[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. 

A tragic conflagration

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).

Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme may be modified

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.

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.

Changing rules of the game of thrones

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.

Many challenges to stability

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. 

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.

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.

Beginning a new conversation on women

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. 

The lost moral of Islam’s divide 

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.