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MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
(For previous issues visit www.mentorstudypoint.in ) Page 1
NATIONAL
Union Government launched National
Green Highways Mission
Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways
and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on 1 July 2016
launched the National Green Highways Mission
(NGHM) in New Delhi. Under this initiative,
plantation drive on 1500 km of National Highways
was launched at a cost of about 300 crore rupees.
It was launched under the Green Highways Policy
that was unveiled in September 2015 to actualize
the vision of developing eco-friendly and green
National Highways. The greening project has a
huge potential to generate jobs and can prove to be
a game-changer for agriculture and rural economy.
Greening of one km of highway provides
employment to ten people. The initial launch on
the 1500 km stretch will employ 15000 people.
The government has made it mandatory to set
aside 1 per cent of the total project cost of any NH
contract to a Green Fund corpus that will be used
for plantation purposes. The afforestation is
expected to help in sequestering approximately 12
lakh metric ton carbon annually. In future, the
mission will be linked with the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.
Other initiatives
• Vision Document: It comprises strategy, mission
and action plan for 2016-2026, focuses on core
issues, future roadmaps and success indicators for
effective implementation of the project.
• Knowledge Report: It was jointly prepared by the
NGHM and Yes Bank. It puts transplantation at
the centre of discussion in the mission of greening
our highways.
• The report presents a compelling case for taking
up transplantation as the preferred technique for
plantation along the highways.
• Adopt a Green Highway Programme: It seeks to
engage corporates, public sector units,
Government organizations and other institutions
for developing green corridor along National
Highways through plantation and allied activity on
avenue, median and other available nearby land
patches.
• Kisan Harit Rajmarg Yojana: It is aimed at
extending green belt beyond the existing ‘Right of
Way’ of highways by engaging farmers and
providing alternative livelihood option to the
nearby communities.
• National Green Highways Mission Mobile App:
It will enable the management to monitor all the
projects with real time data from the fields. The
technology will assist in identifying the
bottlenecks quickly and ensure speedy and
successful implementations of the projects.
Union Cabinet approves incorporation of
Sagarmala Development Company
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 20 July 2016 approved the
incorporation of Sagarmala Development
Company (SDC) under the Companies Act, 2013.
It will be under the administrative control of the
Ministry of Shipping. SDC will be developed with
an initial Authorized Share Capital of 1000 Crore
rupees and a Subscribed Share Capital of 90 Crore
rupees. It will provide equity support to the project
Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and funding
support to the residual projects under the
Sagarmala Programme.
Implementation of the identified projects will be
done mainly through private or PPP mode. It will
provide equity support for the project Special
Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) set up by the
Ports/State/Central Ministries window. It will
implement only those residual which cannot be
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
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funded by any other means / mode. SDC will
Identify port-led development projects and put in
place suitable risk management measures for
strategic projects cutting across multiple
States/Regions. Since the Identified projects will
be undertaken by multiple agencies, SDC will also
work as the nodal agency for coordination and
monitoring of all the identified projects as well as
other projects. SDC will undertake the preparation
of the detailed master plans for the Coastal
Economic Zones (CEZs) identified as part of the
National Perspective Plan (NPP). It will also
provide a framework for ensuring the integrated
development of Indian maritime sector.
The Sagarmala Project was launched with the
approval of the Union Cabinet on 25 March 2015.
It was approved with a view to achieve the broad
objective of promoting port-led economic
development in India. The programme was
approved in order to harness India’s 7500 km long
coastline, 14500 km of potentially navigable
waterways, and strategic location on key
international maritime trade routes. As part of the
programme, a NPP for the comprehensive
development of the coastline and maritime sector
has been prepared. The NPP has identified more
than 150 projects across the areas of Port
Modernization & New Port Development, Port
Connectivity Enhancement, Port-led
Industrialization and Coastal Community
Development.
Union Cabinet approves signing of Air
Services Agreement between India and
Mozambique
The Union Cabinet on 20 July 2016 approved
signing of the Air Services Agreement between
India and Mozambique. Till now, there was no Air
Services Agreement between India and
Mozambique. In order to promote the air
connectivity between the two countries, the two
sides initiated the process of consultation in 2011
to finalize the text of Air Services Agreement.
Highlights of the Air Services Agreement
• Multiple designation of Airlines by each party.
• The designated Airline of each party can enter
into cooperative marketing arrangements with the
designated carriers of same party, other party and
that of a Third party.
• It allows designated airlines of either countries to
establish offices in the territory of other country
for the promotion and sale of air services.
• The designated airlines of the two countries shall
have fair and equal opportunity to operate the
agreed services on specified routes.
• It also has the provisions relating to Suspension
of Operating Authorization, Principles governing
operations of agreed services, commercial
opportunities, safety and security related clause.
Lok Sabha passes Bill to establish new
NIT in Andhra Pradesh
The Lok Sabha on 21 July 2016 passed the
National Institute of Technology, Science,
Education and Research (Amendment) (NITSER)
Bill, 2016. The bill seeks to establish a new
National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Andhra
Pradesh as an institute of national importance
under the NITSER Act, 2007 with an effect from
August 2015. The Bill is in keeping with the
Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which
provides for a NIT for the state after its bifurcation
as the existing NIT went to Telangana. It amends
the NITSER Act 2007 so as to establish an
additional NIT in Andhra Pradesh. 40 crore rupees
have been allocated for the establishment of the
new NIT in the current financial year. An outlay of
226 crore rupees has been made for the institute
over the next three years.
Lok Sabha passes Institutes of
Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016
The Lok Sabha on July 25, 2016 passed the
Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
The Bill seeks to amend the Institutes of
Technology Act, 1961, which declares certain
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
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Institutes of Technology as institutions of national
importance.
The Bill seeks to add six new Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs) in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh,
Palakkad in Kerala, Goa, Dharwar in Karnataka,
Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, and Jammu. It also seeks to
bring the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad within
the ambit of the Act. All these institutions will be
declared as institutions of national importance.
The Bill provides for the incorporation of IIT
(Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. It states that
until the statutes in relation to IIT (Indian School
of Mines), Dhanbad are made under the Act, the
statutes applicable to IIT Roorkee will apply to it.
Union Government plans to redraw Red
Corridor
Union Government has decided to reduce the
number of Maoist-affected districts by about a
fifth. As per reports, about 20 out of 106 districts
described as being Maoist-affected and part of the
Red Corridor may soon no longer be part of the
list. Dropping of these districts from the list will
result in drying of the financial aid given to the
districts. The aid was being provided to the tune of
30 crore rupees annually for various
developmental work.
The red corridor expands in 106 districts of 10
states of the country. The ten states are Bihar,
Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Telangana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. These districts are
described as those affected by Left Wing
Extremism (LWE) and constitute the Red
Corridor. 44 districts of these 106 are said to be
the worst affected districts. In total India
constitutes of 683 districts.
Second phase of the Feed the Future-
India Triangular Training Programme
launched
Second phase of the Feed the Future-India
Triangular Training Programme was launched on
25 July 2016. The programme was launched in
New Delhi by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare and the U.S Agency for
International Development (USAID). The
programme will provide specialized agriculture
training to 1500 agricultural professional across
Africa and Asia. Objectives of Training is to
address human and institutional capacity gaps in
food & nutritional security in select African and
Asian countries.
Key Highlights of the Second Phase
• Under this 32 Training programme of 15 day-
duration will be conducted in India and 12
Training programs of 10 days duration will be
conducted in selected African and Asian Countries
during 2016-20.
• The entire expenditure will be met by USAID
and National Institute of Agricultural Extension
Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad.
• The training areas will be identified based on
demand analysis conducted in participating
countries.
• The programme covers 17 countries and they are
a) In Asia: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Lao PDR,
Myanmar, Mongolia, and Vietnam
b) In Africa: Kenya, Malawi, Liberia, Ghana,
Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, Botswana and
Ethiopia
Earlier, a team of faculty of MANAGE visited
Cambodia and Vietnam in Asia and Tanzania and
Mozambique in Africa as part of Demand analysis.
The programme will help in harnessing the
expertise and innovation of the two countries, i.e.
India and the US, which in return will unlock new
opportunities to address global development
challenges. It will also help in bringing closure of
the shared objective of eliminating global poverty
and hunger. A new Agriculture Partnership
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between US and India to achieve Ever Green
Revolution to address Global Food Security was
announced during the State visit of US President
Barak Obama to India in November 2010. The
effort included Triangular Cooperation adapting
technological advances and innovative solutions to
address Food Security Challenges in Africa. This
pilot stage focused on three African Countries i.e.,
Kenya, Liberia and Malawi with potential to
expand throughout the African Continent in future.
Lok Sabha passes Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation)
Amendment Bill, 2016
Lok Sabha on 26 July 2016 passed the Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment
Bill, 2016 to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition
& Regulation) (CLPR) Act, 1986. The amendment
bill allows children below the age of 14 years to
work in select non-hazardous family enterprises.
With this, both the houses of parliament passed the
bill. Rajya Sabha passed the bill on 19 July 2016.
Now, the bill will be sent to the President for his
assent.
Provisions of Bill
• It prohibits employment of children below 14
years in all occupation or processes except where
the child helps his family after school, with the
provision for imprisonment up to two years for any
violation. It was made in light to the Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,
2009.
• It also adds a new category of persons called
adolescent meaning children between 14 to 18
years of age and prohibits employment of
adolescents in hazardous occupations as specified
(mines, inflammable substance and hazardous
processes).
• It gives right to the Union Government to add or
omit any hazardous occupation from the list
included in the Bill.
• It also enhances the punishment for employing
any child in an occupation. It also includes penalty
for employing an adolescent in a hazardous
occupation.
• The penalty for employing a child was increase
to imprisonment between 6 months and two years
or a fine of 20000 rupees to 50000 rupees or both.
Earlier, the imprisonment term and penalty were
from three months to one year and from 1000
rupees to 20000 rupees or both.
• The penalty for employing an adolescent in
hazardous occupation is imprisonment between 6
months and two years or a fine of 20000 rupees to
50000 rupees or both.
• The government may confer powers on a District
Magistrate to ensure that the provisions of the law
are properly carried out.
• The Bill empowers the government to make
periodic inspection of places at which employment
of children and adolescents are prohibited.
Why the need for amending CLPR Act, 1986?
Firstly, the official amendments along with
Amendment Bill, 2012 seeks to strike a balance
between the need for education for a child and the
reality of the socio-economic condition and social
fabric in the country.
Secondly, the socio-economic milieu of India is
such that, on the one hand, children help their
parent especially in occupations like agriculture,
artisanship etc. and on the other, they learn basics
of occupation while helping the parents.
Thirdly, the Child Labour (Prohibition &
Regulation) Act (CLPR Act) 1986 was not in
harmony with the Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act, 2009 that enjoins the
State to ensure free and compulsory education to
all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years. A
corollary to this would be that if a child is in the
work place, he would miss school.
Lastly, CLPR Act was not in conformity with the
International Labour Organisation (ILO)
Conventions 138 and 182, which provide for
minimum age of entry into employment and
prohibition of employment of persons below 18
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
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years, in work which is likely to harm health,
safety and morals.
Lok Sabha passes Benami Transactions
(Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015
Lok Sabha on 27 July 2016 passed the Benami
Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015.
The Bill seeks to amend the Benami Transactions
Act, 1988. The bill prohibits benami transactions
and provides for confiscating benami properties.
Objective
• Amend the definition of benami transactions
• Establish adjudicating authorities and an
Appellate Tribunal to deal with benami
transactions
• Specify the penalty for entering into benami
transactions.
Definition
It expands the definition of benami transaction by
including following
• Transaction is made in a fictitious name
• Owner is not aware of and denies knowledge of
the ownership of the property
• Person providing the consideration for the
property is not traceable
Earlier, it defined benami transaction as a
transaction where a property is held by or
transferred to a person, but has been provided for
or paid by another person.
Exemptions
In specific cases will be exempt from the
definition of a benami transaction. These include
cases when a property is held by
• A member of a Hindu undivided family, and is
being held for his or another family member’s
benefit, and has been provided for or paid off from
sources of income of that family
• A person in a fiduciary capacity
• A person in the name of his spouse or child, and
the property has been paid for from the person’s
income
• Section 58 empowers government to exempt the
genuine properties of religious organisation like a
church or a mosque or a gurdwara or a temple
from the action. But the exemption to such entities
cannot be a pretext for tax evasion.
Definition of Benamidar
• It defines benamidar as the person in whose
name the benami property is held or transferred,
and a beneficial owner as the person for whose
benefit the property is being held by the
benamidar.
• Under the Act, an Authority to acquire benami
properties was to be established by the Rules.
Four Authorities for conducting Inquiry
The bill seeks to establish four authorities to
conduct inquiries or investigations regarding
benami transactions and they are Initiating Officer,
Approving Authority, Administrator and
Adjudicating Authority.
Penalty: Rrigorous imprisonment of one year up
to seven years, and a fine which may extend to
25% of the fair market value of the benami
property. The previous penalty under the Act for
entering into benami transactions was
imprisonment up to three years, or a fine, or both.
It specifies the penalty for providing false
information to be rigorous imprisonment of six
months up to five years, and a fine which may
extend to 10% of the fair market value of the
benami property. Certain session courts would be
designated as Special Courts for trying any
offences which are punishable under the Bill.
Union Cabinet approves setting up of
AIIMS in Bhatinda
The Union Cabinet on 27 July 2016 approved the
establishment of a All India Institute Of Medical
Science (AIIMS) at Bhatinda in Punjab under the
Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana
(PMSSY). It will provide super specialty health
care to the population while creating a large pool
of doctors and other health workers in this region
that can be available for primary and secondary
level institutions/facilities being created under
National Health Mission (NHM).
The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana
(PMSSY) was first announced in August 2003
with the primary objective of correcting the
regional imbalances in availability of affordable
tertiary level healthcare in the country in general.
Under this scheme, AIIMS have been established
in Bhubaneshwar, Jodhpur, Raipur, Rishikesh,
Bhopal and Patna while work of AIIMS Rae Bareli
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is in progress. Also, three AIIMS in Nagpur
(Maharashtra), Kalyani (West Bengal) and
Mangalagiri in Guntur (AP) were sanctioned in
2015.
Lok Sabha passes Lokpal and Lokayukta
(Amendment) Bill, 2016
The Lok Sabha on 27 July 2016 passed the Lokpal
and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The bill
with amendments was passed without any
discussion. The bill seeks to amend the existing
Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 that provides
Lokpal (at Centre) and Lokayukta (at States)
statutory backing to inquire into allegations of
corruption against certain public functionaries and
for related matters.
Amendments to Lokayukta Act, 2013
• The bill amends section 44 of the 2013 Act and
says that every public servant shall make a
declaration of his assets and liabilities in such form
and manner as may be prescribed.
• It substitute clause of sub-section (2) of section
59 to empower the Central Government to make
rules with retrospective effect for the purpose of
prescribing the form and manner in which
declaration of assets and liabilities is to be
made by public servant under section 44.
Section 44 of the Lokayukta Act, 2013 provides
for declaration of assets by the public servants. It
says that every public servant shall, within a
period of thirty days from the date on which he
makes and subscribes an oath or affirmation to
enter upon his office, furnish to the competent
authority the information relating to—(angel)
the assets of which he, his spouse and his
dependent children are, jointly or severally,
owners or beneficiaries; (beer) his liabilities and
that of his spouse and his dependent children.
Rajya Sabha passes Compensatory and
Afforestation Fund Bill, 2016
The Rajya Sabha on 28 July 2016 unanimously
passed the Compensatory and Afforestation Fund
(CAF) Bill, 2016 that allows States to access
nearly 42000 crore rupees and channel into
afforestation projects. The Bill was already passed
by Lok Sabha on 3 May 2016.
Provisions of the Bill
• The Bill establishes the National Compensatory
Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of
India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation
Fund under the Public Account of each state.
• These Funds will receive payments for: (a)
compensatory afforestation, (b) net present value
of forest (NPV), and (c) other project specific
payments.
• The National Fund will receive 10 percent of
these funds, and the State Funds will receive the
remaining 90 percent.
• These Funds will be primarily spent on
afforestation to compensate for loss of forest
cover, regeneration of forest ecosystem, wildlife
protection and infrastructure development.
Key Issues pertaining to the Bill
The Bill establishes the Funds for compensatory
afforestation and forest conservation. However,
there are several factors which affect
compensatory afforestation and forest
conservation. These factors are:
• Lack of planning and implementation: The state
forest departments lack the planning and
implementation capacity to carry out
compensatory afforestation and forest
conservation.
• Difficulty in procuring land: Procuring land for
compensatory afforestation is difficult as land is a
limited resource, and is required for multiple
purposes, such as agriculture, industry, etc. This is
compounded by unclear land titles.
• Decline in quality of forest cover: A High Level
Committee on Environment Laws observed that
quality of forest cover has declined between 1951
and 2014, with poor quality of compensatory
afforestation plantations being one of the reasons
behind the decline.
India's first e-court opened at Hyderabad
High Court
India’s first e-court was opened at High Court of
Judicature at Hyderabad on 17 July 2016. It was
inaugurated by Supreme Court judge Justice
Madan B Lokur who heads the e-Committee of the
Supreme Court. Hyderabad High Court is the
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common high court for the states of Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana.
The purpose of e-court is to ensure speedy justice
for the litigants. The e-Courts will ensure easy and
better access to justice for public. It will also
provide solution for large number of pending cases
in the country. It will also make the work of
judges, advocates and all those related with
judiciary a lot more effective.
Besides the launch of e-court, SC judge Justice
Madan B Lokur also announced that India’s first
Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS) will be
launched in High Court of Judicature at
Hyderabad. The system will integrate the courts,
police stations, prosecution, forensic science
laboratories and jails.
TRI-NETRA System developed for enhancing
the vision of Locomotive Pilots in inclement
weather
The Ministry of Railways on 17 July 2016
developed the TRI-NETRA system on
locomotives for enhancing the vision of
Locomotive Pilots in inclement weather. TRI-
NETRA stands for Terrain imaging for diesel
drivers INfra-red, Enhanced optical &Radar
Assisted system. TRI-NETRA system is be made
up of high-resolution optical video camera, high
sensitivity infra-red video camera and additionally
a radar-based terrain mapping system. These three
components of the system act as three eyes (Tri-
Netra) of the Locomotive Pilot.
• TRI-NETRA is designed to see the terrain ahead
of the running locomotive during inclement
weather by combining the images captured by the
three sub-systems. It will create a composite video
image which shall be displayed in front of the
Loco Pilot on a computer monitor. It will give the
locomotive pilot a clear view of the track ahead in
bad visibility conditions so that he can apply
brakes well in time. It will also map the terrain
ahead so that the driver knows when he is
approaching a station or a signal.
The concept of TRI-NETRA was developed by
Development Cell under the guidance of Member
Mechanical, Railway Board while brainstorming
on how to use the technology employed by fighter
aircrafts to see through clouds and operate in pitch
darkness.
Union Government launches
Transforming India Website
The Union Minister of Electronics and Information
Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar
Prasad on 15 July 2016 launched Transforming
India website www.transformingindia.mygov.in.
Transforming India website is a repository for
sharing the impact of various governance
initiatives with citizens in real-time. It provides
information in a user-friendly format enabling
citizens to view the content in the form of
Infographics, e-books, performance dashboard,
videos, daily news corner, etc. It facilitates two-
way communication between the government and
citizens. It is also a social platform on which users
can share their opinions about various initiatives of
the government. It acts as a repository of major
policies and decisions and provides a central
platform to citizens for sharing of transformational
changes that they see around themselves.
Three Indian sites listed among
UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 17 July 2016
listed Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier’s works
among its World Heritage Sites. The listed works
include Chandigarh’s Complexe du Capitole,
Khangchendzonga National Park and Nalanda
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Mahavihara. It is the first time that any country got
three sites inscribed in the Word Heritage List at a
single session of the committee meeting.
Complexe du Capitole, Chandigarh: The site
comprises three buildings, i.e., Legislative
Assembly, Secretariat and High Court. Following
the independence of India, the divided Punjab
required a new capital as Lahore was now in
Pakistan. Therefore, Le Corbusier was
commissioned by first Prime Minister of India,
Jawaharlal Nehru to build a new city of
Chandigarh as the capital of Punjab.
Khangchendzonga National Park and Mount
Khangchendzonga: The park is located at the
heart of the Himalayan range in Sikkim. It
includes a unique diversity of plains, valleys,
lakes, glaciers and snow-capped mountains
covered with ancient forests, including the world’s
third highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga.
Nalanda Mahavihara: This World Heritage Site is
located at a distance of about 98 km from Patna,
the capital city of Bihar. The site stands for the
most ancient university of the Indian subcontinent
that transmitted knowledge over a period of some
800 years or more. Its historical development
shades lights on development of Buddhism into a
religion as well as growth of the educational
traditions. Nalanda Mahavihara was founded by
Kumargupta I of the Gupta dynasty in 5th century
CE. It was patronized by various rulers including
King Harshavardhana of Kannauj (7th century CE)
and the Pala rulers (8th – 12th century CE) as well
as various scholars. Records say that the Nalanda
University was destroyed three times by the
invaders but was rebuilt twice. The third
destruction was caused by the Muslim army led by
the Turkish leader Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193 AD.
About six centuries after Nalanda’s decline, the
site was first discovered and reported by Sir
Francis Buchanan. The site was systematically
excavated and consolidated by Archaeological
Survey of India from 1915 to 1937 and again from
1974 to 1982.
Besides these, Antigua Naval Dockyard and
Related Archaeological Sites (Antigua and
Barbuda) and Pampulha Modern Ensemble
(Brazil) were also included in the list.
What is World Heritage Site: A World Heritage
Site is a place (such as a building, city, complex,
desert, etc.) that is listed by UNESCO as being of
special cultural or physical significance. The list is
maintained by the international World Heritage
Programme administered by the UNESCO World
Heritage Committee. The committee is composed
of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected
by the General Assembly. In India, there are 35(27
cultural and 7 natural sites and 1 mixed) World
Heritage Sites.
Benefit: Listing into UNESCO’s heritage site list
will help in conserving and protecting the site in a
better way with increased funds and many more
way.
Supreme Court ordered restoration of
Nabam Tuki government in Arunachal
Pradesh
The five-judge Constitutional bench of the
Supreme Court (SC) on 13 July 2016 unanimously
restored Congress Government led by Nabam Tuki
in Arunachal Pradesh. For this purpose, it also
quashed the Kalikho Pul government that came
into power on 19 February 2016 after Governor J
P Rajkhowa ordered dismissal of Nabam Tuki led
government of the state. The constitutional bench
headed by Justice JS Khehar termed removal of
former chief minister Nabam Tuki as
unconstitutional.
Highlights of the decision
• It directed the immediate imposition of status quo
ante as on 15 December 2015 and paved a way for
the return of Congress-led Nabam Tuki
government to power.
• It said that Governor who is not an elected
representative is only an executive nominee whose
powers flow from the aid and advice of the State
Cabinet. Use of his discretionary powers under
Article 163 of the Constitution to summon or
dissolve assembly sessions without the aid and
advice of the Chief Minister and his cabinet is
unconstitutional.
• Not being an ombudsman for the legislature,
governor can’t advice a speaker to discharge his
functions in the manner he considers
constitutionally appropriate.
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• Governor carries no power to take a decision on
issues that happens within the four walls of the
political party. However, Governor Rajkhowa used
his constitutional authority to ostensibly favour an
“invalid breakaway group” of MLAs disqualified
under the Tenth Schedule, which amounts to
constitutional impropriety.
It is the first time that the Supreme Court used its
power of judicial review to restore a government
when its successor government is in place. Earlier,
the nine-judge bench in the SR Bommai vs Union
Of India of 1994 judgement condemned the
arbitrary use of Article 356 that involves the
President’s rule, but none went to the extent of
restore a government that was ousted earlier.
Union Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Vikas Yojana
The Union Cabinet on 13 July 2016 approved the
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
with an outlay of 12000 crore rupees to impart
skilling to one crore people over the next four
years (2016-2020). PMKVY will impart fresh
training to 60 lakh youths and certify skills of 40
lakh persons acquired non-formally under the
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). The target
allocation between fresh trainings and RPL will be
flexible and interchangeable depending on
functional and operational requirements.
Highlights of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana (PMKVY)
• It will move to a grant based model where the
training and assessment cost would be directly
reimbursed to training providers and assessment
bodies in accordance with the Common Norms.
• Financial support to trainees will be given in the
form of travel allowance, boarding and lodging
costs.
• Post placement support would be given directly
to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit
Transfer (DBT).
• Disbursement of training cost to training partners
will be linked to Aadhaar and biometrics for better
transparency and targeting.
• Skill training would be done based on industry
led standards aligned to the National Skill
Qualification Framework (NSQF).
• Mobilisation, monitoring and post training
placement of trainees will be done through Rozgar
Melas (placement camps) and Kaushal Shivirs
(mobilization camps).
• There will be special focus on placement of
trainees with incentives/disincentives linked to
placement as envisaged in the Common Norms.
• It will also cater to domestic skill needs, also
focus on skill training aligned to international
standards for overseas employment in Gulf
countries, Europe and other overseas destinations.
• There will be scholarship for student undergoing
training in high end job roles under the Scheme.
Union Government notifies Aadhaar
(Targeted Delivery of Financial and
Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services)
Act, 2016
The Union Government on 12 July 2016 notified
the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and
Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
The government also operationalised some of
provisions of the Act, giving a legal shape to
UIDAI. The bill seeks to provide for targeted
delivery of subsidies and services to individuals
residing in India by assigning them unique identity
numbers, called Aadhaar numbers. Besides, the
Union Government has also separately notified the
UIDAI (Terms and Conditions of Service of
Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2016. The Act
will pave the way for appointment of its
chairperson and members.
Features of the Aadhaar Bill, 2016
• Eligibility: Every resident shall be entitled to
obtain an Aadhaar number. A resident is a person
who has resided in India for 182 days, in the one
year preceding the date of application for
enrolment for Aadhaar.
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• Information to be submitted: To obtain an
Aadhaar number, an individual has to submit his
(a) biometric (photograph, finger print, iris scan)
and (b) demographic (name, date of birth, address)
information. The Unique Identification Authority
(UID) may specify other biometric and
demographic information to be collected by
regulations.
• Enrolment: At the time of enrolment, the
individual will be informed of the manner in which
the information will be used, the nature of
recipients with whom the information will be
shared and the right to access this information.
After verification of information provided by a
person, an Aadhaar number will be issued to him.
• Usage of Aadhaar number: To verify the identity
of a person receiving a subsidy or a service, the
government may require them to have an Aadhaar
number. If a person does not have an Aadhaar
number, government will require them to apply for
it, and in the meanwhile, provide an alternative
means of identification.
Any public or private entity can accept the
Aadhaar number as a proof of identity of the
Aadhaar number holder, for any purpose.
However, Aadhaar number cannot be a proof of
citizenship or domicile.
Functions and composition of authority: The
following are the key functions of the UID
authority -
1) Specifying demographic and biometric
information to be collected during enrolment
2) Assigning Aadhaar numbers to individuals
3) Authenticating Aadhaar numbers
4) Specifying the usage of Aadhaar numbers for
delivery of subsidies and services.
• UID Authority composition: The UID authority
will consist of a chairperson, two part-time
members and a CEO. The chairperson and
members are required to have experience of at
least 10 years in matters such as technology,
governance, etc.
• Authentication: The UID authority will
authenticate the Aadhar number of an individual, if
an entity makes such a request. A requesting
entity (an agency or person that wants to
authenticate information of a person) has to obtain
the consent of an individual before collecting his
information. The agency can use the disclosed
information only for purposes for which the
individual has given consent.
• Response to authentication query: The UID
authority shall respond to an authentication query
with a positive, negative or other appropriate
response. However, it is not permitted to share an
individual’s finger print, iris scan and other
biological attributes.
• Maintenance of Authentication records: The UID
authority shall record the entity requesting
verification of a person’s identity, the time of
request and the response received by the entity.
The purpose for which an individual's identity
needs to be verified will not be maintained.
Union Cabinet approves Interest
Subvention Scheme for farmers
The Union Cabinet on 5 July 2016 approved the
Interest Subvention Scheme for farmers for the
year 2016-17. The Government has assigned a sum
of 18276 crore rupees for the purpose. This
scheme will help farmers getting short-term crop
loan payable within one year up to 3 lakhs rupees
at only 4% per annum.
The Union Government will provide interest
subvention of 5% per annum to all farmers for
short term crop loan payable within one year.
Therefore, farmers will have to effectively pay
only 4% as interest. In case farmers do not repay
the short term crop loan in time, then they will be
eligible for interest subvention of 2% as against
5% available. The government will give
approximately 18276 crores rupees as interest
subvention for 2016-17.
The Union Government has approved an interest
subvention of 2% i.e an effective interest rate of
7% for loans up to 6 months to give relief to small
and marginal farmers who would have to borrow
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at 9% for the post harvest storage of their produce.
The interest subvention of 2% will be provided to
banks for the first year on the restructured amount
to provide relief to the farmers affected by natural
calamities.
Union Cabinet approves National
Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme
The Union Cabinet on 5 July 2016 approved the
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme to
train 50 lakh apprentices by 2019-20. The Scheme
involving an outlay of 10000 crore rupees will
catalyze the entire apprenticeship ecosystem in the
country. The Scheme would be implemented by
Director General of Training (DGT) under
Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
It provides for incentivizing employers to engage
apprentices. 25% of the total stipend payable to an
apprentice would be shared with employers
directly by Union Government. It also supports
basic training, which is an essential component of
apprenticeship training. 50% of the total
expenditure incurred on providing basic training
would be supported by Union Government.
It is for the first time a scheme has been designed
to offer financial incentives to employers to
engage apprentices. Apprenticeship Training is
considered to be one of the most efficient ways to
develop skilled manpower for the country. It
provides for an industry led, practice oriented,
effective and efficient mode of formal training.
The National Policy of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, 2015 launched by the Prime
Minister focuses on apprenticeship as one of the
key components for creating skilled manpower in
India. The present scheme also aims to achieve the
objective as stated in the National Policy, 2015.
The policy proposes to work pro-actively with the
industry including MSME to facilitate tenfold
increase opportunities in the country by 2020-20.
Union Cabinet approves setting up of
Major port at Enayam in Tamil Nadu
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 5 July 2016 gave in-principle
approval for setting up a Major port at Enayam
near Colachel in Tamil Nadu. In this regard, a
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed for
development of Port with initial equity investment
from three Major Ports in Tamil Nadu- VO
Chidambaranar Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust and
Kamarajar Port Limited. The Enayam project will
cost around 27000 crore rupees and will be
undertaken in three phases. The SPV will develop
the port infrastructure including dredging and
reclamation, construction of breakwater, ensuring
connectivity links, etc. Establishing this Major
port at Enayam will not only act as a major
gateway container port for Indian cargo but it will
also become a trans-shipment hub for the global
East-West trade route. It will also reduce the
logistics cost for exporters and importers in South
India who currently depend on trans-shipment in
Colombo or other ports thus incurring additional
port handling charges. Currently, all of India's
trans-shipment traffic gets handled in Colombo,
Singapore and other international ports. Indian
port industry loses out up to 1500 Crore rupees of
revenues each year.
National Mineral Exploration Policy
unveiled by Narendra singh Tomar
Union minister of steel and mines Narendra singh
Tomar unveiled the National Mineral Exploration
Policy (NMEP) on 4 July 2016. It was unveiled to
adopt comprehensive exploration of non fuel and
non coal mineral resources. The policy was
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released at National conclave on mines and
minerals at Raipur in Chhattisgarh.
Highlights
• The policy aims to bring together best of
knowledge and experience, modern technology,
trained manpower and financial resources on a
collaborative platform.
• The objective of the policy is to set in motion a
massive process for mineral exploration of the
country that would give a major boost to the
economy.
• Space technology would be used to check illegal
mining by developing a mining surveillance
system.
• It prescribes for incentivising the participation of
private companies in exploration.
• It calls for engaging the private agencies to carry
out exploration with the right to a certain share in
the revenue from the successful bidder of mineral
block after e-auction, which will be discovered by
that private explorer. The revenue will be shared
by way of royalty/premium to be accruing to the
state government.
• The revenue sharing could be either in the form
of a lump sum or an annuity, to be paid throughout
the period of mining lease, with transferable rights.
• Government will also work out normative cost of
exploration works for different kinds of minerals
so that the exploration agencies could be
compensated, in case they could not discover any
mineable reserves in their respective areas.
• This will be an added incentive for exploration
agencies to mitigate their risk of exploration.
Process of selection of the private explorer via
process of competitive bidding includes
• Acquisition, processing and interpretation of pre-
competitive baseline geo-science data play a
pivotal role in successful exploration process. In
this regard, the NMEP proposes the following:
a) The pre-competitive baseline geo-scientific data
will be created as a public good and will be fully
available for open dissemination free of charge.
b) A National Aero-geophysical Mapping program
will be launched to map the entire country. It will
help to delineate the deep-seated and concealed
mineral deposits.
• National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR)
will be set up. GSI will collate all baseline and
mineral exploration information generated by
various central and state government agencies and
also mineral concession holders and maintain these
on a geospatial database.
• Government will coordinate and collaborate with
scientific and research bodies, universities and
industry for the scientific and technological
research to address the mineral exploration
challenges in the country. For this, a not-for-profit
autonomous body/company to be known as the
National Centre for Mineral Targeting (NCMT)
will be established.
• State Governments have a key role in building up
a steady stream of auctionable prospects. They will
have to take up mineral exploration and complete
to G3 or G2 level for auctioning. The States need
to build up the exploration capabilities, technical
expertise and infrastructure facility. The Central
Government will provide support to States for
capacity building from National Mineral
Exploration Trust (NMET).
• On the lines of UNCOVER project of Australia,
a special initiative will be launched to probe deep-
seated/concealed mineral deposits in the country.
The pilot project will be in collaboration with
National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI)
and the proposed National Centre for Mineral
Targeting (NCMT)) and Geoscience Australia.
• SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICAP) has been
selected as consultant by the Ministry of Mines for
development of detailed modalities of contractual
framework for mineral exploration. The Ministry
will provide handholding support to the State
Governments in this process of engaging the
private agencies.
Railways Ministry launches NIVARAN
portal for employees' grievances
redressal
The Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu
on 30 June 2016 launched NIVARAN portal, an
online system for redressal of service related
grievance of serving current and former railway
employees. The Portal is developed by CRIS, the
IT arm of Indian Railways, on the basis of process
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designed by Establishment directorate of Railway
Board which deals with staff matters. This new
initiative is a portal for the internal Grievance
Redressal of Railway Employees & Former
Railway Employees. It facilitates the employees to
lodge their grievances and also monitor their
progress. The system would also provide facility
for lodging appeal to the higher authority in case
the decision is not found satisfactory. Highest
controlling authorities shall also be able to monitor
the progress of grievance redressal by field offices.
Union HRD Ministry launches teacher
education portal Prashikshak
The Union Minister for Human Resource
Development Smriti Zubin Irani on 30 June 2016
launched the Prashikshak, a teacher education
portal, with a vision to strengthen District
Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and
bring quality teachers into the Indian school
education system. For now, Prashiskshak Portal
works only for DIETs, however it will cover block
level institutes in the future and identify gaps at
the bottom of the pyramid.
Prashikshak is a unique IT initiative, a first of its
kind in the country, which will contain a
comprehensive database of all DIETs in the
country with all relevant performance indicators.
It will help benchmark DIETs to enable aspiring
teachers to make informed choices about their
future. It will give the opportunity to Union and
State Governments to do real time monitoring of
the institutions. The major users of Prashikshak
will be Pre-service teacher educators, DIET
principals and faculty, Policy makers at District,
State Government and National Level and the
General public. It was established through joint
collaboration between Union Ministry of Human
Resource Development and Central Square
Foundation.
Now, private citizens can seek sanction to
prosecute IAS officers
In a major move, the Centre has agreed to permit
private persons seek sanction for prosecution of
State and central IAS officers under the Prevention
of Corruption Act, 1988. Under the existing rules,
requests for sanction for prosecution of All India
Services Officers (IAS/IPS/IFS etc) can be
initiated by the investigative agencies only. A
decision to grant or deny the permission can be
made only by a “competent authority” designated
by the Centre.
The government will now entertain
proposals/requests from private persons for
sanction of public servants in compliance of a
Supreme Court verdict of 2012. In this regard, the
centre has intimated all states the procedures to be
followed.
The Supreme Court in its judgment in Dr.
Subramanian Swamy versus Dr. Manmohan Singh
case had observed that “there is no provision either
in the(Prevention of Corruption Act),1988 Act or
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.PC)
which bars a citizen from filing a complaint for
prosecution of a public servant who is alleged to
have committed an offence.”
The apex court had further observed that if the
Competent Authority is satisfied that the material
placed before it is sufficient for prosecution of the
public servant, then it is required to grant sanction
or refuse sanction if the evidence is not sufficient.
In either case, the decision taken on the complaint
made by a citizen is required to be communicated
to him and if he feels aggrieved by such decision,
then he can avail legal remedy.
SC rues barriers for disabled in govt.
service
Quashing the central government’s earlier orders
on restricting reservation for the differently-abled
in promotion to Group A and Group B posts, the
Supreme Court has ruled that 3% reservation shall
be provided to them in all posts and services under
the Government of India. The government had
confined such reservation to Group C and Group D
posts. In its memoranda issued in 1997 and 2005,
the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)
had also created a distinction between posts to be
filled through direct recruitment and those through
promotion, while stating that no reservation shall
be provided in posts to be filled through promotion
in Group A and Group B categories.
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The Court has declared the DoPT memoranda as
“illegal and inconsistent” with the Persons with
Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of
Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. The apex
court has said that the government must scrutinise
the barriers to their entry by rigorous standards
within the legal framework of the 1995 Act. The
court has also directed the government to extend
3% reservation to PWD (persons with disability)
in all identified posts in Group A and Group B,
irrespective of the mode of filling up such posts.
This is the first authoritative judgment that has
explicitly directed the government to do away with
the distinction and give benefits of reservation to
the differently-abled, without any classification.
SC ends impunity for armed forces in
disturbed areas
Supreme Court has ruled that armed personnel
cannot just shoot to kill militants who create
internal disturbances under the presumption that
they are enemies, and would face criminal
prosecution if found using excessive force even in
areas where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act
(Afspa) is in force. The verdict is likely to have far
reaching consequences in places where security
forces have been insulated by Afspa to carry out
counter-insurgency operations.
Indefinite deployment of armed forces in the name
of restoring normalcy under AFSPA “would mock
at our democratic process”, apart from
symbolising a failure of the civil administration
and the armed forces. It does not matter whether
the victim was a common person or a militant or a
terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor
was a common person or the state. The law is the
same for both and is equally applicable to both.
There is no concept of absolute immunity from
trial by a criminal court if an Army man has
committed an offence. The judgment came on a
plea by hundreds of families in the north-eastern
State of Manipur for a probe by a Special
Investigation Team into 1,528 cases of alleged
fake encounters involving the Army and the
police.
The verdict tears down the cloak of secrecy about
unaccounted deaths involving security forces in
disturbed areas and serves as a judicial precedent
to uphold civilian and human rights in sensitive
areas under military control. Henceforth, a
thorough enquiry will be conducted into
“encounter” killings in disturbed areas. Also,
errant armed personnel would face criminal
charges notwithstanding the immunity conferred
under Afpsa for anything done in “lawful
exercise” of “official duties.”
What is Afspa? Afspa, which was enacted in 1958
amid the nascent Naga insurgency, gives powers to
the army and state and central police forces to
shoot to kill, search houses and destroy any
property that is “likely” to be used by insurgents in
areas declared as “disturbed” by the home
ministry.
Security forces can “arrest without warrant” a
person, who has committed or even “about to
commit a cognizable offence” even on “reasonable
suspicion”. It also protects them from legal
processes for actions taken under the act.
It is in force in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir,
Nagaland, Manipur (except the Imphal municipal
area). In Arunachal Pradesh, only the Tirap,
Changlang and Longding districts plus a 20-km
belt bordering Assam come under its purview. And
in Meghalaya Afspa is confined to a 20-km area
bordering Assam.
SC seeks review of law on advocates
The Supreme Court has asked the Law
Commission to review “all relevant aspects”
relating to the law governing the legal profession,
including issues like professional misconduct by
lawyers, in consultation with all stakeholders.
Therefore, Advocates Act, under which lawyers
are governed, will be reviewed.
The court has also asked the government to take
appropriate steps in the light of report of the Law
Commission within six months. The Central
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Government may file an appropriate affidavit in
this regard within one month after expiry of one
year. The direction came in a verdict by which the
apex court upheld the conviction of a Uttar
Pradesh-based advocate for criminal contempt for
intimidating and threatening a civil judge in Etah.
Law Commission of India is an executive body
established by an order of the Government of
India. Its major function is to work for legal
reform. Its membership primarily comprises legal
experts, who are entrusted a mandate by the
Government. The Commission is established for a
fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the
Ministry of Law and Justice.
Farmer can’t be evicted even after lease
expires: SC
The Supreme Court has held that a farmer, who is
in possession of leased land even after expiry of
the lease period, cannot be evicted if the owner
either acknowledges the tenancy or is accepting
the rent. These observations were made by the
court during the review of the verdict of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court. Referring to a
provision of the Transfer of Property Act, the court
has set aside the verdict of the Punjab and Haryana
High Court, which ordered the eviction of a farmer
after expiry of the lease period of the land.
What has the Supreme Court said?
The operation of Section 116 of the Transfer of
Property Act would confer legitimacy to the
possession of the tenant even after the termination
or expiration of the deemed period of the lease so
as to confer on him a status akin to that of a
statutory tenant and hence protection from eviction
as envisaged by the provisions of the Act (Punjab
Security of Land Tenure Act) of 1953. Also, there
was no legal provision to evict the farmer as the
eviction conditions laid down in the Punjab
Security of Land Tenure Act 1953 and the Punjab
Tenancy Act 1887 did not include a tenant whose
lease had expired.
Census 2011 records rise in literacy
among disabled
New numbers released from Census 2011 show
that literacy among disabled has increased in the
country. Highlights:
More than half of the total disabled population in
India are now literate. The literacy rate among the
disabled has increased from 49.3% in 2001 to
54.5% in 2011. However, this is significantly
lower than the overall literacy level of India which
stands at 74%. Both rural and urban areas saw an
increase of around four percentage points in
literacy rate of the disabled.
Among the urban disabled, 68% are literate while
the number stands at 49% for disabled in the rural
areas.
The difference between literacy rate of males and
females is wider in rural areas — 72% of disabled
males and 61% of disabled females in urban areas
are literate, a difference of nine percentage points.
But in rural areas, the difference stands at 20
percentage points, as 58% of disabled males and
only 38% of disabled females are literate.
Ministry seeks law panel’s opinion on
uniform civil code
The Union Law Ministry has asked the Law
Commission to examine in detail all issues
pertaining to the Uniform Civil Code and submit a
report to the government. The government has
clarified that a decision on the future course of
action would be taken on the basis of the Law
Commission report. If it is required in the larger
interest of the country, the government has
clarified that it will hold consultations with various
stakeholders on the issue.
Article 44 of the Constitution says that there
should be a Uniform Civil Code. According to this
article, “The State shall endeavour to secure for the
citizens a uniform civil code throughout the
territory of India”. Since, the Directive Principles
are only guidelines, it is not mandatory to use
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them. Uniform civil Code is a proposal to have a
generic set of governing laws for every citizen
without taking into consideration the religion.
Currently, there are personal laws based on the
scriptures and customs of each major religious
community.
Union Government forms 'Disha' for
timely implementation of Central
Schemes
Union Government on 28 July 2016 announced the
formation of District Development Coordination
and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC) that will be
known as ‘Disha’. First meeting of Disha will be
held on 13 August 2016. Disha was created for
effective development and coordination of Central
Government's programme, whether it is for
infrastructure development or Social and human
resource development. It will monitor the
implementation of 28 schemes and programmes of
Ministry of Rural Development and other
Ministries to promote synergy and convergence for
greater impact.
The terms of references of the committee includes
• To ensure that all programmes are implemented
in accordance with the Guidelines.
• It will look into complaints/alleged irregularities
received in respect of the implementation of the
programmes. It will have the authority to summon
and inspect any record for this purpose.
• The Committee may refer any matter for enquiry
to the District Collector/CEO of the Zilla
Panchayat/Project Director of DRDA (or Poverty
Alleviation Unit). It can also suggest suitable
action to be taken in accordance with the rules
which should be acted upon by him within 30
days.
• It will closely review the flow of funds including
the funds allocated, funds released by both Centre
and the State, utilization and unspent balances
under each Scheme.
The main purpose of the committee is to
coordinate with Central and State and local
Panchayat Governments. Efforts will be made to
ensure the participation of people’s representative
at all levels and successful implementation of
flagship programme of central government.
The meetings of the committee should be held
once in every Quarter (third Saturdays of April,
July, October and February) and this has been
made mandatory.
DDCMC will supersede the District Vigilance &
Monitoring Committee currently mandated by
Ministry of Rural Development.
Formation of District Development Coordination
and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC)
• Chairperson: He/she will be the senior most
Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) elected from
the district, nominated by the Ministry of Rural
Development.
• Co-Chairperson will include
a) Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
representing the district
b) One MP (Rajya Sabha) representing the State
and exercising option to be associated with the
district level Committee of that district (on first
come basis)
• Other members of the committee will include
a) Members of the State Legislative Assembly
elected from the district
b) All Mayors/the Chairpersons of Municipalities
c) Chairperson of the Zilla Panchayat
d) Five elected heads of Gram Panchayat including
two women
e) One representative each of SC, ST
f) Women to be nominated by the Chairperson
The Member Secretary of Disha should be the
District Collector/District Magistrate/Deputy
Commissioner except in cases where specific
exemption has been given by the Union
Government.
ECONOMY
RBI sets up Sudarshan Sen-headed Inter-
regulatory Working Group on Fin Tech
and Digital Banking
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 14 July 2016
constituted an inter regulatory Working Group
(WG) to study the entire gamut of regulatory
issues relating to Fin Tech (financial technology)
and Digital Banking in India. It will view the
growing significance of Fin Tech innovations and
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their interactions with the financial sector as well
as the financial sector entities. The 13-member
working group will be headed by Sudarshan Sen,
the executive director of RBI. It has been asked to
submit its report within six months from the date
of its first meeting.
Union Cabinet approves disinvestment of
15% in NBCC
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) on 13 July 2016 approved the
disinvestment of 15% paid up equity of National
Buildings Construction Corporation Limited
(NBCC). At present, Union Government holds 90
percent shareholding of the corporation (i.e. 54
crore share). This disinvestment would help the
government to earn about 1706 crore rupees.
However, the actual realization amount will
depend upon the market conditions and the
investor interest prevailing at the time of actual
disinvestment.
Besides, in order to inculcate a sense of
belongingness amongst the employees of NBCC, it
has also been decided to allot additional shares to
the eligible and willing employees at a discount of
5% to the Issue/discovered (lowest cut-off) price
of the OFS.
NBCC, a Navratna company, was incorporated on
5 November 1960 as a wholly owned Government
of India (GoI) enterprise under the administrative
control of the Ministry of Urban Development. It
was established with the objective of becoming a
leading company in the field of construction,
engineering and project management consultancy
services.
CBDT notifies Rules for calculating Fair
market value of Assets
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 30
June 2016 notified rules for calculating Fair
Market Value (FMV) of assets located in India
with regard to indirect transfer provisions as
prescribed in Section 9(1) of the Income-tax Act,
1961.
Under section 9 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, any
income arising from transfer of any share of or
interest in a foreign company or entity that derives
its value substantially from the assets located in
India, is deemed to accrue or arise in India.
Purpose behind drafting the Rules for calculating
Fair market value of Assets
• Manner of computation of FMV of Indian and
global assets of the foreign company or entity
• Determination of income attributable to assets
situated in India, and
• Information required to be maintained and
furnished by the Indian concern under section 285
of Income-tax Act, 1961
Highlights of the Rules
• The Fair Market Value of listed companies will
be computed on the basis of a formula taking into
account its market capitalisation, book value of
liabilities and total number of shares.
• In case of an unlisted company, the FMV would
be determined by a merchant banker or accountant
as per internationally accepted valuation
methodology.
• In case the shares are listed on more than one
recognised stock exchange, the price will be
computed with reference to recognised stock
exchange which records the highest volume of
trading in share.
• The share or interest is said to derive it value
substantially from assets located in India, if FMV
of assets located in India comprise at least 50
percent of FMV of total assets of the company or
entity.
• A share or interest is to be deemed to derive
value substantially from assets located in India, if
the FMV of the Indian asset is more than 10 crore
rupees.
These above rules will be applicable from the date
of publication in the Official Gazette of the CBDT.
Logistics performance index
India has improved its ranking in the World Bank
Group’s bi-annual “Logistics Performance Index
2016“, jumping from 54th in 2014 to 35th in 2016.
This was announced by the World Bank Group in
its recent launch of the report. In the latest ranking
India has gone past countries like New Zealand,
Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Latvia and
Indonesia who were ahead of it in the index.
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India has improved significantly in the following
sub-indices:
The efficiency of customs and border management
clearance, improving from 65 to 38.
The ability to track and trace consignments,
improving from 57 to 33.
The quality of trade and transport infrastructure,
improving from 58 to 36.
The competence and quality of logistics services,
improving from 52 to 32.
On the remaining two sub-indices – the ease of
arranging competitively priced shipments and the
frequency with which shipments reach consignees
within scheduled or expected delivery times – by 5
and 9 places respectively.
The World Bank Group’s bi-annual report
‘Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in
the Global Economy’, launched recently, captures
critical information about the complexity of
international trade. The Logistics Performance
Index (LPI) within the report scores 160 countries
on key criteria of logistics performance.
The scores are based on two sources of
information: a worldwide survey of logistics
professionals operating on the ground (such as
global freight forwarders and express carriers),
who provide feedback on the countries in which
they operate and with whom they trade; and
quantitative data on the performance of key
components of the supply chain, such as the time,
cost and required procedures to import and export
goods. The World Bank studies the policy
regulation as well as supply chain performance
outcomes across six sub-indices of the Logistics
Performance Index and ranks countries based on
their performance in all the indices.
RBI’s steps on FCNR get FSDC nod
The Financial Stability and Development Council
(FSDC) recently said that the Reserve Bank of
India has taken the right steps to address the issue
of concessional swaps against Foreign Currency
Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits.
Banks had raised about $34 billion through FCNR
(B) deposits in 2013, most of which are due this
year. In 2013 the rupee was at an all-time low of
68.85 against the dollar and the central bank had
asked commercial banks to raise the foreign
currency deposits to shore up reserves. Banks,
then, had swapped those dollars with the RBI. The
central bank thereafter readied itself by buying
forwards dollar. Now, the RBI estimates that the
immediate effect of the maturity of these deposits
would be an outflow of about $20 billion.
FCNR (B) deposits mature mostly in three years.
RBI had said that the swaps and the forwards will
take care of the dollar requirement and should be
neutral for the reserves. However, banks should
witness deposit base depletion and some rupee
liquidity will be strained. RBI had also said that it
would take “all necessary measures to even out the
resultant rupee liquidity gaps through use of
appropriate instruments”. Assuring the market that
the swaps are adequately covered by RBI’s
forward purchases, the central bank, however, had
also cautioned that the foreign exchange reserve
could see some dip in the interim as the swaps and
forwards are not timed perfectly.
FCNR: An FCNR account is a term deposit
account that can be maintained by NRIs and PIOs
in foreign currency. Thus, FCNRs are not savings
accounts but fixed deposit accounts. The account
can be opened in the name of NRI individuals
(single/ joint) or with resident Indians on ‘former
or survivor’ basis. Prior to 2011, FCNR deposits
were allowed to be maintained in six currencies:
US dollar, Pound Sterling (GBP), Euro, Japanese
Yen, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar.
However, in October 2011, the RBI decided that
authorised dealer banks in India may be permitted
to accept FCNR deposits in any permitted
currency. ‘Permitted currency’ for this purpose
would mean a foreign currency which is freely
convertible and popularly include Danish Krone,
Swiss Frank and Swedish Krona among others. It
should also be noted here that interest income from
FCNR (B) accounts is exempt from Income Tax.
And deposit held under FCNR (B) a/cs is not
taxable under Wealth Tax.
Network Readiness Index
India has slipped two places to the 91st position on
a global list of countries in terms of their readiness
for transition to a digitised economy and society.
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The annual Networked Readiness Index was
released by the Geneva-based World Economic
Forum (WEF). The index, forming part of the
WEF’s Global Information Technology Report,
measures countries’ success in creating the
conditions necessary for a transition to a digitised
economy and society.
Among the major emerging markets, India is
ranked the lowest with Russia retaining the top
place at 41st rank, followed by China at 59th (up
three places), South Africa up 10 places at the 65th
spot and Brazil moving up to the 72nd position.
India’s position on the list has come down for the
fourth year in a row, from 89th in 2015, 83rd in
2014 and 68th in 2013. While India has scored
better in terms of political and regulatory
environment (78th position), it fares worse in
terms of business and innovation environment
(110th). In terms of infrastructure it is even worse
at 114th place, while it is ranked very high at 8th
place in terms of affordability. India also fares
poorly on sub-indices for skills and individual
usage. According to the report, lack of
infrastructure (114th) and low levels of skills
among the population (101st) remain the key
bottlenecks to widespread ICT adoption, especially
in terms of individual usage (120th). The report
further noted that a third of the Indian population
is still illiterate and a similar share of youth is not
enrolled in secondary education. India’s
performance in terms of providing online services
and allowing e-participation has so far been in line
with that of peer countries, but far from the global
best (57th and 40th, respectively).
BSE unveils online system for Sovereign
gold bond
BSE has unveiled an online bidding platform for
sovereign gold bonds and begun conducting mock
bidding sessions on the system. BSE has received
Reserve Bank’s approval to start an online bidding
platform for sovereign gold bond (SGB) scheme.
So far, three tranches of the bonds have been
issued amounting to about Rs.1,322 crore.
About Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme: Under the
scheme, gold bonds are issued in denominations of
5 grams, 10 grams, 50 grams and 100 grams for a
term of 5-7 years with a rate of interest to be
calculated on the value of the metal at the time of
investment. The scheme has an annual cap of 500
grams per person. The bonds will be sold through
banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India
Limited and designated post offices. As per the
scheme, the gold bonds will be sold only to
resident Indian entities including individuals,
Hindu undivided families, trusts, universities, and
charitable institutions. The bond tenure will be
eight years with exit option beginning the fifth
year onwards. They will also be tradable in the
bourses. Bonds can also be used as collateral for
loans.
Sebi notifies stricter transfer norms for
Participatory Notes
To allay concerns over misuse of controversy-
ridden P-Notes, regulator Sebi has notified new
norms restricting transfer of these offshore
instruments only to entities authorised for their use
and that too after prior consent from the issuer
foreign investor. As per the new notification, a
foreign portfolio investor will have to ensure that
any transfer of offshore derivative instruments
issued by or on behalf of it, is made subject to two
specific conditions — such ODIs are transferred to
persons fulfilling Sebi norms for subscription and
a prior consent of the FPI is obtained for such
transfer, except when the persons to whom the
ODIs are to be transferred to are pre-approved by
the FPI.
As per the Sebi regulations, no FPI can issue,
subscribe to or otherwise deal in ODIs, directly or
indirectly, unless they satisfy certain strict
conditions. As per these conditions, the ODIs can
be issued only to persons who are regulated by an
appropriate foreign regulatory authority and they
can be issued only after compliance to the
prescribed ‘know your client’ norms. Also, only
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the top-two categories of FPIs, including sovereign
funds, central banks and multi-lateral institutions,
and certain broad-based funds including insurers
and pension notes, can issue or deal in ODIs. The
Category III FPIs, which mostly include hedge
funds and individual investors, cannot issue,
subscribe to or otherwise deal in ODIs, directly or
indirectly. All these conditions would now also
apply for transfer of the ODIs.
Participatory Notes or Offshore Derivative Units
are issued by Sebi-registered foreign portfolio
investors to other overseas entities looking for an
exposure to the Indian markets without getting
registered directly to save on costs and procedures.
Many don’t have power in ‘power-
surplus India’
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has
released the Load Generation and Balance Report
(LGBR) 2016-17.
Highlights of the report:
In India, 300 million people don’t have access to
electricity, power cuts are rampant and per capita
power consumption is significantly lower than the
world average.
The deficit has reduced from 11% in 2008-09 to
2.9% in 2015-16 and for the first time, there will
be a surplus in 2016-17. India is likely to
experience the energy surplus of 1.1% in 2016-17.
However, state discoms are unable to buy
electricity due to poor financial health.
Transmission and distribution constraints are also
responsible for power cuts. To solve this problem,
the government launched the Ujjawal Discom
Assurance Yojana (UDAY) in November 2015.
By operational and financial turnaround of
discoms, UDAY is expected to facilitate reliable,
adequate and sufficient power supply to
consumers, among other things.
On an average, in 2015-16, the per capita
consumption in India was 1,070 kWh, less than the
world average of 3,026 kWh. It is also the lowest
among BRICS nations.
The low per capita consumption is mainly due to a
large population, a low per capita income and a
huge population not having access to electricity.
Note that six States — Madhya Pradesh, Kerala,
Odisha, Sikkim, Mizoram, Tripura — will be
power-surplus in 2016-17 but the per capita
availability in the States is lower than the national
average. Overall, 17 States will have power-
surplus in 2016-17.
Power demand for India grew by 6.6% in 2014-15
and 4.2% in 2015-16. In the last two years, Bihar
— which has the lowest per capita power
availability, witnessed the highest percentage
growth, with demand increasing by around 25% in
both years. This is indicative of more people
getting connected to the grid.
India slips on business optimism index:
survey
Business Optimism Index, part of Grant Thornton
International Business Report (IBR) for April-June
2016, was recently released. The survey took note
of 2,500 businesses across 36 economies.
Highlights:
India slipped to the third position, during April-
June, after remaining on top globally for the two
preceding quarters.
Companies in India were mainly concerned about
the delays in key reforms like the goods and
services tax, non-resolution of tax disputes and the
banking sector’s performance.
India continues to top the chart on expectations of
revenue increases.
Growth in employment expectations dropped to
the second position during this period from top
rank in the previous quarter.
The rank on optimism further slipped to fourth in
terms of profitability expectations.
While the business confidence in India has
weakened, there is a rise in optimism on the export
front. However, red tape continued to hamper
growth and ranked India as number two on the
issue.
Research and development continue to be an area
of concern.
On the global front, there is a rise in the proportion
of businesses worldwide expecting increased
revenue over the coming 12 months. However,
growth in global export expectations continues to
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
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be slow, indicating that revenue is dependent on
domestic consumer spending power.
Consumer spending is now under threat from
increased political instability, recovering oil prices
and reduced plans to offer pay increases.
Centre releases 100 cr for Atal Pension
Yojana
The Centre has released nearly 100 crore as its
share of contribution for members of the Atal
Pension Yojana. The fund has been released
through the Pension Fund Regulatory and
Development Authority. The scheme has over 30
lakh subscribers and the Finance Ministry
estimates that about 5,000 new subscribers are
added every day.
Atal Pension Yojna (APY): Under the APY,
subscribers would receive a fixed minimum
pension of Rs. 1000 per month, Rs. 2000 per
month, Rs. 3000 per month, Rs. 4000 per month,
Rs. 5000 per month, at the age of 60 years,
depending on their contributions, which itself
would vary on the age of joining the APY.
The Central Government would also co-contribute
50% of the total contribution or Rs. 1000 per
annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible
subscriber account, for a period of 5 years, that is,
from 2015-16 to 2019-20, to those who join the
NPS before 31st December, 2015 and who are not
members of any statutory social security scheme
and who are not Income Tax payers.
The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years and
maximum age is 40 years. The benefit of fixed
minimum pension would be guaranteed by the
Government.
Rural areas pose hurdle for small finance
banks
With merely 8 months remaining to start
operations, small finance banks are facing
headwinds to open 25% of their total branches in
unbanked areas as it will impact their profitability.
Hence, in a recent meeting with the banking
regulator, the small finance bank representatives
have requested the regulator to give them three
years to comply with the norms. According to
them, the cost of opening or converting the present
microfinance institutions branches into full-
fledged bank branches is higher. Therefore, one
year will be very challenging from the profitability
point of view for these institutions.
The other issue that is posing a hurdle is that
compliance with the Basel norms. According to
the guidelines for small finance banks, RBI had
said as small finance banks are not expected to
deal with sophisticated products, the capital
adequacy ratio will be computed under Basel
Committee’s standardised approaches.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated
that the small finance banks have to open at least
25% of their branches in unbanked rural areas
within one year of their operations. Unbanked
rural areas are the centres having a population less
than 9,999 as per latest census.
In September 2015, RBI granted in-principle
licences to 10 entities to start small finance banks.
These entities will have to start operations within
18 months, else the licences will lapse. Out of the
10, nine entities were predominantly involved in
microlending. Only one entity, out of 10 that
received licences, has commenced operations –
Jalandhar headquartered Capital Small Finance
Bank, which was a local area bank earlier.
What are small finance banks: The small finance
bank will primarily undertake basic banking
activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to
unserved and underserved sections including small
business units, small and marginal farmers, micro
and small industries and unorganised sector
entities.
What they can do: Take small deposits and
disburse loans. Distribute mutual funds, insurance
products and other simple third-party financial
products. Lend 75% of their total adjusted net
bank credit to priority sector. Maximum loan size
would be 10% of capital funds to single borrower,
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15% to a group. Minimum 50% of loans should be
up to 25 lakhs.
What they cannot do: Lend to big corporates and
groups. Cannot open branches with prior RBI
approval for first five years. Other financial
activities of the promoter must not mingle with the
bank. It cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake
non-banking financial services activities. Cannot
be a business correspondent of any bank.
The guidelines they need to follow: Promoter must
contribute minimum 40% equity capital and
should be brought down to 30% in 10 years.
Minimum paid-up capital would be Rs 100 cr.
Capital adequacy ratio should be 15% of risk
weighted assets, Tier-I should be 7.5%. Foreign
shareholding capped at 74% of paid capital, FPIs
cannot hold more than 24%. Priority sector lending
requirement of 75% of total adjusted net bank
credit. 50% of loans must be up to Rs 25 lakh.
Centre injects Rs.22,915 cr into 13 public
sector banks
In a bid to boost credit growth in the economy, the
Centre has announced a sum of Rs.22,915 crore
for recapitalisation of 13 public sector banks. State
Bank of India (SBI) will receive the largest
allocation of Rs.7,575 crore. Indian Overseas Bank
and Punjab National Bank are to get Rs.3,191
crore and Rs.2,816 crore respectively. The
infusions required in the current year were
assessed from the CAGR of credit growth for the
last five years and the banks’ projections of credit
growth. The potential for growth of each these
banks was also factored in.
In the Union Budget, the Centre had allocated a
total of Rs.25,000 crore for the capitalisation of
public sector banks in the current financial year
2016-17, in line with the infusion plans announced
under the umbrella scheme “Indradhanush”
introduced last year. The plan proposes infusions
adding up to Rs.25,000 crore in 2015-16 as well as
in 2016-17, followed by Rs.10,000 crore each in
2017-18 and 2018-19.
Mission Indradhanush aimed to revamp the
functioning of public sector banks so that PSBs
can compete with the Private Sector Banks. The
mission is a brainchild of PJ Nayak committee. It
is launched by Ministry of Finance under the
Department of Financial Services. The mission is
regarded as one of the big steps after the
nationalisation of banks in 1970s. The mission
includes the seven key reforms of appointments,
board of bureau, capitalisation, de-stressing,
empowerment, framework of accountability and
governance reforms.
Panama to sign tax treaty
Panama has agreed to sign a multilateral tax treaty,
which the Indian agencies believe will help them
expedite investigations into the “Panama papers”
recently made public by the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Signing
and ratifying the Convention will be a very
significant step forward in implementing its
commitment to tax transparency and effective
exchange of information.
Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative
Assistance in Tax Matters was developed jointly
by the OECD and the Council of Europe in 1988.
It was amended in 2010, in response to the call by
the G20 to align it to the international standard on
exchange of information and to open it to all
countries, “thus ensuring that developing countries
could benefit from the new transparent
environment.” The Convention represents a wide
range of countries, including all G20, BRIICS and
OECD countries, financial centres and several
developing countries. India is among the 98
countries and jurisdictions that have already joined
the Convention.
INTERNATIONAL
Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina
inaugurate Petrapole Integrated Check
Post
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the
Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on
21 July 2016 jointly inaugurated the Petrapole
Integrated Check Post (ICP). PM Modi and PM
Hasina inaugurated the check post through video-
conferencing. The Petrapole checkpost will help in
promoting bilateral trade and will also boost
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
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economic growth of both countries. Petrapole-
Benapole is an important land border crossing for
India-Bangladesh trade as more than 50% of the
India-Bangladesh trade passes through Petrapole.
It is the largest land customs station in Asia.
Sustainable Development Goal Index
released; India ranked 110th
Sustainable Development Solutions Network
(SDSN) of the United Nations and the
Bertelsmann Stiftung on 20 July 2016 launched a
new Sustainable Development Goal Index (SDG
Index) to provide a report card for tracking SDG
progress and ensuring accountability. SDG Index
is the world’s first comparative study of the
Sustainable Development Goals for 149 countries.
The SDG Index assess where each country stands
in 2016 with regard to achieving the SDGs. The
SDG Index ranks countries based on their
performance across 17 goals. The index has been
topped by Sweden and India is ranked 110th in the
index and is followed by Lesotho on 113th
position, Pakistan (115), Myanmar (117),
Bangladesh (118) and Afghanistan (139).
Turkey declares three-month state of
emergency after a failed military coup
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 20
July 2016 declared a three-month state of
emergency in the country. The emergency was
declared in response to the failed coup that
happened on 15 July 2016. The decision was made
following a meeting with cabinet ministers and top
security advisers in Ankara. While declaring the
imposition of the emergency Erdogan said that the
measure was being taken to counter threats to
Turkish democracy.
A coup was attempted by a faction within the
Turkish Armed Forces against the incumbent
Justice and Development Party in Turkey, which
ultimately failed. The faction organized the coup
under a council calling itself the Peace at Home
Council. The council attempted to seize control of
several key places in Ankara, Istanbul, and
elsewhere.
Malcolm Turnbull sworn in as
Australia’s PM for another term
Malcolm Turnbull on 19 July 2016 was sworn in
as the Prime Minister of Australia for another
term. Turnbull was sworn in after a narrow
election victory with budget repair and a public
vote on same sex marriage among his top
priorities.
Quarter of a million children severely
malnourished in Borno state, Nigeria:
UNICEF
UNICEF in its release of 19 July 2016 said that
almost a quarter of a million children in parts of
Borno state, North-East Nigeria, are suffering from
severe malnutrition and risk death. The
humanitarian crisis is caused due to Boko Haram
that is controlling the state since 2013. In its
report, UNICEF warned that tens of thousands will
die if treatment does not reach them soon. In areas
where Boko Haram militants had been in control,
it found people without water, food or sanitation.
Out of the 244000 children suffering from severe
acute malnutrition in Borno in 2016, an estimated
49000 children – almost one in five – will die if
they are not reached with treatment. Some 134
children on average will die every day from causes
linked to acute malnutrition if the response is not
scaled up quickly.
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of
every child, in everything we do. Together with
their partners, they work in 190 countries and
territories to translate that commitment into
practical action, focusing special effort on reaching
the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the
benefit of all children, everywhere.
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11th Asia–Europe Meeting Summit issues
Ulaanbaatar Declaration
The eleventh edition of the Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) Summit on 16 July 2016 issued
Ulaanbaatar Declaration. The Ulaanbaatar
Declaration focuses on fight against terrorism and
greater connectivity among the Asia and Europe. It
has reaffirmed ASEM’s commitment for greater
partnership through informal political dialogue and
initiatives in economic and socio-cultural fields.
Key highlights of the Ulaanbaatar Declaration
• It commits to foster greater understanding
between Asia and Europe.
• It commits to broaden political dialogue, enhance
economic cooperation and increase socio-cultural
exchanges.
• It commits to deepen Asia-Europe inter-
connectedness, shape and forge links and mutually
beneficial, multi-layered cooperation for peace and
development.
• It commits to create opportunities for broader
people-to-people connections, including through
the Asia-Europe Foundation.
• It commits to promote effective multilateralism
and strengthen other multilateral processes.
About Asia-Europe Meeting Summit 2016
The 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit
commenced on 15 July 2016 in Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia. The Summit brought together high-
level delegation from 51 ASEM partners and two
intergovernmental organizations. The theme for
the summit was 20 Years of ASEM: Partnership
for the Future through Connectivity. The 11th
ASEM Summit also marked the 20th Anniversary
since the Asia-Europe Meeting dialogue process
was inaugurated on 1-2 March 1996 in Bangkok,
Thailand.
India, ADB sign 100 Million US dollar
loan agreement for Cauvery Delta
project in Tamil Nadu
The Union Government and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) on 14 July 2016 signed
a 100 million US dollars loan agreement to
strengthen key irrigation and drainage system and
improve water management in the Vennar sub-
basin of the Cauvery delta in Tamil Nadu. The
financing will be used to strengthen embankments
of six major irrigation water channels in the
Vennar system and rehabilitate 13 irrigation
pumping schemes.
The project aims to improve existing
infrastructure and will provide flood protection
and renewed access to irrigation. Flood forecasting
and warning systems will be installed and a flood
risks map drawn up to help communities respond
more effectively to extreme events. The loan from
ADB’s ordinary capital resources has a 25-year
term. The project is expected to be completed by
December 2020.
WHO declares India as Maternal and
Neonatal Tetanus free
The World Health Organization (WHO) on 14 July
2016 declared India as Maternal and Neonatal
Tetanus free. Previously in May 2016, WHO
certified India yaws-free after a team of experts
verified interruption of disease transmission in the
country. India is the first country under the 2012
WHO neglected tropical diseases (NTD) roadmap
to eliminate yaws. Yaws is a chronic bacterial
infection that affects the skin, bones and cartilages.
The Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination
(MNTE) has been the result of India's focused
approach on making maternal and newborn care
accessible to all. Reducing maternal and neonatal
tetanus to less than one case per 1 000 live births
in all 675 districts has helped improve access to
immunization, antenatal care services and skilled
birth attendance in the most vulnerable
populations. Both yaws and maternal and neonatal
tetanus eliminations were achieved using the
existing health system and health workforce.
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
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Theresa May appointed Prime Minister
of United Kingdom
Queen Elizabeth-II appointed Theresa May as the
76th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK)
on 13 June 2016. She was appointed as prime
minister following her election as the leader of
Britain's ruling Conservative Party. With this
appointment, she became the second women to
assume the office of Prime Minister of the UK.
The first women prime minister was Margaret
Thatcher who was in the office of PM from 1979
to 1990. She succeeded David Cameron who
resigned from the post on the same day following
Brexit vote. Cameron tendered his resignation to
the Queen. Britons on 22 June 2016 voted to exit
the European Union.
India and Bangladesh sign deal for
construction of coal fired power plant
India and Bangladesh on 12 July 2016 signed a
landmark deal for the construction of Rampal
Power Station, a 1320 megawatt coal fired power
plant. The Rampal Power Station is the biggest
project under bilateral cooperation. The
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company
Limited (BIFPCL), the joint venture enterprise,
signed the deal with Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited (BHEL). The Rampal Power Station is a
proposed 1320 megawatt coal-fired power station
at Rampal Upazila of Bagerhat District in Khulna,
Bangladesh. It is a joint partnership between
India's state owned National Thermal Power
Corporation and Bangladesh Power Development
Board. The project is also known as Maitree Super
Thermal Power Project. The project will be
Bangladesh’s largest power plant.
India, Kenya signed seven agreements to
deepen cooperation
India and Kenya on 11 July 2016 inked seven
agreements to enhance cooperation and bilateral
relations between the two countries. The
agreements were inked during Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit to Kenya from 10 July to 11
July 2016. He visited the country on an invitation
of President Uhuru Kenyatta. This was the first at
the level of Prime Minister in 35 years. Modi was
on a four nation visit to Africa namely Kenya,
Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique from 7
July to 11 July 2016.
Agreements signed includes
• Revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA).
• Bilateral agreement on exemption of Visa for
holders of Diplomatic passports.
• MoU on Defence Cooperation.
• MoU on Cooperation in the field of
standardisation, expertise sharing and mutual trade
between Bureau of Indian Standards and Bureau of
Kenya Standards.
• MoU on Cooperation in the field of National
Housing Policy Development and Management.
• Line of Credit Agreement for US $15 million
(first tranche of US $30 million) to IDB Capital
Limited, Kenya, for development of various small
and medium enterprises [SMEs] in Kenya.
• Line of Credit Agreement for US $29.95 million
to the Government of Kenya for upgrade of Rift
Valley Textiles Factory [RIVATEX East Africa
Limited], Kenya.
Besides, the two nations also agreed on the
importance of bolstering cooperation in the Health
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
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and Pharmaceutical sector. During the discussion
session held between Modi and Kenyatta, Modi
also announced the gifting of
• A telecobalt cancer therapy machine – the
Bhabhatron II
• A donation of essential/ARV medicines and
medical equipment and capacity building/training
programmes in the health sector.
He also assured that positive consideration will be
given to extend a LoC for the establishment of 100
beds Cancer Hospital in Kenya. On Development
Assistance, India proposed to extend Lines of
Credit (LoC) for Geothermal Projects and for
agricultural mechanisation.
Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in
favor of the Philippines on South China
Sea
The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration
(PCA) on 12 July 2016 ruled in favor of the
Philippines in a maritime dispute on South China
Sea. The tribunal concluded that China do not
have legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk
of the Sea.
The tribunal gave a ruling that China does not has
the right to resources within its nine-dash line
which extends hundreds of miles to the south and
east of its island province of Hainan and covers
some 90 percent of the disputed waters. The
tribunal also found that none of the sea features
claimed by China were capable of generating
what's called an exclusive economic zone which
gives country maritime rights to resources such as
fish and oil and gas within 200 nautical miles of
that land mass. It found that they were rocks or
low-tide elevations such as reefs, rather than
islands. The tribunal found that some of China’s
activities in the region were in breach of the
Philippines' sovereign rights. Tribunal in its ruling
also stated that China had violated those rights by
interfering in fishing and oil exploration,
constructing artificial islands and failing to stop
Chinese fisherman from fishing the zone. It found
that China had caused severe harm to coral around
the site of its artificial islands. It had also violated
its obligation to preserve and protect fragile
ecosystems. Chinese fisherman had also killed
endangered sea turtles and giant clams on a
substantial scale that too with the knowledge of
China. The tribunal said it "lacked the jurisdiction
to consider the implications of a stand-off"
between the Chinese and Philippines military,
specifically at Second Thomas Shoal, and said any
resolution of the dispute was "excluded from
compulsory settlement." The tribunal did not order
China to take any particular steps to remedy the
situation, dismantle construction on the islands or
provide reparations to the Philippines.
Effects of the Ruling: The ruling doesn't just affect
China and the Philippines, but other countries that
have competing claims with the nation over large
areas of the sea. Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia
have also taken exception to China's growing
presence in the region and could now be
emboldened to take further action. While the
ruling in The Hague is regarded as legally binding,
there is no mechanism to enforce it.
Sushila Karki confirmed as Nepal's first
woman Chief Justice
Nepal’s Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee
(PHSC) on 10 July 2016 unanimously endorsed
Sushila Karki as the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court. With this, Karki has become the first
woman to lead Nepal’s judiciary. She will be
appointed to the post by President Bidhya Devi
Bhandari.
Shinzo Abe's party attains majority in
Upper House of National Diet
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling
Liberal Democratic Party and its allies on 11 July
2016 claimed victory in an election for the upper
house of parliament National Diet. He said the
result is a vote of confidence in his economic
policies known as Abenomics. Voting took place
on 10 July 2016 for 121 seats of upper house.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition
already enjoys a two-thirds majority in the lower
house and they needed a super majority in the
House of Councilors to start a parliamentary
motion for changing the constitution. This win in
the upper house will allow Abe to revise Japan’s
pacifist constitution that bars its military from
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participating in joint military endeavors abroad.
Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan outlaws war
as a means to settle international disputes
involving the state.
India, Tanzania signed five agreements
India and Tanzania on 10 July 2016 inked five
agreements to enhance the bilateral cooperation
between the two nations. These agreements were
signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi to
Tanzania from 9 July to 10 July 2016.
List of MOUs/Agreements
• MoU on Cooperation in the field of water
resource management and development between
the two countries.
• MoU on Visa waiver agreement for
Diplomatic/Official passport holders between the
two countries.
• Agreement on Joint Action Plan (JAP) between
National Small Industries Corporation of India
(NSIC) and Small Industries Development
Organization Tanzania (SIDO).
• MoU for Establishment of Vocational Training
Centre at Zanzibar.
• LOC of 92 million US dollar for rehabilitation
and improvement of water supply system in
Zanzibar.
During the visit to Tanzania, Modi met Tanzania’s
President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli. During
the meet, the two leaders agreed to work closely,
bilaterally, regionally and globally to combat the
twin threats of terrorism and climate change.
India, South Africa signed four
agreements
India and South Africa on 8 July 2016 signed four
agreements to give new impetus to bilateral co-
operation between the two nations. The
agreements were inked during the official tour of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to South Africa. He
visited South Africa from 7 July to 9 July 2016 on
an invitation of President of South Africa Jacob
Zuma.
Agreements signed during the visit of Prime
Minister to South Africa
• MoU on ICT
• Programme of Cooperation in Arts and Culture
• MoU on Tourism
• MoU on Grass Root Innovation (S&T)
During this visit to South Africa, Modi met
President Zuma and held discussions in the spirit
of the strong friendship and historical links
between the two countries. He also met with
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
2nd Anti-Drug Working Group meeting
of Heads of Drug Control Agencies of
BRICS concluded
The day-long meeting was organised by the
Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Home
Affairs. Besides the Indian delegation, it was
attended by officials and policy makers from the
other BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, China and
South Africa. During the meeting, the participants
discussed the following issues –
• Drug trafficking situation including the illicit
cultivation and production of Opium and Heroin in
South West Asia and South East Asia
• Illicit cultivation of Coca bush in South America
• Illicit cultivation of Cannabis plant used for
production of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances, Diversion and trafficking of precursor
chemicals
• Illicit financial flows from drug proceeds and
financing of terrorism in certain cases
• Maritime drug trafficking
• Challenges and emergence of new psycho-active
substances that have posed serious threat to health,
safety and well being of society across globe,
especially of the youth
At the end of deliberations, the delegates resolved
to develop and enhance cooperation and
collaboration among the Member States to monitor
current trends and drug trafficking routes.
They also agreed to exchange of information
among the drug law enforcement agencies, share
and exchange experiences, and best practices and
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enhance capacity building in order to prevent and
counter illicit drug trafficking and related crimes.
Background
• The meeting was the second such meeting of the
Heads of Drug Control Agencies. The first such
meeting was held in Moscow, Russia in 2015 in
keeping with the spirit of the eThekwani
Declaration. The eThekwini Declaration and
Action Plan that was adopted by the 5th BRICS
Summit in Durban, South Africa calls for
enhanced engagement among member nations.
The present meeting also assumes significance as
India shall be hosting the 8th BRICS summit in
October 2016 in Goa.
India, Mozambique sign MoUs on drug
trafficking, pulse trading and sports
India and Mozambique on 7 July 2016 signed
three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in
areas of drug trafficking, pulse trading and sports.
These MoUs were signed between two countries at
Maputo, Mozambique during the visit of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to Mozambique.
MoU on long term agreement for purchase of
pulses
• It will promote the production of Tur (Pigeon
Peas) and other pulses in Mozambique to
encourage trading of pulses.
• It will also play an important role in augmenting
domestic availability of pulses in India.
• The contract will be valid for five financial years
2020-21 and pulses under it will be imported by
India either through G2G or private channels
nominated by two countries.
Other MoUs signed
• MoU on cooperation in the field of youth affairs
and sports.
• MoU on reduction of drug trafficking and
psychotropic substances and related materials.
Russian leader Putin signs ‘Big Brother’
law
Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2016
signed the “anti-terrorist” legislation adopted by
the lower and upper houses of parliament in June
2016. This anti-terror amendment is dubbed as Big
Brother by US intelligence contractor turned
privacy activist Edward Snowden. Critics say that
the measures may cost billions to the internet and
telecom companies.
Highlights of the legislation
• Law enforcement agencies will be granted access
to any user’s messages without any judicial
oversight.
• It boosts the surveillance powers for the security
services by requiring communication providers to
store users’ calls, messages, photographs and
videos for six months, and the Metadata for up to
three years.
• They will have to provide Federal Security
Service (FSB) with access to this data and any
necessary encryption mechanisms necessary to use
it.
• The law also criminalises several offences and
lowers the age of criminal responsibility to 14
from certain crimes.
• It extends prison sentences for online crimes like
abetting terrorism.
India to seek help for services pact at UN
During the forthcoming Nairobi meet of the UN
Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), India is planning to press for
endorsement by more nations for its proposal on a
global pact to expedite the services trade flow.
About the pact: It will officially be known as the
‘Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) for Services’
at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)-level. The
proposed pact, among other things, is aimed at
making it easier for services professionals and
skilled workers to move across borders for ‘short-
term’ projects.
Its objectives include streamlining procedures for
global services trade, besides ensuring recognition
at the WTO-level for services as a tradable item by
establishing a framework — for clarity on
definitions and for settlement of disputes. The idea
of a ‘TFA for Services’ – similar to the WTO’s
‘TFA for Goods’ — was mooted by India soon
after the WTO’s tenth Ministerial Conference in
Nairobi in December 2015. India had on April 22
ratified the ‘TFA for Goods’, which is aimed at
easing customs norms and boosting global
merchandise trade. India had reiterated the
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proposal for a TFA in Services during the informal
meeting of trade ministers from 25 WTO member
countries on the sidelines of the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) ministerial council meeting in Paris.
Trade facilitation: The Trade Facilitation
Agreement forms part of the Bali Package agreed
by members at the Ninth Ministerial Conference in
Bali. The agreement contains provisions for faster
and more efficient customs procedures through
effective cooperation between customs and other
appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and
customs compliance issues. It also contains
provisions for technical assistance and capacity
building in this area. It is being believed,
especially by the proponents of the agreement that
deal could add $1 trillion to global GDP and also
can generate 21 million jobs by slashing red tape
and streamlining customs.
UNCTAD has 194 member States and is the UN
subsidiary looking at measures to boost trade and
investment in developing countries. Upcoming
Nairobi (Kenya) meet will be the UN Conference
on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) 14th
quadrennial ‘Ministerial Conference’. The
‘Ministerial Conference’ is the Geneva-
headquartered UNCTAD’s highest decision-
making body, and is held every four years ever
since UNCTAD was set up in 1964.
Sri Lanka urged to ratify cluster
convention
Peace activist in Sri Lanka have pitched strongly
for an early ratification of the Convention on
Cluster Munitions (CCM). Experts say, this move
will not only provide solace to those who were
traumatised by the decades-long war in Sri Lanka
but also reassure people of the country that such a
heinous practice will not be resorted to in future.
Convention on Cluster Munitions:
The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an
international treaty that addresses the humanitarian
consequences and unacceptable harm to civilians
caused by cluster munitions, through a categorical
prohibition and a framework for action. The
Convention prohibits all use, production, transfer
and stockpiling of cluster munitions. In addition, it
establishes a framework for cooperation and
assistance to ensure adequate care and
rehabilitation to survivors and their communities,
clearance of contaminated areas, risk reduction
education and destruction of stockpiles. Adopted
in May 2008 in Dublin, Ireland, the Convention on
Cluster Munitions entered into force on 01 August
2010. As of 16 June 2016, a total of 119 states
have joined the Convention, as 100 States parties
and 19 Signatories. Countries that ratify the
convention will be obliged “never under any
circumstances to”: Use cluster munitions.
Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile,
retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly,
cluster munitions. Assist, encourage or induce
anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a
State Party under this Convention.
International Solar Alliance Cell and
World Bank sign Declaration for
promoting Solar Energy
The Interim Administrative Cell of the
International Solar Alliance (ISA Cell) and the
World Bank on 30 June 2016 signed declaration to
promote solar energy globally. The declaration
was signed during the visit of the World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim to India in June 2016.
Major areas identified in the Declaration for
working jointly
• Developing a roadmap to mobilize financing
• Developing financing instruments including
credit enhancement, reduce hedging costs/currency
risk, bond raising in locally denominated
currencies etc. which support solar energy
development
• Supporting ISA’s plans for solar energy through
technical assistance and knowledge transfer
• Working on mobilization of concessional
financing through existing or new trust funds
Benefits arising out of this Declaration
• The Joint Declaration will help in accelerating
mobilization of finance for solar energy.
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• The World Bank will have a major role in
mobilizing more than 1000 billion US dollars in
investments that will be needed by 2030 for the
massive deployment of affordable solar energy.
ENVIRONMENT
India's first green rail corridor launched
between Rameswaram and
Manamadurai stretch
The 114-km long Rameswaram-Manamadurai
stretch of Southern Railway in Tamil Nadu on 24
July 2016 became India’s first Green Rail
Corridor. This green corridor was inaugurated by
of Southern Railway via videoconferencing from
Chennai Central Station.
This corridor ensure zero toilet discharge on rail
tracks. Trains in the section are equipped with bio-
toilets to ensure zero discharge of human waste on
the rail tracks.
During 2016-17, the railway ministry has a target
of providing 30000 new bio-toilets and this
initiative will also bring down maintenance cost
significantly. He also said that till March 2017, the
Jammu-Katra section will also be human waste
free.
Besides, Railway Minister Prabhu also inaugurated
high speed upgraded Wi-Fi facility, set up in
association with Google, at Chennai Central
Railway Station and a similar facility at
Tiruchirappalli through video conferencing. He
also launched a traditional medicine centre under
Ayush at Perambur Railway Hospital.
Rare Marbled Map butterfly sighted in
Eastern Ghats
Rare Marbled Map butterfly was sighted in
Eastern Ghats near PM Kota village of
Maredumilli mandal in East Godavari district of
Andhra Pradesh. This is the first time that the
Marbled Map butterfly species, usually found in
the north-east, was sighted in South India.
A book by Issac Kehimkar titled ‘The Book of
Indian Butterflies’ says that the Marbled Map
(Cyrestis cocles) is listed as a rare butterfly
species. Its availability is confined to forested hills
in the region between Sikkim and Arunachal
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bhutan and Myanmar.
Kendrapara sheep gets registered breed
status
The National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources
(NBAGR) in the first week of July 2016 formally
accorded registered breed status on Kendrapara
sheep. As per the research of the Fisheries and
Animal Resources Development (FARD)
Department and researchers of Odisha Livestock
Resources Development Society and College of
Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry of
OUAT, the Kendrapara sheep carries a rare gene
mutation during a year-long research.The
genetically rare status will help to boost
conservation effort to protect the sheep. Earlier,
Odisha’s two buffalo and four cattle breeds were
also registered at national level by NBAGR.
Kendrapara sheep is an indigenous variety mainly
found in Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur,
Bhadrak and Jajpur districts of Odisha. The
Kendrapara breed was identified as the second in
India and sixth in the world to carry FecB
mutation gene responsible for multiple births such
as twins and triplets. The research had recorded
more than 80 per cent multiple births, 71 per cent
twinning, nine per cent triplet and one per cent
quadruplets in a period of 12 months. It is the 42nd
sheep breed to have been registered in India.
IUCN declares Bornean Orangutan as
critically endangered
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The International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) in the first week of July 2016
declared Bornean orangutan as a Critically
Endangered animal. As per the IUCN’s findings,
the combined impacts of habitat loss, habitat
degradation and illegal hunting equate to an 86%
population reduction between 1973 and 2025. This
finding qualifies the species for listing as Critically
Endangered. In addition to loss of habitat, the
survey also disclosed that 2000 to 3000 orangutans
have been killed by hunters or villagers each year
over the past four decades. In addition, the IUCN
also put the whale shark, the largest fish in the
world, on the Endangered list.
Ozone layer in Antarctic is healing:
Study
Researchers in their study claimed that the hole in
the Earth’s ozone layer over Antarctica has begun
to heal. They said that in September 2015 the hole
was around 4 million square kilometers smaller
than it was in the year 2000, an area roughly the
size of India. The gains in the protective layer can
be credited to the long term phasing out of ozone-
destroying chemicals which was adopted in the
1989 Montreal Protocol.
Findings of the Study
• Industrial chlorofluorocarbons that cause ozone
depletion have been phased out under the Montreal
Protocol.
• A chemically-driven increase in polar ozone (or
“healing”) is expected in response to this historic
agreement.
• Fingerprints of September healing since 2000
was identified through
a) Increases in ozone column amounts
b) Changes in the vertical profile of ozone
concentration
c) Decreases in the areal extent of the ozone hole
• Along with chemistry, dynamical and
temperature changes contribute to the healing, but
could represent feedbacks to chemistry.
• Volcanic eruptions episodically interfere with
healing, particularly during 2015 (when a record
October ozone hole occurred following the
Calbuco eruption).
This is the first clear evidence of healing after the
thinning of the layer was first reported in 1980s.
The then report suggested a hole in the ozone layer
above Antarctica every that was of an average of
about 18 million square kilometers in September
1987 and widened to nearly 25 million square
kilometers in September 2000.
The study was published on 30 June 2016 in the
journal Science. Susan Solomon, the lead author of
the study along with his team carried out detailed
measurements of the amount of ozone in the
stratosphere between 2000 and 2015.
Indo-U.S. expedition discovers natural
gas in Indian Ocean
A large natural gas discovery has been made in the
Indian Ocean following a joint expedition by India
and the U.S., opening up a new resource to meet
energy needs. India’s Oil Ministry and the U.S.
Geological Survey made the discovery of large,
highly enriched accumulations of natural gas
hydrate — an icy form of the fuel — in the Bay of
Bengal. This is the first discovery of its kind in the
Indian Ocean that has the potential to be
producible.
Natural gas hydrates are a naturally occurring, ice-
like combination of natural gas and water found in
oceans and polar regions. Gas hydrates are
considered as vast resources of natural gas and are
known to occur in marine sediments on continental
shelf margins. By nature this gas is mostly
methane. Methane gas hydrate is stable at the
seafloor at water depths beneath about 500 meters.
The amount of gas within the world’s gas hydrate
accumulations is estimated to greatly exceed the
volume of all known conventional gas resources.
Gas hydrate resources in India are estimated at
1,894 trillion cubic meters and these deposits
occur in Western, Eastern and Andaman offshore
areas. According to the National Oceanic and
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Atmospheric Administration gas hydrate deposits
along ocean margins are estimated to exceed
known petroleum reserves by about a factor of
three.
‘Almost 30 percent of our land
undergoing degradation’
According to a study, nearly 30% of the country’s
total geographical area is undergoing degradation.
The ongoing study, initiated by the Ministry of
Environment, Forests & Climate Change, was led
by the Indian Space Research Organisation and
involved 19 institutes. The study analysed satellite
imageries of the country over an eight-year period.
The report was recently released by ISRO’s Space
Applications Centre in the form of a
‘Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas’,
combining GIS and remote sensing data.
Highlights of the report:
The degrading area has increased over 0.5% to
29.3 million hectares during the period 2003-05
and 2011-13. Desertification increased by 1.16
million hectares (m ha) and stood at 82.64 m ha
during 2011-13.
There was high desertification and degradation in
Delhi, Tripura, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh and
Mizoram, while Odisha, Telangana, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh showed some improvement.
Just nine States together account for nearly 24% of
desertification; the other States have less than one
per cent of this land. The culprit States in that
order are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu
& Kashmir, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Odisha,
Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
Southern State Kerala figures among northern and
northeastern States where less than 10% land is
degraded. With it are relatively greener States of
Assam, Mizoram, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,
Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh.
The main culprit for degradation is water erosion
(26%) followed by degrading vegetation (rising
slightly nearly 9%) and land or soil erosion due to
wind.
India has committed itself to the U.N. Convention
on Combating Desertification that it would fully
stop land degradation by 2030. The atlas, adding
68 vulnerable districts, would form part of the
country’s action plan to arrest the phenomenon
and also be a status report to the U.N. body.
NDRF trains one lakh people in one
month for better reach
To ensure resilience and better preparedness
against disasters, the National Disaster Response
Force (NDRF) has trained over a lakh people
across the country in one month on the do’s and
don’ts during man-made or natural emergencies.
This was achieved between June 1 and 30 as part
of a special initiative when instructors and trainers
of the NDRF reached 482 villages, towns and
cities to sensitise people about disasters that occur
specifically in those areas and also in general.
Under this Community Awareness Programme, a
total of 1,07,112 people in 22 States were trained
in basic understanding of disaster management and
combat by the NDRF in 482 sessions. The force
also trained school students.
The aim of this first-of-its kind exercise was to
sensitise the vulnerable sections to disasters and
bring about a sense of community capacity
building. It is believed that if a community was
well prepared to combat issues like floods and
earthquakes, the loss of life and property could be
brought down significantly.
SCIENCE
Genes of 6000-year-old barley grains
sequenced for first time
Scientists for the first time succeeded in
sequencing the genes in 6000-year-old barley
seeds. With this, the ancient barley has become the
oldest plant genome to be reconstructed to date.
Before this, only prehistoric corn was genetically
reconstructed. The findings were published in the
journal Nature Genetics on 18 July 2016.
The 6000-year-old Chalcolithic barley grains were
retrieved from Yoram Cave in Israel, close to the
Dead Sea. Genetically, the prehistoric barley is
very similar to present-day barley grown in the
Southern Levant. It supports the existing
hypothesis of barley domestication having
occurred in the Upper Jordan Valley.
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Facebook's Aquila Internet drone
completes first test flight
Facebook Inc on 22 July 2016 announced the
successful completion of test flight of a solar-
powered drone named Aquila. The social media
giant believes that Aquila will help to extend
Internet connectivity to every corner of the planet.
The company ultimately hopes to have a fleet of
Aquilas that can fly for at least three months at a
time at 60000 feet and communicate with each
other to deliver internet access. Aquila is a
lightweight, high-altitude aircraft. It flew at a few
thousand feet for 96 minutes in Yuma, Arizona.
Scientists decide to launch field trials of
oil-degrading bacteria in Kochi
The Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute of
Plant Sciences, Kozhikode, and Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Limited (BPCL) in July 2016 joined
hands to launch field trials of oil-degrading
bacteria in Kochi. The scientists will undertake the
trail to establish the oil-degrading properties of
three new strains of bacteria. The oil-degrading
properties of these bacteria will pave the way for
the development of bioremediation agents to clean
up petroleum pollutants from the environment.
The three new strains including two species of
Burkholderia and one species of Pseudomonas
have been sequenced and submitted to the
Genbank database on organisms. Scientists at the
Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute of Plant
Sciences have completed the sequencing of a new
species of oil-degrading soil fungi belonging to the
Paecilomyces genus. They have also isolated 110
dye-yielding and anti-microbial compounds from
two species of bryophytes (lower group of plants
like mosses and hornworts). Besides, 30 anti-
bacterial compounds have also been isolated from
two species of lichens.
Bioremediation is the use of either naturally
occurring or deliberately introduced
microorganisms to consume and break down
environmental pollutants. It is done to clean a
polluted site. It may occur on its own or may only
effectively occur through the addition of fertilizers,
oxygen, and more. The addition of oxygen,
fertilizers etc. help in enhancing the growth of the
pollution-eating microbes within the medium,
which is known as biostimulation. However, not
all contaminants are easily treated by
bioremediation using microorganisms. For
example, cadmium, lead etc. There are a number
of cost advantages to bioremediation, which can be
employed in areas that are inaccessible without
excavation. For example, introducing
bioremediation at hydrocarbon spills or certain
chlorinated solvents, which may contaminate
groundwater, may significantly reduce
contaminant concentrations.
CSIR-CMERI develops Solar Power Tree
for generation of electricity
The Solar Power Tree has been developed by the
CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research
Institute (CSIR-CMERI), a constituent laboratory
of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR). The product harnesses solar energy for
producing electricity with an innovative vertical
arrangement of solar cells. Therefore, it reduces
the requirement of land as compared to
conventional Solar Photovoltaic layout. As a
future prospect, the Solar Power Tree will be
developed in a rotatable module, which will have a
motorized mechanism to align itself with the
movement of the Sun during the day.
It takes only 4 square feet of land for a 5 KW Solar
Power tree. On the other hand, a conventional
layout requires 400 square feet of land.By holding
the photovoltaic panels at a higher height, it gets
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more sunrays for one hour in a day on an average.
As a result, it is possible to harness 10-15% more
power in comparison to a conventional layout on
ground. It is facilitated with water sprinkler at the
top for self-cleaning of panels, which increases the
efficiency of the solar panels. The estimated cost
of the device is around 5 Lakh rupees for a 5 KW
specification.
Brazilian scientists discover another type
of Zika-transmitting mosquito
Brazilian researchers on 21 July 2016 announced
that they have found another species of mosquito,
which is able to transmit the Zika virus to humans.
The scientists found the presence of the Culex
quinquefasciatus mosquito infected by the Zika
virus in three out of 80 groups of mosquitoes
analysed up until now. The 80 groups were from
the metropolitan area of Recife, Brazil. Until now,
transmission of the virus was only known through
the Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which are also
responsible for the spread of dengue and
chikungunya.
Govt. intervention sought for Hepatitis C
treatment
In absence of a policy intervention for Hepatitis C,
civil society and legal aid organisations have put
together a policy brief, calling upon the
government to take concerted action to address the
right to health of people living with HCV
(PLHCV).
HCV is a significantly bigger epidemic than HIV
and yet, there has been considerably less
awareness about it. While HIV testing and
treatment are free of cost through the government
programme, HCV is not supported in any way.
Despite the estimated disease burden of 8.7 million
Hepatitis C patients, India does not have data and,
therefore, does not have appropriate budgets to
address the concerns of the patients.
Also, the price of treatment of HCV has become a
global concern with the Indian government
granting patent for the drug Sofosbuvir to
American pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences.
While Gilead’s Sofosbuvir is priced at almost
$84,000 for an entire course in the U.S., generic
Indian companies are selling their versions for less
than $200 for a full course.
What is hepatitis? “Hepatitis” means inflammation
of the liver. Toxins, certain drugs, some diseases,
heavy alcohol use, and bacterial and viral
infections can all cause hepatitis. Hepatitis is also
the name of a family of viral infections that affect
the liver; the most common types are Hepatitis A,
Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.
What is the difference between Hepatitis A,
Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C?
Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C are
diseases caused by three different viruses.
Although each can cause similar symptoms, they
have different modes of transmission and can
affect the liver differently. Hepatitis A appears
only as an acute or newly occurring infection and
does not become chronic. People with Hepatitis A
usually improve without treatment. Hepatitis B
and Hepatitis C can also begin as acute infections,
but in some people, the virus remains in the body,
resulting in chronic disease and long-term liver
problems. There are vaccines to prevent Hepatitis
A and B; however, there is not one for Hepatitis C.
If a person has had one type of viral hepatitis in
the past, it is still possible to get the other types.
What is Hepatitis C?
This is a transmissible disease — it spreads the
same way as HIV — and if not treated can lead to
chronic conditions of the liver such as liver
cirrhosis, cancer or failure. With an estimated
disease burden of 8.7 million patients, HCV kills
nearly six times as many people as HIV. The
hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus and the
most common modes of infection are through
unsafe injection practices, inadequate sterilization
of medical equipment, and the transfusion of
unscreened blood and blood products.
Zebrafish provide insights into a rare
human disease
Scientists from the Delhi-based CSIR-Institute of
Genomics and Integrative Biology are a step closer
to bringing hope to children born with a rare
disorder — CHARGE syndrome — if the results
seen in zebrafish are reproducible in humans.
Scientists have studied the fertilised egg of a
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zebrafish to better understand the CHARGE
syndrome.
Following fertilization, zebrafish embryos are
transparent. This allows scientists to observe the
inside of the embryo and watch in real time how
various organs develop. Since most organs begin
forming in the first 24-36 hours and are fully
formed within five days, it allows researchers to
study the development of an organism from egg to
maturity. An RNA injected into a one-cell embryo
interferes with the making of the CHD7 protein,
thus producing a zebrafish embryo with very
similar problems as the human babies with
CHARGE syndrome.
About 1 in 20,000 people in the world, and an
estimated 50,000 in India alone, are born with
CHARGE syndrome — multiple life-threatening
problems such as deafness and blindness, heart
defects, genital problems and growth retardation
and facial bone and nerve defects that cause
breathing and swallowing difficulties. There is a
high death rate in the very first year in children
born with CHARGE. A mutation in the CHD7
gene is responsible for 60-70% of all CHARGE
defects. The expression of the gene peaks in the
early stages of embryo development, starting from
2-4 cells.
CHARGE syndrome is a disorder that affects
many areas of the body. CHARGE stands for
coloboma, heart defect, atresia choanae (also
known as choanal atresia), retarded growth and
development, genital abnormality, and ear
abnormality. The pattern of malformations varies
among individuals with this disorder, and infants
often have multiple life-threatening medical
conditions. About two third of cases are due to a
CHD7 mutation.
The major characteristics of CHARGE syndrome
are more specific to this disorder than are the
minor characteristics. Many individuals with
CHARGE syndrome have a hole in one of the
structures of the eye (coloboma), which forms
during early development. Some people also have
small eyes (microphthalmia). One or both nasal
passages may be narrowed or completely blocked.
Individuals with CHARGE syndrome frequently
have cranial nerve abnormalities. The cranial
nerves emerge directly from the brain and extend
to various areas of the head and neck, controlling
muscle movement and transmitting sensory
information.
Abnormal function of certain cranial nerves can
cause swallowing problems, facial paralysis, a
sense of smell that is diminished (hyposmia) or
completely absent (anosmia), and mild to profound
hearing loss. People with CHARGE syndrome also
typically have middle and inner ear abnormalities
and unusually shaped ears.
The diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome is often
difficult, because it is rare. The syndrome spans
many disciplines, and as such, can be diagnosed by
a pediatrician, oral and maxillofacial surgeon,
ENT specialist, ophthalmologist, audiologist,
endocrinologist, cardiologist, urologist,
developmental specialist, radiologist, geneticist,
physiotherapist, occupational therapist, speech
therapist, or orthopedic specialist.
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
attains criticality
The second reactor of Kudankulam Nuclear Power
Project (KKNPP) attained criticality at 8.56 PM on
10 July 2016. On commencing the First Approach
to Criticality (FAC) on 8 July 2016 by
withdrawing the control rods from the reactor,
boron dilution started a few hours later to allow
neutron concentration to go up, which eventually
led to the criticality of the reactor. The KKNPP
had submitted its reports to the Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB) and received the nod
for criticality after the Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change experts inspected the
second unit. They submitted their report to the
Supreme Court. At present, India operates 21
reactors that can generate 5780 MW of electricity
besides giving the country its atomic weapons.
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Once the reactor starts generating 400 MWe of
power, it is likely to be connected to the grid
possibly within 45 days from the date of criticality.
Generation of power will be raised to 500 MWe,
750 MWe, 900 MWe and 1000 MWe in stages. At
every stage, various tests will be conducted and
the technical parameters verified as mandated by
the AERB. The atomic reactor will provide
electricity to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and
Karnataka. Tamil Nadu is expected to get a
minimum of 462.50 MWe from the second unit.
What is criticality? Criticality is a nuclear term
that refers to the balance of neutrons in the system.
When the neutron population remains constant,
this means there is a perfect balance between
production rate and loss rate. Therefore, the
nuclear system is said to be critical. The criticality
of a system can be calculated by comparing the
rate at which neutrons are produced to the rate at
which they are lost through absorption and leakage
out of the reactor core. A nuclear reactor is a
system that controls this criticality or balance of
neutrons.
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear
power station in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli
district of Tamil Nadu. The first unit of the plant
had attained criticality on 13 July 2013. Unit 1 of
the plant was synchronised with the southern
power grid on 22 October 2013.
NASA's Juno Spacecraft successfully
enters Jupiter’s orbit
Juno spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) on 4 July 2016
successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit. Confirmation
of a successful orbit insertion was received from
Juno tracking data monitored at the navigation
facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL). Juno's main aim is to understand the origin
and evolution of Jupiter. The spacecraft will also
investigate the existence of a solid planetary core,
map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the
amount of water and ammonia in the deep
atmosphere and observe the planet's auroras.
Juno is a NASA New Frontiers mission launched
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 5
August 2011. It is in a polar orbit to study Jupiter's
composition, gravity field, magnetic field and
polar magnetosphere. It will determine how much
water is in Jupiter's atmosphere. It will look deep
into Jupiter's atmosphere to measure composition,
temperature, cloud motions and other properties. It
will map Jupiter's magnetic and gravity fields,
revealing the planet's deep structure. Juno will
dispose off in the form of a controlled deorbit into
Jupiter in February 2018.
NASA extends New Horizons mission to
Kuiper Belt
The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) in the first week of July
2016 gave its approval to the New Horizons
mission to investigate a mysterious object deep in
the Kuiper Belt. The mission will explore the
mysterious object known as 2014 MU69. It is
expected that the New Horizons will reach 2014
MU69 on 31 December 2018 or 1 January 2019.
2014 MU69 is an ancient object considered one of
the early building blocks of the solar system. It
was selected as New Horizons' target in August
2015. It was discovered on 26 June 2014 using the
Hubble Space Telescope during a preliminary
survey to find a suitable Kuiper belt object for the
New Horizons probe to flyby. 2014 MU69 is the
first object to be targeted for a flyby that was
discovered after the spacecraft was launched.
New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that
was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers
program. It is engineered by the Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and
the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a
team led by S. Alan Stern. It was launched with
the primary mission to perform a flyby study of
the Pluto system. Its secondary mission is to fly by
and study one or more other Kuiper belt objects
(KBOs).
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Great Red Spot storm heating Jupiter's
atmosphere: Study
Astronomers in a new study claimed that Jupiter’s
Great Red Spot, a storm three times bigger than
Earth, is hundreds of degrees hotter than anywhere
else on the planet. The study was published in
Nature on 27 July 2016. GRS, the largest storm in
the solar system, was detected using an infrared
telescope at Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Observatory.
The storm is based in Jupiter’s lower atmosphere
and spans 13670 miles by 7456 miles (22000 km
by 12000 km). The top of its clouds reach altitudes
of about 31 miles (50 km). The storms on Jupiter
fail in making a landfall and dissipate, due to
unavailability of land on the planet that is made
almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. Unlike
hurricane on Earth, the storm on Jupiter is calm
but farther out winds reaches 270 mph to 425 mph
(430 kmph to 680 kmph).
It is like a wheel that is wedged between two
conveyor belts running in opposite directions. This
helps them to add momentum at the top and
bottom. They also feed the vortex to them and help
in keeping them alive. Based on the process of
elimination, the study concluded that the newly
found hot spot must be heated from below.
However, the team concluded that the finding may
fail to explain the real cause behind transfer of heat
but provides a strong link between Jupiter's upper
and lower atmosphere.
Change in Colour: Based on previous reports, the
team of scientists concluded that over the time it
has been changing its colour, as in a 1900 report in
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer it was described the
oval storm as salmon pink. Recent images from
the Hubble Space Telescope show it has become
orange tinged and more circular.
IMD to use supercomputer to forecast
monsoon with Dynamical Model
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in
the last week of July 2016 announced that India
Meteorological Department (IMD) will use
supercomputer to forecast India’s annual summer
monsoon.
The forecast made by a supercomputer will be
based on a dynamical monsoon model. It will be
operational from 2017.
What is Dynamical Monsoon Model?
• The dynamical model is also known as the
Coupled Forecast System.
• It collates data on local as well as global weather
patterns to simulate a forecast for a specific
duration.
• The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology
(IITM), Pune, has been using this model on an
experimental basis for around 10 years to assist
IMD’s annual monsoon forecasts.
• To operationalise the alternate model, IMD is
investing in supercomputers that can function at a
speed of 10 petaflops-per second system.
• The dynamical model has achieved a 60%
accuracy at present and IMD aims to take it up to
77%.
• The dynamical model provides a wider scope to
upgrade forecasts for specific regions, in sync with
the changing weather patterns and variations of a
progressing monsoon.
• The dynamical model and faster computing will
also improve short range forecasts as the IMD will
be able to access sharper resolution images.
Current Model to Predict Monsoon
• IMD has been using the ensemble statistical
model to predict monsoon since 2007.
• A basic statistical model was in use first since
1920.
• In 2007, it switched to the ensemble statistical
forecasting due to the inaccuracy of the annual
summer forecasts.
• The existing model relies on arriving at a
prediction based on historical monsoon data
coupled with data on sea-surface temperatures and
winds.
SPORTS
Virat Kohli becomes first Indian captain
to score double century outside India
India test team captain Virat Kohli on 22 July
2016 became the first Indian captain to score a
double century outside India. Kohli scored 200
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runs against West Indies on day two of the first
Test at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium in North
Sound. With his double century, Kohli entered the
list of visiting captains with highest scores in West
Indies. The list includes name like Sir Leonard
Hutton, Steve Waugh, Andrew Strauss and Ricky
Ponting.
Neeraj Chopra becomes first Indian to
win gold in World Athletics
championships
Neeraj Chopra, the javelin thrower from India, on
23 July 2016 won gold in the IAAF World Under-
20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. With
this, Neeraj, 18, managed to set a new world
record (U-20) of 86.48m. His 86.48m effort also
helped India in bringing its first world record as
well as the country’s first-ever gold in any World
athletics championships.
SC accepts Lodha panel
recommendations on structural reforms
in BCCI
The Supreme Court on 18 July 2016 accepted
major recommendations of the Lodha Committee
on reforms in BCCI including a bar on ministers
and civil servants and those above 70 years of age
from becoming its members. However, the apex
court left it to the Parliament to decide whether it
should come under RTI and if betting on the game
should be legalised. The apex court also accepted
the recommendations of the Committee headed by
retired Chief Justice of India Justice R M Lodha to
have a CAG nominee in BCCI.
On the other hand, the bench of Chief Justice TS
Thakur and Justice FMI Kalifulla rejected BCCI’s
objection against recommendations for one-state-
one-vote. While rejecting BCCI’s concern it said
that states like Maharashtra and Gujarat having
more than one cricket associations will have
voting rights on rotational basis.
It accepted the panel's recommendation that there
should be a player's association in the BCCI. The
bench also accepted the recommendation that one
person should hold one post in cricket
administration to avoid any conflict of interest and
scrapping of all other administrative committees in
the BCCI after CAG nominee comes in.
The court also left it to the Board to decide
whether there is need for any changes in the
existing agreement relating to broadcasting rights
and whether a franchise member should be in the
Board to avoid any conflict of interest.
The apex court-appointed Lodha Committee had
on 4 January 2016 recommended sweeping
reforms and an administrative shake-up at the
troubled BCCI.
Vijender Singh defeats Kerry Hope to
clinch WBO Asia Pacific Super
Middleweight title
Vijender Singh, the boxing star from India, on 16
July 2016 clinched the WBO Asia Pacific Super
Middleweight title at the Thyagraj Stadium, New
Delhi. To win the title, the six-footer from
Haryana defeated former WBC European
champion Kerry Hope.
With this, Singh also became the country’s first-
ever professional boxing title holder. The win also
helped him to climb to 15th in the world in his
category.
Harika Dronavalli wins Fide Women’s
Grand Prix trophy in China
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India's Grand Master Harika Dronavalli on 14 July
2016 won the Fide Women’s Grand Prix trophy in
Chendu, China. This was the first Grand Prix
Chess title for the Grand Master from Guntur.
Harika defeated Russia’s Olga Girya to win the
title.
2016 Wimbledon concluded
Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the 2016
tennis season concluded on 10 July 2016. It was
held for two weeks beginning on 27 July 2016 at
the All England Club in Wimbledon, London.
Winners of Wimbledon
Category Winner Runner-up
Men’s
Singles
Andy Murray
(Great Britain)
Milos Raonic
(Canada)
Women's
Singles
Serena Williams
(United States)
Angelique
Kerber
(Germany)
Men's
Doubles
Pierre-Hugues
Herbert and
Nicolas Mahut
(France)
Julien
Benneteauan
d Édouard
Roger-
Vasselin
(France)
Women's
Doubles
Serena Williams
and Venus
Williams
Timea Babos
(Hungary)
and
Yaroslava
Shvedova
(Russia)
Mixed
doubles
Heather Watson
(Britain) and Henri
Kontinen (Finland)
Anna-Lena
Groenefeld
(Germany)
and Roberto
Farah
(Colombia)
Portugal wins Euro 2016 football
championship; defeated France 1-0
Portugal on 10 July 2016 lifted the Euro 2016
football championship. In the final clash played at
Saint-Denis in Paris, Portugal defeated France 1-0.
Substitute Eder scored in extra-time to give
Portugal a win at their first major international title
despite losing captain and talisman Cristiano
Ronaldo to injury.
Lewis Hamilton wins 2016 British Grand
Prix
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on 10 July 2016
claimed the 2016 British Grand Prix title of
Formula One at the Silverstone Circuit in
Silverstone, United Kingdom. It is Hamilton’s
overall fourth British Grand Prix title after
winning it in 2008, 2014 and 2015. He also
became the first driver to win the British Grand
Prix three times in a row.
Para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan wins
eight medals in IWAS World Games
Para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan won eight
medals, including three gold medals, at the
International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports
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(IWAS) U-23 World Games. The games
concluded on 3 July 2016 in Prague, Czech
Republic.
Mukundan bagged gold medals in 200m freestyle,
50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke, silver in
100m fly and 50m freestyle, and bronze in 100m
freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 100m backstroke
events.
B Sai Praneeth wins 2016 Canada Open
Grand Prix Badminton Men’s Singles
title
Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth on 3 July 2016
clinched the Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton
Men’s Singles title at Calgary. Praneeth defeated
Lee Hyun II of Korea 21-12, 21-10.
On the other hand, men's doubles pair of Manu
Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also grabbed Men’s
doubles title at the tournament. Top seed doubles
pair Attri and Reddy defeated Adrian Liu and
Toby Ng 21-8 21-14 in a lop-sided final. The pair
of Attri and Reddy is the first Indian men's doubles
pair to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
Lewis Hamilton wins 2016 Austrian
Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton on 3 July 2016 won the 2016
Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in
Spielberg, Austria. Hamilton started the race from
pole and went on to win the race after colliding
with Nico Rosberg on the final lap. As a result,
Rosberg finished fourth behind Red Bull Racing-
TAG Heuer’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Kimi
Raikkonen.
MISCELLANEOUS
‘Ramayana month’ begins in Kerala
Kerala on 16 July 2016 started observing
Ramayana month in the temples. In Malayalam it
is termed as the Ramayana Masam. The Ramayana
Month starts with the commencement of
Malayalam month ‘Karkidakam’. During this
month the temples and homes of the state recites
Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu written by
medieval devotional poet Thunjath Ezhuthachan
for the 30 days. Ezhuthachan is regarded as the
father of Malayalam literature.
The reading of epic Ramayana begins on the first
day of the month and is completed on the last day
of the month Karkkidakom. The Ramayana is
recited by the elder members’ everyday in the
evenings after lighting traditional lamp
Nilavilakku.
Karkkidakam (July - August) is the last month of
Malayalam calendar and is considered as month of
rain and scarcity (Panjamaasom). As per belief, the
month brings good luck and prosperity to the
families as well as spiritual strength to go through
different difficulties that comes during monsson.
Karkkidakam month comes ahead of Chingam that
brings colourful festival of Onam for the
Malayalis.
Jagannath Rath Yatra begins in Puri,
Odisha
The 139th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath
commenced on 6 July 2016 in Puri, Odisha. The
nine-day-long Rath Yatra will see congregation of
more than 10 lakh devotees from India and abroad.
The annual festival is celebrated on Ashadha
Shukla Paksha Dwitiya (second day in bright
fortnight of Ashadha month). During the Rath
Yatra, Lord Jagannath his brother Balbhadra and
sister Subhadra will be brought out of the temple
to be taken to Gundicha temple, the place of their
aunt's house.
During the journey, the chariots on which the
deities are carried will be pulled by thousands of
devotees. The three deities will stay in the
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Gundicha temple for a week and then return. The
return journey of Puri Jagannath Ratha Jatra is
known as Bahuda Jatra.
Lord Jagannatha's chariot is called Nandighosa. It
is forty-five feet high and forty-five feet square at
the wheel level. It has sixteen wheels, each of
seven-foot diameter. It is decorated with a cover
made of red and yellow cloth. The chariot of Lord
Balarama is called as the Taladhwaja. It has
fourteen wheels. It is covered with red and blue
cloth. The chariot of Subhadra is known as
Dwarpadalana. It has twelve wheels. It is covered
with red and black cloth.
So what if jallikattu is an age-old
tradition
While asserting that it disapproves arguments that
the ‘Jallikattu’ should be allowed because it’s
centuries old, the Supreme Court has set August
30 as the final hearing date to decide on the
constitutionality of Jallikattu. The court’s strong
response was after Tamil Nadu argued that
Jallikattu – the mostly southern bull-racing sport –
should be permitted as it showcases a cultural
tradition that has been part of the custom and
culture of people of the state for 5,000 years.
The Supreme Court already banned Jallikattu
once, in May 2014. At the time it said bulls could
not be used as performing animals, either for
Jallikattu or for bullock-cart races. However, in
January, the Centre allowed the ‘sport’ in Tamil
Nadu and Maharashtra. It was seen as a pre-state
election manoeuvre; state elections were held in
Tamil Nadu in May.
Days after the Centre allowed it, in January, the
Supreme Court put Jallikattu on hold. It issued
notices to the Centre and other states asking them
to file their responses in four weeks, to petitions
challenging the central government’s notification
allowing Jallikattu and bullock-cart races.
Jallikattu: Jallikattu is a bull taming sport played in
Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on
Mattu Pongal day. It is a Tamil tradition called
‘Yeru thazhuvuthal’ in Sangam literature(meaning,
to embrace bulls), popular amongst warriors
during the Tamil classical period. Jallikattu is
based on the concept of “flight or fight”. All castes
participate in the event. The majority of jallikattu
bulls belong to the pulikulam breed of cattle.
A Kanyakumari becomes first woman
violinist to receive Sangita Kalanidhi
Award
The Madras Music Academy on 24 July 2016
announced that it has chosen versatile violinist A.
Kanyakumari for its coveted Sangita Kalanidhi
Award for the year 2016. Kanyakumari was
unanimously named for the award by the
Executive Committee of the Academy. The
violinist is the first woman violinist to get the
award in the history of the Music Academy. She
will preside over the 90th annual conference of the
Academy to be held between 15 December 2016
and 1 January 2017.
Sangita Kalanidhi is the title awarded yearly to an
expert Carnatic Musician by the Madras Music
Academy. This honour is considered one of the
highest awards in Carnatic music. In 2015, vocalist
Sanjay Subrahmanyan was awarded with the title.
Bezwada Wilson, Thodur Madabusi
Krishna win Ramon Magsaysay Award
2016
Two Indians including social activist Bezwada
Wilson and musician Thodur Madabusi (TM)
Krishna on 26 July 2016 won the prestigious
Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016. Bezwada Wilson
was recognized for asserting the inalienable right
to a life of human dignity. He is the National
Convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan
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(SKA). While, TM Krishna was recognized for
ensuring social inclusiveness in culture. He is a
Carnatic music vocalist. They are among the total
six awardees selected for the 2016 Ramon
Magsaysay Award. The other four awardees are:
• Conchita Carpio Morales (Philippines): She has
been recognized for restoring faith in the rule of
law.
• Dompet Dhuafa (Indonesia): She has been
recognized for expanding the transformative
impact of zakat.
• Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (Japan):
The organisation has been recognized for building
a world of genuine solidarity.
• Vientiane Rescue (Laos): The organisation has
been recognized for volunteering to save lives at
risk.
Ramon Magsaysay Award: The Award was
established in 1957 and is widely regarded as
Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. • It was
established in 1957 in the memory of Philippines’
3rd President Ramon Magsaysay who had died in
air disaster in March 1957. The awardees receive a
certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the
late President Ramon Magsaysay, and a cash prize.
The Award honours those individuals whose lives
are characterized by selfless service which impacts
the lives of the greater many.
Rohit Khandelwal becomes first Indian
to win Mister World title
India's contestant Rohit Khandelwal won the
coveted Mister World 2016 title on 19 July 2016.
The grand finale of Mr World 2016 was held at the
Southport Theatre & Convention Centre in
Southport, U.K. With this, Khandelwal has
become the first Indian and Asian to win the Mr
World title at the competition. Mr World 2014
Nicklas Pedersen passed on the title to
Khandelwal. He also won a cash prize of 50000
US dollar. Puerto Rico’s Fernando Alberto
Alvarez Soto was named the first runner-up and
Aldo Esparza Ramirez of Mexico was named the
second runner-up.
President confers 51st Jnanpith Award
on Dr. Raghuveer Chaudhari
President Pranab Mukherjee on 11 July 2016
conferred the 51st Jnanpith Award on renowned
Gujarati writer Dr. Raghuveer Chaudhari at
Parliament Library Building, New Delhi. He was
awarded with the India's highest literary honour
for the year 2015. He was given a cash prize, a
citation plaque and a bronze replica of Goddess
Saraswati. With this, he also became the fourth
Gujarati literary artist to receive the prestigious
award. The other Gujarati recipients of the award
are poet Umashankar Joshi (1967), novelist
Pannalal Patel (1985) and poet Rajendra Shah
(2001). His most noted works include novels
Amruta, Venu Vatsala and Uparvas. He had also
received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977, for
his novel trilogy Uparvas.
Jnanpith Award is one of the prestigious literary
awards in India. The name of award is taken from
Sanskrit words Jnana and Pitha which means
knowledge-seat. It was instituted in 1961 and is
presented by Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded
by the Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain family.
The award is given to any Indian citizen who
writes in any 22 official languages of India
mentioned in VIII Schedule of Constitution of
India. Prior to 1982, the award was only given for
a single work by a writer. But since 1982, the
award is given for lifetime contribution to Indian
literature. The award includes cash prize of 11 lakh
rupees, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of
Saraswati. The 50th Jnanpith award was given to
Marathi writer Bhalchandra Vanaji Nemade,
renowned for his books Hindu and Kosala.
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Radhika Menon becomes first woman to
bag IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery
at Sea
Captain Radhika Menon on 7 July 2016 was
selected for the 2016 International Maritime
Organization (IMO) Award for Exceptional
Bravery at Sea. Menon has been selected for the
prestigious award for her role in the rescue of
seven fishermen from a sinking fishing boat in the
Bay of Bengal in June 2015. Captain Menon will
also be the first female to receive the IMO Award
for Exceptional Bravery at Sea.
World Hepatitis Day 2016 observed with
theme Elimination
World Hepatitis Day 2016 was observed across the
world on 28 July 2016 with the theme Elimination.
The day acts as a significant global platform for
raising awareness about hepatitis and influence
real change in disease prevention, testing and
treatment. The theme for the 2016 focuses on
elimination of hepatitis as a public health threat by
2030. The theme can be easily adapted for local
use to achieve elimination, greater awareness,
increased diagnosis and key interventions
including universal vaccination, blood and
injection safety etc.
Viral hepatitis is caused by 5 distinct hepatitis
viruses A, B, C, D and E which together are
responsible for 1.45 million deaths each year.
Hepatitis B and C are responsible for 80 percent of
infections whereas Hepatitis A and E are only
responsible for 1 percent of infections. 81 percent
of world’s infants are vaccinated and protected
from hepatitis B infection and 2 million hepatitis B
and hepatitis C infections occur yearly through
unsafe injections. These viruses are transmitted
through contaminated water and food, as well as
by contact with blood or bodily fluids, through
unsafe injections or transfusions. Infection also
occurs from a mother to a child, or through sexual
contact.
Nelson Mandela International Day 2016
observed
Nelson Mandela International Day was observed
across the world on 18 July 2016 to honour the
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela (1918-
2013). The day is aimed at inspiring individuals to
take action to help change the world for the better.
The Day was celebrated for the first time on 18
July 2010 as per a UN General Assembly
resolution of November 2009.
World Youth Skills Day 2016 observed
globally
The World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) was on 15
July 2016 observed globally with the theme Skills
Development to Improve Youth Employment. On
the occasion, United Nations organised the event
facilitated by the UN Envoy on Youth Ahmad
Alhendawi. The event was co-organized with the
Permanent Missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka to
the United Nations, UNESCO and the
International Labour Organization (ILO).
The day is observed to create more awareness and
a discussion on training and the development of
skills for the youth of today, in hopes of creating a
better opportunity for them when it comes to
employment.
MENTOR SEPTEMBER 2016
(For previous issues visit www.mentorstudypoint.in ) Page 44
World Population Day 2016 observed
with theme Investing in teenage girls
World Population Day was observed on 11 July
2016 with theme Investing in teenage girls. The
theme focuses on the empowerment of teenage
girls. The day seeks to raise awareness of global
population issues. • The event was established by
the Governing Council of the United Nations
Development Programme in 1989. The day aims at
increasing people's awareness on various
population issues such as the importance of family
planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health
and human rights.
Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to
have ‘Happiness Department’
Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the
country to set up ‘Happiness Department’. The
department will work to ensure “happiness in the
lives of common people” on the lines of Bhutan.
A panel of experts will be formed in the newly-
constituted department which will give
suggestions to ensure happiness in the lives of the
people.
The department will identify and define
parameters that make people happy, coordinate
among various departments, recommend policy
changes and formulate an action plan to “increase
the level of happiness and satisfaction” among the
state’s more than 7.25 crore population — all on a
Rs 3.60 crore budget.
The department will have a president, a chief
officer, a director (research), a director
(coordination) and four research assistant among
others. Experts working in the field could be
nominated to the department.
The department will take feedback from people on
the happiness parameters at regular intervals,
publish survey reports and carry out research to
improve the existing parameters.
Bhutan, the first country to come up with the
concept of gross national happiness, has fixed
standards of living, health, education, good
governance and psychological happiness among
the various parameters that make its citizens
happy.
Some of the US states that follow Gross National
Wellness have included emotional and
psychological ability, physical health, work,
income, economic progress and holidays among
other parameters.
The parameters used by the United Nations
include per capita GDP, health, community
cooperation during bad times, and trust-inducing
measures like corruption-free government and
business, freedom to take decisions, and
philanthropy.
The World Happiness Report 2016 by the UN
ranks India at 118th among 156 countries, behind
Somalia (76), China (83), Pakistan (92), Iran
(105), Palestinian Territories (108) and
Bangladesh (110). Madhya Pradesh, which has
made remarkable progress in agriculture in recent
times, does not figure among the country’s
developed states, and fares badly when it comes to
social indices like maternal and infant mortality. It
also has a very high rate of crimes against women.
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