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Current Affairs from The Hindu DATE:18-05-15

S.NO. NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE1. Mongolia gets $1-

bn credit gift (Pages 1 and 10)

a) I.R a) India announced a $1 billion credit line to Mongolia for infrastructure development as they upgraded their ties to strategic partnership and agreed to deepen defence cooperation besides exploring potential for tie-ups in areas like the civil nuclear sector.

2. Caution and optimism (Page 8)

a) I.R a) In the last two decades, the diplomatic emphasis in India-China relations has been on working on a strong economic relationship that would cut down the strategic differences and feeling of adversarial relations that have pushed up over time.

3. India, EU not far apart on FTA: envoy (Pages 1 and 10)

a) I.R a) India and EU could break the deadlock impeding the Free Trade Agreement when Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman travels to Paris in June to attend an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development event.

4. Learning skills from Seoul (Page 9)

a) I.R a) India and South Korea have a strong economic engagement, but the Modi govt will need to take bold steps for a deeper partnership.

5. UN envoy urges extension of Yemen truce (2)

a) International a) A UN envoy called for an extension of a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen due to expire as the Huthi Shia rebels boycotted political talks in Riyadh.

6. Will work to eliminate discretions, maintain pace of reforms: Jaitley (Page 10)

a) National

b) Economy

a) As he outlined economic road map of Modi govt for its second year, Finance Minister Jaitley said that making taxation more reasonable and improving ease of doing business will be among his top priorities going ahead.

7. Defending Indias IPR (Page 15)

a) Economy a) Indias IPR regime has come under sharp focus recently for a variety of reasons.

8. Taking a comprehensive view of quakes (Page 9)

a) Geography a) The tragic Nepal quake is an opportunity to learn and understand the threats of great earthquakes.

S.NO. NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS BACKGROUND IMPORTANT POINTS

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1. Mongolia gets $1-bn credit gift (Pages 1 and 10)

a) I.R a) India – Mongolia relations

b) Defence cooperation

c) Economic ties

d) Indias Act East Policy

e) Treaty of Friendly Relations and Cooperation

a) India announced a $1 billion credit line to Mongolia for infrastructure development as they upgraded their ties to strategic partnership and agreed to deepen defence cooperation besides exploring potential for tie-ups in areas like the civil nuclear sector.

b) PM Modi said that now Mongolia is also an integral part of Indias Act East Policy.

c) After their talks, the two signed a joint statement committing to consolidate ties and upgrade the comprehensive partnership to strategic partnership and agreed to renew their Treaty of Friendly Relations and Cooperation.

d) The two sides signed 13 other pacts that include one on enhancing cooperation in border defence, policing and surveillance, air services, cyber security and new and renewable energy.

e) The joint statement by the two PMs said that India and Mongolia support the evolution of open, balanced and inclusive security architecture in the Asia Pacific region based on collected efforts, considering legitimate interests of all states of the region guided by respect for norms and principles of international law.

2. Caution and optimism (Page

a) I.R a) India – China a) In the last two decades, the diplomatic emphasis in

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8) relations

b) Economic ties

c) Boundary dispute

d) Chinas one belt, one road initiative

e) Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor

f) Climate change

g) UNFCCC

h) Kyoto Protocol

India-China relations has been on working on a strong economic relationship that would cut down the strategic differences and feeling of adversarial relations that have pushed up over time.

b) This is evident in the joint statement issued after bilateral talks between PM Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The statement also seeks to address some of the concerns over the nature of economic relationship. The signing of 26 agreements detailing commercial investments worth $22 billion between companies signifies the growing economic ties.

c) The joint statement on climate change that restated the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities to address issues of climate change and restated support for UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol, was also timely. This would clear some doubts about Chinas position following its joint statement with the US on cuts in emission levels.

d) The boundary dispute finds mention in the joint statement; while progress in talks has been slow ever since they began, there is the assurance that both sides will

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seek to maintain peace at the border as they work towards a solution.

e) Modis delegation gave no indication that India is keen to participate in Chinas ambitious one belt, one road initiative; the joint statement limited the reference to cooperation on the BCIM economic corridor. This suggests a degree of caution on Indias part over Chinas role in Indias near and extended neighbourhood.

f) Yet, Modi suggested the need to overcome strategic differences even while acknowledging complexities as India seeks to build existing ties with other world powers. It is to be hoped that this emphasis, and ongoing engagement between the two leaderships at the highest levels would build further momentum to truly realise a strong India-China partnership for the 21st century.

3. India, EU not far apart on FTA: envoy (Pages 1 and 10)

a) I.R a) India – EU relations

b) India-EU Summit

c) Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

d) Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

a) EU Ambassador said that India and EU could break the deadlock obstructing FTA when Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman travels to Paris in June to attend an OECD event.

b) He says the India-EU Summit to be held later this year will have as its broad themes how Europe can support Indias transformational and

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e) Counter terrorism

f) Smart City

g) Swachh Bharat

h) Make in India

development agenda, how India can support the challenges that Europe faces, and how India and Europe can work together on issues of global governance.

c) He said Modi govt had set an ambitious transformational agenda and the EU countries keen on partnering India in the implementation of schemes such as Smart City, Swachh Bharat and Make in India, were looking for appropriate responses.

d) On other areas of India-EU cooperation, including combating terrorism, he said there was a need to create fluidity in information-sharing. We have a counter-terrorism dialogue happening in Brussels soon, in which we will raise the issue of information-sharing and de-radicalisation.

4. Learning skills from Seoul (Page 9)

a) I.R a) India – South Korea relations

b) Economic ties

c) Bilateral trade

d) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

e) Make in India

f) Skill development

g) Tourism

a) After wrapping up his visits to China and Mongolia, PM Modi will be in Korea on May 18 and 19 in recognition of its potential importance in pushing the agenda of Make in India, skill development, employment generation and indigenisation of defence manufacturing.

b) South Korea and India have both economic and cultural ties, apart from similar historical trajectories. Their ancient bonds are based on the twin strands of Buddhism and Princess of Ayodhya. The two

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h) Buddhism

i) Princess of Ayodhya

countries also share bitter colonial experiences; they had to undergo post-independence horrors of partition. Both continue to face hostile nuclear siblings - Pakistan and North Korea, respectively.

c) Despite this, India and South Korea did not take much notice of each other till the end of the 1970s. A nonaligned India followed a policy of equal treatment of two Koreas, which it finally abandoned in 1980s.

d) The emergence of South Korea as an Asian Tiger compelled India to look at it as a source of investment and technology. The dawn of real democracy in South Korea in the late 1980s brought it ideologically closer to India. The end of the Cold War and former PM Narasimha Raos Look East Policy opened the doors for a rapid economic engagement with South Korea.

e) The first decade of the new millennium saw a rapid expansion of both economic and political relations. In 2010, India and South Korea became Strategic Partners and implemented CEPA. Bilateral trade surged to $20 billion in 2011, surpassing Indias trade with Japan. However, economic activities have been somewhat stagnant since then and require renewed energy and new ideas.

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f) Both countries focus on the economic prosperity of their citizens. On strategic regional issues, they struggle for a stable and peaceful external environment. However, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Modi differ widely on the other two regional giants - China and Japan. No consensus on this is expected at this summit.

g) PM Modi will benefit from studying the Korean experience of rapid skill development in the 1960s and 1970s. The impressive industrial miracle of South Korea is based on its trained and dedicated manpower. The system of vocational training, technical education as well as Research and Development is driven by the requirements of industry. In these areas, Indias efforts are largely govt-driven and practically divorced from industry requirements.

h) In the shipbuilding sector, South Korea has world class technology, but India has outdated equipment and management. Creative policy changes would be required in India to motivate Korean private shipbuilders to invest in India. Modi govt should offer to lease a shipyard to the Koreans for the long-term on negotiated terms. Such a move would attract the Koreans to not only invest in shipbuilding in

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India but also bring in modern technology and equipment.

i) During the visit, Modi is likely to face some pressure from President Park for urgent revision of CEPA. However, he must be cautious as the present CEPA has not generated any extra exports from India, and the bilateral trade gap is widening against India.

j) Koreans may also press for the allocation of a site for Korean companies to build a nuclear power plant. They may offer state of the art technology and their overall costs for erecting a project would be about 20 percent less than their competitors. In turn, India could offer to launch Korean satellites on its launch vehicles.

k) There is vast potential for growth of tourism on both sides and Indias decision to grant Visa on Arrival and e-visas to Koreans will facilitate tourism.

l) The key component of India-South Korea strategic partnership continues to be a strong economic engagement. This fits with the present priorities of the PM to boost the manufacturing sector in India. But Modi govt would need to display more imagination and take bold steps to fully tap the potential of a deeper partnership with South Korea.

5. UN envoy urges a) International a) Yemen conflict a) A UN envoy called for an

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extension of Yemen truce (Page 12) b) Huthi rebels

extension of a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen due to expire as the Huthi Shia rebels boycotted political talks in Riyadh.

b) The appeal followed clashes on the ground between rebels and pro-govt forces that killed dozens across south Yemen despite the ceasefire, which has largely held.

c) Yemeni political parties began talks in the Saudi capital aimed at finding a solution to the crisis. But the Huthis stayed away from the meeting of about 400 delegates.

6. Will work to eliminate discretions, maintain pace of reforms: Jaitley (Page 10)

a) National

b) Economy

a) Economic reforms

b) Taxation system

a) As he outlined economic road map of Modi govt for its second year, Finance Minister Jaitley said that making taxation more reasonable and improving ease of doing business will be among his top priorities going ahead.

b) On taxation, he said the effort would be to make it more reasonable. He added that the corporate tax rate would be brought down to 25 percent from 30 percent over a period of four years on the direct taxes. Govt also intends to eliminate the exemptions while reducing the rate of corporate tax, though these would be retained for the individual taxpayers.

7. Defending Indias IPR (Page 15)

a) Economy a) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

b) National Intellectual

a) It is ten years since India amended the Indian Patents Act 1970 to bring its laws in line with the agreement on TRIPS.

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Property Rights policy

c) Indian Patents Act 1970

d) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

e) US Trade Representative (USTR)

The most important of those amendments related to the introduction of product patents for 20 years, including for pharmaceutical products.

b) Significant safeguards were built into the legislation. These included debarring of ever greening patents, a process by which the patent holder seeks minor tinkering with the products.

c) The amended legislation also expanded the scope of compulsory licensing and introduced for the first time post grant opposition to patents. The legislation raised the bar for what constitutes an invention and what cannot be patented in India.

d) The NDA govts approach to IPR issues has been a subject of intense discussion, especially in the context of repeated attempts by the USTR to put India and some other countries on the mat over the alleged weaknesses in their IPR regime.

e) On April 30, the office of USTR named India and China among 13 countries (which were placed on a priority list), requiring close scrutiny for their alleged IPR weaknesses in diverse areas including pharma, IT and publishing.

f) The report called upon these govts to plug what it thinks is the gap in their IPR

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regimes so as to align them with global standards. For India the USTR action has been a persistent thorn.

g) India needs to fashion a policy that will be in tune with global standards and at the same time protect special India strengths. Taking a balanced approach, it says that existing laws (that seek to protect the rights and incentives of innovators on the one hand and public interest on the other) would remain. However it also calls for legislative changes to keep pace with economic and technological developments.

h) IPR challenges have to be met increasingly through political action and diplomacy. The govt needs to strengthen its decision-making process and boost skills of its negotiators. In this connection an important initiative of NDA govt has been the setting up of an IPR think tank which among other tasks, will help in the formulation of a National Intellectual Property Rights policy for the first.

8. Taking a comprehensive view of quakes (Page 9)

a) Geography a) Earthquakes

b) Nepal earthquake

c) Tectonic plate movements

d) Himalayan region

e) Kathmandu Valley

a) The Nepal earthquake of April 25 is the largest in the Himalayan region since the 1934 quake which measured 8.2 on Richter scale and destroyed not only parts of central Nepal but also the plains of northern Bihar in India.

b) Like other Himalayan quakes, the Nepal earthquake is

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f) Richter scale

g) Faults

a dramatic manifestation of the ongoing tectonic convergence between the Indo-Australian and Asian tectonic plates that have built the Himalayas over the last 50 million years.

c) A product of millions of years of crustal shortening, the Himalayas are under immense tectonic stress and occasional earthquakes. The last 200 years in the region have seen four great earthquakes. But central Himalaya has been an exception and is considered to be susceptible to great earthquakes.

d) The Nepal earthquake was devastating due to many factors. The source of the quake was shallow and the fault plane extended right up to densely populated Kathmandu. Added to this, Kathmandu is on a primitive lake basin that amplifies seismic wave energy. The slip of 1 to 3 metres recorded along the 160-km-long rupture showed strain built up over a century.

e) Research implies that this segment has seen no great earthquakes in last 700 years. Thus, the unspent accumulated slip needed to be released through this quake and will further be released through future quakes. This means that the segment (which includes parts of Uttarakhand) is capable of witnessing more damage.

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f) As Indias northern territory is interfaced with a 2400-km-long seismically potential Himalayan arc, it needs to develop a workable strategy to lessen impact of earthquakes in populated areas. The latest advances in seismic sensor technology, data acquisition systems, digital communication and computer hardware and software facilitate developing real-time earthquake information systems.

g) Indias close proximity to an active plate boundary makes rapid dissemination of seismic data necessary. India should give priority to not only install but also sustain dense networks of observatories for both weak and strong motion data - like Japan, Taiwan and US do. This data can also be exploited to develop an earthquake alert system, which essentially uses travel time difference between body waves and surface waves.

h) We need to focus not only on earthquake engineering but also on seismological research. The Himalayas are a fantastic natural laboratory where earth processes can be captured live for new insights. Tackling future natural disasters will require a healthy mix of technology, scientific studies, trained and committed manpower, professionalism and the development of engineering

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skill and public awareness.

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