India Prepares - July 2012 (Vol.1 Issue 9)

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INDIA PREPARES

CONTENTS

1. ThE uNfOldiNg Reconfiguring the Constituents of National Interest in India’s

Foreign Policy: Reflections on the Emerging Perspectives and Concerns ........................................................................... 2

2. INTERVIEW-Deepak Singla Meeting the Stars............................................................... 16

2. NATIONAL BULLETIN National Green Tribunal: Path towards Sustainable

Development.................................................................. 18 National News.................................................................. 20

3. INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN SCO-Expanding Role.......... ............................................ 26 Nepal Crisis ..................................................................... 27 International News............................................................ 28

4. BILATERAL BULLETIN Prime Minister’s Visit to Myanmar ................................ 34 Bilateral News................................................................... 36

5. ECONOMY@ IP How Swiss Banks Operate?.............................................. 40 Economy News................................................................. 41

6. SCIENCE SPECTRUM Venus on the Sun ............................................................. 47 Science News................................................................... 48 Who Controls the Internet?.............................................. 53

7. HEALTH ISSUES Open Defecation: A National Shame................................ 54 8. ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY World Envionment Day..................................................... 56

7. PERSPECTIVES The IIT Debate................................................................. 57

8. INSPIRATION@IP Tiger of Madras-Vishwanathan Anand............................. 60

10. MOSAIC Indian Paintings ............................................................... 62

11. KNOW IT ALL................................................................. 66

IndIa PrePares

Volume 1 Issue 9July 2012

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012The Unfolding

Reconfiguring the Constituents of National Interest in India’s Foreign Policy: Reflections On the Emerging Perspectives and Concerns.

thE UNFOlDINg...

The recent discourse on India’s foreign policy has taken account of the emerging complexities in identifying and pursuing India’s national interest. The Indian strategic community is engaging with the intricacies of defining the interests of a supposedly emerging global power, as India prepares to come to grips with the vagaries of international power politics.

Such engagement has brought to fore diverse perspectives from the streams of thinking that are well entrenched in India’s foreign policy discourse- Nehruvian, neo- liberals and hyperrealists1 (see footnotes) - as well as some fresh analytical tools like the net assessment methodology (see footnote), used by Rajeev Kumar and R. Menon in their work “The Long View From Delhi: To Define the Indian Grand Strategy for Foreign Policy”.

The Ministry of External Affairs also seems to be doing its homework on this

aspect. The efforts for crystallizing and articulating India’s worldview was evident in the then Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s speech on ‘India’s Global Role’ at Harvard University, in September 2010 and recently in Ranjan Mathai’s address on Building Global Security at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. More significantly, earlier when Shiv Shankar Menon was serving as the Foreign Secretary , the Ministry of External Affairs recognized ‘the importance of rigorously defining national interest and aligning the country’s foreign policy to it’ and ‘commissioned a full-fledged two year study on the subject.’2 Thus, with an analytical as well as prescriptive objective, the study revisited the three conventional constituents of national interest ( see chart 1).

The study has come up with a general policy prescription which emphasizes that ‘for next two –three

decades India‘s national interest would be best served by single-mindedly pursuing the goal of achieving economic prosperity for the large masses’3. Such prescription seeks to reconfigure the preferential hierarchy of the constituents of India’s national interest.

By giving primacy to the component of economic prosperity, the study has concluded that India’s capacity to effectively address its security concern (to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity) and ability to play a meaningful global role depends on achieving sustained and rapid economic growth.

1. The following three distinct sets of perspectives on issues concerning India’s foreign policy are identifiable. It should be observed that despite considerable consistency, some of the exponents may belong to different streams of thinking on different issues of foreign policy or in different phases of their evolution as commentators on foreign policy.

Nehruvians and India’s foreign policy: They share the internationalist vision, non-alignment policy and, the pacifist and egalitarian outlook of Jawaharlal Nehru .They seek to articulate the moral premises or the idealist dimension of India’s foreign policy. Emphasis : (1) international cooperation - communication and contact through international institutions and laws and free intercourse between societies ( 2) international egalitarianism and concern for the well-being of the people across the world. India should: (a) recognise and reassert the relevance of non- alignment in the post cold war world order (b) promote a multilateral, non – discriminatory and verifiable disarmament , but before such complete disarmament is achieved , India should retain nuclear weapons as deterrence against security threats (c) promote South-South (between developing countries) understanding and North-South ( between the developed and developing countries) understanding .

Exponents: Muchkund Dubey, Praful Bidwai, V P Dutt, K Natwar Singh, , Ninan Koshy , Arundhati Ghose, M K Bhadrakumar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, etc.

Neo- liberals and India’s foreign policy: They believe that economic strength has emerged as the most important arbiter of power in international relations. India’s economic growth and modernization, pursuit of free market policies and integration into a globalized economy will form the pillars of its strength in the world. Nuclear weapons are vital for India’s security but after conducting May 1998 tests and equipped with sufficient capability for constructing credible deterrent , India should seriously consider joining non- proliferation regime and negotiate a favourable deal with the international community which would give it access to dual –use and advanced conventional weapons technologies.

Exponents: C Raja Mohan, K Subrahmanyam (in the later phase of his strategic thinking), Sanjay Baru, etc.

Hyperrealists and India’s foreign policy: Sometimes they are also called hawks. They believe that the reality of international politics remains unaltered and military power still retains its primacy as the source of all other forms of power. Accumulation of military power and the willingness to use force are required even for maintaining peace and stability. Strong military power must precede economic power. Nuclear disarmament is unattainable and India should work for further development of nuclear warheads until it reaches an all horizons capability.

Exponents: Brahma Chellaney, Bharat Karnad , K Subrahmanyam ( in the early phase of his strategic thinking), etc.

Net Assessment Methodology: It uses the method of anticipating the possible scenarios that may emerge in the future and the possible diplomatic equations that a country may face in the future. It attempts to assess a country’s national interest in the light of the possible outcomes of current trends in international politics.

ChARt 1India’s National Interest

Security Economic Prosperity

global Public goods

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It is also relevant to note that the conclusions of the study are contextually premised on the continuity of the ‘trickle- down’ model of economic growth, which India has adopted in the post liberalisation period. Thus, it can be inferred that the study has arrived at these conclusions within a neo-liberal policy framework.

In the light of such attempts to redraw the contours of the national interest debate, it is important to do three exercises:

(a) to have a look at the current concerns of the three main constituents of India’s national interest ( as articulated by the Indian government , and the perspectives offered by foreign policy analysts and other observers)

(b) To review some assessments of the possible scenarios that India may have to deal with

(c) To determine the ‘ethical centre’ for anchoring India’s pursuit of national interest.

SECURIty Consensus has eluded the strategic community in defining the nature and intensity of our security challenges as well as our security interests. Hawkish elements have tended to exaggerate some threats but conversely, there have been instances of downplaying of some obvious security challenges. The Indian government has also shown a marked inconsistency in its approach to some crucial security issues. However, any attempt to identify the current issues concerning Indian security has to address the factors and linkages as depicted in chart 2.

the Indian government’s assessment of the current security concerns and security interests of India: former Foreign Secretary Nirumpma Rao’s Harvard speech and present Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai’s address on Building Global Security at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi in 2012 had some clear references to

how the Ministry of External Affairs is identifying the current security challenges and security interests for India. Quotes from both the speeches on different aspects of security have been mentioned below:

(a) On terrorism and extremism

• OurvisionofanenhancedSouthAsian cooperation for development is challenged by violent extremism and terrorism, which originates in our region and finds sustenance and sanctuary there. Terrorists have repeatedly sought to undermine our sovereignty, security and economic progress, aided and abetted by forces beyond our borders.

• Terrorism is often used not justto impose a political agenda but to force unacceptably backward codes of life and governance on democratic societies. It invariably translates into meaningless and horrific incidents of violence. The 2008 Mumbai attacks were symbolic, striking at everything India has been able to achieve – economic success, openness to the world, freedoms, conventional defence capabilities and pluralism in society. The targets were carefully chosen. Fortunately despite killing 164 people and wounding at least

308, the terrorists could not blow India off its path or diminish our international exposure. Recently, the United States has announced $10 million for information leading to arrest of Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed and Abdul Rahman Makki under the Rewards for Justice Programme. We welcomed the notification as it sends a strong signal to LeT and its patrons that the international community remains united in combating terrorism.

• Building Global Security requiresthe international community to come together and forcefully combat the use of terror as state policy by countries as well as root out safe havens for terrorists. This requires action at the globallevel through a CCIT and through multilateral cooperation in every region affected by terror. There must be concerted action by security forces and political consensus that terrorism as a means is not justified by any ends. Improved governance is a common goal of all of us but ending terrorism has to take priority in operational terms.

• TerrorgroupsimplacablyopposedtoIndia continue to recruit, train and plot attacks from safe havens across our borders. There is increased

ChARt 2Security

Security threats International NegativeExtemalities

Externalthreat

Conventional Non-Conventional

Space Securitygeographies

NEIghBOURhOOD(hormuz to Malacca)

Kabul to yangon

Indian OceanRim

MAJOR POWERS(US, China, Russia,

Japan, Europe)

Internalthreat Fundamentalism tenorism Arms

Runingand Drug

trafficking

Importance ofIndigenous

Defence Capability

ExternalIntelligence

Alliance VersusStrategic Autonomy

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infiltration from across the border. Open democratic societies such asIndia face particular challenges in combating the threat of terrorism.

(b) On the threat to internal security from neighbourhood

Any visualization of India’s global role must begin in our immediate neighbourhood because situational factors in that environment affect our internal security and therefore merit our greatest attention.

(c) On Pakistan

Our relationship with Pakistan hasbeen complicated by the issue of terrorism and the need for Pakistan to take ameliorative action to eradicate terrorism against India. We are determined to persevere in our dialogue with Pakistan in order to resolve outstanding issues so that our region will be stable.

(d) On Afghanistan and Af-Pak region

• India has a direct interest inAfghanistan, not because we see it as a theatre of rivalry with Pakistan but because of the growing fusion of terrorist groups that operate from Afghanistan and Pakistan and their activities in India.

• Developments in Afghanistanover the past few years have demonstrated in ample measure that peace, security and prosperity in today’s world is indivisible, and that therefore, the international community in Afghanistan must stay the course.

• Afghanistan is currently inthe process of transition and transformation in a region which is the epicenter of world terrorism. Virtually all dangerous acts of terrorism in the world recently can be traced back to the Af-Pak region. Any perception of lack of will on the part of the international community to deal firmly with terrorist groups will risk Afghanistan sliding back to being a safe haven for terrorist and extremist groups that threaten the region and beyond. During his visit to Afghanistan in May 2011,

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh announced additional assistance of US $ 500 million, over and above the existing commitments of US $ 1.5 billion. India’s assistance programme is spread across Afghanistan and spans almost the entire gamut of economic and social developmental activities from schools and hospitals to trade, power lines and hydro-electric projects. Construction of Afghanistan’s new Parliament building, a symbol of the common commitment of both countries to pluralism and democracy, is also progressing.

• India believes the internationalcommunity must remain engaged with Afghanistan in the decade ahead. External Affairs Minister, Shri S.M. Krishna led our delegations to the two International conferences organized on Afghanistan in Istanbul and Bonn in November and December, 2011 respectively. These conferences were aimed at generating international and regional consensus for long term engagement of the international community - and the region - with Afghanistan, in the backdrop of the announcement of withdrawal ofNATOforces fromacombat rolein Afghanistan by the end of 2014. While the “transition dividend” did not emerge clearly in these conferences, there will be further opportunities in Kabul and Tokyo to ensure continued support for modernization and stability in Afghanistan. We recognize that regional economic cooperation involving all the countries of the area also has a role to play

(e) On China

• The complicated history of theoutstanding boundary questionentails that discussion to resolve it cannot be of short duration with easy fixes. China’s growing ability to project its military strength, its rapid military modernization, and it’s very visible economic capabilities, introduce a new calculus in the

security situation in the region.

• Indiaisalsoalerttothecontinuingand close security relationship between China and Pakistan. These factors serve to further underscore the complexity of the India-China equation,today.

(f) On nuclear security and threat of nuclear terrorism

The challenges of nuclear terrorism and nuclear security have to be addressed. We have been affected by clandestine nuclear proliferation in our neighbourhood. We are naturally concerned about the possibility of nuclear terrorism given the security situation in our neighbourhood.

On26-27March2012,53countriesand four international organizations, namely the UN, IAEA, EU and NATO,attended the Second Nuclear Security Summit at Seoul, South Korea. The Summit focused on one of the foremost challenges of our times; the danger of nuclear explosives, materials and technology falling into the hands of terrorists. The Final Communiqué ofthe Summit listed nuclear terrorism as one of the most challenging threats to international security. Prime Minister of India attended the Summit in Seoul, as he did in Washington D.C. in 2010. During the Seoul Summit, Prime Minister emphasized that nuclear terrorism and clandestine proliferation continue to pose serious threat to international security. He announced a contribution of $ 1 million for IAEA’s Nuclear Security Fund. Clandestine Nuclear proliferation is one of the gravest threats to global security as it enables this greatly destructive technology to fall into the hands of irresponsible actors. India shares and supports the non-proliferation objectives of the international community. We have an impeccable non-proliferation record and have in place a stringent export control system in line with the highest international standards.

The more fundamental problem is the one which deals with the issue of nuclear weapons themselves. India has also been steadfast in its support for the goal of universal,

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non-discriminatory and verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons, leading to global disarmament in a time-bound framework. The then Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi had put forward the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan of 1988 which offers a comprehensive plan to take this process forward. In a 2006 working paper on nuclear disarmament in the UN General Assembly, India made specific proposals towards achieving this goal, including negotiating a Nuclear Weapon Convention. We believe the goal of nuclear disarmament can be achieved by a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework that is global and non-discriminatory. The issues in Iran and DPRK need to be seen in this context as well as in the framework of tackling proliferation. These are major subjectswithwouldrequireaseparateaddress. Suffice it for me to say today that we support the P5 + 1 dialogue with Iran and the Six-party engagement with DPRK. We feel there is vital need to find diplomatic solutions conforming with relevant UN resolutions with the overriding need for these countries to keep to commitments taken on by them themselves in the past.

(g) On Indian Ocean and Maritime security

• Piracyonthehighseasisasoldasthe history of seafaring itself. Piracy is a resurgent threat which has come to the fore in recent times. Concerns over maritime security have been not only centered around piracy in the Gulf of Aden, but also in the MalaccaStraitsandtheMozambiqueChannel. Somali pirates, by far the greatest global piracy threat, have increasingly pushed farther off the Somali coast. They have moved deeperintotheIndianOcean.

• Today’spiratesarenotswashbucklingraiders of the past but trained fighters aboard speedboats, equipped with satellite phonesand global positioning systems, armed with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades. According to the International Maritime Organisation almost 90%

of world trade is transported by sea. The continuing threat of piracy raises the cost of trade directly and indirectly. Examples of direct effects are robbery and ransom payments, losses of ships and cargo and additional pay for crews. Indirect effects are the security costs incurred in the fight against piracy and higher insurance premiums in the dangerous areas.

• Thecostoftradeisfurtherpushedup by the need to take longer alternative routes to avoid pirate infested sea-lanes and the need for convoys and naval protection. The threat posed by piracy attacks to maritime traffic and seafarers continues to be a major problem. As a result of these challenges, many ships have begun to hire armed guards as a deterrent for would-be attackers. However, there is not yet a process or an internationally accepted regulatory framework for regulating these guards, creating legal complications. Presently, there are around 27 Indian seafarers inthe captivity of pirates. Their well-being and early release is a priority for our government.

• The numbers are not surprising asone out of every 10-12 merchant mariners, on any ship, is an Indian, irrespective of the flag of the ship. Some countries believe the problem is limited to Somalia and the waters nearby and insurance companies don’t seem to be complaining. As Adenauer said “wir leben alle unter – dem gleichen Himmel aber wir haben nicht alle den gleichen Horizont” (We all live under the same sky but do not have the same horizon or perspective). But the seas are open and everybody is getting affected; recent incidents have highlighted the need for international cooperation to evolve a common strategy to combat the global scourge of piracy at sea. The international community has of course taken a number of steps to tackle piracy since Somali pirates emerged as a threat to international maritime security

four years ago. In 2008, the UN Security Council passed a series of measures targeting Somali piracy, culminating in the unanimous approval of US-led Resolution 1851. The move authorized states with navies deployed in the Gulf of Aden to take action against pirates and armed robbers within Somalia. India has committed its full support to international anti-piracy efforts.

• OurNavyhasbeenconductinganti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden sinceOctober2008.Ournavalshipsprovide security escorts to both Indian and foreign flagged ships. We participate actively in the anti-piracy efforts of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. We believe that a more robust strategy is required to effectivelydeal with the problem of piracy. Such a strategy should involve an UN-led anti-piracy force to conduct naval operations. This would help in greater coordination of anti-piracy operations by various naval forces. The shipping industry and national governments must coordinate their response better to combat this resurgent threat of sea piracy.

• Dialogue and cooperation arethereby essential to evolve a stable; transparent maritime security system so as to ensure that a cooperative framework is evolved for the management of the Indian Oceananditsresources.

(h) On the nature and status of Indo-US relations

The bilateral civil nuclear agreement in 2008 was a major milestone. The range and the depth of our bilateral relations and strategic global partnership is truly transformational in nature as described by US Secretary Clinton. There are, as President Obama defines it, newwellsprings in our cooperation with each other.

In the year since President Obama’s visit to India in November2010, the two countries have sustained an unprecedented level of bilateral engagement, launched new strategic

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consultations that cover key regions of the world; begun first trilateral consultation with Japan; advanced our cooperation on non-proliferation and nuclear security; deepened counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation; launched a new Homeland Security Dialogue; made steady progress in our partnership on export controls, non-proliferation and nuclear security; concluded the largest defence deal yet in our bilateral relations, sustained exercises and broadened defence strategic dialogue; taken forward the incipient cooperation for development in third countries, especially Africa; held a very successful Higher Education Summit in Washington DC; and, made innovation driven progress in areas such as clean energy, food security and healthcare.

We resumed negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty and expanded opportunities for economic cooperation through measures like the Infrastructure Debt Fund and tariff reductions on products with potential for bilateral trade.

There are, of course, tangible issues – in the U.S., worries about the commercial implementation of the civil nuclear agreement and lingering disappointment with one major defence contract; In India – there is wariness that relationship may be turning transactional, with an emphasis on immediate returns rather than upward trends. There is anxiety about protectionist trends in the U.S., especially in the IT industry that has been the bridge between our two economies so far. And, in both countries, developments in West Asia have raised questions whether our approaches, ifnot interests, are consistent, at least in the immediate future. It is important to address these issues.

(i) On maintaining strategic autonomy

• Drivingourforeignpolicyprioritiesand our desire for strategic

autonomy are factors of external security, internal security, the need for sustained economic growth, our energy security, maritime security and access to technology and innovation.

• Further,Indiaistoolargeacountryto be dovetailed into alliance type of relationships. In order to modernize our country we need to, and we have succeeded in, forging well-rounded strategic partnerships with all major powers.

Contours of the Security Strategy Debate in India’s Foreign Policy

Some eminent strategic commentators have not been impressed with India’s assessment of security concerns, the preparedness of its security architecture and its security administration structures. Serious doubts have been raised regarding India’s s capacity to work out an effective security strategy. OneofthedoyensofIndia’sstrategicthinking, K Subrahmanyam, observed that India’s strategic naiveté was anational weakness. He sought to embed Indian foreign policy discourse with a ‘strategic culture’.

Noted strategic analyst Brahma Chellaney has lamented that India is devoid of an articulated national security strategy or a defined defence policy, or a declared counterterrorism doctrine, as he argues4:

• “India is the only large countrydependent on other powers to meet basic defence needs.”

• “Insteadofseekingtobuildafirst-rate military with strategic reach and an independent deterrent, India has allowed itself to become a money-spinning dumping ground for weapons it can do without.”

• “India has emerged as theworld’stop arms importer in the past decade, even as its capacity to decisively win a war erodes.”

Interestingly,hehasquestionedthevalue system of security administration

and identified corruption and governance deficit as the insidiously emerging concerns for national security, as he remarks:

• “When important decisions, fromarms procurement to policy changes, are often tainted by corrupt considerations, it is inevitable that national security will get compromised.”

• “If India today is widely seen asa soft state, much of the blame must be pinned on the corrupt and the compromised that lead it. Such ‘softening’ of India has made the country a tempting target for those seeking to undermine its security.”5

Some analysts are of the opinion that the ‘siege mindset’ of certain sections of the strategic community has led to the overplaying of the threats of Chinese encirclement* and the bogey of strategic devices like ‘string of pearls’*

There have been suggestions for a nuanced shift in India’s security policy and the need to integrate it with larger objectives of India’s foreign policy. In his recent article in the American journal Foreign Policy, C Raja Mohan has stressed that along with other interests, India’s security interests will also be better served by moving from strategic autonomy to strategic cooperation with the relevant powers.6

Further articulating his views in another article, he has remarked: “India’s own security perimeter has widened rapidly and its interests are more widely dispersed around the world. Autonomy is for weak powers who are trying to insulate themselves from the regimen defined for them by the great powers. For many decades, India has seen itself as a weak developing state that must protect its territory, interests and freedom of choice from being trampled upon by the great powers. If India itself were to emerge as a great power, it is not impossible to see that

Chinese strategic encirclement: As perceived by observers, the objective of China’s strategic encirclement is to prevent India from acquiring the ability to challenge Beijing’s regional influence. China seeks to attain this objective by putting constraints or encirclement of India’s strategic options.

String of pearls: It is viewed as a part of Chinese strategic encirclement, and it aims to build port facilities in Bangladesh, Burma, Pakistan and Srilanka for the deployment of the Chinese navy to protect the shipping lanes from west Asia and Africa to China. Such expansion of Chinese military can be seen in Hainan Island, Woody Island (300 nautical miles east of Vietnam), Chittagong (Bangladesh), Sittwe (Myanmar) and in Gwadar (Pakistan).

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Delhi’s task will be to contribute to the management of the international order and not seeking autonomy from it.”7

Some analysts, like Raja Karthikeya , are of the view that the recent trends indicate that India is already following thepolicyof‘Omni-alignment’–atermthat refers to India’s effort to identify the most relevant powers for the next half-century and cultivate strong bilateral ties with each of them.8 K Subramanyam believed that India had the capacity to improve relations with all global power centres in a polycentric world ( he used this term in place of ‘multipolar world’).9

A section of strategic thinking is of the view that though the necessity of forming interest- based strategic alliances cannot be denied, India’s core interests should be non- negotiable in making any alliance.

However, the need for India to preserve as well as reassert its strategic autonomy has been articulated by some commentators. They insist that India should reinvigorate the policy of non- alignment and realize its relevance in the post cold war world order, for countering hegemonic designs , and promoting North- South dialogue, South- South dialogue and an egalitarian world order. On questionsof geopolitical strategy and security, they have stressed the need for independent diplomacy. For instance, in his analysis of the geopolitical scene in the Af- Pak region, former diplomat M.K. Bhadrakumar suggested that India should chart its own course and avoid taking US as an ally in the region, as he wrote:

• “It(thepowerstruggleinAf-Pakregion) has all along been a slow-motion geopolitical confrontation for gaining regional dominance.’’

• “Insum,Indianeedstorethinkandreassess its interests. New Delhi should trust its innate capacity to conduct its discourses with Kabul and Islamabad bilaterally.”10

ECONOMIC PROSPERItyAs discussed earlier, in terms of policy priority, the study commissioned by the Ministry of External Affairs has identified economic prosperity as the engine for empowering India as a force to reckon with in global power architecture. The growing importance of economic diplomacy in recent years is becoming evident in Indian foreign policy. The process of identifying the issues on the economic agenda of India’s strategic thinking is a subject of intense policy debate .However, the issues shown in chart 3 would find a place in any such agenda.

the Indian government’s articulation of the economic dimensions of India’s foreign policy: Former Foreign Secretary Nirupma Rao’s Harvard speech reflects on some important aspects of India’s economic worldview, as she said

(a) On India’s self- perception of its economy and future of the economic growth :

When we talk of India’s economic transformation, we expect India, at an averagegrowthofaminimumof7.5%growth in GDP per year to achieve a ten-fold increase in per capita income in the next 30 years and join the ranks of the developed countries; at this rate of growth, by 2020, we should be able to be categorized as a middle income developing country.

(b)0n India’s economic challenges :

• India does not underestimatethe challenges that it faces of meeting the education, health, energy and infrastructure needs of its population, 66% of the Indianpopulation live in the rural sector which at present contributes only around 20 per cent of the country’s GDP.

• Theissueofincreasingagriculturalproductivity, planning urban growth, ensuring sustainable development while controlling and reducing emissions intensity as

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a proportion of our GDP, reducing income inequalities, meeting thesurge in education demand and ensuring that education access becomes a driver of equality,increasing power generation, and building infrastructure – roads, railways, airports and ports – better management of water resources, are all challenges that India has to meet on the road ahead.

• Indiahastoensurethatgrowthisinclusive, equitable and empowersthe most disadvantaged sections of its population. This approach has shaped and defined India’s role on the global stage today, as the policies that it seeks to articulate and endorse internationally are based on its own domestic experience.

(c) On the role of India’s foreign policy in removing mass poverty and fast expansion of the Indian economy

• SpeakingtotheIndianAmbassadorsfrom around the world recently, the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh spoke of the critical need to remove mass poverty in India for which it needs a fast expanding economy. Where India’s global role, and its foreign policy comes into this growth story is to ensure that India creates an external environment that is conducive to an increased flow of capital into the country.

• Indiaalsoneedstomakeincreasinguse of the modern science and technology to boost its development profile – the import of such technology therefore becomes an importantconstituentinitsquestto accelerate the pace of country’s socio-economic development.

• InIndia’ssearchforenergysecurity,India must look not only at West Asia, but farther afield, to Africa, and to Latin America so that it can develop hydrocarbon resources in these regions and also import such resources for the successful pursuit of its development goals.

(d) On the objectives of India’s economic diplomacy

• AfundamentalgoalofIndia’sforeignpolicy is to create an external environment that promotes the fulfillment of its economic growth targets and ambitions. And, these include three dimensions – capital inflows, access to technology and innovation, as well as the promotion of a free, fair and open world trading system that recognizes the development imperatives of a country like India.

• This requires a peaceful andstable neighbourhood and external environment, a balanced relationship with the major powers and a durable and equitablemultilateral global order.

(e) On the economic diplomacy in the neighbourhood

• TheIndianeconomywith its rapidgrowth and the impact this exerts beyond its borders, is fast becoming an anchoring element in the region. India has articulated a policy in its neighbourhood that stresses the advantage of building networks of inter-connectivity, trade, and investment so that prosperity can be shared and that the region can benefit from India’s rapid economic growth and rising prosperity.

• Indiawantstocreateaneconomicenvironment with its neighbours so that they can work together to fulfill their common objectives of economic development. A peaceful neighbourhood is mandatory for the realization of its own vision of economic growth.

• SouthAsianAssociationofRegionalCooperation or SAARC, compel increasing acknowledgement and recognition of the common destiny we share .The close and contiguous geographies we share with our seven neighbors who together with us make up the South Asia when it comes to issues such as food security, health,

poverty alleviation, climate change, disaster management, women’s empowerment, and economic development.

• Today,withsustainedhigheconomicgrowth rates over the past decade, India is in a better position to offer a significant stake to our neighbours in our own prosperity and growth. We have made unilateral gestures and extended economic concessions such as the facility of duty free access to Indian market for imports from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. We have put forward proposals multilaterally within the framework of the SAARC where we have assumed asymmetric responsibilities.

(f) On trade with China having moderating effect on possibilities of Sino- India confrontation

OurtradewithChinaisgrowingfasterthan that with any other country. Therefore, we need not see our relations with China as being only competitive.

(g) 0n broadening of the economic agenda of Indo-US relations

Today we are not only discussing issues such as strategic cooperation, counter terrorism, defence, high technology, civil nuclear and space sectors cooperation but also a broad range of development issues that directly and positively impact on the lives of our citizens including cooperation in education, health, agriculture, weather forecasting, innovation, etc.

Examining the significance of economic growth for India’s Foreign Policy

In the post cold war world order, neo -liberals have used the arguments of complex interdependence* and expansion of global economy for explaining the importance of economic power as the central arbiter of global powerplay.

At the beginning of the last decade, C Raja Mohan was articulating the

Complex Interdependence: It is a theory propounded by Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye and it refers to the emergence of complex transnational connections and interdependencies between states and societies, and a noticeable decline in the use of military force as tool for power balancing( though it still remains important). The theory proposes that less use of military force as an instrument of foreign policy and the increase in economic and other forms of cooperation would lead to higher probability of cooperation among states, and consequently, less chances of confrontation.

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view that like China, India’s economic growth and modernization, and its integration into a globalized world economy would serve as its greatest strength in international politics .11 As the last decade came to an end, he was sticking to this view, along with other opinion makers of this persuasion, like Sanjay Baru.12

Using economic foresight for neighbourhood diplomacy has also been advocated by some analysts. Agreeing with India’s policy of offering asymmetric concessions to its neighbours , followed by the present Prime Minister ( but conceived by the former Prime Minister I K Gujral , hence called the Gujral doctrine), Rajeev Kumar envisages a logical extension of this policy. He is of the opinion that that this policy entails that India makes an unconditional offer to all its neighbours that it will accept any set of conditions stipulated by a multilateral development bank like the Asian Development Bank or the World Bank, in conserving water resources and developing the hydro-power potential. Such diplomacy can be effective in solving the problem of energy shortages in the region.

Though K Subrahmanyam worked tenaciously to articulate India’s security and defence policy, he assessed very early that the emergence of an economically interdependent world has made military conflicts obsolete in contemporary world. He was of the view that economic growth and internal strength have become vital components of national power.

However, the global economy centric approach to strategic thinking has come under scathing attack, particularly from Nehruvians. Former diplomats sharing the Nehruvian worldview like Muchkund Dubey, Arundhati Ghose, M.K. Bhadrakumar, etc. , and commentators like Praful Bidwai , Amitabh Mattoo and Ninan Koshy have taken strong exception to such one- dimensional strategic thinking. They have warned that such line of thinking would result in the surrender of independent foreign

policy to neo-liberal prescriptions and the hegemonic agenda of the global capitalist forces.

Apart from these critical observations, another set of objections have been raised by analysts like Brahma Chellaney and Bharat Karnad against the over emphasis on economic growth as the only arbiter of global power today. They argue that such exaggerated perceptions show gross misreading of history and nature of international politics. Not convinced with primacy to economy in strategic thinking, they have asserted that militarypowerremainstheprerequisitefor other sources of power to have any sustained relevance.

glOBAl PUBlIC gOODS (glOBAl COMMONS)

India’s self-perception as a rising power of global relevance entails a shift in the nature and terms of its global engagement. Global public goods or the global commons have emerged as major challenges for Indian diplomacy and even the civil society has actively engaged with articulating the Indian approach to some of the questionsconcerning the global public goods. However, the range of issues concerning global public goods is widening and Indian diplomacy has to take account of the emerging concerns. India’s present concerns regarding global

public goods are centered around the following issues (see chart 4)

Indian government ‘s assessment of the issues concerning global public goods: Former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s speech at Harvard University and present Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai’s address on Building Global Security at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies comprehensively articulated India’s perspectiveonsomecrucialquestionsconcerning global commons. Percepts from these speeches are:

(a) On Indian Ocean

• TheIndianOceaniscentraltoIndia’seconomy and its security, and it is also a region of growing global strategic attention. India does not want to see this ocean emerge as a contested common or remain vulnerable to natural disasters, piracy or instability in coastal or littoral states. For this reason, we not only have robust bilateral economic and security relationships in the region, but through regional initiatives like Indian Ocean NavalSymposiumandtheIOR-ARC,weareseeking to promote comprehensive economic cooperation.

• Maritimesecurity,morebroadly,hasemerged as a key national security priority. We believe that maritime securityrequires,firstandforemost,

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a collective affirmation of the principles of freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce and peaceful settlement of maritime disputes, in accordance with international law. The Indian Ocean has a palpablehuman dimension, as one Indian strategic analyst put it recently, given the fact that millions of people from Saudi Arabia to India to Indonesia, live in close proximity oftheOcean.

• ThedemographyofitslittoralStatesand the hydrocarbon energy index associated with it give the Indian Oceanadistinctiveidentity.

• The strategic relevance of this areaderives from the vast hydrocarbon resources in West Asia, the connectivity provided by the Suez-Malacca route, and the geo-political imperatives flowing from this reality.

(b) On the Security of global Commons

• Rulesoftheroadarealsorequiredfor managing the security of the global commons – which cover outer space, our oceans, cyberspace and global transport and communication networks. New dimensions of security like cyber security require to beaddressed internationally especially since information technology has become critical to our needs in development, infrastructure, defence and security.

(c)On United Nations (UN) and India’s case for permanent membership of a reformed Security Council (SC)

• Internationalsecurityisafunctionof the measures taken by nations and international organizations, such as the United Nations, to put in place systems which ensure respect for concerns of countries and lead to mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions. International and national securities are invariably linked.

• International security is national

security or state security in the global arena. In the UN, the Security Councilenjoystheuniquepositionamong the principal organs of the UN, as it is devoted to the objective maintaining and preserving global peace and security. It is also bestowedwiththeuniqueauthorityto undertake actions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression to maintain and restore international peace and security. However, the Security Council has hardly changed since the establishment of the UN in 1945 though the membership of the UN has grown from original 51 members in 1945 to 194 in 2011. Its non-representative character and somewhatopaqueworkingmethodshave been criticized by the wider membership of the UN. The efforts for the Security Council reform have, however, been thwarted by the lack of consensus which has been thwarted by the veto powers enjoyed by the Permanent Five members over the UNSC reform process and the high procedural bar for reform involving Charter amendments and their subsequentratification.

• India has been at the forefront ofthis move, seeking an enhanced global role as a permanent member of the reformed Security Council, commensurate with its size, capabilities, contribution to UN peacekeeping operations and impeccable track record in upholding the UN system. India is seeking an expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent membership of the Council and permanent membership of an expanded Security Council. It has also called for an improvement in the working methods. India in collaboration with Brazil, Japan and Germany (together known as the G-4) has proposed expansion of the membership of the United Nations Security Council from fifteen to twenty-five by adding six permanent and four non-permanent members.

• India’s claim for permanent

membership is based not only on its strong credentials and factors, such as its population, size, GDP, economic potential, civilizational legacy, political system but also contribution to the activities of the UN and its profound conviction that a more representative Council can genuinely contribute to global security. Our priority in upholdingthe United Nations system has been a leitmotif of our foreign policy and our global role. However, the world today is a very different one from that at the end of the Second World War.

(d) 0n g-20:

• The 2008 global economic andfinancial crisis triggered the further evolution of the G20, of which India is a key constituent. At the Pittsburgh Summit, the G-20 was designated as the premier forum for international economic cooperation. We see the G-20 process as a move towards a more representative mechanism to manage global economic and financial issues.

• TheGrouphastakensomepositivesteps in this direction, for instance by committing a shift in IMF quota share to dynamic emergingmarkets and developing countries. Simultaneously, the new global realities require that we revisitand reorganize existing governance models which were put in place over six decades ago.

• G-20 needs to retain its focus oneconomic issues and conditions for ushering economic growth worldwide. While the Eurozone difficulties need attention, in the long term it is the recovery of growth worldwide and the reform of international financial institutions that can contribute to a global architecture of governance which enhances security.

• Thecreatorsof theBrettonWoodsmultilateral system had designed an international economic architecture to deal with the causes of the global financial breakdown in the 1930s and with the economic and

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security problems they thought would follow World War II. The policy prescriptions of the IMF, be it the Structural Adjustment Programme or the so called “Washington Consensus” as coined by the economist John Williamson in 1989, with the focus, amongst others, on Fiscal policy discipline, Tax reform, Trade liberalization, and aggressive Deregulation often ended up exacerbating the situation in the affected borrowing countries. Many of the painful financial crises in Africa, Latin America, East Asia, Russia, and Turkey have been attributed to the above measures. It has been argued that a greater voice to the developing world in International Financial Institutions would have allowed for modulating policies, which would have been in consonance with the requirementsof developing countries.

(e) 0n WtO and multilateral trade negotiations

• India is often mentioned in thecontext of the ongoing Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations being conducted in the WTO. Ourcommitment to the WTO, whichwe joined as a founder-member in January 1995, is rooted in our global approach to international trade. India was one of the 23 original members of the GATT, which preceded the WTO,andplayedan influential rolein shaping the non-discriminatory, equitable, rule-based system thattheWTOtodayrepresents.

• Itisameasureofourcommitmentto this vision that in September 2009, India took the initiative to convene a mini-Ministerial meeting of WTO members in NewDelhi to break the deadlock in the negotiating process.

• Even as we discuss the shape ofthe next era of integration of world markets, India is proactive in upholdingtheintegrityoftheWTOsystem, inspiring other countries to join her in implementing the objectivesoftheWTOAgreement.

(f) On climate change

• A major issue facing theinternational community today is climate change. The issue is critical for us as the steps we take will need to be intrinsically linked with the growth prospects and development aspirations for our people. Nationally, we have taken several steps to improve energy efficiency and ensure sustainable growth.

• Itisimportanttonotethatdespiteour accounting for 17% of theglobal population, our own GHG emissions are currently only 4%of the global emissions. Even with 8-9%growthperannum,ourenergyuse has been growing at less than 4%perannum.

• We are concerned that thedeveloped countries often tend to ignore, implicitly, the huge adaptation challenge that we face with climate change. Today we spend 2% to 2.5% of our GDP onmeeting adaptation needs, but this is not adequate. There is need forstable and predictable financing from the developed countries, and this we believe should not solely rely on market mechanisms but, rather, on assessed contributions.

• There is also need for a globalmechanism whereby climate friendly technologies can be disseminated to the developing countries. We need to redouble efforts in these multilateral negotiations to ensure full, effective and sustained implementation of the UN Framework Convention and its Kyoto Protocol, and to conclude these negotiations with a balanced, comprehensive and above all, an equitable outcome,with equal emphasis on all fourpillars – mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology transfer.

(g) On India’s recent nuclear initiatives and India’s non- proliferation and disarmament policy

• Some have sought to underminethis major initiative (i.e. the agreement on civilian nuclear energy

cooperation between India and the United States signed in 2008) by callingintoquestionIndia’spolicyon nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The constructive and forward-looking approach that was adopted towards India in September 2008 by the Nuclear Suppliers Group has enabled full international civil nuclear cooperation with India as also our nuclear energy cooperation agreements with major partners including the United States, Russia, France and the UK. These constitute not only a long overdue recognition of India’s standing as a country with advanced nuclear technology and responsible behaviour but have also opened up significant opportunities for technical collaboration. It is equally important to see therelevance of these developments in the context of India’s energy requirements and challenges ofclimate change.

• India is fully cognizant of thesafety and security implications arising from the expansion of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. We are working together with our partners to help reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation. We believe that the challenges of nuclear terrorism and nuclear security have to be addressed. We have been affected by clandestine nuclear proliferation in our neighbourhood. We are naturally concerned about the possibility of nuclear terrorism given the security situation in our neighbourhood.

• Wehave,therefore,takenthe leadat the UN General Assembly on an effective law-based international response including on WMD terrorism. India has joined the Russia-U.S. led Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. The first Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama in April 2010was an important milestone in our efforts.

• India’s long-standing commitmentto global, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament. We have identified some initiatives

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that could be explored further as building blocks of a new global, verifiable nuclear disarmament framework.

• These include: a global agreementon ‘no-first-use’ of nuclear-weapons and non-use against non-nuclear weapon states; measures to reduce nuclear danger through de-alerting, reducing salience of nuclear weapons in security doctrines and preventing unintentional or accidental use; a Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons and on their destruction.

(h) On Asian cooperation and regional responsibilities

• India stood shoulder to shoulderwith the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America as they fought for political freedom from colonial yoke. Once thisfundamental freedom was attained, India shifted focus aiding fellow countries in their social development and capacity building, even within the constraints of India itself being a developing country. Towards this end, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was instituted by a decision of the Indian Cabinet on 15 September 1964 as a bilateral programme of assistance of the Government of India.

• PrimeMinisterJawaharlalNehru,whoalso served as the External Affairs Minister, was the main architect of the ITEC programme though it actually came into being after his lifetime. After their independence, the most important task facing the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America was the promotion of social and economic advancement of their people which had been retarded and in most cases reversed during the years of colonial rule. Skilled manpower and experts, financial resources and transfer of technology were the bottlenecks to be overcome. To meet the challenges of socio-

economic development, cooperative efforts of the developing countries were as important as assistance from developed countries and international organizations. India has made substantial progress and gained useful experience in industrial and technological development after it regained its freedom in 1947. It has extended assistancefor infrastructure, industrial, agricultural and capacity building, programmes in other developing countries particularly in South Asia. These projects along with the wider ITEC schemes are an earnest attempt by India to share the fruits of its socio-economic development and technological achievement with other developing countries. It is about cooperation and partnership for mutual benefit. We hope that such cooperation between countries will go a long way in promoting prosperity and enhancing security in the developing world. We are nowseekingtoimprovethequalityof India’s assistance program by creating a separate agency within MEA to give specialized attention to the task.

• We believe that there is a needto evolve a balanced, open and inclusive framework for Asian countries and major non-Asian players to interact and cooperate to address traditional and non-traditional security challenges.

• Our “LookEast”policy,articulatedin 1992, has enabled us over the past two decades to integrate our geo-economic space with our neighbours in South East Asia.

• The ASEAN Regional Forum hasprovided a useful model for such cooperation based on dialogue and consensus in diverse areas such as counter terrorism, trans-national crimes, maritime security, disaster relief, pandemics and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

• Our participation in events such asthe East Asia Summit has enhanced our role in our continent, which in turn influences our global role today.

• As the world witnesses theresurgence of China and India, and the balance of global political and economic power shifts to Asia, we are determined to ensure that there is more interaction between India and South East Asia and East Asia. The new, transnational dimensions of regional security also demand that we build an open, inclusive, plural and flexible architecture to deal with them.

Debating India’s role in the management of global CommonsGlobal commons constitute an intensely contested subject in international diplomacy. As a rising power and a country with a population over a billion, India’s position on the crucial issues concerning global commons has become very important for international community. Some analysts, like Raja Karthikeya have attributed it to India’s ‘stakeholder power’ – implying that India’s importance in addressing transnational challenges , like from climate change to pandemics to international trade regime – has made its presence almost indispensable for taking any decisions on these issues.

India is realizing that its global role would also be judged by its participation in global governance structures, as evident in India’s efforts for securing the permanent membership of United Nations Security Council (UNSC). However, some commentators have observed that India is misplacing its priorities in its fervent efforts to win the permanent seat in UNSC. They have questioned the efficacy of UNSCin influencing the unilateral actions of the major powers like the US. In his article in the American journal Washington Quaterly , Thomas G. Weiss has remarked that the efforts of the UNSC to control US actions are as ineffective as the Roman Senate’s efforts to control the emperor.13

Ontheissueofclimatechange,animportant multilateral conference has made some headway since Nirupama Rao spoke about the subject at Harvard

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University. The 16th Conference of the Parties ( COP 16) of the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held at Cancun in Mexico. The critics blamed the Indian government for conceding a lot of space to the global North (the developed countries) by accepting ‘Long- term Cooperative Action’. They think that the Cancun Agreements sacrificed the binding commitments of the developed countries for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol beginning 2013.

Praful Bidwai has described India’s decision of signing the Cancun Agreements as a violation of its ‘non- negotiables’-

1. a second term for the Kyoto Protocol

2. accelerated delivery of ‘fast-start’ support for the global South (developing countries)

3. technology transfers without Intellectual Property Rights restrictions. He is of the view that India compromised these tenets due to a combination of external pressure and its own shrewd calculations that these agreements impose light obligations on India ( though it let the global North off the hook with very mild obligations.).14

But in an article published in the Economic and Political Weekly, Varad Pande, who was part of India’s delegation to the Cancun, defended India’s stand at the Cancun conference and argued that Cancun conference witnessed the emergence of India as a confident dealmaker – confident in its actions and steadfast in its resolve.15

He listed five contributions made by India to the text of the Cancun Agreements:

1. The concept of “equitable accessto sustainable development”, an Indian formulation, found prominent mention in the text.

2. India ensured that developed country actions will be subject to enhanced scrutiny – the term “international assessment and review” of developed country actions along with concomitant procedures

finds mention in the text.

3. India’s formulation on international consultation and analysis (ICA) of developing country actions in a manner that is non-intrusive, non-punitive, and respectful of national sovereignty was a key input that broke a seemingly unbreakable deadlock.

4. India played a major role in the formulation on development and transfer of technology to developing countries, a major win for developing countries.

5. India ensured that there was neither a mention of a specific peaking year nor a quantitative target foremissions reduction by 2050 in the final text.16

On the issue of nucleardisarmament, the pacifists are disappointed that India has not done enough for following the moral agenda of mobilising the world opinion to realize ‘Action Plan for Ushering in Nuclear-weapon free and Non-Violent World Order’ proposed by the thenPrime minister Rajiv Gandhi to the Third Special Session on Disarmament of the General Assembly of the United Nations in June 1988. The proposed plan aimed at the elimination of all nuclear weapons , in three stages by 2010 and placed emphasis on nuclear disarmament that is global, universal and non- discriminatory in nature.

Articulating this concern, Rekha Chakravarthi , from the Institute of Conflict and Peace Studies, Delhi, has observed that post 1998 nuclear tests there has not been any serious domestic political debate on disarmament. She goes on to argue that using the pretexts of security threats and a discriminatory non- proliferation regime, India has positioned itself as a ‘ reluctanct nuclear power’.

It seems that that India is trying to shift the responsibility by using a line of thinking that Admiral Raja Menon had alluded to almost a decade ago in his work A Nuclear Strategy for India , as he wrote :“ the chances of creating a new world order are far higher if it

originates from one of the power centres of the world, which India is not.”17

Ironically, at a time when realist considerations seem to have convinced India to put the issue of nuclear disarmament on the backburner, the Quartet (or the Quad) of former American officials George Shultz, William Perry , Sam Nunn and Henry Kissinger are advocating disarmament from a realist perspective.

ASSESSMENt OF thE POSSIBlE SCENARIOS AND

NAtIONAl INtERESt Anticipating the possible scenarios that can emerge in the future and defining national interest in the light of such assessment, is a methodology that Raja Menon and Rajiv Kumar have introduced in India’s strategic thinking in their recent work. They have attempted to use the net assessment methodology for anticipating the trajectory that other global players will take in the coming years by working out possible scenarios for countries that are regarded as important for our strategic interests and anticipating possible outcomes on global issues also.18

For instance , Raja Menon and Rajiv Kumar have worked out the four possible scenarios ( the fourth scenario has been worked out only by R Kumar) on the anticipated evolution of two big powers, US and China, as they think that US-China-India triangle is the most important strategic relationship in the years to come. The following chart shows the four possible scenarios.

India ‘s interests vis-a vis US- China- India triangle

India is trying to identify its interests in dealing with these two major powers. The recent commentary on India’s foreign policy has witnessed considerable engagement with this theme and analysts have proposed their policy prescriptions for India to deal with the emerging equations ofthis triangle. Kishore Mahbubani has observed that ‘to secure the comfortable middle position in the US-China-India geopolitical triangle , India will

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have to simultaneously strengthen its relations with both US and China’.19 By middle position, he means that ‘if India‘s relations with both US and China become better than than the US- China bilateral relationship, this will give India a significant geopolitical advantage.’ He has also asked India to not allow itself to be played by the US as a counter to China.

The use of the expression ‘‘Goldilocks Problem’ in context of

India’s position in this triangle is interesting. C Raja Mohan has used the term ‘Goldilocks Problem’ to describe his assessment that India’s main concern regarding US-China relationship is that India does not want relations between US and China to be either too warm or too cold.20 He suggests that India needs to develop strong political and economic leverage with both US and China for avoiding the negative effects of either collaboration or conflict between Beijing and Washington.

In this context, the prospect of a tacit American acceptance of China’s parity with America’s hegemonic power status has also been identified as a serious concern for India. David Fidler and Sumit Ganguly are of the view that any prospect of US accepting Beijing’sparity with Washington (the prospect of joint hegemony) would worry India as it would affect Chinese calculations vis- a- vis India and India’s interests in Asia.21

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Conclusion

The emerging contours of the contemporary discourse on India’s foreign policy suggest that multiple imperatives are shaping the questfor identifying and reordering India’ national interest in the sphere of international relations. However, the preponderant thrust of realism and expedient economic diplomacy , in pursuit of aspirations of becoming a major global power, are shrinking the distinct moral universe and undermining the independent foreign policy which defined the formative years of post independent India’s engagement with the world.

The architect of India’s foreign policy after independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, had defined its guiding principles with an imprint of his own personality – internationalist, pacifist, humanist, egalitarian and independent. Such visionary leadership gave India a distinct moral voice in the comity of nations. Unfortunately, today the foreign policy discourse in India is dominated by naked global aspirations, narrow nationalism, xenophobic populism and one- dimensional priorities. For instance, it is a grim reminder of the blinkered agenda of India’s foreign policy think tank that it has not addressed the seminal issue of exploring international cooperation, and using diplomatic leverage for realizing UN Millennium Development Goals of liberating the humanity from the ‘abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty’.

India’s foreign policy needs to revisit the point of its departure and must link ‘ India’s tryst with destiny to the fate of humanity’. In context of the

the present ‘ statesmanship deficit’ in India’s foreign policy , it is introspective to recall what Jawaharlal Nehru wrote as early as 1946 in The Discovery of India : “No nation can isolate itself or be indifferent to the political and economic fate of other nations. If there is no cooperation, there is bound to be friction with its inevitable results…No nation and(its) people are going to tolerate domination and exploitation by another, even though this is given some more pleasant name. Nor will they remain indifferent to their own poverty and misery when other parts of the world are flourishing . That was only possible when there was ignorance of what was happening elsewhere”.22

References

1. Kanti Bajpai, ‘India and the World’, in Niraja Gopal Jayal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta (edited), OxfordCompanion to Politics in India, OxfordUniversityPress,NewDelhi,2010.

2. Rajiv Kumar, ‘Taking a long view’, Seminar, January 2011.

3. IBID.

4. Brahma Chellaney, ‘Perils of becoming a republic of scandals’,

The Hindu, 6 December 2010.

5. IBID.

6. C Raja Mohan, ‘India’s Strategic Future’, Foreign Policy, 4November 2010 .

7. CRajaMohan,‘India’snewroleintheIndianOcean’,Seminar,January2011

8. Raja Karthikeya, ‘Raising Multipolar Stakes’, The Times of India, 4 January ,2011 .

9. Sidharth Varadrajan , ‘Strategic thinker par excellence’, The Hindu, 3 February 2011

10. M K Bhadrakumar, ‘Afghanistan- time for irrevocable decisions’, The Hindu, 26 January 2011.

11. C Raja Mohan, ‘ Trade as Strategy:Chinese Lessons’, The Hindu, 16 August 2001.

12. Sanjay Baru, ‘ National Security in anOpenEconomy’,inSanjayBaru(edited),StrategicConsequencesof India’s Economic Performance, Academic Foundation, New Delhi, 2006.

13. Thomas G Weiss, ‘ The Illusion of UN Security Council Reform’, Washington Quaterly, Autumn 2003.

14. Praful Bidwai, ‘Letdown at Cancun’, Frontline, 14 January 2011.

15. Varad Pande, ‘India at Cancun : The Emergence of a Confident Dealmaker’, The Economic and Political Weekly, 22 January 2011.

16. IBID.

17. RajaMenon,‘ANuclearStrategyforIndia’, Sage , New Delhi, 2000.

18. Rajeev Kumar, op.cit.

19. Kishore Mahbubani, ‘The Trouble that comes in threes’, The Indian Express, 31 December 2010.

20. C Raja Mohan , ‘ Hu,US and us’, The Indian Express, 19 January2011.

21. Sumit Ganguly and David P Fidler,‘ Shadow of Sino-US ‘new normal’ falls on India’, The Times of India, 23 January 2011.

22. Jawaharlal Nehru, ‘The Discovery of India’, The Signet Press, Calcutta( now Kolkata), 1946

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Interview

MEETING THE STARSInterview with Deepak Singla, Rank-55 (CSC-2011)

Q1. How did you hear the good news? Ans: I checked the result on UPSC website and I was very excited to see my

name on 55th rank in my very first attempt. Q2. Why did you opt for civil services? What made you switch over from

the Private sector? Ans: It was my dream to join the civil services from 10th class only

as this job offers you wide social recognition for your work and at the same time allows you to work at grassroot level on mass scale. I was not getting job satisfaction in the private sector despite a huge pay packet, so I decided to switch over from my private sector job and started preparing for civil service exam.

Q3. Which subjects did you chose during the mains and why? What are the factors which one should look into while deciding for the subjects?

Ans: My optionals for mains were Commerce & Public Administration. Commerce was my obvious choice as I am a chartered accountant and I chose Public Administration because of overlapping syllabus with commerce, easy availability of material and practical utility for civil services.

Q4. How did you prepare for the exam? Ans: For GS paper, I took coaching from Vajiram & Ravi. For commerce & public administration I prepared

myself. For commerce, I studied my books from CA course and for public administration I read basic books like Fadia & Fadia, Prasad & Prasad and Rajni Arora & Goyal. I also joined a test series for public administration and GS paper for writing practice.

Q5. You did not take any coaching. Do you think coaching institutes are relevant? Ans: I took coaching only for GS but not for any other paper. I think coaching can only give you a direction. A

candidate have to put his/her efforts rather than relying merely on the coaching institutes. Q6. Did you face any difficulty when you first came to Delhi to prepare for this exam? Ans: The biggest difficulty I faced in Delhi was for accommodation as prices for a single and decent room

here are quite high and food is also a big problem for outsiders. For preparation part, I didn’t face much difficulty as I was clear about my strategy and I studied with the complete dedication.

Q7. What was your strategy for Optionals and Essay? Ans: For commerce paper, I relied on my books of CA course and prepared from those books only. For Public

Administration paper, I read basic books and joined a test series for writing practice also. I used to write atleast one question daily for Pubic Administration paper and that helped me a lot in answer writing. For essay paper, I didn’t prepare anything special rather relied on my knowledge from GS paper. For writing practice, I wrote two essays and got them evaluated from my teachers. I wrote essay with simple language with basic clarity of topic and with good analysis for the same. Creativity is necessary for essay paper means your thought should be logical and original.

Q8. How did you prepare for this exam- selective, intensive or extensive studies? Ans: For prelims I adopted extensive approach but for mains I adopted combination of both intensive and

extensive approach depending on the study area. Q9. What were your strong points which enabled you to achieve this success? Ans: Following were my strong points which enabled my success in this exam: 1. Well planned and time tested strategy

INTERVIEW...

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Interview

2. Self Belief and Self Confidence 3. Guidance from successful candidates 4. Right attitude towards life and exam 5. Discipline 6. Regular revision of class notes 7. Limited books but multiple revisions. Q10. How was the interview? Can you recall any questions from the board members? Any interview tips

for IAS aspirants. Ans: My interview board was of Mr. P. K. Mishra and it lasted for 35-40 minutes. I was satisfied with my

interview. Questions were asked from diversified field and related to my profile also like What is Mongoose bat ( Cricket is my hobby), Demographic Dividend, Difference between 2G, 3G & 4G, Difficulty faced during my job, questions on budget and problems of agriculture in our country. My tip for IAS aspirants is to thoroughly prepare on your profile and generate as many questions as possible as board expect you to come prepared for the interview. Be original in your answer, do not bluff during interview and maintain eye contact while answering the questions. Always keep a smile on your face throughout your interview as it gives positive vibes to the board members.

Q11. How did you prepare for the interview? Ans: My job experience was very helpful for my interview preparation as I had already appeared for 4-5 interviews

for my corporate job and I was successful in most of the interviews. Still, I took 4 mock interviews before the final interview and they also helped me to some extent. My main preparation for interview focused on complete understanding of my own profile and generating as many questions possible on my own profile. This process helped me during my interview. I also updated myself on my optionals subject apart from current affairs part.

Q12. Do you have any priority areas where you would like to see you making a difference in the administrative services?

Ans: I think every area in administration is equally important and I will try to emphasize equally on all the areas so as to benefit all the sections of society.

Q13. What are your views regarding the changes that UPSC has made at the preliminary stage? Ans: I think by introducing CSAT, UPSC has given a level playing field to all the candidates. Similar initiative

should be taken for mains exam also to remove the biasness for any particular optional. Q14. Your message to future CSE aspirants… Ans: Dedication & Enjoyment are two basic principles to clear this exam. A candidate should study with full

dedication and enjoy this process of new learning. Self belief is the key to clear this exam. One should come with positive mindset and give his/her 100% efforts and rest leave on the Almighty. Best of Luck.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012National Bulletin

NAtIoNAl GREEN tRIbuNAl: PAth towARDS SuStAINAblE DEvEloPmENt

NAtIoNAl bullEtIN...

With the debate between environments vis-a-vis development, especially in context of India, attaining a big proportion in various policy debates, the government of India established the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2010 under the provisions of the NGT Act.

The NGT has been established under India’s constitutional provision of Article 21, which assures the citizens of India, the right to a healthy environment. The tribunal is a special fast-track court to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues.

Since the NGT has started functioning from July 4, 2011, the tribunal in the past one year has disposed of 98 cases and about 200 are pending. The most revealing fact of the last one year proceedings has been that most of arguments in the NGT are deeply inter-linked with the growth impetus that the Government of India is committed to. Moreover, these proceedings also have revealed many stories of regulatory compromises, on-site protests and environment assessments which have presented series of falsities or half truths and have brought to the fore impacts or illegalities in the approval of the projects.

landmark Judgements of the National Green tribunal (NGt) Before going into what and why of NGT lets peep into some of the landmark judgements given by the NGT since it had started functioning. Here are some of them:

September 12, 2011: In its first judgment, NGT suspends the environment clearance of a mining project by Gogte Minerals in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district. The Bench finds the Terms of Reference (ToR) for conducting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the mines were violated.

February 9, 2012: Suspends environment clearance granted to Scania Steel and Power Ltd for expansion of its sponge iron plant in Chhattisgarh in the absence of public hearing. NGT directs

the Union environment ministry to develop mechanism to check authenticity of environmental data and blacklist EIA consultants who provide wrong data

February 24, 2012: Sets aside environment clearance granted to the municipal solid waste processing plant of Municipal Corporation of Chennai for providing false information in the EIA

march 30, 2012: Suspends clearance granted to South Korean steel giant POSCO’s project in Odisha. It points out the memorandum of understanding between the Odisha government and POSCO was for the production of 12 million tonnes of steel per annum (MTPA) while the EIA report was prepared for four MTPA

may 23, 2012: Suspends environmental clearance of the 2,640 MW thermal power project of Nagarjuna Construction Company in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. It says the EIA process was undertaken on the basis of wrong data furnished by the project proponent. NGT orders environment ministry to revise guidelines for setting up thermal power plants in the country which were framed in 1987.

The Rs. 8,800-crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Sea Link (MTHL) seems stuck till it gets a go-ahead from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which has said that there are “substantial questions relating to environment” in the project to be built on the Sewri mudflats, where hundreds of birds including migratory flamingos flock every year.

origin of the National Green tribunalNational Green Tribunal or the Environmental Court is not a new concept. Different courts in the country led by the Supreme Court, have recommended the establishment of Environmental Court to take up the cases related to environmental degradation. Some of the cases are namely, M.C Mehta vs. Union of India case in 1986, ‘Indian Council for Environ-Legal Action vs. Union of India

case in 1996 and A.P. Pollution Control Board vs. M.V. Nayudu case in 1999. It is in the last case the honourable Supreme Court referred to the need for establishing Environmental Courts which would have the benefit of expert advice from environmental scientists/technically qualified persons, as a part of the judicial process, after an elaborate discussion of the views of jurists of various countries.

During the Rio de Janeiro summit of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992, India vowed the participating states to provide judicial and administrative remedies for the victims of the pollutants and other environmental damage.

There lie many reasons behind the setting up of this tribunal. After India’s move with Carbon credits, such tribunal may play a vital role in ensuring the control of emissions and maintaining the desired levels. This is the first body of its kind that is required by its parent statute to apply the “polluter pays” principle and the principle of sustainable development.

National Green tribunalThe National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.

The Tribunal’s dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide

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speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts. The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.

Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up at five places of sittings and will follow circuit procedure for making itself more accessible. New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other 4 place of sitting of the Tribunal.

Key provisions in the Act • The tribunal shall consist of a full time chairperson, judicial members and expert members. The minimum number of judicial and expert member prescribed is ten in each category and maximum number is twenty in each category.

• A judge of the Supreme Court of India or Chief Justice of High Court is eligible to be Chairperson or judicial member of the Tribunal. Even existing or retired judge of High Court is qualified to be appointed as a Judicial Member.

• The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. The judicial members and the expert members of the Tribunal shall be appointed on the recommendations of such selection committee.

• To avoid conflict of interest, it is included explicitly in the Act that the chairperson, judicial members and expert members of the tribunal shall not hold any other office during their tenure.

• The Act puts a restriction on ninety days for filing an appeal to the Supreme Court against any award, decision or order of the tribunal. Again there is a clause which states that Supreme Court may entertain any appeal after expiry

of ninety days, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal.

• The act empowers the Green tribunal to award compensation and unlike other environmental protection Acts, this Act bestows ample power on the Green Tribunal if its order are not complied with; the penalty may be either three years prison or up to ten crores penalty and for companies it may extend up to twenty five crores.

Drawbacks of the ActDespite some excellent provisions, the Act suffers from certain discrepancies. There are certain words and clauses in the Act which needs to be rectified for just and speedy redressal of environmental grievances. Some of the drawbacks of the Act are as follows.

• Section 14 of the Act says, “the Tribunal shall have jurisdiction over all civil cases where a substantial question relating to environment.” The usage of word “substantial” is very subjective. It will vary from person to person to define what is substantial with respect to environmental degradation.

• The Act says that an action can be taken if there is a direct violation of specific statutory environmental obligation and community at large is affected. What if, there is direct violation of specific statutory environmental obligation and community at large is not affected.

• The Act limits the “environmental consequences” to specific activity or point source. However, the “environmental consequences” cannot be restricted to either “specific activity or to a point source of pollution” as is being provided in the Act, because non-point source of pollution and a bundle of industrial activities are also

a major contributor to pollution load.

• The Act prescribes differential time frames for approaching the Tribunal:

Section 16 states 30 days for challenging an order under the Tribunal’s appellate jurisdiction.

Section 14(3) states six months on disputes of substantial questions related to environment.

Section 15(3) states five years for seeking compensation and relief.

Such arbitrary and limited time frame defeats the whole purpose of the Act because impact on environment is a continuous process.

• The specification of the desirable qualification for being a member of the NGT has been criticized by the civil society who believes that this will facilitate backdoor entry for the retired bureaucrats.

• The Act considers higher degrees in Science, Engineering, Technology and experience in Administration only as technical qualifications. On the flip side, there is no provision for ecologists, sociologists, environmentalists, expert in public health, occupational health and civil society / NGO’s who have been proactive in the field of environment protection.

ConclusionNational Green Tribunal is thus a new beginning for India’s struggle between development and environment. Despite some inherent flaws, NGT is a significant initiative by the Government and the rightful implementation of the law would certainly usher the country towards the path of Sustainable Development and guarantee a harmonious relationship between the environment and society. The working of the NGT so far suggests that the country’s move towards Sustainable development has begun.

Green benches in other countriesNew South wales: The Land and Environment Court of New South is a “mixed” model composed of judges and expert members. It is a Court of record having a jurisdiction that combines appeal, judicial review and enforcement functions, pertaining to environmental and planning law.

the uSA: Mediation is a new trend that has been coming up in the field of environmental adjudication. The Vermont Environmental Court of the USA, implemented it in 2005 now it has become an important and effective form of dispute resolution.

New Zealand: In the Case of New Zealand there is a presence of Section 268 of Resources Management Act effectively empowering Environment Courts to arrange for mediations and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods.

thailand: In Thailand ADR is a very important system for the Green Adjudication Process. It is promoted as the first step in environment related cases.

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NAtIoNAl NEwS...

Government mulling private sector corruption lawA move is afoot in the Government to make corruption in private sector a penal offence with imprisonment up to seven years for the offenders.

The government has proposed to make bribery in private sector -- both giving and accepting it -- a criminal offence by amending the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The draft Indian Penal Code (Amendments) Bill, 2011, circulated to States and Union Territories by the Centre for their comments, would cover graft by an individual, firm, society, trust, association of individuals, company, whether incorporated or not,which undertakes any economic or financial or commercial activity. At present, there are no legal provisions to check graft in the private sector.

According to the draft law, whoever in the course of economic, financial or commercial activity promises, offers or gives, directly or indirectly, any gratification, in any capacity, for a private sector entity, for the person himself or for another person shall be punishable.

Besides, it said, if somebody “solicits or accepts, directly or indirectly, any gratification amounting to an undue advantage from any person, who directs or works, in any capacity, for a private sector entity” shall also be punishable with imprisonment and fine or both. The Centre has asked all States and UT administrations to give their views on the proposed amendments in the IPC.

Bhopal tragedy: SC slams Centre for ‘failure’ to dispose wasteThe Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Centre for not being serious on disposal of toxic waste lying in the defunct Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) plant, now represented by DOW Chemical Company, in Bhopal for the last 28 years and asked it to take a final decision on it soon.

It asked the Centre to place before it the decision taken by the Group of Minister (GoM) on the issue by the end of June. The toxic waste has been lying in the UCIL plant since the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrial disaster that left over 15,000 people dead and thousands maimed.

Expressing reservation in interfering in government decision, the bench said it “never wants and should never want to run the government”, but it has to keep in mind public interest.

The court was hearing an appeal against the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s interim decision directing the Environment and Forests Ministry Secretary to explain what is to be done with the 350 tonnes of toxic wastes lying at the UCIP since 1984 when the Bhopal gas leak disaster had occurred.

lEGAl/ CoNStItutIoNAl ISSuES

Supreme Court refuses to stay quota orderThe Supreme Court has refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court order that quashed 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities in central educational institutions such as the IITs, and ticked off the government for the way it had handled the “complex” and “sensitive” issue.

The apex court expressed its “unhappiness” that the Centre was blaming the High Court when it had itself failed to produce documents to support its case.

A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.S. Khehar was critical of the Ministry of Human Resource Development rushing to the apex court with the appeal against the May 28 order of the High Court without documents to justify the policy of carving out 4.5 per cent sub-quota within the 27 per cent OBC reservation.

It may be recalled that just prior to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Central government issued two separate orders declaring that the religious minorities would be given 4.5 per cent sub-quota from among the 27 per cent reservation existing for OBCs. This has been challenged by the Andhra Pradesh BC Welfare Association president R. Krishnaiah and others.

Bill gets nod to extend time for oBC quota implementationParliament has passed a Bill that seeks to exempt some Central institutions from implementing the Other Backward Classes quota where it exceeds the 50 per cent reservation limit stipulated by the Supreme Court.

The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Bill, 2012, which was approved by the Rajya Sabha last month, has been passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill seeks to extend the time frame for full implementation of the Act keeping in mind the time taken to create additional facilities in institutions.

As per the amendment, if seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in a Central institution exceed 50 per cent of the annual strength permitted, it need not make any reservation for the OBCs.

Where the institutions are located in the tribal areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Assam, the percentage of seats reserved for the SC/STs will not be reduced from the level that obtained on the day immediately preceding the commencement of the Act.

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In a late development, A Group of Ministers (GoM) has given its approval to the Madhya Pradesh government for disposing of 350 tonnes of Union Carbide toxic waste in Germany. The Centre will pay Rs. 25 crore towards the cost of airlifting the waste which will be removed within a year. The whole procedure of removing the waste will be completed within a year. According to Madhya Pradesh government officials, the disposal would be carried out by German agency — GIZ IS.

Srikant Kumar Jena Announces “one MP - one Idea” SchemeThe Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has announced a new scheme “One MP – One Idea” under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). The Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Shri Srikant Kumar Jena has said that in order to foster, a grass-root bottoms-up approach to innovation and development and to arrive at solutions for local problems which are sustainable and scalable, there is a need for seeking out and campaigning for ideas that have the potential to solve challenges. Accordingly, based on the innovative ideas received from the local people regarding developmental projects, an ‘One MP – One Idea’ Competition may be held in each Lok Sabha constituency annually to select the three best innovations for cash awards on the specific request of an MP to promote such a scheme in his/her constituency.

Shri Jena stated that applications will be invited for providing innovative solutions pertaining to social issues, especially in the area of education & skills, health, water & sanitation, housing & infrastructure, agriculture, energy, environment, community and social service etc. These innovative solutions will be evaluated in a transparent manner by a selection committee headed by the DC/DM of the Nodal District and consisting of six members from Engineering, Finance, Health & Sanitation, Academia, Industry and Banking & Financial Institutions.

Member Parliament shall award Certificate of honour along with cash award of Rs. 2.5 lakhs, Rs. 1.5 lakhs and Rs. 1 lakh to the first, second and third best innovative solutions respectively through their MPLAD funds in a Public function. In addition, a Certificate of appreciation will be given to the next 5 best innovations. He added that the above scheme shall inspire people to find innovative solutions to social and developmental problems.

Parliament passes bill to protect children from sexual abuseParliament has approved a bill to protect children below 18 from sexual abuse, set up special courts for speedy trial of cases against them and provide stringent punishment extending up to life term for offenders.

“The bill is gender neutral. It seeks to protect children from sexual offences...The burden of proof will be on the accused,” Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath said

winding up the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011.

Tirath said all below 18 years would be treated as child and efforts have been made to keep provisions of the bill child-friendly. It contains provisions for in-camera trial of offences, she said.

Dismissing concerns over misuse of the law, Tirath said, provisions have also been made to deal with offences of false complaints.

lokpal Bill referred to Rajya Sabha Select CommitteeIn yet another twist, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill has been referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha, further delaying the setting up of the anti-graft ombudsman which has been hanging fire for 42 years.

The Bill, on which debate had remained inconclusive in the Rajya Sabha during the last Winter Session, was referred to the Select Committee through a motion soon after Minister of State for Personnel V. Narayanasamy moved it for consideration and passage.

Minimum 7 years term mandatory for rapes: SCRapists should be awarded a minimum sentence of 7 years which can be reduced only in special circumstances, the Supreme Court has ruled ticking off the Rajasthan High Court for reducing the punishment of two convicts in a rape case.

The apex court passed the judgement while upholding an appeal filed by the Rajasthan Government challenging the high court’s decision to reduce the sentence on two rapists Vinod Kumar and Heera Lal without recording any special reasons for taking the lenient view.

Section 376 IPC (rape) mandates a minimum 7 years punishment, but which may be life or for a term which may extend to 10 years, provided that the court may for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgement, impose the punishment for a term less than 7 years.

Copyright Bill cleared; artistes entitled to lifelong royaltySong writers, artistes and performers can now claim royalty for their works, as Parliament has approved amendments to the Copyright Act that entitles artistes to lifelong royalty.

The Copyright Act (Amendment) Bill, 2012 was passed by the Lok Sabha unanimously, with members from all parties supporting the measure for creative artistes, whose benefits are cornered by producers under the existing law.

The Bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha last week, declares authors owners of the copyright, which cannot be assigned to producers, as was the practice till now.

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Introducing the Bill, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said poor artistes had been left in the lurch, as producers cornered all royalties, but the new law would help them live a good life even in old age, as they would continue to get their dues for their work.

Citing the examples of shehnai exponent Bismillah Khan and music composer Ravi, to press home the point that the condition of such excellent artistes was pitiable, as they weren’t able to pay even house rent and hospital charges, Mr. Sibal said the Bill made it mandatory for broadcasters — both radio and television — to pay royalty to the owners of the copyright each time a work of art was broadcast.

It bans persons from bringing out cover versions of any literary, dramatic or musical work for five years from the first recording of the original creation.

The Bill provides for exemption from copyright for any work prepared for the physically challenged in special formats such as Braille. It also permits compulsory licence to be granted for a certain number of copies in non-special formats to non-profit organisations working to help disabled persons.

GovERNANCE

union Cabinet approves road links to all tribal and border habitationsThe Centre has initiated the process to connect all tribal habitations and villages in border districts with roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

The Union Cabinet also approved a Rs. 8,500-crore special package for connecting 6,000 habitations in 78 Left wing extremist-affected districts and entrusted the Union Ministry of Rural Development with the job of preparing the estimates for the two projects.

Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Chandra Deo underlined the problems of the tribals who lived in scattered habitations of less than 250 people, and hence were still deprived of road connectivity.

The Cabinet directed Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to conduct a survey to establish the number of such habitations in all the Schedule V areas that needed to be covered, and prepare the estimate for taking a final decision on extending this basic facility to the tribals living in remote forests and hills.

Similarly, the Cabinet was sympathetic to the problems of the people residing in villages in border areas that Union Road Transport and Highways Minister C.P. Joshi batted for. The Ministry of Rural Development will study all the 362 border blocks located along Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Mr. Ramesh has ordered a survey to establish the number of villages under the two categories, and the money that would be required to construct roads under the PMGSY, the allocation for which has been raised to Rs. 24,000 crore for the current financial year.

To cope with the problem being faced by over six States, which have completed their PMGSY targets, the Ministry of Rural Development is evolving new guidelines to put PMGSY II in place, to provide them funds which have, obviously, been stopped.

The Ministry of Rural Development intends to address the concerns of Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland and Rajasthan, by allowing upgradation of rural roads on a cost-sharing basis. While the Centre favours a 50:50 sharing arrangement, the States were willing to meet 25 per cent of the expenditure, and want the Centre to foot the remaining 75 per cent of the cost.

In contrast, Bihar was allocated funds after a gap of two-and-a-half years, after resolving the irritants that had stalled the sanction of projects and resources. In the first tranche, Rs 915 crore has been provided for construction of 1,900 km of roads in seven LWE districts of Aurangabad, Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal, Jamui, Rohtas and Nawada.

For the remaining 31 districts, the Ministry is likely to sanction the proposals received for constructing 1,350 roads and 96 bridges, totalling 3,840 kms, at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,440 crore.

Rs. 1,500-cr. plan for census townsIf a rural area boasts a high population — well above 5,000, sometimes as high as 20,000 — with most of its workforce in non-farm jobs, is it a village or a town? For almost 4,000 such areas, the definition is unclear: the census calls them towns, but since they have gram panchayats rather than municipal corporations, the government seems to consider them rural.

The government has now launched a Rs. 1,500-crore revamp of the PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities for Rural Areas) scheme to bring basic infrastructure to these areas that are falling through the cracks of the rural-urban divide.

“This is the big phenomenon of the 2011 Census,” says Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. “The number of statutory towns [with a municipal corporation] has stayed almost the same from 2001. The number of villages is almost the same. But the number of so-called census towns has grown from just 1,362 in 2001 to 3,894 now.”

A census town is defined as a place with a population of over 5,000, a population density of more than 400 per square kilometre, with three-fourths of its male workforce employed in non-agricultural jobs.

The Planning Commission has now agreed to grant Rs. 1,500 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan period to fund a public-private partnership scheme to bring water supply, sewerage, drainage, solid waste management and street lighting to such unofficial urban clusters, mostly in the six States — Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala — which have seen the highest growth of census towns.

The scheme is a revamp of the former President A.P.J.

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Abdul Kalam’s brainchild, PURA, which was initially aimed at providing city amenities to villages. In its latest avatar, PURA 2.0 is focussing on the development of 50 to 60 potential growth centres such as census towns. Initial pilot projects have begun in Kerala, with eight other projects awaiting final approvals from State governments. Earlier this week, the Rural Development Ministry invited expressions of interest for 10 to 15 more projects.

Under the scheme, the Central government will grant Rs. 40 crore for each project with the private player expected to invest Rs. 20-30 crore. Another Rs. 80 crore is expected to come from the convergence of existing schemes.

Gram panchayats will sign agreements with private players to build and maintain the infrastructure for a 10-year period during which they can recoup their investment, says the Ministry’s advertisement.

Disability Affairs department formedThe government has created a separate department of “Disability Affairs,” which was earlier part of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, to cater for the needs of an estimated 2.1-crore-strong disabled population.

With the creation of this department, the Ministry will be able to focus more on policy issues and problems of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), according to Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Mukul Wasnik.

The department will have a separate budget that would help in strengthening the existing schemes and formulating new ones, and also for technological innovations.

With the new department in place, it will be easier to coordinate with various stakeholders, NGOs, the State governments, related Central ministries and international organisations like the United Nations, says a Ministry release.

The Union Government runs seven National Institutes dealing with various types of disabilities and seven Composite Regional Centres, which provide rehabilitation services to PwDs, run courses for rehabilitation professionals and fund NGOs for similar services, and also a National Handicapped Finance & Development Corporation.

Plan panel allocates Rs.36,000 cr for rural sanitationSeeking to give a big boost to sanitation in rural areas, Planning Commission has allocated a Rs.3,6000 crores for the 12th Five Year Plan, up from Rs.7800 Crore in the previous Plan.

Noting that 60 per cent of open defecation in the world are in India and “it is a matter of continuing anguish, shame for all citizens”, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who is also in-charge of the Ministry for Drinking Water and Sanitation said that the government has vowed to achieve total sanitation in the country in the next 10 years.

The total sanitation campaign will now be known as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, Mr. Ramesh said.

At present, out of Rs.3400 allocated for individual toilets, the Centre gives Rs.2100, each State’s share is Rs.1000 and Rs.300 comes from the beneficiaries, while Rs.1200 is leveraged through MGNREGA works as was approved last year.

But after the Cabinet approval, the Centre has to dole out Rs.3200, the state Rs.1400 and families have to provide Rs.900 while MGNREGA funds will be to the tune of Rs.4500.

President commutes death sentence of servant who killed 3 personsPresident Pratibha Patil has commuted the death sentence of a domestic help, who had murdered a retired Brigadier and his two family members in Dehradun 18 years ago, to life imprisonment.

Ms. Patil, found it a fit case to be pardoned and issued orders in this regard on April 29, making Prakash the 27th case during her tenure to get mercy, according to an RTI reply provided to Bhilwara-based activist S. S. Ranawat.

During her tenure, Ms. Patil, has rejected the petitions of five persons, which include Rajiv Gandhi’s three killers — Santham, Murugan and Arivu; Khalistan militant Devinder Pal Singh who was convicted in 1993 Delhi car bombing and Mahendra Nath Das of Assam who had murdered a truck drivers association leader.

Ms. Patil has commuted the death sentences of 27 petitioners to life imprisonment, which is over 90 per cent of the total pardons granted since 1981.

REPoRtS/ CoMMISSIoNS

task Force on National Security presents report to PMThe Task Force set up by Government in July 2011 to review the working of the national security system has called on the Prime Minister and presented their Report. The Task Force was headed by Shri Naresh Chandra, and included retired government servants, former armed forces officers and experts in aspects of national security.

The Task Force was mandated to review existing processes, procedures and practices in the national security system and to suggest measures to strengthen the national security apparatus. The Task Force has made an assessment of the security scenario facing the country and made recommendations to the Government. The Report of the Task Force is now with Government for its consideration.

Constitutional Committee for review of statute provisions in J&K: ReportRuling out a return to the pre-1953 position, Centre’s interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir have favoured setting up a Constitutional Committee to review all Central Acts and

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Articles of the Constitution of India to the state extended after 1952.

The report of the interlocutors--Dileep Padgaonkar, Radha Kumar and M M Ansari--which was made public today, proposed a ‘New Compact’ with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, having three components--political, economic and social and cultural --forming a single package which cannot be accepted on a selective basis.

Under the political component, the report deals with Centre-State relations and internal devolution of powers and suggests a road map listing confidence-building measures that includes review of Disturbed Areas Act and re-appraisal of application of controversial AFSPA.

The report, which was handed over to Home Minister P Chidambaram on October 12 last year, also favoured resumption of the dialogue process between the Centre and Hurriyat Conference “at the earliest”.

On Centre-state relation, the report calls for review of all Central Acts and Articles of the Constitution of India extended to the state after 1952 Delhi agreement.

HEAltH ISSuES

the Sixty Fifth world Health Assembly Adopts Resolution Moved by India on Mental HealthIndia`s leadership role in promoting the global debate on the need for urgent national action for the promotion of mental health was acknowledged by the World Health Organization at the 65th World Health Assembly. An important resolution calling on Member-states and the WHO to develop an action plan was moved by India and received warm support before being approved. The Government of India has been separately working on strengthening interventions in the 12th Plan for the care of persons with mental illness, including emphasis on family and community care and training of health and community workers, and short and long stay homes. Government has begun a major exercise to develop a mental health policy for the country and also expects to shortly introduce new legislation to replace the Mental Health Act, 1987, to bring India into conformity with international commitments to protect the rights of persons with mental illness.

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world’s highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states.

The members of the World Health Assembly generally meet every year in May in Geneva, the location of WHO Headquarters. The main tasks of the WHA are to decide major policy questions, as well as to approve the WHO work programme and budget and elect its Director General.

Consider ecology expert panel’s report on western Ghats, says IuCNThe Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel’s (WGEEP) report had a bearing on the World Heritage Committee’s decision on heritage status for the Western Ghats, though the government is yet to accept the findings.

The Committee recently deferred the decision following a report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). India has been asked to consider the WGEEP recommendations “on land use and controls on development” in the region. The Union Ministry of Environment recently released the report in the public domain with a caveat that it had not formally accepted the report.

The IUCN suggested that the authorities “review and refine the scope and composition of the current serial nomination to take into account the recommendations of the WGEEP, noting the panel was tasked with compiling scientific data and defining ecologically sensitive areas through consultation.”

The agency noted that “the report tabled last year made a few recommendations on Ecologically Sensitive Zones as areas of high conservation value within the Ghats system.” The “IUCN believes it is appropriate to consider the findings of the WGEEP report, noting it was specifically commissioned by the government of India and tasked with comprehensive data compilation and identifying ecologically sensitive areas through GIS and an extensive consultation processes,” it said.

It proposed “refining” the boundaries of the serial sites further “to ensure the exclusion of disturbed areas such as artificial reservoirs, plantations, settlements, industry and agricultural lands; and to enhance the contiguity and buffer zones of the nomination, taking into account the recommendations” of the panel.

The nominated sites included 19 from Kerala, 10 from Karnataka, six from Tamil Nadu and four from Maharashtra.

A suggestion was made to “establish improved coordination and integration between component sites, particularly through the preparation and implementation of an overarching management plan or framework for the serial property as a whole and through the establishment of the proposed Western Ghats Natural Heritage Conservation Authority.”

The report pointed out that human impact was evident across the landscape despite the “careful delineation of boundaries to exclude these wherever possible from the nominated property itself.”

The agency noticed some instances of “encroachment, livestock grazing, fodder and fuel wood collection, illegal hunting and increasing interest in tourism-related activity” in some areas.

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At the same time, V.B. Mathur, Dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, pointed out that the WGEEP primarily dealt with the ecology of the Ghats areas outside the national parks and protected areas. The serial sites are either national parks or wildlife sanctuaries, which have an effective management mechanism in place. The Ministry had effectively implemented all the suggestions made by the IUCN earlier, he said.

Stressing the need for respecting the existing “indigenous institutions,” IUCN also noted that there were some 40 different Adivasi/indigenous peoples in several States of the Ghats region. The agency also stated that it was “made aware of continued significant concerns about the nomination and rights issues from sections of the indigenous local community.”

The report stated that “it was important that governance mechanisms were not externally imposed but respect existing indigenous institutions for decision-making consistent with the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”

The Western Ghats starts from Maharashtra and runs through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala ending at Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of Indian peninsula.

CRZ green signal for four more Kudankulam unitsWith the first two units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) coming close to the stage of commissioning, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has received the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance for starting work on the next four units (KKNPP units 3-6).

The NPCIL has to submit a schematic diagram of its outfall and technical details to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) before commencing the work.

Discussing the issue of CRZ clearance at length, the Expert Appraisal Committee of the MoEF has also asked NPCIL to carry out regular monitoring at the outfall point, especially for temperature and marine life quality. It must also monitor all physical, chemical and biological parameters, including radioactivity, regularly.

For NPCIL, the long wait has come to an end. It obtained environmental clearance under EIA notification 2006 from MoEF in September 2008 for KKNPP 3 and 4 and in December 2009 for units 5 and 6.

India supports global funding of health R&D for poorIndia supports a proposed legally binding global instrument that requires all governments to share the cost of research and development (R&D). The treaty, recommended by a World Health Organisation panel, will boost access to countries least able to pay for medical innovations but need it most. This would also delink profits from medical discoveries.

The “Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination” (CEWG) lays down a road map for the binding instrument to address the

R&D needs of developing countries for Type II and Type III diseases — tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, kala-azar, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, chikungunya and other neglected tropical diseases.

The CEWG report, presented at the 65th World Health Assembly in Geneva recently, will change the way research and financing for drug and development takes place. “Generation R&D outcomes as public goods, freely available for further research and production, would delink R&D costs from product prices. This binding agreement would facilitate drug discovery and development which will be relevant to the diseases which afflict the poor and the vulnerable in the developing countries,’’ India said in its intervention.Taxation aspects

Without mentioning any specific form of tax, the CEWG report says: “Countries should first consider at national level what tax options might be appropriate to them as a means of raising revenue to devote to health R&D.”

However, the CEWG highlights two taxes — Financial Transaction Tax and Tobacco Solidarity Contribution — as potential new sources of funding that could be channelled through international mechanism to supplement national resources.

It recommends that “all countries should commit themselves to spending at least 0.01 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) on government funded R&D devoted to meeting the health needs of developing countries.’’

A WHA resolution has impressed upon the member-states the need to establish or strengthen mechanisms for improved R&D coordination in collaboration with the WHO and other relevant partners, and calls upon the private sector, academic institutions and non-governmental organisations to increase investment in health R&D related to Type II and III diseases and the specific R&D needs of developing countries in relation to Type I diseases like diabetes.

All-members are required to spell out their road map at the next WHA in 2013. Some developed countries are opposing the move on the ground that their contribution to health research is adequate.

In 2010, three diseases received most of the global funding for R&D: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Despite being the leading child-killer in developing countries, diarrhoeal diseases received less than 5 per cent of global R&D funding in 2010.

Leprosy, Buruli ulcer, trachoma — an eye infection that can lead to irreversible blindness — and rheumatic fever are among the neglected diseases of poverty that occur in overcrowded, remote and poor areas. They received less than $10 million each.

In 2010, eight of the top 12 governments that provided public funding for R&D in neglected diseases (including HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB) cut their spending, according to the G-FINDER (Global Funding of Innovation for Neglected Diseases) survey.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012International Bulletin

SCO – ExPANDINg ROlE

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The June summit, which is the twelfth meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of state and the third to be held in China, marked the first instance since 2005 when the grouping has admitted a new observer. India, Pakistan Mongolia and Iran have the status of observer states. Afghanistan has been admitted as new observer during this summit. Belarus and Sri Lanka are the dialogue partners.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation. The SCO group was formed to curb extremism in the region and enhance border security. It was widely viewed as a countermeasure to curb the influence of Western alliances such as NATO.

The agenda included discussions about the 2011-2012 Syrian uprising and criticism by the Western world of Russia and China’s approach towards sanctioning the government of Syria. Host President Hu Jintao also said that the SCO would support a new security concept that would give its member states full control over maintaining its own interests, development trajectories according to each states’ conditions and to counter “interventionism.”

With the United States and NATO set to leave Afghanistan over the next two years, power in the region is shifting. With the prospect of a decline in US influence in the region in sight, Russia and China are reaching out to Pakistan and Afghanistan in a bid to improve economic ties and to secure their southern borders against the spread of Islamic fundamentalism.

The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, were present in Beijing for the summit meeting of the SCO, which was led by China and Russia.

China and Afghanistan signed a strategic agreement at the SCO, elevating their relationship as China shops for raw material and oil exploration contracts in mineral-rich Afghanistan. China has already secured some oil and copper mining concessions.

Likewise Russia, both through the SCO and bilaterally, is willing to offer major help to Afghanistan such as improving the Salang Tunnel highway, the critical link road between Kabul and the north which the Soviets built in the 1970s.

India’s interestThe External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna, went there to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. India has been an observer since 2005. Mr. Krishna indicated India’s desire to be a full-fledged member of the six-member security grouping.

Addressing the extended session of the 12th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said India “admired” the grouping which comprised of China, Russia and Central Asian states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

India has said that it backed the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security grouping to play a greater role in Afghanistan, and expressed its interest to coordinate more closely with the group in combating terrorism in the region.

Citing the development of relations that were moving “smoothly” and had turned the corner after years of “hiccups,” Indian and Chinese officials discussed expanding the ties in new areas, from taking forward talks on Central Asia and trans-boundary rivers to looking into opening new consulates to boost engagement.

The two countries confirmed that they would discuss the issue of trans-

border rivers next month, when a working group would meet to carry forward the earlier discussions, in which they had agreed to share hydrological data.

At past meetings, China had sought to allay any Indian concern at the diversion of the Brahmaputra, stressing that it had so far built only one run-of-the-river project at Zangmu in Tibet and had not embarked on any diversion projects.

Chinese officials also expressed their interest in opening a third consulate in India, and expanding China’s diplomatic presence beyond the consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata, and the embassy in New Delhi.

Chinese officials have earlier indicated that Chennai would be a preferred location, citing the growing presence of Chinese companies in southern India.

Indian officials said the issue would be taken up at an appropriate level. India is also understood to be keen on expanding its diplomatic presence in China — India has consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Chinese officials have suggested they would favour Indian consular presence in Chengdu in Sichuan province, where a number of Indian IT companies have set up base, or in Kunming in south-western Yunnan province, which China sees as a gateway to South Asia.

ConclusionIn the dynamic Asian geopolitics, role of SCO has increased substantially. Keeping this in view and the desire of New Delhi to play greater and substantial role in this Asian drama, India’s involvement in SCO is very important. Through this grouping India eyes greater economic gains as well as energy security. The central Asian republics are not only emerging markets but also potential source of energy. The security arrangement and the anti terrorism policy of the grouping will strengthen India’s stand on the issue. Thus the interest shown by Indian establishment in SCO is backed by the long term imperatives.

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NEPAl CRISES

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What is the Political History of Nepal?JANANDOLAN I in 1990 has transformed Nepal from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democratic system. It was happened because of the public corruption and negligent attitude of monarchy towards people welfare. Then JANANDOLAN II IN 2005 was happened with maoists armed rebels as the driving force for the revolution. During that time maoists held most of the rural areas, which has the potential to paralyze Nepal economy. At the end of janandolan II COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT was signed with Maoists in 2006. According to which maoists agreed for the ceasefire and accepted for elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA) for drafting new constitution. This transformed Nepal into republic, secular, federal state from monarchic, Hindu, unitary state. In 2008 elections, maoists emerged as the dominant party in 601- member CA but didn’t have clear majority to form the government. So, there is a need to form the national unity government to run the state institutions and the tenure for the CA was only for 2 years i.e from May 2008 to may 2010.

What are the Key Political Parties Dominating the Present the Political Scenario? 1. Unified Communist Party of

Nepal(Maoists) is the largest party in the CA

2. Nepali congress

3. Communist Party of Nepal(unified Marxists-Leninists)

4. United Democratic Madheshi Front

These are the four major political parties which are dominating the present political scenario of Nepal. Apart from these there are lots of small parties based on ethnicity. As

many as 20 is also present in CA. so, the biggest challenge is to evolve the political consensus among them in various issues.

What are the Key Challenges For Nepal from 2008?There are two key challenges for Nepal in 2008. First is to draft the new constitution by CA within two years. Second is to reintegrate and rehabilitate the maoists rebels into Nepal army. The second issue is the most contentious issue which slowed down the political process in Nepal. It is mainly pertaining to number of rebels to be integrated within army and retirement package for the rebels. But finally the issue was resolved in 2011. Now the first issue of drafting constitution hit the roadblock because of federalism issue.

Why there is No Stable unity Government in Nepal From 2008?Maoists didn’t have clear majority to form the government (executive)in Nepal. So they have to rely on other parties for the support. But they didn’t have any trust with other parties, so often it lead to fall of the government whenever there is distrust in the coalition formed by maoists with other parties. Communist party of Nepal (UML) and Madheshi parties supported maoists alternatively. Nepali congress is performing the role of opposition party.

2008- Prachanda from maoists acted as prime minister but his government fell because of sacking army chief.

2009-Madhav Kumar Nepal became PM, and he also resigned.

2010-the PM election was dragged for more than 10 months and finally Jalanath khannal from UML became party by forming alliance with maoists. He resigned in august2011

2011-Baburam Bhattarai from maoists was elected as PM because of the

alliance with Madheshi parties.

What is uNmIN And What Role It Did for Peace building in Nepal?UNMIN is the United Nations mission in Nepal by the international community for peace reconciliation and facilitation for democratic transition. The role of UNMIN is to act as the neutral agency between Nepal army and maoists army. Maoists surrendered all the arms to the UNMIN, so that ceasefire will come into effect and there will be development of trust on maoists for their commitment to democracy. The mission was ended in January 2011 after the number of extensions.

Why CA unable to Promulgate Constitution by may 2011 and What are the Key Demands of Political Parties?The CA is unable to promulgate the constitution because of lack of political consensus among different parties in federalism issue. Most of the text of constitution was agreed like adopting French model of presidential and parliamentary system but the crucial issue of federalism is not resolved yet.

The demands of the political parties were grouped into two.

On one side maoists and Madheshi parties were stubborn in their demands for ethnic identity based states, political rights and right to self determination for them. Regarding number of states, they want two states in terai region and accepted the proposal of either 10(proposed by CA committee) or 14(proposed by state restructuring commission). This is because of the fear that minorities may not get benefit from the ruling elite and the history also has lit of injustice done by ruling elite. So they want ethnicity based states.

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But on the other side Nepali Congress and UML wants to promulgate the constitution within May 2011 and left the federalism issue to parliament to resolve. They also opposed to the ethnicity based states because they felt that it may endanger the Nepal unity in the future.

Both sides were stubborn in their demands and so unable to find the middle path and political consensus. In the meantime, CA tenure was also expired.

What Happened to CA after Its Expiry of tenure by may 2011?The tenure for CA is only for two years from 2008 to 2010 May. But during

that time it was unable to draft the constitution. So all the political parties extended the tenure to one more year i.e upto May 2011.even after the extension it is unable to finish the task. Again they extended its tenure for one more year i.e may 2012.but again they are unable to finish the task. This time they tries to extend the tenure for one more year but it was strike down by the supreme court and asked the government to call for fresh elections for the CA. as politicians were failed repeatedly to deliver the constitution to the people of Nepal, so it is better to get the mandate from the people for new CA, thus strengthens the democratic process.

What is the Reaction from the unity Governement for the Supreme Court Verdict?The unity government accepted the Supreme Court verdict and called for fresh elections in November 2012.

What Happened to maoists Party?The moist party was headed by Prachanda and another faction also functioning within the party with Mohan Vaidya Kiran as its head. The Kiran group wants to restart the violence again and they don’t have faith in democratic process. After the maoists party accepted the Supreme Court verdict, the Kiran group strongly opposed that and announced to walk away from the party. So, now the maoists party was split into two.

GCC cool to Riyadh’s meet-Iran-threat planSaudi Arabia formally launched the process for a closer political integration of the six Gulf monarchies as a hedge against the perceived threat from Iran and to counter any challenge posed by the possible intrusion of the “Arab Spring” into this energy rich zone.

After a day-long meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal announced that the attempt at political consolidation among the six countries belonging to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates — was still on course. “I am hoping that the six countries will unite in the next meeting,” Prince Saud observed optimistically.

Analysts point out that Saudi Arabia has been the chief advocate of the federation, to stand up as a bulwark against the tide for change that has been sweeping across West Asia and North Africa. The Saudis have identified Iran as the chief challenge to regional stability, and have along with Qatar tried to undermine the Tehran supported regime in Syria. The perceived interference of Iran last year became the backdrop of the movement of Saudi troops, as head of a GCC force, into Bahrain to crush an uprising that seemed to threaten the ruling monarchy there.

White babies now a minority in the u.S.Presaging a major shift in demographic structure that could see whites become a minority in the U.S. sooner than expected, the country’s Census Bureau (CB) has unveiled a startling finding that, for the first time ever, white babies represented only 49.6 per cent of all births in the 12-month period that ended in July 2011.

INtERNAtIoNAl NEWS...

On the flip side, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asians and mixed-race infants, comprised 50.4 per cent of the total — again an unprecedented statistical majority. This is up from 49.5 per cent in the 2010 census, according to the CB, which defines a minority as “anyone who is not single-race white and not Hispanic”.

Within the category of minorities, Asians, numbering 18.2 million nationally in 2011, were the second fastest-growing minority group with a 35 growth rate since 2010. Their growth was outranked only by Hispanics, whose population increased by 3.1 per cent during the same period. The share of the white population has slid steadily since the post-War baby-boomer generation.

While the latest CB results relate to the number of live births, the relative shares of whites and ethnic minorities in the adult population are not expected to reflect a similar balance until about 2040. In 2011 there were 114 million minorities in total, representing 36.6 per cent of the U.S. population, whereas in 2010, it stood at 36.1 per cent.

NAto announces missile defence system operationalA mechanism for Europe which will link together the missile defence assets from different allies under NATO command has been declared operational by the organisation.

Announced by the alliance 18 months ago, the system has been termed by NATO director general Anders Fogh Rasmussen as a step towards the organisation’s long-term goal of providing full coverage and protection for all its European partners.

“Our system will link together missile defence assets from

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different allies -– satellites, ships, radars and interceptors –- under NATO command and control. It will allow us to defend against threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area,” Rasmussen said in Chicago yesterday after first session of the North Atlantic Council in Heads of State and Government format. He also called the system an interim capability. “We have decided to develop a NATO missile defence system because we consider the missile threat a real threat and against a real threat, we need a real defence to protect our population effectively,” Rasmussen said, adding that NATO would continue to have dialogue with Russia in this regard.

Zardari, Karzai agrees to extend transit trade to Central AsiaPakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai has agreed to extend the transit trade agreement between the two countries to the Central Asia Republics.

“Once the decision has been taken, modalities for extending the transit trade to Central Asia will be worked out by the officials from two sides,” the Pak President’s spokesperson, Farhatullah Babar, said after the meeting held in Chicago on the sidelines of the NATO Summit .

During the meeting, Zardari also emphasised on long term regional economic engagement and stressed that projects like Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, CASA-1000, Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (RoZs) and rail and road connectivity could change the destiny of the region, calling also for concerted efforts to implement these projects. Zardari said that Pakistan would support every effort for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan including the Qatar process as long as they were acceptable to Afghans, Babar said.

Noting that peace and stability in Afghanistan is a central concern of Pakistan, Zardari reiterated that the Pakistani territory shall not be used for any kind of attacks on any other country.

NAto to handhold Afghanistan post-2014As NATO countries and those providing transit facilities to supplies for coalition forces in Afghanistan charted the post-2014 course in Chicago, they acknowledged that lasting peace in the strife-torn country would not be possible without the positive engagement of Pakistan.

The summit declaration at the Chicago Conference said: “The countries in the region, particularly Pakistan, have important roles in ensuring enduring peace, stability and security in Afghanistan and in facilitating the completion of the transition process.” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was even more categorical, maintaining that “we cannot solve the problems of Afghanistan without the positive engagement of Pakistan”.

The summit declaration itself reflected the continuing deadlock between NATO and Pakistan over the reopening

of the Ground Lines of Communication (GLOC/NATO supply lines).

In the summit declaration, NATO countries reiterated their resolve to remain engaged with Afghanistan after 2014 when the country enters what Mr. Karzai described as the transformational decade. Stating that NATO would continue to provide strong and long-term political and practical support through “our Enduring Partnership with Afghanistan”, the declaration articulates member countries’ willingness to work toward establishing “at the request” of Afghanistan a new “post-2014 mission of a different nature” to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces including the Afghan Special Operations Forces.

Meanwhile, just ahead of the meeting in Chicago, the Taliban reportedly hinted a willingness to return to the negotiating table. In a statement faxed to The Express Tribune, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid was quoted as stating that the Islamic Emirate has left all military and political doors open. “It wants to secure the rights of the Afghan nation through all possible ways,” the statement said while also asking NATO to withdraw at the earliest or stay on in Afghanistan at its own peril.

Welcoming the progress on transit arrangements with central Asian partners and Russia, the declaration said NATO continued to work with Pakistan to reopen the GLOC as soon as possible.

uN sees 12.7 percent of youth out of work globallyThe U.N. labor office says it expects 12.7 percent of youth globally to be unemployed in 2012 and the rate to remain “at the same high level” at least four more years. The International Labor Organization says nearly 75 million of those aged 15 to 24 are unemployed worldwide, up more than 4 million from 2007.

The Geneva-based U.N. agency said in a report, that the youth unemployment rate, which stood at 12.6 percent in 2011, has “remained close to its crisis peak in 2009” at the height of the global financial crisis.

Russia tests new missileRussia has successfully test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile capable of piercing defence systems being developed by the United States.

The Strategic Missile Forces test-launched a new prototype ballistic missile from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Region on Wednesday, Defence Ministry spokesman Vadim Koval said. He did not identify the new weapon. “The dummy warhead reached its target area at the Kura test range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The set goals of the launch were reached,” the spokesman told Russian news wires.

It was the second launch of what is believed to be a deeply modernised Yars missile named Avangard. The first test failed

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last September when the missile crashed a few kilometres from the launch site. “The new intercontinental ballistic missile is intended to strengthen Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, including its capabilities for overcoming anti-missile defences,”.

Iran is offered new plans to ease nuclear concernsIran traded proposals with six world powers, including the United States, Wednesday in a new round of talks aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear program and ease concerns it wants to make atomic weapons. But divisions over sanctions complicated the discussions.

The Baghdad talks could offer a test of how much the U.S. and its allies are willing to bend on demands for Iran to halt all uranium enrichment and instead concentrate on just stopping the highest-grade production. The meetings opened with the so-called 5+1 group -- the permanent U.N. Security Council members, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany -- putting forward a proposal apparently aimed at reining in Iran’s highest-level uranium enrichment. Many world leaders fear the uranium, enriched to 20 percent, could be quickly turned into warhead-grade material. Other details of the plan were not immediately disclosed.

“We hope the package that we put on the table is attractive to them so they will react positively,” Mike Mann, spokesman for the head of the European Union delegation that is leading the talks, told reporters. “It’s up to them to react.”

Eu summit ends with Greek warning, eurobonds deadlockA European Union summit ended with a warning to Greece that it will have to stick to its bailout terms if it wants to stay in the eurozone, but failed to resolve Franco—German differences over the issue of eurobonds.

“We want Greece to remain in the euro area while respecting its commitments,” EU President Herman Van Rompuy said after discussions. Athens has been asked to pursue tough economic reforms and budget cuts in return for the 173—billion—euro (218—billion—dollar) bailout it was granted in March. But if anti—austerity parties prevail in elections next month, the deal is likely to be broken.

To sweeten the pill, German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the possibility of quicker access to EU regional funds. “So it is a positive message, but Greece would have to meet its obligations,” she insisted.

Calls have multiplied — including from the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — for a eurozone action plan on banks, as lenders totter in Greece and Spain. Germany has ruled out using the eurozone bailout fund to rescue banks, and Rajoy reiterated he does not need outside help. “The (Spanish) government does not have any interest and does not want to

use funds from the EU or any other organization,” he said.

Meanwhile, talks on euro—wide deposit guarantees and bank resolution schemes went nowhere, despite Hollande’s insistence. Nor does Berlin seem amenable to the idea of helping Greece or Spain by giving them more time to meet EU deficit targets.

obama presses Congress to ratify uN treaty on seaThirty years after it was signed, President Barack Obama is leading moves in the US to resurrect ratification of the UN Treaty on Law of the Sea, citing that it was vital to protect American military interests in the face of emerging powers like India and China.

Obama deputed two of his top Cabinet members and senior most commander to the Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers to ratify the UN treaty, arguing that with the emerging powers like India and China increasingly looking towards the sea for its resources and navigational rights, the treaty may be vital to US economic and military interests.

The US Senate has never ratified the treaty despite the support of both republic and democrat presidents as the country’s powerful oil and gas lobby is against the concept of the law, which allows the countries to exploit the continental shelf, in some cases extending more than 200 miles from the shore.

French President’s first visit to AfghanistanFrench President Francois Hollande arrived in Kabul for talks with his Afghan counterpart and to tell French troops why he will pull them out of the war-torn country by the end of 2012 -- two years ahead of NATO allies. It was Hollande’s first visit to Afghanistan since taking office earlier this month. He was accompanied by French defence and foreign ministers, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Laurent Fabius, and chief of army staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud.

The new French leader, making good on one of the major foreign-policy promises of his campaign, confirmed in a one-day visit to Afghanistan that all of France’s 2,000 combat troops would be brought home by the end of this year putting France on a fast-track exit timetable that sparked consternation among some allies at a NATO summit in Chicago.

“The time for Afghan sovereignty has come,” Mr. Hollande said during a meeting with French troops at a base in Kapisa province’s Nijrab district. “The terrorist threat that targeted our territory, while it hasn’t totally disappeared, is in part lessened.”

There are 3,550 French soldiers in Afghanistan. Eighty-three have died since late 2001, when US-led troops invaded to bring down the Taliban regime after the 9/11 al Qaeda attacks on the United States. France provides the fifth largest contingent to the 130,000-strong US-led Nato force battling Taliban insurgents, but Kabul has downplayed the effect of

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their early departure, saying Afghan troops are ready to take over.

Egypt results point to deeply divisive runoff raceThe Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate and a veteran of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s autocratic regime will face each other in a runoff election for Egypt’s president, according to first-round results on Friday. The divisive showdown dismayed many Egyptians who fear either one means an end to any democratic gains produced by last year’s uprising.

More than a year after protesters demanding democracy toppled Mr. Mubarak, the face-off between the Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi and former air force chief and Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq looked like a throwback to the days of his regime a rivalry between a military-rooted strongman promising a firm hand to ensure stability and Islamists vowing to implement religious law.

A large chunk of the vote more than 40 per cent went to candidates who were seen as more in the spirit of the revolution that toppled Mr. Mubarak, that is neither from the Brotherhood nor from the so—called “feloul,” or “remnants” of the old autocratic regime. In particular, those votes went to leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, who narrowly came in third in a surprisingly strong showing of 21.5 per cent, and a moderate Islamist who broke with the Brotherhood, Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh.

The Brotherhood, which already dominates parliament and hopes the presidency can seal its rise to power, scrambled to try to draw the revolution vote to its side. It invited other candidates and revolutionary groups to meet to “save the nation and the revolution” ahead of an expected fierce race.

China-u.K. spat over Dalai lama-Cameron meetingA senior Chinese leader cancelled a planned visit to Britain after Prime Minister David Cameron met the Dalai recently ignoring Beijing’s warning that any such meeting would have “serious consequences” for U.K.-China relations.

Wu Bangguo , chairman of the standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress, was on a tour of Europe and was scheduled to pay a “brief but symbolic” visit to Britain.

China’s Foreign Ministry was reported as saying that Mr. Cameron’s meeting with the Dalai Lama had “seriously interfered with China’s internal affairs” and amounted to support for his campaign for Tibet’s independence. Mr. Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg met the Dalai Lama earlier this month when he was here to receive the Templeton Prize. Britain’s ambassador to Beijing was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and told that the meeting had damaged relations between the two countries.

Afghan parliament approves uS strategic pactAfghanistan’s parliament voted by an overwhelming majority

to ratify a strategic partnership agreement with the United States signed last month, lawmakers said.

President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to Kabul to sign a deal with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai that will cement post-war ties with Kabul after 2014, when NATO-led combat forces leave Afghanistan.

The pact foresees the possibility of American forces staying behind to train Afghan soldiers and pursue the remnants of Al-Qaeda but does not commit Washington to specific troop or funding levels. The pact alarmed Afghanistan’s neighbours including Iran, and lawmaker Bakhtash Seyawash said that the Islamic republic had attempted to “sabotage” the vote.

Sri lankan tamil party retains ‘separate state’ constitutionThe Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance — the lone credible representative of Tamil people in the Northern Province — has refused to revisit its constitution, which seeks the establishment of a separate state, at its 14th national convention in the Eastern headquarter town of Batticaloa.

The Sixth Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, enacted in August 1983, prohibits political parties from having as one of their aims the establishment of a separate state. A petition was filed recently in the Supreme Court that sought the disqualification of the parties for retaining the demand for a separate state in their party documents.

“No. There was no move to amend the ITAK constitution,” TNA leader and MP M.A. Sumanthiran said. The ITAK has among its goals “establishing of a unitary Tamil State and a unitary Muslim State and achieving political, economical and cultural freedom of the Tamil speaking community”.

In short, TNA leader R. Sampanthan’s gesture in Jaffna on May 1 — that of waving the Sri Lankan national flag for the first time, alongside United National Party chief Ranil Wickramasinghe — did not translate into his party endorsing his sentiment. But it reaffirmed its faith in Mr. Sampanthan by electing him as its president, even as indecision is steadily leading Tamil politics in Sri Lanka to the brink of irrelevance.

Scots roll the dice for independenceThe Scots finally rolled the dice which, depending on the way it falls, will decide whether Scotland will remain part of the United Kingdom or become an independent country.

A high-profile pro-independence campaign, backed by a clutch of celebrities including actor Sean Connery, one of Scotland’s most famous sons, is in full swing ahead of a referendum expected in 2014.

Sir Sean, who lives in the Bahamas and once famously declared that he would return to his country only when it became independent, hailed the campaign launched by the leader of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond at a star-studded

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event in Edinburgh. It is billed as the biggest community-based campaign in Scotland’s history and Mr. Salmond says he wants at least one million Scots to sign a declaration in support of independence.

“By the time we enter the referendum campaign in autumn 2014, our intention is to have one million Scots who have signed the independence for Scotland declaration. Friends, if we achieve that, then we shall win an independent Scotland,” he said.

Several smaller parties, including the Greens, are supporting the campaign but the three main national parties — Labour, a big political force in Scotland, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats — are campaigning for a “No’’ vote. Sensing the public mood of scepticism, they want the ballot paper to carry only one question, “Yes” or “No,” hoping that confronted with a stark choice voters are likely to plump for “No.”

Despite u.S. opposition, Iran will be transport hub of North-South CorridorA multi-nation corridor that would radically reduce cargo transportation time between India on one side, and Central Asia and Russia, on the other, with Iran as the pivot, could see dry runs beginning next year.

A three-day meeting of experts from 16 countries discussed ways to smoothen the way for the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and at least six supplementary routes despite the U.S. pushing its Silk Road proposal in which its bete noire, Iran, has been excluded. In stark contrast, Iran plays a crucial role in the multi-modal North-South Corridor as its port Bandar Abbas will be the hub of all activity. Experts proposed the setting up of two four-nation groups to resolve many of the issues. Iran along with Russia and India (all three initiators of the project) will be in both groups. The meeting on the INSTC, proposed a joint venture among Iran, India, Russia and Azerbaijan to find solutions to infrastructure and funding issues. It also suggested a core group on customs — India, Russia Iran and Turkey — consisting of experts from these countries, based in Delhi to sort out issues. When India pointed to a missing link of 500 km in Iran that could impede the project, Tehran gave some good news. It said 372 km of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway was complete and the contractor identified 163 km of the Rasht-Astara route. But there were technical problems in the last leg leading up to Azerbaijan. The meeting was aimed at achieving progress on four fronts — identifying the residual construction on the main North-South Corridor and the time frame for completion of the work, identification of bottlenecks and action plan for removing them, an action plan along with a time frame for harmonisation of customs and insurance documents and procedures and identification of complementary routes and their status and actionable points for member-countries.

Israel talks of unilaterally creating a Palestine stateThere are signs the Israeli government is considering taking

unilateral action if peace talks with the Palestinians remain stalled, a move which could involve a withdrawal from parts of the West Bank along the lines of a 2005 pullout from the Gaza Strip. Defence Minister Ehud Barak told a high-profile security conference that inaction was not an option and Israel could not wait forever to reach an accord.

“Israel cannot afford to tread water,” Mr. Barak said. If a deal “proves to be impossible, we have to consider a provisional arrangement or even unilateral action”. The statement reflected a growing sense of urgency in Israel about ending its 45-year entanglement with the Palestinians, even if no peace deal is possible.

Two decades of on-again, off-again peace talks have failed to yield an agreement, and negotiations have been frozen for more than three years. And as time passed, a shift of thinking has quietly occurred in Israel — the occupation of Palestinian lands may ultimately be bad for Israel simply because ruling millions of Arabs will demographically sink the Jewish state.

In a victory for India and China, WHo evolves mechanism to define counterfeit drugsThe World Health Organisation (WHO) has put in place a mechanism to define counterfeit medical products.

The set of definitions of sub-standard, spurious, falsely labelled, falsified and counterfeit products will be globally accepted and help to bring about uniformity in identifying such drugs, without interrupting worldwide supplies.

The decision to establish a member state mechanism was taken at the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s policymaking body. The meeting also limited the WHO’s role to public health issues, taking it off Intellectual Property Rights matters in the context of defining counterfeit drugs. India was backed in this effort by Brazil, Thailand, Russia, China and South Africa, besides the South East Asia Region Organisations nations.

An earlier working group of member states had recommended that a storm enforcement network be set up as an informal group led by Interpol in collaboration with the WHO’s Western Pacific Regional Office to strengthen collaboration among relevant agencies in combating counterfeit medical products and other pharmaceutical crimes in Asia Pacific. But there was no consensus on defining what these products were.

britain’s longest party ends with royal processionBritain’s longest party in living memory concluded with a ceremonial royal carriage procession through central London to mark the finale of the Queen’s four-day diamond jubilee celebrations. The festivities went ahead despite the absence of the Queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who was taken ill and admitted to hospital with a minor bladder infection.

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Hundreds of people, who had lined up along the route of the procession waving replicas of the Union Jack, cheered as the open-topped coach carrying the Queen, Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, wound its way to Buckingham Palace past some of London’s most famous landmarks.

Later, flanked by Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, his wife Kate, and Prince Harry, she appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and greeted the crowds outside. People whistled, blew kisses, sang songs and television presenters went berserk as the Queen emerged on the balcony. A special flypast was held to signal the end of the celebrations.

latin American nations form Pacific AllianceThere’s a new group of nations in Latin America - the Pacific Alliance, uniting Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile.

Presidents of the four nations formally launched the economic integration pact on Wednesday, and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says their first big move will be to drop visa requirements so citizens of all four countries can travel freely between them.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera chose a remote mountaintop in northern Chile for the signing. The event was held at one of Earth’s most powerful deep space observatories, and Pinera said the point was to show how their countries are looking far into the future.

Australian govt raises objection to green nod for GVK projectThe Australian Government has raised objections to the environmental clearance given by a provincial government to the GVK Group’s $10 billion Alpha Coal mine project in Galilee Basin, Queensland. The objections raised by the federal government can delay the progress of the project.

In a statement, federal minister for environment, Tony Burke, said that the Queensland Government had not provided a sound assessment and he would be required to obtain the information that Queensland had failed to provide.

The Queensland Province Government had given environmental clearance to the Alpha coal mine project, which included constructing a railway line to the port. Mr.

Bruke said, “Make no mistake, if I were to deal with a report which does not fully address the environmental issues ... then there are serious repercussions for the soundness of the decision which follows.” “Because the Queensland Government has not provided a sound assessment, I will be required to obtain the information that Queensland has failed to provide. This will result in unnecessary and costly delays for the project,” he added.

uNICEF report says diarrhoea and pneumonia are top killers of childrenIndia is listed among the top five countries across the world which lose a majority of the two million children worldwide who die each year to easily preventable diseases -- pneumonia and diarrhoea – states the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report released on Friday. The report adds that nearly 90 per cent of all these deaths are due to unsafe water and poor hygiene.

“Pneumonia and diarrhoea are among the top causes of childhood deaths around the world and together they kill more than two million children each year and accounts for more than one-fourth of all deaths of children under the age of five,” notes the report.

About half of childhood deaths in the world due to diarrhoea or pneumonia take place in five countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Ethiopia, said the report.

Poverty is a major factor in the spread of both diseases, with Pakistan, India, and several countries in sub-Saharan Africa making up the worst-hit nations. “Simple steps like washing hands with soap and water can dramatically reduce the incidence of both pneumonia and diarrhoea in children,” noted UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake in a release.

The report urges the 75 countries with the highest mortality rates to aim to treat poor children with diarrhoea and pneumonia the same way they do those from the top 20 per cent of households, a so-called ‘equity approach.’

Pneumonia is responsible for 18 per cent of childhood deaths worldwide each year and diarrhoea is linked to 11 per cent. In contrast, AIDS is responsible for two per cent of global childhood deaths annually and malaria for seven per cent, according to the report.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Bilateral/Multilateral Bulletin

PRImE mINIStER’S VISIt to myANmAR

bIlAtERAl bullEtIN...

A ‘scramble for Myanmar’ has begun in recent times in the wake of domestic political change starting with the promulgation of the 2008 Constitution, elections in November 2010, a new Parliament, and bye-elections in April 2012. With the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signalling a change in policy, Myanmar has seen a steady stream of visits by heads of State or government, foreign ministers, and the like.

The mood in Myanmar today is upbeat. The sudden opening up of the country has raised expectations which the political class may have difficulty in meeting. Once again, the people of Myanmar are testing the limits of freedom. Large demonstrations to protest against power outages have been held in front of Sule Pagoda in Yangon and in Mandalay. Threatening to spread to other cities, these protests evoked memories of the 1988 movement and the 2007 uprising sparked by the monks. The April 2012 bye-elections showed that the NLD is still popular. The real test is to come in 2015 when general elections are due. From India’s standpoint, a durable solution to Myanmar’s political transition lies in a reconciliation among its three stakeholders—political parties, ethnic groups, and the military.

India’s relations with Myanmar have waxed and waned as policy-makers steered their way between high idealism and pragmatic realism. India’s policy towards Myanmar has, however, stabilised over time and its preference for pragmatism has spanned governments led by parties of different hues. This was a consequence of a belated realisation, especially since 1993, that the pursuit of India’s strategic and economic interests could not await the prolonged political evolution of this important neighbour. Whereas India’s policy of engagement was earlier at variance with the Western policy of disengagement and sanctions, a convergence seems to be

occurring now. India’s policy perforce will need recalibration to the degree that Myanmar transforms or holds the promise of transforming.

It is in this context that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh undertook a three-day visit to Myanmar on 27 May 2012, the first such visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 25 years. During the visit, Singh met the new civilian leadership in the new capital, Naypyitaw, and NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the old capital, Yangon. The Indian PM’s first visit in 25 years almost coincided with Aung San Suu Kyi’s first visit outside the country in 24 years. However, the Nobel laureate postponed her Bangkok visit to meet the Indian Prime Minister.

Agreements Signed India and Myanmar signed 12 MoUs (Memorandums of Understanding) on matters of mutual concern, wherein development and connectivity were the key watchwords. The understanding is that improved connectivity would lead to greater access between the two countries, while cooperation in fields such as agriculture, trade, education and information technology would address Myanmar’s developmental needs. One of the important agreements reached was regarding cooperation between a Myanmar and an Indian University and cooperation between a Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs think tank (MISIS) and two Indian think tanks, one of which is the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Cooperation among strategic studies think tanks is especially welcome because while MISIS is connected with the ASEAN network of think tanks, it has no such link on an institutionalised basis with the think tanks of India or of the South Asian region.

Stability along the Indo-Myanmar border depends in large measure on economic stability that comes through planned development. For instance, Myanmar has many missing road and

rail links and over 70 bridges requiring construction before the connectivity deficit can be overcome. It has been decided to initiate steps to upgrade road sections in order to make the trilateral Asian Highway (connecting Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand) a reality. Besides initiating improvements in road connectivity, a direct air service between India and Myanmar has also received the green signal. Similarly, hope has been generated for eventual freight transport by rail network extending to other South East Asian countries through Myanmar from India’s North East.

Myanmar’s energy sector would get a boost with Indian companies investing in that country’s gas and oil sectors. It is likely that Indian companies would be considered when more oil blocks are auctioned. In addition, border trade would be improved and the overall trade doubled beyond the current $1.2 billion. Myanmar also once again reassured India support for tackling safe havens of Indian insurgents in its territory.

mou’s Signed• Regarding $500million Line of

Credit• AirlineServicesAgreementbetween

India and Myanmar: with more carriers and more destinations (extending to other Southeast Asian cities)

• India-Myanmar Border AreaDevelopment

• Establishment of Joint Trade andInvestment Forum

• Establishment of the AdvanceCentreforAgricultureResearchandEducation(ACARE)

• Establishment of Rice Bio Park atthe Department of Agricultural ResearchinNaypyitaw

• Setting up Myanmar Institute ofInformation Technology

• Cooperation between DagonUniversity and Calcutta University

• Cooperation between Myanmar

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Institute of Strategic and International Studies and Indian Council of World Affairs

• AgreementonCooperationbetweenMyanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

• Cultural Exchange Programme(2012-2015)

• EstablishingofBorderHaatsacrosstheborder between Myanmar and India

backgroundThe two decades between India’s open support for the pro-democracy forces in the 1988 movement and the recent exchange of bilateral visits at the highest levels have clearly demonstrated New Delhi’s desire to pursue its strategic and economic goals in Myanmar. However, it has left unresolved the dilemma of how to pursue its stated goals without compromising its commitment to human rights and democratic principles.

A realisation began to dawn in New Delhi soon after 1988 that India’s support for the pro-democracy forces in the August 1988 uprising failed to find favour with the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) regime.It was only in 1991, however, that a decision was taken to discontinue criticism of the Myanmar regime in All IndiaRadio’s(AIR)Burmesebroadcasts.The visit to Yangon (then Rangoon)by the Indian Foreign Secretary in 1993 started the process of improving relations between the two countries. The Indian Government also made an attempt to curb the anti-SLORCactivities of Myanmar students in India. These adjustments in Indo-Myanmar relations occurred in the backdrop of momentous changes on the Indian economic horizon. Liberalisation had been introduced in the early 1990s and the Look East Policy too had its beginnings around the same time. These developments helped in defining India’s objectives in Myanmar.

• To begin with, Myanmar was seenas an important part of India’s Look East Policy for the simple reason that it is the only South East Asian nation with which India shares a land border. By ensuring smooth

trade and connectivity between India and Myanmar, the objective of much needed development in India’s North Eastern states could be achieved. Myanmar was viewed as a land-bridge to the rest of South East Asia.

• AsecondimportantfactorinIndia-Myanmar relations is the need to control the activities of insurgent groups in their bordering states.

• Thirdly, India is located betweenthe “Golden Crescent” in the west and the “Golden Triangle” in the east and thus is confronted by the arms-drug nexus and faces a “silent emergency”. Given this, India and Myanmar need to take steps keeping in mind a holistic view of security.

• Fourthly, India and Myanmar alsoneed to work together to prevent the spread of epidemics across borders especially considering the threat of HIV/AIDS and recent outbreaks like swine flu and bird flu.

• Finally,flowing fromall theabovefactors is the need to ensure the development of India’s North Eastern states.

other Interactions The dynamics of Myanmar is such that interlocutors are forced to make adjustments to the evolving situation in that country, which itself is in a perpetually evolving/transitioning mode. Be that as it may, it is important that India not lose the momentum it has imparted to this relationship lest it surrenders whatever gains that have been made so far.

At the bilateral level, right through the phase of transition, the flow of official visits between India and Myanmar did not cease, although at the Prime Ministerial level India could be labelled a laggard.

In July 2010, SPDC Chief ThanShwe came to New Delhi. When President Thein Sein representing the new “civilian” government visited in October 2011, two important documents were signed: first, an MoU on the upgradation of Yangon Children’s Hospital and Sittwe General Hospital; and second, a programme for

Cooperation in Science and Technology for the period 2012–15. India also extended a $500 million line of credit to Myanmar.

In December 2011, the Speaker of Myanmar’s Lower House of Parliament, Thura Shwe Mann, led a high level parliamentary delegation to India to learn about the functioning of Indian democracy. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin visited India in January2012. Besides meeting the PM and the External Affairs Minister, he also gave a lecture at a think tank in the capital. Meanwhile, military-to-military cooperation continued with the Indian ArmyChiefvisitingMyanmarinJanuary2012 and assuring a higher intake of Myanmar cadets in the NDA, among other things.

India and Myanmar have also continued to interact at the regional and subregional levels through ASEAN, BIMSTEC, the Mekong Ganga Cooperation forum and SAARC (Myanmar is anObserver since 2008). Myanmar became a BIMSTEC member in December 1997. It took over as the chair of BIMSTEC from India in 2006.

Conclusion India has quite dexterously handled the ongoing phase of transition in Myanmar based on its conviction that it needs to engage with the regime in power while gradually attempting to bring about a desirable change in the country. Given its deeper understanding of the ground situation as well as a policy that seeks to aid sustainable development and harmonious growth, India is likely to continue to enjoy a special position in Myanmar. Much goodwill will be generated if India were to work towards addressing the real needs of the people of Myanmar. This, in particular, implies strengthening the health and education sectors in that country’s border areas. There are many things that should work in India’s favour including geographical proximity, common colonial legacy, common cultural bonds, India’s democratic credentials and membership of common organisations/forums, which can be used by both countries to transform their experience of the past into a common strength.

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Bilateral/Multilateral News...

Natural Gas R.P.N. Singh, during which he was told that India would favourably consider the proposal for gas exploration and training.

India to Step up Oil Imports from UAEIndia and the United Arab Emirates discussed the prospects of closer energy ties including more import of oil, which could partly offset declining purchases from Iran, and investment in the downstream sector such as refineries.

While visiting External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his visiting UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed investments in India, officials met on a parallel track to build on last year’s 16 per cent increase in import of crude from UAE principalities.

The main outcome of the Ministerial meeting was the setting up of a joint task force headed by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and high-ranking UAE official Sheikh Hamad. India is looking for half out of investment potential of $ one trillion in India over the next five years. In a separate meeting, officials looked at the possibility of stepping up oil imports. Last year, India imported 14 million tonnes of oil which was an increase from the 12 million tonnes in the previous year.

Of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, India is the closest to the UAE in several respects although it has revived or built closer ties in recent times with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. About one-third of 60 lakh “Gulf” Indians expatriates work in the UAE, it is the fourth largest supplier of oil to India and bilateral trade has crossed $50 billion.

Kapilavastu relics to journey to Sri LankaFor the second time in 113 years, the sacred Kapilavastu relics (fragments of Buddha’s bones) are to travel from India to Sri Lanka.

The relics are among the most protected and revered artefacts in the world. They are now at the National Museum in New Delhi. The relics will be on display across Sri Lanka from August 20 to September 5. The relics will have the status of a head of state in Sri Lanka.

An agreement to make this happen was signed in Colombo on Friday by H.P. Cashian Herath, Secretary, Ministry of Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs, Sri Lanka, and Pravin Srivastava, Director General, National Museum, India.

The relics were excavated by Alexander Cunningham, the first director of the Archaeological Survey of India, in the late 19th century from ruins in Piprahwa, in present day Bihar. Piprahwa was known as Kapilavastu in ancient India. Historical chronicles record that after the Buddha’s “Parinibbana” (passing away), the holy relics taken from the cremation site were divided into eight portions and handed over to separate groups for preservation. According to

Move To Rework Bilateral TreatiesWith six firms, including Devas Employees, Telenor, Vodafone, Loop Telecom and Sistema, having served notices on India for breach of Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA), the Industry Ministry has set in motion the process for review of BIPA, paving the way for re-negotiation under changed circumstances.

The notices are the fall-out of the cancellation of 122 licences by the Supreme Court in the 2G scam and the decision of the Manmohan Singh Government to amend, with retrospective effect, the taxation case against Vodafone involving recovery of Rs.20,000 crore in tax. The retrospective amendment, which had already been approved by the Lok Sabha, would undo the victory achieved by Vodafone in the tax case pertaining to its acquisition of Hutchison in Hutchison Essar in a $11.2-billion deal in 2007.

The basic objective of BIPA is to promote and protect the interests of investors of either country in the territory of other nation. Such agreements increase the comfort level of the investors by assuring a minimum standard of treatment in all matters and provides for justifiability of disputes with the host country. India has so far signed BIPAs with 82 countries. Out of which, 72, including that of with Russia, Germany, the U.K. and the Netherlands, have already come into force and the remaining agreements are in the process of being enforced.

Oil Offer from PuntlandWith virtually the entire east coast of Africa found to contain hydrocarbon deposits, tiny Puntland, which is a nation and yet not a nation, is no exception. Its President Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud Farolez held talks in New Delhi on the recent find in Puntland of a large quantity of oil.

He invited Indian companies to participate in the exploration and sought New Delhi’s cooperation for charting out exploration blocks and training Somalis in the petroleum sector. The Puntland region is unique — it seeks unity of the Somali people and adheres to a federal system of government unlike the secessionist region of Somaliland to its west. Puntland is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation.

The visit was not due to normal diplomatic exertions. During Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed’s participation in the international conference on Somalia in London in February, he met the Transitional Federal Government leadership, Presidents of Puntland and Gulmudug and representatives of other groups. During the meeting, Mr. Farolez expressed his desire to visit India. An invitation was duly extended. Mr. Farolez’s official engagements included calls on Mr. Ahamed and Minister of State for Petroleum and

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Mahaparinibbana Sutta , penned in the fifth century BC, one portion of the relics was handed to the Sakyas of Kapilavastu. These came to be known as the Kapilavastu relics.

India in favor of opening up free trade routes in Asia PacificIndia strongly supported initiatives for an integrated market to facilitate economic trade in the fast booming Asia Pacific region and advocated evolving of mechanisms for free and open trade and investment flows.

Minister of State for Commerce and IndustryJyotiraditya Scindia told the 68th UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) session that India had been a firm believer in regional economic cooperation and integration and cited the vision of Jawaharlal Nehru towards nurturing deeper ties in the region.

“Led by its conviction to lose no opportunity to facilitate economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region, India supports initiatives for creation of an integrated market, creation of uniform regulatory standards that allow us to increase bilateral trade, creation of the necessary infrastructure for providing backup to commercial activities, harmonising our customs regimes to reduce delays and strengthening the transport connectivity across the whole region,” Scindia said. He said the world had been overtaken by successive waves of globalisation and the resultant processes of regional integration have resulted in increased bilateral or plurilateral trade, greater inflow of FDI and cooperation in fields as diverse as education or technical training.

India has so far concluded 10 Free Trade Agreements and 5 limited scope Preferential Trade Agreements and were to negotiate 17 more bilateral Agreements and expansion of existing agreements.

India is UAE’s top trade partner in 2011 India emerged as the top trading partner forUAE last year with the Gulf nation’s import from the country estimated at $ 28.5 billion and exports at $ 36.2 billion, according to official data.

Among the 10 countries that comprised almost 61 per cent of the total value of imports of UAE worth $ 100.6 billion in 2011, India emerged as the top nation with $ 28.5 billion, followed by China at $ 14.97 billion and the US at $ 14.2 billion, Federal Customs Authority said in a statement. It added that among the 10 biggest export destinations for the UAE that constituted nearly 69 per cent of the country’s exports at $ 21.32 billion, shipments to India touched $ 9.8 billion, with the balance of trade in favour of India.

Indo-Japan MeetKamal Nath, Urban Development Minister, speaking at the India Japan Business Summit, said, “The strategic partnership between India and Japan holds tremendous potential to bring prosperity and progress to our two Nations. So significant has been the contribution of Japan

in India and so deep rooted is the goodwill that our relations and engagement enjoy a national consensus.” Minister Nath added that India and Japan together can be the engines of the Asian economic community.

The significant areas for further co-operation sought from Japan included interalia urban monorail projects, intelligent transport systems and Regional Rapid Transit Systems (RRTS). Explaining the need for safe, reliable, economical, quick, comfortable and effective mass public transit system, monorail projects were discussed as feeders for metro rail in bigger cities as well as stand alone systems in tier II cities. The high speed rail based RRTS would enable people living in the suburbs of metropolitan cities, say within radius of 100 kms, to commute for work thereby easing the pressure on the infrastructure services within the metropolitan city.

The other issues discussed included the need for closer co-operation and sharing of knowledge in the areas of Transit Oriented Development along Mass Transit Corridors. Proper development in transit corridors implies densification in these areas thereby reducing the overall travel demand and generating substantial urban space. Capacity building including design of Metro Stations to do multimodal integration and revenue generation was also discussed. Other aspects of urban infrastructure such as water supply, waste management and sewage disposal also formed part of discussion.

India pushes small scale business cooperation in South AfricaThe National Small Industries Corporation of India (NSIC) is making headway in cooperating with South African small business since an office was opened here in 1996, according R K Mathur, Secretary of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Mathur joined H P Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of NSIC, at a seminar where 16 companies from India also held exhibitions for the 200 delegates from across the country. “Both countries do realise that these sectors are important from the point of view of employment generation, and also for providing a really solid base to the economy,” he added.

The NSIC seminar was the latest in a series of sectoral workshops organised by the High Commission to promote business to business links between the two countries.

Pakistan turns to India for fighting polioA nine-member Pakistani delegation arrived in India to learn from its experience of polio eradication. Pakistan saw a manifold rise in polio cases this year, and is one of the three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the infectious viral disease is still prevalent.

India became polio-free in January this year, after one full year without a single case being reported. It has subsequently been removed from the WHO list of polio-endemic countries.

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Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation, in a resolution, has impressed on member-states with polio virus transmission to declare it a “national public health emergency,” making polio virus eradication a national priority programme, requiring the development and full implementation of emergency action plans, to be updated every six months, till such time the virus transmission has been interrupted.

The resolution declares completion of polio virus eradication a programmatic emergency for global public health, requiring full implementation of the existing and new eradication strategies, the institution of strong national oversight, and accountability mechanisms for all areas affected with the virus.

The members have been asked to eliminate unimmunised areas and maintain very high population immunity against polio viruses through routine immunisation. Where necessary, they should supplement immunisation activities, maintain vigil for polio virus importation and emergence of circulating vaccine-derived polio viruses, and to make available urgently the financial resources required for the full and continued implementation, till 2013, of the strategic approaches to interrupt polio virus transmission globally, and to initiate planning for financing to the end of 2018 the polio endgame strategy.

India, Pakistan plan homes for prisonersIndia and Pakistan are planning to set up homes for prisoners on either side of the international borders to house those who have completed their jail term but were yet to be repatriated. They will be run by non-governmental organisations.

“India and Pakistan have decided to set up at least one such home that will be used to keep prisoners who are yet to be repatriated. Even after completion of their jail terms, Pakistani nationals are still languishing in our jails as Pakistan is not willing to accept them as their citizens…to address this issue it has been decided to run such homes where these prisoners will be housed till their nationality and other issues are settled,” Home Secretary R.K. Singh told journalists .

Mr. Singh, who headed the Indian delegation at the second round of Home/Interior Secretary-level bilateral dialogue in Islamabad last week, said this issue was discussed at the meeting and it was decided to rope in NGOs to carry out this job.

The two sides also reached an agreement on the release of fishermen who have completed their sentences, along with their boats, while an agreement has also been reached on transfer of prisoners.

India, Bahrain sign pact to boost tiesIndia and Bahrain, on Thursday, announced the signing of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement to promote economic cooperation and joint investment between the two countries aimed at boosting bilateral trade that stands at $1.7

billion.

The agreement was signed by the Bahrain delegation led by Prince Salman Bin HamadAl-Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain and chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and representatives from Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). In addition to the Tax Information Exchange Agreement, a number of commercial and economic cooperation agreements were signed, including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to promote mutually advantageous commercial and industrial interests.

The scope for cooperation, which comes into force with immediate effect, includes regular exchange of market information, business opportunities and economic delegations for promoting trade, investment and commercial exchange. The formation of the India-Bahrain Business Council, with the objective of developing economic, trade and technical relations between India and Bahrain, was also announced.

An MoU between Bahrain and India to undertake a sustained effort to boost joint ventures and initiatives in ICT, including measures on e-commerce, e-government and information security was also signed.

Pakistan lowers imposts, Indian tea exports set to get a fillipIndian tea exports to Pakistan is set to get a fillip, following the lowering of sales taxes by a steep 11 per cent. Sales tax along with a high level of customs duty and some local imposts have rendered Indian teas uncompetitive in Pakistan. This is now expected to get corrected to a large extent.

“This will provide a huge boost to Indian exports of black tea to Pakistan,” Azim Monem, Chairman, Exports and Domestic Sales Sub-Committee of the Indian Tea Association said. ITA Chairman C. S. Bedi, too, welcomed the development saying that Pakistan was now keen to buy all types of Indian tea. Amid the positive spirit now ruling between the two countries, in April 2012, a pact was sealed between the industry representatives of India and Pakistan to double tea exports to 50 million kg by 2015.

Pakistan is one of the top three tea importing nations with a consumption of 220 million kg and an official import of 120 million kg. Its main supplier is Kenya. “ We are hopeful that India’s share will grow… tea consumption is growing in Pakistan where it is a food item,” Mr. Janoo, leader of a 13-member delegation, had said at a press meet here in April.

Lankan defence forces to get enhanced training from India, USIndia and the US have agreed to provide enhanced training facilities to Sri Lankan defence personnel, a move aimed at strengthening security of busy sea lanes in the Indian

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Ocean.

The development came after Sri Lankan powerful Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa held meetings with Indian Defence Minister A K Anthony and Gen Martin Dempsey, the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the margins of the Shangri-La security summit in Singapore.

“As two key strategic partners of Sri Lanka, both the US and India responded positively to a request made by Secretary of Defence for enhanced training opportunities for capacity building of defence personnel in their institutes of repute”, the External Affairs Ministry said.

Punjab to tie up with Israeli co to promote dairy farming

The Punjab government will tie up with Israel-based Afimilk company to provide technical support to state’s farmers in order to promote dairy farming.

A decision to this effect was taken by Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal at a meeting with a delegation of an Israeli company and members of Progressive Dairy Farmers’ Association. Afimilk provides technical support to dairy farming sector world over and it also has world’s highest yielding cows with 12,000 litres of milk per cow per year through intensive use of advanced technology. Badal asked the delegation to provide their technical support to the dairy farmers in Punjab.

He also said that government would also constitute district-level committees to aware and assist the farmers and other interested ones about setting up of dairy farms.

India signs MoU with Turkey on cooperation in sportsIndia and Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enhancing cooperation in sports and youth activities.

The MoU was signed by Sports Minister Ajay Maken and his Turkish counterpart Suat Kilic in Ankara. The MoU provides the framework for advancement of linkages and cooperation through sports and youth agencies of the respective governments. The two countries will encourage and support exchanges of programmes, experiences, skills, techniques, information and knowledge in the several areas of cooperation in sports and youth activities.

With view to the future, India, China plot way forward for tiesExternal Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna discussed the future of India’s relations with China with the Chinese leader widely expected to become the country’s next Premier, seeking closer economic ties with Beijing but also engaging with new challenges facing the relationship such as the South China Sea and the changing security situation in the Asia-Pacific.

“We discussed the bigger picture, and the vision that the Vice Premier has for the India-China relationship and what he believes to be the agenda for the next decade. So I think

it was like a peep into the future.”

The External Affairs Minister, here to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, where India has been an observer since 2005, said he indicated India’s desire to be a full-fledged member of the six-member security grouping. “It was indeed very heartening to hear from Vice Premier Li that the modalities of admitting new members is being worked out, the process is on,” he said. “We have moved in a more positive direction of finalising the modalities.” Among the modalities, Indian officials said, was agreeing on a third working language for the grouping, which now deals in Chinese and Russian.

Asked about comments made by a senior Chinese official who ruled out a timetable for granting membership and called on members to “work hard,” Mr. Krishna said, “We are working indeed very hard to comply with the modalities. We have shown our seriousness, otherwise nobody would be coming to attend these meetings since 2005. This is my third meeting as foreign minister of a huge county like India.”

Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, which was appointed an observer to the group on Wednesday, were, however, represented at the summit by their Presidents. Mr. Krishna, however, said that the “lot of strength” that India brought when it joined a grouping “will have to be evaluated.”

Mr. Krishna said he courted Chinese investment in the “massive expansion of our infrastructure development,” and addressed Chinese concerns on perceptions that security threats were hindering the entry of Chinese companies. Mr. Krishna said India was “willing to create a level playing field and total transparency in terms of international bidding, evaluation and then ultimately decision-making.” He also stressed that trade had to be more balanced, with the deficit reaching a record $ 27 billion last year.

The two countries also confirmed that they would discuss the issue of trans-border rivers next month, when a working group would meet to carry forward the earlier discussions, in which they had agreed to share hydrological data. At past meetings, China had sought to allay any Indian concern at the diversion of the Brahmaputra, stressing that it had so far built only one run-of-the-river project at Zangmu in Tibet and had not embarked on any diversion projects.

Chinese officials also expressed their interest in opening a third consulate in India, and expanding China’s diplomatic presence beyond the consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata, and the embassy in New Delhi.

India overtakes China in arms importIndia has become the largest importer of arms, surpassing China, Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Rajya Sabha in May 2012. “As per a report published in March 2012 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India has become the largest importer of arms during 2007-11 and accounted for 10 per cent of global arms import as compared to Chinese share of 5 per cent,” the Defence Minister said in a written reply.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Economy@IP

How SwISS BANkS oPERAtE?

EcoNomy@IP...

IntroductionIn a recently published news article in the Hindu, India has been ranked 55th in terms of foreign money in Swiss banks. This closely comes on the heels of government coming out with a hollow white paper on black money which has claimed that Swiss banks’ total liabilities towards Indians have been coming down and fell by more than Rs. 14,000 crore between 2006 and 2010. However, the report brought out by the Swiss National Bank shows otherwise. Indians’ money in Swiss banks may have risen for the first time in five years, but they account for a meagre 0.14 per cent of total foreign wealth deposited there.

It is in the light of the above here rather than focusing on the often written causes and consequences of Black money, here in this article it is intended to bring to light “how Swiss banks work?”

the mythology of the Swiss BankSwiss bank accounts are crime novel staples, with fictional characters frequently hiding vast sums in untraceable accounts with no identifying factors whatsoever. Furthermore, account holders are often criminals or dictators who pay huge amounts of money to bank in privileged surroundings.

None of these memes are true. The truth is that normal people hold Swiss bank accounts, open them with as little as 5000 Swiss francs (or far less) and have just as many rights and privileges as the super-wealthy account holders. Swiss bank accounts are very similar to American accounts in many ways.

Swiss Bank Account confidentialityThe most notable attribute of a Swiss bank account is the impenetrable wall of secrecy around the accounts.

All accounts have a serial number that protects the actual identity of the holder; only the bank manager and selected individuals may see the name. Information about the accounts is under incredibly strict regulation, with stiff penalties for both banks and employees should anything leak.

Swiss bank secrecy is reinforced by a constant awareness of the seriousness of the bank’s obligation to maintain confidentiality, starting with bank employees having to sign the secrecy portion of the banking act as a condition of employment.”

Swiss bank accounts have gotten a bad rap because of past history. Prior to the 1980s, there were a number of financial activities which Switzerland did not consider criminal, but which many other countries did. Because of this, they allowed assets that other countries would deem suspicious. Presently, the Swiss banking industry is on par with other First World nations in policing suspicious finances.

How to open a Swiss Bank AccountTo open a numbered Swiss bank account, a depositor needs to make a trip to Switzerland with a $100,000 minimum deposit. This is in addition to the $300 or more in yearly maintenance fees. For the locals, accounts exist at a lower cost.

The highlights of even a simpler account are many: firstly, a Swiss account can legitimately shield the hard-earned fruits of your labor from other people who might want to get their hands on it. Secondly, Swiss accounts are also useful to keep cash in a currency that’s stable and well-regulated--a boon for skittish, conservative investors.

Swiss Bank Account AdvantagesPrivacy: Swiss law forbids bankers to

disclose the existence of your account or any other information about it without your consent except for certain circumstances. Bankers face up to six months in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Swiss francs. And, you have the option of suing the bank for damages. Needless to say, Swiss banks are very careful about protecting your privacy.

The only exceptions to the Swiss banking privacy rule are criminal activities such as drug trafficking, insider trading or organized crime.

Low Risk: along with the privacy, having an account in Swiss bank means low risk. It is because of extremely stable economy and infrastructure and highly trained Swiss bankers. Increasing your wealth means little if your money isn’t protected.

Safety: Protecting depositors is vital in maintaining public confidence in the Swiss banking system and, in order to strengthen this confidence, the SBA had drawn up a self-regulatory Depositor Protection Agreement with its member banks in 1984. This agreement guarantees that, in the event of a bank failure, depositors will rapidly receive their legally privileged claims. As an additional safety measure, Swiss law demands high capital adequacy. Swiss banks can therefore certainly be counted amongst the safest in the world.

Swiss Bank Accounts and the LawRegulations: In the United States, law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, and even private citizens can gain access to financial information of all sorts. In Switzerland, however, neither a bank’s officers, nor employees are allowed to reveal any account or account holder information to anyone, including the Swiss government.

Exceptions: In order to sidestep this law, there must be a substantial criminal

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allegation before a governmental agency, especially a foreign one, can gain access to account information. Tax evasion, for example, is considered a misdemeanor in Switzerland rather than a crime.

According to the Swiss Bankers’ Association Web site, however, there is also a duty for bankers to provide information under the following circumstances:

• Civil proceedings (such as

inheritance or divorce)

• Debtrecoveryandbankruptcies

• Criminal proceedings (moneylaundering, association with a criminal organization, theft, tax fraud, blackmail, etc.)

• International mutual legalassistance proceedings

Switzerland is required to assist the authorities of foreign states in criminal matters as a result of the 1983

federal law relating to International MutualAssistanceinCriminalMatters.Assets can be frozen and handed over to the foreign authorities concerned. Assistance in criminal matters follows the principles of dual criminality, specialty and proportionality.

conclusionIt is basically the combination of all above factors that Swiss banks are considered as a safe haven for stashing illegal money.

Panel for flexibility in LNG transportationKeeping in mind the continued shortfall in domestic gas production and the mounting demand for gas, an inter-Ministerial Committee has pitched for flexibility intransportation of LNG and keeping in abeyance the guidelines of Director-General (Shipping) for grant of licence to LNG vessels.

This decision follows the report of the inter-ministerial committee on “Review of existing LNG shipping policy”, which felt that the DG Shipping guidelines for grant of licence to LNG vessels should not be implemented at this juncture as it could hamper the free import of the much-needed LNG. The guidelines stated that LNG vessel should beIndianflagvessel;Indianshippingentitytoown26percent; employ minimum two Indian officers and two trainee officers/cadets; LNG importer cannot fix spot vessels for more than 10 per cent of the total annual imports and transfer technology to Indian partner within five years.

However,thecommitteedecidedthattoprovideflexibilityin the transportation of LNG, the DG Shipping guidelines for grant of licence to LNG vessels should be kept in abeyance.

India to move wto against U.S. visa fee hikeIndia will seek consultations with the United States under the aegis of World Trade Organisation (WTO) this week on visa fee hike for professionals, which “discriminates” against Indian software companies that send employees to the U.S. on short-term contracts.

“We have finalised our case. The U.S. visa fee hike is a discriminatory move against Indian IT firms. This week, we will formally file the complaint and seek consultations under WTO,”aseniorCommerceandIndustryMinistryofficialtoldPTI. As per the procedure of WTO, consultation is the first stage of a complaint filed with the global trade body.

The U.S. had raised visa fee in 2010 to fund its enhanced costs on securing border with Mexico under the Border Security Act. India has been protesting against the measure

Economy News...

at different forums. Consultations give the parties anopportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation. After 60 days, if consultations fail to resolve the dispute, the complainant may request adjudication by a panel.

cabinet clears signing of pact for buying gas from turkmenistanIn what could prove to be a major corridor for energy sourcing inthefuture,theUnionCabinet,onThursday,approvedthesigning of the agreement for buying gas from Turkmenistan through the $7.6 billion Turkmenistan-Aghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline.

The approval has given a concrete shape to the pipeline which could prove to be a big boost to the relations between India and Pakistan and bring good news to the region.

The contentious issue of transit fee was also resolved with India agreeing to pay both Afghanistan and Pakistan a transit fee of $0.50 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) for allowing passage of gas through their respective territories. This was one of the major points that had been a bone of contention between the three neighbouring countries.

TheCabinetapprovedsigningoftheGasSaleandPurchaseAgreement (GSPA), officials in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said. India will pay a price linked to fuel oil for the natural gas, which, at current oil prices, translates into a rate of $8-10 per mmBtu. India would also pay a transportation charge for wheeling of natural gas from 1,735-km long pipeline, which is likely to be operational by 2016.

The pipeline will run from Turkmenistan’s Yoloten-Osman gas field to Herat and Kandahar province of Afghanistan, before entering Pakistan. In Pakistan, it will reach Multan via Quetta before ending at Fazilka Punjab in India.

GAIL makes foray into wind energyEncouraged by the initial results of 4.5 MW wind power

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project in Gujarat, GAIL (India) is all set to establish a firm hold in the “green energy” sector and plans to set up 100 MW wind energy generation project (WEG) in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and six other states at a cost of Rs.620 crore.

The company is setting up another 14 MW WEG project in Gujarat partly for captive use in the State and part;y for sale to the State utility. “GAIL is also in the process of setting up a 100 MW WEG project in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for commercial use. The wind potential states such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are also on the radar of GAIL to expand its presence in the wind energy sphere,” according to an internal plan document of the company.

It says, the increasing prices of fossil fuel and the growing concern over global warming due to green house gases (GHG) emissions by fossil fuel-based power generation, have led to interest around the world for harnessing renewable sources for power generation. “Based on the current trend in prices of wind mills along with associated activities, the cost of the proposed 100 MW wind energy project of GAIL is estimated at around Rs.620 crore. The initial projects in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are envisaged to be commissioned during 2012-2013,” it states.

white Paper suggests four-pronged strategy to curb black moneyThe government tabled the much-awaited White Paper on black money in Parliament which did not disclose any name but made a strong case for setting up Lokpal and Lokayuktas to deal with the menace.

The White Paper, which was tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha, also did not provide government’s estimate of black money, within and outside the country, though it quoted various estimates of other agencies on the issue.

The 97-page document, however, pitched for fast-track courts to expeditiously deal with financial offences and deterrent punishment for offenders. It has also suggested tax incentives for encouraging use of debit and credit cards as these leave audit trails.

Referring to the issue of institutions like Lokpal and Lokayuktas, the Paper said, “(they) need to be put in place attheearliest,intheCentreandtheStatesrespectively,toexpedite investigations into cases of corruption and bring the guilty to justice.”

In order to check the menace of black money, Mr. Mukherjee in his foreward to the Paper said the government has brought five bills “the Lokpal Bill, the Judicial Accountability Bill, the Whistle Blowers Bill, the Grievance Redressal Bill and the Public Procurement Bill, which are at various stages of consideration by Parliament.“

The expansion of information exchange network at the international level will help in curbing cross-border flowof illicit wealth, he said, adding “while these measures

will set the tone for an equitable, transparent and a more efficient economy, there is much that we could do, both individually and collectively, to strengthen the moral fibre of our society.”

The Paper suggested four-pronged strategy to curb generation of black money. These include more incentives for voluntary compliance of tax laws, reforms in vulnerable sectors of economy and creation credible deterrence. It mentioned that reform of financial and real estate sectors would help in reducing generation of black money in long term as freeing of gold imports had helped in checking smuggling.

“Fine tuning of financial regulation remains one of the key areas in creating deterrence against generation of black money and detecting black money in the process of being laundered...Strengthening of other reporting regimes can allow appropriate systems for flagging of dubioustransactions in future and improve the probability of their timely detection and prevention,” it added.

cap on banks’ position in forex futuresThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to cap banks’ positions in foreign exchange futures market to stem the free fall of the rupee against the U.S. dollar.

The RBI capped the position limit for banks in the exchanges fortradingCurrencyFuturesandOptionsat$100millionor15 per cent of the outstanding open interest, whichever is lower, and asked them to bring down their positions to the these limits by June 30.

The RBI must have noticed that banks had taken large positions in the futures market. “This kind of speculative position in the futures may be causing the fall of rupee against the dollar,” said a trader. Further, the RBI had possibly noticed that banks might be engaged in arbitrage between the spot and the futures market.

The RBI has also decided that the current net overnight open limit (NOOPL) of the banks, as applicable to the positions involving rupee as one of the currencies, “shall not include the positions undertaken in the currency futures / options segment in the exchanges.”

Indian economy to grow at 7.7% in 2013: oEcDIndia’s economic growth is likely to rise to 7.7% in calender year 2013, but growth rate through much of this year is likelytoremainsubdued,OECDsaidonTuesday.

According to the Organisation for Economic CooperationandDevelopment’s(OECD)latestEconomicOutlook,India’sgrowth rate is likely to slow to 7.1% in 2012 from 7.3% in 2011, but would inch up to 7.7% in 2013. “The government’s fiscal consolidation plans this year would help reduce inflation, narrow the current account deficit and promotemorebalancedgrowth,”OECDsaid.

However, further action in the monetary policy front would beconstrainedby inflationarypressuresand limited sparecapacity,OECDsaid,addingthatspendingpressures,notably

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on subsidies, are again likely to result in overruns.

Economic worries over the past few months like rupee depreciation,highinflationandcurrentaccountdeficithaveacted as big dampeners for the India growth story, which was seeing a growth rate of 8-9% during pre-global crisis.

The Indian economy has slowed owing to “weakness” in manufacturing and investment spending. Meanwhile, softening external demand and rising imports have resulted inawideningcurrentaccountdeficit(CAD).CADariseswhena country’s imports are more than exports. CAD stood ataround$45.9billion,or2.7%oftheGDPinFY11.TheCADisprojected to be around four% (or $77 billion) of the national GDP in FY13.

Finance minister seeks to build consensus on new tax regimeIn a bid to bring about a political consensus for facilitating roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) during the next fiscal year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee sought to highlight the benefits of the new indirect tax regime that wouldaccruetotheCentre,theStatesandtheconsumer.

Addressing the second meeting of the consultative committee attached to his Ministry, Mr. Mukherjee said the primary benefit of GST, when introduced, would be the removal of cascading effect of current levies which act like a hidden cost and make goods and services uncompetitive both in the domestic and international markets.

For the States, the new tax regime would check leakage as they would be able to realise tax revenues commensurate with the consumption of goods and services within their territory and a stable source of tax revenue through GST would play a very vital role in sewing India together into one common market. As for the consumer, the biggest gain would be the transparent character of the tax regime along with reduction in the overall tax burden on goods which is currently about 25-30 per cent, he said.

As far as central taxes were concerned, the integration of central excise duty and service tax into the GST regime, Mr. Mukherjee said, was almost complete and the movement to a negative list of services “would bring us to a near GST situation in the taxation of services.” In this regard, he lauded the “substantial and commendable efforts” that havealreadybeenputinbytheEmpoweredCommitteeofStateFinanceMinistersinprovidingfleshandbloodtotheblueprint of GST suited to the Indian context.

Rangarajan to head panel for reviewing poverty lineThePlanningCommissionconstitutedanexpertgroupheadedbynotedeconomistC.RangarajantoreviewtheTendulkarCommitteemethodologyforestimatingpoverty.

“Government has decided to set up an expert technical group chaired by Chairman of Prime Minister’s EconomyAdvisoryCouncilC.Rangarajanto revisit themethodology

for estimation of the poverty and identification of the poor,” Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar said. He said that the expert group is expected to give its report in 7-9 months.

Outlining the need for revisiting the methodology for estimating poverty, Mr. Kumar said, “People’s perspective about poverty has changed. Therefore, we need to take a fresh look into the methodology for estimation of poverty in the country.” The Commission’s estimates, based onTendulkarCommitteemethodology, thatpeopleconsumingmore than Rs. 28.65 per daily in cities and Rs. 22.42 in rural areas are not poor, had triggered a controversy which even rocked the Parliament.

The members of expert group which would suggest alternative methods of estimating poverty are Mahendra Dev, Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, K. Sundaram, Mahesh Vyas from Centre for MonitoringIndian Economy and former Advisor, (Perspective Planning) PlanningCommission,KLDatta.

Bangladeshi group to invest Rs 6.80 cr in tripuraA Bangladeshi agro-food processing group, Programme for Rural Advancement Nationally (PRAN), will invest Taka 10 crore (around Rs 6.80 core) to set up an agro-food processing unit in Tripura.

PRAN has been permitted by Bangladesh Revenue Board to invest10croreBangladeshiTakainthestate,ChairmanofTripura IndustrialDevelopmentCorporation(TIDC),PabitraKar said.

TheTIDChasallottedtwoacretoPRANtosetuptheagro-food product unit at Bodhjungnagar Industrial Growth Centrearea,about22kmfromhere,Karsaid.All logisticsfor setting up the unit which would earn foreign money and createscopeforemploymentwouldbeprovidedbyTIDC,hesaid.AccordingtoChiefExecutiveOfficerofPRANAmjadAliKhanChowdhury,thegroupwasseekingloansfromIndianand foreign financial institutions to expand in other parts of the state as its products were in demand in eastern India.

Set up in 1980, PRAN which manufacture snacks, confectionery, juices, beverages, culinary products, dairy and premium rice, exports to 75 countries.

Panel to review production sharing contractsThe government, announced the constitution of a committee underthechairmanshipofC.Rangarajan,Chairman,PrimeMinister’sEconomicAdvisoryCouncil,toreviewtheexistingproductionsharingcontracts(PSCs)inlightoftherecentspatbetween Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and the Petroleum Ministry.

ThereviewcomesaftertheComptrollerandAuditorGeneral(CAG)initsdraftreporthadaskedthePetroleumMinistrytocarryoutacomprehensivereviewofthePSCstoprotecttheinterests of the Government.

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It will also explore various contract models with a view to minimising monitoring of expenditure of the contractor without compromising, firstly, on the hydrocarbons output across time and, secondly, on the government’s take; suggest a suitable mechanism for managing the contract implementationofPSCswhichisbeinghandledatpresentby the representation of regulator/government nominee appointedtotheManagementCommitteeandcomeoutwithsuitable governmental mechanisms to monitor and to audit Government of India (GOI) share of profit petroleum.

The committee will look into the structure and elements of the guidelines for determining the basis or formula for the price of domestically produced gas, and for monitoring actualpricefixation;andanyotherissuesrelatingtoPSCs.

New telecom Policy seeks to abolish roaming chargesThe Union Cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy(NTP) 2012, which has been released after a delay of over a year.

Originally intended to be NTP 2011, the draft policy was released for public comments only in October 2011, forcing it to be rechristened NTP 2012. The actual timelines for the implementation of individual announcements within the new telecom policy are yet to be spelled out.

With the new policy in place, consumers who use national roaming can now expect to pay local call charges though it is unclear when ‘free roaming’ will be initiated. At present, consumers pay local call charges and a premium when travelling outside their service area. The policy also allows national number portability, but again, with no visible timelines.

Other forward-looking propositions like resale of services couldbecomecriticalinthebackdropoftheSupremeCourt’scancellation of 122 licences, which will cease to exist as of August 1, 2012. A sharp reduction in the competition level from 14 operators currently to 7-8 operators could be made up by allowing mobile companies to set up resellers. Services resale is universally recognised as a way to increase competition without duplicating infrastructure or fragmenting the spectrum. Additionally, it mentions cloud computing, next generation networks, IPV6 and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as thrust areas — all of which are forward-looking and embrace future technologies. It remains to be seen whether average Internet users will be allowed to use VoIP, especially since this move has been opposed vehemently over the last 5 years by cellular mobile operators.

Policy promises broadband for all with minimum download speed of 2 megabitsThe National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012, approved by the UnionCabinet,promisesbroadbandforallwithaminimumdownload speed of 2 megabits. But it will be a challenge

since broadband penetration has been an abysmal policy failure.

The policy aspires to make India a global hub of domestic manufacturing, though not much detail on how this mammoth objective will be achieved is available. The draft policy had mentioned preferential market access for Indian vendors as one of the tactics to ensure a boost to telecom manufacturing in India. This drew severe criticism from theCommerceMinistryongroundsthat itviolatedIndia’scommitments at WTO and GATT. The DoT was forced to give an explicit commitment that WTO and GATT’s concerns would be kept in view while issuing guidelines on operationalisation of the policy.

The NTP 2012 expects to take India’s rural teledensity from 39 to 70% in the next 5 years with the target that every single Indian will have a phone by 2020. The policy also gets a formal approval of the new unified licensing regime which allows companies to provide ISP, fixed line, international long distance, national long distance, and a few other services through a single licence, whose cost has been proposed by the DoT at Rs. 10 crore. So far, very few companies, if any, have shown a desire to acquire the new unified licence.

Ioc, mRPL may be roped in to run HPLTo save the ailing Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. (HPL), a proposalisbeingmootedtoputtwooilsectorPSUs—IOCand MRPL — in charge of running the company, which is now grappling severe cash crunch which has jeopardised its operations.

IndianOilCorporation(IOC)alreadyholdsover8percentequity in the joint venture HPL in which the West Bengal Government and The Chatterjee Group (TCG) have majorequity holdings. IOC had, years back, shown interestin taking up a major role in the petrochemical company, which met with resistance from the private sector promoter PurnenduChatterjee(ofTCG).

The acrimonious relationship between the two main promoters triggered by this incident has spilled over from the previous government to the present with Mr. Chatterjee moving totakematters to an International Court of Arbitration. Theseuncertainties, coupled with adverse market conditions and high naphtha prices, have brought a gamut of problems for HPL.

Slew of measures to rev up exportsFaced with uncertain global environment, the CentralGovernment, on Tuesday, announced a slew of measures, including extension of two per cent interest subsidy by one year, as part of seven-point strategy to achieve 20 per cent increase in exports to $360 billion in the current fiscal.

Unveiling the annual supplement to the five-year Foreign Trade Policy, Commerce Ministry Anand Sharma said thegovernment would soon come out with new guidelines to revamp special economic zones (SEZ) and export-oriented unit (EOU) schemes to further boost the shipments.

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As part of the seven-point strategy to boost exports, the government has accepted the key demand of industry to extend the two per cent interest subsidy till March, 2013.

“We have now decided to extend the scheme for another year till March, 2013, and expand its coverage to include other labour-intensive sectors, namely, toys, sports goods, processed agricultural products and ready-made garments,” he said. India Inc, including the exporters community, welcomed the measures, saying that these initiatives would help tide over the problem being faced by exporters on account of global demand slowdown.

To encourage exports, the government had come out with an interest subvention scheme, which ended on March 31, 2012. “We have taken a decision now to extend it (zero duty EPCGscheme)uptoMarch31,2013.Wehavealsodecidedto enlarge the scope of the scheme,” he said, adding that theEPCGschemewasoperationaltillMarch,2012.

At present, benefits under the scheme are not available to units which are availing themselves of benefits under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) and the Status Holder Incentive Scheme (SHIS). To give a thrust to labour-intensive exports, the government is doing away with the condition of maintaining the average level of exports for sectors such as carpets, coir and jute.

In order to reduce transaction costs, the government has introduced a new post-export EPCG scheme, which willprovideflexibilitytoexportersforimportingcapitalgoods.Under this, exporters will be entitled to obtain duty-free scrip in proportion to the actual exports.

To promote manufactured exports of green technology products,exportobligationundertheEPCGschemeisbeingreduced for 16 products, including solar cells, wind turbines, water treatment plants, electrically operated vehicles.

To promote manufacturing activity and generating employment in the northeastern States, the government has reduced the export obligation under the scheme for exporters of those areas. Under the market diversification scheme, this year, the government has added seven new markets to the Focus Market Scheme (FMS) and same number to the Special Focus Market Scheme. The new markets include Austria, Myanmar, the Netherlands Ukraine, Morocco and Uruguay.

Forty six new items were being added to the Market-Linked Focus Product Scheme. It was extended till March, 2013, for export to the U.S. and the EU in respect of the apparel sector, Mr. Sharma said.

To boost manufacturing, SHIS scripholder may transfer the scrip to another SHIS holder, who has a manufacturing facility. The SHIS allows import of capital goods for technology upgradation in specified sectors. Further, it has been decided that exports shipped through courier and e-commerce platform will be eligible for export benefits if shipments are effected from Delhi and Mumbai.

major push to key sectors to revive growth storyJolted into action following the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth plunging to a nine-year low at 5.3per cent in the fourthquarterof2011-12, theCentredecided to set in motion a host of measures to kick-start key infrastructure development projects. This will entail an investment of at least Rs. 2 lakh crore during the current fiscal, thereby providing a catalyst to put the economy back on a higher growth trajectory of nine per cent. At a meeting held here by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to finalise “ambitious” infrastructure sector targets for 2012-13, investment allocations were nearly doubled for a number of key segments such as ports, roads and airports.

The quantum jump in investment in these sectors, with significant private sector participation through PPP (public-private partnership) mode, is expected to provide a massive boost to overall manufacturing activity in allied sectors in a scenario when, after achieving a remarkably high growth rate over the past eight years, the Indian economy is “now running into more turbulent weather.”

Participating in the brainstorming session were Ministers and Secretaries of key infrastructure Ministries of Power, Roads,Shipping,CivilAviationandCoal,inwhichPlanningCommissionDeputyChairmanMontekSinghAhluwaliamadea presentation on how these targets were finalised and the explained the high level of ambition they represent.

Explaining the rationale for increased investment in the core sector, Dr. Singh said that development of infrastructure would always be an integral part of any strategy for fast economic development. “In the short term, development of infrastructure will boost investment rates across the economy. In the long run, it will remove the supply constraints that affect industry and trade,” he said pointing out that the government alone would not be able to meet the vast investment needs of over $1 trillion in the next five years and, therefore, “it is important that we involve the private sector in our efforts, through Public Private Partnerships.”

cabinet nod for Rs.632-cr capital infusion in RRBsTheUnion Cabinet, approved a capital infusion of Rs.632crore into the cash-starved regional rural banks (RRBs) to improve their capital adequacy norms and capacity to lend to the farm sector.

At its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Cabinetalsodecidedtoextendtheschemeofrecapitalisingweak RRBs by another two years as all the States have not contributed their share in the capital infusion process as yet. As a result, capitalisation has been completed for only 16 banks till March this year.

Announcing the Cabinet decision, an official statementsaid: “The Union Cabinet, on Thursday, approved thereleaseof50percentshareoftheCentralGovernmentfor

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recapitalisation of the remaining RRBs to improve their capitaltoriskweightedassetsratio(CRAR)…ThereleaseofCentralGovernmentshareissubjecttothereleaseofStateGovernment and sponsor bank share.’’

In 2009-10, based on the recommendations of Reserve Bank Deputy Governor K. C. Chakrabarty, the government hadinitiated the process of recapitalising 40 financially weak RRBs to help them in providing credit to the rural and farm sectors.

Under the scheme,while the Centre’s share in the capitalinfusion is pegged at 50 per cent, the State Government and the sponsor bank concerned have to chip in with their contribution of 15 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.

china clears way for Indian marine productsIndia’s growing exports of marine food products to the lucrative $5.5 billion Chinamarket have received a boostafterChina’squarantineauthoritygrantedapprovaltoIndianexporters, ending more than a year of uncertainty after the introduction of new regulations.

China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision,Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) last week announced that it had given the green light to 37 countries to export marine products, after orders had been suspended last year following a revision of safety regulations.

Countries were given one year to comply with the newregulations, put in place to ensure greater safety and in the wake of concerns over imports from Japan after the nuclear scares at Fukushima. According to the rules, consignments had to be accompanied with certificates issued by the relevant country that met the new AQSIQ regulations.

India is the eighth biggest exporter of marine food products to the fast-growingChinamarket,whereconsumptionhasrapidly grown with rising prosperity. Indian exports of frozen fish products grew to $155.7 million in 2010, before falling to $148.8 million last year on account of the suspension of orders. Exports reached $35 million in the first four months of this year.

India’s import bill jumps 40% to $140 billionIndia’s oil import bill leaped 40 per cent to a record $140 billion in Financial Year 2011-12 as high oil prices shaved off much of the nation’s GDP growth rate, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said.

Speakingatthe5thOPECInternationalSeminarinVienna,Reddy said it was “estimated that a sustained $10 increase in oil prices lead to a 1.5 per cent reduction in the GDP of developing countries“.

“We have seen evidence of this in our own country: India’s GDP grew at 6.9 per cent during the last financial year (2011-12) down from the 8 per cent plus growth rate experienced in the past few years,” he said.

Reddy, whose speech copy was released by his office, said between the 2010-11 and 2011-12, the world’s fourth largest oil importer saw its average cost of imported crude oil rising by $27 per barrel, “making India’s oil import bill rise from $100 billion to $140 billion dollars“.

“Higher internationaloilprices leadtodomestic inflation,increased input costs, an increase in the budget deficit which invariably drives up interest rates and slows down the economic growth,” he said. Also, net oil importing countries like India experience a deterioration in their balance of payments, putting downward pressure on exchange rates.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Science Spectrum

VENuS oN thE SuN

ScIENcE SPEctRum...

The spectacular transit of Venus over the Sun on June 6th was an experience for a lifetime. It has provided us the opportunity to go through the interesting facts about both Venus and its transit.

What is transit of Venus and how it happens?• TheplanetsorbitsSuninelliptical

orbits. Mercury and Venus are the first two planets according to radial distance from the sun. Being nearer to Sun than the earth when Venus passes through directly between the Earth and Sun, then the transit occurs. Geometrically the event is similar to solar eclipse.

• Theyoccurinapatternthatgenerallyrepeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The periodicity is a reflection of the fact that the ratio of orbital periods of Earth and Venus are close to 8:13 and 243:395.

• ThelasttransitofVenuswason5and 6 June 2012, and was the last Venus transit of the 21st century; the prior transit took place on 8 June 2004. The previous pair of transits was in December 1874 and December 1882. The next transits of Venus will be on December 10–11, 2117, and in December 2125.

• The planets Venus and Mercury,seen from the earth, are too small to cover the sun completely; their shadow cones fall far short of reaching the surface of the earth. The appearance of a transit is that of a black dot slowly crossing the disc of the sun from east to west. The shadow of Mercury against the sun is too small to see without a telescope. The Shadow of Venus can be observed without telescope by projection or through proper filters to protect the eye.

• The transit of Venus is not visibleuniformly throughout the Earth. From some places it is completely visible - some places partly - and somewhere completely invisible.

Facts about Venus:• Venusisthethirdbrightestobject

in the entire sky (after the sun and the moon).

• Although Venus is most definitelynot a star, it appears more than 10 times brighter than the brightest star, Sirius.

• Theplanet’sbrightnessstemsfromthe fact that, unlike Mercury, Venus is highly reflective with an albedo of over 0.7 – that is more than 70 per cent of the sunlight reaching Venus is reflected back into space. Most of the sunlight is reflected fromthecloudshighintheplanet’sdense atmosphere.

• Venus rotates very slowly – onceabout its own axis in 243 days- and spins clockwise - opposite of the earth.

• Itorbitssunin224.65days.

• The Venusian atmosphereexperiences super-rotation. That is - the whole atmosphere circles the planet in four Earth days, on a body that turns around just once in 243 Earth days.

Research importance of transit of Venus:• Transit of Venus was one of the

first methods used to measure the mean distance from the earth to Sun –called astronomical unit – (AU)bymeasuringthetransittimein different places of earth. Several astronomers calculated the distance in 1874 and 1882 transit.

• The importance of Venus transit2012 is particularly important for research about exo-planets, the

planets outside the solar system.

• Measuringdipsinastar’sbrightnesscaused by Venus transiting the Sun will help astronomers find exoplanets.

• Measurementsmadeoftheapparentdiameter of Venus during the transit, and comparison with its known diameter, will give scientists an idea of how to estimate exoplanet sizes.

• Spectrographic data taken of thewell-known atmosphere of Venus will be compared to studies of exoplanets whose atmospheres are thus far unknown.

• TheHubbleSpaceTelescope,whichcannot be pointed directly at the Sun, used the Moon as a mirror to study the light that had passed through the atmosphere of Venus in order to determine its composition. This will help to show whether a similar technique could be used to study exoplanets.

• ResearchersalsotookacloselookatVenus itself during the transit, used the occasion to probe the middle layersoftheplanet’satmosphere-its mesosphere.

Overall, it is one of the most celebrated phenomena in astronomy as many astronomers of yore have lamented that they could never hope to see one in their lifetime.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Science Bulletin

ScIENcE NEwS...

NASA to launch X-ray telescope to scan Milky wayNASA is poised to launch its latest X-ray space telescope on a two-year hunt for hard-to-see objects lurking in the heart of the Milky Way and other galaxies.

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuStar for short, focuses high-energy X-rays to peer through gas and dust in search of supermassive black holes in the center of galaxies, remnants of exploded stars and other exotic celestial objects.

While black holes are invisible, the region around them gives off telltale X-rays. NuStar will observe previously known black holes and map hidden ones. By exploring never-before-seen parts of the universe, scientists hope to better understand how galaxies form and evolve.

NuStar will also hunt for the remains of ancient supernovae, stars that exploded in past centuries. If it’s lucky, it’ll witness a star’s death throes, but such events don’t happen often, and the telescope will have to be pointed in the right place at the right time. Scientists expect sharp images from the mission, which is many times more sensitive than previous space telescopes that have looked in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The launch comes at a trying time for NASA’s astrophysics division. Last week, the space agency killed an X—ray telescope mission because it failed to come in on budget. That mission called GEMS was supposed to launch in 2014 and would have observed many of the same targets as NuStar.

NASA is pressing ahead with its flagship astrophysics mission the budget-busting James Webb Space Telescope considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope with the capability of peering deeper into the universe and back in time than ever. It’s now expected to launch in 2018 at an $8 billion price tag.

Africa and Australasia to share Square Kilometre ArraySouth Africa, Australia and New Zealand will host the biggest radio telescope ever built. The nations belonging to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) organisation have finally taken the decision.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a radio telescope in development which will have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre. It will operate over a wide range of frequencies and its size will make it 50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument. It will require very high performance central computing engines and long-haul links with a capacity greater than the current

SPAcE AND AStRoNoMy

ISRo plans to launch satellite for Navy in a few monthsThe Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has built a dedicated satellite for the Navy which will be launched in a few months by an Ariane-5 rocket from the Kourou Island in French Guiana.

The communication satellite that weighs 2.5 tonnes is currently undergoing thermo-vacuum tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore. But the space organisation has not so far officially acknowledged that the satellite is meant for the Navy and has given it an innocuous name, GSAT-7.

The GSAT series, built by the ISRO, are communication satellites which cannot be used for surveillance. The Navy will use GSAT-7 to communicate with its submarines, frigates, destroyers and aircraft from its centres on the shore.

The ISRO’s annual report for 2011-12 has sparse information on GSAT-7. It merely says, “GSAT-7, a multi-band satellite, is planned to be launched on board a procured launcher during 2012.” The report, in another place, adds, “The satellite employs the standard 2.5 tonne bus platform with the power handling capability of around 2,600 W and a lift-off mass of 2,550 kg. All the mainframe and the payload elements have been delivered. The satellite will be ready for shipment for launch during 2012.”

The ISRO’s 2010-2011 report is a little more liberal with information. It says, “GSAT-7 is a multi-band satellite carrying payloads in UHF [ultra-high frequency], S-band, C-band and Ku-band…The configuration of the satellite has been finalized and the design of the new payload elements is completed. The platform systems are under fabrication and payload sub-system realisation is on-going.”

Although the ISRO planned to launch GSAT-7 in 2011 onboard an indigenous Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from Sriharikota, it has been forced to go abroad because of its failures with its GSLV in April 2010 and December 2010. The GSLV could not put GSAT-4 into orbit in April 2010 after its indigenous cryogenic engine failed to ignite. The next GSLV flight in December 2010, with a Russian cryogenic engine, failed too. It was to have hoisted into orbit GSAT-5P.

These failures and the long time that is being taken to build the GSLV-Mark III rocket with an indigenous cryogenic engine have delayed the launch of Chandrayan-II and the ISRO’s efforts to send an Indian astronaut into space.

With the GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic engine yet to prove its mettle and its performance with a Russian cryogenic engine below par, the ISRO does not want to take chances with GSAT-7.

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global Internet traffic. It will be able to survey the sky more than ten thousand times faster than ever before.

The 1.5bn-euro (£1.2bn) SKA’s huge fields of antennas will sweep the sky for answers to the major outstanding questions in astronomy.

They will probe the early Universe, test Einstein’s theory of gravity and even search for alien intelligent life.

The project aims to produce a radio telescope with a combined collecting area of one million square metres - equivalent to about 200 football pitches.

To do this, it will have to combine the signals received by thousands of small antennas spread over thousands of kilometres.

The SKA will have 3,000 antennas across a vast semi-desert part of South Africa known as the Karoo. The site is already home to seven massive Gregorian dish antennas that form part of the Karoo Array Telescope, or Kat7. South Africa is also pressing ahead with a 64-dish project, Meerkat, which is a precursor to SKA.

The SKA will map precisely the positions of the nearest billion galaxies. The structure they trace on the cosmos should reveal new details about “dark energy”, the mysterious negative pressure that appears to be pushing the Universe apart at an ever-increasing speed.

The telescope will also detail the influence of magnetic fields on the development of stars and galaxies. And it will zoom in on pulsars, the dead stars that emit beams of radio waves that sweep across the Earth like super-accurate time signals.

Astronomers believe these dense objects may hold the key to a more complete theory of gravity than that proposed by Einstein.

The SKA’s members include the UK, Netherlands, Italy, China, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. India has associate member status.

SpaceX Dragon returns to Earth, ends historic tripTriumphant from start to finish, the SpaceX Dragon capsule parachuted into the Pacific to conclude the first private delivery to the International Space Station and inaugurate NASA’s new approach to exploration.

The unmanned supply ship scored a bull’s-eye with its arrival, splashing down into the ocean about 500 miles (800 kilometres) off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. A fleet of recovery ships quickly moved in to pull the capsule aboard a barge for towing to Los Angeles.

It was the first time since the shuttles stopped flying last summer that NASA got back a big load from the space station, in this case more than half a ton of experiments and equipment.

This dramatic arrival of the world’s first commercial cargo carrier capped a nine-day test flight that was virtually

flawless, beginning with the May 22 launch aboard the SpaceX company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral and continuing through the space station docking three days later and the departure a scant six hours before hitting the water.

Musk(Man who founded SpaceX), the billionaire behind PayPal and Tesla Motors, aims to launch the next supply mission in September under a steady contract with NASA, and insists astronauts can be riding Dragons to and from the space station in as little as three or four years. The next version of the Dragon, for crews, will land on terra firma with “helicopter precision” from propulsive thrusters, he noted. Initial testing is planned for later this year.

President Barack Obama is leading this charge to commercial spaceflight. He wants routine orbital flights turned over to private business so the space agency can work on getting astronauts to asteroids and Mars. Toward that effort, NASA has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in seed money to vying companies.

NASA astronauts are now forced to hitch rides on Russian rockets from Kazakhstan, an expensive and embarrassing outsourcing, especially after a half-century of manned launches from U.S. soil. It will be up to SpaceX or another U.S. enterprise to pick up the reins. Several companies are jockeying for first place.

SpaceX or more properly Space Exploration Technologies Corp. plans to hustle off a few returning items while still at sea to demonstrate to NASA a fast 48-hour turnaround. That capability would be needed for future missions bearing vital experiments.

This was only the second time a Dragon has returned from orbit. In December 2010, SpaceX conducted a solo-flying shakedown cruise. Like the Dragon before it, this capsule will likely become a travelling exhibit.

Russia’s Soyuz capsules for carrying crews also parachute down but on land, deep inside Kazakhstan. All of the government-provided cargo vessels of Russia, Europe and Japan are filled with station garbage and burn up on descent.

NASA lost the capability of getting things back when its shuttles were retired last July. Rival Orbital Sciences Corp. hopes to have its first unmanned test flight off by year’s end, launching from Wallops Island in Virginia. It, too, has a NASA contract for cargo runs. The grand prize, though, will involve getting American astronauts flying again from U.S. soil and, in doing so, restore national prestige.

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation considers the Dragon’s success a critical stepping stone. “It’s a seminal moment for the U.S. as a nation, and indeed for the world,” said its chairman, Eric Anderson.

DEfENcE tEchNology

Surface-to-air Akash missileBoosting its air defence shield and re-validating operational

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efficacy, India in may 2012 successfully test fired its indigenously-developed surface-to- air ‘Akash’ missile from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore (Odisha).

“The user-specific trial, which formed part of the country’s routine air defence exercises, was successful,” said a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) official associated with the Akash missile project. The Akash weapon system was inducted into the armed forces in 2008.

The missile, which has a strike range of 25 km with a warhead of 60 kgs, was test fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex—III of the ITR, defence sources said. Akash, an anti—aircraft defence system, can simultaneously engage several targets with ‘Rajendra’ radar developed by the Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), a DRDO laboratory in Bangalore. Rajendra does the surveillance, tracks the target, acquires it and guides the missile towards it.

The development of Akash missile took place during 1990s under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) and after many trials, it was inducted into the armed forces. An air—force version of the Akash missile has also been developed by the DRDO.

Rajendra is a ‘passive phased array radar’ It is a multifunction radar, capable of tracking as many as 64 targets and controlling up to 12 missiles simultaneously.

Defence experts have compared Akash missile system with the American MIM—104 Patriot surface—to—air missile system. They claim that similar to the MIM—104, the Akash is capable of neutralising aerial targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), fighter jets, cruise missiles and air—to—surface missiles.

Pak test fires hatf VII nuclear missilePakistan has successfully test fired the nuclear-capable Hatf-VII cruise missile with a range of 700 km, the latest in a series of tests of missiles that can hit targets deep within India. This was the fifth missile test by Pakistan since late last month.

The Hatf-VII can carry nuclear or conventional warheads and has stealth capabilities. Pakistan has tested a wide array of missiles since late last month.

On April 25, it tested an improved version of the nuclear-capable Hatf-IV intermediate range ballistic missile with the range of 1,000 k.m. The launch came just six days after India tested the Agni-V missile with a range of 5,000 km. On May 10, Pakistan tested the nuclear-capable Hatf-III ballistic missile with a range of 290 km.

The nuclear-capable Hatf-IX missile with a range of 60 km was tested on May 29, reflecting the Pakistani military’s thrust on developing tactical weapons aimed at deterring India’s purported Cold Start doctrine. The Hatf-IX missile system possesses shoot and scoot attributes.

On May 31, the military tested a version of the Hatf-VIII cruise missile with a range of over 350 k.m. The military said this test had helped Pakistan “achieve strategic standoff capability on land and at sea.”

hEAlth AND Ecology

Male pill: gene discovery may lead to contraceptiveIt may be possible to develop a new male contraceptive pill after researchers in Edinburgh (Scotland) identified a gene critical for the production of healthy sperm.

Experiments in mice found that the gene, Katnal1, was vital for the final stages of making sperm. A drug which interrupts Katnal1 could be a reversible contraceptive. A fertility expert said there was “certainly a need” for such a drug. Contraception in men is largely down to condoms or a vasectomy.

Researchers at the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh were investigating the causes of male infertility. They randomly altered the genetic code of mice to see which became infertile. They then traced the mutations which led to infertility, which led them to Katnal1.

It contains the blueprints for a protein which is important in cells which support the development of sperm. Without the protein, sperm do not fully form and the body disposes of them. Scientists hope they will be able to perform a similar trick in humans to stop sperm developing, without causing lasting damage.

One of the researchers Dr Lee Smith said: “If we can find a way to target this gene in the testes, we could potentially develop a non-hormonal contraceptive.

The important thing is that the effects of such a drug would be reversible because Katnal1 only affects sperm cells in the later stages of development, so it would not hinder the early stages of sperm production and the overall ability to produce sperm.”

The gene described by the research group in Edinburgh sounds like an exciting new possible target for a new male contraceptive, but it may also shed light on why some men are sub-fertile and why their sperm does not work properly.

Arctic warms as tundra shrubs turn into trees

Tundra is a cold, treeless region in the Arctic, where tree growth is stunted by harsh weather.But shrubs and willow in part of the area have been growing upward to the height of trees in the recent decades due to warming climate, scientists say.

Roughly 30 years ago, trees were nearly unknown in the region, but about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the land in the southern part of the north-western Eurasian tundra, which stretches between Finland and western Siberia, is now covered by new tree-size shrubs, which stand higher than 6.6 feet, new research has found.

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The researchers, who detailed their work in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that the shrubs grew most in years with warm Julys.

Sawfish struggles to stay afloatSawfish are struggling to keep afloat in coastal waters across the globe, including India. Conservationists are working out strategies to protect them, as there has been a 90 per cent fall in their population. The sighting of the species has also become uncommon in Indian waters, where it was once in good numbers.

Worried at the sharp decline of sawfish, a few marine conservationists of Kochi have launched a campaign to conserve them. Besides bringing out rules for the safe release of the fish caught accidentally, the group — Society for Marine Research and Conservation — is reaching out to fishermen, vendors and agents and students, highlighting need to conserve the species.

All the seven varieties of sawfish, including four from India, have been listed as critically endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are also considered the most threatened marine fish.

The distinctive feature of the fish is its saw-like rostrum, a modified tooth-like structure called denticles. With its rostrum, the fish detects the movement of prey on the ocean floor. They spring from the bottom and slash the prey with the saw. The fish are targeted for their rostrum, fins and liver oil, says an IUCN communiqué.

In India, the sawfish has been brought under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act. The species available in Indian waters include Anoxypristiscuspidata (Valusravu in Malayalam), Pristiszijsron (Vellasorrah in Tamil), Pristismicrodon (Kombensravu in Malayalam) and Pristispectinata.

89 invasive plant species present a threat to Kerala’s biodiversityKerala’s plant biodiversity faces a severe threat from 89 alien invasive species, which were recorded in a survey commissioned by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board.

Of these, 19 present a high risk; many were found displacing and destroying a large number of native species, causing environmental and economic loss. Around 40 per cent of the varieties belonging to Brazil, Trinidad, Costa Rica, Chile, and Mexico were believed to have reached the State mostly through timber and food grain imports.

Pollinating insects usually preferred these species as they produced more pollen grains and nectar than the native ones. The resultant fall in the pollination rate of the native plants would affect the local biodiversity and its regeneration.

It has been advised to take more stringent quarantine measures at sea and airports to control the arrival of invasive varieties. Imported timber should be treated with pesticides as the wood would carry seeds and eggs of plants and insects. A large number of countries resort to such measures for protecting their biodiversity.

Indian scientists in team that sequenced tomato genomeIn what is considered a major step forward in biotechnology research, a group of 300 scientists from across the world, including India, have sequenced the genome of tomato.

The achievement is expected to lower the costs and speed up efforts to improve tomato production, making it better equipped to combat pests and pathogens, and to tolerate droughts.

The work, which has been published in the latest issue of international science journal Nature , is also expected to help in efforts to improve the productivity of other crops.

From India, scientists from the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology under the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and the Delhi University’s South Campus participated in the programme.

The ‘Tomato Genome Consortium’ was established after a scientific conference organised in 2003 in the U.S. Its members were drawn from the U.S., the U.K., China, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea, Israel, Spain, Argentina, and Belgium.

Tomato belongs to a family of vegetables called ‘Solanaceae,’ which have a lot of global importance as they serve as sources of food, spices, medicines and ornamentals. The other members include potato, pepper and brinjal.

INfoRMAtIoN tEchNology

google’s campaign in Indian languagesGoogle has introduced a new campaign, titled ‘Good to know’ in a few Indian languages to help Indian users understand and protect their online information, a release from the tech giant stated. This site, which focusses on how to stay safe online, will have information in Hindi and several other Indian languages.

“Everyone wants to stay safe online, so we’re making the campaign available in dozens more languages… We’re also incorporating the Google Family Safety Center website, which has included online safety tips since 2010, into Good to Know to make all this information available in one place,” the release added.

Information provided on these sites will include tips on safe browsing, insights into how user data is used on Google and around the Web, and on managing your family’s online experience. For example, you can find out how to choose a strong password, recognise a phishing scam and double your account security with two-step verification.

Cyber ‘superweapon’ targets Iran

A Russian computer firm has discovered a new computer virus with unprecedented destructive potential that chiefly targets Iran and could be used as a “cyberweapon” by the West and Israel.

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Kaspersky Lab, one of the world’s biggest producers of anti-virus software, said its experts discovered the virus —known as Flame — during an investigation prompted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Iran appears to have been the main target of the attack and the announcement comes just a month after the Islamic Republic said it halted the spread of a data-deleting virus targeting computer servers in its oil sector.

Kaspersky said the virus was several times larger than the Stuxnet worm that was discovered in 2010 and targeted the Iranian nuclear programme, reportedly at the behest of Western or Israeli security agencies.

It said the main task of Flame is cyber espionage, meaning it steals information from infected machines including documents, screenshots and even audio recordings. It then sends the data to servers all over the world.

While Stuxnet was designed for outright sabotage, Flame is described as an espionage virus, possibly intended to give its creators a detailed blueprint of Natanz’s industrial computer control designs. Similar to its drone programme, the U.S. has never admitted using cyber weapons against other nations, although it is said to have recently acknowledged developing them.

“One of the most alarming facts is that the ‘Flame’ cyber-attack campaign is currently in its active phase, and its operator is consistently surveiling infected systems, collecting information and targeting new systems to accomplish its unknown goals,” Alexander Gostev, chief security expert at Kaspersky Lab, said on the company’s Web site.

Meanwhile, Iran has confirmed that ‘Flame’ had caused substantial damage and massive amounts of data had been lost in what may be most destructive cyber attack on the nation. The virus also damaged centrifuges operating at

its uranium enrichment facility at Nantaz as reports said that even computers of high-ranking officials had been penetrated.

The alleged use of Stuxnet and Flame against Iran may, however, give pause to countries such as India, which have in recent months felt the heat of U.S. and Israeli pressure to cut down on Iranian oil imports and fall in line with bilateral sanctions. This pressure has been predicated on the presumed two-track approach which, in reality, would be a three-pronged approach if the cyber-attacks are confirmed as true.

facebook’s stock plunge after IPo debutAfter the Facebook’s stock began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, its stock fell 11 percent within 3 days, even as the rest of the stock market rallied.

The downward spiral has left some people sitting on big losses, and others scratching their heads. After all, nothing fundamental has changed at Facebook in the days since the much—hyped company came to the stock market. Facebook still has more than 900 million users, its 28—year—old founder Mark Zuckerberg controls the company, and it is still one of the few profitable Internet companies to go public.

Facebook’s IPO like Netscape’s in 1995 and Google’s in 2004 was billed as a milestone moment. Netscape’s offering ushered in the era of the Internet browser. The company’s stock more than doubled in its first day of trading. Google’s IPO heralded the age of search. It posted an 18 percent gain in its stock market debut. Facebook was supposed to offer proof that social media is a viable business and more than a passing fad.

But investors don’t seem convinced. Facebook’s falling share price may be a sign that investors are taking a rational look at the company’s financial performance in comparison to its peers.

Redefining learning through writing

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

- Maya Angelou

Writing is perhaps the best way to learn. Remember the times when our school teachers made us write those letters, essays, paragraphs etc? With Mains’ examinations just round the corner, it’s time to revisit this old, time-tested strategy. India Prepares invites its readers to come forward and contribute to the magazine through their writing skills in the form of editorials, commentaries or anything they feel is relevant from the GS examination’s point of view.

We hope this will help us connect with our readers more closely and in the process aid you to explore your thought processes comprehensively.

You can send us your articles at [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] .

Good Luck,

Sonal Vats, Editor.

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WHO CONTROLS THE INTERNET?

SCIENCE SPECTRum

The recent proposal of India at the meeting of United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development held in Geneva in May 2012 to create a Committee on Internet-related Policies (CIRP) has once again raised the debate between technocrats and bureaucrats as well as between North and South bloc that who actually should control the internet. This proposal, backed by many others in the global south, aims at democratising the Internet and critical resources that are currently controlled by the U.S., big businesses and powerful nations in various other governance forums.

The Internet is a major force today, restructuring our economic, social, political and cultural systems. Most people implicitly assume that it is basically a beneficent force, needing, if at all, some caution only at the user-end.

However what used to be a public network of millions of digital spaces, is now largely a conglomeration of a few proprietary spaces. (A few websites like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon together make much of what is considered the Internet by most people today.) It is a myth that “the Internet is not governed by anyone.” A few United States-based companies increasingly have monopoly control over most of the Internet. The U.S. government itself controls some of the most crucial nodes of the global digital network. Together, these two forces, in increasing conjunction, are determining the techo-social structure of a new unipolar world. It is important for progressive actors to urgently address this situation and actively defend and promote the Internet’s immense potential as a democratic and egalitarian force, including through appropriate principles and policies at the global level.

Through the proposal, India is pushing for creation of a forum

called ‘Committee for Internet Related Policies’ (CIRP) to develop Internet policies, oversee all Internet standards bodies and policy organisations, negotiate Internet-related treaties and sit in judgment when Internet-related disputes come up. The proposed CIRP will be a multilateral institution, where governments will sit together and take decisions on internet policies, treaties and standards.

Not surprisingly, many have interpreted this as a move towards greater governmental control of the Web (read tighter censorship), even as others have lauded this as a progressive step towards greater democratisation of the internet.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

At present, the Internet is governed by a voluntary, multi-stakeholder group called ICANN or Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN is a nonprofit private organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly on behalf of the U.S. government by other organizations, notably the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which ICANN now operates.

ICANN is responsible for the coordination of the global Internet’s systems of unique identifiers and, in particular, ensuring its stable and secure operation. This work includes coordination of the Internet Protocol address spaces (IPv4 and IPv6) and assignment of address blocks to regional Internet registries, for maintaining registries of Internet protocol identifiers, and for the management of the top-level domain name space (DNS root zone), which includes the

operation of root nameservers. Most visibly, much of its work has concerned the DNS policy development for internationalization of the DNS system and introduction of new generic top-level domains (TLDs).

Two ArgumentsThere are two sides to this debate: one that purely deals with the techno-political aspect of the control of the Internet, and the other that deals with social and political policy debates. In purely technological terms, this debate revolved around the DNS root name servers or the Internet Domain Name System, which forms the backbone of communication on the Web.

The DNS is a large database used by Internet applications to map or translate Web URLs to a unique IP address. All the generic names and the IP addresses for all top level domains (for the purpose of mapping) are stored in what is called a root zone file. What really matters here is who controls the root zone file. This file contains the domain names and IP addresses that enable the querying-mapping process. The root zone file, and access or authority to edit it, is what is crucial in this debate because finally the architecture of the DNS system, and in essence the Internet, is dependent on how this file is handled. So, a domain is valid only if it is there on this file. As of now, this root zone file is controlled by the ICANN.

And here lies the main problem. ICANN continues to be a non-profit registered in the U.S., one that is subject to decisions and laws made by the U.S. government. For instance, under the pretext of enforcing an IP regime, the U.S. can enforce alterations to the DNS system, as was proposed in the SOPA legislation, which was retracted after web companies and tech activists lobbied against it, earlier this year.

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North vs. South debateApart from the direct application of U.S. law and whims (think WikiLeaks) over the global Internet, and Internet-based social activity (increasingly a large part of our social existence), default global law is also being written by the clubs of powerful countries that routinely draft Internet policies and policy frameworks today. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe are two active sites of such policy making, covering areas like cyber-security, Internet intermediary liability, search engines, social networking sites, etc. Last year, the OECD came out with its “Principles for Internet Policy-Making.” These Principles, heavy on IP enforcement and private policing through large North-based Internet companies, are to guide Internet policies in all OECD countries.

While Northern countries are very active at Internet related policy- and law-making, which have extraterritorial ambition and reach, they strongly resist any U.N.-based initiative for development of global Internet principles and policies. This is in

keeping with the increasingly common Northern efforts at undermining U.N./multi-lateral frameworks in other global governance arenas like trade, IP, etc. For instance: trying to keep global financial systems out of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) purview at the recent Doha UNCTAD meeting, and bringing in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) as a new instrument of extra-territorial Internet Protocol (IP) enforcement by the OECD, bypassing World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The developing world’s point of view is that the UN bodies have a better track record as far as democratic methods go, where countries can sit together and vote. Which is why the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries are pushing for more equal control of the Internet as it is a global resource. Last year, Vladimir Putin, who was Russian Prime Minister at the time, stated his goal, to impose ‘international control over the Internet’ through the International Telecom Union, a treaty-based organisation under the auspices of the U.N. Echoing this view, Houlin Zhao, Director of the ITU’s

Telecommunications Standardization Bureau and former Chinese government official, said, “The whole world is looking to a better solution to Internet governance, unwilling to maintain the current situation.” Before this, China, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan had introduced a U.N. General Assembly resolution proposing a ‘code of conduct’ for the global information society.

Conclusion Thus, Internet should be governed on the principles of human liberty, equality and fraternity. It should be based on the accepted principle of the indivisibility of human rights; civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and also people’s collective right to development. “Enhanced cooperation” must be implemented through innovative multilateral mechanisms that are participatory. Internet policy-making cannot be allowed to remain the preserve of one country or clubs of rich countries. If the Internet is to promote democracy in the world, which incidentally is the much touted agenda of the U.S. and other Northern countries, the Internet itself has, first, to be governed democratically.

OPEN DEfECATION: A NATIONAL SHAmE

HEALTH ISSuES...

India has the dubious distinction of being a topper in terms of open defecation, a UNICEF survey has revealed as well. This is a major public health concern, stressed officials from the agency. Every year, 1.8 million people across the world die of microbial contamination (bacteria, viruses, amoeba) of water. The faeces left in the open, along with microbes they carry, get washed away by rains contaminating the various sources of water. This water when consumed by people can result into various illnesses.

According to 2011 census data,

60 per cent of village households still do not have access to proper toilet facilities. Open defecation and open urination are national shames — not just from the aesthetic, human dignity and cleanliness angles, but from the health angle as well. And it is this ocean of excreta that our rural (and urban slum) children are being raised in.

Current scenario in countryGoing by the present pace of progress, India will achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) on sanitation only by 2054. While some States had already achieved the target and some

are close to it, other populous States such as Madhya Pradesh and Orissa will reach the target only in the next century, according to WHO and UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMPWSS).

According to the JMPWSS’ report, which tracks the progress on drinking water and sanitation, 17 States, including Kerala, Haryana, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and most Union Territories, had already achieved the MDG target while Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh will achieve it in the next 10 years.

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Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh are some States that will meet the MDG target in the coming 25 years, while Madhya Pradesh is expected to achieve the goal in 2105 and Orissa in 2160 unless special strategies are adopted to speed up the progress, the report has said.

The world has pledged to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015 from 1990 figures. Though India has already achieved impressive results on water supply, with 85 per cent of its people having access to safe drinking water, 51 per cent or 626 million people in the country defecate in the open, accounting for 60 per cent of the world’s total open defecations.

India has seen an improvement in the sanitation figures from 1990, when 75 per cent people defecated in the open as against 51 per cent in 2010. But this improvement is seen only in the urban settings, where 28 per cent had no access to toilets in 1990 as against 14 per cent in 2010. In the rural areas, 91 per cent had no access to sanitation in 1990 as against 67 per cent in 2010, indicating that it was the rich who had more access to sanitation.

India Human Development Report 2011Despite an increase in the number of toilets, open defecation remains the single largest threat to health and nutritional status in the country, according to India Human Development Report 2011, brought out by Institute of Applied Manpower Research of the Planning Commission. This report also pointed out that a greater proportion of Muslim households compared to SCs/STs had access to sanitation facilities, largely due to their urban concentration.

According to the report, about half of Indian households lacked access to sanitation facilities in 2008-09. More than 60 per cent of households in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand were without toilets.

ConsequencesThis habit of the countrymen makes the people prone to water-borne diseases, increasing the burden on the economy. India had an astounding number of 58% people defecating in the open. China and Indonesia are a distant second with just 5% of their population not having toilets. Pakistan and Ethiopia were third with 4.5% such people.

Since most of the defecating places double up as playgrounds for rural children, chances of direct exposure also are high. Vectors like flies can bring the microbes into drinking water or food. The practice also creates a security risk for rural women besides it being a matter of dignity. Diarrhoea, a major illness spread through contaminated water, kills around 800 children below the age of 5 every day in the country.

Out of the 555 million pre-school children in developing countries, 32 per cent have stunted growth and 20 per cent are underweight. These two conditions together cause the death of one in every five children before they turn 5 years of age. For those alive, the long-term consequences are severe poor performance in school, dropping out, intellectual deficits and therefore lower economic productivity as adults. Before Humphrey, doctors and public health specialists assumed that such stunting, underweight, and lower cognitive abilities in children are due to lack of enough nutrition or bouts of diarrhoea, or both.

Economic impactAccording to another report, the economic impact of inadequate sanitation costs India about Rs. 2.4

trillion or about 6.4 per of its gross domestic product. Diarrhoea alone claims four lakh lives annually, of which 90 percent are children.

But tragically enough, the annual central budget is just Rs. 2000 crore which is just about two percent of the entire budget for Rural Development which is close to Rs.1 lakh crore.

InitiativesWhat is needed is a political and social movement to cope with the problem and it could not be just an administrative programme. Stung by the fact that over 626 million Indians do not have access to toilets, Minister Jairam Ramesh has initiated the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) or Total Sanitation Campaign, which would attempt to banish open defecation within a decade. Haryana, considered to be having “a patriarchal” society, had taken up the challenge in a big way with the slogan ‘sauchalaya nahi to dulhan nahi’ (no bride if there is no toilet),.

Sulabh Shauchalaya, initiated in many cities by Mr. Bindeshwar Pathak, has been a boon to hundreds of thousands of people. The Gramalaya group in Tiruchi has now gone beyond towns and helps Anganwadis in some parts of Tamil Nadu. Another notable effort is that of the renowned nutrition scientist Dr. Mahtab Bamji and the gynecologist Dr. Devyani Dangoria, both of Hyderabad, have been working with several villages in the Narsapur area in Medak district. They work with the women there on matters of maternal and child health, nutrition, kitchen gardens for vegetables and greens, education of children and adults, and sanitation.

However, the officials who are working at grass root level say that there was stiff opposition in most villages when they tried advocating the use of toilets. They believed a change in cultural behaviour of the people was the only way out.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Environment and Ecology

WoRlD ENvIRoNmENt DAy- Green economy: Does it incluDe you?

ENvIRoNmENt AND Ecology...

The World Environment Day is observed every year on the 5th of June. It is a special occasion, especially for the United Nations for it takes the opportunity to build awareness about preserving the environment by way of a theme. World Environment Day 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the event which was first established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. The 2012 theme for the World Environment Day was “Green Economy: Does it include you?”

This theme put the onus on everyone to find out more about the Green Economy and assess whether, in their country, they are being included in it. More importantly, it accentuated the fact that ‘you’ are an important element to its success and invited everyone to evaluate whether the steps being taken by the government, private sector, civil society and community in their area to ‘include you.’

According to the UN Environment Programme, a green economy is ‘one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities’. A Green Economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive. In such an economy, people’s income grows exponentially and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution. Energy and resource efficiency is enhanced. Simultaneously the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services is prevented. These objectives are achieved through targeted public expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes

the importance of World Environment DayIt is high time we realised that environmental degradation puts our future in peril. Besides, we are supposed to hand over our common heritage to future generations. The task will become well nigh impossible if we don’t preserve the existing things. Numerous species have already become extinct and many more are currently on the endangered list. We must not go

down the same path.The felling of trees due to our

ever growing needs has been on an unprecedented scale and has caused an alarming depletion in green cover. The overall rainfall has been decreasing over the years in inverse proportion to the greenhouse effect, leading to disastrous climate change.

Residents of areas which received abundant rain in the past are facing water scarcity at present. Cherrapunji in the state of Meghalaya was till the 1980s the wettest place in India, it hasn’t recorded sufficient rain for years now. Vast tracts of land which were once lush green have turned into deserts.

Several important glaciers have significantly shrunk in size. Polar ice is also melting fast. Large icebergs have been seen floating near Antarctica. If this trend continues, sea levels will rise and entire islands could be submerged. In order to avoid ending up in a watery grave, millions living on the coast or near the sea would be forced to relocate.

Further increase in global temperature will also lead to loss of vital flora and fauna. As each species has a vital role to play in the food chain, any imbalance means destruction of the ecosystem itself. It is incumbent on everyone concerned to avoid this possibility. Time is running out. Will we join hands and take the required steps before it is too late?

the sceptic viewEarlier the marking of a day named after a particular section of the population or a particular political cause or even a slogan could be seen as a secular festival and was used to remember and rally supporters, amplify and spread the central message of the movement. Such “Days” also helped build wider solidarities among the citizenry and over the course of the 20th century had shown how useful they could be to pressure state institutions and governments to concede to the main ¬demands and slogans of the movement.

Over the past few decades these days have been captured, almost wholesale, by corporate interests which shamelessly use

them to market their goods and launch public relations exercises. This takeover by the private sector has paralleled the retreat of the State and the spread of neo-liberalism as the hegemonic ruling ideology of our times.

If it were not for the advertisements which were splashed all over the newspapers or the various “events” organised by different companies and showrooms, one would never have remembered that 5th June was World Environment Day. We are well into irreversible climate change and a calamitous damage to the Earth’s environment. While it is true that it is states and governments which are dragging their feet on effective action, one should not forget that it is the private sector in each country which has ¬resisted ameliorative measures the most. Whether it is the energy companies, the chemical companies, the mining and natural resource companies, or even companies producing daily consumer goods, they have lobbied, bribed, and used legal pro¬cesses and public relations to block almost every move to protect the environment or livelihoods. The political power of the private sector is the foundation on which the negotiations over -climate change have become so intractable.

Events like World Environment Day (and the earlier Earth Day and Earth Hour) have now become opportunities for these pursuers of private profit to greenwash themselves and hide their politics. They are one of the most important tools being used to hide the politics of the private sector by obfuscating its role and confusing public debates. Whatever good these events may have done earlier by highlighting issues and raising public awareness, today they are fast losing that role and becoming hostages to vested interests.

Its time we should all pledge to move beyond tokenism and media glitz and create real awareness about the damage our actions are causing to the planet. Whether you are an individual, an organization, a business or a government, there are many steps we can/should take to reduce your carbon footprint.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Perspectives

thE IIt DEbAtE

PERSPEctIvES...

Taking his envisioned educational reforms a step ahead, Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal wants engineering entrance tests revamped to reclaim ground from coaching centres and improve school education. He recently replaced multiple examinations like the IIT-JEE and AIEEE with a single entrance examination to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs). Under the new rule, students will have to appear for two admission tests on the same day - JEE Main and JEE Advanced, and the ranking list will be prepared based on Class XII results with 40 per cent weightage to be given after normalisation of marks, 30 per cent to the main test and 30 per cent to the advanced test.

The faculty members of different IITs have shot down the proposal with concerns of dilution of academic standards, and as it also challenges the autonomy enjoyed by the IITs. Faculties feel the weightage system will fail to serve the purpose in getting good students because the knowledge of students cannot be reflected on the same scale and such weightage would not be a true assessment.

Government’s viewAccording to the MHRD, this formula appears very promising for 4 major reasons-

• Itisthemuchneededstress-busterfor all the engineering aspirants

• It is promising solution for thosewho can’t afford to apply to many of these tests.

• It brings more uniformity andtransparency into admission process.

• It reduces the emphasis oncoaching culture and enhances the participation of school education.

This proposal may appear to have

been popped up in a hurry, but still it is the much needed revamp the present education system needs.

“Take the United States of America. There is one SAT exam in the US. Howard does not have a separate admission test, Stanford does not have a separate admission test, no other university has a separate admission test. You have an SAT exam and then you have the school exams and then the university decides by looking at those two, which student to admit and which not to admit. Take the UK, you have the A levels. There is no separate exam for Oxford. There is no separate exam for Cambridge. There is no separate exam in any university. You have the A levels and A levels are then taken into account for the admission process,” HRD Minister said.

Opposing viewsHowever, this ambitious plan to introduce a single entrance test for centrally funded engineering institutes, including NITs and IIITs hasn’t gone down too well with lot of people including IIT faculty members and alumni. According to these dissenting voices the HRD Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, is trying to replicate the US SAT without trying to understand the reality underlying the system.

All of them have offered various reasons for their objections, but the underlying theme is that the Ministry has pushed the proposal through in undue haste, without factoring in the relevant concerns. While Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal claims that the IITs were on board in the decision to switch to a common admission test for all engineering institutes including the IITs, it does not appear to be the case. Else, why would IIT-Kanpur have rebelled against the move and announced its own test for 2013?

Wiping out all other entrance exam and making ISEET the only

exam is wrong, as it is possible for a good student to perform badly in one exam and succeed in others. HRD has no business in interfering with opportunities for higher education in all States.

Young aspiring students in India cannot afford to put all eggs in just one basket called ISEET and no government has the right to deny young people opportunities to succeed even if they fail to do well in ISEET. The new format will combine the IIT-JEE and the AIEEE, and hence admissions to all Central government-funded institutions (the IITs, the NITs, the IIITs) will take place through this new examination, which means a student has got just one opportunity to perform, leading to more stress.

Then there is question about private colleges. The new format says the entrance examinations for private colleges like BITS, VIT, Manipal , Symbiosis, etc., would continue. The private colleges charge not less than Rs 1,000 for their entrance test, a huge source of income for them. But the new format has done nothing about it. It is clear that the government is selling the country a myth of “one nation one test.”

The ministry’s stated motive is to strike at the “coaching culture” surrounding the IIT entrance test. However reason says that with the new format in place, a parallel coaching industry would flourish, promising excellent results in board examinations as well. In fact, a few coaching centres have already started 2-in-1 study packages.

Giving weightage to the board exams seems to be one of the biggest thorn in the bush. Using school board marks through percentile-based normalisation, as proposed, is untested, and based on questionable hypotheses. The procedure has not

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technical EducationTechnical Education is one of the important pillars of Higher Education sector as it imparts practical knowledge to its students to build infrastructure for tomorrow. Besides generating skilled manpower, increasing industrial productivity, and improving the overall quality of life for the people, Technical Education also creates professionals in architecture, management, applied arts & crafts, hotel management and catering technology.

The spread of education in society is at the foundation of success in today’s globalized world, where the real wealth of a country is not in its tangible natural resources but in knowledge; as it is the driver of the economic development…”

If a country wants its human resources to be highly-developed, it needs to invest in quality Technical Education for its youth. If a country wants economic prosperity, it has to strengthen its Technical Education system. This system creates skilled manpower, enhances industrial productivity, and, ultimately improves the quality of life.

The Eleventh Plan, had envisaged major expansion in the Technical Education sector. This was done through increasing the number of the Centrally funded Institutions. During this Plan, 8 new IITs, 10 new NITs, 3 new IISERs, and 7 new IIMs were established. The enhancement of the numbers of these Institutions is expected to provide a solution to the major challenges of the system, which are:- accessibility, quality maintenance, inclusiveness, etc. Some of the major initiatives that were launched to augment quality Technical Education in the country are as follows:

•TechnicalEducationQualityImprovementProgram(TEQIP),whichisassistedbytheWorldBank

•IndianNationalDigitalLibraryForScienceAndTechnology(INDEST)

technical Education Quality Improvement Programme

TechnicalEducationQualityImprovementProgramme(TEQIP)wasconceivedanddesignedasalongtermprojecttobeimplementedover a period of 10-12 years in 3 phases. The main aim of this programme is to support excellence and transformation in Technical Education in the country.

tEQIP-I

ThefirstphaseofTEQIPwasimplementedwiththeassistanceofWorldBankasacentrallycoordinatedCentralandStateSectorProjectwith a total cost of Rs. 1339 crore. Out of this, Rs. 306 crore was Central Component and the remaining Rs. 1033 crore was State Component. The programme became effective in March, 2003 and the closing date of the programme was March 31st, 2009.

tEQIP-II

BasedontheachievementsmadeduringTEQIPPhase-1,TEQIPPhase-2isbeingimplementedasaCentrallySponsoredScheme(CSS)with the assistance of the World Bank at a total cost of Rs 2430 crore. The Central contribution will be Rs 1895.50 crore, out of which Rs. 1395.50 crore will be reimbursed by the World Bank. The State share will be Rs 518.50 crore and the Share of Private Unaided institutions will be Rs. 16 crore. The funding pattern will be 75:25 between the Centre and the participating States. However, for the North Eastern States, the funding pattern will be on a ratio of 90:10.

tEQIP coverage

The programme basically covers the following two components:

1)ImprovingQualityofTechnicalEducationinselectedInstitutions.Thiscomponentfurtherhastwomoreparts:-

• StrengtheningInstitutionstoimprovelearningoutcomesandemployabilityofgraduates.

• Scaling-upPostGraduateEducationandDemand-DrivenR&D&I.

2) Improving System Management.

TheTEQIP-IIprojectisforthedurationof4years,duringwhichitseekstocover200institutionsbasedoncompetitivefundingto be selected as shown in the table given on the next page.

Under subcomponent 1.1, the Government has selected 63 government/government aided and 25 private Institutions. Under subcomponent, 59 government aided and 14 private Institutions have been selected.

TheTEQIPisexpectedtoprovidethemuch-neededimpetustothedisseminationofqualityTechnicalEducationtothestudentsand for now, it seems to be doing its job.

TheIndianNationalDigitalLibraryinEngineeringSciencesandTechnology(INDEST)

Consortium was first set up in 2003 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development after an Expert Group recommended the same. The Expert Group was appointed by MHRD during the National Seminar on Knowledge Networking in Engineering Sciences and Technology held at IIT Delhi in November 2002. IIT Delhi has been designated as the Consortium Headquarters and it coordinates all the activities on behalf of INDEST. The core members of the Consortium are IITs, IISc Bangalore, NITs, IIITs, IISERs, IIMs, and a few other Institutions, which received funds from the Ministry to subscribe to electronic resources. However, it is not as if only the core members can benefit from the subscription to electronic resources. This facility is extended to all educational institutions under its open-ended proposition. The total number of members in the Consortium has gone up to be more than 750. In December 2005, the Consortium was renamed INDEST-AICTE Consortium with the AICTE playing a pivotal role in enrolling its approved engineering colleges and institutions as members of the Consortium for selected e-resources at much lower rates of subscription.

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been fully endorsed even by the expert committee consulted for the purpose. The new scheme adds percentile marks in the board exam to actual marks being obtained by students in the new JEE exam. Percentile is indicative of rank while actual marks give a value based on the test performance. Adding the two in this way without a proper analysis is mathematically absurd. Further, the students should have an idea of how the percentage scores would be mapped to percentiles.

How is it possible to standardise the marks of 36 state boards? In the school boards of Maharashtra and Goa, for example, students get almost 100 per cent marks, while in Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, even 70-80 per cent is quite difficult to score. This puts students of some states at a disadvantage for no fault of theirs. What’s more, the standard of education in state board schools, which cater mostly to the poor and underprivileged, is not uniform. There are schools that lack even basic facilities. So equating children from state board schools with those from elite schools will certainly go against the underprivileged lot in the national competition. The new JEE system will, in fact, alienate them quite effectively.

What logic suggests that we inject something that is plagued by different kinds of unfair practices (board exams) — paper leaks, mass copying, corruption, schedule glitches and revaluations — into an entrance system that is currently working without these influences?

IITs have become what they are because they have been allowed to function independently, and set standards in carrying out their academic responsibilities. The IIT Council proposal, if implemented, will seriously compromise the autonomy so essential for IITs to remain what they are.

Perhaps its not the time. Our Union Minister should initiate wider consultations with all stakeholders of the IITs — professors, students and the alumni — to find solutions.

The current system of selecting candidates for IITs is surely not perfect.

Far from it. There have been growing murmurs from the IIT faculty itself about the quality of students filtering through the system. A thriving industry has sprung up in coaching and training aspirants to crack the IIT entrance. So you have a growing number of students who have managed to score outstandingly in the entrance exam — by simply familiarising themselves with the pattern of questions — and yet flounder in actual coursework.

third Side- IIts do need a revampThere is a third side to this debate too. There are more reasons why the IIT entrance procedure needs a major revamp. It is time to consider what kind of students we want from among those who are excellent in mathematics and the sciences. Anyone teaching in IITs is aware that many of the undergraduate students are just not interested in engineering. A small proportion of them know they will never take up an engineering career even before they enter IIT. They just want an IIT ‘stamp’ and opt for these institutions because of parental pressure or a lack of excellent institutions offering liberal arts or science education. A significant proportion of students develop a dislike for quantitative and laboratory work after entering IITs. They just do not have the aptitude for engineering work. This latter group is sending a strong signal that the current JEE is not adequate to select the right students for an elite engineering education.

The present selection system depends on machismo in physics, chemistry and mathematics — ideally suited for coaching classes, condemning young boys and girls to a concentration camp atmosphere for two years or so. This is the period these youngsters should spend exploring their interest and aptitudes but are prevented from doing so. This straitjacketing is probably filtering out the innovative and curious ones who hate such narrow perspectives, ensuring that IITs are denied some young Indians who might be truly interested in path breaking work. It is time for a rethink on the objective of the selection procedure for IITs.

Another unfortunate aspect of the JEE debate is that it obfuscates the real issue facing IITs. The future of IITs does not depend on the selection process of undergraduates. No matter what process is adopted they will do well. Within a decade IITs will have little to show for as academic institutions unless policymakers and faculty members start taking pride in the MTech and PhD programmes. It is worth remembering that BTechs comprise less than half of IIT graduates every year. The majority are MTech and PhD degree holders. They make a huge contribution to technological development in India in the public and private sector. It is this group that needs constant improvement, encouragement and recognition. This will not happen unless IITs transform from mid-20th century, narrow-visioned technical institutions to modern, multidisciplinary research universities.

the Way AheadThe institutional response to the hegemony of the IITs lies in creating similar international brands in other streams: humanities, law, commerce, social sciences among others. This will force them to compete to attract suitable students. This, in fact, will revive interest in an interdisciplinary school curriculum instead of the current distortion towards Physics-Chemistry-Math/ Biology. The bottomline is that, first, it is not part of the IITs/ NITs/ IIITs’ mandate to strengthen the school system; second, a change of examination pattern, as is being envisaged, is not going to revive the school system.

The task of reviving secondary and higher secondary education, to give it the weight it deserves, is the biggest challenge to the system today. However it cannot be done in haste. Technical education, indeed requires a revamping but you cannot be over-eager to go about it. Bold experiments require groundwork and consensus-building among stakeholders, which is not something that can be done in a hurry.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Inspirations@IP

TIgER of MADRAS- VIShwANAThAN ANAND

INSPIRATIoNS@IP...

Chess king Viswanathan Anand, who recently won his fifth World title, is undoubtedly Indian’s greatest individual sportsman. “It could have gone either way, as the games were well fought. I won because I won. Saying my daily prayers helps me achieve this heightened state of mind. Chess is like a language, the top players are very fluent at it,” said Anand after his win. Spoken like a true champ!!

A run of consistent hard work, patience & persistence over three decades, Anand is a role model for perseverance, consistency and humility. Born in 1969 December 11th, this young man made India’s presence in the Chess world, a world which is considered as the world of intellectuals and the kingdom of Intellect. The Indian flag is flying high on the Intellect world…there is no doubt on that. Anand’s success is only re-asserting the intellectual capacity of Indian brain. Futures promise that India will be looking to lead the world.

Young TalentViswanathan Anand started playing chess at the young age of 6. He learned the game from his mother because his siblings did not have the patience to play chess with him. His mother taught him how to play. In fact, she used to do a lot for his chess. His family moved to the Philippines. There they had a TV program that was on in the afternoon, when he was in school. So his mother would write down all the games that they showed and the puzzles, and in the evening they solved them together and sent in the answers. They gave the prize of a book to the winner. Over the course of many months, Vishwananathan Anand won so many prizes.

Like any other person Viswananthan Anand’s life is full of twists n trails.

While he was in college he thought he would do engineering as his father and brother were engineers. On second thought he thought of finance or wildlife photography.

His parents could see his exceptional memory power and an ability to grasp things fast which made him excel in Chess. They encouraged him and used to take him to the Tal Chess club. He has won many titles right from a young age. The first prize money Mr. Viswanathan Anand won as a child was 10 rupees. Every week there used to be a blitz event at the chess club and this was the first prize. He would go and get himself a triple sundae. Just like how a tiger starts hunting once it tastes blood, Mr. Viswanathan Anand also never looked back after his first win.

“You have to be able to concentrate and concentration, okay, is a mental thing. But you need physical stamina. Of course, you need to train to concentrate. It is not enough to be able to run ten kilometres. You need to train yourself to concentrate. You can do training exercises like practicing by placing a clock and thinking for half an hour and things like that. It is very easy to get distracted. You cannot let your mind wander.” – V Anand

game of Speed And CalculationsAnand has always been renowned for the speed of his calculation and moves. His early classical games were often played at close to blitz speed and this prowess has stood him in good stead to enable him to become perhaps the greatest blitz and rapid player of all time. His prowess at quick-play chess has earned him the nickname “The Lightning Kid.”

The triumph in Moscow, where Anand has a matching number of admirers and critics, was also significant for another reason. For years, the Russian chess fraternity, in particular, has belittled Anand’s achievements. Even in the days leading to the clash against the Belarus-born Gefland, there was criticism in the regional media which said that Anand lacked hunger and his game had weakened in the recent past. But the genial Indian’s triumph in every format — knockout, round-robin, classical and now in a rapid tie-break finish — should silence the cynics. Surely, Anand’s consistency has been second to none. He has stayed in the world’s top 10 since 1991 and he is one among seven players ever to hold the topmost ranking in 40 years.

Anand holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Loyola College in Chennai, India. Previously, he attended High School at Don Bosco. In August 2010, Anand joined the Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for promoting and supporting India’s elite sportspersons and potential young talent. In 2010 Anand donated his World Championship gold medal from his successful 2008 title defence to the charitable organisation “The Foundation” to be auctioned off for the benefit of underprivileged children.

Anand has been described by

“You never really learn to cope with failure. If you prepare for that you will face it often. Failure teaches you things success can never teach you. I try to put the failure in perspective, understand what went wrong and then take a break and get back to the game.” - Anand

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Inspirations@IP

Lubomir Kavalek as the most versatile world champion ever, since Anand is the only player to have won the world chess championships in many formats including Tournament, Match, Rapid, and Knockout chess. In an interview in 2011, Vladimir Kramnik (ex-World Champion 2000 to 2007) said about Anand: “I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess”; and “I think that in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov”.

Indian national honoursArjuna Award for Outstanding Indian Sportsman in Chess in 1985, Padma Shri – 1987, the inaugural Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour in the year 1991–1992, Padma Bhushan in 2000 and Padma Vibhushan in 2007.

history MakerA thorough gentleman in the sporting circle around the world, Anand virtually broke the monopoly of Russia in the world chess circuit and established India among one of the top chess playing nations with his numerous titles.

Anand won the Linares-Morelia in 2007, a tournament in which world`s top players had participated, and became the undisputed King of Chess for the first time. Though the legendary Garry Kasparov had retired by then, not all accepted Anand’s greatness as he hadn’t won a title in ‘Matchplay’. Then he took on Kramnik, the man who had dethroned fellow Russian Kasparov and won against him.

One of the reasons why Anand is regarded as the greatest ever chess player is the fact that he is the only player to have won world titles in three different formats. Nobody, not even Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov have done it.

But there is something more to Anand. He is a gentleman, tense underneath, but calm still. He has been regarded as an unassuming person with a reputation for refraining from political and psychological ploys and instead

one StepFoolish people with all their other thoughts, have this one too: They are always getting ready to live, but never living.

Your success will start when you begin to pursue it. To reach your goal or to attain success, you don’t need to know all of the answers in advance. You just need to have a clear idea of what your goal is.

Don’t procrastinate when faced with difficult problems. Break your problems into parts, and handle one part at a time.

Develop tendencies toward taking action. You can make something happen right now. Divide your big plan into small steps and take that first step right away.

Everyone who ever got where they are had to begin where they were. Your big opportunity is where you are right now.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Take it.

focusing on his game. This has made him a well-liked figure throughout the chess world for two decades, evidenced by the fact that Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, and Magnus Carlsen, of whom

the former two were rivals for the World Championship throughout Anand’s career, each aided him in preparing for the World Chess Championship 2010.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Mosaic

INDIAN PAINTINGS

moSAIc...

Indian paintings have a very long tradition and history in Indian art. The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the petroglyphs as found in places like Bhimbetka, some of them from before 5500 BC. India’s Buddhist literature is replete with examples of texts which describe palaces of kings and the aristocratic class embellished with paintings, but the paintings of the Ajanta Caves are the most significant of the few survivals. The paintings at Ajanta are not frescoes as they are painted with the aid of a binding agent, whereas in fresco the paintings are executed while the lime wash is still wet which, thereby acts as an intrinsic binding agent.

Smaller scale painting in manuscripts was probably also practised in this period, though the earliest survivals are from the medieval period. Mughal painting represented a fusion of the Persian miniature with older Indian traditions, and from the 17th century its style was diffused across Indian princely courts of all religions, each developing a local style. Company paintings were made for British clients under the British raj, which from the 19th century also introduced art schools along Western lines, leading to modern Indian painting, which is increasingly returning to its Indian routes.

Indian paintings provide an aesthetic continuum that extends from the early civilization to the present day. From being essentially religious in purpose in the beginning, they have evolved over the years to become a fusion of various cultures and traditions.

Around 1st century BC, the Sadanga or Six Limbs of Indian Painting, were evolved, a series of canons laying down the main principles of the art. Vatsyayana, who lived during the third century A.D., enumerates these in his Kamasutra having extracted them

from still more ancient works. These ‘Six Limbs’ have been translated as follows:

• Rupabheda, The knowledge ofappearances.

• Pramanam, Correct perception,measure and structure.

• Bhava,Actionoffeelingsonforms.

• LavanyaYojanam,Infusionofgrace,artistic representation.

• Sadrisyam,Similitude.

• Varnikabhanga, Artistic mannerof using the brush and colours. (Tagore.)

The subsequent development of painting by the Buddhists indicates that these ‘ Six Limbs ‘ were put into practice by Indian artists, and are the basic principles on which their art was founded.

GenresIndian Paintings can be broadly classified as murals and miniatures. Murals are large works executed on the walls of solid structures, as in the Ajanta Caves and the Kailashnath temple. Miniature paintings are executed on a very small scale for books or albums on perishable material such as paper and cloth. The Palas of Bengal were the pioneers of miniature painting in India. The art of miniature painting reached its glory during the Mughal period. The tradition of miniature paintings was carried forward by the painters of different Rajasthani schools of painting likethe Bundi, Kishangarh, Jaipur, Marwar and Mewar. The Ragamala paintingsalso belong to this school, as does the Company painting produced for British clientsundertheBritishRaj.

The history of Indian murals goes back to ancient and early medieval times, from 2nd century BC to 8th - 10th century AD. There are more than 20 known locations around India containing murals from this period,

mainly natural caves and rock-cut chambers. The highest achievements of this time are the caves of Ajanta, Bagh, Sittanavasal, Armamalai Cave (Tamil Nadu), Ravan Chhaya rock shelter,Kailasanatha temple in Ellora Caves.

Murals from this period depict mainly religious themes of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu religions. There are though also locations where paintings were made to adorn mundane premises, like the ancient theatre room in Jogimara Cave and possible royal hunting lodge circa 7th century AD - RavanChhayarockshelter.

The pattern of large scale wall painting which had dominated the scene, witnessed the advent of miniature paintings during the 11th & 12th centuries. This new style figured first in the form of illustrations etched on palm-leaf manuscripts. The contents of these manuscripts included literature on Buddhism & Jainism.

mughal PaintingMughal painting is a particular style of Indian painting, generally confined to illustrations on the book and done in miniatures, and which emerged, developed and took shape during the period of the Mughal Empire 16th -19th centuries).

Mughal paintings were a unique blend of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles. Because the Mughal kings wanted visual records of their deeds as hunters and conquerors, their artists accompanied them on military expeditions or missions of state, or recorded their prowess as animal slayers, or depicted them in the great dynastic ceremonies of marriages.

Akbar’s reign (1556–1605) ushered a new era in Indian miniature painting. After he had consolidated his political power, he built a new capital at Fatehpur Sikri where he collected artists from India and Persia. He was the first morarch who established in

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India an atelier under the supervision of two Persian master artists, Mir Sayyed Ali and Abdus Samad. Earlier, both of them had served under the patronage of Humayun in Kabul and accompanied him to India when he regained his throne in 1555. More than a hundred painters were employed, most of whom were Hindus from Gujarat, Gwalior and Kashmir, who gave a birth to a new school of painting, popularly known as the Mughal School of miniature Paintings.

One of the first productions of that school of miniature painting was the Hamzanama series, which according to the court historian, Badayuni, was started in 1567 and completed in 1582. The Hamzanama, stories of Amir Hamza, an uncle of the Prophet, were illustrated by Mir Sayyid Ali. The paintings of the Hamzanama are of large size, 20 x 27” and were painted on cloth. They are in the Persian safavi style. Brilliant red, blue and green colours predominate; the pink, eroded rocks and the vegetation, planes and blossoming plum and peach trees are reminiscent of Persia. However, Indian tones appear in later work, when Indian artists were employed.

Rajput PaintingRajput painting, a style of Indianpainting, evolved and flourished, during the 18th century, in the royal courts of Rajputana,India.EachRajputkingdomevolved a distinct style, but with certain common features. Rajput paintingsdepict a number of themes, events of epics like the Ramayana and theMahabharata, Krishna’s life, beautiful landscapes, and humans. Miniatures were the preferred medium of Rajputpainting, but several manuscripts also containRajputpaintings,andpaintingswere even done on the walls of palaces, inner chambers of the forts, havelies, particularly, the havelis of Shekhawati.

The colours extracted from certain minerals, plant sources, conch shells, and were even derived by processing precious stones, gold and silver were used. The preparation of desired colours was a lengthy process, sometimes taking weeks. Brushes used were very fine.

mysore PaintingMysore painting is an important form of classical South Indian painting that originated in the town of Mysore in Karnataka. These paintings are known for their elegance, muted colours, and attention to detail. The themes for most of these paintings are Hindu Gods and Goddesses and scenes from Hindu mythology. In modern times, these paintings have become a much sought after souvenir during festive occasions in South India.

The process of making a Mysore painting involves many stages. The first stage involves the making of the preliminary sketch of the image on the base. The base consists of cartridge paper pasted on a wooden base. A paste made of Zinc oxide and Arabic gum is made called “gesso paste”. With the help of a thin brush all the jewellery and parts of throne or the arch which have some relief are painted over to give a slightly raised effect of carving. This is allowed to dry. On this thin gold foil is pasted. The rest of the drawing is then painted using watercolours. Only muted colours are used.

Tanjore PaintingTanjore painting is an important form of classical South Indian painting native to the town of Tanjore in Tamil Nadu. The art form dates back to the early 9th century, a period dominated by the Chola rulers, who encouraged art and literature. These paintings are known for their elegance, rich colours, and attention to detail. The themes for most of these paintings are Hindu Gods and Goddesses and scenes from Hindu mythology. In modern times, these paintings have become a much sought after souvenir during festive occasions in South India.

The process of making a Tanjore painting involves many stages. The first stage involves the making of the preliminary sketch of the image on the base. The base consists of a cloth pasted over a wooden base. Then chalk powder or zinc oxide is mixed with water-soluble adhesive and applied on the base. To make the base smoother, a mild abrasive is sometimes used. After

the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparels in the image is done with semi-precious stones. Laces or threads are also used to decorate the jewellery. On top of this, the gold foils are pasted. Finally, dyes are used to add colors to the figures in the paintings.

madhubani Painting/mithila Painting In the Ramayana, Tulsidas gives anelaborate description of how the entire Mithila region of Bihar was decorated for the marriage of Sita with Ram.The decorations consisted chiefly of vivid murals depicting mythological personages, deities of the Hindu pantheon and the flora and fauna of the region.

This art of painting, an established tradition even then, has survived to this day, passed down for centuries from every Maithili (resident of Mithila) mother to her daughter. Today, these ceremonial decorations are popularly identified as Madhubani paintings.

The fold paintings of Mithila or Madhubani are the exclusive monopoly of women artists. This is a communal activity and one in which young girls are allowed to assist. This enables them to learn early to draw and paint-skills which are put to the test when, as grow-up women, they are expected to present the kohbar-a picture used as a marriage proposal, to a man of their choice. Heavily charged with tantric symbolism in its basic design and composition, a kohbar depicts a pictorial intercourse using the lingam (phallus) and yoni (vulva) symbols. Not only can this fresco be seen on every bedroom wall in Mithila but the first kohbars in a courtship are used to wrap various gifts. The other central themes of Madhubani Paintings are: Vishnu, Krishna, Kali, Durga, Parvati, Lakshmi, Sam and flora and fauna of the region. Sita Devi of this school has been awarded “Padma Bhushan”.

PattachitraPattachitra refers to the folk painting of the state of Orissa, in the eastern region of India.’Patta’ in Sanskrit means ‘Vastra’ or ‘clothings’ and ‘chitra’ means paintings.The tradition of Pattachitra is

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closely linked with the worship of Lord Jagannath. Apart from the fragmentary evidence of paintings on the caves of Khandagiri and Udayagiri and Sitabhinji murals of the Sixth century A.D., the earliest indigenous paintings from Orissa are the Pattachitra done by the Chitrakars (the painters are called Chitrakars).[6] The theme of Orissan painting centres round the Vaishnava cult. Since beginning of Pattachitra culture Lord Jagannath who was an incarnation of Lord Krishna was the major source of inspiration. The subject matter of Patta Chitra is mostly mythological, religious stories and folk lore. Themes are chiefly on Lord JagannathandRadha-Krishna,different“Vesas” of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, temple activities, the ten incarnations of Vishnu basing on the ‘Gita Govinda’ of Jayadev, Kama Kujara NabaGunjara,Ramayana,Mahabharata.The individual paintings of gods and goddesses are also being painted.

The painters use vegetable and mineral colours without going for factory made poster colours. They prepare their own colours. White colour is made from the conch-shells by powdering, boiling and filtering in a very hazardous process. It requires a lot of patience. But this process gives brilliance and permanence to the hue. ‘Hingula’, a mineral colour, is used for red. ‘Haritala’, king of stone ingredients foryellow,‘Ramaraja’asortofindigoforblue are being used. Pure lamp-black or black prepared from the burning of cocoanut shells are used. The brushes that are used by these ‘Chitrakaras’ are also indigenous and are made of hair of domestic animals. A bunch of hair tied to the end of a bamboo stick make the brush. It is really a matter of wonder as to how these painters bring out lines of such precision and finish with the help of these crude brushes. That old tradition of Orissan painting still survives to-day in the skilled hands of Chitrakaras (traditional painters) in Puri, Raghurajpur, Paralakhemundi,Chikiti and Sonepur.

Pahari PaintingAs its name suggest, this sort of painting is mainly confined to the hilly, terrain of India especially Jammu,

Nurpur, Kullu, Garhwal, Kangra etc. Depiction of love in different form and style is the central theme of this painting. Its miniatures chiefly portrays the boy hood pranks of Krishna and his cowherdcompanionswithRadha.Thisstyle originally developed in the state ofBasohliofRajaKripalSingh(1678-1694) Extensive sets, each comprising more than a hundred miniatures, were prepared Rasamanjari, the BhagavataPurana, the Gita Govinda, the Baramasa andRagamalethemes.

Rajasthani PaintingTheRajasthanipaintingchieflyconsistsof the Marwar, Kishangarh, Jaipur, Bundi and Kota styles. The Marwar of Jodhpur style shows very bold type of expression with broad, which is fish eyes in human faces and highly stylish and similar to the Mughal style. The prominent architect of Kishangarh Painting are Raja Samant Singh(1748-64) and Nihal Chandra. Nihal Chandra developed an extraordinarily “mannerist” style which exaggerated the slender curves and almond eye on his figures.

The facial type, though idealized, is extremely lyrical in its beauty content. The most popular subjects of this painting are the loves of Krishna andRadha.TheJaipurStyleflourishedduring the reign of Swami Pratap Singh (1778-1803) which was a period of general lawlessness and insecurity, and laxity of morals and immense luxury. Therefore, it gave rise to new approach to religion for easing of the conscience. The painting reflects the Raslila ofKrishna. The Bundi painting began to concentrateoncourtscenesunderRaoChattar Sal and Bhao Singh and many scenes of nobler, lover and ladies in palaces were produced throughout the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries.

Bengal School of ArtThe Bengal School of Art was an influential style of art that flourished in Indiaduring theBritishRaj in theearly 20th century. It was associated with Indian nationalism, but was also promoted and supported by many British arts administrators.

The Bengal school arose as an

avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the academic art styles previously promoted in India, both by Indian artists such as RaviVarma and in British art schools. Following the widespread influence of Indian spiritual ideas in the West, the British art teacher Ernest Binfield Havel attempted to reform the teaching methods at the Calcutta School of Art by encouraging students to imitate Mughal miniatures. This caused immense controversy, leading to a strike by students and complaints from the local press, including from nationalists who considered it to be a retrogressive move. Havel was supported by the artist Abanindranath Tagore, a nephew ofthepoetRabindranathTagore.

Tagore painted a number of works influenced by Mughal art, a style that he and Havel believed to be expressive of India’s distinct spiritual qualities, as opposed to the “materialism” of the West. Abanindranath Tagore’s best-known painting, Bharat Mata (Mother India), depicted a young woman, portrayed with four arms in the manner of Hindu deities, holding objects symbolic of India’s national aspirations. Tagore later attempted to develop links with Far-Eastern artists as part of an aspiration to construct a pan-Asianist model of art. Those associted with this Indo-FarEastern model included Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Vinayak Shivaram Masoji, B.C. Sanyal, Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, and subsequentlytheir students A. Ramachandran, TanYuanChameli,andafewothers.

The Bengal school’s influence on Indian art scene gradually started alleviating with the spread of modernist ideas post-independence.

modern Indian PaintingDuring the colonial era, Western influences started to make an impact on Indian art. Some artists developed a style that used Western ideas of composition, perspective and realism to illustrate Indian themes. Others, like Jamini Roy, consciously drewinspiration from folk art. Bharti Dayal has chosen to handle the traditional Mithila Painting in most contemporary way and uses both realism as well abstractionism in her work with a lot

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of fantasy mixed in to both .Her work has an impeccable sense of balance, harmony and grace .

By the time of Independence in 1947, several schools of art in India provided access to modern techniques and ideas. Galleries were established to showcase these artists. Modern Indian art typically shows the influence of Western styles, but is often inspired by Indian themes and images. Major artists began to gain international recognition, initially among the Indian diaspora, but also among non-Indian audiences.

The Progressive Artists’ Group, established shortly after India became independent in 1947, was intended to establish new ways of expressing India in the post-colonial era. The founders were six eminent artists - K. H. Ara, S. K. Bakre, H. A. Gade, M.F. Husain, S.H.RazaandF.N.Souza.Thoughthegroup was dissolved in 1956, it was profoundly influential in changing the idiom of Indian art. Almost all India’s major artists in the 1950s were associated with the group. Some of

those who are well-known today are Bal Chabda, Om Swami, V. S. Gaitonde, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, TyebMehta,BeoharRammanoharSinhaandAkbar Padamsee.

Other famous painters like Jahar Dasgupta, Prokash Karmakar, John Wilkins,NarayananRamachandran,andBijon Choudhuri also enriched the art culture of India. They have become the icon of modern Indian art. Art historianslikeProf.RaiAnandKrishnahave also referred to these works of modern artistes that reflect Indian ethos. Some of the new artists like Geeta Vadhera have had acclaim in translating complex, Indian spiritual themes into the canvas - Sufi thought, Upanishads and the Bhagwad Geeta, for example. From 1990 to till 2009 the Indian art has been growing with powerful expression. “Third Eye Series”, is a new style of painting brought out by Narayanan Ramachandran, during1990 to 2010.

Indian Art got a boost with the economic liberalization of the country since early 1990s. Artists from various fields now started bringing in varied

styles of work. Post liberalization Indian art thus works not only within the confines of academic traditions but also outside it. Artists like Chittrobhanu Majumdar,ARamachandran,etc.haveintroduced newer mediums in art. In this phase, artists have introduced new concepts which have hitherto not been seen in Indian art. Devajyoti Rayhasintroducedanewgenreofartcalled Pseudorealism. Pseudorealist Art is an original art style that has been developed entirely on the Indian soil. It takes into account the Indian concept of abstraction and uses it to transform regular scenes of Indian life into a fantastic images.

In post-liberalization India, many artists have established themselves in the international art market like Anish Kapoor whose mammoth artworks have acquired attention for their sheer size. Many art houses and galleries have also opened in USA and Europe to showcase Indian artworks. Some artists like Bhupat Dudi, Subodh Gupta, Piu Sarkar, Vagaram Choudhary, Amitava Sengupta and many others have done magic worldwide.

Redefining Learning through Writing

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

- Maya Angelou

Writingisperhapsthebestwaytolearn.Rememberthetimeswhenourschoolteachersmadeuswritethoseletters,essays, paragraphs etc? With Mains’ examinations just round the corner, it’s time to revisit this old, time-tested strategy. India Prepares invites its readers to come forward and contribute to the magazine through their writing skills in the form of editorials, commentaries or anything they feel is relevant from the GS examination’s point of view.

We hope this will help us connect with our readers more closely and in the process aid you to explore your thought processes comprehensively.

[email protected]/[email protected]/[email protected].

Good Luck,

Sonal Vats, Editor.

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Vol.1 Issue 9 July 2012Know it all

kNow It All

bIlAtERAl bullEtIN...

PlAcES/INStItutIoNS IN NEwS

Shanghai’s Tongji University, to set up what would be China’s first all-English educational institution that will provide training in Information Technology (IT) and in the sciences.

Manipal already operates overseas campuses in Dubai, Nepal, Antigua and Malaysia. The Chinese government has set up more than three hundred Confucius Institutes in 100 countries as part of a new push to boost its soft power. The centres are usually set up as a joint initiative among a host foreign university.

India has so far not allowed the setting up of Confucius Institutes citing rules restricting the operation of autonomous educational institutions by foreign governments. There are as many as 70 such institutes in the United States alone, 13 in Britain and several dozen in Asia, located in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and other countries.

Gorakhnath templeA historic 160-year-old Hindu temple in Peshawar city of northwest Pakistan, which was re-opened on the orders of a court last year, has been vandalised by unidentified men in the third such attack on the shrine in the past two months.

The attackers burnt pictures inside Gorakhnath Temple and took away idols from the shrine located within an archaeological complex in Gor Gathri area, leaders of the Hindu community said.

PERSoNS IN NEwS

Dalai lamaThe two representatives of exiled Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama in on-going talks with the Chinese government have announced their resignation as of June 1, leaving uncertain the future of the talks that have remained in a stalemate for more than two years.

The envoys said they felt that the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) United Front Work Department, which represents Beijing in the talks, “did not respond positively” to a memorandum submitted in 2008 and a note presented in December 2010 to clarify certain points of difference.

In their resignation letter, the envoys also pointed to seemingly hardening positions of CPC officials, as another reason for their decision. The statement from Dharamsala said there would be no change from the “Middle Way” approach seeking genuine autonomy – and not outright independence – and adhering to the framework of the Chinese constitution.

The last communication between the two sides was a December 2010 note sent by Dharamsala to Beijing, which sought to clarify points of difference over the memorandum of genuine autonomy submitted in 2008. Chinese officials have said the memorandum amounted to “disguised independence”, particularly pointing to the demand for a central Tibetan administration that would govern matters of education and religion and have some legislative powers for Tibetans living both in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and in neighbouring Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan, where around half of China’s six million Tibetans live. The area amounts to around one-fourth of China’s total landmass.

While Chinese officials said this

tokyo Sky treeThe world’s tallest tower and Tokyo’s biggest new landmark, the Tokyo Sky Tree, has opened to the public. Nearly 8,000 visitors took high-speed elevators up to the observation decks of the 634-meter (2,080-foot) tower to mark its opening.

It is recognized by Guinness World Records as the tallest tower, beating out the Canton Tower in China, which is 600 meters (1,968 1/2 feet). The world’s tallest structure is Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which stands 828 meters (2,717 feet). That’s in a different category because it’s a skyscraper, not a tower. The Sky Tree will serve as a broadcast tower for television and radio, along with being a tourist attraction.

chilikaThe Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) would undertake a World Bank-funded detailed fauna expedition in the brackish water lake of Chilika in Odisha soon, a senior official has said. This is the third time ZSI is conducting a fauna expedition on the Chilika lake after in 1914-16 and 1984-86.

Manipal universityManipal University is in talks with Chinese officials to open the first campus of an Indian university in China. The Karnataka-based private university is exploring a tie-up with two Chinese universities, Tianjin University and

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demand violated the Constitution, the note argued that the law on regional autonomy “allows for this kind of modification of administrative boundaries if proper procedures are followed”, adding that and “many [former] Chinese leaders, including Premier Zhou Enlai, Vice Premier Chen Yi and Party Secretary Hu Yaobang, supported the consideration of bringing all Tibetan areas under a single administration.”

Chinese officials have also hit out in public statements at reported demands by the Dalai Lama to expel non-Tibetans residing in TAR and the four provinces. An article published by the official website of the TAR government in March said the demands were akin to “building up a Berlin Wall of ethnic segregation and confrontation” and were similar to Nazi policies. The note, however, clarified that the demand was only to “regulate” settlement of those who wanted to move to Tibetan areas, and was not seeking to expel non-Tibetans.

Suu kyi Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi completed her first trip out of Myanmar in 24 years, a tour that highlighted her new freedom to explore the world and to return home.

The long-time political prisoner’s trip was viewed as proof of her confidence in Myanmar’s new civilian government, whose political reforms contrast starkly with that of the former military junta.

Ms. Suu Kyi, who spent 15 of the last two decades under house arrest, had previously refused to leave the country during brief periods of freedom for fear she would not be allowed to return.

She used her trip to draw attention to the plight of her compatriots abroad from exploited migrant workers who moved to Thailand in search of jobs to war refugees who fled across the border in search of peace.

Ms. Suu Kyi stole the spotlight at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, delivering her first speech before an international audience since becoming Myanmar’s crusader for democracy in 1988.

charles taylor A U.N.-backed war crimes court sentenced the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, to 50 years in jail for arming rebels in Sierra Leone in return for “blood diamonds.”

Mr. Taylor, 64, was convicted last month of all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front during the country’s brutal 1991-2001 civil war.

In return, the court said, he was paid in diamonds mined by slave labour in areas under control of the rebels, who murdered, raped and kept sex slaves, hacked off limbs and forced children to fight.

A. Raja After spending nearly 15 months in the Tihar Central Jail, the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case, was granted bail by a special CBI court. Mr. Raja was arrested by the CBI on February 2, 2011 and he was in its custody till February 17. After that he has been in judicial custody. Mr. Raja, who is the main accused in the case, is the last of the 12 accused to get bail. This was the first time since his arrest that he moved a bail application.

Sam PitrodaSam Pitroda, advisor to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has been conferred with an honorary degree by New York University’s Polytechnic Institute, which is considered among the U.S.’ most prestigious and oldest private schools specializing in engineering and technology. Mr. Pitroda received a Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa, and joined a distinguished list of past honorary degree recipients including U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

tamae watanabe A 73-year-old Japanese woman climbed to Mount Everest’s peak, smashing her own record to become the oldest woman to scale the world’s highest mountain.

Tamae Watanabe reached the Everest’s 8,850-metre-high (29,035

feet) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet with four other team members, said Ang Tshering of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association in Nepal. Ms. Watanabe had climbed the Everest in 2002 at the age of 63, becoming the oldest woman to bring off the feat. She retained the title until she topped herself a decade later. The oldest person to climb the Everest is a Nepalese man, Min Bahadur Sherchan, who scaled the peak in 2008, at 76.

Arabinda RajkhowaA TADA designated court in Guwahati acquitted United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa in a murder case dating back to 1990. Rajkhowa was acquitted on the basis of benefit of doubt in the case relating to the murder of noted businessman Surendra Paul. The businessman was gunned down on April 9, 1990 in Tinsukia district in upper Assam by suspected ULFA militants. The case was being heard by Special Judge Designated Court, Assam, headed by Justice H Sarma.

Sister Mariola SequeiraIn a first perhaps in the whole of North India, Rajasthan Government has nominated a Catholic nun as a member of the State’s Minority Commission. Sister Mariola Sequeira, of the order of the Mission Sisters of Ajmer (MSA), teaches English in Ajmer’s prestigious Sophia College, but she is known in the human rights circles as an “activist nun”.

An active member of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Rajasthan, the Mangalore-born Sister Mariola has been the State coordinator of the Prison Ministry India (PMI) since 2004 and an NGO member of the Grievance Committee on Sexual Harassment at the Workplace at Central Jail, Ajmer.

lt.Gen Avadesh PrakashJust before his retirement, Army Chief Gen.V.K.Singh has ratified a court martial decision to dismiss former military secretary Lt. Gen. Avadesh Prakash from service after he was found

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guilty by an Army court in the Sukna land scam case.

The dismissal means that he will not get any benefits like pension and will not be entitled to use Army rank or any privilege attached with military service. Gen. Prakash is the senior-most officer to have been awarded this punishment by the Army.

obItuARY

Gajanan VermaEminent Rajasthani poet and lyricist Gajanan Verma passed away in his native town Rattangarh in Churu district of Rajasthan. He was 86. Mr. Verma was also one of the founder members of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) in Rajasthan.

Music old-timers in Rajasthan remember the time when the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru launched the Putli Ghar Natya Shala, run by Mr.Verma, in Delhi. He was a regular participant of the all-India kavi sammelan at the Red Fort organised on the occasion of Republic Day. A collection of his folk songs, “Bajare Ki Roti”, was released in February this year.

When the first President of the country, Rajendra Prasad, visited Rattangarh, Mr.Verma had recited a poem in his honour. In 2001 the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi had honoured him for his longstanding service to the world of music.

k. SomasundaramVeteran journalist and writer K. Somasundaram, well known as Solai in political and journalistic circles, died at the age of 81.

A native of Madurai district, Solai graduated from American College and started his public life with the Sarvodaya Movement. He later worked closely with Vinoba Bhave’s Boodhan Movement. He was brought to journalism by Communist leader P. Jeevanandam. His formative years in journalism were spent in Janashakthi , the official organ of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Though a Communist, Solai transcended the barriers of politics and moved closely with four generations of political leaders even as he emerged as an outstanding Tamil journalist, shaping public opinion in the cause he had believed in. He knew E.V. Ramasamy, also called Periyar, and was political adviser to MGR. He was also a friend of DMK president M. Karunanidhi and penned a book on M.K. Stalin.

brahmeshwar SinghBrahmeshwar Singh alias ‘Mukhiyaji,’ chief of the Ranvir Sena, the dreaded private militia of upper caste landowners, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while he was on a morning walk at Katira Mohalla, 71 km from Patna.

Five private and government vehicles were set ablaze in the violence that broke out in the Bhojpur district headquarters town of Ara after the killing, the police said. Singh was in his early 70s.

Singh who faced life imprisonment in several cases of carnage he had perpetrated on the lower caste landless poor — including at Laxmanpur Bathe where 61 Dalits were massacred in December 1996 — was acquitted and released from jail in April this year.

J.c. bhattacharyya The former Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), J.C. Bhattacharyya, passed away in New Delhi after prolonged illness.

He was 81. He headed the institute from 1982 and retired in 1990. Later, he served as the Emeritus Professor of the institute. In 1997, he became a member of the institute’s governing council and remained so till 2006.

According to his colleagues at the institute, Professor Bhattacharyya was well known for his contributions to experimental astrophysics.

“From the ground based telescopes at Kavalur, he discovered in 1971 a thin atmosphere around Ganymede, a satellite of Jupiter. In 1977, he discovered through the lunar occultation technique an extended ring

system around Uranus. The discovery was subsequently confirmed by the Voyager Mission,” recalled a colleague, who served under him for several years.

“Professor Bhattacharyya steered the 234-cm telescope project to successful completion in 1986, which was the biggest optical telescope at that time in Asia and was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, at Kavalur on Javadi Hills, near Vellore in Tamil Nadu,” said another colleague.

AwARDS

MS Swaminathan AwardTwo agricultural scientists from ICAR institutions – R. Sai Kumar of the Directorate of Maize Research (DMR) and N. Shobha Rani of the Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) – were jointly awarded the fourth MS Swaminathan Award for outstanding agricultural research.

The awards were given away by LSP president Jayaprakash Narayan and Director-General of ICRISAT William Dar. The award was given to R. Sai Kumar, Director of DMR, for his work as a maize breeder in the development and release of 14 maize hybrids and varieties. N. Shobha Rani, Principal Scientist, DRR, was selected for her contribution to genetic enhancement of Basmati and other quality rice varieties that lead to higher productivity.

banga bibhushan award Eminent actor Suchitra Sen was honoured with West Bengal’s highest

award Banga Bibhusan. The legendary film star was, however, not present on the stage to receive the award as she continues to remain away from public eye. On her behalf, the 81-year-old

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actor’s daughter Moon Moon Sen and granddaughter Raima Sen received the award from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a ceremony in Kolkata.

Instituted last year to honour eminent people from different walks of life, Banga Bibhusan includes a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh.

Suchitra Sen had ruled the silver screen till the 1970s by acting in Hindi and Bengali films like Saat Paake Bandha, Saptapadi and Bimal Roy’s Devdas. Twice awarded the Filmfare award for best actress, she had refused the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2005 to avoid making any public appearance. The government honoured 15 other eminent persons in the sports and cultural world

National Geographic beeIndian-American students have swept the prestigious National Geographic Bee, bagging the top four positions of this year’s tough national competition, where U.S. President Barack Obama played a quizmaster.

Rahul Nagvekar (14) from Texas bagged the first position, by beating 13-year-old Vansh Jain from Wisconsin at the finals of the annual competition. The third and fourth positions went to Varun Mahadevan from San Francisco and Raghav Ranga from Arizona respectively.

The National Geographic Bee (previously called the National Geography Bee) is an annual geography contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The bee, held every year since 1989, is open to students in the fourth through eighth grade in participating American schools.

Spelling beeIndian-Americans have swept this year’s prestigious spelling bee competition with the top three spots being bagged by them.

Snigdha Nandipati (14), an eighth-grade student from San Diego, California, correctly spelled the French word ‘guetapens’ to be declared the national champion for the year 2012, beating eight other finalists in the

competition. Snigdha became the fifth American of south Asian origin to win the venerable competition in as many consecutive years.

Palme d’orAustrian director Michael Haneke has picked up the Cannes film festival’s top prize for the second time as Love is named winner of the Palme d’Or. Haneke previously won the award in 2009 for The White Ribbon.

Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen won the best actor prize for The Hunt, while the actress prize was shared between Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan for Romanian movie Beyond the Hills. British director Ken Loach collected the Jury Prize for The Angels’ Share.

The winners were revealed by the head of the jury, Italian director Nanni Moretti, on the final night of the 12-day film festival. Haneke’s film focused on an elderly couple whose relationship is tested when the wife suffers a series of strokes.

APPoINtED/RESIGNED

Suma chakrabarti India-born Suma Chakrabarti will s u c c e e d Ge rmany ’ s T h o m a s Mirow as the P r e s i d e n t of the E u r o p e a n Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which has been supporting economic transition in former Eastern Bloc countries and Soviet republics for the last two decades.

Mr. Chakrabarti, has won the race for the leadership of the bank by prevailing over four other candidates, including Mr. Mirow, who sought a second four-year term. With the election of Mr. Chakrabarti, a British national is for the first time at the top of the London-based East European Bank.

Until now, the post was held alternatively by German and French nationals. Former German President

Horst Koehler led the bank between 1998 and 2000. Born in 1969 in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, Mr. Chakrabarti has been serving as a permanent secretary in the U.K. Ministry of Justice since November, 2007.

Sudarsan PattnaikInternationally-acclaimed sand artist from Odisha Sudarsan Pattnaik has been congratulated by President Pratibha Patil and a host of other dignitaries for winning the Copenhagen Sand Art Championship 2012.

Mr. Pattnaik won the first prize in the Copenhagen International Sand Sculpture Championship 2012, held in Denmark. Nine artists took part in the championship from various countries including Canada, Russia, Bulgaria, Ireland, England, Germany, Ukraine and Ghana. Mr. Pattnaik created a 20-foot-high sand sculpture on “Save the Ocean”.

Justice V.S.Sirpurkar Justice V.S.Sirpurkar, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India has assumed the charge as Chairman of the Competition Appellate Tribunal of India. Born on 22 August, 1946, Justice Sirpurkar, joined Judicial Services as Judge Bombay High Court in 1992 and later served as Chief Justice in the High Courts of Uttarakhand and Calcutta. He was elevated to Supreme Court in 2007. Justice Sirpurkar has taken the charge of the office after the retirement of Justice Arijit Pasayat on 9th May 2012, also a retired Judge from the Supreme Court.

Shafi MatherNoted economist and policy analyst Shafi Mather has been appointed economic advisor to Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. Mather is presently convenor of the economic policy and planning committee of KPCC. He is also a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics. He had earlier worked with the policy and planning wing of the AICC along with Sam Pitroda and Jairam Ramesh.

Dmitry Medvedev

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Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev succeeded President Vladimir Putin as head of the ruling party, United Russia, in a follow up to their job swap in the Kremlin.

Mr. Putin stepped down as the party’s chairman following his return to the presidency earlier in May 2012. He argued that President in Russia by tradition is not affiliated with any party.

United Russia, which has dominated the Russian Parliament since its establishment in 2003, has recently been losing support. It lost a quarter of its seats in Parliament in December elections, which were marred with massive falsifications and sparked the biggest anti-Kremlin protests in 20 years.

Radha Vinod RajuThe Central Vigilance Commission has reconstituted an advisory board with the inclusion of two new members, to assist the CBI in probing cases of bank, commercial and financial frauds.

The new entrants are Radha Vinod Raju, former IPS officer and ex-Director-General of the National Investigation Agency; and R. Ramachandran, former Chairman and Managing Director of Andhra Bank.

The CVC announced the formation of the six-member board in March. “It has later been observed that two of the members, Balwinder Singh, IPS (retd), and A.S. Bhattacharya, ex-CMD, Bank of Maharashtra, were not fulfilling the terms and conditions of appointment,” a CVC statement said.

The board will have tenure of two years. It would form part of the organisational infrastructure of the CBI and the Reserve Bank of India, providing investigative and secretarial services.

The board, under the chairmanship of the former RBI Deputy Governor, Shyamala Gopinath, will be based in Mumbai but it can meet anywhere in the country at its convenience. The CBI can refer any case to the board where it has a difference of opinion with the

organisation concerned, irrespective of the level of officials involved in it.

Justice lokurJustice Madan Bhimarao Lokur has been sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court. Prior to his elevation, Justice Lokur was Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. With this, the strength of the apex court has gone up to 26, still five short of the sanctioned strength of 31 judges.

This is the first time that a judge, on his elevation to the apex court, was administered the oath during the summer vacation. Soon after his swearing in by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice Lokur attended the court sitting with Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice J.S. Khehar on the vacation bench.

Justice Lokur, as Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, had headed the bench that quashed the 4.5 percent reservation in educational institutions and government jobs for Muslims within the existing reservation quota.

Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath Senior-most Election Commissioner Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath was on Wednesday appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by President Pratibha Patil. He replaces S.Y. Quraishi, who demits the office on June 10.

Mr. Sampath, a 1973 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, took charge as Election Commissioner on April 21, 2009. He will carry out his term till January 16, 2015 — either for six years in the Commission or till the age of 65, whichever comes earlier. H.S. Brahma is the other Election Commissioner.

Riad Farid HijabSyria’s President has appointed a new Prime Minister following last month’s parliamentary elections. The new Prime Minister is Riad Farid Hijab, a member of the ruling Baath party. President Bashar Assad touted the May 7 elections as an example of the reforms

he’s bringing to the country. But the Opposition boycotted the vote and said it was orchestrated by the regime to strengthen Mr. Assad’s grip on power.

R. N. choubeyThe Centre has appointed Rajiv Nayan Choubey, a senior bureaucrat, to head the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).

Mr. Choubey, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, will be the first bureaucrat to head the highly technical arm of the Oil Ministry, which has been marred by controversies in the past few years.

Justice IsraniAmid threats of renewal of the quota agitation from the members of the Gujjar community led by Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, the Rajasthan Government has appointed retired Rajasthan High Court judge I. S. Israni as Chairman of the State’s Backward Classes Commission. Justice Israni headed the Commission once in the past also.

Justice Israni has the onerous task of taking up the recent status report on the backward classes in Rajasthan, a study carried out by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur, after a directive from the High Court.

The study — submitted the previous month and the content of which have not been made public — reportedly has a comparative analysis of the financial status of Gujjars with some 70-odd other backward communities in the State.

The members of the Gujjar community are demanding implementation of five per cent reservation quota provided to the Special Backward Classes through legislation in the Rajasthan Assembly during the tenure of the previous Rajasthan Government.

Justice Israni had headed the Commission appointed by the Ashok Gehlot Government in Rajasthan soon after coming to power to look into the police firing on agitating Gujjars which had claimed more than 70 lives during the previous regime.

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V.R.S. Natarajan Even as V.R.S. Natarajan, Chairman and Managing Director of BEML, was suspended on the recommendation of the CBI to ensure fair investigation into the Tatra truck deal and other cases, the investigating agency got the Defence Ministry’s approval to initiate proceedings against him.

The CBI is expected to summon Mr. Natarajan for questioning in view of the documentary evidence gathered by it in the past few days and purported revelations made by retired and serving BEML officials. The CBI recommended Mr. Natarajan’s removal after it discovered

that all those BEML officials summoned for questioning were allegedly being “tutored” by him in advance.

About a week ago, the Defence Ministry asked Mr. Natarajan to explain why he had served a legal notice for filing a defamation suit against the former Army Chief, General V. K. Singh. Mr. Natarajan said in Bangalore that he would “come out clean’’ in the cases against him. “I respect the government decision and I will come out clean in this process,’’ he said. The CBI has accused him of trying to influence witnesses in the case and requested the Ministry to keep him away from the process of ongoing investigation.

He is being questioned by the CBI in a case regarding alleged irregularities in procurement and supply of Tatra vehicles to the Army. The CBI is probing if the company had violated guidelines in buying and selling the trucks. It has also booked him for alleged cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with the tendering process to hire a consultancy firm for BEML.

General V. K. Singh had alleged in an interview to The Hindu in March that he was offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crore by a former senior Army officer to clear supply of 600 “sub-standard’’ Tatra trucks from BEML.

MEHDI HASSANMehdi Hasssan died on 13 June 2012 after a protracted illness, in a private hospital in Karachi. Mehdi Hassan Khan was a Pakistani ghazal singer and a former playback singer for Lollywood. He is famously known as the “King of ghazal”, and was highly regarded in the Pakistan film industry. He was honoured with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, and Gorkha Dakshina Bahu by the Government of Nepal. He remained a leading singer of film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi.

Mehdi Hassan will be remembered for bringing Indians and Pakistanis together in a shared passion for his songs of unrequited love. The roots of Mehdi Hasan’s music, which inspired generations of ghazal singers in India, lay in the ancient tradition of dhrupad. A representative of the 16th generation of the Kalavant clan, Mehdi Hassan went from dhrupad, through thumri to ghazal and popular film music, retaining the purity of the medium until the end. Hindustani classical music pre-dates the Partition of India; it stems from the soul of the subcontinent and it is to this shared past that he belonged.

His own family roots were in Rajasthan. He may have made his home in Pakistan but Rajasthan stayed with him. It was like love across the salt desert. And he made no secret of it. His concerts almost always featured Kesariya Balam, the timeless Rajasthani ode to the vastness of the desert.

Mehdi Hassan often sang the compositions of Delhi’s resident poet Mirza Ghalib besides Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Mir Taqi Mir. His Urdu was untouched by any regional accent and stayed true to the true spirit of the language.

In October 2010, HMV released “Sarhadein” in which probably the first and last duet song Tera Milana featuring Mehdi Hassan and Lata Mangeshkar was released. This song was composed by Hassan himself written by Farhat Shahzad. Hassan recorded it in Pakistan in 2009, and Lata Mangeshkar later heard the track and recorded her part in India in 2010, and later mixed together for a duet.

bookS AND AutHoRS • TheKeystotheWhiteHouse:AllanJay

Lichtman (American political analyst)

• Muddling along (The book gives agood insight into the predicament ofPakistan):StephenP.Cohen

• Bombay of old: Professor NileGreen

• Alifeofexile(Theworkisaliterarybequest of poetry and prose flooded with fond emotions as well as a moving critique of the violent history ofWestAsia):MahmoudDarwish

• Local and universal (The messageofthisbook:familiaritywithone’snatal cultural environment is the key to a good understanding of the world.):SugataSrinivasaraju

• Revisiting Tagore: SabyasachiBhattacharya

SPoRtS

cRIckEt kkR beat cSk to win first Indian Premier league title

Manvinder Bisla (89) and Jacques Kallis (69) helped Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets to win their maiden Indian Premier League title at MA Chidambaram stadium. Manoj Tiwary (9 not out) hit the winning boundary off Dwayne Bravo as Kolkata completed the massive chase of 191 with two balls to spare.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket championship in India. It was initiated by the BCCI, headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI

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Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league’s Chairman and Commissioner. It is currently contested by nine teams, consisting of players from around the world. It was started after an altercation between the BCCI and the Indian Cricket League.

In 2010, IPL became the first sporting event ever to be broadcast live on YouTube in association with Indiatimes. Its brand value is estimated to be around US$2.92 billion in fourth season. However, the league has been engulfed by series of corruption scandals where allegations of cricket betting, money laundering and spot fixing were witnessed.

Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings in a thriller and emerged as the inaugural IPL champions in 2008. In 2009 season, which was played in South Africa, Deccan Chargers defeated Bangalore Royal Challengers in the finals to clinch the trophy. In 2010, Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians and last year Chennai Super Kings won their second consecutive title after defeating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 58 runs in the final. This was the first time a franchise had won two titles. The top four teams qualified for the 2011 Champions League Twenty20, which the Mumbai Indians won.

bccI suspends five cricketers after sting operationThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended five cricketers, T.P. Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Shalabh Srivatsava and Amit Yadav (both Kings XI Punjab) and Abhinav Bali (Delhi Giants in the erstwhile Indian Cricket League) from all forms of the game till a special panel completes a preliminary enquiry into alleged corrupt deals.

Following a sting operation by news channel that showed these cricketers allegedly entering into murky, illicit practices, an emergency meeting of the IPL Governing Council, was convened.

After deliberations lasting around six hours, the Council said Ravi Sawani(retired CBI officer and

former Head of Anti Corruption and Security Unit, ICC), head of BCCI’s anti-corruption wing, would table his findings in 15 days.

billy Doctrove announces retirement from umpires Elite PanelWest Indies umpire Billy Doctrove has announced his retirement from the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Elite Panel.

Doctrove was due to officiate in the forthcoming ODI and Test series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, starting in Pallekele from June 7, but has withdrawn from what would have been his last assignment as an elite panelist as he had to return to Dominica due to a family bereavement.

As such, the second Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Hamilton in March has turned out to be Doctrove’s last appearance as an elite panelist.

This brings down the curtain on an outstanding career in top-level umpiring in which the 56-year-old stood in 38 Tests, 112 ODIs and 17 T20Is, including the final of the ICC World Twenty20 2010 between England and Australia in Barbados.

Doctrove, born July 3, 1955 in Marigot, Dominica, made his ODI debut April 4, 1998 in a match between the West Indies and England in Kingstown, St. Vincent, and two years later in Antigua stood in his first Test between the West Indies and Pakistan, a match which the home side won by one wicket. Doctrove was promoted to the International Panel of ICC Umpires in 2004 before being elevated to the elite panel in April 2006.

tENNIS

Nadal and Sharapova clings on to Rome title Rafael Nadal won his record sixth Italian Open title by beating top-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-3. Djokovic made 41 unforced errors in the match, including a double-fault on the last point to give Nadal his 49th career title and his 35th

on clay. The victory is Nadal’s third Italian Open victory in four years, with his winning streak interrupted last year by Djokovic. The win also moved Nadal back to No. 2 in the rankings, ahead of Roger Federer.

Maria Sharapova retained the Italian Open title with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over Li Na in a match dominated by wild swings of momentum and interrupted twice by rain. Li appeared to be on course for victory as she stormed into a 6-4, 4-0 lead but 24 unforced errors from the French Open champion allowed Sharapova to take the next six games and the set.

Italian Open title is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men’s competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, and the women’s competition being a Premier 5 event on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour.

Federer equals connors’ Grand Slam win record

Roger Federer equalled Jimmy Connors’ record of 233 career Grand Slam match

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wins by beating Tobias Kamke of Germany 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the French Open. Federer, who owns a record 16 major championships, is 233-35 at tennis’ top four tournaments, a .869 winning percentage. Connors was 233-49.

Sania-Mattek lift brussels open titleSania Mirza won her second WTA doubles title of the season and 14th overall, when she combined with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to lift Brussels Open trophy with an emphatic straight set win over Alicja Rosolska of Poland

2012 FRENcH oPENThe French Open, often referred to as “Roland Garros” after the famous French aviator, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June in Paris, France, at the Stade Roland Garros. It is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world and the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments – the other three are the Australian Open, US Open and Wimbledon. Roland Garros is the only major tournament held on clay and ends the spring clay court season. It is one of the largest events in tennis, and the most watched French event in the world. Because of the slow playing surface and the five-set men’s singles matches without a tiebreak in the final set, the event is widely considered to be the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.

Surfacecharacteristics:Claycourtsslowdowntheballandproduceahighbouncewhencomparedtograsscourtsorhardcourts.For this reason, clay courts take away some of the advantages of big serves and serve-and-volleyers, which makes it hard for serve-based players to dominate on the surface. For example, Pete Sampras, a player known for his huge serve, never won the French Open (nor even advanced to the final) in his entire career.

The 2012 French Open was the 111th edition of the French Open, and took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 27 May until 11 June 2012.

Results of French open-2012

Men’ssingles:RafaelNadal(Spain)wasthedefendingchampionandsuccessfullydefendedhistitledefeatingNovakDjokovic(Serbia)6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5 in the final. The win was Nadal’s seventh French Open title, surpassing Bjorn Borg’s record of six French Open titles and tying Pete Sampras’ Wimbledon record for most title wins at one major and Chris Evert’s for most French Open titles achieved being man or woman.

women’s singles:LiNawasthedefendingchampion,but lost in the fourth roundtoYaroslavaShvedova.MariaSharapovadefeated Sara Errani 6–3, 6–2 in the final, winning her first French Open title and completing the career grand slam. As a result of reaching the final, Sharapova returned to World No. 1 in the WTA rankings for the first time since 2008.

Men’s double:MaxMirnyi(Belarus)andDanielNestor(Canada)werethedefendingchampionsandtopseeds,andNestorcameinto the event as the two-time defending champion. They successfully defended their title by defeating Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (united states) 6–4, 6–4 in the final.

women’s doubles:AndreaHlaváckováandLucieHradeckáwerethedefendingchampions,butlostinthesemifinalstoMariaKirilenko and Nadia Petrova. Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci(Italy) won the tournament by defeating Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova (Russia) 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 in the final.

Mixed Doubles: Casey Dellacqua and Scott Lipsky were the defending champions. Dellacqua chose not to participate thisyearwhileLipskypartneredwithVladimíraUhlírová,buttheyweredefeatedinthefirstroundbyVirginieRazzanoand Nicolas Devilder. Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi won the tournament defeating Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland andSantiagoGonzálezofMexico7–6(7–3),6–1inthefinal.SaniaMirzaandMaheshBhupathiofIndiawontheirsecondGrand Slam title and first French Open trophy together.

and China’s Zheng Jie at Brussels (Belgium).

In a one-sided contest, the fourth seed Indo-American pair took an hour and 10 minutes to dispatch third seeded pair 6-3 6-2 in the final of the $637,400 clay court Premier event.

Sania had won Pattaya Open with Anastasia Rodionova and had ended runners-up at Dubai and Indian Wells with regular partner Elena Vesnina of Russia, early in the season.

It was for the second time that Sania played a final alongside Mattek on the Tour. In 2009, she had won Cincinnati Open with the American.

Yuki wins first AtP challenger singles titleA resurgent Yuki Bhambri won the first

ever ATP Challenger singles title of his career after scoring a facile straight—set win over Israeli fourth seed Amir Weintraub in Fergana, Uzbekistan in May 2012.The unseeded Indian, ranked 297, recorded a 6—3 6—3 win in one hour and 20 minutes over the world number 185 in the summit clash of the USD 35,000 hard court event.

The victory is expected to push Yuki into the top—220 in the ranking, which will make him the highest—ranked Indian in the ATP charts. Last week, the 19—year—old had won his career’s first ATP Challengers doubles title along with compatriot Divij Sharan in the Busan event.

SHootING

Anjali bhagwat finishes seventhAnjali Bhagwat shot 399 out of 400 and

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eventually missed a medal in women’s air rifle following scores of 8.3 and 9.8 on the last two shots in the shooting World Cup in Munich in may 2012.

The Sydney Olympics finalist Anjali, who had won the gold medals in the World Cup in Fort Benning and the World Cup Finals in Milan in 2003, recaptured the old magic following a series of 100, 100, 100 and 99. She missed a 10 on the 31st shot.

With the reigning World champion Yi Siling of China on 400 and five others on 399, it was a tough fight for the medals, but Anjali had the bronze in her grasp after the eighth shot despite having started the finals with a 9.8. However, the 8.3 pulled her down and she eventually finished seventh.

The young Mampi Das had shot 398, and had to endure a shoot-off with three others in the fight for the last spot in the final, but she eventually missed it by 0.2 points despite shooting 51.9.

Earlier, it was almost a similar story for World Championship bronze medallist and World record-holder Gagan Narang as he shot 597 and missed the final by an agonising 0.5-point margin in the shoot-off in men’s air rifle.

Reigning Olympic champion and former World champion Abhinav Bindra continued to stay close behind the leaders as he shot 596 to be placed 14th in a strong field of 118 shooters.

Wang Tao of China secured the gold, 0.2 points ahead of Youth Olympics silver medallist Illia Charheika of Belarus and the reigning World champion Niccolo Campriani of Italy.

cHESS

Indian men win silver; women take bronze in Asian Nations cupIndian men’s chess team thrashed Iraq 4-0 to win silver while their women counterparts bagged a bronze in the Asian Nations Cup that concluded in may 2012 at Zaozuang (China).

Top-rated K. Sasikiran rested himself while P. Harikrishna, Parimarjan Negi, Abhijeet Gupta and G.N. Gopal completed an easy victory to collect 15 points to finish second to top seed China-1. China-1 beat Mongolia 3.5-0.5 to win the gold while China-2 won the bronze medal.

In the women’s section, China-1 won the ninth match in a row to deservingly win the gold medal while China-2 won the silver ahead of India with better tie-break. The Indian women had to be content with the bronze medal after a 2.5-1.5 victory over China-3 in the final round. In the last three editions, the Indian women’s team had won the silver.

Srinath becomes new Asian junior chess championIndia’s N. Srinath on Thursday won the Asian Junior Chess Championship title after drawing his ninth and final round game against Vakhidov Jahongir of Uzbekistan at Tashkent.

International Master Srinath ended the Championship at eight points to emerge champion and also earn his maiden Grandmaster norm.

Nikita Khoroshev (7 points) of Uzbekistan finished second while Ayan Akhmetov od Kazakhstan was third on six points in the tournament organised by Uzbekistan Chess Federation.

In the girl’s section, another Indian Ivana Maria Furtado won the title with 7.5 points. Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam and Rucha Pujari of India got the silver and bronze respectively. Both were tied on 6.5 points each but the Vietnamese was awarded the silver on the basis of tie-break score.

bADMINtoN AND SquASH

Saina Nehwal rallies to triumphAce Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal got a shot in the arm ahead of next month’s Olympics as she lifted the Thailand Open Grand Prix badminton gold title after rallying to beat Thailand’s Ratchanok Inthanon in the final of the event in Bangkok in june 2012.

The 22-year-old World No. 5 Indian beat Inthanon 19-21, 21-15, 21-10 at the CU Sport Complex in Bangkok for her second title of the year after the Swiss Open win in March. The win will come as a massive boost to Saina’s confidence ahead of the Olympics in July-August.

china beats South korea to win uber cupChina reclaimed the Uber Cup at Wuhan (China) after defeating defending champion

South Korea 3-0 in the final. South Korea, which beat China in the last Uber Cup final at Kuala Lumpur two years ago.

The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Team Championships for Women, is a major international badminton competition contested by women’s national badminton teams. First held in 1956-1957 and contested at three year intervals, it has been contested every two years since 1984 when its scheduled times and venues were merged with those of Thomas Cup, the world men’s team championship. The Uber Cup is named after a former British women’s badminton player, Betty Uber, who in 1950 had the idea of hosting a women’s event similar to that of the men.

Joshna chinappa clinches chennai openJoshna Chinappa claimed her maiden Women’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) title at home, and sixth overall, as she rallied to beat third seed Sarah Jane Perry 3-1 in the final of the Chennai Open International Squash championship, here today. The Indian, ranked 71 in the world, recorded a 9-11 11-4 11-8 12-10 win in the summit clash against British rival.

FootbAll

South Sudan joins FIFA 10 months after independenceSouth Sudan has become the 209th member of football’s world governing body FIFA. The African country was voted into full membership by delegates at FIFA’s annual congress in the Hungarian capital Budapest.

Having gained independence last July, South Sudan joined the Confederation of African Football (Caf) in February. The team will now be eligible to play in the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and 2018 World Cup.

MotoRSPoRtS

webber gives Red bull a Monaco hat-trickAustralian Mark Webber contributed to Formula One history when he steered his Red Bull to victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. Webber’s win meant six different drivers have won the opening

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six races of this season — the first time this has happened in the history of the world championship.

Webber’s second win in the principality — and the eighth of his career — also marked Red Bull’s third successive win at the Monaco Grand Prix. Webber’s first race win this season lifted him to joint second in the drivers’ standings alongside teammate Vettel — both three points behind leader Alonso on 76. Hamilton is fourth on 63 and Rosberg fifth with 59.

lorenzo wins at catalunya to extend Moto GP leadJorge Lorenzo beat pole sitter Casey Stoner to win the Catalunya Grand Prix and extend his overall lead over the defending Moto GP champion.

Lorenzo kept Stoner from making it seven straight victories from pole, with Honda’s Dani Pedrosa eventually finishing second to his Yamaha rival.

The Spanish rider extended his overall series lead over Stoner, who finished fourth for Honda, to 20 points from five races.

HockEY

India takes third place in Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournamentIndia anchored a bronze, New Zealand its maiden trophy triumph and Argentina picked up silver as the 21st edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament sailed into history at Ipoh (Malaysia) in June 2012.

The Kiwis prevailed over the Argentines by a solitary goal, while, in a fightback that was quite remarkable, India beat Britain by three goals to one.

Andy Hayward was New Zealand’s hero of the hour. One thundering penalty corner midway through the first half sealed the final for the Kiwis. The team was unlucky to enlarge the lead when a splendid attempt by Simon Child hit the upright and spun into play. He worked delectably to outrun the Argentine defenders for this effort.

In a contest that swung from brilliance to the bizarre, India accomplished a podium finish. This was

India’s first win against Britain in four recent matches. India lost 2-4 and 1-2 in the four-nation test event in London last month, and 2-3 in this competition.

It is difficult to mask the feeling that India could have produced a far more commanding performance. Sixth in the last edition, India’s previous bronze came in 2007. Of course, a podium finish gives some consolation. Coach Nobbs said the team is showing a definite improvement.

otHER SPoRtS

chhattisgarh girls and boys clinch national titlesChhattisgarh clinched both the boys and girls titles in the 63rd National junior basketball championship held at Puducherry in May end. In the boys final, Chhattisgarh edged out Punjab 63-61. Punjab raced to a 19-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the Chhattisgarh players, who led by five points going into the final session, held their nerve and scored at crucial moments to emerge victorious. In the girls final, Chhattisgarh scripted an 89-73 win over Maharashtra.

Swapnali gets silver in Malaysian triathlonPutting up an impressive show, India’s Swapnali Yadav clocked an aggregate time0:33:05stowinasilvermedalinthe Junior International Triathlon 2012 in Malaysia.

Thirteen-year-old Swapnali finished second behind gold winner Zoe Bowden of the host nation, while Nuralia Mohammed Shamsir, also of Malaysia, won the bronze in the 15 years-and-under category for girls.

Swapnali did the 300m swim in 0:05:01 seconds, cycled 8km in0:16:41andthe2kmrunin0:11:23foranaggregatetimeof0:33:05secondsat the Water Sports Complex.

liu Xiang equals men’s 110m hurdles world record

Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang equalled the 12.87 seconds world record to claim the men’s 110m hurdles title at the 2012 IAAF Diamond League at Eugene, Oregon.

Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles set the world record in Ostrava in the Czech Republic June 12, 2008. The former world record of 12.88 seconds was set by Liu in Lausanne on July 11, 2006.

Liu, the 2004 Olympic gold medallist, blasted out of the blocks and led from start to finish Saturday with the help of a strong tailwind in front of a standing room crowd at Hayward Field.

American world indoor champion Aries Merritt finished second in 12.96, while Jason Richardson was third in 13.11 in a field that boasted hurdlers holding five of the top six times in the world this year.

Poonia finishes secondDiscus thrower Krishna Poonia finished second in the post-Prefontaine Elite women’s discus meet at Portland, Oregon, in June 2012 with a throw of 62.34 metres.

Russian Darya Pischalnikova was first with 66.38m in the meet held a day after the two-day Diamond League meeting at Eugene. Poonia, the Indian record holder with 64.76m, had taken the fourth place in the Eugene meet with a throw of 62.11m.

Rustam Sarang and chang clinches the goldRustam Sarang clinched the gold in the men’s 62 kg category and Himanshu Kumar Chang won the gold with a total of 270 kg in the junior men’s over-105 kg category, as India wound up its campaign in the Commonwealth weightlifting championship with a record haul of 29 gold, 10 silver and six bronze medals.

According to the information received from the Weightlifting Federation of India, the Indian men and women accounted for nine gold medals, while the boys and girls in the juniors and youth sections finished with nine and 11 gold medals respectively.

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Notes

Documents

India Prepares - July 2012 (Vol.1 Issue 9)