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MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 1
NATIONAL
Union Cabinet approved Stand Up India
Scheme
The Union Cabinet on 6 January 2016 approved
the Stand Up India Scheme to promote
entrepreneurship among Scheduled
Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Women
entrepreneurs.
The Scheme is intended to facilitate at least two
projects per bank branch, on an average one for
each category of entrepreneur. It is expected to
benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers. The expected
date of reaching the target of at least 2.5 lakh
approvals is 36 months from the launch of the
Scheme.
Highlights of the Stand Up India Scheme
• It provides for refinance window through Small
Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
with an initial amount of 10000 crore rupees.
• It will create credit guarantee mechanism through
the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company
(NCGTC).
• It will provide support for borrowers both at the
pre loan stage and during operations.
• Its focus is on handholding support for both
SC/ST and Women borrowers.
• The aim is to leverage institutional credit
structure to reach out under-served sectors of the
population by facilitating bank loans repayable up
to 7 years and between 10 lakh rupees- 100 lakh
rupees for greenfield enterprises in nonfarm sector
set up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers.
• The loan under the scheme would be
appropriately secured and backed by a credit
guarantee through a credit guarantee scheme for
which Department of Financial Services would be
the settler.
• The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company
Ltd (NCGTC) will be the operating agency for the
loan.
• Margin money of the composite loan would be
up to 25 percent.
The Start up India Stand up India initiative was
announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in his speech on 15 August 2015.
Union Government launched Ganga Gram
Yojana in Uttar Pradesh
The Union Minister of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti
on 5 January 2016 launched Ganga Gram Yojana
at Village Puth in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh
(UP). Under the scheme, 1600 villages of UP
situated along the banks of river Ganga will be
developed.
Highlights of the Ganga Gram Yojana
• In the first phase of the progamme, 200 villages
have been selected initially.
• In these villages, open drains falling into river
Ganga will be diverted and alternative
arrangements for sewage treatment will be made.
• The villages will have toilets in every house hold.
• It is proposed to incur the expenditure of 1 crore
rupees on every village.
• These villages will be developed under the
Sichewal model. Sichewal is situated in Punjab,
where cooperation of the villagers has been
solicited for the water management and waste
disposal.
First Company of Ganga Task Force deployed
The Ministry also deployed first company of
Ganga Task force Battalion at Garhmukteshwar as
a major initiative towards fast track
implementation of Namami Gange Programme.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 2
Moreover, three such companies will be soon
deployed at Kanpur, Varanasi and Allahabad.
Union Government signed Financing
Agreement with World Bank to fund
education of minorities
The Union Government on 1 January 2016 signed
a Financing Agreement of 50 million US dollars
with the World Bank for Nai Manzil Scheme-
Education and Skills Training for Minorities.
Highlights of the agreement
• Under this agreement, the credit will be
facilitated by the International Development
Association (IDA), World Bank’s concessionary
lending arm.
• The credit facilitated by IDA will be in the form
of loan which carries a maturity of 25 years,
including a 5-year grace period.
• The loan funds will be used for interventions
under this scheme to improve the employability
and performance of minority youth in the labour
market.
• The total project size is 100 million US dollars,
out of which 50 million US dollars will be
available as IDA credit and the remaining balance
as funding from the Union Budget.
• The closing date of the project is 31 October
2021.
About Nai Manzil Scheme
The scheme was launched on 8 August 2015 in
Patna. This central scheme is designed to address
educational and livelihood needs of minority
communities lagging behind in terms of
educational attainments. It aims to provide
educational intervention by giving the bridge
courses to the trainees and getting them
Certificates for Class XII and X from distance
medium educational system. It seeks to provide
trade basis skill training in four courses at the
same time of formal education, in field of (i)
Manufacturing (ii) Engineering (iii) Services (iv)
Soft skills. It intends to cover people in between
17 to 35 age group from all minority communities
as well as Madrasa students. Minority BPL (below
poverty line) youth in the age group of 17-35 years
will be the main beneficiaries of the scheme.
‘Anubhav’ – showcasing outstanding work
done during service
The Department of Pension & Pensioner’s Welfare
has launched an online software, ‘Anubhav’ for
showcasing outstanding work by retiring employee
and sharing experience of working with the
Government. The software has been launched on
the directions of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi. It is envisaged that over a period of time,
this will create a wealth of institutional memory
with replicable ideas and suggestions. This tool in
addition, gives opportunity to the retiring
employee to invest his experience, skill and time
for growth of social capital of the country.
First River Information System of India
Country’s first River Information System (RIS)
System was recently inaugurated by Union
Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and
Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari. The first of its kind
in India, the new system will facilitate safe and
accurate navigation on National Waterway – 1 on
the Ganges River. RIS is being implemented under
the overall responsibility of Inland Waterway
Authority of India, a statutory body administered
by the Ministry of Shipping.
River Information Services (RIS) are combination
of modern tracking equipment related hardware
and software designed to optimize traffic and
transport processes in inland navigation. The
system enhances swift electronic data transfer
between mobile vessels and shore (Base stations)
through advance and real-time exchange of
information.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 3
This would facilitate, Enhancement of inland
navigation safety in ports and rivers, Better use of
the inland waterways, Environmental protection.
President Signs Ordinance to Amend
Enemy Property Act
An ordinance to amend the 47-year-old Enemy
Property Act has been approved by President
Pranab Mukherjee to allow custodians to continue
to hold sway over such properties. These
amendments plug the loopholes of the Enemy
Property Act, 1968.
The amendments include:
Once an enemy property is vested in the
Custodian, it shall continue to be vested in him as
enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy,
enemy subject or enemy firm has ceased to be an
enemy due to reasons such as death and others.
The law of succession does not apply to enemy
property. There cannot be transfer of any property
vested in the Custodian by an enemy or enemy
subject or enemy firm and that the Custodian shall
preserve the enemy property till it is disposed of in
accordance with the provisions of the Act.
A new section has been inserted in the ordinance
to say that “the Custodian, may, after making such
inquiry as he deems necessary, by order, declare
that the property of the enemy or the enemy
subject or the enemy firm described in the order,
vests in him under this Act and issue a certificate
to this effect and such certificate shall be the
evidence of the facts stated therein”.
The Enemy Property Act was enacted in the year
1968. It provided for the continuous vesting of
enemy property in the custodian. The Union
Government through the Custodian of Enemy
Property for India is in possession of enemy
properties spread across many states in the
country.
To ensure that the enemy property continues to
vest in the Custodian, appropriate amendments
were brought in by way of an Ordinance in the
Enemy Property Act, 1968 by the then
Government in 2010.
However, the ordinance lapsed on 6 September
2010. Later on 22 July 2010, it was introduced in
Lok Sabha in form of a Bill but was withdrawn
and another bill with modified provisions was
introduced in the Lok Sabha on 15 November,
2010. This bill was thereafter referred to the
Standing Committee. However, the said bill could
not be passed during the 15th term of the Lok
Sabha and it lapsed.
Enemy properties:
In the wake of the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and 1971,
there was migration of people from India to
Pakistan. Under the Defence of India Rules framed
under the Defence of India Act, the Government of
India took over the properties and companies of
such persons who had taken Pakistani nationality.
These enemy properties were vested by the Union
Government in the Custodian of Enemy Property
for India.
After the 1965 war, India and Pakistan signed the
Tashkent Declaration on 10 January 1966. The
Tashkent Declaration inter alia included a clause,
which said that the two countries would discuss
the return of the property and assets taken over by
either side in connection with the conflict.
However, the Government of Pakistan disposed of
all such properties in their country in the year 1971
itself.
Union Government released Draft for the
Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2015
The Union Government in second week of January
2016 released a Draft Bill, which proposes
reservation benefits for transgender persons. The
Draft Bill, titled The Rights of Transgender
Persons Bill, 2015, was formulated by the Ministry
of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Key highlights of Rights of Transgender
Persons Bill, 2015
• The draft states that transgender persons who by
birth do not belong to Scheduled Castes or
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 4
Scheduled Tribes may be declared as Backward
Class. They will be entitled for reservation under
the existing ceiling of OBC category.
• Transgender persons will not be prevented from
competing for seats which are not reserved for
them.
• The bill will provide for the formulation and
implementation of a comprehensive national
policy for ensuring overall development of the
Transgender Persons.
• Transgender should be declared as the third
gender, and a Transgender Person should have the
option to identify as man, woman or transgender
as well as have the right to choose any of the
options independent of surgery/hormones.
• Only the nomenclature transgender should be
used and nomenclatures like other or others should
not be used.
• Transgender persons will also be issued a proper
certificate for their identity by a state-level
authority duly designated or constituted by
respective the state or UT.
• Transgender students will be able to avail
scholarship, entitlements, fee-waiver, free
textbooks, free hostel accommodation and other
facilities at subsidised rates.
Union Government, World Bank signed
Financing Agreement for Bihar Kosi Basin
Development Project
The Union Government and World Bank on 20
January 2016 signed the Financing Agreement for
World Bank (IDA) assistance of 250 million US
dollars for Bihar Kosi Basin Development Project.
It is a loan for an implementation period of 5
years. Bihar Government will be the implementing
agency.
Highlights of the Bihar Kosi Basin Development
Project
• The objective of the project is to enhance
resilience to floods and increase agricultural
production and productivity in the targeted
districts in the Kosi River Basin.
• It aims to enhance Bihar’s capacity to respond
promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or
emergency.
• The primary beneficiaries will be rural producers
and households in the Kosi River Basin who are
regularly exposed to floods.
• It has five components: (i) Improving Flood Risk
Management; (ii) Enhancing Agricultural
Productivity and Competitiveness; (iii)
Augmenting Connectivity; (iv) Contingent
Emergency Response; and (v) Implementation
Support.
Union Government released results from
Phase-1 of NFHS-4 Survey
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
on 19 January 2016 released the results from the
Phase-1 of the National Family Health Survey
(NFHS-4) 2015-16. Phase-1 of the NFHS-4
included 13 States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa,
Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya,
Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura,
Uttarakhand, West Bengal and 2 Union Territories
(UTs) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and
Puducherry.
Findings of Phase-1 of NFHS-4 Survey
Maternal & child health:
• Results showed promising improvements in
maternal and child health and nutrition.
• After the last round of National Family Health
Survey in 2005-06, infant mortality has declined in
all first phase States/Union Territories for which
trend data are available.
• All 15 States/Union Territories have rates below
51 deaths per 1000 live births, although there is
considerable variation among the States/UTs.
• Infant mortality rates range from a low of 10 in
Andaman and Nicobar Islands to a high of 51
deaths per 1000 live births in Madhya Pradesh.
• Almost all mothers have received antenatal care
for their most recent pregnancy and increasing
numbers of women are receiving the
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 5
recommended four or more visits by the service
providers.
• More and more women now give birth in health
care facilities and rates have more than doubled in
some States in the last decade.
• More than nine in ten recent births took place in
health care facilities in Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka,
Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana,
providing safer environments for mothers and
new-borns.
Fertility rate:
• Overall, women in the First Phase States/UTs are
having fewer children.
• The total fertility rates (TFR) or the average
number of children per woman, range from 1.2 in
Sikkim to 3.4 in Bihar.
• All First Phase States/UTs except Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh and Meghalaya have either achieved or
maintained replacement level of fertility– a major
achievement in the past decade.
Immunization:
• Full immunization coverage among children age
12-23 months varies widely.
• At least 6 out of 10 children have received full
immunization in 12 of the 15 States / UTs.
• In Goa, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Puducherry
more than four-fifths of the children have been
fully immunised.
• Since the last round of National Family Health
Survey, the coverage of full immunization among
children has increased substantially in the States of
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim, West
Bengal and Meghalaya.
Family planning:
• Married women are less likely to be using
modern family planning in eight of the First Phase
States/UTs.
• There has been any increase in the use of modern
family planning methods only in the States of
Meghalaya, Haryana, and West Bengal.
• The decline is highest in Goa followed by
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• Despite the declines, about half or more married
women are using modern family planning in eight
of the 15 States/Union Territories.
Nutrition:
• Poor nutrition is less common than reported in
the last round of National Family Health Survey.
• Fewer children under five years of age are now
found to be stunted, showing intake of improved
nutrition.
• In nine States/UTs, less than one-third of
children are found too short for their age.
• While this reveals a distinct improvement since
the previous survey, it is found that in Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya more than 40
percent of children are stunted.
• Wasting is still very high by international
standards in all of the States/UTs.
• Anaemia has also declined, but still remains
widespread. More than half of children are
anaemic in ten of the 15 States/UTs.
• More than half of women are anaemic in eleven
States/UTs. Over-nutrition continues to be a health
issue for adults.
• At least 3 in 10 women are overweight or obese
in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh,
Goa, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.
Drinking water, sanitation & cooking fuel:
• Indian families in the First Phase households are
now more inclined to use improved water and
sanitation facilities.
• Over two-thirds of households in every
State/Union Territory have access to an improved
source of drinking water, and more than 90 percent
of households have access to an improved source
of drinking water in nine of the 15 States/UTs.
• More than 50 percent of households have access
to improved sanitation facilities in all First Phase
States/UTs except Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
• Use of clean cooking fuel, which reduces the risk
of respiratory illness and pollution, varies widely
among the First Phase States/UTs, ranging from
only about 18 percent of households in Bihar to
more than 70 percent of households in Tamil Nadu
and more than 80 percent of households in
Puducherry and Goa.
About National Family Health Survey
• The NFHS-4 is the fourth in a series of national
surveys.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 6
• The previous surveys were carried out in 1992-93
(NFHS-1), 1998-99 (NFHS-2) and 2005-06
(NFHS-3).
• NFHS-4 is the first of the NFHS series that
collects data in each of India’s 29 States and all 7
Union Territories.
• Also, NFHS-4, for the first time, will provide
estimates of most indicators at the district level for
all 640 districts of the country included in the 2011
Census.
• In NFHS-4, women aged 15-49 years and men
aged 15-54 years are interviewed.
• When the survey is completed throughout the
country, approximately 570000 households would
be covered for information.
Union Government launched 4 Mobile
Health Services to strengthen public health
infrastructure
The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare
J P Nadda on 15 January 2016 launched four
mobile health (m-Health) services to provide
citizen-centric health services. These m-Health
services are Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M-
Cessation and TB Missed Call initiative.
Highlights of Kilkari
• It is an audio-based mobile service that delivers
weekly audio messages to families about
pregnancy, child birth and child care.
• Each pregnant woman and infant’s mother would
receive weekly voice messages relevant to the
stage of pregnancy or age of the infant.
• Those who are registered in Mother and Child
Tracking System (MCTS), a web- enabled name-
based system to monitor and ensure delivery of
full spectrum of services to all pregnant women
and children, will be benefitted from the service.
• The 72 messages would reach the targeted
beneficiaries from the 4th month of pregnancy
until the child is one year old. On an average, the
duration of each message is two minutes.
• Such messages will empower and educate
women and parents to help create a better
environment in maternal and child health. This
service will be provided free to the beneficiaries.
• In the first phase of implementation, such
messages would be sent to the pregnant women
and infants’ mothers in six States in Jharkhand,
Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and HPDs of
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
• They are being developed in Hindi, English and
Odiya languages in the first phase, to be later
expanded to other languages to cover the entire
country and would benefit over 2 crore pregnant
women and 2 crore infants, annually.
Highlights of Mobile Academy
• It’s a mobile-based application aimed at
providing training services to 9 million ASHAs.
• This will aid in enhancing their inter-personal
skills. Once registered, ASHAs can access the
240-minute course via their mobile phones.
• They can then complete the standardized course
at their convenience. Digital bookmarking
technology enables ASHAs to complete the course
at their own pace.
• ASHAs successfully completing the course by
securing more than minimum prescribed marks
will receive a Certificate of completion from the
Government.
Highlights of M-Cessation
• It will be an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users
to quit tobacco.
• Built on a helpline concept, it will register
beneficiaries on the basis of a missed call.
• The counselling would be done through a two-
way SMS process, the Minister informed.
Highlights of the TB Missed Call initiative
• Under TB Missed Call initiative, a dedicated toll
free number 1800-11–6666 which will provide
round the clock counselling and treatment support
services for TB patients.
• The callers can give a missed call or call for free
to get information related to TB symptoms,
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 7
treatment services available, address and contact
details of the nearest treatment facility etc.
• Initially the service will be available to people in
the States of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and
Delhi.
These m-Health initiatives were announced by the
Union Government on 25 December 2015 on the
occasion of the Good Governance Day which is
celebrated annually to mark the birth anniversary
of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Kerala became first State to achieve 100%
primary education
Kerala became the first state in the country to
achieve 100 percent primary education. To this
effect, a declaration was made by the Vice
President of India Hamid Ansari on 12 January
2016 at a special ceremony organised at
Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The success of
Kerala in achieving total primary education can be
attributed to various initiatives undertaken by the
Kerala Literacy Mission in the last two decades.
Especially, the Athulyam Scheme, which was
implemented in two stages, played a key role in
addressing the educational needs of illiterate
adults.
The second stage of the scheme, namely Mission
676, targeted those between ages 15 and 50 who,
for one reason or the other, dropped out of the
formal education process. Prior to the Athulyam
Scheme, the fourth standard equivalency
programme was started in 2000 in association with
local bodies. As a result, Kannur became the first
district in the country to achieve total primary
education in 2001.
Union Railway Ministry inaugurated
implementation of E-enabled Track
Management System
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu
on 11 January 2016 inaugurated implementation of
E-enabled Track Management System (TMS) and
Mobile Application of TMS on Indian Railway at
Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.
Indian Railways brought in these initiatives to
bring efficiency and effectiveness in management
practices which involve handling of huge volumes
of data statistics as well as dynamic analysis of
various measurement and defects and planning,
deployment of large resources.
Along with these two initiatives, the minister also
inaugurated pilot implementation of Track
Inventory Management System on Northern
Railway to track materials inventory, construction
and track machines organization in entire 225 units
of Northern Railway.
Features of E-enablement of Track
Management System (TMS)
• It is an important milestone in promoting e-
working in civil engineering department of Indian
Railways.
• It is implemented on all the 68 divisions of
Indian Railways. With the implementation of this
system, various activities of Track Inspection,
Monitoring and Maintenance came on IT platform.
• It is the first of its kind Organization Wide Asset
Management IT Application.
• It is designed for decentralization of data
capturing and speedy information dissemination
along with centralized data keeping and analysis.
• It will eliminate more than 100000 manual record
keeping registers and make the area of working
almost paperless.
• It provides alerts in the form of Short Message
Services (SMS) and E-mails to all concerned
officials right from Junior Engineer in field upto
the Railway Board.
• Database and application servers are established
in CRIS Data Center at Delhi.
• Required infrastructure like Netbooks/mini
laptops along with requisite Internet
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 8
connectivity/mobile data cards provided to all
Junior and Senior Engineers.
Features of TMS Mobile Application
• It is developed to use the Track Management
System on mobiles and tablets.
• It is very useful for senior management and for
officials on the move.
• Important information and reports like includes
rail fracture analysis, IMR welds, overdue
Ultrasonic testing, track machine working reports
& Engineering Control’s morning position are
included in this application.
PM’s interaction through PRAGATI
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, recently
chaired his ninth interaction through PRAGATI –
the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-
Active Governance and Timely Implementation.
Taking strong exception at complaints and
grievances from people, related to the customs and
excise sector, the Prime Minister has asked for
strict action against responsible officials.
He has also urged all Secretaries whose
departments have extensive public dealing, to set
up a system for top-level monitoring of grievances
immediately.
In course of his review, the Prime Minister also
reviewed the progress of vital infrastructure
projects in the road, railway, coal, power and
renewable energy sectors, spread over several
states.
PRAGATI is a unique integrating and interactive
platform. The platform is aimed at addressing
common man’s grievances, and simultaneously
monitoring and reviewing important programmes
and projects of the Government of India as well as
projects flagged by State Governments.
Unique features:
The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three
latest technologies: Digital data management,
video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology.
It also offers a unique combination in the direction
of cooperative federalism since it brings on one
stage the Secretaries of Government of India and
the Chief Secretaries of the States.
With this, the Prime Minister is able to discuss the
issues with the concerned Central and State
officials with full information and latest visuals of
the ground level situation. It is also an innovative
project in e-governance and good governance.
It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government
Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States).
Issues to be flagged before the PM are picked up
from the available database regarding Public
Grievances, on-going Programmes and pending
Projects.
The system will ride on, strengthen and re-
engineer the data bases of the CPGRAMS for
grievances, Project Monitoring Group (PMG) and
the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation. PRAGATI provides an interface
and platform for all these three aspects.
It will also take into consideration various
correspondences to PM’s office by the common
people or from high dignitaries of States and/or
developers of public projects.
It is also a robust system for bringing e-
transparency and e-accountability with real-time
presence and exchange among the key
stakeholders.
The system has been designed in-house by the
PMO team with the help of National Informatics
Center (NIC).
Union Government approved 33 percent
representation of women in CAPFs
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 5 January
2016 approved the 33 percent posts at constable
level to be filled up by women. The step was taken
with a view to enhance representation of women in
Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). According
to an official statement, the 33 percent reservation
of women constable level posts would be in CRPF
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 9
and CISF and 14-15 percent posts would be in
border guarding forces that is BSF, SSB & ITBP.
INS Kadmatt Commissioned
INS Kadmatt, second ship of Project 28 (P28)
class Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvettes,
was recently commissioned into the Indian Navy
by the Chief of Naval Staff at a ceremony held at
Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
INS Kadmatt is named after one of the large
islands amongst the Lakshadweep group of Islands
off the west coast of India. It is one of the most
potent warships to have been constructed in India.
It has been constructed using high grade steel
(DMR 249A) produced in India. The vessel is
indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-
house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design
and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and
Engineers Limited, Kolkata.
It is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve
speeds in excess of 25 knots with an endurance of
3450 Nm. Some of the advanced stealth features
have been incorporated in this ship.
The unique feature of this ship is the high level of
indigenisation incorporated in the production,
accentuating our national objective of ‘Make in
India’. About 90% of the ship is indigenous and
the ship is equipped to fight in Nuclear, Biological
and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.
With the changing power dynamics in the Indian
Ocean Region, INS Kadmatt is expected to
augment the mobility, reach and flexibility of
Indian Navy.
20th National Youth Festival inaugurated
in Naya Raipur
The 20th National Youth Festival was on 12
January 2016 inaugurated by Union Road
Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari at
Rajyostav Sthal in Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh to
mark the National Youth Day. The five day long
annual festival is celebrated by the Union
Government in partnership with a state
government on the occasion of the birth
anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. For the 20th
National Youth Festival, Chhattisgarh was chosen
as the partner state with the theme India Youth for
Skill, Development and Harmony.
Features of 20th National Youth Festival
• It is an annual gathering of students being jointly
organised by Chhattisgarh Sports and Youth
Welfare Department, Union Ministry of Youth
Affairs and Sports, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan
and National Service Scheme.
• The festival will see the participation of over
6000 youths from across the country except West
Bengal.
• It will see contests in 18 different disciplines,
including folk dance, folk song, drama, classical
music, classical dance, extempore etc.
• For the first time in the youth festival, para-
trooping would be displayed by the Indian Army
along with weapons and explosives used during
war.
• It comprises a Youth Parliament where
representatives of student unions and Universities
would discuss key issues of the country
particularly on the theme-India Youth for Skill,
Development and Harmony.
• National Industry Conclave: The conclave, which
is held annually during the festival, saw the
participation of various ministries and companies.
• In the conclave, the participants discussed issues
related to skill development such as public private
participation, reforms in skills for industrial
development and improving livelihood in rural
India through Skill India.
• On this occasion, Tata Group announced that it
would establish 40 skill centres.
• Mascot: Wild Buffalo, the state animal of
Chhattisgarh, in famous dancing pose was chosen
as the mascot of the event.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 10
• The mascot was named as Sanghi (friend), which
symbolises strength, gives message of physical
fitness to youth of nation and its dancing pose
signifies festive zeal.
New skill initiatives launched for youths on
National Youth Day
The Union Ministry of Tourism has launched the
following new skill initiatives on the occasion of
“National Youth Day” in order to improve the
sectoral service standards, which is one of the pre-
requisites for attracting tourists in larger numbers:
A sensitization programme for the existing
service providers at Varnasi:
The primary objectives of the programme will be
to eventually achieve an improved tourist specific
service ambience and to further the Swachh Bharat
Abhiyaan. It will target Boatmen, Rickshaw
pullers, Pandas, Porters, Shopkeepers & Street
Vendors. The Programme will be implemented by
the Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel
Management.
A programme to groom young persons
interested in home delivery service as an
occupation:
It will target persons who are at least matriculates
and in the age group of 18-28 years. The
Programme will be implemented by the Indian
Institute of Tourism & Travel Management,
Institutes of Hotel Management & Food Craft
Institutes. The programme will prepare the trainees
to deliver food at home with skill, style and
civility.
A programme for training to bring up
“Paryatak Mitra”:
The programme will attempt to inculcate
appropriate tourism traits and knowledge among
the trainees to enable them to act / work as Tourist
Facilitators (Paryatak Mitra). It will target college-
going students including those enrolled with the
NCC& NSS, in the age group of 18-28 years. The
programme will be implemented by the Indian
Institute of Tourism & Travel Management, first at
destinations identified under the PRASAD scheme
of the Ministry of Tourism.
A training programme to bring up tourist
facilitators in the North East:
The primary objective of the programme limited to
the North East, will be to achieve better tourist
satisfaction in terms of availability of skilled
tourist facilitators. It will target 10+2 pass-outs in
the age group of 18-28 years. The programme will
be implemented by the Indian Institute of Tourism
& Travel Management.
ECONOMY
PM Narendra Modi launched Start-up
India initiative
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 January
2016 launched Start-up India initiative to augment
startup ecosystem in the country. The initiative
was launched in New Delhi. On this occasion, the
Prime Minister also unveiled Start-up India, Stand-
up India Action Plan which contained a slew of
financial, policy and regulatory measures aimed at
giving impetus to innovation and entrepreneurship
in the country.
Key features of Start-up India, Stand-up India
Action Plan
• A separate fund will be created with 10000 crore
rupees corpus for development and growth of
innovation driven enterprises. It will be 2500 crore
rupees a year for four years.
• The Atal Innovation Mission was announced
with a focus on strengthening incubation facilities
for startups. Under the mission, among other
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things, pre-incubation training will be offered to
willing entrepreneurs.
• Under the mission, 35 new incubators, 7 new
research parks, 31 innovation centres will be set up
at the premier technology institutes under the
public private partnership mode.
• 500 sector specific incubators, including 5 new
Bio clusters will be established across the country.
• An innovation programme will be launched in 5
lakh schools across the country to nurture
innovation among 10 lakh children.
• Profits of Start-up units will be made tax-free for
3 years and there will be a moratorium on labour
inspections for the first 3 years of operations.
• Capital gains tax to be exempted for venture
capital investments. However, the exemption will
be applicable only when only when the proceeds
are invested in another startup.
• New scheme will be launched to provide
Intellectual Property Rights protection to start-ups
and new firms.
• Liberalised Fast-track mechanism will be
evolved to process startup patent applications
under IPR protection with 80 percent reduction in
registration fee.
• Self-certification based compliance regime will
be followed in relation to labour and
environmental laws.
• A new mobile app to enable start-ups to register
themselves within a day and a portal to apply for
clearances online will be operation from 1 April
2016.
• Easier exits for failed ventures with a provision
for winding them up within 90 days under the
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill, 2015.
Union Cabinet approved Pradhan Mantri
Fasal Bima Yojana to boost the farming
sector
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 13 January 2016 approved the
New Crop Insurance Scheme,‘Pradhan Mantri
Fasal Bima Yojana’ to boost the agricultural
sector. The theme of the Scheme is One Nation –
One Scheme. In this, all shortcomings and
weaknesses of all previous schemes were removed
and incorporated with the best features of all
schemes.
Highlights of the scheme are:
• Farmers will pay a uniform premium of only 2
percent for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi
crops.
• In case of annual commercial and horticultural
crops, farmers will pay a premium of only 5
percent. The balance premium, after farmers
paying the premium at very low rate, will be paid
by the Government to provide full insured amount
to the farmers against crop loss on account of
natural calamities.
• There will not be any upper limit on Government
subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will
be borne by the Government.
• Earlier, there was a provision of capping the
premium rate which resulted in low claims being
paid to farmers. This capping limited the
Government outgo on the premium subsidy. Now,
this capping was removed and farmers will get full
sum insured without any reduction against their
claim.
• The usage of technology will be encouraged to a
great extent. Smart phones will be used to capture
and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the
delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote
sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop
cutting experiments.
Union Cabinet approved creation of a
Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA loans
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Union Cabinet on 6 January 2016 approved
creation of a Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro
Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA)
loans. The Fund is expected to guarantee more
than 1 lakh crore rupees worth of loans to micro
and small units in the first instance.
• The Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA Units
(CGFMU) has been established for guaranteeing
loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra
Yojana with effect from 8 April 2015.
• The Fund’s objective is to reduce the credit risk
to Banks/NBFCs/MFIs/other financial
intermediaries, who are Member Lending
Institutions (MLIs).
• The Trustee of the Fund will be the National
Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC
Ltd.). NCGTC Ltd is a wholly-owned company of
Government of India constituted in 2013 under the
Companies Act, 1956 to manage and operate
various credit guarantee funds.
• The guarantee would be provided on portfolio
basis to a maximum extent of 50 percent of
Amount in Default in the portfolio.
Besides, the cabinet also approved to convert
MUDRA Ltd. into MUDRA Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Bank as a
wholly owned subsidiary of SIDBI.
The MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank will undertake
refinance operations and provide support services
with focus on portal management; data analysis
etc. apart from any other activity entrusted/advised
by Government of India. The Union Budget 2015-
16 provided for MUDRA Bank and a Credit
Guarantee Fund which was to be set up with a
refinance corpus of 20000 crore rupees and a
corpus of 3000 crore rupees respectively. MUDRA
Ltd was set up as a corporate subsidiary of SIDBI
in March 2015. It was set up as a precursor to the
launch of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana
(PMMY) on 8 April 2015. For this, RBI had
allocated 20000 crore rupees.
CRZ amendment raises hackles
The amendment to the Coastal Regulation Zone
(CRZ) notification 2011 permitting the use of
reclaimed land for construction of roads in notified
areas has triggered a wave of concern among
coastal communities, amid fears that it would
trigger further dilution of CRZ norms. Along with
the coastal communities, even the scientists have
raised their voices against these amendments.
Scientists feel that the amendment would spark a
spree of construction activities along the coast,
endangering the marine and coastal ecosystems.
They also allege that the government move is
dictated by powerful lobbies with an eye on
ecologically sensitive coastal areas.
Environmentalists are also worried as the
amendment would permit roads to come up in the
CRZ region comprising ecologically sensitive
areas and classified as a ‘no development zone’.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate
Change (MoEFCC) through an extraordinary
gazette notification on December 30, 2015 issued
amendments the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)
notification 2011. These amendments permits the
use of reclaimed land for roads, mass rapid or
multimodal transit systems, and the construction
and installation of associated public utilities and
infrastructure to operate such systems within the
CRZ area. It says such roads should not be taken
as authorised for permitting development on the
landward side till the existing High Tide Line.
The notification adds that construction of roads
would be permitted only on the recommendation
of the Coastal Zone Management Authority
concerned and the clearance of MoEFCC. It also
mandates compensatory afforestation to replace
the mangroves cut or destroyed for road
construction.
Tax on seed funding to be scrapped
The government has decided to scrap a tax on seed
funding provided to start-ups by Indian angel
investors in the upcoming Union Budget, to help
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Page 13
domestic financiers bankroll new entrepreneurial
ventures under its Start Up India campaign.
This tax treats infusion of funds by domestic angel
investors as income in the hands of the start-up.
This also makes India the only country in the
world to penalise local angel investors in such a
manner. This tax roughly takes away 30% of the
investment from the start-up’s cash flow. Tax on
seed funding is one of the key reasons that 90% of
Indian start-ups are financed by foreign venture
capital and angel funds.
Since this tax applies only to domestic investors, it
acted as a disincentive to local funding for start-
ups. The tax treatment and difficulties of doing
business in India as start-ups attain scale, make it
attractive for such ventures to relocate out of India
to countries like Singapore; 65% of successful
start-ups that began in India have moved out of the
country. According to estimates by the team of
officials working on the Start Up India
programme, start-ups in the country received
around 9 billion dollars of funding in 2015.
Angel investor is an investor who provides
financial backing for small startups or
entrepreneurs. Angel investors are usually found
among an entrepreneur’s family and friends. The
capital they provide can be a one-time injection of
seed money or ongoing support to carry the
company through difficult times.
Sterlite Grid commissioned first power
project under TBCB incentive regime
Sterlite Grid on 2 January 2016 set a new
benchmark by commissioning the Transmission
Project to Rajasthan Atomic Power Project
(RAPP) ahead of schedule under the Tariff Based
Competitive Bidding (TBCB) incentive regime.
RAPP is the first power transmission line to be
been commissioned ahead of schedule since the
implementation of TBCB scheme.
As per Sterlite Grid, the construction work on
transmission project to RAPP, which was awarded
to the company in 2013, was completed within 12
months from the start of construction. With the
commissioning of the RAPP Transmission Project,
Sterlite Grid so far has commissioned four out of a
portfolio of seven projects and operates ~2900
Circuit Km of projects in eight Indian states.
RAPP Transmission Project
The project includes laying a 200-km, 400-kilovolt
double-circuit transmission line passing through
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It will connect
Kota in Rajasthan to Shujalpur in Madhya Pradesh
to provide the path for the evacuation of electricity
generated at RAPP-7 and 8. The project was
completed at an estimated cost of 275 crore rupees
would directly benefit the states of Madhya
Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The project will act
as an inter-regional link to strengthen transmission
systems associated with RAPP to exchange power
between the northern and western grids.
Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB)
Under the TBCB norms, developers quoting the
lowest average electricity tariffs from a proposed
project get to set it up, as against the erstwhile
“cost-plus” model, where projects were set up
through pacts with distribution utilities and were
entitled to assured returns. Further, the power
projects awarded under TBCB regime to Power
Grid Corporation for system strengthening would
get transmission charge from the date of
commercial operations, even if it is ahead of
schedule.
DAVA project wins 2015 eASIA Award
The Department of Commerce’s DAVA (Drug
Authentication and Verification Application)
project has won the 2015 eASIA Award under
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Trade Facilitation category as announced by Asia
Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and
Electronic Business (AFACT) in Tehran, Iran. The
award administered by AFACT aims to promote
trade facilitation and electronic business activities
in the Asia-Pacific region.
The DAVA project is an initiative of Government
of India which aims to cover all the drugs
manufactured in India. The project has created an
integrated platform for implementation of the
Track and Trace system both for exports and
domestic markets of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals.
The project will provide simpler means to the
consumer and regulatory agencies for establishing
drug authentication and protect the India’s Brand
image in international trade.
DAVA application, developed under the project,
has value-added features like availability of stocks
for a drug in an area/wholesalers/retailers at a
point of time; whenever required, drugs can easily
be identified and recalled due to traceability of
stocks, prevention of black marketing which
especially arises during epidemics.
Presently, it is in the pilot stage and will be
subsequently made mandatory for all
pharmaceutical exports from India. When fully
implemented, the export of fake or spurious drug
from the country, will not be possible and in case
it happens it would be easily traceable.
Dept of Biotech and BIRAC to Participate
in the Bharat Innovation Fund
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), along
with the Biotechnology Industry Research
Assistance Council (BIRAC), has announced its
participation in the Bharat Innovation Fund. The
DBT will engage with the Bharat Fund, as part of
DBT’s efforts under the Startup India initiative, to
help commercialize technologies from its labs and
facilities. The DBT has announced to invest Rs. 50
crore over the next 3 years to support startups
through this Fund. Productive innovations from
the department of biotechnology can make a huge
impact in people’s lives, as has been seen in the
advances of medicine in recent years.
The Bharat Fund is a public-private-academia
partnership set up by Indian Institute of
Management (IIM) Ahmedabad’s Centre for
Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship
(CIIE). The Fund was launched by the Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi in September 2015
during the Startup Konnect event in California.
The Fund will be managed and coordinated by
CIIE at the IIM, Ahmedabad. It will support
innovation and innovative startups in areas of
healthcare and life-sciences, sustainability, and
digital technologies. The Fund will use important
tools such as labs, mentorship, funding, and
networking to support entrepreneurs who take on
hard challenges of an ever-broadening Indian
market. Since its launch in the Startup Konnect
event, the Bharat Fund has received pledges from
several government and corporate entities, such as
the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy
(DIPP), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE), Tata Trusts, and others.
CCEA approved Amended Technology
Upgradation Fund Scheme for textiles
industry
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on
30 December 2015 approved the introduction of
Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme
(ATUFS) in place of the existing Revised
Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund
Scheme (RR-TUFS), for technology upgradation
of the textiles industry. The new scheme will give
a boost to Make in India in the textiles sector. It is
expected to attract investment to the tune of one
lakh crore rupees and create over 30 lakh jobs.
Highlights of Amended Technology
Upgradation Fund Scheme
• Employment generation and export by
encouraging apparel and garment industry, which
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 15
will provide employment to women in particular
and increase India’s share in global exports.
• Promotion of Technical Textiles, a sunrise sector,
for export and employment.
• Promoting conversion of existing looms to better
technology looms for improvement in quality and
productivity.
• Encouraging better quality in processing industry
and checking need for import of fabrics by the
garment sector.
• A budget provision of 17822 crore rupees has
been approved, of which 12671 crore rupees will
be utilised for committed liabilities under the
ongoing scheme, and 5151 crore rupees will be
reserved for new cases under ATUFS.
• The implementation of the scheme will be
executed and monitored online under iTUFS,
launched in April 2015.
RBI released report of Deepak Mohanty
Committee on Medium-term Path on
Financial Inclusion
The Reserve Bank of India on 28 December 2015
released the Report of the Committee on Medium-
term Path on Financial Inclusion. The committee
was constituted on 15 July 2015 by the RBI with
the objective of working out a medium-term (five
year) measurable action plan for financial
inclusion. The 14-member committee was headed
by RBI Executive Director Deepak Mohanty.
Salient recommendations of the committee
• Banks have to make special efforts to step up
account opening for females, and the Government
may consider a deposit scheme for the girl child –
Sukanya Shiksha - as a welfare measure.
• Given the predominance of individual account
holdings (94 per cent of total credit accounts), a
unique biometric identifier such as Aadhaar should
be linked to each individual credit account.
• Account lined Aadhaar and the credit
information should be shared with companies to
enhance the stability of the credit system and
improve access.
• To improve ‘last mile’ service delivery and to
translate financial access into enhanced
convenience and usage, a low-cost solution should
be developed by utilisation of the mobile banking
facility for maximum possible G2P payments.
• In order to increase formal credit supply to all
agrarian segments, digitisation of land records is
the way forward. This should be backed by an
Aadhaar-linked mechanism for Credit Eligibility
Certificates to facilitate credit flow to actual
cultivators.
• A scheme of ‘Gold KCC’ (kisan credit card) with
higher flexibility for borrowers with prompt
repayment records, which could be dovetailed with
a government-sponsored personal insurance, and
digitisation of KCC to track expenditure pattern.
• Encourage multiple guarantee agencies to
provide credit guarantees in niche areas for micro
and small enterprises (MSEs), and explore
possibilities for counter guarantee and re-
insurance.
• Introduction of a system of online registration of
BCs, their training and monitoring their activity
including delinquency, and entrusting more
complex financial products such as credit to
trained BCs with good track record.
• Corporates should be encouraged to nurture
SHGs as part of their Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
is advised to develop a multi-lingual mobile
application for customers who use non-smart
phones, especially for users of national unified
USSD platform (NUUP).
• State Level Bankers Committees (SLBCs) are
advised to focus more on inter-institutional issues,
livelihood models, social cash transfer, gender
inclusion, Aadhaar seeding, universal account
opening, and less on credit deposit ratio which is a
by-product.
• As a part of second generation reforms, the
government can replace the current agricultural
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 16
input subsidies on fertilisers, power and irrigation
by a direct income transfer scheme.
The Committee also made several other
recommendations to improve the governance
system, strengthen the credit infrastructure and
augment the government social cash transfer so as
to increase the personal disposable income of the
poor to put the economy on a medium-term
sustainable inclusion path.
SEBI released report of Narayan Murthy-
panel on Alternative Investment Policy
The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) on 20 January 2016 released the first report
of the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory
Committee (AIPAC) for comments from the
stakeholders.
The 21-member committee was constituted by the
SEBI in March 2015 under the chairmanship of N
R Narayan Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, to
suggest measures for development of the
alternative investment funds (AIFs) and startup
eco-system in the country.
The recommendations of the committee are
founded on the following principles
• Ease of doing business is important
• Fund managers have the role of “Prudent Men”
• Adopt global best practices, and where
necessary, innovate the “next” (best) practice
• Clarity, consistency, and certainty in tax policies
• Harmonisation and consistency across different
regulators
• AIFs should at least have parity with public
market funds in tax policies
Key suggestions of the committee
• For creating a favourable tax environment the
panel recommended that exempted income of AIFs
should not suffer tax withholding of 10 percent.
• Overseas investors in India-centric fund vehicles
should not be subject to the indirect transfer
provisions of the IT Act when they transfer their
investments in an India-centric vehicle to another
investor.
• Provisions relating to investor diversification,
control or management of portfolio companies, tax
residence, arm’s length remuneration of fund
managers and annual reporting requirements
under the Section 9A of the Income Tax Act,
1961 should be amended.
• Make foreign direct investment in AIFs work
efficiently by clarifying the rules for investment by
non-resident Indian investors in AIFs on a non-
repatriation basis.
• Security Transaction Tax (STT) should be
introduced for private equity and venture capital
investments, including SEBI-registered AIFs and
has parity with the taxation of investments in
listed securities.
• In relation to reforms in the AIF regulatory
regime, the panel suggested for the focus on
regulation of fund managers instead of fund per se.
About Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs)
• Anything alternate to traditional form of
investments gets categorized as alternative
investments.
• Generally, investments in stocks or bonds or
fixed deposits or real estates are considered as
traditional investments and AIF refers to private
equity and hedge funds.
• In India, AIFs are defined in Regulation 2(1)(b)
of SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds)
Regulations, 2012.
• It refers to any privately pooled investment fund,
(whether from Indian or foreign sources), in the
form of a trust or a company or a body corporate
or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
• AIFs bring significant benefits to the Indian
economy. If the regulatory issues are
streamlined, AIFs can attract large capital
flows to potentially reach a size of as much 2
percent of the GDP.
CCEA approved setting up of over 5000 MW of
Grid-connected Solar PV Power Projects
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) on 20 January 2016 gave its approval for
setting up over 5000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar
PV Power Projects on build, own and operate
basis. The work will be implemented by Solar
Power Developers (SPDs) with Viability Gap
Funding (VGF) under Batch-lV of Phase-ll of the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
(JNNSM). The total investments expected under
the scheme is about 30000 crore rupees.
This would help in creating additional 5000 MW
capacity of Grid-connected solar PV power
generation projects in four trenches of each 1250
MW capacity during four financial years - 2015-
16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. It will also
help in employment generation of about 30000
people in rural and urban areas with reduction of
about 8.525 Million T of CO2 emissions into
environment every year.
Key highlights of Grid-Connected Solar PV
Power Projects
• Installation of 5000 MW Solar PV plants will
generate about 8300 Million units per year, which
caters power to almost 2.5 Million households.
• The Scheme will be implemented by Solar
Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as per the
guidelines of Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy (MNRE).
• SECI will prepare necessary bidding documents
for inviting the proposals for setting up of projects
on a competitive bidding through e-bidding.
• SECI will enter into Power Purchase Agreement
(PPA) with the selected developers and the Power
Sale Agreement (PSA) with the buying entities.
• Requisite funds for provision of the VGF support
will be made available to MNRE from the
National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF), operated by
Ministry of Finance.
• Out of 5000 MW, some capacity in each tranche,
will be developed with mandatory condition of
solar PV cells and Modules made in India. This
will be called the Domestic Content Requirement
(DCR) category and remaining will be in open
category.
• Projects could be set up in the Solar Parks being
developed under a separate MNRE Scheme and
also at other locations, which could be selected by
the bidders on their own.
• Commissioning period will be 13 months from
the date of signing of PPAs.
• MNRE will provide 100 percent VGF to SECI to
disburse to Solar Power Developers immediately
after commissioning, subject to availability of
funds.
• The State Governments will appoint a State
Level Agency for providing necessary support to
facilitate the required approvals and sanctions in a
time bound manner to achieve commissioning of
the projects within the scheduled timeline.
India saved 1 billion US dollars annually
using Aadhaar: World Bank
The World Bank on 14 January 2016 announced
that India saved 1 billion US dollars annually by
using Aadhaar. It was revealed in the bank’s
publication World Development Report 2016:
Digital Dividends that was released in Washington
DC, the USA. As per the report, transfer of fuel
subsidy to bank accounts using the Aadhaar-based
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) saved about 1
billion per year when applied throughout the
country on account of reduced leakage and
efficient gains. The report further estimated that
the DBT has the potential to save over 11 billion
US dollars per year in government expenditure if
the scheme is expanded to other subsidy
programmes.
Findings of the report with respect to India
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• China has the largest number of internet users,
followed by the United States, with India, Japan,
and Brazil filling out the top five.
• A digital identification system such as India’s
Aadhaar, by overcoming complex information
problems, helps willing governments to promote
the inclusion of disadvantaged groups.
• In India, there are an estimated 1.063 billion
population are offline.
• Nearly 900 million Indians have been issued
digital IDs in the past fi ve years, which they are
using to open bank accounts, monitor attendance
of civil servants, and identify recipients of
government subsidies.
• Digital governance played a role in improving
public sector capability. For example, e-
procurement helped in injecting more competition
into the process by increasing the probability that
the winning bidder comes from outside the
project’s region.
India, U.S. clear 100 transfer pricing cases
India and the U.S. have reached an agreement to
resolve more than 100 pending transfer pricing
cases, one of the biggest deterrents for foreign
investors planning an India foray.
This agreement was finalised under the Mutual
Agreement Procedure (MAP) provision contained
in the India-USA Double Taxation Avoidance
Convention (DTAC).
The agreement seeks to resolve past transfer
pricing disputes between the two countries in the
Information Technology (Software Development)
Services [ITS] and Information Technology
enabled Services [ITeS] segments. Some more are
expected to be resolved soon.
How such agreements help?
Transfer pricing is one of the biggest tax issues is
the world today. Pending cases and issues are also
one of the biggest factors keeping foreign
investors wary of India.
Such agreements will lead to a positive
environment and will bring greater certainty. This
greater certainty will lead to more investments
flowing into India.
It should be noted here that all those companies,
embroiled in transfer pricing issues, are off-
shoring companies. With these resolutions, more
US companies will offshore work into India, have
manufacturing in India, which will mean more
employment here.
What is transfer pricing?
Transfer pricing refers to the setting of the price of
goods or services sold between entities within an
enterprise. For example, if a subsidiary sells good
or services to its parent company, then the price set
for this sale is the transfer price.
Digital dividends not spreading rapidly,
says World Bank
The World Bank recently published its annual
World Development Report (WDR) 2016. The
2016 WDR issue titled “Digital Dividends,” noted
that almost 1.063 billion Indians were offline even
though India ranked among the top five nations in
terms of the total number of Internet users, along
with China, the U.S., Japan and Brazil.
Other important observations made by the
report:
With 60% of the world’s population still offline,
institutional and regulatory barriers to efficiency
are exacerbating the problem of low and unevenly
distributed “digital dividends” from growing
Internet penetration across countries.
With the advent of big data, which includes the
likes of India’s Aadhaar unique identity project,
secret snooping by governments can be for
legitimate law enforcement reasons, but sometimes
violates laws and rights.
57% of Indians believe private information on the
Internet is very secure, but only 18% of French
and 16% of German respondents do.
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With nearly 20% of the world’s population unable
to read and write, the spread of digital
technologies alone is unlikely to spell the end of
the global knowledge divide. Yet, there were
numerous examples worldwide of success stories
where the power of the Internet had been
leveraged to improve, for example, the delivery of
public services.
The Bank’s report has also outlined several cases
of NGOs partnering with the Indian government
and such digital citizen engagement led to success
with projects such as “I Change My City,” “I Paid
A Bribe,” and the “Karnataka BVS.”
The report also notes that India, along with
Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, has the greatest
restrictions on service trade.
The report also asks India to have an appropriate
business environment, which shapes how firms
adopt and use technology.
BEPS guidelines of OECD to be
implemented in India from 1 April 2016
The term BEPS is an acronym of Base Erosion and
Profit Shifting and it was in news in the third week
of January 2016 as India decided to implement
these guidelines. BEPS refers to tax planning
strategies that would exploit the gaps and
mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits
to low or no-tax locations where there is little or
no economic activity, resulting in little or no
overall corporate tax being paid.
These norms were announced by Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
in October 2015 to close tax loopholes that it
estimated cost countries upwards of 100 billion US
dollars a year. With the implementation of these
guidelines, it will become mandatory for Indian
multinationals to make country-by-country
reporting to follow guidelines from the financial
year that begins on 1 April 2016. It will impact all
Indian companies with significant cross-border
operations and with annual consolidated global
revenue of more than 5500 crore rupees. BEPS
will be major significance for developing countries
like India, as they strongly rely on corporate
income tax and in particular from multinational
enterprises (MNEs).
Union Government signed a loan
agreement with World Bank for
Neeranchal National Watershed Project
Union Government on 14 January 2016 signed a
loan agreement with World Bank in New Delhi for
the Neeranchal National Watershed Project. All 28
states which implement the watershed projects will
benefit from this project. However, the nine states,
Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan
and Telangana will benefit more from the project
as they are implementation of large number of
watershed schemes in their states.
Features of Neeranchal National Watershed
Project
• The project was approved by the Union Cabinet
in October 2015 with a total budget of 2142 crore
rupees in which India would bear 1071 crore
rupees and the rest 50 percent cost will be borne
by the World Bank.
• It will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural
Development over a six-year period (2016-21).
• It will support the Pradhan Mantri Krishi
Sinchayi Yojana in hydrology and water
management, agricultural production systems,
capacity building and monitoring and evaluation.
• Around 12 percent of the area of wasteland will
be targeted through this project to make about 336
lakh hectares of land arable.
• The Minister said that the effective
implementation of the scheme will go a long way
in strengthening the economic conditions of the
farming community.
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IMF implemented 2010 Quota and
Governance Reforms
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 27
January 2016 implemented the long-pending 2010
Quota and Governance Reforms. The reforms
represent a major step towards the increasing role
of dynamic emerging market and developing
countries. The entry into force of these reforms
will reinforce the credibility, effectiveness, and
legitimacy of the IMF.
Highlights of the Reforms
• For the first time, four emerging market
countries- Brazil, China, India, and Russia will be
among the 10 largest members of the IMF.
• Other top 10 members include the United States,
Japan, and the four largest European countries
France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
• India’s voting rights increased to 2.6 percent
from the current 2.3 percent and China’s voting
rights increased to six percent from 3.8.
• The reforms also increased the financial strength
of the IMF by doubling its permanent capital
resources to 659 billion US dollars.
• More than 6 percent of quota shares will shift to
dynamic emerging market and developing
countries and also from over-represented to under-
represented IMF members.
• The quota shares and voting power of the IMF’s
poorest member countries will be protected.
• For the first time, the IMF’s Board will consist
entirely of elected Executive Directors, ending the
category of appointed Executive Directors.
• The scope for appointing a second Alternate
Executive Director in multi-country constituencies
with seven or more members has been increased.
Reason for the delay in implementation of reforms
The 2010 Quota and Governance reforms were
approved by the IMF’s Board of Governors in
December 2010. However, their implementation
got delayed due to the time taken by the US
Congress to approve the changes.
The US Senate approved the changes in December
2015 paving the way for the implementation of the
reforms.
India and Armenia signed a protocol to
amend Double Taxation Avoidance
Convention
India and Armenia on 27 January 2016 signed a
protocol to amend the India-Armenia Double
Taxation Avoidance Convention. It amends the
convention between these countries that has been
in existence since 9 September 2004. It amends the
article on exchange of Information for tax
purposes to bring it in line with the updated
provisions in the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) Model. It
will enable the two countries to exchange
information related to financial and banking
transactions under the Double Taxation Avoidance
Convention, and thereby facilitate them in
addressing tax evasion. It is also expected to
further strengthen the efforts of Union
Government in curbing the generation of black
money.
Gujarat’s former IAS officer D K Sikri
appointed CCI chief
Devender Kumar Sikri , a former Gujarat cadre
IAS officer, has been appointed chairman of the
fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of
India (CCI).
Competition Commission of India is a body
responsible for enforcing The Competition Act,
2002 throughout India and to prevent activities
that have an adverse effect on competition in India.
It was established on 14 October 2003. It became
fully functional in May 2009.
CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members
appointed by the Central Government.
The duty of the Commission is to eliminate
practices having adverse effect on competition,
promote and sustain competition, protect the
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 21
interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade
in the markets of India.
The Commission is also required to give opinion
on competition issues on a reference received from
a statutory authority established under any law and
to undertake competition advocacy, create public
awareness and impart training on competition
issues.
The Competition Act, 2002 prohibits anti-
competitive agreements, abuse of dominant
position by enterprises and regulates combinations
(acquisition, acquiring of control and Merger and
acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an
appreciable adverse effect on competition within
India.
INTERNATIONAL
India-Nepal Bus Service resumed after 27
years
India-Nepal Bus Service on 4 January 2016
resumed after a gap of 27 years. The service was
suspended 27 years ago in the wake of the Indo-
Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty. The service runs
between Kanchanpur in Nepal, which is close to
Banbasa border in Champavat district of
Uttarakhand, and Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi. To
travel in these buses, no special documents are
required as both the countries share open border.
The service is expected to benefit people living
along the border areas as they have family as well
as trade relations with each other.
Union Cabinet approved construction of 69
bridges on trilateral highway in Myanmar
The Union Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, on 30 December 2015 approved
the construction of 69 bridges including approach
roads on the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road
section of the trilateral highway in Myanmar. The
bridges will be constructed at a cost of 371.58
crore rupees.
Key facts related to construction of bridges on
TKK road section:
• The construction of bridges will impart all
weather usability to the TKK road section, which
is also part of the route for the proposed Imphal-
Mandalay bus service.
• It will improve connectivity between India and
Myanmar and facilitate the movement of goods
and traffic.
• The project will be implemented in Engineering
Procuring and Construction (EPC) mode through
Project Management Consultant (PMC).
• It will be closely monitored by the Indian
Embassy in Yangon, PMC and the Ministry of
External Affairs.
• The project is envisaged to be completed by mid-
2019.
• During the visit of the then prime minister
Manmohan Singh to Myanmar in May 2012, it
was agreed, at the request of Government of
Myanmar, to undertake construction of 71 bridges
in the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section
of the Trilateral Highway. The Government of
Myanmar has started work on constructing two
bridges, on its own, as these bridges needed urgent
attention. As a result, construction of the
remaining 69 bridges will be undertaken under
Government of India's assistance.
The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post-facto
approval for the Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) between India and Bangladesh for Mode of
Operation of Border Haats on India-Bangladesh
Border. The MoU was signed in October 2010.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
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These are common marketplaces which aim at
promoting the well-being of the people dwelling in
remote areas across the borders of two countries,
by establishing traditional system of marketing the
local produce through local markets in local
currency and/or barter basis. Though not
significant as a percentage of bilateral trade, these
measures help to improve economic well-being of
marginalised sections of society.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with
Iran
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on
3 January 2016 announced that his country has
broken off diplomatic ties with Iran. The
announcement was made amid a row over the
Saudi execution of a prominent Shia Muslim
cleric. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others were
executed by Saudi Arabia on 2 January 2016 after
being convicted of terror related offences. This
was the largest execution carried out by Saudi
Arabia in three and a half decades. The
announcement was made after demonstrators
stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and set it on
fire resulting into al-Jubeir asking all Iranian
diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours.
Saudi Arabia also recalled its diplomats from
Tehran. Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei warned that the Sunni Muslim
kingdom would face revenge for the execution.
The execution of Nimr al-Nimr also has come in
for criticism from many Shia-dominated nations
including Bahrain and Pakistan.
Mumbai, Delhi in world’s top-30 ‘super
cities’
Two Indian cities — Delhi and Mumbai — have
made it to a top-30 list of the world’s most
powerful, productive and connected cities.
According to the study conducted by international
real estate consultancy JLL, India’s financial
capital Mumbai has been ranked 22nd while the
national capital Delhi is placed at 24th.
The list is topped by Tokyo, which along with
New York, London and Paris, make the top four
‘super cities’. These four were the destination of
over 50% of all foreign capital invested in the
Global Top 30 cities. Mumbai is also on the top-10
“improvers” list. Top-10 improvers are cities
whose scores in the index of commercial attraction
have improved the most over the past year. The
index of commercial attraction is JLL’s primary
benchmark of the size and strength of a city’s
economy and real estate market.
These Top-30 global cities account for 64% of the
total cross-border investment into the ‘Global300’
— an expanded index of the cities in terms of their
“commercial attraction” or economic and real
estate power and status.
Taiwan elected Tsai Ing-wen as first female
President
Opposition candidate of Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen on 16 January 2016 won
a landslide victory in Taiwan's presidential
election, making her the island's first female
president. Tsai's commanding victory brings to
power DPP, which supports Taiwan's formal
independence from China, a red line for Beijing,
which claims the island as its territory.
14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas held in New
Delhi
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 23
The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was held
on 9 January 2016 in New Delhi. Apart from the
main event in New Delhi, the day was celebrated
by the MEA, across the world, through its
missions/posts abroad. On this occasion, Sushma
Swaraj announced that the government is
considering Aadhaar cards to non-resident Indians
(NRIs) and allowing women workers to Gulf
countries only through the government agencies to
ensure they were not duped by recruiting agents or
firms.
The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas was unique
for two reasons-
1) It was the first limited edition of the PBD. The
government, in 2015, took a decision to limit the
PBD conference as a biannual event and extend
the PBD across the world and throughout the year.
In effect, the next PBD conference will be held in
2017.
2) It was organised for the first time by the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the
government’s decision to merge Ministry of
Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with it. Earlier it
used to celebrated by the MOIA.
About Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas
• It is being held annually since 2003 to bring the
Indian Diaspora on a single platform and leverage
their resources in nation building activities.
• The day is held annually on 9 January 2015 to
mark the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South
Africa to India.
• Apart from the PBD, regional PBDs were also
held across the world. The most recent, 9th RPBD
was held in November 2015, in Los Angeles, the
USA.
• The 13th PBD was held in Gujarat marked the
100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India
from South Africa.
India-France inked 16 pacts including
chopper venture
India and France on 24 January 2016 inked 16
agreements at the India-France Business Summit
in Chandigarh. The Memorandum of
Understanding (MoUs) covered a wide range of
sectors like urban development, urban transport,
water and waste treatment and solar energy. The
agreements were signed in the presence of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and French President
Francois Hollande, who began his three-day visit
to India. Hollande is the Chief Guest at the 67th
India’s Republic Day (26 January 2016)
celebrations. He is the fifth French leader to be a
chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations,
maximum number from any country so far.
The 16 agreements include
• MoU between AFD and Maharashtra on
technical cooperation in the field of sustainable
urban development for development of smart city
in Nagpur.
• MoU between AFD and the Union Territory of
Chandigarh on technical cooperation in the field of
sustainable urban development for development of
smart city in Chandigarh.
• MoU between AFD and the Union Territory of
Puducherry on technical cooperation in the field of
sustainable development for development of smart
city in Puducherry.
• Wind Power Development Agreement between
EDF JV with SITAC RE India to jointly explore
opportunities for development of wind based
power project in India.
• MOU between EPI ltd – Dassault Systèmes in
urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-Egis - urban sector
development.
• MOU between EPI- Schneider Electric - urban
sector development.
• MOU between EPI-Thales - urban sector
development.
• MOU between EPI-EDF - urban sector
development.
• MOU between EPI-Alstom - urban sector
development.
• MOU between EPI-SA CAN - urban sector
development.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
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• MOU between EPI-Lumiplan ITS India Pvt Ltd -
urban sector development.
• MOU between EPI-POMA - urban sector
development.
• Agreement between CEA (the French Alternative
Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and
Green Ventures – Solar photo voltaic projects in
the Indian rural areas (Varanasi, U.P.).
• Agreement between CEA (the French Alternative
Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and
Crompton Greaves - To explore opportunities in
Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) System with storage
function for Indian Airports.
• Mahindra-Airbus cooperation to create the new
private strategic partner for helicopters within the
Make in India initiative.
India-France signed 14 Agreements
including 36 Rafale Aircraft deal
India and France on 25 January 2016 inked 14
Agreements/MoUs in Delhi. The agreements
including MoU on purchase of 36 Rafale Aircrafts
were signed during the State Visit of President
Francois Hollande of France to India.
The 14 agreements/MoUs are
• MoU on purchase of 36 Rafale Aircrafts
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and
Centre National D'études Spatiales (CNES)
Implementation Arrangement on hosting Argos-4
Payload onboard India’s Oceansat-3 satellite
• ISRO and CNES Implementation Arrangement
on a future joint Thermal Infrared earth
observation mission
• Letter of Intent on CNES, France participation in
ISRO’s next Mars Mission
• Shareholding Agreement on JV between Alstom
and Indian Railways for production of 800 electric
locomotives in Madhepura Bihar
• Agreement between Indian Railways and SNCF,
French Railways for joint feasibility study for the
renovation of Ludhiana and Ambala railway
stations
• MOU between Food Safety & Standards
Authority of India and Agence nationale de
sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation (ANSES) in
food safety
• Partnership Agreement on Cooperation in Public
Administration between Ministry of Personnel &
Public Grievances and French
• Declaration of Intent for conducting next round
of Namaste France (Indian festival) in 2016 and
Bonjour India (French festival) 2017
• Cultural Exchange Programme for the period
2016-2018
• Arrangement for establishment of an Indo-
French Ministerial level Joint Committee on
Science & Technology
• MoU for Industry Sponsored PhD Fellowship
between IIT Mumbai and Thales Systemes
Aeroportes
• Cooperation Agreement between IISER, Pune
and ENS de Lyon (France) for joint research,
teaching, exchange of personnel etc.
• Agreement of Cooperation between CNRS, TB,
UBO, UBS, ENSTA Bretagne, ENIB (French
Universities) and IIT Mumbai in the field of
Higher Education & Research.
ENVIRONMENT
India To Implement Stricter Emission
Norms, Leapfrog To BS-VI From 2020
In a bid to curb vehicular pollution, the
government has decided to implement stricter
emission norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI from
April 1, 2020 by skipping BS-V altogether. This
decision was taken recently at an inter-ministerial
meeting chaired by Road Transport and Highways
Minister Nitin Gadkari. At present, BS-IV auto
fuels are being supplied in whole of northern India
covering J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, parts of Rajasthan
and western UP. The rest of the country has BS-III
grade fuel.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
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Bharat Stage emission standards, introduced in
2000, are emission standards that have been set up
the Central government to regulate the output of
air pollutants from internal combustion engine
equipment, including motor vehicles. The different
norms are brought into force in accordance with
the timeline and standards set up by the Central
Pollution Control Board which comes under the
Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate
Change. The Bharat Stage norms are based on
European regulations. In 13 major cities, Bharat
Stage IV emission standards were put in place in
April 2010. BS-IV norms were supposed to come
into effect nationwide from April 2017.
Snowflake Corals growth off
Thiruvananthapuram poses threat to
Marine Ecology
Scuba divers working for Friends of Marine Life
(FML) in December 2015 recorded the presence of
several colonies of the fast-growing alien species
Snowflake Coral (Carijoa riisei) off the coast of
Thiruvananthpuram and Kanyakumari. Freinds of
Marine Life (FML) is a local NGO. As per
scientists colonies of the snowflake, an invasive
species, could pose a serious threat to the marine
ecology of the region. The species was found
amid clusters of rocky reef off the coast of
Kovalam at 10 meter depth in
Thiruvananthapuram and Enayam at 18 meter
depth in Kanyakumari. The species was
documented as part of a research project
harnessing the traditional knowledge of the
fishermen community to access the marine
biodiversity of the region. The project was
coordinated by researcher Robert Panipilla.
Snowflake Coral (Carijoa riisei)
• Carijoa riisei, the snowflake coral (branched pipe
coral), is a species of soft coral in the family
Clavulariidae.
• It is native to the tropical western Atlantic Ocean,
the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Its
range extends from South Carolina to Brazil.
• But at present it has spread to other areas of the
world such as Hawaii, where it is regarded as an
invasive species.
• It is a shade-loving species and grows on
underwater hard surfaces away from direct
sunlight. These include caves, overhangs, ledges
and under piers. It is a fouling organism and will
grow on metal, wood, concrete, plastic and rope.
• It thrives in turbid water with moderate to strong
currents or wave action.
• It has the capacity to dominate space and crowd
out other marine organisms.
Union Cabinet approved Raptor MoU for
conservation of migratory birds of prey
The Union Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, on 30 December 2015 gave its
approval for signing a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for conservation of
migratory birds of prey in Africa and Eurasia. The
MoU, also called as Raptor MOU, will help India
gain knowledge in effectively managing the
habitats of the raptors. With the signing of the
MoU, India will become the 54th signatory to the
MoU. The MoU is also in conformity with the
provisions of the existing Wild Life (Protection)
Act, 1972, wherein the birds have been accorded
protection. It will also include concerted trans-
boundary efforts for conservation through
interaction with other range countries by signing
of the MoU with the Convention on Conservation
of Migratory Species (CMS). Pakistan and Nepal
are the other neighbours which are signatories to
the MoU.
What is a Raptor MoU?
• The Memorandum of Understanding on the
Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 26
and Eurasia is an international, legally non-
binding, agreement to protect migratory birds of
prey.
• It was concluded on 22 October 2008 and came
into effect on 1 November 2008.
• It is an agreement under Article IV paragraph 4
of the CMS.
• It seeks willingness of the signatory Range States
for working for conservation of the raptor species
and their habitats.
• An action plan has been formulated which
primarily envisages the conservation action for
Raptor species.
• The MoU extends its coverage to 76 species of
birds of prey out of which 46 species including
vultures, falcons, eagles, owls, hawks, kites,
harriers, and more which are also found in India.
• The CMS or Bonn Convention, under the
auspices of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), aims to conserve migratory
species throughout their range.
• India has been a party to the CMS since 1
November 1983.
Environment Ministry Holds First National
Stakeholder Consultation on the
Biodiversity Finance Initiative
The Environment Ministry recently held a two-day
National Stakeholder Consultation Meeting on
Biodiversity Finance Initiative to conserve India’s
biodiversity. This National Stakeholder meeting
was organized to understand the BIOFIN project
and to seek professional inputs from experts of
various fields in strengthening the biodiversity
conservation efforts in the country. The meeting
also assessed the expenditure being made by
different organizations for activities related to
biodiversity conservation.
A global high level panel set up by the Convention
on Biological Diversity has estimated that USD
150-440 billion need to be invested annually in
biodiversity for effective implementation of Aichi
global biodiversity targets. The Ministry has
partnered with the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) in a global project on
Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN).
About BIOFIN project:
The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) is a
global partnership that helps government’s cost,
plan and pay for action on biodiversity
conservation and its sustainable use. It was
launched in 2012. The BIOFIN methodology is
being used by 19 countries to analyze, calculate
and develop strategies to generate the funds they
need to meet national biodiversity targets. The
initiative is run by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) with support
from the Governments of Germany, Switzerland
and the European Union.
New bird species named Himalayan Forest
Thrush found in India
A team of scientists discovered a new bird species
named Himalayan Forest Thrush in northeastern
India and adjacent parts of China. The species was
discovered after noticing that a bird, known as a
brush that lived in the forest, sang differently than
the same bird that lived in the mountains. The new
species has been given scientific name Zoothera
salimalii after famous ornithologist and naturalist
Salim Ali who has made significant contributions
to ornithology in India. The Himalayan forest
thrush is the fourth bird species to be discovered in
India since 1947.
New tree frog genus discovered in forests of
north-eastern India
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Professor Sathyabhama Das Biju, popularly known
as the frogman of India, and his team of
researchers discovered a new genus of tree hole-
breeding frogs in the forests of India's northeast
and China. The team comprised PhD students of
Biju and researchers from National Centre for Cell
Science (Pune), University of Peradeniya (Sri
Lanka), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and
American Museum of Natural History (USA). The
findings were published on 20 January 2016 in a
paper titled Frankixalus, a new rhacophorid genus
of tree hole-breeding frog with oophagous tadpoles
in the international journal PLoS One. The genus
has been named Frankixalus after Professor
Franky Bossuyt of Vrije Universiteit Brussel for
his contribution to amphibian research.
2015 is Earth’s warmest year since 1880:
NOAA
The globally averaged temperature over land and
ocean surfaces for 2015 was the highest among all
years since modern record keeping began in 1880.
It was revealed by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
on 20 January 2016 after an independent analysis.
Key facts related to global climate patterns in 2015
• During 2015, the average temperature across
global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62°F
(0.90°C) above the 20th century average.
• This was the highest among all 136 years in the
1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record
set in 2014 by 0.29°F (0.16°C) and marking the
fourth time a global temperature record has been
set this century.
• 2015 is also the largest margin by which the
annual global temperature record has been broken.
• Ten months had record high temperatures for
their respective months during the year. The five
highest monthly departures from average for any
month on record all occurred during 2015.
• Record warmth was broadly spread around the
world, including Central America, South America,
Europe western Asia, Siberia, regions of eastern
and southern Africa, equatorial Pacific, a large
swath of the western North Atlantic, most of the
Indian Ocean and parts of the Arctic Ocean.
• During 2015, the globally-averaged sea surface
temperature was 1.33°F (0.74°C) above the 20th
century average. This was the highest among all
years in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the
previous record of last year by 0.20°F (0.11°C).
• According to data from NOAA analyzed by the
Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the average annual
Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during
2015 was 9.5 million square miles.
• This was the 11th smallest annual snow cover
extent since records began in 1968 and smallest
since 2008. The first half of 2015 saw generally
below-normal snow cover extent, with above-
average coverage later in the year.
• Recent polar sea ice extent trends continued in
2015. The average annual sea ice extent in the
Arctic was 4.25 million square miles, the sixth
smallest annual value of the 37-year period of
record.
• The annual Antarctic sea ice extent was the third
largest on record, at 4.92 million square miles,
behind 2013 and 2014.
International Solar Alliance headquartered
in India with United Nations as Strategic
Partner
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the
President of France François Hollande, on 25
January 2016 laid the foundation stone of the
International Solar Alliance (ISA) headquarters in
National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in
Gwalpahari, Gurgaon. They also inaugurated the
interim Secretariat of the ISA at the same place.
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India dedicated 5 acre land at NISE to ISA for
hosting its Secretariat and also contributed 175
crore rupees for ISA corpus fund for an initial
period of five years. Thereafter it is expected to
generate its own resources and become self-
financing.
SCIENCE
Union Government unveiled National
Biotechnology Development Strategy 2015-
2020
Union Minister for Science & Technology and
Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan on 30 December
2015 unveiled the National Biotechnology
Development Strategy 2015-2020 in New Delhi.
The Strategy aims to establish India as a world-
class bio-manufacturing hub. The strategy also
intends to launch a major mission, backed with
significant investments, for the creation of new
biotech products, create a strong infrastructure for
R&D and commercialization and empower India’s
human resources scientifically and
technologically.
Intended benefits of the envisaged mission are-
• Provide impetus to utilising the knowledge and
tools to the advantage of Humanity
• Launch a major well directed mission backed
with significant investment for generation of new
Biotech Products
• Empower scientifically and technologically
India’s incomparable Human Resource
• Create a strong Infrastructure for R&D and
Commercialisation
• Establish India as a world class Bio-
manufacturing Hub
The Key elements of the Strategy are-
• Building a Skilled Workforce and Leadership
• Revitalizing the knowledge environment at par
with the growing bio-economy
• Enhance Research opportunities in basic,
disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences
• Encourage use-inspired discovery research
• Focus on biotechnology tools for inclusive
development
• Nurturing innovation, translational capacity and
entrepreneurship
• Ensuring a transparent, efficient and globally
best Regulatory system and communication
strategy
• Biotechnology cooperation- Fostering global and
national alliances
• Strengthen Institutional Capacity with redesigned
governance models
• Create a matrix of measurement of processes as
well as outcome
Expected outcomes of the Strategy are-
• Making India ready to meet the challenge of
achieving 100 billion US dollars by 2025
• Launching Four Major Missions – Healthcare,
Food and Nutrition, Clean Energy and Education
• Creating a Technology Development and
Translation network across the country with global
partnership-5 new clusters, 40 Biotech incubators,
150 TTOs, 20 Bio-connect centres
• Strategic and focussed investment in building the
Human Capital by creating a Life Sciences and
Biotechnology Education Council
IUPAC announced addition of Four
Elements to complete Seventh row of
Periodic Table
The International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC) on 30 December 2015
announced discovery and assignment of elements
with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118. The
decision was taken by the IUPAC as the four
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elements met the discovery of elements of the
IUPAP/IUPAC Transfermium Working Group
(TWG) 1991 Discovery Criteria.
All these four elements are synthetic in nature.
They were discovered by scientists belonging to
the USA, Russian and Japan and complete the 7th
row of the periodic table of the elements. Also,
these four elements are the first to be added to the
table since 2011, when elements 114 (Flerovium,
FI) and 116 (Livermorium, LV) were added.
Naming of elements: After officially recognizing
the elements, the IUPAC also invited suggestions
related to permanent names and symbols from the
scientists who discovered them. New elements can
be named after a mythological concept, a mineral,
a place or country, a property or a scientist.
Element 113
• Temporary working name and symbol are
ununtrium and Uut respectively.
• It was discovered by the scientists belonging to
RIKEN research laboratory in Japan.
Elements 115 & 117
• 115: ununpentium, Uup are the temporary
working name and symbol respectively.
• 117: ununseptium, Uus are the temporary
working name and symbol respectively.
• In discovering the element 117 Indian scientist
Susanta Lahiri played an important role.
• They were discovered by scientists belonging to
Russia and the USA in collaboration
Element 118
• It has ununoctium and Uuo as the temporary
working name and symbol respectively.
• It was jointly discovered by scientists belonging
to the Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia and
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
California, USA.
How they were discovered?
They were discovered by slamming lighter nuclei
into each other and tracking the following decay of
the radioactive superheavy elements. Like other
superheavy elements that populate the end of the
periodic table, they only exist for fractions of a
second before decaying into other elements.
About IUPAC
• It is an association of bodies, National Adhering
Organizations, which represent the chemists of
different member countries.
• It was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry
and academia and headquartered in Zurich,
Switzerland.
• It serves to advance the worldwide aspects of the
chemical sciences and to contribute to the
application of chemistry in the service of mankind.
• Over nearly eight decades, it has succeeded in
fostering worldwide communications in the
chemical sciences and in uniting academic,
industrial and public sector chemistry in a
common language.
2016 could be the year of Virtual Reality
Following years of hype, 2016 looks to be the year
that Virtual Reality (VR) actually becomes real as
firms like HTC, Sony and Samsung propose to
launch equipment this year to make this possible.
The HTC Vive, Sony’s PlayStation VR,
Facebook’s Oculus “Rift” and Samsung’s “Rink”
headset will be seen in the market in the next few
months, BBC reported on Saturday.
Virtual reality is a computer-simulated reality (in a
device) that replicates, via photos, an environment
that simulates a physical presence in places in the
real world or an imagined world, allowing the user
to interact in that world. Virtual reality artificially
creates sensory experiences which can include
sight, hearing, touch and smell. For example, with
a VR device you can climb Mount Everest making
your way gingerly across a shaky bridge while
trying not to look down into an icy chasm - all
while sitting on a couch in your house.
No more ‘droughts’ in India, says IMD
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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has
officially expunged the word “drought” from its
vocabulary, months after it struck a contrarian note
and correctly forecast one of India’s severest
monsoon deficits last year.
According to a circular issued by the department
last Thursday, the move is part of a decision to do
away with or re-define terms that are not
scientifically precise. Beginning this season, for
instance, if India’s monsoon rainfall were to dip
below 10 per cent of the normal and span between
20 and 40 per cent of the country’s area, it would
be called a “deficient” year instead of an “All India
Drought Year” as the IMD’s older manuals would
say. A more severe instance, where the deficit
exceeds 40 per cent and would have been called an
“All India Severe Drought Year,” will now be a
“Large Deficient Year”.
The IMD has never used the term “drought” in its
forecasts and has maintained that declaring
droughts was the prerogative of States. “Some
confusion has been there over some years,” said
B.P. Yadav, spokesperson for the agency, “and we
wanted to be more precise.”
The agency had several definitions of drought:
meteorological, hydrological and agricultural, and
it was quite possible for a State to have a
meteorological drought — 90 per cent shortfall of
the average monsoon rainfall — but not suffer an
agricultural drought —if the shortfall didn’t affect
more than 20 per cent of the State’s area.
“Declaring a drought has never been the IMD’s
mandate and, in fact, not even that of the Central
government,” said Shailesh Nayak, former
Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, to whom the
IMD reports. “That’s because drought is not a
measure of productivity (agricultural).”
Officials said the change in the nomenclature
would not practically influence the way States
viewed droughts.
The spokesperson for the agency said there would
now be a standardised definition for heat waves
and cold waves, and the IMD’s local arms would
no longer use terms such as “could” or “may” to
suggest the possibility of showers.
India to switch to bivalent oral polio
vaccine
With India remaining polio-free for five years
now, the government said that it plans to switch to
bivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV) from its present
trivalent version in “some months” even as
President Pranab Mukherjee launched the
countrywide Pulse Polio programme for 2016 on
the eve of National Immunisation Day.
Trivalent OPV contains live and weakened
versions for all the three types (1, 2 and 3) of wild
polio while the bivalent vaccine will contain type 1
and 3. India has already introduced injectable
inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) into its routine
immunisation programme along with oral polio
vaccine (OPV) from November 2015. In the first
phase, IPV has been introduced in Assam, Gujarat,
Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar
Pradesh.
India has been now validated for maternal and
neonatal tetanus elimination in May 2015 well
before the global target date of December 2015.
World’s largest database for cancer drug
discovery goes 3D
Scientists have revolutionised the world’s largest
database for cancer drug discovery by adding 3D
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structures of faulty proteins and maps of cancer’s
communication networks, paving the way for more
effective treatments. The new version of canSAR
database uses artificial intelligence to identify
nooks and crannies on the surface of faulty
cancer—causing molecules, as a key step in
designing new drugs to block them. The database
has already collated billions of experimental
measurements mapping the actions of one million
drugs and chemicals on human proteins, and has
combined these data with genetic information and
results from clinical trials, researchers said. It
allows scientists to identify communication lines
that can be intercepted within tumour cells,
opening up potential new approaches for cancer
treatment. The growing database now holds the 3D
structures of almost three million cavities on the
surface of nearly 110,000 molecules. “The
canSAR database is an important part of the
overall drive to use Big Data approaches to
understand and treat cancer more effectively,” said
Paul Workman, chief executive of The Institute of
Cancer Research. “CanSAR is a massively
powerful resource that’s used globally by
researchers to gain rapid and easy to use access to
a huge wealth of integrated knowledge in biology,
chemistry and cancer medicine,” he said.
Zika virus
An obscure mosquito-borne virus, Zika, is on the
prowl and has already caused an “unprecedent[ed]
situation” in the world of scientific research. It
stems from a huge surge in babies being born with
microcephaly, a rare, incurable condition in which
their heads are abnormally small. The disease is
currently sweeping through Northeastern Brazil,
with officials reporting at least 2,782 cases in
2015, as against 147 in 2014 and 167 in 2013. At
least 40 infants have died so far.
The virus gets its name from the Zika forest in
Uganda, Africa, where it was first identified in
rhesus monkeys in 1947. It was reported in
humans in 1952 but was unknown in the Americas
until last year. The virus is transmitted by
the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also
responsible for the spread of dengue and
chikungunya. In the last few years, confirmed
cases have been reported from Brazil, Colombia,
the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and
Venezuela.
The Zika virus was considered benign until
recently when scientists, for the first time in
November 2015, linked it to a surge in babies born
with microcephaly — an incurable birth defect,
they are born with abnormally small heads.
According to Brazilian authorities, by the end of
the year, Zika could infect over 1.5 million people.
Further, the disease is spreading fast and experts
believe it could spread to other countries in the
Southern hemisphere. Puerto Rico reported its first
case of Zika. Outbreaks have also occurred in parts
of Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Because the Aedes species mosquitoes that spread
Zika virus are found throughout the world, it is
likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) in the United States, and the Canadian
government have issued travel advisories, warning
tourists to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
Further, the Brazilian government is advising
women to delay pregnancies till the outbreak is
under control.
The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint
pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other symptoms
include experiencing muscle pain, headache, pain
behind the eyes, and vomiting. The virus causes a
painful but temporary rash in adults. The illness is
usually mild with symptoms lasting for several
days to a week but 1 in 5 people infected with the
Zika virus become ill
There is no medicine as yet to treat Zika.
According to the CDC, the condition can be
managed and symptoms treated with patients being
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put on bed rest, increasing fluid intake and having
fever medication.
Solar Power Capacity Crosses Milestone of
5,000 MW in India
On the auspicious occasion of Makar
Sankranti/Pongal, the installed capacity of solar
power in India crossed the milestone of 5,000
MW. The cumulative installed capacity has
reached to 5,130 MW with installed capacity of
1385 MW in current FY. The state-wise break-up
of 5,130 MW is given in the Table below. The
state of Rajasthan stands 1st in the country with
1264 MW, followed by Gujarat (1024MW),
Madhya Pradesh (679 MW), Tamil Nadu (419
MW), Maharashtra (379 MW) and Andhra
Pradesh (357 MW).
The Government has set the ambitious target of
generating 100 GW of solar power by the year
2021-22 under the National Solar Mission. It is
envisaged to generate 60 GW ground mounted
grid-connected solar power and 40 GW through
roof-top grid interactive solar power to fulfill the
100 GW of solar power. The Ministry has also
fixed year-wise targets to monitor the solar power
generation in the country. The target for the
current year is 2,000 MW and next year target is
12,000 MW. The Ministry is putting all efforts
through various schemes of Central Government
and State Governments to achieve the targets. It
has been planned that around 18,000 MW tender
should be out by 31st March, 2016.
To achieve above stated objective, the Ministry of
New & Renewable Energy has initiated several
projects like Scheme for Development of Solar
Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects;
Scheme for Development of Solar PV Power
Plants on Canal Banks/ Canal Tops; Scheme for
setting up 300 MW of Grid connected Solar PV
Power Projects by Defense Establishments under
Ministry of Defense and Para Military Forces with
viability Gap Funding; Scheme of setting up 1000
MW of Grid- Connected Solar PV Power Projects
by CPSUs with Viability Gap Funding ; Scheme
for Setting up of 15000 MW of Grid connected to
achieve this target. Solar PV Power Projects by
NTPC/NVVN; Setting up of 2000 MW Grid
connected solar power with Viability Gap Funding
through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
This apart, an ambitious scheme has been launched
by the Ministry for roof-top solar installation.
Various state governments are coming up with
solar power projects under their own policies.
Cabinet approves India joining the
International Energy Agency – Ocean
Energy Systems
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for
India becoming a member country of the
International Energy Agency - Ocean Energy
Systems (IEA-OES) by signing the Implementing
Agreement (IA). The nodal agency for the
membership would be Earth System Science
Organisation - National Institute of Ocean
Technology (ESSO-NIOT) under the Ministry of
Earth Sciences.
By becoming a member of the IEA-OES, India
will have access to advanced R&D teams and
technologies across the world. India will partner in
developing test protocols along with other
countries. This will help in testing Indian
prototypes as per international requirements and
norms. Joint cooperative programs with institutes
of member countries could be taken up. India's
own research projects with specific targets can be
taken up in conjunction with other countries.
The long coastline of India and severe power
deficit in the country, warrant the study of ocean
renewable energies. Vagaries of the sea makes
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harnessing ocean energy a technological challenge.
In the Indian context designing of scaled up ocean
energy devices (including wave, currents and tidal)
and their techno-commercial viability needs to be
undertaken. Tropical countries have high sea
surface temperatures and hence Ocean Thermal
Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a good option for
countries like India. NIOT, an autonomous
research institute under the Ministry of Earth
Sciences, is working in the area of ocean energy
and desalination.
The IEA is an inter-governmental organization
with a broad role of promoting alternate energy
sources (including renewable energy), rational
energy policies and multinational energy
technology co¬operation and acts as energy policy
advisor to 29 member countries. The OES,
launched in 2001, is an intergovernmental
collaboration between countries, which operates
under framework established by the International
Energy Agency. This initiative is to advance
research, development and demonstration of
technologies to harness energy from all forms of
ocean renewable resources, as well as for other
uses, such as desalination etc. through
international cooperation and information
exchange.
PSLV-C31 successfully launched IRNSS-
1E satellite
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
on 20 January 2016 successfully launched the
Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System
(IRNSS) 1-E satellite. The satellite will provide
navigation, tracking and mapping services to the
Indian sub continent. The satellite is the fifth of the
IRNSS constellation. It was launched from the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota
in Andhra Pradesh on-board the PSLV-C31. The
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C31 was
the 32nd consecutively successful mission of the
PSLV. The 'XL' configuration of PSLV was used
for this mission.
Features of IRNSS-1E
• IRNSS-1E, weighing 1425 kg, is the fifth of the
seven satellites constituting the IRNSS.
• IRNSS-1A, 1B and 1C and 1D, the first four
satellites of the constellation, were successfully
launched by PSLV in July 2013, April 2014,
October 2014 and March 2015 respectively.
• IRNSS -1E carries two types of payloads –
navigation payload and ranging payload.
• The navigation payload of IRNSS-1E will
transmit navigation service signals to the users.
This payload will be operating in L5-band and S-
band.
• A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part
of the navigation payload of the satellite.
• The ranging payload of IRNSS-1E consists of a
C-band transponder which facilitates accurate
determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-
1E also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for
laser ranging.
Features of IRNSS
• It consists of seven satellites to provide real-time
data on the position of objects to aid road, air and
maritime traffic apart from providing mapping and
tracking services. It is an independent regional
navigation satellite system designed to provide
position information in the Indian region and 1500
km around the Indian mainland. It would provide
two types of services, namely, Standard
Positioning Services (SPS), which will be
provided to all users, and Restricted Services (RS)
that will be provided to authorised users only. Out
of the seven satellites of the system, three are
geostationary and four are non-geostationary. The
remaining satellites of this constellation, namely,
IRNSS-1F and IRNSS-1G, are expected to be
launched in February 2016 and March 2016
respectively. By using the IRNSS as a platform,
the Government of India is planning to launch its
own Global Navigational Satellite Services, GINS
(Global Indian Navigation Satellite) system. It is
similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS) of
the USA.
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NASA launched SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket
with Jason-3 Ocean-monitoring satellite
The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) on 17 January 2016
launched the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from
California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in the
USA. The rocket carried the ocean monitoring
satellite Jason-3 on board and successfully inserted
it in the desired orbit. However, the rocket failed a
return landing on a drone platform in the Pacific
Ocean. The Jason-3 satellite will examine the
topography of the ocean floor to help study effects
of climate change or human-induced changes on
the ocean.
It is the fourth mission in U.S.-European series of
satellite missions that measure the height of the
ocean surface. It is also expected to help the USA
in better forecasting of hurricane forecasting and
marine navigation. It will extend the time series of
ocean surface topography measurements (the hills
and valleys of the ocean surface) begun by the
TOPEX/Poseidon satellite mission in 1992 and
continuing through the currently operating Jason-1
and Jason-2 missions. The Jason-1 and
OSTM/Jason-2 missions were launched in 2001
and 2008 respectively. These measurements
provide scientists with critical information about
circulation patterns in the ocean and about both
global and regional changes in sea level and the
climate implications of a warming world. The
primary instrument on Jason-3 is a radar altimeter.
The altimeter will measure sea-level variations
over the global ocean with very high accuracy (as
1.3 inches or 3.3 centimeters, with a goal of
achieving 1 inch or 2.5 centimeters).
China launched Gaofen-4 dual-use
geostationary satellite
China on 29 December 2015 successfully launched
Gaofen-4 Earth observation satellite toward a
geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite
Launch Centre in the south-western province of
Sichuan. The Satellite was launched aboard a Long
March-3B carrier rocket. Launched as a part of the
China High-resolution Earth Observation System
(CHEOS), Gaofen-4 is located at the orbit 36000
kilometres away from the earth and moves
synchronously with the earth.
Highlights of the Gaofen-4
• It can see an oil tanker on the sea with a huge
CMOS camera, reaching the best imaging level
among global high-orbit remote sensing satellites.
• It will be used for disaster prevention and relief,
surveillance of geological disasters and forest
disasters, and meteorologic forecast.
• It will offer optical spatial resolution of better
than 50 metres and infrared sensing capabilities
from geostationary orbit.
• It is designed to operate for eight years at an
altitude of almost 36000 km above the Earth.
The satellite was launched as a part of Gaofen
project that aims to launch seven high-definition
observation satellites before 2020. Gaofen-1, the
first satellite of the project, was launched in April
2013.
Indian-American professor developed
Galacto-Seismic method to hunt Dark
Matter
An international team of scientists led by Indian-
American Sukanya Chakrabarti devised a new
method, galacto-seismology, to detect dwarf
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galaxies dominated by dark matter. The method
also explains ripples on the outer disk of the
galaxy. Sukanya Chakrabarti, an assistant
professor at Rochester Institute of Technology,
New York, presented her findings at a press
conference hosted by the American Astronomical
Society meeting in Kissimmee on 7 January 2016.
Findings were submitted to The Astrophysical
Journal Letters.
The discovered method use waves in the galactic
disk to map the interior structure and mass of
galaxies, much similar to seismologist who uses
seismic waves to gather details about the interior
of the earth. This method will help in the hunt for
the mysterious space phenomenon. In the process,
the team used the spectroscopic observations to
calculate the speed of three Cepheid variables in
the Norma constellation. Cepheid variables are the
stars that are used as yardsticks to calculate the
distance of galaxies.
The team used Cepheid variables to locate the dark
matter dominated dwarf galaxy some 3 lakh light
years away. In contrast, the disk of Milky Way
Galaxy terminates some 48000 light years away
from earth. The study tracks a cluster of Cepheid
variables which are travelling at an average speed
of 450000 miles per hour (MPH), that is, 437000
MPH faster than the stars in stellar disk of the
Milky Way. Later they explained that the radial
velocity is the proof they have been looking for,
and it can be concluded that it is not a part of our
galaxy.
Dark Matter is a hypothetical kind of matter that
can’t be seen with telescopes but make up about
85 percent of the mass of the universe. It is one of
the biggest quirks of modern day physics and has
not been understood completely. The existence
and properties of dark matter are inferred from its
gravitational effects on visible matter, on radiation,
and on the large-scale structure of the universe.
Dark matter has not been detected directly, making
it one of the greatest mysteries in modern
astrophysics.
Japanese astronomers discovered second
largest black hole in Milky Way
Japanese astronomers’ team discovered the second
largest black hole in Milky Way. They mapped
high-velocity compact cloud called CO-0.40-0.22
with a mass 100000 times that of the Sun around
200 light years away from the centre of the Milky
Way. The research related to this was published in
Astrophysical Journal Letters with the title
‘Signature of an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in
the Central Molecular Zone of Our Galaxy’ on 28
December 2015. A team led by Tomoharu Oka, a
professor at Keio University observed this
mysterious cloud with two radio telescopes, the
Nobeyama 45m Radio Telescope in Japan and the
ASTE Telescope in Chile. These both telescopes
are operated by the National Astronomical
Observatory of Japan.
Astronomers already know about two sizes of
black holes — stellar-mass black holes, formed
after the gigantic explosions of very massive stars;
and supermassive black holes (SMBH) often found
at the centres of galaxies. Monster Black Hole is
the largest and brightest ever found with a mass
about 12 billion times that of the sun. So, the
present found on would the second largest.
A black hole is a region in space where the pulling
force of gravity is so strong that light is not able to
escape. The strong gravity occurs because matter
has been pressed into a tiny space. This
compression can take place at the end of a star's
life. Some black holes are a result of dying stars.
Because no light can escape, black holes are
invisible. However, space telescopes with special
instruments can help find black holes. They can
observe the behavior of material and stars that are
very close to black holes.
Sikkim becomes India’s first organic state
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Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state
by implementing organic practices on around
75,000 hectares of agricultural land. Around
75,000 hectares of agricultural land was gradually
converted to certified organic land by
implementing organic practices and principles as
per guidelines laid down in National Programme
for Organic Production. It was 12 years ago in
2003 when the Pawan Chamling-led government
decided to make Sikkim an organic farming state
through a declaration in the legislative assembly.
Later the entry of chemical inputs for farmland
was restricted and their sale banned. Farmers
therefore had no option but to go organic. Organic
cultivation is free of chemical pesticides and
chemical fertilisers as it tries to strike a
harmonious balance with a complex series of
ecosystems.
SPORTS
Lodha Panel Report Summary
Lodha panel says no BCCI office-bearer should be
a minister or a govt servant, while also disallowing
office-bearers to have more than two consecutive
terms
The apex court-appointed Justice R.M. Lodha
panel, which had earlier suggested suspension of
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for
two years from participating in the Indian Premier
League (IPL), on Monday submitted the second
part of its report to the Supreme Court registry on
reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI).
Following are the key recommendations made by
the Lodha panel regarding the functioning of
BCCI:
-- No BCCI office-bearer can be minister or
government servant.
-- No BCCI office-bearer can have more than two
consecutive terms.
-- No BCCI office-bearer can hold office for more
than 3 terms with the rider that there will be a
cooling off after each term.
-- No BCCI office-bearer can hold two posts at the
same same time.
-- Only one association of each state will be full
member and have the right to vote.
-- Relegation of railways, services and universities
as associate members. This makes them lose their
voting rights.
-- Separate governing bodies for IPL and BCCI.
-- Limited autonomy for IPL governing council.
-- Constitution and establishment of a players’
association.
-- Formation of a steering committee headed by
former home secretary G.K. Pillai with Mohinder
Amarnath, Diana Eduljee and Anil Kumble as
members.
-- Ethics officer to decide on conflict of interest.
The report will be considered by the bench headed
by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur at a later stage. The
panel’s report was submitted by advocate Gopal
Shankar Narayan to the Supreme Court registry.
Earlier, the panel had suspended star-studded
Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the most
successful team of IPL, and Rajasthan Royals for
two years from the League in a clean up of cricket
following the 2013 betting scam involving their
top officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra.
Son-in-law of the then BCCI chief N. Srinivasan,
Gurunath Meiyappan, a former team principal of
India Cements Ltd (ICL)-owned franchise CSK
and Kundra, co-owner of Jaipur IPL that runs
Rajasthan Royals (RR), were suspended for life
from any matches conducted by BCCI.
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Pranav Dhanawade became first ever to
score 1000 runs in a cricket innings
15-year-old Pranav Dhanawade of Mumbai on 5
January 2016 became first cricketer ever to score
1000 runs in an innings. With this he became the
world’s highest individual scorer in all forms of
cricket. Pranav, batting for KC Gandhi Higher
Secondary School for over two-days, scored
unbeaten 1009 runs in a match against Arya
Gurukul in the Bhandari Cup inter-school
tournament. The event was organised by the
Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
India won the 2015 SAFF championships
India on 3 January 2016 won of the South Asian
Football Federation Cup (SAFF) championships.
In the title clash played at Trivandrum
International Stadium of Kerala, India defeated
defending champions Afghanistan 2-1. Half time
saw both the teams’ goal-less. At the end of a
breathless normal second half, both India and
Afghanistan were 1-1. India has been the most
successful side in the tournaments history by
winning the title in seven of the 11 editions.
Afghans won their first title in 2013.
Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Barry Hawkins
to win sixth Snooker Masters title
Ronnie O'Sullivan on 17 January 2016 won his
sixth Snooker Masters title after defeating Barry
Hawkins 10-1 in the final at the Alexandra Palace
in London. O'Sullivan had previously won the
event in 1995, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2014,
equalling the record set by Stephen Hendry.
Lionel Messi won Ballon d'Or award 2015
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi on 11 January
2016 won the Ballon d'Or trophy for the world’s
best football player for the fifth time overall. In the
2014-15 season, Messi had played 61 games in
which he scored 52 goals, and gave 26 assists.
2015 winners
• FIFA Ballon d'Or: Lionel Messi
• FIFA Women's World Player of the Year: Carli
Lloyd
• FIFA Puskas Award: Wendell Lira
• FIFA World Coach of the Year (Men's): Luis
Enrique
• FIFA World Coach of the Year (Women's): Jill
Ellis
• FIFA FIFPro World XI: Neuer, Silva, Marcelo,
Ramos, Alves, Iniesta, Modric, Pogba, Messi,
Neymar, Ronaldo
• FIFA Fair Play Award: All football organisations
supporting refugees
Stanislas Wawrinka won third consecutive
Chennai Open title
Stanislas Wawrinka on 10 January 2016 won
Chennai Open title. In the summit clash at the
Nungambakkam tennis stadium of Chennai, he
defeated Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 7-5. This is
the fourth Chennai Open title for the Swiss player
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and the third consecutive win, who first won it in
2011. With this win, Wawrinka lifted the cup and
got the award money of 75700 US dollars and got
away with 250 ATP ranking points.
Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won Brisbane
Tennis trophy
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis on 9 January 2016
won the WTA Brisbane Tennis trophy. In the final
at Brisbane, the top seeded Indo-Swiss pair
defeated German Angelique Kerber and Andrea
Petkovic 7-5, 6-1. They also stitched a 26-match
winning streak together, which has brought them
six titles in a row at the US Open, Guangzhou,
Wuhan, Beijing, WTA Finals and now at Brisbane.
India won Blind T20 Asia Cup
India on 24 January 2016 won the first T20 Asia
cup cricket for Blind. In the final clash played at
Jawaharlal Nehru stadium of Kochi, India defeated
Pakistan by 44 runs. Batting first, India scored 208
runs in 20 over whereas Pakistan was restricted to
164 runs in 18.2 over. So far, Pakistan was
unbeaten in this tournament and had defeated India
by 19 runs in the group stages.
PV Sindhu won Malaysia Masters Grand
Prix Gold Badminton title
India's Ace Shuttler, PV Sindhu on 24 January
2016 won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold
Badminton title. In the final clash at Penang, she
defeated Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-15, 21-9.
This was Sindhu’s second Malaysia Masters Grand
Prix Gold title, having won it in 2013 as well.
Australia won five-match ODI series
against India, 4-1
Australia on 23 January 2016 won the five-match
One Day International (ODI) series against India
4-1. In the fifth and final match played at Sydney
Cricket Ground, Sydney, India defeated Australia
by 6 wickets. This is the first time that any team
has chased more than 300 runs to complete victory
against Australia in their own den. India will retain
their No. 2 ranking in ODIs as well. Man of the
Series: Rohit Sharma (India) for his truckload of
runs in the entire series.
Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis won 2016
Australian Open women's doubles tennis
title
Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis
on 29 January 2016 won the 2016 Australian Open
title of tennis in the women’s doubles category. To
win the title, the top seeded Indo-Swiss pair
defeated seventh seeded Czech duo Andrea
Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (1), 6-3 at the
Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. With
the win over the Czech duo, they extended their
unbeaten run to 36. For Sania-Hingis pair, it was
their maiden Australian Open title and the third
successive Grand Slam doubles title after their
victories in the 2015 Wimbledon and US Open.
MISCELLANEOUS
Eminent Tabla player Shankar Ghosh
passed away
Eminent Tabla player Pandit Shankar Ghosh
passed away on 22 January 2016 in Kolkata
following a prolonged illness. He was 80. He is
survived by his wife Sanjukta Ghosh, a classical
vocalist of Patiala gharana, a son, daughter-in-law
and two grandsons. He was awarded the
prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the
year 2000.
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Rahul Thakkar won an Oscar Award for
technical achievement
Person of Indian Origin Rahul Thakkar on 8
January 2016 was named as one of winners of the
Scientific and Technical Awards given by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
famously called Oscar Awards. He shares the
award with Richard Chuang in the category of
groundbreaking design of the DreamWorks
Animation Media Review System. With this he
joined the club of other person of Indian origins
who have won Oscar Awards. These are Bhanu
Athaiya, Satyajit Ray, Resul Pookutty, A.R.
Rahman and Gulzar.
Legendary dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai
passed away
Legendary dancer and Padma Bhushan recipient
Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away on 21 January
2016 in Ahmedabad. She was 97. Besides being a
classical dancer, Sarabhai was a poet, writer and
environmentalist. She also played a leading role in
the social and art scene in Ahmedabad. She was
one of the first classical dancers to turn to
choreography.
UNWTO released World Tourism
Barometer
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on
18 January 2016 released the World Tourism
Barometer, which reviewed trends in tourism at
the regional and global level for 2015 and
enumerated prospects for 2016. As per the
publication, international tourist arrivals grew by
4.4 percent in 2015 to reach a total of 1184 million
in 2015. In numbers, around 50 million more
travelers were recorded in 2015 compared to that
2014.
Highlights of World Tourism Barometer
• 2015 marks the 6th consecutive year of above-
average growth, with international arrivals
increasing by 4 percent or more every year since
the post-crisis year of 2010.
• The tourist arrivals, in 2015, were largely
influenced by exchange rates, oil prices and
natural and manmade crises in many parts of the
world.
• Growth in advanced economy destinations (5
percent growth) exceeded that of emerging
economies (4 percent), boosted by the solid results
of Europe (5 percent).
• By region, Europe, the Americas and Asia and
the Pacific all recorded around 5 percent growth in
2015.
• Arrivals to the Middle East increased by 3
percent, while in Africa points to an estimated 3
percent decrease mostly due to weak results in
North Africa, which accounts for over one third of
arrivals in the region.
• Results from the UNWTO Confidence Index
remain largely positive for 2016, though at a
slightly lower level as compared to the previous
two years.
• Based on the current trend and this outlook,
UNWTO projects international tourist arrivals to
grow by 4 percent worldwide in 2016.
• Among the world’s top source markets, China,
with double-digit growth in expenditure every year
since 2004, continues to lead global outbound
travel.
• Expenditure from the United States , the world’s
second largest source market, and the United
Kingdom, the third largest, was boosted by a
strong currency and rebounding economy.
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Page 40
Anuradha Roy won 2016 DSC Prize for
Sleeping on Jupiter
Indian author Anuradha Roy on 16 January 2016
won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter at the
Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.
About DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
• The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is a
literary prize awarded annually to writers of any
ethnicity or nationality writing about South Asia
with themes such as culture, politics, history or
people.
• The prize was instituted by DSC Limited, an
Indian infrastructure and construction company.
• It is for an original full-length novel written in
English, or translated into English.
• The winner of the prize receives 2800000 rupees
(about 50000 US dollars).
• In 2015, Jhumpa Lahiri won the prize for her
novel The Lowland. Cyrus Mistry won it for
Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer in 2014.
India and Japan conducted joint Coast
Guard exercise Sahyog-Kaijin 2016
The Coast Guards of India and Japan on 15
January 2016 conducted their 15th joint exercise
off the coast of Chennai.
India’s Coast Guard vessel Samudra Pehredar and
the Japanese vessel Echigo were berthed at
Chennai Port for the bilateral training called
Sahyog-Kaijin 2016.
The highlight of the joint exercise was anti-piracy.
However, search and rescue operations and
interoperability between the two forces was also
given emphasis.
The exercise also involved Indian coast guard
ships like Rajkamal, Vishwast, Rajtarang,
Hovercraft, C-415, C-417, one Dornier and one
Chetak helicopter.
Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand won the
Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for work on
Khap panchayats
An independent Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand
on 14 January 2016 won the European
Commission's prestigious Lorenzo Natali Media
Prize for 2015 in Asia and the Pacific amateur
category.
She earned the award for her sensitive portrayal of
life for young women facing the threat of the
diktat of khap panchayats in Haryana with the title
Stirrings beneath the peepul published in the
journal The Equator Linel.
About The Lorenzo Natali Media Prize
• It is organized by the European Commission’s
Directorate-General for International Cooperation
and Development since 1992.
• It is awarded to journalists for outstanding
reporting on development and poverty eradication.
• The Prize is divided into two distinct categories:
amateur and professional journalism. An
independent jury will identify one winner per
category and per region.
• The Regions are Africa, the Arab world and the
Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America
and the Caribbean and Europe.
• Each winner of the prize will be granted 5000
Euros.
• The Lorenzo Natali Grand Prize of an additional
5000 Euros will be awarded to one of the winners.
Employees Provident Fund Organization
won the National Award on e-Governance
2015-16
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Page 41
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization won
the National Award on e-Governance 2015-16 for
launching the Universal Account Number (UAN).
The Union Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions will present the award in
the 19th National Conference on e-governance to
be held in Nagpur on 22 January 2016.The EPFO
bagged the national award in the ‘innovative use of
technology in e-governance’ category and the
retirement body will get a cash prize of 200000
rupees.
What is Universal Account Number (UAN)?
• UAN is an e-initiative of EPFO, launched in July
2014.
• In this initiative, all active employees are
provided a universal number which can be linked
to various provident fund account numbers
provided to them while working in different
organisations
• Statistically, 5.65 crore employees in 457000
organisations were allocated with UAN till
November 2015.
• A single account number can be used through all
of workers’ employments with various
organisations.
• It enables the employees to switch their provident
fund deposits automatically, when they change
their job, just by providing UAN to the new
employer.
• It also allows employees to have access to their
provident fund account to view their balance and
deposits on the portal, without going through the
Employer.
11th World Hindi Day observed on 10
January
The 11th World Hindi Day was celebrated on 10
January 2016. To mark the occasion, Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) through its missions/posts
abroad and the Department of Official Language
(Rajbhasha) conducted special events to spread the
greatness of the language.
Indo-French military exercise Shakti-2016 started
India and France on 8 January 2016 started their
eight-day counter-terrorism and counter-
insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 in
Rajasthan. This is the third edition in the series of
bilateral exercises under this banner and is being
held in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan's
Bikaner.
Amitabh Kant appointed as CEO of NITI
Aayog
Amitabh Kant was on 7 January 2016 appointed as
the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.
His appointment was approved by the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
Kant will take over the office of CEO in March
2016, when he retires from service.
Raghuram Rajan conferred Central
Banker of the Year Award
The Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram
Rajan on 7 January 2016 was felicitated with the
Central Banker of the Year Award (Global and
Asia Pacific) for 2016. The award was given by
the Financial Times Group's monthly publication
The Banker.
India successfully test-fired indigenously
developed MBRL Pinaka II at Pokhran
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Amament Research and Development
Establishment (ARDE) in the last week of
December 2015 successfully test-fired Pinaka II
multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) System.
The three-day long user assisted trials were
conducted at Pokhran in Rajasthan.
Key features of Pinaka II MBRL System
• Pinaka is an unguided rocket system and capable
of neutralising large areas with rapid salvos.
• Range of Pinaka II is 20 km more than the
Pinaka I version, which has a 40 km range and has
already been inducted into the forces.
• The system acts as a force-multiplier while
supplementing the artillery guns of the armed
forces.
• It is capable to incorporate several types of
warheads, which make the weapon deadly for the
enemy as it can even destroy solid structures and
bunkers.
• The system proved its mettle during Kargil war
while neutralising the mountain peaks off the
enemy. They are developed at a very low cost vis-
a-vis other such rocket systems in the world
bestowed with shoot and scoot capabilities.
• The Pinaka MBRL System has been
indigenously developed by the ARDE, Pune.
Commemorative Coin of 150 rupees &
Circulation Coin of 10 rupees on Lala
Lajpat Rai released
Ministry of Culture on 28 January 2016 released a
commemorative coin of 150 rupees and a
circulation coin of 10 rupees on Lala Lajpat Rai.
The Commemorative Coin of 150 rupees is made
of Quaternary alloy with diameter of 44 mm and
weight of 35 grams. The Circulation coin of 10
rupees is made of bi-metallic material with
diameter of 27 mm and weight of 7.71 grams.
Indian activist Henri Tiphagne selected for
Amnesty International Human Rights
Award 2016
Indian lawyer and human rights defender Henri
Tiphagne on 26 January 2016 was selected for the
8th Human Rights Award by Amnesty
International Germany. The award is a recognition
of Tiphagne’s exceptional commitment to human
rights. He will be conferred with the award at an
official ceremony on 25 April 2016 at the Maxim
Gorki Theatre in Berlin, Germany.
Henri Tiphagne is the founder of the organization
People’s Watch, one of the most notable human
rights organizations in India. People’s Watch has
been researching and documenting human rights
violations, as well as providing legal
representation to those affected, for over 20 years.
The organization also actively supports human
rights education. In 1997, Tiphagne founded an
institute offering training for teachers as well as
mentoring around school human rights education
programmes.
Transparency International released
Corruption Perceptions Index 2015
Transparency International on 27 January 2016
released the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
2015. The Index measured the perceived levels of
public sector corruption in 168 countries and
territories across the world.
The CPI 2015 showed that although corruption is
still rife globally, more countries improved their
scores in the edition than declined. The index
further suggested that people working together can
succeed in the battle against corruption.
While Denmark, with rank 1, was adjudged as the
most corruption-free country among the surveyed
countries, India was placed at the 76th place with
38 points. India was at the 85th position among the
175 countries surveyed in the CPI 2014.
Highlights of the Index
• The index was topped by Denmark with a score
of 91. It was followed by Finland and Sweden with
a score of 90 and 89 respectively. While New
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Zealand was at the fourth place, Netherlands and
Norway shared the fifth place with 87 points.
• At the bottom of the list were Angola (163),
South Sudan (163), Sudan (165), Afghanistan
(166) and North Korea and Somalia shared the last
place at 167 with a score of 8 each.
• Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries on the
2015 index scored below 50, on a scale from 0
(perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived
to be very clean).
• Yet in places like Guatemala, Sri Lanka and
Ghana, citizen activists in groups and on their own
worked hard to drive out the corrupt, sending a
strong message that should encourage others to
take decisive action in 2016.
• Top performers share key characteristics: high
levels of press freedom; access to budget
information so the public knows where money
comes from and how it is spent; high levels of
integrity among people in power; and judiciaries
that don’t differentiate between rich and poor, and
that are truly independent from other parts of
government.
• In addition to conflict and war, poor governance,
weak public institutions like police and the
judiciary, and a lack of independence in the media
characterise the lowest ranked countries.
• The big decliners in the past 4 years include
Libya, Australia, Brazil, Spain and Turkey. The
big improvers include Greece, Senegal and UK.
• Brazil was the biggest decliner in the index,
falling 5 points and dropping 7 positions to a rank
of 76. The unfolding Petrobras scandal brought
people into the streets in 2015 and the start of
judicial process may help Brazil stop corruption.
Key trends
• More than 6 billion people live in countries with
a serious corruption problem. The scale of the
issue is huge. 68 per cent of countries worldwide
have a serious corruption problem and half of the
G20 are among them.
• Poor countries lose 1 trillion US dollars a year to
corruption.
• Five of the 10 most corrupt countries also rank
among the 10 least peaceful places in the world.
• In Afghanistan, millions of dollars that should
have gone on reconstruction have been reportedly
wasted or stolen, seriously undermining efforts to
sustain peace.
• Many “clean” countries have dodgy records
overseas. For example, Sweden came third in the
index, yet the Swedish-Finnish firm TeliaSonera –
37 per cent owned by the Swedish state – is facing
allegations that it paid millions of dollars in bribes
to secure business in Uzbekistan, which was at the
153rd in the index.
BRICS economies
Corruption and money laundering are also
problems for the other BRIC countries. South
Africa was the highest ranked country in the
BRICS. It is ranked 61 with a score of 44. Next
among the BRICS were Brazil and India which
shared the 76th position, with a score of 38. While
China ranked 83, Russia was at the 119th place in
the index with score 29.
SAARC Countries
Among the SAARC countries, Bhutan was ranked
highest and Afghanistan was at the bottom. Bhutan
was ranked 27 with a score of 65, whereas
Afghanistan was ranked 166 with a score of 11.
Ranks of the other SAARC countries were India
(76), Sri Lanka (83), Pakistan (117), Nepal (130)
and Bangladesh (139).+
About Corruption Perceptions Index
• It is prepared by Transparency International (TI)
which is a global coalition against corruption and
The CPI 2015 is the 21st edition of the annual
index.
• It is based on expert opinions of public sector
corruption and countries are ranked on the basis of
corruption perception score measured on the scale
of 0 – 100. A score of 0 means highly corrupt
country whereas a score of 100 means very clean
country.
• Transparency International (TI) is based in Berlin
Germany and its Managing Director is Cobus de
Swardt.
• At present, TI is running a campaign called
Unmask the Corrupt, urging European Union,
United States and G20 countries to follow
Denmark’s lead and create public registers that
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Page 44
would make clear who really controls, or is the
beneficial owner, of every company.
List of important Committees in India
during 2015 and 2016.
Ajay Shankar Committee : To review
functioning of PPP Cell
Prof. NR Madhava Menon Panel : Reported
guidelines for regulating expenditure and
content of advertisement in govt. adds
H Devaraj Commitee : Reported most
deemed university
H R Khan Panel : To evaluate unclaimed
PPF and Post Office Savings
V V Daga Committee : To conduct forensic
audit of NSEL
Sivaramakrishnan committee : Submit
Report to build the capital city for Andhra
Pradesh
Ramanujam committee : To avoid obsolete
laws
Bimal Jalan : To head the Expenditure
Management Commission
Hari Gautam Committee : To review the
status of UGC
Justice SB Sinha (One Member
Commission):To Probe 2006 Meerut Fire
Tragedy
Suresh Prabhu Committee: To review gas
pricing formula
R S Sharma Expert Committee : To review
the Company (Cost Records and Cost Audits)
Rules 2014
Justice MB Shah : On Black Money
Deepak Mohanty Committee : Data and
Information Management in the RBI
Arvind Mayaram Committee : To clear
definition to the FDI and FII
Nachiket Mor Committee : To permit
NBFC's to work as Business correspondence
P J Nayak Committee : Governance of
Boards of Bank in India
Bibek Debroy : for Restructuring the railway
Justice CS Dharmadhikari Committee:
recommended complete ban on dance bars in
hotels and restaurants.
Pratyush Sinha : To assess compensation for
coal blocks.
Jairam Ramesh : On sustainable
development
T.K. Vishwanathan committee: To provide
Bankruptcy code for small and medium
enterprises (SMEs).
K.V. Kamath panel: to examine the financial
architecture for Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSME) sector.
Gopalakrishna Committee: on Capacity
Building in Banks and non-Banks
G N Bajpai Committee: Guidelines for
national pension system (NPS) schemes in
private sector.
Scientist Raghunath Anant Mashelkar
panel: To recommend best technologies for
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Swachh
Bharat" national sanitation campaign.
T S R Subramanian Committee: To review
five key green laws concerning protection and
conservation of environment, forest, wildlife,
water and air among others.
Tandon Committee:Follow Up Of Bank
Credit
DR Gadgil Committee:Agricultural Finance
Godwala Committee:Rural Finance
ML Dantwala Committee: Regional Rural
Banks
SS Nadkarni Committee:Trading In Public
Sector Banks
Venketaiya Committee:Review Of Rural
Financing System
Bhide Committee:Coordination Between
Commercial Banks And SFC's
AK Bhuchar Committee:Coordination
Between Term Lending Institutions And
Commercial Banks.
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Page 45
R. Jilani: Inspection System in Banks
Goiporia Committee:Customer Service In
Banks
LC Gupta Committee:Financial Derivatives
James Raj Committee:Functioning Of
Public Sector Banks
Vipin Malik Committee:Consolidated
Accounting By Banks
A Ghosh Committee:Frauds & Malpractices
In Banks
BD Thakar Committee:Job Criteria In Bank
Loans (Approach)
A K Khandelwal:HR Issues of Public Sector
Banks
R.H. Khan:Harmonization of the Role of
Financial Institution in Banks
Rajamannar Committee:Changes In
Banking Laws , Bouncing Of Cheques Etc.
Usha Thorat Panel: Financial Inclusion
Chatalier Committee:Finance To Small
Scale Industry
K Madhav Das Committee:Urban
Cooperative Banks
R S Saria Committee:Agricultural Finance
And Cooperative Society
SS Kohli Committee:Rationalization Of Staff
Strength In Banks
J.V. Shetty:Consortium Lending by Banks
I.T. Vaz: Norms for Working Capital Finance
by Banks
Y.V. Reddy: Financial Aggregate System
Rakesh Mohan:Small Savings: Tax and
Interest Rates
M Damodaran:Customer Service in Banks
Pillai Committee:Pay Scales Of Bank
Officers
Rangrajan Committee:Computerization Of
Banking Industry
Cook Committee (On Behalf Of BIS -
Under Basel Committee ):Capital Adequacy
Of Banks
Pendarkar Committee:Review The System
Of Inspection Of Commercial, RRB And
Urban Cooperative Banks
Dave Committee:Mutual Funds
(Functioning)
MOCK TEST FOR IAS 2016
1. Which of the following currency has been
added to the IMF’s SDR currency basket,
recently?
a) Indian Rupee b) Australian Dollar
c) Renminbi d) Swiss Franc
2. Manufacturing recombinant DNA
molecules involves cutting a gene from its normal
location, inserting it into a circular piece of DNA
from a bacterial cell, and then transferring the
circle of DNA to cells of another species. Which
of the tools below is used to cut the gene from its
normal location?
a)restriction enzyme b) plasmid
c)bacteriophage d) vector
3. Consider the following Statements : -
1. Cryogenic engines use liquid oxygen and liquid
hydrogen at very low temperatures,
2. This technology is needed to put heavier,
Communication Satellites in a geosynchronous
transfer orbit with an apogee of 36,000 km and a
perigee of 200 km.
Which of the above statement is incorrect ?
a) 1 Only b) 2 Only
c) Both 1 and 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
4. Consider the following Statements :
1. Agni - II is a Surface - to - surface intermediate
range missile that can carry nuclear weapons and
has a range of more than 2000 km.
2. The missile re-entry vehicle is made with
Carbon- Carbon Composits. to withstood very
high temperatures of up to 3,000 degree Celsius.
which of the above statements is/are correct ?
a) 1 only b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
5. What is the reason behind the naming of
‘Ebola Disease’?
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Page 46
a) It’s called “Ebola” because first case was
reported near Ebola River in Congo.
b) It’s called “Ebola” because first case was
reported from a woman named Ebola.
c) It’s called “Ebola” because first case was treated
a hospital named Ebola.
d) It’s called “Ebola” because the natural host of
the disease is a vertebrate called Ebola.
6. Which of the following statements are
true regarding rDNA technology:
a) rDNA technology is used to obtain large
number of specific DNA fragments.
b) rDNA technology is used to obtain large
quantities of the protein produced by the
concerned genes.
c) rDNA technology is used to integrate gene of
interest into chromosomes where it expresses itself
d) All of these.
7. What does "pluripotent" mean?
a) Ability of a single cell to develop into an
embryonic or adult stem cell.
b) Ability of a single stem cell to develop into
many different cell types of the body.
c) Ability of a single embryonic stem cell to
develop into an adult stem cell.
d) Ability of a single stem cell to heal different
types of diseases.
8. Which of the following provisions of the
Constitution of India have a bearing on Education?
1. Directive Principles of State Policy
2. Fundamental Rights
3. Preamble
4. Fundamental Duties
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1, 2 and 4 only
c) 1, 3 and 4 d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
9. The Second Schedule contain the
provisions related to which of the following ?
1. The President
2. The Speaker of the legislative Assembly in the
States
3. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India
4. The Chairman, Union Public Service
Commission
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 and 3 only b) 2 and 4 only
c) 1, 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
10. Which one of the following best describes
the main objective of ‘Seed Village Concept?
a) Encouraging the farmers to use their own farm
seeds and discouraging them to buy the seeds from
others
b) Involving the farmers for training in quality
seed production and thereby to make available
quality seeds to others at appropriate time and
affordable cost
c) Earmarking some villages exclusively for the
production of certified seeds
d) Identifying the entrepreneurs in village and
providing them technology and finance to set up
seed companies
11. Legislation on the India-Bangladesh land
swap agreement is which amendment to the Indian
Constitution to have been passed by the
Parliament?
a) 119th b) 120th
c) 99th d) 100th
12. With reference to the immunization in
India, which of the following statements is/are
correct?
1) Thus far, only 65% children had access to all
vaccines during the first year of their life
2) Haemophilus influenzae type B is one of seven
vaccine-preventable diseases being covered under
Mission Indradhanush
3) Pregnant women too are covered under Mission
Indradhanush
Select the correct answer using codes given below:
a) 1 Only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
13. Which one of the following issues the
“World Economic Outlook” report annually?
a) The World Bank
b) Organisation for economic cooperation and
development
c) International Energy Agency
d) International Association for Energy
Economics
14. Consider the following list of countries:
MENTOR MARCH 2016
Page 47
1) United States of America 2) Afghanistan
3) Myanmar 4) Singapore
5) Nepal 6) Australia
Which of the above list of countries can become
members of the ISA (International Solar
Alliance)?
a) 1, 5 and 6 b) 3, 4 and 6
c) 2 and 4 d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6
15. ‘MADAD’, as an online grievance
monitoring system will ensure accountability,
accessibility and responsiveness. It has been
launched by
a) Ministry of External Affairs
b) Ministry of Women and Child Development
c) Ministry of Tourism
d) Ministry of Labour and Employment
16. With reference to the linguistic
reorganisation of States, consider the following
statements:
1. Dhar Commission recommended the
reorganization of the states mainly on linguistic
basis.
2. JVP Committee accepted language as the basis
for reorganization of the states.
3. Fazal Ali Commission rejected 'one language
one state theory'.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 only b) 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
17. Which of the following marked the
beginning of bicameralism system in India?
a) Government of India Act, 1858
b) Government of India Act, 1935
c) Morley Minto Reforms
d) Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
18. With reference to Government of India
Act, 1935 consider the following statements:
1. It provided for the establishment of an All-India
Federation.
2. It provided for the establishment of Reserve
Bank of India.
3. It abolished Dyarchy in the provinces but
provided for the adoption of Dyarchy at the
Centre.
4. It provided for the establishment of a Federal
court.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2, 3 and 4 only
c) 1, 2 and 4 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
19. With reference to writs issued by the
Supreme Court and High Courts in India, consider
the following statements :
1. The writ of Habeas Corpus can be issued against
public authorities only.
2. The writ of Mandamus cannot be issued against
a private individual or body.
3. The writ of Prohibition can be issued only
against judicial and quasi-judicial authorities.
4. The writ of Certiorari is available against
legislative bodies and private individuals.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1 and 4 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 3 and 4 only
20. Consider the following statements:
1. The Constitution (86th) Amendment Act 2002,
inserted Article 21A in the constitution.
2. Under Article 21 A of the Constitution, free and
compulsory education is a fundamental right of all
the children between the age of six to fourteen
years.
3. Article 21 A and Right to Education Act 2009
can be enforced against unaided minority and non-
minority schools.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
21. With reference to the 44th Constitution
Amendment Act, 1978, consider the following
statements:
1. It provided that Fundamental Rights under
Article 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during
National Emergency.
2. It deleted the Right to Property from Part III of
the Indian Constitution.
3. It made a provision to bind the President by the
advice of cabinet.
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Which of the statements given above is/are correct
?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3 only
22. Which of the followings are the
differences between Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) and Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG)?
1. MDG were in effect from 2000 to 2015 while
SDG will remain in effect from 2015 to 2030.
2. MDG consisted of 21 targets, while SDG
consists of 169 targets.
3. There are specific targets in SDGs called
“Urban Goals” which were not included under the
MDGs.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
23. Which of the following statements is/ are
true about Arbitration and Conciliation
(Amendment) Bill, 2015?
1. The arbitrators should settle disputes within a
period of one year.
2. The bill empowers arbitration tribunals to grant
all kinds of interim measures that a court would
provide.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 only b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
24. Special safeguard mechanism (SSM) as
under WTO relates to
a) Allowing developing countries to raise tariffs
temporarily to deal with import surges or price
falls
b) Support for farmers that is not linked to prices
or production
c) Licensing companies or individuals other than
the patent owner to use the rights of the patent
d) Governments recognizing other countries’
measures as acceptable even if they are different
from their own, so long as an equivalent level of
protection is provided
25. which may be indicated by ‘deflation’ in
the economy?
a. GDP of the country has been growing at a
negative growth rate.
b. Prices of all goods must have declined
c. The Central bank is following an easy monetary
policy.
d. The demand in the economy is weak or supply
is excess.
26. As a country develops, it undergoes
‘structural change’. In the case of India, the
structural change is ‘peculiar’ with regard to its
sectoral composition especially services sector.
What is so ‘peculiar’ about this structural change?
a) Services sector has grown at a slower rate than
any other sector of the economy.
b) Traditionally services sector growth is propelled
by the manufacturing sector but in India
agricultural sector has propelled services sector
growth.
c) The service sector contributes more to the GDP
than agriculture and manufacturing even though
India is not a developed country.
d) Services sector has failed to generate additional
employment despite high levels of growth in India.
27. Who among the following is/are
associated with Buddhist Councils?
1. Ashoka 2. Kanishka
3. Ajatashatru 4. Mahapadma Nanda
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1, 2 and 3 only b) 1 and 2 only
c) 3 and 4 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
28. Consider the comparison between
Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) and Light
Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
1. CFLs have generally longer life spans than
LEDs.
2. LEDs use less power per unit of light generated
as compared to CFLs.
3. Both CFL and LED contain toxic mercury.
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1 and 3 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 2 only d) 1, 2 and 3
29. The chief characteristic features of the
Neolithic culture are
1. Practice of agriculture
2. Technology of smelting metal ore
3. Domestication of animals
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Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) None of the above
30. If the rupee is devalued against foreign
currencies, it may lead to
1. A higher Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) in the
banking system
2. Increase in the inflow of foreign exchange
3. Greater exports and lesser imports
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 only d) 1, 2 and 3 only
31. How would the Gold monetization
scheme help Indian economy?
1. It will help liquidate unproductive physical asset
gold.
2. It will free up idle gold to Gems and Jewellery
industry use.
3. It will help contain the current account deficit.
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
32. The Mahalanobis model of economic
growth adopted in post-independent India laid
stress on
a) Development of agriculture as the prime
moving sector of the economy
b) Reliance on heavy industries and import
substitution
c) Developing light industrial base with more
focus on consumer goods whose shortage may
result in inflation
d) Development of informal links of the Indian
economy with global markets
33. REDD stands for
a) Recurring Emission from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation
b) Reducing Environmental Degradation and
Forest Degradation
c) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation
d) Reducing Emissions from Degradable Deposits
of Wastes
34. Groundwater mining in coastal areas can
result into
a) increase in the salinity of groundwater.
b) decrease in the toxicity of groundwater.
c) decrease in the salinity of groundwater.
d) increase in the water table.
35. Consider the following statements about
Swine flu:
1. H1N1, the virus that causes swine flu, thrives
more in low temperatures.
2. Symptoms of swine flu are fever, cough, sore
throat, body ache, nausea and diarrhoea.
3. Vaccines are at research stage and currently
there is no vaccine available in market for swine
flu.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 2 only d) 1, 2 and 3
36. Consider the following statements about
the Kyoto Protocol.
1. Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 but the first
commitment period started in 2008.
2. Its second commitment period started in 2013
and will last till 2017.
3. By the end of 2015 a new protocol to replace the
Kyoto Protocol will be formulated.
Which of the statements given above is/are
incorrect?
a) 1 only b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 only d) 1 and 3 only
37. Consider the following statements
regarding the three inter-related zones of
Biosphere Reserves:
1. The core zone is kept absolutely undisturbed
and provides for legal protection and management
and research for those activities that do not affect
natural processes and wildlife.
2.The buffer zone is not a delimited zone rather it
is a zone of cooperation and is not a delimited
zone where conservation, knowledge and
management skills are applied and uses are
managed in harmony.
3.The transitional zone includes those activities
which reduce its effect on core zone like
restoration, limited recreation, tourism, fishing and
grazing.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are
correct?
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a) 1 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
38. Mangrove forests are unique ecosystems.
Which of the following is/are their potential
benefits?
1. They create a breeding habitat for the aquatic
system.
2. They contribute to improved water quality by
filtering and assimilating pollutants.
3. They help in stabilizing the bottom sediments.
4. They protect the shoreline from erosion.
Select the correct answer using code given below:-
a) 1 and 4 only b) 1, 3 and 4 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
39. Agenda 21 is an environmental blueprint
enshrined under Rio Declaration. The Agenda has
four sections. Which among the following is not
part of four sections?
1. Social and Economic Dimensions
2. Conservation and Management of Resource for
Development
3. Strengthening the Role of Major Groups
4. Means of Implementation
Select the correct answer using code given below.
a) 1 only b) 3 only
c) 2 only d) All are correct.
40. Consider the following about the
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species:
1. It is also known as Bonn Convention.
2. It aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian
migratory Species throughout their range
3. It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded
under the aegis of the United Nations.
4. India is not signatory of convention.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1, 2 and 4 b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1 and 4 only
41. There is an increased emphasis on ethanol
blending in recent years. Which of the following
are advantages of ethanol blending?
1. It increases octane rating of the fuel
2. It reduces atmospheric pollution emissions
3. It increases energy density of fuel
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
42. Which of the following statements is/are
correct regarding the recently launched National
Air Quality Index?
1. The index monitors the air quality only in urban
areas across India.
2. The index will be released once in a month in an
easily understandable format of one number, one
colour and one description.
3. The index considers eight pollutants including
Carbon monoxide and ozone.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 2 and 3 only b) 1 and 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 3 only
43. Bagasse can be used to manufacture
1. Biofuel 2. Paper
3. Fertilizers
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) All of the above
44. World Development Indicators' report is
published by
a) World Bank
b) United Nations Development Programme
c) United Nations Economic and Social Council
d) World Health Organization
45. Consider the following statements about
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
1. It is an agency of the United Nations
2. It serves only developing and Least Developed
Countries (LDCs).
3. It created the Codex Alimentarius Commission
to develop food standards.
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 2 and 3 only b) 1 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 2 only
46. Red Data Book, IUCN, keeps a record of
all the endangered animals and plants. Which of
the following institutions contribute to the red list?
1. BirdLife International
2. World Conservation Monitoring Centre
3. Greenpeace
4. Environmental Defense Fund
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 3 and 4 only b) 1 and 2 only
c) 1, 3 and 4 only d) 2, 3 and 4 only
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47. Exotic plants of an area refer to
a) Endemic or indigenous vegetation of that area
b) Vegetation that is not native and has come from
outside
c) Naturally growing vegetation which has been
left undisturbed by humans for a long time
d) Vegetation that grows in a specific season after
a long time
48. which of the following treaties have NOT
been ratified by India?
1. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs)
2. Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
3. Rotterdam Convention
Select the correct answer using the codes below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1 only
c) 3 only d) All have been ratified.
49. The Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) adopted from 2015 do NOT deal with?
1. Education for all
2. Reduced inequalities among citizens
3. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Select the correct answer using the codes below:
a) 1 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 3 only d) all of the above
50. Consider the following about the Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM).
1. It related to the Kyoto Protocol.
2. Only industrialized countries can participate in
it.
3. Certified emission reduction (CER) credits are
associated with CDM.
Select the correct answer using the codes below:
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
51. Definition of Industrial Sickness to
Companies (Second Amendment) Act, 2002
include
1) accumulated losses in any financial year which
are equal to 50% or more of its average net worth
during five year immediately preceding such
financial year; or
2) Failed to repay its debts within any three
consecutive quarters
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) Only 1 b) Only 2
c) Both 1 & 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
52. To be qualified as a Navratna, the
company must obtain a score of 60 (out of 100).
The score is based on six parameters which
include
1) Net profit to net worth
2) Earning Per Share
3) Profit Before Depreciation, Interest and Taxes
to capital employed
4) Market capitalization
a) 1,2,3 b) 2,3,4
c) 1,2,4 d) 1,3,4
53. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) is an
Indian financial services banking company
1) The Bank's initial capital consists of Rs 1,000
crores
2) give a slight concession on loan rates to women
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) Only 1 b) Only 2
c) Both 1 & 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
54. What is Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme
1) fraudulent investment operation
2) promises higher returns to those who join the
scheme
3) The Securities Laws (Amendment) Second
Ordinance, 2013 has given Sebi greater powers to
crack down on ponzi schemes
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1,2 and 3 b) 2 and 3
c) 1and 3 d) only 2
55. Consider the following statements
1) An angel investor or angel (also known as a
business angel or informal investor) is an affluent
individual who provides capital for a business
start-up
2) Sebi has restricted investment by such funds
between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 50 crore.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) Only 1 b) Only 2
c) Both 1 & 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
56. Which of the following policies aims to
reduce the Current Account Deficit ?
1. Currency Devaluation
2. Reduction in import duties
3. Tightening of fiscal and monetary policy
4. Providing export subsidies
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Select the correct answers from the code given
below.
a) 3 and 4 only b) 1, 2 and 3 only
c) 1, 3 and 4 only d) 2 and 4 only
57. Which of the following is the
characteristic of ‘Round Tripping’?
a) It is a practice whereby a company deliberately
incorporates a business unit in a tax haven to
reinvest in the parent country to avoid paying taxes
in the parent country.
b) It is a practice whereby a company shifts its
entire business in the tax haven.
c) It is a practice whereby a company sends its
employees for a foreign vacation.
d) None of the above.
58. Consider the following statements
regarding inflation in India.
1. To reduce inflation RBI Increases repo rate.
2. To reduce inflation government can increase
import duties and can ban exports of certain
products.
3. RBI uses Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as the
key measure of inflation.
Select the correct answer from the code given
below.
a) 1 only b) 1 and 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
59. Which of the following statement(s) is/are
correct regarding IMF?
1. Though IMF provides loans to help countries
overcome economic difficulties and also
concessional loans to help fight poverty in
developing countries, it does not lend for specific
projects.
2. A member's quota in IMF determines the
contribution it has to make to fund's resources,
amount of financing it can access in need and also
its voting power at the IMF.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 only b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
60. Consider the following statements about
theNational Manufacturing Policy (NMP).
1. The policy aims to create 100 million additional
jobs over the next decade.
2. National Investment and Manufacturing Zones
(NIMZs) has been accorded withbenefits like
exemption from capital gains tax, simplified
procedures and easier exit norms.
3. The policy aims to raise the share of
manufacturing to 25 percent of GDP by 2022.
Which of the above statements are correct?
a) Only 1 & 2 b) Only 2 & 3
c) Only 1 & 3 d) All of the above
61. Consider the following statements about
the Open Market Operations also known as OMO.
1. Open Market Operations include buying and
selling of government securities in the open
market.
2. Open market operations are the principal tools
of monetary policy.
3. Central government has the main responsibility
for implementing Open market operations.
Which of the above statements are correct?
a) Only 1 & 2 b) Only 2 & 3
c) Only 1 & 3 d) All of the above
62. Consider the following regarding
International Development Association (IDA):
1. IDA is an associate institution of World Bank
known as soft loan window of World Bank.
2 The resources of IDA include subscribed capital
by member countries, general replenishments by
developed countries, net income transferred by
IBRD.
Which of these statements is/are correct?
a) Only 1 b) Only 2
c) Both 1 and2 d) Neither 1 nor2
63. With respect to Marginal standing
Facility (MSF) consider the following statements:
1. The marginal standing facility doesn’t affect the
value of rupee in international market as it is used
for overnight transactions which are very short
term.
2. The purpose of marginal standing facility is to
reduce volatility in the overnight lending rates in
the inter-bank market.
3. Marginal standing facility is generally kept
lower than repo rate in India.
Which of the statement/s given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 only b) 2 only
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c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
64. Consider the following statements :
1. Till the formation of WTO, international trade
was governed by GATT through its multi-lateral
trade negotiations.
2. The Doha round ended with the Marrakkech
Agreement signed by 117 countries including
India.
3. GATT is different from WTO in the aspect that
the former had no dispute settlement process.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
65. The climate of Antarctica is freezing cold
because of which of the following ?
1. Its distance from the equator .
2. The great height of the plateau .
Select the correct answer using the code given
below :
a) only 1 b) only 2
c) both 1 and 2 d) neither 1 nor 2
66. Consider the following statements
comparing cyclone & anticyclone:
1. When a cyclone approaches there is a rise in the
barometric reading, while an anticyclone causes
barometric reading to fall.
2. The isobars are closer in a cyclone when
compared to that in an anticyclone.
3. In northern hemisphere cyclonic circulation is
clockwise, while anti-cyclonic circulation is clock-
wise in southern hemisphere.
Which of the statements given is/are incorrect ?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 3 only d) None of the above
67. Consider the following statements about
the jet streams :
1. They are formed at least at the height of 3 to 4
km.
2. They generally flow perpendicular to the
isobars.
3. Tropical jet streams blow with greater speeds
than the polar jet streams.
4. Jet stream phenomenon is also observed on
other planets.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct
?
a) 1 and 2 b) 1,3,4
c) 1 and 4 d) 2,3,4
68. Which of the following statements is
correct regarding the Coriolis force ?
1. Due to Coriolis force, winds are deflected in
right side in the northern hemisphere.
2. Wind deflection due to coriolis force is
maximum at the equator.
3. Due to coriolis force, wind speed increases near
the equator.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below:
a) 1 only b) 1 and 2
c) 1 and 3 d) 1,2 and 3
69. Which of the following statements is/are
true regarding coral reefs?
1) Corals are found mainly in the tropical oceans
and seas because they require high mean annual
temperature.
2) Corals do not live in deeper waters.
3) Corals thrive in fresh water.
4) Ocean currents and waves are favourable for
corals.
a) 1, 2 and 3 b) 1 and 2 only
c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 d) 1, 2 and 4
70. The Tropic of Capricorn passes through
which of the following countries?
1) Brazil 2) Argentina
3) South Africa 4) Indonesia
5) Australia 6) New Zealand
Select the correct answer using the codes given
below.
a) 1, 5 and 6 only b) 2, 3, 5 and 6 only
c) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only d) 1, 3, 4 and 5 only
71. Chose the correct sequence of vegetation,
given below, in Europe when we move from
higher latitude to lower latitude –
1. Taiga type 2. Tundra type
3. Mixed forests 4. Mediterranean type
Correct answer is-
a) 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 b) 2 , 1 , 3 , 4
c) 1 , 2 , 4 , 3 d) 2 , 1 , 4 , 3
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72. The 49o North Parallel of Latitude forms
the boundary between which of the following two
countries?
a) North Korea and South Korea b) Russia and
China
c) Canada and USA d) All the above
73. Which of the following countries known
as Baltic States-
1. Estonia 2. Belarus
3. Latvia 4. Lithuania
Choose the correct option from the following
a) 1 , 2 , 3 b) 2 , 3 , 4
c) 1 , 3 , 4 d) All of the above
74. Consider the following statements.
1. The Zambezi river forms natural boundary
between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
2. The Congo river cuts the equator twice.
3. Both Blue Nile and White Nile, the two main
tributaries of Nile, originates outside the Egypt.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
75. Which among the following are the
notable differences between western and eastern
coastal plains of India?
1. Eastern coastal plains are broader and western
coastal plains are narrower.
2. Eastern coastal plains are characterized by
occurrence of deltas and western coastal plains. By
occurrence of estuaries.
3. Eastern coastal plains are wet in comparison to
the western coastal plains.
a) 1 and 3 b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 2 d) All
76. Which of the following statements is/are
correct?
1. The sudden approach of the moisture laden
winds is associated with violent thunder and
lightning is known as Burst of the Monsoon.
2. The Monsoons enters West Bengal and
Bangladesh from south and south-east instead of
south westerly direction.
3. The passage of the cyclonic depressions formed
at the Bay of Bengal is always along the excess of
the monsoon trough of the low pressure.
a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3 d) All the above
77. Peninsular rivers are characterized by:
1. Fixed course of the river
2. Presence of meanders
3. Drainage into the Arabian sea
Select the correct options:
a) 1 only b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1 and 3 only
78. Match List I with List II and select the
correct answer using the code given below the
lists.
List I (coal mines) List II (State)
A. Neyveli 1. Odisha
B. Singarauli 2. Telangana
C. Singareni 3. Tamil Nadu
D. Talcher 4. Madhya Pradesh
A B C D
a) 1 2 4 3
b) 1 4 2 3
c) 3 2 4 1
d) 3 4 2 1
79. Consider the following pairs:
Hydel Projects River
1. Baghliar Jhelum
2. Dulhasti Chenab
3. Salal Indus
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 only
c) 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
80. Consider the following statements
regarding Peninsular and Himalayan rivers:
1. Himalayan rivers are antecedent and consequent
rivers while Peninsular rivers are super-imposed
and rejuvenated rivers.
2. Himalayan rivers are young and youthful while
peninsular rivers are old rivers with graded profile
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1 only b) 2 only
c) Neither 1 nor 2 d) Both 1 and 2
81. Arrange the following Biosphere reserves
of India in the increasing order of their latitude
away from equator.
1. Simlipal 2. Agasthyamalai
3. Nokrek 4. Nilgiri
Select the correct answer using the codes given
below.
MENTOR MARCH 2016
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a) 4, 2, 3, 1 b) 2, 4, 1, 3
c) 4, 1, 2, 3 d) 2, 4, 3, 1
82. The region of Gupta rulers is known as
the ‘Golden Age of lndia.’ Which of the following
is true in this regard?
a) There was peace and prosperity
b) There was religious tolerance
c) There was tremendous advancement in the field
of science
d) All of the above
83. Consider the following statements with
respect to Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931 :
1. As a result of this pact, the Civil Disobedience
movement was suspended by Gandhi.
2. In this pact Gandhi agreed to participate in
Third Round Table conference.
3. Government agreed to give right to make salt in
coastal villages for sale and personal consumption.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
84. With reference to the Ghadar movement,
consider the following statements:
1. The movement was strongly secular.
2. The Ghadar Movement failed to generate an
effective and sustained leadership that was capable
of integrating the various aspects of the movement.
3. Objective of Ghadarites was the establishment
of an Independent Republic of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 2 and 3 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 1 and 2 only d) 1, 2 and 3
85. What were the reasons behind the sudden
change in Congress’ posture and launch of Quit
India Movement?
1. Failure of Cripps Mission
2. The manner in which British withdrew from
South- East Asia
3. Famine conditions in Bengal and the
Government’s apathetic attitude to the situation
Select the correct option using the codes given
below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) All of the above
86. Consider the following statements with
respect to Swadeshi Movement:
1. Tilak’s Ganapati and Shivaji festival helped in
spreading the idea of Swadeshi amongst masses.
2. During Swadeshi movement, National Council
of Education was set up to organise a system of
education on national lines and under national
control.
3. During Swadeshi movement development of
Indian Manufacturing products did not happen
because of widespread protest and unrest all over
the country.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 only b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
87. With reference to the Public Safety Bill,
consider the following statements:
1. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt throw a bomb in
the Central Legislative Assembly against the
passage of the Public Safety Bill.
2. Public Safety Bill was intended to contain the
Communists but nationalists were concerned that
such a provision would reduce the civil liberties of
citizens in general and workers in particular.
3. Swarajists played a significant role in defeating
the Public Safety Bill in the legislature.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
88. 'Cunningham Circular' during the Civil
Disobedience Phase was issued in response to:
a) Debar all the government employees from
forming any political organisation.
b) Suspend all the government employees who
participated in Civil disobedience movement.
c) Forbid the students to join any political
activities.
d) Restrict railway workers from forming union.
89. Consider the following statements about
the script of Indus valley people.
1. Their script was pictographic.
2. It was written from left to right and vice-versa
in alternate lines.
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3. It has been deciphered and provides great
information about the time.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
90. various dynasties, identify the correct
combination.
1. Hazara Rama Temple - Vijayanagara
2. Virupaksha Temple - Pandyas
3. Brihadeshvara Temple - Cholas
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 Only b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3 d) All are correct
91. Consider the following statements :
1. Vedas proclaim the sacrificial rites as the means
of prosperity, long life and rebirth of heaven.
2. In general, the Upnishads proclaim salvation by
sacrificial rites.
3. Aranayakas favour mostly penance or
meditation in forests for spiritual upliftment.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3
92. Consider following statements regarding
Indus Valley civilization :
1. The site of Harappa is located on the banks of
river Ravi and was first site to be discovered.
2. The site of Mohenjodaro is located on the banks
of river Indus.
3. Mohenjodaro literally means 'place of the dead'
in Sindhi language.
Which of the statements give above is/are correct?
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only d) All of the above.
93. Mohammad bin Tughlaq shift his capital
from Delhi to Daulatabad in Deccan. What
was/were the rationale(s) for shifting the Capital?
1. He desire to have a Strategically important,
Centrally located Capital.
2. He was feared of raids of Mongols to Delhi.
3. Deccan was a new conquered territory and
Muslims were in small number.
4. He wanted to have Planned City as his capital
Choose the correct Answer.
a) 1, 3 and 4 b) 2, 3 and 4
c) 1, 2 and 3 d) 1, 2 and 4
94. Consider the following statements:
1. Ashokan inscriptions were issued as Royal
orders.
2. Near about all the inscriptions are in Prakrit
language and in Brahmi Script, but in the
inscription of North West, Kharoshti scripts and
Aramaic Languages have been used.
3. These inscriptions were set up by the side of
main routes. They focus on the life story, internal
and foreign policy and the extension of the empire
of Ashoka.
4. These inscriptions give information about the
Period between 8th year and 21st year regional
year of Ashoka.
Which of the statements given above is/are
correct?
a) 1, 2, 3, 4 b) 1, 2
c) 3, 4 d) 1, 3
95. Consider following statements about
Bhakti movement in medieval India :
1. Bhakti movement was led by series of popular
saints - Alvars and Nayanars.
2. Nayanars believed in the devotion to Vishnu.
3. Alvars believed in the devotion to Shiva.
4. These saints rejected caste inequalities.
Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?
a) 1 and 4 b) 1, 2 and 3
c) 1, 3 and 4 d) All are correct
96. Consider the following statements:
1. The Sangam literature can roughly be divided
into two groups, narrative and deductive.
2. The narrative texts are called Kilkankku or
Eighteen minor works.
3. The deductive works are called Melkannakku or
Eighteen major works.
Which statement is/are correct?
a) 1 and 2 b) 1only
c) 2 only d) 1, 2 and 3
97. Consider the following statements
reagarding Gandhara School of Arts:
1. Gandhara school of arts focused more on inner
beauty and facial emotions rather than bodily
features and external beauty.
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2. Gandhara school of arts made extensive use of
local sand-stones.
Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?
a) Only 1 b) Only 2
c) Both 1 & 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
98. Consider the following statements about
temple styles in India:
1. NAGARA style temples have curvilinear towers
as against DRAVIDIAN temples which have
truncated pyramids.
2. The cruciform ground plan constitute the
fundamental characteristic of a Dravidian temple.
Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?
a) Only 1 b) Only 2
c) Both 1 & 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
99. Consider the following differences
between Bharatnatyam and Kathak and select the
correct difference :
(1) Bharatnatyam involves mudras and hip
movement whereas hip movement is not allowed
in Kathak.
(2) Bharatnatyam is performed throughout in
standing postures whereas Kathak is performed
more in sitting posture.
(3) Bharatnatyam involves bent knee postures
whereas there is no knee bending in Kathak.
Select the correct code:
a) Only 1 b) Only 2
c) Only 1 and 2 d) Only 1 and 3
100. Consider the following statements with
reference to Wood’s Despatch
1. Institution of a regular system of scholarship to
enable meritorious students to pursue the higher
courses of study.
2. Helping the educational institutions founded by
private efforts to obtain grants from government
funds.
3. Provision of moral and religious education as an
important component of curriculum.
Which of the above were the features of Wood’s
Despatch?
a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3 d) 1, 2 and 3
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