient if it is 20-59 per cent less than normal. But despite the deficient monsoon, food inflation has been falling.
5.We could well achieve MDGs by this year: PM[VIP]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday vowed to put an end to maternal and child deaths in India on a war footing.
He was addressing the inaugural session of the two-day ‘Call to Action 2015’ summit here, being attended by 24 countries that contribute nearly 70 per cent of the preventable maternal and child deaths globally.
The summit aims to discuss strategies while the world transits from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals this year-end. Based on the fast pace of decline in Under-5 mortality figures, Mr. Modi said on this front, India could well reach its MDGs target by the end of 2015.
While taking pride in India’s elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus, ahead of the target date of December 2015, he said that to sustain current efforts, the government was seeking to accelerate the pace of full immunisation coverage in the country under the “Mission Indradhanush.”
Focusing on vaccinating the left-outs, the programme seeks to accelerate the current increase in the annual rate of immunisation from the existing level of 1 per cent to more than 5 per cent per year, he said, adding that the government’s aim was to ensure that “no child in India dies of a vaccine-preventable disease.”
Mr. Modi also drew attention to the India Newborn Action Plan (INAP) launched in September 2014, which now targeted reduction in Neonatal Mortality Rate and still births to a single digit by 2030.
6.ISRO-NASA mission to use GSLV-D6 rocket[VIP]
Thursday’s successful launch of the GSAT-6 satellite by GSLV-D6, earning the launcher the “operational rocket” tag, will signal joint collaboration between India’s ISRO and NASA of the United States.
NISAR Mission:
NASA ISRO SAR Mission (NISAR) is expected to be launched on board GSLV-D6 in 2020-21, ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said, adding NISAR would be optimised for studying hazards and global environment change. Answering a query, a senior ISRO scientist said that using India’s GSLV and not going for space agencies abroad for launching satellites weighing up to 2 tonne would help save on foreign exchange. “GSLV will cost just one third of the cost we have to spend on foreign agencies,” he said.
Mr. Kumar said that GSLV cannot be compared to PSLV for commercial purposes as both have been assigned intended payload capabilities. “GSLV is also a good candidate for commercial payloads,” he said.
A senior official said that there were about 10 Indian satellites which were lined up to be launched on board GSLV -D6.
7.India gets another eye in the sky
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Staging yet another spectacular launch of the three-stage heavy weight rocket GSLV-D6 which integrates the indigenous cryogenic upper stage (CUS), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday successfully placed a GSAT-6 communication satellite in the intended orbit.
The GSLV-D6 is the second successful consecutive launch of the GSLV series with an indigenous cryogenic upper stage. The ISRO had on January 5, 2014, launched GSLV D-5, after a similar attempt failed in 2010.
About 17 minutes after the 49.1-metre-high spacecraft lifted off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 4.52 pm with a lift-off weight of 416 tonne, the rocket placed GSAT-6 in the orbit.
The satellite will be eventually manoeuvred into the final geostationary orbit at 83 degree east longitude. GSAT-6 will provide S-band communication services in the country.
“The performance of GSLV-D6 has been normal and the intricacies of the rocket have been understood,” ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said soon after the launch, from the Mission Control Room.
“We are planning to test GSLV Mk III capable of carrying payload up to 4 tonne by the end of next year. We have already tested the cryogenic stage for the Mk III for over 800 seconds at our facility at Mahendragiri,” Mr. Kiran Kumar said.
Speaking on the Antrix-Devas deal, he said: “It was cancelled since the satellite was needed for defence purposes. We have made some minor changes in the satellite after the issue. Now the satellite is out of the controversy.”
Mission director R. Umamaheswaran described the successful launch as the ISRO’s “Onam gift” to the country.
The 2,117-kg GSAT-6 communication satellite is aimed primarily at benefiting the country’s strategic users and other authorised users. The cuboid-shaped satellite, with a mission life of nine years, also includes a first-of-its-kind S-Band unfurlable antenna with a diameter of six metre. This is the largest antenna the ISRO has ever made for a satellite.
Unfurlabe antenna:
Though Thursday’s launch was the ninth time the ISRO was using the GSLV rocket, this was the third time the rocket was being launched with the indigenous cryogenic upper stage.
27-08-15
1.India-Seychelles pact to curb black money
Agreements to be signed on agricultural research, space cooperation.
India inked a taxation agreement with the Seychelles on Wednesday for allowing exchange of information to curb tax evasion and avoidance and is looking at strengthening maritime security ties and cooperation on blue economy with the island nation.
After holding talks with the visiting Seychelles President James Alix Michel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the archipelago as a key strategic partner of India, and said agreements in sectors such as agricultural research and space were being signed to deepen engagement.
As the Seychelles is considered one of the preferred offshore havens for routing of funds, the Union Cabinet recently approved the signing and ratification of the taxation pact with the island nation to unearth black money.
On maritime security, Mr. Modi said the two countries had excellent security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, and India was a partner in providing aircraft, naval vessels and coastal radar systems for strengthening surveillance capacities. “Our cooperation in hydrography surveys is extensive and growing,” the Prime Minister said adding that India would gift one more interceptor Coast Guard boat to the Seychelles.
An air services agreement signed here is expected to enable more and easier connections between the two countries, while cooperation in space, including in the areas of managing land and marine resources, fisheries advisory, weather forecasting and disaster management, is being explored.
In March, the Prime Minister announced India would gift a second Dornier aircraft to the Seychelles. An agreement for the same was signed on Wednesday.
The bilateral agreement for cooperation on blue economy, the Prime Minister said, was a huge step forward in promoting sustainable ocean economy in the region. India, which recently reached out to Pacific Island nations to collaborate with them for combating the challenge of climate change, ahead of the U.N. Climate Summit in Paris later this year, is looking at partnering with the Seychelles on the issue.
2.GSAT-6 will be a game changer
Thursday’s GSLV flight from Sriharikota will have the country’s space community closely watching how the much-needed launch vehicle fares with the home-built cryogenic third stage.
The space scientists are also agog over how its passenger, communication spacecraft GSAT-6, will ‘unfold’ itself in the coming days.
The 2,117-kg GSAT-6 is a predominantly S-band communication satellite that enables multimedia applications. It will be used purely for ‘strategic’ purposes by the Armed Forces and for societal uses during a disaster or an emergency, according to A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation.
He said GSAT-6 would not create any new transponder capacity for normal civil and commercial users. (In February 2011, the govt. converted its end use from the original `commercial and infotainment’ to solely Defence purposes.)
The fourth-generation national satellite is also designated as INSAT-4E. For people who have worked on the spacecraft for at least three years, its exciting aspect is the large antenna measuring six metres in diameter and what it can do: data and voice connectivity; changing bit rates and frequency hopping.
Largest antenna
Prior to the launch, Mr. Kiran Kumar told The Hindu that this would be the largest antenna to be deployed on an Indian satellite; the norm has been for antennas 2.2 to 2.4 metres wide. It would function the same way as other INSAT/GSATs; but in hardware terms, it would be a game changer.
It will be used purely for ‘strategic’ purposes by the Armed Forces
3.Decks cleared for India’s role in Iranian port
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Chabahar will provide an alternative route and reduce transportation costs.
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The decks have been cleared for India to lease and develop the strategically important Iranian port of Chabahar. This will provide an alternative route for India to trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan. The obstructions that the India-Iran agreement on the port had run into, after it was announced in May, got sorted last week during Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s visit, said Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
“The Prime Minister has spoken to the Iran government…. and 8 to 10 days ago the Iranian Foreign Minister came and met me… we have solved the problem,” Mr. Gadkari said without divulging details. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, Chabahar port will be used to ship crude oil and urea, greatly reducing transportation costs for importing these two commodities. The port is to be developed via a special purpose vehicle, which will be owned by the two sides with an investment of around $85 million. A multi-purpose cargo and container terminal is to be developed at the port.
India’s presence in Chabahar will offset the Chinese presence in the Pakistani port of Gwadar. It also takes advantage of the centuries-old connection with Iran, especially at a time when Iran’s economic sanctions are expected to be lifted, thanks to the nuclear deal it signed with the West. Weeks ahead of signing the MoU, the Iranian government had leased the port for upgradation to a private company, Aria Badaner. This put a question mark on the Indo-Iranian deal and caused alarm in Indian quarters as the agreement with Aria Badaner had taken place in March, while the MoU was signed in May between Mr. Gadkari and Iran’s Minister for Transport and Urban Development Dr. Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi.
29-08-15
1.India, U.S. set to ink pact on terror database
India could soon get access to a U.S. database of 11,000 terror suspects if the countries sign a pact to exchange information on terrorists, during the Homeland Security dialogue in December. The information would be shared through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s legal attache at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi.
Though some security agencies expressed concern over giving unhindered access to the U.S. on such “sensitive database”, the government is of the view that it would be beneficial in the long run. India is, however, insisting that “privacy issues” be taken care of, and the agreement not be a tool to serve only the interests of the U.S. In return, it wants access to Internet-related data from U.S.-based service providers like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, among others.
The Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD -6) is a model text agreement proposed by the U.S. for exchange of terrorist screening information between the Terrorist Screening Centre of the U.S. and an Indian agency.
2.Revisit national policy for the elderly: SC
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to revisit its national policy for the elderly, saying it is over 15 years old and a lot has changed on the ground.
The Social Justice Bench, comprising Justices Madan B. Lokur and U.U. Lalit, said a relook was necessary in the wake of the enactment of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.
The National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) envisages State support to ensure financial and food security, healthcare, shelter and other needs of older persons, equitable share in development, protection against abuse and exploitation and availability of services to improve the quality of their lives.
The observations came during the hearing of a PIL petition seeking setting up of old age homes with basic healthcare facilities in every district of the country.
3.High protein diet lowers blood pressure
Eating high-levels of certain proteins found in meat and plant-based foods can lower blood pressure and arterial stiffness leading to better heart health, a study has found.
Eating foods rich in amino acids — building blocks of proteins — could be as good for your heart as stopping smoking or physical exercise — researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) found.
“Increasing intake from protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, dairy produce, beans, lentils, broccoli and spinach could be an important and readily achievable way to reduce people’s risk of cardiovascular disease,” explained lead researcher Dr Amy Jennings from UEA’s Norwich Medical School.
This research shows a protective effect of several amino acids on cardiovascular health.
Researchers investigated the effect of seven amino acids on cardiovascular health among almost 2,000 healthy women.
They found strong evidence that those who consumed the highest amounts of amino acids had lower measures of blood pressure and arterial stiffness.
The food source was important. A higher intake of amino acids from plant-based sources was associated with lower blood pressure and a higher intake from animal sources associated with lower levels of arterial stiffness.
“Beneficial daily amounts equate to a 100 gram salmon fillet or a 500 ml glass of skimmed milk,” Jennings added in a paper that appeared in the Journal of Nutrition . — IANS
4.SHG women make a livelihood from algae
For Andhra Pradesh, which has a coastline of 974 km, algae cultivation is an opportunity to improve the living conditions of lakhs of fishermen and to earn foreign currency as well. Popularly known as seaweeds, algae can be cultivated in seawater, including shallow and brackish waters.
It has been of immense industrial, human and agricultural value since time immemorial and gained prominence during 13th century, after the discovery of agar-agar in Japan and Alginic Acid in the European continent.
Substances of the seaweeds are being used as additives in food products and drugs to give them a smooth texture and help them retain moisture. They are also used in lipsticks, soaps, film, paint, varnish and buttons and of huge demand in the domestic and international markets.
“As far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned, algae cultivation is yet to be explored fully. Though there is vast scope, attempts are still at a nascent stage,” says A. Srinivasa Rao, lecturer at the department of Botany and Microbiology at Pithapuram Rajah Government Degree College.
Fisherfolk, especially women self-help groups from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, have already been enjoying the benefits of algae cultivation while their counterparts from Kerala are on the job of tapping the potential.
Though a pilot project was launched in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh long back, the cultivation, however, has not been expanded to the other coastal districts. “Initiative from the government is important. It is a highly subsidised crop, as the farmers would get 50 per cent of subsidy on input costs. The crop duration is just 45 days and there has been a steady increase in the demand for the produce in the international market,” says P.V. Subba Rao, retired scientist from the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research and instrumental in the operations of Aquaculture Foundation of India that involved in algae cultivation at Mandapam in Tamil Nadu.
Popularly known as seaweed, algae has been of immense industrial, human and agricultural value
5.India rebuffs Afghanistan on strategic meet[VIP]
Stung by Afghanistan’s security and strategic shift towards Pakistan in the past year, India has rebuffed another invitation from Kabul to revive the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) signed in 2011 to hold a meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC).
Diplomatic sources at the highest level have confirmed to The Hindu that India has conveyed its inability to hold the meeting that would be chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani “due to prior commitments.”
New Delhi has also conveyed that Ms. Swaraj will not attend the upcoming Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Kabul on September 3 and 4, and instead Sujata Mehta, Secretary, Multilateral and Economic Relations, will represent India at the conference. India’s representation will be in sharp contrast to some of the other regional countries participating at the Foreign Minister-level, while Iran is expected to send its Interior Minister and Pakistan its National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz, RECCA official Asadullah Hamdard confirmed to The Hindu .
While India’s decision to not attend the RECCA conference, which is essentially a development and donor conference, may not affect relations given India’s $2.3-billion strong commitment to Afghanistan, Afghan officials said the delay in the SPC meeting is more significant. India and Afghanistan have held only one meeting of the SPC (in 2012) since former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and former India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the historic agreement in 2011.
“We can’t understand what the agreement means if we can’t even schedule a meeting for three years,” an Afghan official told The Hindu , adding that Afghanistan has made four requests since January for the meeting, the fourth request being made in August.
Officials in Delhi confirmed they had received “at least two to three written requests, and several oral requests had been raised as well.”
India was the first country Afghanistan chose to sign a strategic partnership agreement with, despite the U.S. and Pakistan keen on doing so. Since then, however, India has significantly withdrawn from its strategic promises to Afghanistan for a number of reasons.
To begin with, a barrage of attacks from the Taliban supported by Pakistan as a “backlash” to Indian presence have forced India to reconsider its strategic and military assistance there.
Next, said officials, after President Ashraf Ghani took charge in 2014, he made a decisive shift towards mending fences with the Pakistan Army, including visits to the Pakistan General Headquarters and inviting the Army and intelligence chiefs to Kabul, and signing an MoU between intelligence agencies NDS and ISI, even as his government joined talks with the Taliban hosted by Pakistan.
Trust deficit
“After Karzai, we have never trusted Ashraf Ghani’s motivations given the overtures he made to the Pakistan Army,” said the former Ambassador to Kabul Rakesh Sood, adding, “India has always been hesitant about what it wanted from the SPA anyway. The demand for defence equipment, for example, was something we were never able to deliver on.”
India’s development commitment remains robust, and Mr. Modi's visit is expected to take place once the Afghan Parliament is completed by the Indian Public Works Department by January 2016.
India is the first country Afghanistan chose to sign a strategic partnership agreement with
6.Indian scientist Modadugu Vijay Gupta awarded first Sunhak Peace Prize[VIP]
Noted Indian agriculture scientist Modadugu Vijay Gupta, who has done pioneering work in aquaculture in India and several other countries, was on Friday awarded the first Sunhak Peace Prize, billed as an alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with the President of Kiribati Islands.
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Dr. Gupta, 76, received the $1 million prize along with Anote Tong, President of Kiribati Islands, here at a glittering function which was attended by invitees from all over the world.
Mr. Tong, 63, the head of the Pacific Ocean island nation which is facing the dire prospects of being engulfed by rising sea waters by 2050, was chosen for the award for his dogged fight to end the carbon emissions which are spelling doom for small island nations.
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The awards were presented by South Korean religious leader Hak Ja Han Moon, the wife of late Rev Sun Myung Moon, who instituted the awards to recognise and highlight the work of individuals making big efforts for the betterment of people.
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Hailing from Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Gupta, a biologist, was also the recipient of the World Food Prize in 2005 for development and dissemination of low-cost techniques for freshwater fish farming.
Before his retirement, he served as the assistant director general at WorldFish, an international fisheries research institute under the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research based in Penang, Malaysia. — PTI
7.Researchers one step closer to cracking Alzheimer’s puzzle
Research groups at TIFR, Mumbai, IISc, Bangalore and the University of Toronto working together, may have gotten the closest yet to figuring out how the toxic form of the Alzheimer’s molecule looks. This brings with it implications of development of better drugs to treat patients.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive form of dementia that is characterised by loss of short-term memory, deterioration in behaviour and intellectual performance, besides slowness of thought. It may occur in middle age or in old age, and while a lot of research is on for drug treatments, none has been successful.
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While it is widely accepted that a specific form of the Amyloid beta molecule is a major player in causing Alzheimer’s, the shape and form of this remained elusive, experts say.
The excitement now is that scientists have caught a glimpse of the molecule during its attempt to enter a cell membrane, using a new method involving laser light and fat-coated silver nanoparticles.
“It is a rare protein and is difficult to probe. It was slightly fortuitous that we found it, using a modified version of Raman Spectroscopy. Usually the signal from this is weak, but we mimicked the cell’s outer layer by encasing silver nanoparticles in a fat membrane,” says Sudipta Maiti, of TIFR, who co-directed the research with P.K. Madhu. The Amyloid beta molecules were fooled into piercing this ‘membrane’ and the nanoparticles enhanced the signals, allowing scientists to see it at that point.
When proteins aggregate, or gang up to form a structure, they shift shapes. “At some stage of ganging up they suddenly start attacking the cell membrane and that’s where toxicity begins. How they enter the membrane, and what they look like when entering the membrane is key,” he says.
Amyloid beta molecules
The ‘lock’ looks like a bunch of Amyloid beta molecules each in the shape of a hairpin, but with a twist, TIFR has said in a release. Debanjan Bhowmik, the lead contributor of the study, says “This has been suspected earlier, but what we found was an unexpected twist in the structure, now becoming a beta-hairpin — very different from the typical hairpin structure people imagined.” This technique might also help in finding the shape of similar proteins in future, Dr. Maiti adds.
The findings were published in the journal ACS Nano this week.
If indeed it turns out to be the ‘lock’ for Alzheimer’s then the discovery will facilitate new efforts to finding a key — an intelligent drug candidate designed to attack the lock. “We have been working on the project for nearly 12 years now, and it is only now that we have started working with a few colleagues from the Institute of Chemical Technology who have the expertise in the field of intelligent design of drug molecules,” Dr. Maiti says.
“The use of technology to identify peptides and peptide transformations, which helps us understand the structure in great detail, is important — both for definitive diagnosis and definitive treatments. Once defined, researchers could adopt the technique to study wider samples, and this will lead to a greater understanding and modification of processes, eventually to better clinical care,” says Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, Chennai-based senior neuropsychiatrist, and founder, Neurokrish.
8.U.S. asks Pak. to curb nuke arsenal
The U.S. has asked Pakistan and all other nuclear-armed countries to exercise restraint in expanding their nuclear capabilities after two American think-tanks said Pakistan could have the third largest stockpile of atomic weapons in about a decade.
“We continue to urge all nuclear-capable states, including Pakistan, to exercise restraint regarding furthering their nuclear capabilities,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.
He was responding to a question on a latest report by two top American think-tanks, according to which in a decade or so, Pakistan would have more than 350 nuclear weapons that would be third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons after the United State and Russia.
The 48-page report titled “A Normal Nuclear Pakistan” by two renowned scholars Tom Dalton and Michael Krepon of Stimson Center and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says that the growth path of the country’s nuclear arsenal, enabled by existing infrastructure, goes well beyond the assurances of credible minimal deterrence provided by its officials and analysts after testing nuclear devices.
The report said that Pakistan will retain its capabilities for the foreseeable future as a necessary deterrent against perceived existential threats from India. — PTI
9.Follow Indian model in ties with Afghanistan, China told
Lauding India’s constructive role in Afghanistan, the U.S. has asked China to follow the Indian model of engagement and developmental efforts in the war-torn country.
“India has played a constructive role over the last several years inside Afghanistan, and we would look to other nations like China to do the same,” State Department Spokesperson John Kirby told reporters yesterday.
India has so far given financial assistance worth over $2 billion to Afghanistan and has been involved in massive developmental efforts in this war-torn country.
“I think everybody in the international community could benefit from an Afghanistan that is secure and stable and prosperous. We want to make sure that we’re all pulling on the same oars here to get Afghanistan to that better future,” Kirby said. — PTI
10.Kim Jong-Un credits nukes for peace deal
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said nuclear weapons, not negotiating skills, secured this week’s “landmark” deal with South Korea.
Chairing a meeting of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), Kim credited the North with striking the deal that ended a tense military standoff with the South, Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency said on Friday. The deal pulled both sides back from the brink of an armed conflict and committed them to starting an official dialogue.
Top officials dismissed
The meeting “dismissed some members of the Central Military Commission and appointed new ones and dealt with an organisational matter,” it said, without elaborating on the reason for the dismissals.
11.U.S. security adviser in China ahead of Xi’s trip
The U.S. national security adviser met with President Xi Jinping on Friday amid final preparations for the Chinese leader’s visit to Washington next month, with both sides expressing optimism despite their differences.
Susan Rice’s visit to Beijing comes as China is dealing with fallout from a sharply sliding stock market and slowing economic growth that have rattled global markets. A move to devalue its currency and make Chinese exports more competitive has brought criticism from some U.S. politicians, in a throwback to past years when Beijing was accused of manipulating its currency.
The economic setbacks are seen as weakening Xi’s clout as he prepares to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House in late September. — AP
12.U.S. court rules in favour of NSA phone snooping
A U.S. appeals court on Friday overturned a ruling that the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records was illegal, saying the plaintiffs failed to show they were victims.
The court’s decision on the NSA’s collection of phone metadata was consistent with the Obama administration’s stance that the intelligence gathering programmes are constitutional, the White House said on Friday.
The federal court threw out a judge’s ruling that would have blocked the NSA’s metadata collection. A lower court, in a preliminary 2013 ruling, said the programme was probably unconstitutional and “almost Orwellian.”
But the appellate panel said the case should not proceed because the plaintiffs failed to show they had been targeted for surveillance as part of the programme. — Agencies
13.Seychelles may join India-led maritime security alliance
Days after India reset its relations with 14 Pacific Island countries, Seychelles, a key power in the Indian Ocean, declared it might join an India-led trilateral security framework that also includes Sri Lanka and Maldives.
On a visit to India, President James Alix Michel, President of Seychelles told a select audience at the Indian Council for World Affairs (ICWA), "with regards to safeguarding maritime domain, Seychelles is actively considering invitation by the Indian government to join the tripartite maritime security framework which encompasses India, Sri Lanka and Maldives." In words that would be music to Indian ears, Michel asserted that the Indian Ocean region "belongs" to countries sharing maritime boundaries here.
"... One thing that Seychelles does recognize is that Indian Ocean belongs to us. It belongs to the countries in the region. In terms of peace, security and stability these are questions we must look at in terms of the presence of foreign forces, foreign naval forces, and foreign countries in our region... In terms of geopolitics we need an ocean that is free from politics. We also recognize the right of other countries to be present and work with us in terms of economic prosperity and in the concept of blue economy," Seychelles foreign minister Joel Morgan said.
"We cannot leave it to others to secure our maritime space. The need is more relevant than ever. Today we have with India an exemplary partnership in defence and security sectors. India's determined and proactive action in fight against piracy is highly commendable," Michel said.
Modi had made Seychelles one of the stops in his big Indian Ocean foray in March. India has extended the Indian Ocean security framework by inviting Mauritius and Seychelles to the last meeting as observers. That outreach has been strengthened by the Narendra Modi government. In fact, as Maldives becomes a less stable nation in a crucial part of the world, India is hoping to invest more in Seychelles and Mauritius, to offset the difficulties created by Maldives. Although during a recent visit by the Maldives foreign secretary, the Maldivian president, Abdulla Yameen asserted that he would not let a new land law affect the security of the Indian Ocean region, India is clearly hedging its bets. Seychelles too has a close relationship with China but India is betting on its growing presence and interest in the Indian Ocean country.
Both with the Pacific island countries and in the Indian Ocean region, India is pushing the mantra of the "blue economy" to expand its partnerships.
From Fiji to Nauru and Tuvalu, New Delhi has opened up travel opportunities to India by giving them gratis visas. India has big attractions in terms of helping these countries build capacities, both human as well as in agriculture and marine activities. Fiji officials said India's innovations are cheaper and easier to adapt to their conditions. "With a little investment, India can achieve a lot," they said. The same goes for Seychelles, which is an enthusiastic user of India's pan-African e-network, particularly for medical diagnosis.
14.India poised to gain from China crisis
Amid the global economic gloom, triggered by a slowing Chinese economy, most economists maintained that India's growth prospects were brighter than those of other emerging markets.
1.China muscles loss can lead to six-pack India: Arvind Panagariya
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Panagariya said in his view the developments in China and their knock-on impact were better categorised as 'turmoil' than as a 'crisis'.Panagariya said this presented a huge opportunity for India.
2.Foreign media sees India benefiting from China’s slowdown
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India stands to benefit from China's slowdown thanks to its resilient consumer spending and improving macroeconomic fundamentals.
3.Elephant vs dragon: In graphic
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China's economy is slowing sharply, creating a risk for the global economy. (Illustration: Anirban | Graphic: Jayeeta)
4.India can replace China as driver of global growth: FM Arun Jaitley
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Seeing an opportunity in the recent turmoil in global equity and currency markets, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said India, with 8-9 per cent growth rate, can replace China as the driver of world economy.
5.'India picking up' is the narrative now: RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan
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Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan tells us why it is different this time, and how India is no more in the club of the 'Fragile Five' or 'Troubled 10.'
6.10 reasons to be optimistic about the economy
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Amid the global economic gloom, triggered by a slowing Chinese economy, most economists maintained that India's growth prospects were brighter than those of other emerging markets.
7.Watch: Global market turmoil an opportunity to grow, says FM
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Asserting that the global market turmoil was not a cause of ‘worry’ for India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the crisis should be converted into an ‘opportunity’ to grow by speeding up the reforms.
8.Improved macro will help India withstand volatility: Moody's
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Rating agency Moody's Investor's Service has said that India's macro- economic indicators have improved over the last few years which will help the country withstand volatility in global capital flows in coming months.
9.No need to panic, India to gain from global adjustment, says MoS Jayant Sinha
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No need to panic, India to gain from global adjustment, says MoS Jayant SinhaIn an exclusive interview to TOI, Sinha talks about India's robust growth prospects and the reform drive undertaken by the government.
10.India best poised to ride the global rollercoaster?
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After its worst single-day rout (in absolute terms) of 1625 sensex points and a sharp rupee depreciation of 82 paise against the dollar, both stocks and currency bounced back on Tuesday,gaining 291 points and 55 paise respectively.
11.PM to brainstorm with bizmen & economists
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With China's economic woes engulfing the world economy, the government has swung into action and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to seek advice of economists and businessmen at a brainstorming session over the weekend to work out a roadmap to strengthen India against any possible turbulence.
12.Elephant vs Dragon: Why India's economy is in a better shape than China
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China's economy is slowing sharply, creating a risk for the global economy. Its debt is pegged at 282% of GDP by some estimates. And that is just one of its problems.
01-09-15
1.India’s walkout from UNSC was a turning point: Natwar
Even as the government celebrates India’s “forgotten war” with Pakistan in 1965, India’s former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh says India’s “silent diplomatic victory” at the end of the war must not be forgotten either.
According to Mr. Singh, posted at India’s permanent mission at the U.N. then, 1965 was a “turning point” for the U.N. on Kashmir, and a well-planned “walkout” from the U.N. Security Council by the Indian delegation as a protest against Pakistani Foreign Minister (and later PM) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s speech ensured Kashmir was dropped from the UNSC agenda for all practical purposes.
“As a result, there was hardly any reference to Kashmir for the next few decades at the UNSC, barring one resolution after the 1971 war. The Soviet Union helped by vetoing many of the resolutions Pakistan tried to push, and after the Simla Agreement of 1972, which committed to a bilateral resolution, the UNSC references to Kashmir ended entirely,” Mr. Singh recounted, in an exclusive interview to The Hindu on the occasion of the 1965 war’s 50th anniversary.
Just one resolution
According to the records, between 1948 and 1965 the UNSC passed 23 resolutions on Kashmir. After 1965, the U.N. body passed just one resolution (Resolution 307, December 21, 1971), calling on India and Pakistan to “respect the ceasefire line” after the Bangladesh war.
Mr. Singh said it took diplomats several years to reverse Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s “original sin” of taking the issue of Kashmir to the UNSC in 1948. “To begin with, PM Nehru should never have taken the issue to the UNSC at all, but even when the government did, it should have been listed under Chapter 7 citing Pakistani “aggression”, rather than Chapter 6 which deals with the peaceful resolution of “disputes”,” the former diplomat said
The criticism was unusual for Mr. Singh who joined the Congress after he retired, and was External Affairs Minister from 2004-2005 until he had to resign over the Volcker controversy.
Mr. Singh said that while he was a “supporter of Nehru,” India’s first Prime Minister was “a better PM than he was a Foreign Minister.”
“I think Nehru acted in good faith. But that good faith is still costing us in terms of our position at the UN. Another minefield we should have avoided was to let the Soviet Union broker the Tashkent Agreement (Ceasefire agreement, January 1966). Fortunately that didn’t become a precedent or we couldn’t have kept ‘third parties’ out of negotiations.”
‘Pakistan at it again’
Recounting his time at the United Nations (1962-1966), Mr. Singh said it is apparent that Pakistan is aiming to “internationalise” the Kashmir issue once again by repeatedly taking petitions to the U.N. In August this year, it raised the issue of firing at the LoC with U.N. officials more than once, and in a briefing to the UNSC, Pakistan Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said multilateral organisations like the U.N. and the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) should play a role in resolving the “Jammu & Kashmir dispute.”
“We should be prepared for Pakistan raising the Kashmir issue at the General Assembly. And if they do we should just not respond. Or send a junior officer to respond to them. Nothing pleases them more than if our PM uses the UNGA forum to respond to their PM, as our Prime Ministers have done in the past two years.” Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2013 and PM Narendra Modi in 2014 responded to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s UNGA statements on Kashmir.
“We must give credit to Swaran Singh [then Foreign Minister] and to the Indian decision in 1965 for ensuring Kashmir stayed out of the UNSC for several decades,” Mr. Singh said.
‘It took diplomats several years to reverse Nehru’s “original sin” of taking the Kashmir issue to the U.N.’
2.No death except for terror crimes: Law Commission
The Law Commission of India has recommended abolition of the death penalty for all crimes except terrorism-related offences and waging war against the state.
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Noting that the ultimate goal is absolute abolition which could be brought about through a moratorium or law, the commission has suggested that a debate on death for terror be left to Parliament.
On Monday, his last day in office, Law Commission Chairperson Justice A.P. Shah presented the commission’s 262nd Report, titled ‘The death penalty’, to Law Minister Sadananda Gowda.
Three of the commission’s 10 members, did not sign the report and submitted dissent notes, while the signature of a fourth with concerns could not be obtained.
3.Council seat will help Hindi enter U.N. list: Sushma
India, which is aspiring for a permanent seat in the expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC), hopes its inclusion in the elite group will make it easier for it to gather support for the inclusion of Hindi in the list of U.N. official languages.
On Monday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India was yet to make a formal proposal as it needed at least 129 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. She also rejected the perception that the proposal was not mooted and accepted because of monetary considerations. The view that a nation could pay for getting a language included in the list of official languages was incorrect as expenses towards the introduction of a new official language were borne by the member states, she said.
A high-level committee under the chairmanship of the External Affairs Minister was constituted in February 2003 and a sub-committee led by the Minister of State for External Affairs in August that year to look into the proposal to include Hindi in the list of official languages.
07-09-15
1.More women workers can boost growth: IMF chief
Women are increasingly seen as active agents of change’
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If the number of female workers were to increase to the same level as the number of men, GDP in the United States would expand by 5 per cent, by 9 per cent in Japan, and by 27 per cent in India, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated.
Delivering the keynote address at the Women’s 20 (W-20) Summit in Ankara, Turkey on Sunday, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said: “Women’s empowerment is not just a fundamentally moral cause, it is also an absolute economic no-brainer.”
Access to farming
The Food and Agriculture Organisation, she said, has estimated that giving women the same access to farming resources as men could increase output in developing countries by up to 4 per cent — lifting over 100 million out of hunger. “Women are increasingly seen, by men as well as women, as active agents of change: the dynamic promoters of social transformations that can alter the lives of both women and men,” Ms. Lagarde said, quoting economist Amartya Sen. The world has a unique moment of opportunity, she told the meet, according to an official statement. “We must seize it…”.
The W-20, she said, can make a difference by reminding the G-20 of its commitment — and holding them to account.
At their summit meeting last November, the G-20 pledged to reduce the gap in women’s labour force participation by 25 per cent by the year 2025, which would have the benefit of creating an estimated 100 million new jobs for the global economy.
Empowering women boosts economic growth and can reduce poverty. Getting more women into secure and well-paid jobs raises overall per capita income, Ms Largarde said. “Greater gender equality not only raises absolute income, it also helps to reduce income inequality.”
Three key policy areas for women’s economic empowerment, the IMF chief talked about, include those in education, the workplace and the family. Opportunities in the classroom have ramifications that are wide-reaching and long-lasting, she said.
“The message is clear: girls’ education is probably the single best investment a country can make.” One extra year of primary school boosts a woman’s earning potential by 10 to 20 per cent. One extra year of secondary school boosts her earning potential by 25 per cent. Other ways to boost schooling of girls, beyond investments in education include social programmes such as cash transfers to poor families made conditional on their daughters’ school attendance — as is the case in Bangladesh and Cambodia. And strengthening infrastructure, such as roads and sanitation, that makes it easier for girls to get to school.
“While having a good education certainly helps women enter the workforce, it is by no means a guarantee of employment… A number of countries with highly educated women still have low levels of female labour force participation. For example, it is a well-known challenge in Japan,” Ms. Lagarde said.
To help women find work, removing legal barriers, such as having equal property rights, is vital followed by women’s pay and unequal access to finance, she advised.
Recent IMF research noted that almost 90 per cent of countries have at least one important legal restriction that makes it difficult for women to work. In half of the countries studied, when gender equity was constitutionally granted, female labour force participation increased by at least five per cent over the following five years.
It also found that even with the same level of education, and in the same occupation, women earn just three-quarters of what men earn.
Financial inclusion
In emerging and developing countries, 70 per cent of female-owned small and medium-sized enterprises are either unserved or under-served by financial institutions, she said.
Increasing financial inclusion for women is an issue that Ms. Lagarde plans to emphasise at the U.N. Summit on the Post-2015 Development Agenda later this month.
The IMF chief said that infrastructure can be an obstacle too. “Without access to basic transport or energy sources, women find it very difficult to work outside the home.” In rural South Africa, for example, electrification increased female labour force participation by 9 per cent.
On the third broad policy area, which revolves around the special role women play in family life, she said: “Men — not only as partners, but also as fathers, sons, and brothers — have an important stake in empowering women... Not only does this help their partners, daughters, mothers and sisters to achieve their potential, it also helps build a stronger society for all.”
Research suggests that cutting the cost of childcare by half could increase the number of young mothers in the labour market by 10 per cent, Ms. Lagarde said.
Paid parental leave helps to maintain a woman’s connection to the labour market. Japan, for example, has expanded childcare leave benefits from 50 per cent to 67 per cent of salary.
‘Girls’ education is probably the single best investment a country can make’
2.Newspapers in Kashmir, PoK to share content
In a first, some 12 newspapers on both sides of Kashmir have decided to exchange news and views through the Internet.
They will sign a memorandum of understanding to share content “to build a permanent linkage and to understand each other’s problems”. Initially, only apolitical content will be shared.
The arrangement was reached at a meeting of 29 journalists and newspaper owners in Islamabad recently. “We will have a news pool first for joint use of content. A memorandum of understanding will be signed later to have regular coverage,” Shujaat Bukhari, Editor of the Srinagar-based Rising Kashmir , said.
An intra-Kashmir journalist workshop, a joint effort of the Kashmir Initiative Group, the Kashmir Institute of International Relations and the Centre for Peace, Development and Reforms, was held in Pakistan in the last week of August.
“It is unique as journalists on both sides [of Jammu and Kashmir] are able to interact at this level for the first time in 70 years. This provides an opportunity to get direct information,” Ejaz Abbasi, president of the PoK-based Kashmir Journalist Forum, said.
Government backing
The PoK government has decided to support the initiative. “We welcome any measure aimed at connecting the divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir,” said PoK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majid, a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Only apolitical reports will be exchanged for now
3.Very little funding from abroad: NGOs
Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) cancelled the registration of Greenpeace under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), leading to a debate on funding of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
For many NGOs in the city, the FCRA, combined with drying up of local funding, has meant that many projects have to be cancelled.
While they say that registration for the FCRA was easy a few years ago, it has now become a lot more stringent. “Often, the larger NGOs do not face a problem when it comes to funding, but smaller ones have an issue,” says V. Nagarani from HOPE Public Charitable Trust. The organisation received their FCRA certification five years ago, but not much funding has come in from foreign sources, she adds.
There are several NGOs that exist only on paper. “These have given others too a bad name and so the funding has dried up for many sectors,” she points out, adding that only around 10 per cent of their funding comes through government schemes. They rely on the goodwill of people and philanthropists for the rest.
Other NGOs that registered for FCRA over a decade ago too say very little foreign funding comes in now. According to V. Vedanayagam, who runs Greater Love Children Home in Ayanavaram, registered for the FCRA in 2003. “In the past two years, although I have not got much money from foreign funding, I have had to submit annual returns on the account. Initially, there was a lot more funding coming in to the State, but now this seems to have dried up,” he says.
Virgil D’ Sami, executive director of Arunodhaya, too agrees. “In general, since the social indicators in Tamil Nadu are high, international agencies tend to concentrate on other States such as Bihar,” she says. Her organisation registered for FCRA in 2000, and needs to renew it now.
“Recently, a number of organisations, including People’s Watch, had their FCRA registration suspended for halting development activities. Some organisations did not update their addresses while others had not filed tax returns,” she said, adding that most of her funding came from the government, and some from organisations such as Childline.
“We have a few regular funders from abroad, including Action Aid, but these projects are ending soon, and we will have to find new agencies for our projects,” she said. According to Sudha Ramalingam, who runs an old-age home at Perungulathur through Manonmani Trust, funding, especially for organisations dealing with the elderly, is a problem.
“Although we have registered for FCRA recently, we have received less than $2,000 and even that is only from people we know,” she says. Currently their home has around 15 people, but they are looking to expand.
“All our funding has come from friends and people who know us, and it has been difficult to raise funds for even small projects,” she says. Her organisation even tried crowdfunding, but it was not very successful. “Eventually, I asked people I know to fund our campaign through a crowdfunding site, which I could have done even otherwise,” she said.
According to a senior chartered accountant, however, many NGOs did not file their returns on time. “Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of NGOs that have not filed their returns, next only to Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
t. makes one more bid to get GST Bill through
After announcing the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme, the Narendra Modi government is making another bid to reconvene the monsoon session of Parliament later this month to get the Goods and Services Bill through. With the Congress and the Left Parties still opposing the Modi government-sponsored version of the Bill, senior Cabinet Ministers have renewed their appeal to the Opposition to cooperate with them to approve the legislation in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Congress sources told The Hindu that the Congress Working Committee meeting here on September 8 to deliberate on the changes proposed to the party’s constitution will also discuss “the current political situation,” as general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said recently.
5.ISRO to help put railway safety back on track
The Indian Railways will join hands with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to get online satellite imagery for improving safety and enhancing efficiency.
“We will undertake a massive exercise of GIS [Geographical Information System] mapping of the entire rail route and assets including buildings, land, workshops and other facilities in the network using geospatial technology,” said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the GIS mapping project.
The technology involves GPS (Global Positioning System), GIS, and remote sensing.
The official said geospatial services would be available from satellite-assisted navigational support through the GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation (GAGAN) system of ISRO.
“We will sign an MoU with ISRO shortly,” the official said.
The MoU will facilitate getting images and communications through the satellite system. While the images will help map the area, communications will enable the introduction of Wi-Fi service in trains in a larger way. The technology will come in handy during accidents to ascertain the exact location of trains and the topography.
Geo-fencing: [VIP]
The satellite images will be used for geo-fencing of stations for the paperless ticketing system.
Geo-fencing is a virtual barrier which uses GPS or radio frequency identification to define geographical boundaries.
— PTI
6.GSAT-6 positioned in orbit
Communication satellite GSAT-6 has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Sunday.
“GSAT-6 has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot of 83 Deg E and collocated with INSAT 4A, GSAT 12, GSAT 10 and IRNSS1C today (Sunday) morning, after carrying out four drift arresting manoeuvres,” the ISRO said.
The ISRO successfully launched GSAT-6, having an indigenous cryogenic engine onboard GSLV-D6 rocket, from Sriharikota on August 27. — PTI
7.Floating test range for missile defence system[VIP]
India is building a unique floating testing range — a huge ship — to overcome the limitations imposed by the land mass for carrying out missile tests of varying ranges for the two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD) system to protect important cities.
The system seeks to engage and destroy incoming enemy missiles at different altitudes in the endo- and exo-atmospheres.
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The first phase of the programme envisages development of interceptors to annihilate incoming missiles with a range of 2,000 km, while the second phase aims to build such weapons to destroy missiles with a longer range.
The system will waylay a ballistic missile and destroy it in mid-air.
India has so far conducted 10 interceptor missile tests, eight of them successful. Most of the trials were conducted in the endo-atmosphere, and a few in the exo-atmosphere. The first phase of the system is expected to be deployed after some more interceptor trials in deployable configuration. Official sources told The Hindu here that currently the missile testing range on Wheeler Island posed certain limitations as people needed to be evacuated from the villages every time a trial took place. More important, the range of the missile had to be confined to less than 300 km. Also, different trajectories could not be tested.
To overcome these problems, scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed the floating testing range — a huge ship with a designated displacement equivalent to 10,000 tonnes.
The state-of-the-art range would have many facilities such as a launch-pad, a launch control centre and a mission control centre.
Work begins
The construction of the range, which has just started, might take at least three to four years for the ship to be ready to conduct the first trial, sources said.
“It will pave the way for conducting trials for different trajectories, varying altitudes and also for higher ranges. We can go up to 1,000-1,500 km without any problem. Currently, we have to conduct simulation tests for longer ranges. Once, this FTR is ready we will be able to carry out live tests,” the sources said.
7.Import of ammonium nitrate in loose form banned
Domestic manufacturers, security agencies will breathe freely now
In a major relief to domestic manufacturers and security agencies, the Ministry of Home Affairs is learnt to have asked the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) not to allow bulk import of ammonium nitrate (AN) in loose form because it poses a threat to the national security.
As per the directive, the chemical has to be imported ‘in bagged form only,’ irrespective of the quantity in each bag, and the consignment has to be packed at the point of origin.
With this, the August notification of the Ministry of Shipping that allowed a south Indian port to facilitate bulk import in any form has become null and void. The green signal for bulk import in any form was interpreted as import in a loose form. A possible indiscriminate import raised security concerns as ammonium nitrate is an extremely dangerous explosive substance. What had prompted the Shipping Ministry to grant the relaxation is not known.
Domestic manufacturers such as Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd., Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. and Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd., which together have an installed capacity of 770,000 MT of ammonium nitrate, had raised objections as cheaper imports would have severely affected their business.
Besides, they had invested in bar-coding of ammonium nitrate bags, IT infrastructure and tracking devices to comply with the guidelines for ensuring that even a small quantity does not fall into the wrong hands.
The chemical is so dangerous that the Home Ministry, in its latest order, has made it mandatory for vehicles transporting it to have two armed guards with the GPS system. India consumes 700,000 MT of ammonium nitrate, a raw material for making civil explosives for mining and infrastructure. Since imports are 15-20 per cent cheaper, explosive manufacturers who supply to mining and infrastructure companies have been lobbying for bulk import, especially in loose form.
“Today about 15 per cent of ammonium nitrate consumed in India is imported. This has come down from 60 per cent in 2010 as domestic capacity has increased. Actually, there is no shortage in India,” Alok Perti, director-general, Indian Ammonium Nitrate Manufacturers Association, told The Hindu .
08-09-15
1.6 Army men get life term in Machil encounter case
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An Army court martial has awarded life sentence to six of its personnel found guilty in the Machil fake encounter case of 2010.
In a statement on Monday, a Northern Command spokesman said those sentenced were Colonel Dinesh Pathania; Captain Opendra; Havildar Devender Kumar; Lance Naik Lakhmi; Lance Naik Arun Kumar; and rifleman Abas Hussain. This is the first time Army personnel are being punished for human rights abuse in the Valley.
The Army verdict came in December 2013, but remained unconfirmed so far for procedural reasons.
A court of inquiry, headed by Major-General G.S. Sangah, a Brigadier of the 68 Mountain Division in 2010, ascertained the role of the accused and ordered a court martial.
The decision came two years after the Army sought the transfer of the case to a court martial on the ground that the accused were on active duty and the Army could exercise discretion to initiate proceedings before any court.
On April 29, 2010, the Army killed three youths in the Machil sector of Kupwara district on the ground that they were foreign militants. However, a police investigation found out that the dead, Reyaz Ahmad, Mohammad Shafi and Shahzad Ahmadas, were residents of Nadihal Rafiabad of Baramulla district. They were made to come to Machil by a former special police officer, Bashir Ahmad Lone, and his accomplices with the offer of jobs and later handed over to the Army personnel for Rs. 50,000 each. The bodies were exhumed on May 28, 2010.
A colonel, two majors, five soldiers, one Territorial Army man and two civilians were named by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in a charge sheet filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in 2010.
‘Welcome move’
“This is a welcome move. However, justice remains incomplete for us till two civilians, part of the fake encounter, are punished. Despite being from a poor background, we pursued the case and will continue to do so.” Muhammad Yousuf, father of victim Reyaz, said.
2.Coast Guard is planning air enclave off Mangaluru coast
It will help boost aerial surveillance system for swift response tocall at sea
The Coast Guard is examining setting up of an air enclave in Mangaluru to boost aerial surveillance system off the State’s coast and to render swift response to call at sea.
This initiative is being planned post 26/11 to boost the coastal security system. Preparations for the same were reviewed by Inspector-General K. Natarajan, Commander, Coast Guard Region (West), who visited the State on Monday.
He was here to review the Indian Coast Guard operations and infrastructure development. During his State visit, Mr. Natarajan also called on Governor Vajubhai Vala.
The air enclave would comprise an offshore vessel with an integrated helicopter landing deck that is to be positioned at Mangaluru, with the development of berthing facilities.
A Hoverport is also being developed for safe and smooth operation of Hovercraft from the shores of Mangaluru. Land has been identified and the Coast Guard is awaiting environment clearance.
A release here said that the District Headquarters No. 3 (Karnataka) functioning from Mangaluru has four fast patrol vessels, two Hovercraft and a remote operating station. The ICG Station Karwar functioning under Mangaluru has two interceptor boats and two interceptor craft, in addition to a Coast Guard Aeronautical Overseeing Team stationed at Bengaluru.
Mr. Natarajan’s Monday visit was the first to the State after he took charge of the western region in Mumbai last month.
The officer visited various units and advised personnel to undertake operations at sea in a professional manner as challenges and threats to security are increasing every day.
During the interaction with the Governor and officials of the State Administration, the Flag Officer discussed the Coast Guard’s expansion plans, safety and security issues. He lauded the support provided by the State Government for the development of the ICG in the maritime state of Karnataka.
3.Pak. Army Chief warns against ‘misadventure’
Pakistan’s Army Chief General Raheel Sharif has warned “enemies” that they will have to “pay an unbearable cost” for aggression.
Speaking at a function to mark the 50th anniversary of the India-Pakistan war of 1965 at the Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Sunday, he said Pakistan was “fully capable of defeating all sorts of external aggression.” “If the enemy ever resorts to any misadventure, regardless of its size and scale — short or long — it will have to pay an unbearable cost.”
The reference to “short or long” wars was in response to Indian Army Chief Gen. Dalbir Singh’s remarks at a seminar last week, stressing the need to prepare for the “swift, short nature of future wars.”
Gen. Sharif also referred to Kashmir as “the unfinished business of Partition.” “Without resolving the issue according to the aspirations of Kashmiris, peace in the region is not possible,” he said.
Rejecting Gen. Sharif’s comments, the government asserted India’s claim on all of Jammu and Kashmir. “The only issue with Pakistan is to get back parts of Jammu & Kashmir under its illegal occupation,” Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh said.
Speaking to journalists in Bhopal, the Minister of State for External Affairs and former Army Chief, V.K. Singh, said: “If someone is shouting needlessly, let them. When it is time for action, India is completely capable.”
Significantly, the bellicose comments have been made with the backdrop of events organised to mark the 1965 war anniversary.
While Pakistan has traditionally marked September 6 as ‘Difa e Pakistan’ day (Defence of Pakistan Day) to commemorate the defence of Lahore after Indian forces took key posts outside the city, the NDA government decided to celebrate the war anniversary this year as a victory for India for the first time.
4.FRANCE TO TAKE IN REFUGEES
Germany pledged six billion Euros on Monday to help the refugees crossing its borders and France vowed to take in 24,000 asylum-seekers this year.
5.‘Indian men low on sunshine vitamin’
Of the 73 lakh men screened by a pan-India survey by a private diagnostic centre from 2012 to 2014, 80.63 per cent had Vitamin D deficiency, which causes osteoporosis.
6.Modi meets Ricky Kej
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met internationally acclaimed musician Ricky Kej on Monday and congratulated him on his win at the 57th Grammy Awards earlier this year. Kej had won the prestigious award for his 2014 albumWinds of Samsara , which bagged the best new-age album trophy in Los Angeles in February. “PM Narendra Modi’s office had invited me for a meet and greet. I came in today morning. He was extremely gracious and generous with his time. We had a 45-minute-long, private meeting with the PM, my wife and me. He said it is not just an award for me, but also for the whole country. We talked music, philosophy and it was a really great time,” Kej said on the phone. Kej had composed a special version of the National Anthem for the Prime Minister. — IANS
7.Kali river contaminates groundwater
Rivers in western Uttar Pradesh like Kali, Krishna and Hindon have been polluted to dangerous levels because of the industrial waste released illegally into them by the industries. So grave is the pollution that they have also contaminated the groundwater of hundreds of villages located on the banks of these rivers thereby endangering the health of millions of people, revealed a scientific study of one of the rivers Kali which flows through nine districts and covers about 200 km.
Testing of 16 water samples, eight of ground water and eight of the river water from eight districts which the Kali flows through, has shown that not only the river water has been seriously contaminated but that has also contaminated the groundwater of all the villages located on its bank in eight districts.
The tests were done from the government-approved lab -- the Dehradun-based People’s Science Institute (PSI). The villages from where samples were picked are located in a radius of 2 kilometers of Kali.
The heavy metals present in the Kali have entered the groundwater of these villages through seepage. The results of the test has shown that dangerously high levels of lead, total dissolved solids and iron, have been found in the water samples picked from the hand pump of eight villages. According to Sunil Gupta, senior consultant, medical oncologist, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Delhi, continued consumption of heavy metals can have serious repercussions on human body and may result in serious diseases like cancer.
Accordingly the research team of Meerut-based NEER Foundation which did the study of water in Kali river in collaboration with WWF, found several cases of stomach ailments, brain disorder and even cancer among the residents of these villages.
Raman Tyagi, the director of the Neer Foundation, told The Hindu that “while these villages don’t have good public health system, private doctors in these villages told us that a large number of people suffer from serious diseases and many of them had died due to cancer owing to groundwater contamination.
For instance, the amount of lead in villages located in Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr and Aligarh was dangerously high. The amount of lead in the water in a hand pump at Rampura village in Bulandshahr was 0.35 mg/L which is 35 times higher than its permissible limit of 0.01 mg/L in ground water.
The residents of Antwada village in Jansath block of Muzaffarnagar, were found to be using a hand pump where the amount of lead was found to be 0.21 mg/L which is 21 times of the permissible limit.
8.Persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pak. can stay on
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on Monday allowing persecuted minorities from Bangladesh and Pakistan to stay in India even after expiry of their visas on humanitarian grounds.
The Centre has decided, on humanitarian considerations, to exempt Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014, in respect of their entry and stay in India without proper documents or after the expiry of relevant documents, a statement issued by the Home Ministry said.
The decision has been taken under Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and Foreigners Act, 1946, as first reported by The Hindu .
The government also issued two notifications in the Official Gazette under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and Foreigners Act, 1946. There are reports that a number of Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities in those countries, such as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists, took shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution.They have entered India either without any document, including passport, or with valid documents but the validity of such document has expired.
9.IS captures oilfield in central Syria
Activists say members of the Islamic State group have captured an oilfield in central Syria.
According to them, the extremists captured the Jazal oil field late on Sunday after clashes with government forces in the area in the central province of Homs. Syria-based activist Bebars al-Talawy said via Skype that IS fighters first attacked army posts around the Jazal field then stormed it.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that all the engineers working in the field moved to the nearby government-controlled Shaer gas field. — AP
10.U.S. revamping Syrian rebels to combat IS
In an acknowledgment of severe shortcomings in its effort to create and field a force of moderate rebels to battle the Islamic State in Syria, the Pentagon is drawing up plans to significantly revamp the programme by dropping larger numbers of fighters into safer zones as well as providing better intelligence and improving their combat skills.
The proposed changes come after a Syrian affiliate of al-Qaida attacked, in late July, many of the first 54 Syrian graduates of the military’s training programme and the rebel unit they came from. A day before the attack, two leaders of the U.S.-backed group and several of its fighters were captured.
The encounter revealed several glaring deficiencies in the programme, according to classified assessments: The rebels were ill-prepared for an enemy attack and were sent back into Syria in too small numbers. They had no local support from the population and had poor intelligence about their foes.
The classified options now circulating at senior levels of the Pentagon include enlarging the size of the groups of trained rebels sent back into Syria, shifting the location of the deployments to ensure local support, and improving intelligence provided to the fighters.
Divison:
The 54 Syrian fighters supplied by the Syrian opposition group Division 30 were the first group of rebels deployed under a $500 million train-and-equip programme authorised by Congress last year. It is an overt programme run by U.S. Special Forces, and is separate from a parallel covert programme run by the CIA.
Two Syrian rebel commanders interviewed recently in Turkey with fighters in the U.S. program described an initiative that had struggled from the start.
The group meant to accept the training programme’s graduates, Division 30, was created from scratch this year, and commanders of mostly small fighting groups from different parts of Syria were asked to submit names of fighters for training.
While most of the fighters were Sunni Arabs, Nadim Hassan, an ethnic Turkmen whom few people had heard of before, was named as its leader, a decision many rebels felt had been imposed by the Turkish government. Some commanders were eager to participate.
“It was supposed to be an organised army where no one had benefits over anyone else,” said Abdul-Razaq Freiji, who had defected from the Syrian army early in the uprising and led a small fighting group near the central city of Hama.
The trainees were to get good weapons and monthly salaries ranging from $225 for soldiers to $350 for officers, Freiji said. — New York Times News Service
11.Germany, France urge EU to do more
The leaders of Gerrmany and France have called on the European Union nations to step up to their responsibilities towards refugees who are streaming into Europe in thousands.
At a televised press conference in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that while Germany was doing its bit, “it is time for the European Union to pull its weight,” and show the “solidarity” that is needed if the refugee crisis is to be handled in the humanitarian spirit that underlies the European Union. Promising to speed up asylum procedures and build extra housing, she said Germany has pledged to spend €6 billion.
‘Mama Merkel’
Chancellor Merkel — whose pro-refugee interventions have been praised by human rights groups as well as refugees who call her “Mama Merkel” — has for long been pressing for EU quotas on taking in asylum seekers.
The French President, Francoise Hollande, who announced that France would accept 24,000 refugees this year under a plan by the European Commission, joined Ms. Merkel on Monday in her appeal for a joint European response. Mr. Hollande backed Chancellor Merkel’s support for a joint EU strategy under which each of the 28 countries of the EU would be obliged to accept its fair share of migrants.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minster David Cameron has said his country would accept more Syrian refugees. The U.K. has already taken in 5,000 Syrian refugees, and will resettle 20,000 more by 2020, Mr. Cameron said in Parliament on Monday.
National quotas
Meanwhile, new agency Reuters, citing an unnamed EU source, reported that the EU has drawn up a new set of national quotas. Under this, Germany will take in more than 40,000 and France 30,000 of a total of 160,000 asylum-seekers it says should be relocated from Italy, Greece and Hungary, an EU source said on Monday.
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These proposals are due to be announced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker later this week.
Meanwhile, there has been no let up in the flow of refugees over the weekend. Germany alone received 20,000 migrants over the weekend, and another 11,000 are expected on Monday.
While public responses to their entry has been largely positive – in Munich railway station for example, refugees were greeted with ovations, flowers and chocolates – not everyone is offering as warm a welcome.
In Dortmund, for example, far-right extremists staged a demonstration at the city’s central station, and there have been reports of sporadic attacks on individuals and refugee hostels by far right groups.
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09-09-15
1.T.N. all set for a big leap forward
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Committed to a new growth model, Tamil Nadu plans to take a big leap forward in industrial growth with Wednesday’s Global Investors Meet (GIM) by firming up investments worth over Rs. 1 lakh crore.
Across 12 sectors, companies and even countries have committed the investment, with the State government promising faster clearances of proposals and improving infrastructure, especially in the power sector. Of the investments promised, 40 per cent will come from the manufacturing sector and another 40 per cent from the energy sector, sources say. About 10 per cent investment will be by IT and ITES companies.
On Tuesday, the government finalised and signed MoUs with most of the companies at the TIDCO office. The MoUs will be showcased at the event.
‘2.Frankenvirus’ emerges from Siberia’s frozen wasteland
Scientists have said they will reanimate a 30,000-year-old giant virus unearthed in the frozen wastelands of Siberia, and warned climate change may awaken dangerous microscopic pathogens.
Reporting this week in the flagship journal of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, French researchers announced the discovery of Mollivirus sibericum , the fourth type of pre-historic virus found since 2003 — and the second by this team.
Before waking it up, researchers will have to verify that the bug cannot cause animal or human disease.
To qualify as a “giant,” a virus has to be longer than half a micron, a thousandth of a millimetre (0.00002 of an inch). Mollivirus sibericum — “soft virus from Siberia” — comes in at 0.6 microns, and was found in the permafrost of northeastern Russia. Climate change is warming the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions at more than twice the global average, which means that permafrost is not so permanent any more.
“A few viral particles that are still infectious may be enough, in the presence of a vulnerable host, to revive potentially pathogenic viruses,” one of the lead researchers, Jean-Michel Claverie, told AFP.
The regions in which these giant microbes have been found are coveted for their mineral resources, especially oil, and will become increasingly accessible for industrial exploitation as more of the ice melts away.
“If we are not careful, and we industrialise these areas without putting safeguards in place, we run the risk of one day waking up viruses such as small pox that we thought were eradicated,” he added. — AFP
Before waking up the bug, researchers will have to verify that it cannot cause animal or human disease
3.Hindi makes foray into China through AIR
For the first time, the External Services Division of All India Radio has started broadcasting Hindi lessons in China and Southeast Asia. Broadcast every Sunday, the 20-minutes programme, officials say, is aimed at countering the powerful China Radio International, which broadcasts in over 56 world languages, including Indian languages, right into India and other nations.
The teaching of Hindi in AIR’s Chinese language service started on August 15, in an attempt to project India’s image and point of view to listeners abroad.
The programme, Xue Xi Yindiyu Jie Mu(Learning Hindi programme or Aao Hindi Seekhein) , has a Chinese family learning the language from a teacher of the School of Foreign Languages at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
While officials say these are early days to measure the popularity of the programme, letters have started coming in. Buoyed by the response, the division is planning to conduct Hindi lessons in its Tibetan service, too.
At present, major broadcasters such as the BBC and Deutsche Welle offer language lessons.
The Urdu service of the division, celebrating its 50th year, has continued without interruption.
The External Services Division, which currently broadcasts in 27 languages, is planning to add Dzongkha, which is spoken in Bhutan, says an official. The languages in which AIR reaches its foreign audience are English, French, Russian, Swahili, Arabic, Persian, Tibetan, Chinese, Thai, Burmese and Bahasa Indonesia. The services in Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Gujarat are aimed at overseas Indians, and those in Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Sinhala and Nepali are meant for listeners in the Indian subcontinent and immediate neighbourhood.
In a rather belated move, and to stay relevant in a swiftly developing world, AIR has taken the leap to the multimedia platform, and its services are currently available online.
The Chinese language service of the broadcaster started a language-learning programme on August 15
10-09-15
1.Australian panel gives conditional nod for N-deal
The Australian government says it is “examining” a report by a parliamentary committee that has recommended more safeguards to India’s nuclear programme before the government can approve uranium sales to India. The report was released by the Joint Standing committee on Treaties (JSCOT) that has been studying the Indo-Australian nuclear deal that was signed by Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and Narendra Modi in September 2014.
The parliamentary report that has “in principle” approved the nuclear deal, recommended that India be encouraged to sign the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities further, and appoint an “independent national regulator” to oversee the movement of Uranium, also called Australia-Obligated Nuclear Material (AONM).
The recommendations of the treaty committee are not binding on the Abbott government, but could be used by the opposition Green Party to put further obstacles in the way of uranium sales to India.
In response to a question from The Hindu, the Australian High Commission spokesperson said,” Bringing the agreement into force and making it possible for exports to go ahead are priorities for the government.
2.Godavari comes to Krishna
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Farmers and elected reps took a celebratory dunking in the water as the Godavari entered, a bit notionally, Krishna district at the village of Pallerlamudi on the way to her tryst with her sister river. The interlinking of the Godavari and the Krishna, a pet project of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, is thus one step closer to reality.
However, the events of the day were a bit notional. With the Pattiseema project still to receive its pumps from China, Irrigation Department officials released about 6000 cusecs of the Godavari’s water stored in the Tadipudi Lift Irrigation Project in West Godavari into the Polavaram Right Main Canal.
The borrowed water flowed 130 km to reach the edge of Krishna district at Pellarlamudi village on Wednesday. Officials said the water will reach the Prakasam barrage on the Krishna river in three to four days via the Budameru and NTTPS canals. However, there is likely to be considerable transmission loss, normal for any irrigation project.
“A 15-20 per cent transmission loss is inevitable,” said a senior official.
3.Call drops: TRAI gives 15 days to operators
With almost all operators failing to comply with quality of service parameters during a recently audit conducted by TRAI, its Chairman R. S. Sharma on Wednesday asked operators to take immediate measures to address the issue. He added that their performance would be reviewed in 15 days to measure progress achieved.
Mr. Sharma on Wednesday met the CEOs of telecom firms, including Bharti Airtel’s Gopal Vittal and Gurdeep Singh of Reliance Communications
4.Call for conservation of Himalayan ecosystems
While the study of changes in the Himalayas and conservation of its ecosystems remains confined to research, this year, ‘Himalaya Diwas’ was a call for the conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems to be taken up as a public campaign.
‘Himalaya Diwas’ is being observed by activists since 2010, but on Wednesday, the State government too observed the day. At a programme held at Gandhi Park here, environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna administered an oath to students and teachers present to protect and conserve the Himalayas.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat said the initiatives on the conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems were confined to research institutes. Mr. Rawat said through initiatives such ‘Himalaya Diwas,’ the conservation of the Himalayas was becoming a public campaign.
Dehradun-based environmentalist and founder of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation Anil Prakash Joshi, who has been spearheading the campaign since 2010, said: “I felt that we needed a day to speak about the Himalayas and the issues around it. In 2010 a meeting of activists was called at HESCO and we decided that September 9 must be celebrated as the ‘Himalaya Diwas.’”
Wildlife Institute of India historian from Uttarakhand Shekhar Pathak said, “In this era of rapid transformation, we need to understand and mitigate the loss of the Himalayan ecosystem.”
5.Here, Adivasi children shun school
Is bullying, a form of ragging in tribal welfare educational institutions, a major cause for the higher incidence of dropouts among Adivasi schoolchildren in Adilabad? As hundreds of young Adivasis continue to keep away from schools despite the good facilities being made available by the government, the issue needs a thorough examination, according to tribal educationists.
As many as six Kolam tribe children, all from the same family from Shivguda hamlet of Babejhari village in Kerameri mandal of Telangana, have stayed away from schooling after one of them was allegedly bullied by his schoolmates belonging to the Lambada tribe in 2012-2013. The incident took place at the satellite Ashram primary school of Babejhari which incidentally is the village from where the legendary Gond martyr Kumram Bheem had first waged his war against the tyranny of the Nizam of Hyderabad three quarters of a century ago.
Like all Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG), the Kolams are a sensitive, reserved and shy people which explains their choosing to shun school instead of complaining. “The bullies used to sink Ramu’s head in a bucket of water,” shuddered Ramesh, the eldest son of Tekam Manku as he gave reasons for himself and his siblings not going to school.
“Given the customary disposition of the PVTGs, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Utnoor, long back started four Ashram schools, especially for their children to facilitate learning amidst ‘familiar’ mates,” stated Mesram Manohar, a tribal educationist and a former District Educational Officer in the agency area. “The Babejhari and the Jodeghat primary schools were opened as satellite schools to facilitate tribal children of the dozen remote habitations lying on the 22-km stretch between Hatti and Jodeghat,” he recalled.
Action promised
The number of children of PVTGs being far less than the capacity of the schools, children from even plains tribes began to be accommodated in these schools located at Adilabad, Utnoor, Hatti and Asifabad. This aspect nonetheless, needs a relook in the light of the instance in question.
Responding on the issue, the ITDA Project Officer, R.V. Karnan promised to address the issue as well as education of Manku’s children. “We will admit them in the special schools for PVTGs either at Asifabad or Adilabad,” he asserted.
ernment clears two gold schemes
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved two schemes — the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and the Gold Monetisation Scheme — that could bring an estimated 20,000 tonnes of idle gold lying with Indian consumers into the economy and also reduce India’s dependence on gold imports.
Through the Gold Monetisation Scheme, gold in any form can be deposited with banks for a period of one to 15 years. This gold will earn interest and redemption will be at the prevailing market value at the end of the tenure of deposit.
The Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme is aimed at customers looking to buy gold as an investment. Under the Scheme, “there will be no need to buy actual gold as customers can buy gold bonds which will be relatable to the weight of gold,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said while announcing the Union Cabinet’s decisions.
“The bonds will be issued in denominations of 5 grams, 10 grams, 50 grams and 100 grams for a term of five years to seven years with a rate of interest to be calculated on the value of the metal at the time of investment,” Mr. Jaitley told reporters at the press briefing.
“The Union Cabinet’s announcements reflect both a very practical approach and a long-term view of gold. The question is no longer whether the scheme will work, but how to make it attractive for customers. The scheme must be well marketed… to ensure that the households savings in gold can be tapped by the banking industry. This will pave the way for a more active and larger role for Indian banks in bullion,” said Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, India, World Gold Council.
However, Mr. Jaitley announced that there would be a cap of 500 grams that a person can purchase in a year. Such bonds would be offered to only Indian citizens and institutions.
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das later said that the government plans to exempt capital gains made at the time of redemption of gold under the Gold Bond Scheme.
While the gold deposited with banks under the monetisation scheme will be allowed to be sold to jewellers in order to boost domestic supply, Mr. Das emphasised that there would be no dilution of KYC (know your customer) norms.
“We do not want to allow the Gold Monetisation Scheme to become a vehicle for converting black money into white,” he said.
Jewellery stocks up
Shares of jewellery firms rallied on the bourses on Wednesday. On BSE, Gitanjali Gems settled with gains of 11.85 per cent, Shree Ganesh Jewellery (7.28 per cent), Rajesh Exports (3.03 per cent) , PC Jeweller (2.94 per cent) and Tara Jewels (1.06 per cent).
Dearness allowance
The Union Cabinet also approved an additional dearness allowance (DA) of six per cent for central government employees from July 1, which has now been raised to 119 per cent of basic pay as compared to 113 per cent earlier.
This hike will benefit 50 lakh government employees and 56 lakh pensioners.
The Union Cabinet also permitted 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route for white label ATM operations.
“This decision will ease and expedite foreign investment inflows in the activity and thus give a fillip to the government's effort to promote financial inclusion in the country, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna,” an official statement said.
The government plans to exempt capital gains made at the time of redemption of gold under the Gold Bond Scheme.
12-09-15
1.Australia, India maritime exercise begins today
The first bilateral maritime exercise between Australia and India is all set to begin here on Saturday. Three Royal Australian Navy ships — fleet tanker HMAS Sirius, Anzac class frigate HMAS Arunta, and Collins class submarine HMAS Sheean — docked at the Visakhapatnam Port on Friday to participate in the weeklong AUSINDEX. The exercise includes tabletop exercises, scenarios and practical demonstrations ashore, and a sea phase.
2.India, Germany to teach each other’s language
Joint declaration likely to be made during Merkel’s visit next month
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to New Delhi in October will see the announcement of a joint declaration on teaching of Hindi and Sanskrit in Germany and German in India. The move comes less than a year after the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry decided to discontinue the teaching of German in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools.
According to officials in the government, the HRD Ministry’s decision had put a strain on Indo-German ties, especially at a time when India was reaching out to Germany to partner with it in its various flagship programmes including the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ campaigns.
Amicable solution
After the issue was raised by Ms. Merkel during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 Summit in Brisbane last year, both sides had agreed to arrive at a more amicable solution.
Plans to popularise Hindi and Sanskrit in Germany and German in India have been in the works for the past several months and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s recent visit to Germany gave a fillip to them.
Ms. Merkel’s visit will also see announcements about collaborations in setting up of educational and cultural centres, including a Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences in India.
Officials are hopeful that the issues pertaining to the teaching of German in Indian schools will be resolved coinciding with Ms. Merkel’s visit.
3.Militants outsmart Indian agencies with new tech tool
A technological breakthrough prompted by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 in New York area is the latest militant tool baffling the Indian security establishment.
The technology, of sending mobile communications without using mobile networks, has given another twist to the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between militants and security agencies in recent months. For sometime now, Indian agencies have noticed infiltrating militants from Pakistan carrying smart phones without SIM cards. And they presumed the militants would procure local SIMs in Kashmir for using them.
However, latest inputs, including interrogation of Sajjad Ahmed, who was captured by the Army in August last week, show that the militants are adopting the breakthrough technological solution, primarily meant to ensure basic mobile communication even when mobile networks are down, to overcome eavesdropping by Indian agencies.
Indian agencies can today listen in on VHF conversations, mobile phones and satellite phones.
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With accurate interception and monitoring of these devices, intelligence agencies, the Army and the BSF have been very effective in neutralising several militants, especially when they infiltrate into India.
These technical capabilities have dealt deadly blows to attempts to breathe life into a dying Kashmir militancy.
With the breakthrough capability to send bare mobile communications through VHF (very high frequency), the militants seem to have been successful in avoiding Indian agencies, especially during the crucial hours when they cross the Line of Control.
The technology is to pair a smart phone with a radio set, and send out short SMSs, an SOS appeal or the exact location to other paired devices using line-of-sight very high frequency. The first public discussion on the solution, and the most high profile product for it, emerged in the U.S. after the October 2012 Hurricane Sandy. The ineffectiveness of cell phones after mobile towers were destroyed by the hurricane was the reason for dreaming up the technological breakthrough.
The capability ensures that the infiltrating militants have continuous, but bare, communication link with their handlers and other militants who are in the group, while avoiding tracking by Indian agencies. This capability is secure even in high peaks and ravines, especially near the Line of Control where conventional mobile and satellite phones can give away their exact location.
Ahmed, who was captured from Rafiabad area, told his interrogators about what they call YSMS communication application. He said they were advised against using mobile phones, and to rely on YSMS for contact.
When Abu Suhaib, one of the militants in the infiltrating group and technology expert among them, was sure to be killed by the Indian Army on August 27 he tried to break up the system, However, Ahmed stopped Suhaib from fully destroying it. The Army later recovered the Samsung mobile phone and the wireless set paired to it for YSMS.
Sources said the recovered radio set is a traditional one, and not the slim gadget that U.S. start-up GoTenna has developed. “Which means this is either a Pakistani or a Chinese solution,” an official in a technical intelligence agency said.
“We have been recovering smart phones without SIM cards for sometime. Now we know the reason,” he said.
14-09-15
1.Satyabhama who reinvented Mohiniyattam passes away
Kalamandalam Satyabhama, a pioneer who accorded Mohiniyattam a well-knit structure for the first time, died early on Sunday at a private nursing home at Ottappalam, near here, following a brief illness. The classical dancer, teacher, and choreographer was 77.
A Padma Shri awardee, her contributions to the realm of Kerala’s performing arts remain immense. Satyabhama’s career with the Kerala Kalamandalam marked a crucial phase in preserving and reinventing Mohiniyattam.
2.PM to visit Facebook HQ in California
Modi is also expected to visit campus of tech giant Google
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Facebook’s headquarters in California for a town hall question-and-answer session on September 27.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Zuckerberg will discuss how communities can work together to address social and economic challenges.
“I am excited to announce that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Facebook HQ later this month for a Townhall Q&A,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Facebook. He also said he would post the live video on his page and it would also be on Mr. Modi’s page.
The Prime Minister tweeted to confirm the visit. “I thank Mark Zuckerberg for the invite to visit @facebook HQ & for the Townhall Q&A at 10 PM IST on 27th September
3.U.N. reforms process reaches crucial stage today
Indian officials are bracing for “last-minute surprises” that could stall the U.N. reforms process on September 14 when Sam Kutesa, President of the United Nations General Assembly, presents a resolution to continue the negotiations for another year.
The negotiations of the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGN), which have for the first time included written submissions from all countries, could give the process of an expansion of the U.N. Security Council, as India has demanded, some momentum. However, if countries like China, or other groups opposed to the UNSC expansion demand a division, India and other countries who are bidding for a Security Council seat may have to muster up the numbers for a vote to pass the text.
If passed, the draft resolution, forwarded by Mr. Kutesa to all the ambassadors to the U.N. on September 10, would include in the U.N. agenda for next year the “question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council”.
India is a part of the G-4 grouping of India, Germany, Brazil and Japan that are hopeful of Security Council membership. “This is a necessary step for India, if we wish to realise our dream of making progress in the U.N.’s 70th year. If it doesn’t go through, we would be back to square one,” an official told The Hindu ahead of the resolution.
The resolution will be presented by Mr. Kutesa on his last day as President of the UNGA at 10 a.m. (7.30 p.m. IST), he announced in his letter. Senior diplomats said that they hoped the resolution would be adopted without any opposition. However, if members call for a division, it would be up to the UNGA to decide whether a simple majority or a two-thirds majority would be required.
Officials in Delhi and New York admit they face challenges from many countries. The U.S. has expressed support for India and Japan, but has not included the support in its written submission; neither has Russia, which supports India and Brazil as BRICS members to be in the Security Council, but has shown no inclination to push the reforms process forward. China has made no official submission, but is unlikely to help any attempt to include its rivals Japan and India in the power-group of the U.N.
India also has to contend with opposition from a group of 13 countries, made up of rivals to the G-4, including Pakistan, Italy, South Korea, and Colombia called Uniting for Consensus (UFC).
The UFC demands a 25-member Security Council, with more non-permanent members instead of a few more permanent members.
Ahead of the resolution, Pakistan’s U.N. Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi called the plan for only four countries to be included in an expansion of the “club of the powerful and privileged”.
“That is why we believe the best way to achieve this is to ensure an expansion of non-permanent members because that will give a chance to more countries to serve in and have a voice in the Security Council,” she said in an interview to Pakistani daily The News .
Finally, there is the question of whether new members in the Security Council would be given the veto at all, which the US and Russia have made very clear they would not favour.
Without the veto, any new member of the Security Council would only be seen as second-class members.
4. ‘Russia building airstrip in Syrian regime stronghold’
Russia is building an airstrip in the Syrian regime’s stronghold, Latakia province, and has brought hundreds of technicians and military advisers to the site, a monitor said on Sunday.
The claim comes as Washington accuses Moscow of a military build-up in Syria, where Russia has backed President Bashar al-Assad’s regime against an uprising of more than four years.
“Russian forces are building a long runway capable of accommodating large aircraft near the Hmaymeen military airport in Latakia province,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The monitor said “the Russians are preventing Syrians, whether military or civilian, from entering the area where they are building the runway.”
“In recent weeks, military airplanes arrived in Hmaymeen carrying military equipment and hundreds of Russian military advisers and technicians,” the group said.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said sources also reported that Russia was enlarging the Hamadiyeh airport in Tartus province, another regime stronghold that is south of Latakia. The airport is currently used by aircraft that spray crops with pesticide.
Russia is a staunch ally of the regime in Damascus and maintains a naval facility in Tartus province. It has made no secret of its support for Assad’s government, including continuing weapons supplies.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying that Russia will continue with military supplies to Syria. “There were military supplies, they are ongoing and they will continue. They are inevitably accompanied by Russian specialists, who help to adjust the equipment, to train Syrian personnel how to use these weaponry,” Mr. Lavrov said.
U.S. officials this week, said two tank-landing ships had arrived recently at the Tartus base, and that at least four transport flights had landed in Latakia. They also reported the arrival of dozens of Russian naval infantry and the installation of temporary housing sufficient for “hundreds of people” at Latakia airport, along with portable air traffic control equipment.
5.‘India-Sri Lanka trade pact not on agenda’
Even as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe begins his three-day visit to India on Monday, the Sri Lankan government on Sunday made it clear that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) would not be signed during the visit.
Malik Samarawickrama, United National Party chairman and Minister for International Trade, said the agreement would not come up for discussion even though issues concerning bilateral cooperation would be deliberated.
Harsha De Silva, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, said the talks would, however, be centred on improving trade and investment.
The CEPA had been talked about for long and there were expectations in 2012 that the pact would be signed soon. In mid-2013, the then Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, went on record, stating that the agreement was no longer required for his country as India and Sri Lanka, according to him, “moved on.”
However, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Colombo six months ago, renewed the debate on the CEPA.
Addressing a gathering of Sri Lanka’s business community, Mr Modi had said: “We should ensure that Sri Lanka does not fall behind in the changing and competitive world. That is why India and Sri Lanka should move boldly to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.”
‘Optimising ties’
The Sri Lankan Deputy Minister pointed out that India and Sri Lanka have been friends for long and “both of us will continue to be friends.”
He said the focus of the visit would be more on optimising the ties between the two countries. Four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) pertaining to a SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] satellite; the launch of Emergency Ambulance Health Protection Service on the lines of the Indian model of “108 Emergency Response Services;” provision of medical equipment to 200-bedded hospital in Vavuniya and the execution of development projects concerning local bodies and non-governmental organisations, would be inked.
Mr. Silva declined to comment on whether Mr. Wickremesinghe was expected to take up with Mr. Modi the possible coordinated approach during the session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, beginning Monday, to discuss a host of issues, including a probe into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.
On the eve of his departure, the Prime Minister ordered the release of 16 fishermen from Tamil Nadu as a gesture of goodwill. The move was also in response to a representation from an association of fishermen of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.
6.Chinese state media slam U.S. for EU refugee woes
In a string of commentaries, Chinese state media have slammed the United States for triggering the flood of refugees into Europe, following its military interventions in Afghanistan, West Asia and North Africa.
A hard-hitting commentary in Xinhua counselled the United States to see the wave of refugees into Europe as a wake-up call to reverse its flawed foreign policy.
“Especially for the United States, it is high time to reflect upon its foreign policy as history and facts have shown that forcibly promoting its ideologies is dangerous and armed interventions can only bring about perilous outcomes,” the write up observed.
Contrary to the focus on the handling of the crisis, the Chinese media is highlighting the underlying causes behind Europe’s on-going social trauma.
An editorial in the state-run tabloid Global Times has nailed the masterminding of “colour revolutions” – a policy, that analysts say has destabilised many countries by bringing about “regime change”— as the root cause of the refugee flood into Europe, especially Germany and France.
A large number of refugees have been displaced, via Turkey, from Syria, and get preferential treatment from their European hosts.
But The Guardian is quoting the head of the European border agency, Frontex, as saying that Arabs from outside Syria were buying counterfeit Syrian passports, to get into Europe as permanent asylum-seekers.
The Xinhua commentary points out that, “Entering the 21st century, under the leadership of the United States, Western powers, in order to secure their own safety and interests, have been meddling in regional affairs, waging wars, inciting turmoil, supporting rebels and so on.”
It specifically slammed the U.S. of direct or indirect interventions — widely known as “regime change” — to overthrow Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, while supporting Syrian opposition to topple Bashar al-Assad.
Focusing on the radical militant group Islamic State, it said that the dreaded terror group grew out of Syrian opposition, and has thrived in the turmoil and anarchy created by Western intervention.
Another write-up on the state media said that people need to see through that Washington is responsible for the tragedies that the refugees on the move are encountering.
The official commentaries from China, a top ally of Russia, echo the perceptions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Without mincing words he points out that the “dual campaigns of regime change in Libya and Syria are responsible for unleashing the untold suffering that has affected millions of people in these formerly stable and well-off countries.”
7.‘Aerobic’ rice cultivation reduces water usage
Present day conventional method of rice cultivation is very water intensive and utilises 5,000 litres of water for producing one kg of rice than its actual requirement of 3,000 litres. About 2,000 litres is lost due to flooding and seepage losses. Further, decline in water table necessitates the need for improved water-use efficiency and water productivity in agriculture, particularly in rice cultivation.
Aerobic rice cultivation
Thus, the newly upcoming approach of rice cultivation called aerobic rice cultivation reduces water use in rice production and increases the water use efficiency. In simple words, growing rice plant as irrigated crop like cultivating maize and wheat in aerobic condition, where oxygen is plenty in soil.
The suitable areas for aerobic rice cultivation includes irrigated lowlands, where rainfall is insufficient to sustain rice production, delta regions where there is delay in water release from reservoir, irrigated system of rice cultivation, where pumping from deep bore well has become so expensive and favourable upland system has access to supplementary irrigation.
Accordingly, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, parts of Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, and eastern Uttar Pradesh are the projected area where there is uneven distribution and frequent occurrence of soil moisture limitation.
In aerobic rice cultivation, rice is cultivated as direct sown in non-puddle aerobic soil under supplementary irrigation and fertiliser with suitable high yielding rice varieties. Throughout the growing season, aerobic rice field is kept under unsaturated condition and field is irrigated by surface or sprinkler system to keep soil wet. Therefore, water productivity is reported to be higher in aerobic rice by 64-88 per cent (calculated as grams of grain produced per kg of water input) and utilises 3,000 to 3,500 litres of water to produce 1 kg of rice compared to rice raised under transplanted flooded system.
Mechanised way of sowing
Further, aerobic rice cultivation system involves mechanised way of sowing with no puddling, transplanting and not need of frequent irrigation, which reduce labour usage more than 50 per cent, compared to irrigated rice. However, aerobic rice cultivation needs suitable rice varieties having the characteristics of both upland and high yielding lowland varieties to get good yield under the new unconventional system of cultivation.
Hence, these early-maturing varieties are with good seedling vigour, responsive to high input and tolerate flooding. International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) situated in Manila, Philippines identified several cultivars with high yield potential for this unconventional aerobic rice cultivation. A new improved upland rice variety, Apo developed by IRRI under aerobic rice cultivation system raised during dry season able to attain yield of 5.7 t/ha at IRRI farm.
In India, National Rice Research Institute (NRRI) (formerly Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI)), Cuttack, situated in Odisha, has developed rice varieties suitable for aerobic rice cultivation and so far six varieties were released suitable for this system, — CR Dhan 200 (Pyari) (4.0 t/ha), CR Dhan 201 (3.8 t/ha), CR Dhan 202 (3.7 t/ha), CR Dhan 203 (Sachala) (4.0 t/ha) CR Dhan 205 (4.2 t/ha) and CR Dhan 206 (4.2 t/ha) — which gives higher average yield compared to upland high yielding varieties. Two aerobic rice varieties MAS 26 and MAS 946-1 were also released from the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), GKVK, Bangalore, for the State of Karnataka, which is also said to be performing well under this system.
However, constrains in aerobic rice cultivation is increased weed growth, poor crop stand, crop lodging, high percentage of panicle sterility and root-knot nematode infestation. Importantly, high weed infestation is the major constraint for aerobic rice and cost involved in weed control is higher. Further, due to high infiltration rate of water and imbalanced availability of nitrogen makes the aerobic soil further ailing for micronutrients (iron and zinc) and rise in nematode population. Therefore, efficient nutrient management techniques along with integrated weed management are researchable areas for successful aerobic rice cultivation and research is in progress.
However, the yield of aerobic rice is comparable with transplanted rice and it has been reported from several countries. Thus, it is an alternative option to reduce labour drudgery and to increase water productivity. Further, in environmental point of view, emission of methane is lower substantially in aerobic rice.
Therefore, in recent days it is gaining momentum among rice researchers and farmers. However, extra care should be taken, since poorly managed field may cause partial to complete failure of crop, which might happen due to weeds and micronutrient non-availability.
Who were the Mughal rulers under whom there was active exchange of Sanskrit and Persian ideas, in your account?
Sanskrit flourished in the royal Mughal court primarily under three emperors: Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. However, we should not make the error of attributing Aurangzeb’s lack of interest in Sanskrit to his alleged bigotry. Aurangzeb is a severely misunderstood historical figure who has suffered perhaps more than any of the other Mughal rulers from present-day biases. There are two main reasons why Sanskrit ceased to be a major part of Mughal imperial life during Aurangzeb’s rule. One, during the 17th century, Sanskrit was slowly giving way to Hindi. This was a wider literary shift in the subcontinent, and even under Shah Jahan we begin to see imperial attention directed towards Hindi-language intellectuals at the expense of Sanskrit. Aurangzeb’s reign simply happen to coincide with the waning of Sanskrit and the rise of literary Hindi.
Second, as most Indians know, Aurangzeb beat out Dara Shikoh for the Mughal throne. Dara Shikoh had been engaged in a series of cross-cultural exchanges involving Sanskrit during the 1640s and 1650s. Thus, from Aurangzeb’s perspective, breaking Mughal ties with the Sanskrit cultural world was a way to distinguish his idioms of rule from those of the previous heir apparent. In short, Aurangzeb decided to move away from what little remained of the Mughal interest in Sanskrit as a political decision, rather than as a cultural or religious judgment.
As a side note, let me clarify that while Akbar inaugurated Mughal engagements with Sanskrit, he did so for slightly different reasons than many people think. Akbar’s reputation is that he was open-minded and tolerant, almost a protosecular figure. This can be a misleading characterisation. Akbar was interested in Sanskrit for its political valence in his empire, not as some personal religious quest. Akbar also had no qualms about harshly judging perspectives that he viewed as beyond the pale. A good example is that he questioned Jain thinkers about whether they were monotheists because to be otherwise would mean being evicted from the Mughal court (Jains assured him that they believed in God).
8.Indus Valley settlement razed
A 5,000-year-old Indus Valley settlement located in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, stands abandoned and unprotected.
The archaeological site, discovered in 1957 in Alamgirpur village of the district, is regarded as one of the most historically significant finds in the country as it showed for the first time evidence of habitation pertaining to the Harappan period in the Upper Doab region between the Ganga and the Yamuna.
However, at present the settlement, which lies just 70 km from the national capital, faces destruction by the villagers who have flattened the centuries-old structures to expand their cultivable land.
Worse, some of the villagers have built houses, memorials and temple-like structures on top of the settlement, where excavations till last year had given crucial insights about life and society during the Harappan period, also known as the Indus Valley Civilisation.
During excavations of the site which dates back to the Harappan period of 3300-1300 BC, the ASI archaeologists found ceramic items like roof tiles, dishes, terracotta cakes and figurines of a humped bull and a snake. After its discovery, the site was declared “protected.” But it is anything but that now. The chief of the ASI Agra Circle, Bhuvan Vikram, underlined the importance of the settlement but also accepted the complications which led to the encroachment by the villagers.
9.International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an intergovernmental organization. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) to help resettle people displaced by World War II. As of April 2015, the International Organization for Migration has 157 member states and 10 observer states.[3][4]
It is the principal intergovernmental organization in the field of migration. IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.
IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, be they refugees, displaced persons or other uprooted people.
The IOM Constitution[5] gives explicit recognition to the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement of persons.
IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management:
1. migration and development,
2. facilitating migration,
3. regulating migration, and
4. addressing forced migration.
Cross-cutting activities include the promotion of international migration law, policy debate and guidance, protection of migrants’ rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration.
In addition, IOM has often organized elections for refugees out of their home country, as was the case in the 2004 Afghan electionsand the 2005 Iraqi elections.
IOM works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
15-09-15
1.Sri Lanka plans new statute to redress Tamils’ grievances
A few days ahead of the release of a report on the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Eelam War, Sri Lanka on Monday unveiled a set of proposals to redress the “grievances of the Tamil people,” including the adoption of a new Constitution and setting up of a truth commission.
Addressing the 30th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said: “The best guarantee for non-recurrence [of violence] is, of course, a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people. We hope we can achieve this through the adoption of a new Constitution. A Constituent Assembly of Parliament will be set up for this purpose shortly.”
Mr. Samaraweera, who led his country’s delegation that included Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa and Eastern Province’s Governor Austin Fernando, said a Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence would be set up in consultation with countries like South Africa “which have been advising us.”
Besides, an Office on Missing Persons would be established. Based on the principle of the families’ right to know, the organisation would take expertise from the International Committee of the Red Cross and function “in line with internationally accepted standards.”
Mr. Samaraweera added that a judicial mechanism would be put in place with special counsel.
2.World Bank ranks Gujarat as most investor-friendly State
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Gujarat has come out on top in the World Bank’s first ever ranking of States on the ease of doing business in India.
States were assessed on the implementation, over a six-month period from January to June, of a 98-point reforms agenda. Chief Secretaries of States participating in the “Make in India” workshop inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi last December finalised this action plan on “Ease of Doing Business”.
It was decided later to evaluate States to assess progress by June 2015.
BJP-governed States dominate the top ranks. Gujarat implemented 71.14 per cent of the reforms, according to the assessment. Andhra Pradesh came second with a score of 70.12 per cent, Jharkhand third at 63.09 per cent, Chhattisgarh fourth with 62.45 per cent and Madhya Pradesh fifth with 62 per cent.
The largest recipients of foreign investments, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, are ranked eighth and twelfth with less than 50 per cent scores.
Ease of doing business
“The rankings reflect the ease of doing business in these States by the small and medium enterprises rather than foreign investors,” said World Bank Country Director Onno Ruhl.
The Union Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the Confederation of Indian Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CII) and KPMG were involved in the exercise. The rankings of States will be released annually.
3.States seek review of ban on CMs’ photos in ads
In May, the apex court banned publication of CMs’ pics in govt. ads
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre’s response on pleas made by several State governments, including Tamil Nadu, to review its verdict banning the publication of photographs of Chief Ministers in government advertisements.
A Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and P.C. Ghose also issued notice to NGO Common Cause, who had filed the original PIL, on the review petitions filed by the States.
The States argued that they enjoy autonomy in a federal structure of governance, and so, if the court can allow the Prime Minister’s photographs to be published in government advertisements heralding new projects and welfare schemes, Chief Ministers too have every right to have their photos published.
‘Personality cult’
The Supreme Court, in its May 13 judgment, had banned ruling parties from publishing photos of Chief Ministers, political leaders and politicians in government-funded advertisements, saying that it cannot allow them to use taxpayers’ money to build a “personality cult.”
The apex court said such photos divert attention from the policy of the government, unnecessarily associate an individual with a government project and pave the way for cultivating a “personality cult.”
However, as an exception to this general rule, the court held that the photos of only three constitutional authorities — Prime Minister, President and Chief Justice of India — can be used in such ads. But for that too, the personal approval of these three authorities need to be got before publication.
The judgment by a Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana had come on the basis of a series of recommendations given by a committee led by noted legal academician N.S. Madhava Menon on introducing checks on government-funded ads.
The apex court had set up the committee in April 2014 on the basis of a PIL filed by Common Cause that had argued that ruling party leaders and ministers were taking undue advantage at public expense.
4.India yet to achieve U.N. Millennium Development Goals
India is not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals, the deadline for which expires this year.
The Statistical Year Book, brought out by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) that is overseeing progress on the MDGs, shows that only six of the 18 targets adopted as part of the eight goals in 2000 have been fully met. Another report brought out by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific shows that India has met only four of the eight MDGs.
The key targets for the MDGs were
1. halving poverty,
2. ensuring universal primary school enrolment,
3. attaining gender parity,
4. cutting maternal mortality rates by three-fourths,
5. cutting child mortality by two-thirds and
6. reducing incidence of HIV/AIDS, among others.
As per the official figures, India has managed to halve poverty rates from the 1990 levels, ensure gender parity in primary school enrolment, reversed incidence of HIV/AIDS, and reduced malaria and TB deaths.
However, India continues to lag behind in checking maternal mortality and child mortality to expected levels. It has failed to address prevalence of hunger as well. As per the Census 2011 report, 89 million children in the age group 0-3 were malnourished, with 35.6 million among them underweight. The failure to improve access to sanitation, with half of the country’s households lacking a latrine, remains a major concern as well.
Even in areas where India claims to be close to meeting its targets, such as reversing the incidence of malaria and TB, the disease burden continues to be high in terms of absolute numbers. As the year book shows, 1.8 million persons develop TB every year, and until recently, 3.7 lakh persons died annually, or 1,000 persons every day.
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Another target was to achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. But, the report says that it is not “statistically discernible” if the target was met. As per the Census 2011, a 37.14 per cent decadal growth was observed in the number of slum households, making it a significant challenge for the country. As for the other two targets of environmental sustainability and partnerships for development with other countries, official reports say India is on track.
Experts, however, dispute the government’s claims and flag the absence of quality data as a challenge in monitoring the country’s progress on the targets.
5.Sri Lanka plans new statute to redress Tamils’ grievances
It would take into account the right of victims to “a fair remedy” and address the problem of impunity for human rights violations suffered by all communities.
An Office for Reparations would be created for implementing the recommendations to be made by the proposed Truth Commission, the Office of the Missing Persons, the LLRC (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission) and any other entity.
Mr. Samaraweera outlined other measures such as strengthening the National Human Rights Commission in line with the Paris Principles and signing and ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. The government would also issue instructions to all branches of the security establishment that torture, sexual violence and other human rights violations were prohibited and those responsible would be punished.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act would be replaced with one on anti-terrorism in tune with “contemporary international best practices.” The moratorium on death penalty would be maintained with a view to abolishing it ultimately, he said.
The government would also release reports of two Presidential Commissions by the end of this month, besides issuing certificates of absence to families of the missing as a temporary measure of relief; disengaging the military from commercial activities; and undertaking security-sector reforms.
6.U.N. adopts text-based negotiations on council reforms
The U.N. General Assembly on Monday adopted a negotiating text by consensus for the long- pending Security Council reforms, setting the stage for talks on the issue at its 70th session beginning on Tuesday, boosting India’s bid for a permanent seat in the revamped world body.
India termed as “historic” and “path-breaking” the adoption of the document, saying the decision puts the Inter- Governmental Process formally on an “irreversible text-based negotiations path” and changes the “dynamics” of the negotiations on achieving UNSC reforms.
U.N. General Assembly President Sam Kutesa convened a plenary meeting here to take action on the draft decision on the “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters”.
During the meeting, he also circulated letters containing the positions of key countries, including Russia, the U.S. and China which refused to contribute to the negotiating text. There was no voting on the decision to continue text- based UNSC reforms in the 70th session of the General Assembly and it was adopted by consensus.
The draft decision contains a negotiating text which has positions of U.N. member states on Security Council reforms and how the powerful 15-nation body should be expanded in its permanent and non-permanent categories.
India’s Ambassador to the U.N. Asoke Mukerji said the “most important aspect” of Monday’s decision is the text circulated by Mr. Kutesa in July which “we have agreed, will be the guiding basis for our deliberations in the 70th General Assembly session”.
7.Plan to declare Nepal a Hindu state rejected
A proposal to declare Nepal a Hindu state was on Monday overwhelmingly rejected by the Constituent Assembly which reaffirmed that the Hindu-majority nation will remain secular.
The proposal made by pro-Hindu National Democratic Party Nepal to amend the Constitution was rejected by more than two-thirds of lawmakers.
An erstwhile Hindu state, Nepal was declared secular in 2007 after the success of the “people’s movement” of 2006.
During a public opinion collection held in July, majority of the people preferred the word ‘Hindu’ or ‘religious freedom’ instead of using the term ‘secularism’.
Protesting the rejection of the proposal, a group of Hindu activists carrying yellow and saffron flags clashed with security personnel at New Baneshwar area in the capital.
Clashes erupted after police used force to disperse the agitating activists who tried to enter a prohibitory area near the Constituent Assembly building.
The protesters attacked passing vehicles, including one of the United Nations.
8.EU struggles to hammer out deal on refugee quotas
EU Ministers are set to reach broad agreement on Monday on relocating 1,60,000 asylum seekers, but are unlikely to seal a crucial deal on binding quotas for how they should be shared out, officials said.
Interior Ministers were holding emergency talks in Brussels to discuss plans unveiled last week by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker to redistribute refugees from overstretched Greece, Italy and Hungary.
“We have political agreement on the relocation of the 1,60,000 but we haven’t reached agreement on the quotas yet,” German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters during a break in talks.
“We will probably decide that at the next council [EU summit] meeting in October,” he added. However, the Ministers formally agreed Monday to launch the plan for the 40,000, and make up the remaining pledges by the end of the year. EU sources have said they hope to start relocating the first 20,000 from Wednesday. — Reuters
16-09-15
1.UAE deports 4 from Kerala for ‘IS links’
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A Hindu is among the four youths deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on suspicion of being sympathisers of the Islamic State (IS), a senior government official has said.
So far, their direct link to the militant group has not been established. Investigators said their role was limited to sending and receiving “radical content on Facebook.” The messages were intercepted by the UAE authorities.
A senior official said the Hindu boy was a core member of the online group. He was one of the recipients of the messages being circulated on social networking platforms and he too had, on occasions, forwarded the “radical content” to others.
The deportees were part of an online circle of 10 friends who had links with a 20-year-old Keralite, who is believed to have joined the ranks of the Islamist group in Syria. Investigators said this youth, a college dropout, “disappeared” in April from Ras al-Khaima. His father, a white-collar worker, was employed in the Emirates for years. The youth had done his schooling there and his visits, if any, to Kerala were few and far between.
While the four youths were deported on Tuesday, three others had come back from the UAE of their own volition last week. Three more were deported in the first week of September.
“All these men are in the 19-24 age-group and are second generation Keralites living in the UAE. They were engaged in small jobs like repairing mobile phones and selling SIM cards,” said a senior Home Ministry official.
Two of the four youths disembarked at Karipur and the other two in Thiruvananthapuram. They are under detention, the Kerala police said.
The UAE had deported at least eight Keralites on suspicion of being IS sympathisers since May.
2.India reaches out, wants to upgrade ties with North Korea
In a quiet but extremely significant diplomatic move, India signalled upgraded ties with North Korea, by sending Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju to participate in an event marking the North Korean national Independence Day in New Delhi, The Hindu has learnt.
India’s bilateral ties with North Korea have been frosty for several decades mainly due to the latter’s close strategic ties with Pakistan.
But last April, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un made a tentative beginning by sending his Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong to Delhi.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Rijiju, nominated by the Ministry of External Affairs to represent the Indian government in the official event, said the bilateral ties were “going to change.” Mr. Rijiju posted a few photographs and a brief note on the event on his Facebook page.
“North Korea is an independent country and a member of the United Nations and we should have good bilateral trade ties,” Mr. Rijiju said.
Vyjayanti Raghavan, an expert on Korean Affairs at Jawaharlal Nehru University, says Mr. Rijiju has become the first Minister from the Indian side ever to address a bilateral event featuring the North Korean flag on the national Independence Day. “It’s a symbolic move and shows that India will accord higher diplomatic courtesies to Pyongyang,” she said.
The former Foreign Secretary, Maharaj Krishna Rasgotra, also confirmed that India discouraged ministerial interaction with North Korea traditionally as a punishment for North’s ties with Pakistan. But by sending Mr. Rijiju to the North Korean embassy, India had set a new practice.
The North Korean event was also attended by CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who in July 2013, led a three-member parliamentary delegation to Pyongyang.
Mr. Yechury says that Mr. Rijiju’s presence was a major and significant diplomatic step. “Though the Government of India showed interest in normalising ties with North Korea earlier during the UPA, I was sceptical of any follow up initiatives under the Modi government. But Mr. Rijiju convinced me that the ties between Delhi and Pyongyang are going to get better. Given the China factor and Mr. Rijiju’s origin in Arunachal Pradesh, it was a good decision to send him as the Minister for the event,” Mr. Yechury told The Hindu.
Mr. Rijiju clarified that his presence at the event was not a hasty decision but was part of a well thought out diplomatic move.
“We have been discussing inside the government ways and means of upgrading bilateral ties with North Korea ever since the North Korean Foreign Minister visited Delhi last April. We feel that there should not be the usual old hurdles and suspicion in bilateral ties as North Korea is an independent country and also a member of the United Nations. A relationship based on greater trade and commerce between two sides is the way ahead.”
Mr. Yechury says that the rethink is part of a political consensus borne out of the long term interest of India. The official support to Mr. Rijiju’s participation was evident to the notable Indian guests at the event who were helped by the MEA. While Mr. Rijiju is talking of trade and commerce, the real reasons for better bilateral ties, says Yechury, lie under the surface of North Korea.
North Korea is estimated to have one of the largest global deposits of minerals and rare earth metals necessary for India’s IT industry and electronic majors.
Hamdullah Saeed of the Congress, ex-MP from Lakshadweep, who visited Pyongyang along with Mr. Yechury in 2013, said that past actions of Pyongyang need to be seen in the perspective of India’s growing need for rare metals in the global market which might otherwise go to other interested parties. Already, there are early signs emanating from western capitals on reorienting ties with Pyongyang.
Diplomats are not ruling out the possibility that a dramatic change in bilateral ties like what the U.S. achieved with Iran and Cuba could possibly also occur in case of North Korea. “There is a rush for strategic resources in the countries like North Korea that were blockaded and sanctioned away from global economy. India should be an early bird in North Korea just in case North Korean economic ties with the world undergo change in near future,” Mr. Saeed said.
Despite the tension between the North and South Koreas which often threaten each other with annihilation, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has announced that it will start a service targeting North Korea in near future. Dr. Raghavan says that the BBC’s move shows that the world is impatient to reach out to North Korea.
A major factor that inhibited India’s steps towards the North Korean market in the past was the sensitivity of South Korea towards such a move. This time, India balanced it out by sending Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to Seoul to seek greater South Korean collaboration on high speed rail network. Mr. Yechury says political risk of getting friendly with North Korea has been calculated for sometime now: “the parliamentary delegation of 2011 was sent to Pyongyang after considering the South Korean sentiments.”
North Korea is estimated to have one of the largest global deposits of minerals and rare earth metals necessary for India’s IT industry and electronic majors.
3.Pentagon cell to push India trade ties
In a clear signal of India’s importance, both as a major buyer and potential collaborator in the defence sector, the Pentagon has established its first-ever country special cell to speed up defence ties between India and the United States.
The India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC), operational for a few months now, is part of the efforts to pursue all aspects of the India-U.S. Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), officials here said.
The India Rapid Reaction Cell is meant to ramp up the tempo of all ongoing initiatives
4.G4 leaders may meet to push for U.N. reforms
Leaders of Japan, Germany, Brazil and India — the G4 that wants expansion of the U.N. Security Council and permanent seats for themselves — are exploring the possibility of a summit in New York in the last week of September, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA).
In 2013 and 2014, G4 Foreign Ministers met on the UNGA sidelines and called for urgent reforms, but efforts are on to have a summit this year, sources said.
5.Modi, Ranil discuss U.N. rights report
Sri Lanka plans to go ahead with the promise of devolution of power to Tamil-majority areas, a move guaranteed under its constitution but not implemented so far, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
The reconciliation process with the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka figured prominently in the talks between the two leaders, coming a day before the U.N. Human Rights Council presents what is expected to be a damning report on Sri Lanka’s actions during the war and after. “We are looking at how power-sharing takes place within the constitution,” Mr. Wickremesinghe told the media at a joint press appearance.
“I am confident that with the wisdom and will of the leadership in Sri Lanka and the support of the people, Sri Lanka will achieve genuine reconciliation and development, so that all Sri Lankans, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community, can live a life of equality, justice, peace and dignity in a united Sri Lanka,” Prime Minister Modi said in his statement after the talks. At a function later in the day Prime Minister Wickremesinghe told The Hindu that he and Mr. Modi had discussed the UNHRC report and that both were “very relaxed” about its findings.
Indictment expected
The report, to be presented by the Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in Geneva on Wednesday, has already been shared with the Sri Lankan government. While it is expected to contain an indictment of the previous regime of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for “war crimes” during the final assault on the LTTE in 2009, it will be closely watched for its observations on the ongoing reconciliation process by the new government and what kind of enquiry it recommends.
Mr. Sirisena, who was a senior member of Mr. Rajapakse's cabinet at the time of the war, may also face charges in the report. While many Tamil parties, including the ruling TNA, have demanded an international war crimes tribunal to investigate the alleged atrocities, the Sri Lankan government has offered alternatives of domestic inquiries and the setting up of a South Africa-model “Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence”. Mr. Wickremesinghe, who is on his first visit abroad since winning parliamentary elections, also discussed bilateral economic ties with Mr. Modi.
6.Time for G4 leaders to assert themselves
The U.N.’s Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) that have been under way since 2008 finalised over the weekend a negotiating text for U.N. reforms, qualitatively changing the nature of the debate, though concrete action on it is unlikely to be immediate. A U.N. resolution on Monday also called for “equitable representation on, and increase in the membership of, the Security Council.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are going to be in New York in the last week of September. Though scheduling a meeting of the G-4 leaders may not be easy, diplomatic sources from a foreign country said, the time would be approp-riate for these countries to pull their weight together as it comes closely after the IGN draft. “We are working on it,” he said.
There are many opponents to the expansion of the UNSC, but the most vociferous of them all on Monday were China and Pakistan.
The G4 took shape in 2004 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, along with German Foreign Minister Joska Fischer, issued a joint statement, kicking off their campaign for U.N. reforms, including more representation for developing countries, both in the permanent and non-permanent categories, in the UNSC which has 15 members.
The September 2014 India-U.S. joint statement said the “President reaffirmed his support for a reformed U.N. Security Council with India as a permanent member”, but subsequent suggestions from the U.S. for a “consensus approach,” was seen by India as a reading down of that position. India and other G4 members hope that, with the negotiations now moving to a text-based one, there will be more clarity on the respective positions of countries.
There are many opponents to UNSC expansion, most vociferous were China and Pakistan
7.Centre to allow foreign experts to teach in India
Remuneration, visa and schedule issues sorted out
The Centre is all set to roll out its new plan — the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) — that will allow internationally renowned experts to undertake short teaching stints in Indian universities and higher education institutes.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development which is piloting the programme is keen to get it going early. The programme will see scientists and entrepreneurs apart from academicians offer courses, lectures and workshops in India.
Though a date for flagging off the programme is yet to be decided, there are indications that the unveiling could be on November 11 to coincide with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s birthday, marked as National Education Day.
According to a source in the government, the programme was being held up over a number of issues, including remuneration, difficulty in grant of visa and the schedules for teaching, all of which have now been sorted out. The Centre has now decided to offer $8,000 for one credit course of 12 to 14 hours and $12,000 for two credit courses of 20-28 hours, in addition to local hospitality which will be borne by the host institute.
Courses by foreign experts jointly with one faculty from the host institute can be offered during summer or winter vacations and the experts will also be allowed to lecture in institutes other than their host.
The decks have also been cleared to allow central universities, IITs and NITs to hire adjunct faculty from abroad without having to pay the threshold limit of $25,000.
Unable to afford the payment of this threshold amount to visiting faculty, heads of various universities had approached President Pranab Mukherjee who is the Visitor to 114 central institutions with a request to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs to waive the precondition.
“Following the President’s intervention the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs regulating the employment visa for visit to India have now been relaxed for the central universities, IITs, NITs and other centrally funded institutions,” said a source.
Though a date for flagging off the programme is yet to be decided, there are indications that the unveiling could be on November 11
8.Biden to honour Bhartia, Nooyi as India season kicks off in U.S.
The U.S. capital was in the grip of India fever this week with a sense of growing anticipation around interactions between senior administration officials from both nations during the September 21 Strategic and Commercial Dialogue (SC&D), and also a high-profile event hosted by the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC) at which Vice-President Joe Biden will honour top women CEOs Shobhana Bhartia and Indra Nooyi.
The council announced on Tuesday that along with Mr. Biden, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry; Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj; and high-ranking officials from both governments, and captains of industry from both countries, will address the USIBC on the occasion of its 40th anniversary and on the same day would kick off the first SC&D.
The council added that as part of its Anniversary Leadership Summit, it would honour CEO and chairman of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi and chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group, Shobhana Bhartia, “for their commitment towards building a more inclusive global economy”.
Other senior officials who will join the government-to-government dialogue now redefined to include the “commercial” component of the SC&D include Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, and U.S. Secretary of State for Commerce Penny Pritzker.
Ms. Sitharaman and Ms. Pritzker will spell out details on the prospects for rapid progress in trade and investment cooperation, at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace next Monday on “U.S.-India economic ties: ready for takeoff?”
The events will set the scene for the September 23 touch-down on U.S. soil by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose second visit to this country in one year will see him meet President Barack Obama in New York and address an 18,000-strong diaspora reception in Silicon Valley, both events aimed at sustaining momentum in bilateral economic and technology cooperation.
9.Anti-tank guided missile AMOGHA-1 test-fired
Amogha-1, an indigenously-developed second generation, Anti-Tank Guided Missile having a range of 2.8 km, was successfully test-fired at Babina Army Range, Madhya Pradesh recently.
This is the first-ever design and developmental effort in respect of missiles by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), Hyderabad, according to a BDL press release here on Tuesday.
Two missiles were fired on September 10 and both have hit the target placed at 2.6 km and 2.8 km respectively. Both the flights were without any deviation from the designed path profile and met all design parameters.
10.British Indian on Man Booker Prize shortlist
A British author of Indian descent is one of six novelists shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize, 2015.
The Year of the Runaways is Sunjeev Sahota’s second novel, and centres around the lives of three Indian men — one a Dalit — and a woman, all migrants from India.
The three men are thrown together in a house for migrants in Sheffield, while the woman, a ‘visa-wife’ lives nearby. The novel shines a penetrating light on immigration through the lives of the characters before and after they came to Britain.
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Promising debut
The 34-year old Mr. Sahota, whose name figured in Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2013, has received glowing reviews for the book.
His first book Ours are the Streets is about the journey of a young British Pakistani from ordinary teenager to terrorist, and was written after the July 7, 2005 bombings on the London underground.
The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on October 13.
11.Pentagon cell to push India trade ties[VVIP]
In an interview to PTI in Washington DC, Keith Webster, who heads the IRRC, said: “The purpose of the India Rapid Reaction Cell is to work all the initiatives that we have ongoing under (India-U.S.) DTTI (Defence Trade and Technology Initiative) — both the initiatives that for example came out of the joint statement between the (U.S.) President and the (Indian) Prime Minister in January (in New Delhi) — to move quickly and timely and be thorough, which in my opinion requires dedicated support to ramp up the operational tempo.”
Mr. Webster is the Director, International Cooperation Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
“We are embarking on some new initiatives and the operational tempo is not declining at all,” he said.
Established in January 2015 to focus exclusively on advancing the DTTI, IRRC is the only country-specific cell of its kind in the Pentagon.
The cell looks at ways to transform bilateral defence relationship without any bureaucratic obstacles, move away from the traditional buyer-seller dynamic to a more collaborative approach, explore new areas of technological collaboration and expand the U.S.-India business ties.
According to PTI, currently seven persons work on the cell, representing various wings of the U.S. Department of Defence. Given the new thrust on India-U.S. defence relationship under the U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, PTI said more officials have expressed keen interest in working at the Pentagon’s India cell for advancing DTTI.
DTTI is an undertaking drawn up by Mr. Carter, when he was Deputy Secretary of Defence, on the directions of his predecessor Leon Panetta in 2012.
A senior Indian official said the DTTI enjoys full backing from both sides and this was articulated by both President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2015, who had directed the DTTI to focus on pursuing six co-development pathfinder efforts.
He pointed out that a joint U.S.-India DTTI Interagency Task Force also regularly reviews the entire progress of the India-U.S. defence ties.
Over the next few months, India and the U.S. are set to hold a series of high-level exchanges in the defence sector, including a visit to the U.S. by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Officials said defence and strategic relationship would be a key topic of discussion when Mr. Obama meets Mr. Modi on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York later this month.
Mr. Webster said the cell that he heads has been instrumental in accelerating the DTTI projects.
12.Migrant count goes up from 2,80,000 to over 5,00,000
Over half a million migrants have been counted on the European Union's border so far this year, up from 2,80,000 in 2014, the bloc’s Frontex external border agency said on Tuesday.
“More than 5,00,000 migrants were detected at EU borders in the first eight months of this year after a fifth consecutive monthly record was registered in August when 1,56,000 crossed the EU borders,” a Frontex statement said, adding “there were 280,000 detections” at EU borders last year.
22 refugees drown
At least 22 Greece-bound asylum-seekers drowned on Tuesday when their boat sank off Turkey, officials said, as police blocked hundreds of others seeking to find an alternative route to Europe by land. Eleven women and four children were among the victims of the latest migrant shipwreck in the Aegean Sea, where three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi drowned two weeks ago, the Dogan news agency said.
Television footage showed a crowded Turkish coastguard ship carrying rescued people to the shore. No one was immediately available for comment at the coastguard.
Dogan said the group had been travelling to Kos in a 66-foot wooden boat.
A further 249 passengers were rescued from the wooden boat which set off from the southwestern Turkish resort town of Datca for the nearby Greek island of Kos, the Turkish coast guard said. — Agencies
13.‘Can’t defeat IS without Assad’
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday strongly defended Moscow’s military assistance to the Syrian government, saying it’s impossible to defeat the Islamic State group without cooperating with Damascus.
Putin’s statement comes amid the signs of an ongoing Russian military build-up in Syria, which the U.S. says signals Moscow’s intention to set up an air base there.
President Putin urged other nations to follow Russia’s example and offer military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has made his third phone call to his Russian counterpart in the last 10 days, a State Department official said, seeking to clarify the intent of Moscow’s military buildup in Syria, and warning that continued support for President Assad will only prolong the Syrian conflict. — AP
14.Space for both India, China to invest in Cambodia: Ansari
Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said that China will not be uneasy about India’s increasing involvement in Cambodia and Laos.
Mr. Ansari is in Cambodia to conduct delegation-level talks and sign Memorandums of Understanding in tourism and infrastructure building.
“Chinese levels of investment are so different. They won’t be uneasy with our infrastructure investment. There is space for both,” Mr. Ansari told reporters on board Air India One en route to Cambodia.
The Vice-President’s four-day visit to Cambodia at the invitation of Prime Minister Hun Sen is an effort to shore up bilateral trade and investment which remains “much below potential.”
‘A growing economy’
“Cambodia is a growing economy that has maintained a growth rate of about seven per cent over the last several years. It is seeking greater socio-economic development. They are also a very young nation much like India and they are looking at opportunities for human resource development. We will assure them that they can count on India as a willing development partner,” Secretary East Anil Wadhwa told reporters on Monday.
“Our efforts in this direction have been towards undertaking infrastructure projects and capacity development programmes. Our trade and investment linkages have grown over the years, though they remain much below potential,” Mr. Wadhwa added.
‘China will not be uneasy about India’s increasing involvement in Cambodia and Laos’
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