Monday 30 June 2014

[Download] Newspaper compilation for Hindu - June

As suggested by many I have compiled all the news that was shared in the blog for June from Hindu into separate sections according to syllabus of General Studies.
I hope everyone finds it useful and suggestions are always welcome for improvements.(plz point out any big errors if any)

For GS 1 - click here
For GS 2 - click here
For GS 3 - click here

From now on blog may not be updated on a daily basis as prelims are approaching (and chances of CSAT modifications getting high). But be assured of notes from Hindu at the end of month!!

Keep studying and gyaan sharing!!!


Daily News Compilation (HINDU) for 29-30th June

An eventful year on Mars

On June 24, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mars rover, Curiosity, which soft-landed on the floor of the Gale Crater on a never-before-used contraption called sky crane, successfully completed one Martian year — 687 Earth days.
Its primary objective — providing much sought after information on whether past environmental conditions there were favourable for microbial life. The most important parameter that can prove that such a condition existed, is the presence of liquid water at some point in the planet’s history. 
Some of the work done in this direction:
  • detection of well-rounded pebbles in the rock layers on a dry river bed. Sharp-edged stones can become well-rounded only when transported over a long distance and above a particular speed by surface running water.
  • deposition of alternate layers of pebbles aligned at a particular angle is strongly suggestive of a paleoriver. 
  • The presence of clay minerals inside a drilled rock suggests that water was present for extended periods of time. 
  • The detection of mineral orthoclase, abundantly seen in Earth’s crust but never before detected on Mars, in the Windjana sandstone sample is yet another surprise find. 
Despite the presence of liquid water, the lack of atmospheric methane greatly reduces the possibility of any extant or extinct microbial life on Mars. 

The biggest question now is whether Curiosity can reconfirm on the ground the latest find of glacial, periglacial and fluvial (including glacio-fluvial) activity within the Gale Crater some 3,500 million years ago. The potential evidence of paleoglaciers was gathered by cameras on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency’s Mars Express. 

Issue: fire in a leaking natural gas pipeline in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh

Importance of the issue:
1. Gas is a clean fossil fuel and it will be a part of our energy mix in future. Its main drawback is its transportation through pipelines which are set to increase in future. So safety framework around these pipelines is a must.
2. If safety concerns are not taken care of then these can again hamper the infrastructure growth plans of our nation.

What can be done?
1.  statutory safety regulator for the oil and gas sector
2. comprehensive, ongoing system of checks and oversight along routes operated by all the players in the field
3. round-the-clock monitoring employing advanced technology in quick-response mode. 


China invites India to join Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Treat gold deposits as part of CRR/SLR: bankers

State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda feel a portion of the gold deposits held by banks should be treated as part of the mandatory cash reserve ratio (CRR) or statutory liquidity ratio (SLR).

The Union Commerce Ministry is trying to modify the Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme so as to lower the price threshold at which the fund gets activated. The Rs.500-crore Fund, which lapsed in 2013, is being re-launched, according to a Union Commerce Ministry official.
Tea Board Chairman Siddharth said that the commodity fund was established in 2003 to help industries engaged in producing four commodities —- tea, coffee, tobacco and natural rubber. “The idea behind setting up the fund was to help the trade stay in business by extending them support if there is a drop in their commodity prices… the idea was to establish India as a reliable supplier in the international markets.”
As per current rules, prices of certain commodities have to drop 20 per cent in international markets for the fund to kick in.
This was considered stringent, and the Commerce Ministry has never had to operate the fund.
Now a move is afoot to revive the fund and lower the threshold to 10 per cent.

Saturday 28 June 2014

Daily News Compilation (HINDU) for 28th June - Editorials

A step back for education


Since we have statutory bodies in our course so UGC becomes an important topic. So first some gyaan on UGC:
The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India is a statutory organisation set up by the Union government in 1956.
Current Chairman : Prof Ved Prakash
Mandate:
The UGC has the unique distinction of being the only grant-giving agency in the country which has been vested with two responsibilities: that of providing funds and that of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education. The UGC's mandate includes:

1.Promoting and coordinating university education.

2.Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities.

3.Framing regulations on minimum standards of education.

4.Monitoring developments in the field of collegiate and university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges.

5.Serving as a vital link between the Union and state governments and institutions of higher learning.

6.Advising the Central and State governments on the measures necessary for improvement of university education.

Some history (for prelims)
The present system of higher education dates back to ''Mountstuart Elphinstone's minutes of 1823, which stressed on the need for establishing schools for teaching English and the European sciences'''. Later, Lord Macaulay, in his minutes of 1835, advocated "efforts to make natives of the country thoroughly good English scholars".' Sir Charles Wood's Dispatch of 1854, famously known as the ' Magna Carta of English Education in India', recommended creating a properly articulated scheme of education from the primary school to the university. It sought to encourage indigenous education and planned the formulation of a coherent policy of education. Subsequently, the universities of Calcutta, Bombay (now Mumbai) and Madras were set up in 1857, followed by the university of Allahabad in 1887. The Inter-University Board (later known as the Association of Indian Universities) was established in 1925 to promote university activities, by sharing information and cooperation in the field of education, culture, sports and allied areas. 
The first attempt to formulate a national system of education in India came In 1944, with the Report of the Central Advisory Board of Education on Post War Educational Development in India, also known as the Sargeant Report. It recommended the formation of a University Grants Committee, which was formed in 1945 to oversee the work of the three Central Universities of Aligarh, Banaras and Delhi. In 1947, the Committee was entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with all the then existing Universities. Soon after Independence, the University Education Commission was set up in 1948 under the Chairmanship of Dr. S Radhakrishnan "to report on Indian university education and suggest improvements and extensions that might be desirable to suit the present and future needs and aspirations of the country". It recommended that the University Grants Committee be reconstituted on the general model of the University Grants Commission of the United Kingdom with a full-time Chairman and other members to be appointed from amongst educationists of repute. 
In 1952, the Union Government decided that all cases pertaining to the allocation of grants-in-aid from public funds to the Central Universities and other Universities and Institutions of higher learning might be referred to the University Grants Commission. Consequently, the University Grants Commission (UGC) was formally inaugurated by late Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Minister of Education, Natural Resources and Scientific Research on 28 December 1953. The UGC, however, was formally established only in November 1956 as a statutory body of the Government of India through an Act of Parliament.

Now understanding the controversy:
Events in 2013:
Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University announced a Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) in order to 1. better target courses to industrial requirements
2. to make the UG course equivalent to international UG courses.
(This was considered to be Kapil Sibal's pet project)

Problem with the course:
1. Syllabus was drafted in a hurry and the most of it is too basic thus defeating its purpose.
2. It violates the National Policy on Education that mandates a 10+2+3 format
3. The change was not brought about through an amendment of the Universities Act; the President (the Visitor to all central universities) was not consulted either.

So in 2014, after one year of implementation UGC declares the course illegal (after protest by ABVP, student wing of BJP).

DU's stand:
1.  UGC had supported the University’s move last year and said that as per the Indian Education Commission (1964-66), the duration of a programme may vary from varsity to varsity and also within the same varsity.
2.  FYUP programme was approved by the academic council and the executive council of the university, which are statutory bodies under the Delhi University Act of 1922

But finally DU had to scrap the program (as UGC declared it illegal and threatened to stop funding)

Now author's view in the article:
1. Section 12 (1) of the UGC Act clearly states: “It is the duty of the Commission to determine and maintain standards in higher education in consultation with the universities [emphasis added].” This makes it incumbent on the UGC to respect the institutional autonomy of all universities and accord them due deference and latitude in complying with its regulations. This is necessary to empower universities to undertake bold academic initiatives.
2. Some other universities are also not following the 10+2+3 policy but they have not been declared illegal (IISC and Ambedkar University , Delhi)
3. warning the colleges that their grants will be cut if they do not comply with the UGC’s directive reflects the body’s patronising attitude toward institutions of higher learning.
4.  to ask a university to scrap its existing undergraduate programme and introduce a new programme in the middle of the admission process is inexplicable.

Our universities will be deterred from undertaking brave academic decisions in future fearing UGC’s indignation. This does not augur well for India’s higher education. This episode is a grim reminder why India, despite having talented academicians and students, has failed to develop world-class universities. Our universities cannot attain global standards till they are freed from excessive officious control and the bureaucratic mindset of regulatory bodies.

My view:
Although UGC's 180 degree turn and undermining of DU's autonomy does not presents a good picture for the future of higher education in India but making reforms for just the sake of it also doesn't augurs well on part of DU. If it wanted to bring changes then they should have been properly planned and executed.

Obama's decision that USA will not send combat troops to Iraq - USA's unwillingness to enforce the global order anymore. (Reason is that now it is not dependent on West Asia for its energy needs because of shale deposit's in USA itself). Implications of this:

1. Powers like China, Russia and India will have to hammer out new rules
2. This may give rise to the Multipolar world creating a web of regional powers that would limit each other’s ambitions.
3. Another possibilty is that faced with threatening regional hegemons, and with no great-power allies at hand, smaller states are likely to expand their arsenals. The first signs of this are already evident. Through the Pacific Rim, fears that the U.S. will no longer be willing to contain China have led states to grow their militaries at an alarming rate.

RBI's Financial Stability Report :
1. On the domestic front, the return to political stability has provided impetus to the outlook and the capital markets reflect the expectations on policy measures to address the adverse growth-inflation dynamics and saving-investment balance as also efficient implementation of policies and programmes.

2.India’s financial system remains stable, though the banking sector is facing some major challenges, mainly relating to public sector banks (PSBs). 
>> Although there has been some improvement in the asset quality of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) since September 2013, the level of gross non-performing advances as percentage of total gross advances (GNPA ratio) of PSBs was significantly higher as compared to the other bank groups. 
>> While the ownership pattern and recapitalisation of PSBs are contingent upon government policy and the fiscal situation, there is a case for reviewing the governance structures of PSBs, with a greater emphasis on market discipline.

3. Macro stress tests show that the system level capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) of SCBs remains well above the regulatory minimum even under adverse macroeconomic conditions.

4. The regulation of securities markets in India is in sync with international developments, although mutual funds and other asset management activities in Indian markets do not carry risks similar to those experienced in other jurisdictions. 

5. The lending activity of insurance companies, though relatively small and within the prescribed exposure limits applicable for insurance companies, may need to be streamlined and monitored under a prudential framework comparable to that for banks to eliminate the possibility of regulatory arbitrage. 

6. Revised norms for corporate governance as also warehouse and related processes are expected to strengthen the functioning of the commodity derivatives market. 

7. In the context of India’s pension sector, inadequate liability computation in case of several defined benefit pension schemes can be a potential source of fiscal stress in years to come

Moving beyond the Panchsheel deception


Author is highly critical of celebrations around the 60th Anniversary of Panchseel because:
1. When it was signed with China it was an agreement between "Tibetan region of China and India" whereas till then Tibet was considered independent based on Simla accord of 1912. So it reflected that India had conceded Tibet's independence.
2. Panchsheel met its end just three months after its signing, when the Chinese were found violating Indian borders in Ladakh in late-1954
3. The history of Sino-Indian relations in the last five decades is replete with instances of violations of sovereignty, mutual animosity, attempts to upstage each other and general ill-will.
4. The Chinese have a clever way of promoting their superiority and exclusivism. Sinologists describe it as the Middle Kingdom syndrome. While Nehru wanted to take credit for the Panchsheel, Zhou told Richard Nixon in 1973 that “actually, the five principles were put forward by us, and Nehru agreed. But later on he didn’t implement them”. 
5.We always fall back to these principles and we don't try to do something new and innovative.

India and China can cooperate with each other on the principles of sovereign equality and mutual sensitivity. China has emerged as an economic superpower, but is exposed to serious internal and external threats. It is facing problems with almost all of its 13 neighbours. The fact that China spends more money on internal security than on external security speaks volumes about its internal vulnerability. So, while India is not as big economically as China, its security apparatus is better-placed. 

Friday 27 June 2014

Daily News Compilation (HINDU) for 27 June

Centre to rope in States to fight inflation
To keep a check on inflation in the wake of a weak monsoon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pushed for “proactive” coordination between the Centre and States in implementing contingency plans.
  • Fast track courts for hoarders.
  • Contingency plans for 500 districts
  • Creation of Fodder-grids for long term
  • Raised MSP of Kharif crops
  • Hiked Export price of Potato
  • Called states to implement National food security 
Rafale deal to top French Foreign Minister’s agenda

















Adverse growth-inflation setting, major challenge


















India eases visa norms for senior Bangladeshi nationals
India has decided to relax visa restrictions for Bangladeshi nationals above the age of 65 and below the age of 13. Senior citizens and young Bangladeshis will now be eligible for five-year multiple entry visas as against the one-year visa available earlier. 
However there was “no proposal for visa free travel for Bangladeshi nationals to India.”
The announcement of visas-on-arrival for nationals of some countries, which was made by the UPA government in March, has also been held back after the Home Ministry cited concerns. 
A new era of “cooperation and connectivity
India confirmed the offer of enhancing power supply on the newly opened power-grid connection between both countries by 100 MW from the Palatana project in Tripura. India has made several other announcements including increasing the frequency of the Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express, and proposed a Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati bus service as well.

Gujarat mulls creation of vegetarian zone in Palitana

The Gujarat government is mulling over demands for the creation of a vegetarian zone in Palitana town in Bhavnagar district following the now-concluded hunger strike by Jain monks.

History of Palitana
Lord Adinath the first thirthankar of jains climbed this mount 99 times as it was a very pure place and he used to meditate under the tree Ryan. it is said that at the time of lord this mount was 10 times bigger but as generations come down ,this mount also came down in its size as a result of increase in sins. Lord aadinath attained salvation at this mountain and many others(uncountable)

Belief of Jains
Every devout Jain aspires to climb to the top of the mountain at least once in his lifetime, because of its sanctity. Not just the temples on the Hill are sacred, but as per Jain.

Agenda for nuclear diplomacy

The Article explaining history of Model Additional protocol which it ratified recently
  • The IAEA was already implementing full-scope-safeguards in countries that were party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as non-nuclear weapon states. This meant that all nuclear activity in these countries was monitored to ensure that it was intended only for peaceful purposes.
  • For the five nuclear weapon states recognised by the NPT (the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China), full-scope-safeguards were not applicable as these countries had a nuclear weapon fuel cycle that could not be subjected to international accounting and inspection by the IAEA. 
  • With the end of the Cold War, the prospects of a nuclear exchange between the two superpowers receded and the proliferation of nuclear weapons became the new threat that needed to be addressed at a global level. In 1993, the IAEA began to consider how it could play a role in this and began a deliberative two-year exercise, described as 93+2.
  • The 93+2 exercise led, in 1997, to the Model Additional Protocol. The logic behind it was different — while full-scope-safeguards provided assurance that all nuclear materials were fully accounted for in exclusively peaceful activities, the Additional Protocol was intended to reassure that there was no clandestine nuclear activity being undertaken. Remote monitoring and analysis, environmental sampling to detect traces of radioactivity, and inspections without notice, were introduced.
  • Not being party to the NPT, India was not subject to full-scope-safeguards. However, nuclear reactors set up with international cooperation (e.g. Tarapur 1&2, Rajasthan 1&2, and more recently, Kudankulam 1&2) were subject to the IAEA’s facility-specific safeguards.
  • As per the 2005 undertaking, it was tacitly understood that as a nuclear weapon state, India would keep some of its facilities out of safeguards for national security reasons and there would, therefore, be significant differences between the Model Additional Protocol (as adopted by states under full-scope-safeguards) and the customised Additional Protocol that would apply in the case of India. 
  • In fact, the Indian Additional Protocol does not contain most of the Model Additional Protocol’s provisions and basically requires that India provide information to the IAEA regarding its nuclear-related exports.

Thursday 26 June 2014

Daily News Compilation (HINDU) for 21-22nd June

Needed, more deliberation

Artilce talks about parts of FSLRC reports that are drawing major criticism specially from RBI guv:
  • Among the most contentious proposals of the FSLRC involve the setting up of two entities: one, a new “super-regulator”, the Unified Financial Regulatory Agency (UFRA); and two, a Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal to review regulatory decisions. If this proposal is implemented, the financial sector will have just two regulators, the RBI and the proposed UFRA. In the new set-up, the RBI will have some of its existing functions, such as regulation of organised financial trading, taken away. The RBI will have a diminished role, confined to being the monetary authority and regulator of banks. 
  • In another recommendation, the FSLRC wants a new monetary policy committee — which would be dominated by government nominees — and not the RBI Governor, to set policy interest rates.
Some points for issues of women:
  • While crimes against women have more than doubled between 1990 and 2011, close to 40 per cent of these are injuries inflicted by husbands or family members. 
  • At present, married women and widowed women have a much higher prevalence of violence against them
  • number of women in the workforce seems to have lowered and stagnated. According to data from the National Sample Survey Organisation, female labour force participation fell from above 40 per cent in the early-to-mid 1990s to 22.5 per cent in 2011-12. 
  • studies seem to indicate a link between women’s employment and domestic violence. NFHS-3 reports that there is a much higher prevalence of violence against women who were employed at any time in the past 12 months (39-40 per cent) than women who were not employed (29 per cent).
  • The ‘male backlash’ theory suggests that a woman’s independence signifies a challenge to a culturally prescribed norm and hence results in physical aggression. 
Some points for solution:
  • a policy approach centred on female agency must be developed to tackle crimes against women and, in order to do so, the intersection of crimes with intra-household and extra-household bargaining power must be understood.
  •  gender equality is a far more complex aspiration and requires the intervention of community organisations, policy-oriented efforts by the state, as well as non-governmental programmes. 
Some useful knowledge for culture related portion:
Islamism, defined broadly, is an ideological construct based on a political reading of Islam in both its history and textuality. It argues that the primary duty of a Muslim is to strive for the establishment of an Islamic state, without which Islam will remain a ‘house half-built.’ 
Salafism (or Wahhabism) is a theologically puritanical approach that argues for a literal reading of the scriptures, shunning all accretions in matters of faith and life. 
What is common between the two, however, is that they both operate on a binary notion of the world.

Origin of the shia-sunni divide
The origin of this divide — the principal fault line within Islam — goes back 14 centuries to the very beginning of Islam. Interestingly, there was nothing religious about it at the beginning as it was a purely political dispute over which an entire theological and jurisprudential edifice was superimposed later on in order to canonise and perpetuate it into a distinctive clerical order. At the core of the dispute was an impassioned argument over whether the principle of succession in the nascent Muslim state should be dynastic or meritorious. The majority of Muslims in the early years of the faith chose merit over dynasty and argued that the prophet’s temporal and spiritual successors should be selected on the basis of their competence, seniority, knowledge and experience. A minority disagreed and said the basis of succession should be familial rather than meritorious. They believed the temporal and spiritual leadership of Muslim society should remain confined to the descendants of the prophet forever.
They thought Ali — the younger cousin and son-in-law of the prophet — deserved the honour, as he was not only a staunch companion of the prophet but also his closest family member by virtue of birth and marriage. Shia is an abbreviation for Shia’t Ali, the party of Ali, and is built around the victimhood of the prophet’s family following his death. The Sunnis do not dispute the importance of Ali and do not disparage him in any way; they consider him one of the greatest companions of the prophet along with the others, including the three other caliphs who preceded Ali in the seat of power.

A time for Arab, Asian statesmanship

Another article explaining the situation in Iraq. Its already covered in previous days so just adding extra info:
  • taking advantage of ISIS attacks and the failure of the Iraqi Army to take a stand, Kurdish forces, better trained and disciplined, have moved quickly to occupy Kirkuk, thus consolidating the quasi-independence of the Kurdish region.
  •  The origins of the current situation lie in the U.S.-led military assault on Iraq which destroyed the country’s infrastructure, and in the immediate aftermath of the occupation when the country’s two principal institutions were systematically destroyed, i.e., the disbanding of the Iraqi Army and the prohibiting of the employment of Baath Party members - these Baath party members are now in ISIS.

Arvind Mayaram panel on rationalising definitions of FDI and FII


FPI includes portfolio investors such as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and qualified foreign investors (QFIs).
Seeking to simplify norms,a government panel has suggested that :
·         foreign investment of over 10 per cent in a listed company be treated as FDI ( accepeted by centre hence applicable now)
·         investments  from NRIs on a non-repatriable basis be deemed as domestic investment.
·         foreign investment in an unlisted company should be treated as FDI.
·         The report says any investment by way of equity shares, compulsorily convertible preference shares/debentures less than 10 per cent should treated as foreign portfolio investment (FPI).

Drugs affordability and patents

One of the urgent tasks before the new government is something that does not figure in common discourse but is still extremely important for its larger implications for Indo-U.S. economic ties. India’s patent regime, which protects intellectual property rights (IPRs), has come under intense scrutiny in the United States. It is the contention of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) that the environment for IPR in India has deteriorated. India has been placed on the “priority watch” list of countries, whose IPR regimes will be scrutinised during the year. The saving grace is India has not been labelled a Priority Foreign Country (PFC) in the USTR’s Special Report released at the end of April. The U.S. Trade Representative is part of the executive office of the U.S. President empowered to develop and recommend trade policy to the U.S. government.
Any penal action against India would have cast doubts on the institutions and processes of economic diplomacy in the U.S. It would have been thoroughly ill-timed: the report was released, on schedule, two weeks before a new government took office in India.
If, indeed, the USTR had categorised India as a Priority Foreign Country, it could have led to imposition of sanctions by the U.S. on Indian trade.
Yet, while there was no downgrade, India’s IP regime would be closely watched.
Pharma lobbies
India’s IPR regime is currently under attack by the U.S. pharma lobbies which have teamed up with other powerful lobbies to make out a case against India. From India’s point of view, the objective of the high pressure lobbying by big pharma in the U.S. is to stymie India’s efforts at providing affordable medicine without in any way compromising on existing treaty agreements.
Flexibilities
Big pharma is obviously piqued by India’s decision to use the “flexibilities” that are available in the existing TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement. Since 2005, when patent protection was incorporated into domestic laws, the flexibilities were used only twice. In March 2012, it issued a compulsory licence to an Indian firm for a cancer drug, whose patent holder, the German multinational Bayer, had priced it well beyond the reach of a majority of Indian patients.
Under another provision, countries have the option to deny patent to a drug that involved only incremental innovation. In April 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the 2006 decision of the Indian Patent Office denying the Swiss company Novartis’ patent on a drug precisely on this ground.
Clearly, it is not just these two instances but the fear that other developing countries would emulate India that is behind the lobbying. India should be prepared to challenge any unilateral action by the U.S. before the WTO whose disputes settlement mechanism has a good record of impartiality.
The way forward is through discussions not confrontation. India needs foreign technologies and investment. Obviously, it helps alleviate any impression that India’s patent regime is being diluted. Two points in India’s favour are (one) patent issues are decided after a due process, never arbitrarily. Two, the very few instances of using flexibilities are indicative of the fact that India uses those safeguards selectively. Very recently, despite strong recommendations from the Health Ministry, the government refused to issue a compulsory licence for production of a copy of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s cancer drug Dasatinib in India. The argument is that a case has not been made out for producing a generic version of that drug in India.
The debate should go on. There is a case for having a permanent mechanism for discussing patent-related issues, especially concerning the drug industry.

Kanyashree Prakalpa

Kanyashree Prakalpa,West Bengal government scheme that provides scholarship to girls from economically-backward backgrounds, has been given international recognition by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and UNICEF.
Under the scheme, the government provides an annual scholarship of Rs. 500 to girls between 12 and 18 years (class eight to class 12) to continue with their studies, provided they are unmarried. A one-time grant of Rs.25,000 is also provided to the girl, once she reaches the age of (at) 18, to pursue higher studies.
The conditional cash transfer scheme for school girls was inaugurated by the Trinamool Congress government on October 1, 2013, with the express purpose of ensuring the education of girls and thereby preventing forced child marriage.
here were visible changes at the ground level with regard to enrolment of girl students and child marriage, UNICEF said, citing a State survey. UNICEF has provided technical assistance to the scheme and is aiding the State in its evaluation and monitoring processes.
UNICEF representatives also pointed out that apart from increasing enrolment in schools and preventing child marriages, the scheme would also address the issue of trafficking of young girls.

[Contribution] Some news articles from other papers - 24th and 25th

Confirmation of Higgs boson’s presence

Researchers at CERN have found the first evidence for the direct decay of the Higgs boson into fermions — a strong indication that the particle discovered in 2012 is the Higgs boson.

“This is an enormous breakthrough which let know that particles like electrons get their mass by coupling to the Higgs field, which is really exciting,”

In July 2012 researchers from the ATLAS and Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiments at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), said they had observed a new particle in the mass region of 125 to 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).

To determine whether the particles could decay into fermions, the researchers fired protons at each other in a 6-metre-diameter solenoid and used specialised detectors to determine which particles were produced in the resulting collisions.

GYAAN

HIGGS BOSON= The Higgs boson (or Higgs particle) is a particle that gives mass to other particles. Bosons are particles responsible for all physical forces except gravity. Other bosons are the photon, the W and Z bosons, and the gluon. It is very difficult to detect the Higgs boson with the equipment and technology we have now. These particles are believed to exist for less than a septillionth of a second. Because the Higgs boson has so much mass (compared to other particles), it takes a lot of energy to create one.

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is the equipment scientists used to find it

Higgs bosons obey the conservation of energy law, which states that no energy is created or destroyed, but instead it is transferred

IMPORTANCE

The Higgs boson is the last missing piece of our current understanding of the most fundamental nature of the universe,Essentially because it proves that our understanding of the basic workings of the universe is correct. If the Higgs boson didn’t exist, the Standard Model would be proved incorrect. Its importance led to the “God Particle” nickname

STANDARD MODEL OF PARTICLE PHYSICS= The model explains the way 17 subatomic particles are bound together to create atoms and then matter by three the four fundamental forces of nature: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force and electromagnetism. It excludes the fourth force: gravity.

The particles fit into two categories: bosons, which transmit forces, and fermions, which make up matter.

We’re writing to the Swiss for black money list: Jaitley

ONLY GYAAN HERE

BLACK MONEY = Black money is the money which is unaccounted and is circulated AND it is a big cause of loss of tax revenue for the government.
The impact of black money on Indian economy

1. There is a huge loss to the income tax revenue for the Government.

2. It is not possible to make correct analysis of our economic system and formulate right policies due to circulation of black money. For example it is not possible to exactly calculate saving-income ratio, or income of various sectors etc. So most of these estimates are only a guess work.

3. Black money does not contribute for any productive activities in the country

4. This black money can be used for financing illegal activities, corruption etc.

Himachal park is now a World Heritage Site

The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh was accorded the Unesco World Heritage Site status on Monday.

The Unesco World Heritage Site Committee at Doha in Qatar granted the status to the park under the criteria of “exceptional natural beauty and conservation of biological diversity.”

The GHNP has now come in the league of Indian World Heritage Sites (WHS) such as the Taj Mahal, Ellora, Kaziranga National Park, Keoladeo National Park, Manas National Park, Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve and the Sunderbans.

This would help in boosting ecotourism in the hill State

The GHNP was declared a National Park under the Wildlife (Protection Act), 1972, by the Himachal Pradesh government in 1999. A total of 832 plant species, representing 128 families and 427 genera, which cover 26 per cent of the total flora of Himachal Pradesh, have been recorded in the GHNP.

It supports self-sustaining populations of near-threatened, vulnerable and endangered species like leopard, Himalayan Black Bear, Royle’s Vole, Himalayan tahr, Himalayan serow, Himalayan goral, Himalayan musk deer, western tragopan and cheer pheasant.

The endangered snow leopard and the critically endangered Red-headed vulture are also present.

the park has been inscribed under category 10 of the World Heritage Convention

GYAAN = Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas

Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures 

Promoting 'swadeshi' in defence (editorial )

Editor says that  The policy framework for going swadeshi already exists. Ironically, it was created by the defence ministry under A K Antony, which then lacked the political courage to implement its own policies. The Defence Procurement Procedure of 2013 explicitly states that indigenous development and manufacture is the default option.
There is a Defence Production Policy to encourage manufacture. More policy initiatives are needed - especially in reducing duties and tariffs for the domestic industry that, incredibly, pays higher taxes for building weaponry in India than foreign vendors pay for importing it fully built.
The domestic industry must be protected against variation in foreign exchange rates; export of defence equipment must be not just permitted, but actively encouraged; and foreign direct investment in defence must be automatically allowed up to 49 per cent. 
GYAAN = Salient Features of Defence Procurement Procedure- 2013 
The first major change that has been brought in relates to the introduction of the ‘preferred categorization’ in the following order; Buy (Indian), Buy & Make (Indian), Make (Indian), Buy & Make, Buy(Global). While seeking the approval for Áccord of Necessity (AoN) in a particular category, say, Buy (Global), it will now be necessary to give justification for not considering the other higher preference categories. This is expected to give a stronger impetus to indigenization. 
Besides this, the requirement of the prescribed indigenous content, e.g. 30% in the Buy (Indian) category is to be achieved on the overall cost basis,  the basic equipment must also have minimum 30% indigenous content at all stages including the one offered at the trial stage

India slips in FDI rankings

India drew $28 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013 against $24 billion in the previous year, shows a report for 2014 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. However, its ranking in terms of most-favoured FDI destination slipped by a notch compared to the one given in the report for 2013.
The World Investment Report, 2014 showed that policy uncertainty on allowing international supermarket chains kept investors on tenterhooks. Though in terms of its ranking in drawing FDI inflows improved a notch to 14th in 2013 compared to 2012, its position in terms of the most-favoured FDI destination took a beating to the fourth in the report for 2014 against third in the 2013 report.
 An Unctad report shows a survey of companies ranking countries in terms of most-favoured FDI destination for three years. As such, the report for 2014 shows the ranking for 2014-16 and the one for 2013 shows the ranking for 2013-15. The survey in the 2014 report was based on the responses of 164 companies. India used to be the second most attractive FDI destination till 2008-10 after China (the 2008 report), but its ranking slipped since then.
IT IS MAINLY due to policy uncertainty and slowing down of economy that are taking a toll on India's most- favoured investment destination ranking
Although India drew slightly more FDI in 2013 than in the previous year, "foreign investment continues to flow into single-brand retail, no new investment projects have been recorded in multi-brand retail and, in fact, divestment have taken place", the report added.
Major multinational corporations that entered India after the first round of liberalisation have taken steps to get out of the market. For instance, Walmart abandoned its plan to open full-scale retail outlets in India and dissolved its partnership with Bharti.
The report suggested that a different approach could be considered for foreign investment in the Indian retail industry, in terms of mode of entry, franchising and other non-equity forms of multinational participation . 

Daily News Compilation (HINDU) 26 June


Judges list: Gopal Subramanium opts out


The Controversy

Collegium headed by CJI recommended names of four candidates for appointment as Judges in higher judiciary. Government was not in favour of appointing Senior Counsel Gopal Subramanium. It was anticipated that government would send the file back to the collegium for reconsideration. However, government segregated his name and went on to appoint rest of the names as Supreme Court Judges. Controversy is regarding legality of this action. Can government overrule the recommendation of the Collegium? Isn't this a breach of Judicial independence?

The validity of the collegium system
The collegium system is one where the Chief Justice of India and a forum of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court recommend appointments and transfers of judges. However, it has no place in the Constitution.
Article 124: Deals with appointment of Supreme Court Judges.
Article 124(2): Judges of SC shall be appointed by President. In case of appointment of judges other that the CJI, Chief Justice of India shall always be consulted. 
The system was evolved through Supreme Court judgments in the Three Judges Cases
  • S.P. Gupta case (December 30, 1981) or the First Judges Case: It declared that the President is the final authority in appointing the judges and he need not follow the advice of the judges whom he consults. CONSULTATION IS NOT CONCURRENCE. The ruling gave the Executive primacy over the Judiciary in judicial appointments for the next 12 years.
  • Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association versus Union of India or the Second Judges Case(October 6, 1993): The majority verdict gave back CJI’s power over judicial appointments and transfers. It says the CJI only need to consult two senior-most judges. The role of the CJI is primal in nature because this being a topic within the judicial family, the Executive cannot have an equal say in the matter. However, confusion prevails as the CJIs start taking unilateral decisions without consulting two colleagues. The President is reduced to only an approver.
  • In Special Reference case of 1998 or the Three Judges Case (October 28, 1998): On a reference from former President K.R. Narayanan, the Supreme Court lays down that the CJIs should consult with a plurality of four senior-most Supreme Court judges to form his opinion on judicial appointments and transfers.
Senior advocate and former Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanium on Wednesday faulted the Centre for not following the Memorandum of Procedure in appointment of judges by segregating his name from the list of four names without the active consent of the Supreme Court collegium. He said that the procedure followed by the government in segregating his name was incorrect as the entire file ought to have been returned to the collegium.
The 1993 judgment also gave primacy to the judiciary over the executive in appointment of judges. It had reasoned that “should the executive have an equal role and be in divergence of many a proposal, germs of indiscipline would grow in the judiciary.”
So, once the collegium reiterates its recommendation that a particular person has to be appointed as judge, the government is bound to comply with the collegium’s decision as a “healthy convention”.

India China Encyclopedia

India and China are set to release the first encyclopedia on their cultural contacts to bring the centuries-old civilisational links between the two neighbours into public domain. 
The book traces back the centuries old civilisation links that started with the visit of Huen Tsang to India in the 7th century to bring Buddhist scriptures to China. 
It, however, skips the difficult political and strategic relations between the two countries leading up to the 1962 Sino-India war.
It was stated to be a dynamic document which was expected to be improved in future as the relations progressed, they said. The main purpose was to bring the history of many centuries of India-China cultural contacts into the public domain, making it easily accessible to people of both the countries. 

Like in many south east Asian countries, Buddhism has taken deep roots in China ever since scholars Xuan Zang (602 AD - 664 AD) travelled to India on foot to seek Buddhist sutras and believed to have brought about 657 Sanskrit texts with him and translated them into Chinese. He along with another Chinese monk Fa-Hien paved the way for spread of Buddhism in China.

Govt. extends excise boost

U.S. govt panel puts India on piracy watch list
India was named to an ‘International Piracy Watch List’ by a U.S. government panel that is looking to highlight countries that are doing little to address high rates of digital piracy. Being put on this Congressional caucus list may have an impact on the ‘out-of-cycle’ intellectual property review that the Office of the U.S Trade Representative will conduct on India later this year. 

The watch list, which also highlights concerns in China, Russia and Switzerland, points out that India continues to present a “seriously flawed environment” for the promotion of copyright and intellectual property.
Among continuing issues in India are extremely high rates of cam-cording piracy, high levels of unlicensed software use by enterprises, and a lack of effective notice-and-takedown procedures for online piracy.
A new study recently pointed out that online piracy levels in India remained at 60 per cent, with nearly $2.9 billion of unlicensed software being installed in 2013.
According to non-profit organisation BSA, India is second only to China (over $8.7 billion) in the Asia Pacific region in terms of commercial value of unlicensed software sold in 2013. 

Move to bring more drugs under control draws flak

The Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013 controls the price of 348 medicines deemed essential under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
Drugs under NLEM account for Rs.15,000 crore or a fifth of the total Indian market. 
Industry wants that the government should first evaluate the impact of the earlier order on availability and prices and see if the objectives were met. A compensatory mechanism must also be in place to ensure that companies are not reluctant to invest or hike production.

Top companies flout e-waste rules, says study


Reputed electronic and electrical equipment companies in the country are doing little to safeguard the environment against the irresponsible dumping of e-waste. Under the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 the two most important stakeholders are producers and the regulatory agencies. The report noted that:
  • Most companies, including leading mobile phone companies have not set up any The take-back mechanism, which is a system to collect e-waste from the consumers. Those that have such systems have less than 100 collection points across the nation.
  • Most top companies have a global policy on waste management and demonstrate responsible behaviour by setting up efficient systems in most parts of the world. In India, however, the same companies follow a totally different yardstick, which leaves much to be desired
  • the findings that revealed negligence on part of the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) on most of the tasks assigned to them by the e-waste rules. No action has also been initiated against any of the defaulting companies by the regulatory agency. 
The volume of e-waste is growing at an alarming rate. Current estimate shows that 2.7 million tonnes of e-waste are generated annually in India. The apprehension arising is not of volume alone, but also of the nature of toxicity associated. E-waste contains a variety of toxic chemicals, metals and materials such as mercury, lead and brominated flame retardants, known to cause major health and environmental damage.

Sweetened package

Government announced:
  1. to increase the import duty on sugar to 40% from the current 15%
  2. to continue with the subsidy of Rs 3,300 per tonne on sugar exports until September 
  3. go-ahead to 10% ethanol blending in petrol
  4. additional interest-free loans of up to Rs 4,400 crore to sugarmills
Government would implement these measures only after sugar mills give it in writing that they would pay their arrears to farmers, totalling as much as Rs 11,000 crore at present.

Sugar producers in country have two issue:
1. Low prices of sugar : this is due to excessive production of sugar in past years
2. Rising cost of sugarcane procurement : this is due to higher prices mandated by state government without any linkage with sugar prices

The Rangarajan Committee came up with the ideal solution of revenue-sharing between farmers and mills, and the ratio suggested by it is very fair to both parties. Yet, only some of the sugarcane growing States, such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, have implemented the recommendation from this year. Major States, such as Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, have ignored the Rangarajan formula and continued with the practice of announcing procurement prices unilaterally. 

The move to double ethanol blending with petrol is intended, prima facie, to boost ethanol demand and increase the income of the mills that produce it from molasses. However, it is noteworthy that even the current five per cent ethanol blending target has not been fully met in many parts of the country. 

The measures, in fact, show a callous disregard for resource shortages. India is scarce in land and water, and so biofuel based on field crops – such as ethanol for fuel blending – is always going to be a bad idea. And giving incentives for the export of sugar ignores the fact that it is, in effect, encouraging the export of water, given how water-intensive sugarcane is.