. ....

s ed rie ne Se at gre tition ga pe in om fi ll l C F u er & re Ca

September 2011 Volume : 09

Editor

D.V.RAGHURAM
M.A., P.G.D.H.R.M., D.T.E.M e-mail : sreemedia2010@gmail.com

Executive Editor

CONTENTS
PERSONS AWARDS / PRIZES ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY PACE RESEARCH DEFENCE SUMMITS/ CONFERENCES ECONOMY GLOSSARY PROGRAMMES REPORTS BANKING SECTOR COMMITTEES INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS NATIONAL AFFAIRS SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS 3 4 5 6 8 11 12 14 16 17 19 23 25 29 31 32

P. SUBHASHINI
M.Com

NOTE: Printing of this book process through many stages - Writing, Composing, Proof Reading etc. We try our best to make this book error free. if any mistake has inadvertently crept in, we regret it and would be deeply indebted to those who bring it to our notice. We do not take any legal responsibility. The publishers shall be obliged if mistakes are brought to their notice for carrying out correction in the next edition.

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Career Makers

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September 2011, Volume: 09

Leila Lopes from Angola was crowned Miss Universe, smoothly handling an interview question about what physical trait she would change if could, while wearing a strapless cream-colored gown. Lopes, Angolas first winner, beat out 88 other competitors to win the title during the 60th anniversary of the worlds biggest beauty pageant. She replaces last years winner, Ximena Navarrete of Mexico. The first runner-up was 23year-old Olesia Stefanko of Ukraine and the second runner-up was Priscila Machado of Brazil. The third was Miss Philippines and the fourth Miss China. The globes biggest beauty contest is held in Brazil for the first time. The contestants, who must never have been married or had children and who must be at least 18 years of age and under 27 years of age by Feb. 1 of the competition year. Miss Universe 2011, the 60th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, will be held at the

Career Makers

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PERSONS

Leila Lopes of Angola crowned 60th Miss Universe

Credicard Hall, in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. Ximena Navarrete of Mexico will crown her successor. 89 contestants are participating in this years pageant, surpassing the previous record of 86 contestants in 2006. Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers. The contest was founded in 1952 by California clothing company Pacific Mills. The pageant became part of Kayser-

Roth and then Gulf and Western Industries, before being acquired by Donald Trump in 1996. In 1998, Miss Universe changed its name from Miss Universe, Inc. to Miss Universe Organization and the headquarters moved from Long Beach California, to New York City that year. Donald Trump brought in a new team of professionals to the contest headed by its new CEO, Molly Miles, and president Maureen Reidy. The contest would use the slogan "Redefined for Today" for promotion of the pageants.

List of Miss Universe titleholders

Year 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2002 2001 2000 Country/Territory Angola Mexico Venezuela Venezuela Japan Puerto Rico Canada Australia Dominican Republic Panama Russia Puerto Rico India Miss Universe Leila Lopes Ximena Navarrete Stefania Fernandez Dayana Mendoza Riyo Mori Zuleyka Rivera Natalie Glebova Jennifer Hawkins Amelia Vega Justine Pasek Oxana Fedorova Denise Quiones Lara Dutta National title Miss Angola Nuestra Belleza Mxico Miss Venezuela Miss Venezuela Miss Universe Japan Miss Puerto Rico Universe Miss Universe Canada Miss Universe Australia Miss Dominican Republic Senorita Panama Location

Sao Paulo, Brazil Las Vegas, Nevada U.S. Nassau, Bahamas Nha Trang, Vietnam Mexico City, Mexico Los Angeles, California U.S. Bangkok, Thailand Quito, Ecuador Panama City, Panama Crowned by Donald Trump in NYC Miss Russia San Juan, Puerto Rico Miss Puerto Rico Universe Bayamon, Puerto Rico Miss India Nicosia, Cyprus September 2011, Volume: 09

For the first time since its inception 15 years ago, the Prem Bhatia Awards for excellence in political reporting and analysis, as well as that for excellence in environmental reporting have been shared by two journalists each. The award for political reporting goes to Josy Joseph of The Times of India for his consistently fine reporting of the scandals that have made headlines, like the 2-G Spectrum allocation, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Housing Society scams. Jyotirmoy Dey of Mid-Day shares the award posthumously for his superlative work all through his career in exposing Mumbai's underworld and corruption in the police and bureaucracy, and he had to pay for that with his life. The two winners of the environmental award are Madhuraj, chief news photographer of Matrubhumi, for his vivid photographs that focused national and international attention on the catastrophic consequences of the use of endosulfan pesticide in Kerala, and G. Nirmala, who has written powerfully on the same subject in one of the publications of Samakalika Malyalam Vaarike.

Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang has been conferred Indias highest sporting honour.

Arjuna Awards, 2011

Arjuna Career Makers Awards were

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AWARDS / PRIZES

Prem Bhatia award for excellence in reporting, 2011

instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 500,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll. The 2011 awardees are: Zaheer Khan (Cricket), Rahul Bannerjee (Archery), Preeja Sreedharan (Athletics), Vijas Gowda (Athletics), Ashish Kumar (Gymnastics), Rakesh Kumar (Kabaddi), Tejaswini Bai (Kabaddi), Rajpal Singh (Hockey), Sanjay Kumar (Volleyball), Sunil Chhetri (Football), Ravi Kumar (Weightlifting), Ravindra Singh (Wrestling), Suronjoy Singh (Boxing), Jwala Gutta (Badminton), Virdhaval Khade (Swimmimg), Sandhya Rani Devi (Wushu), Somdev Devvarman (Tennis) and Prashant Karmakar (Disabled).

component of Rs.500,000. The award was instituted in 1985.

Swadhinata Sammanona Award

Former Indian Prime MinisterIndira Gandhiwas honoured posthumously with the highest Bangladesh award the Bangladesh Swadhinata Sammanona (Bangladesh Freedom Honour ). The award was meant to honour Indira Gandhis for her outstanding contributions to Bangladesh's Liberation War fought in 1971. During the tumultuous days of 1971, the great Indian leader Indira Gandhi had taken a firm, principled stand to side with the oppressed people of then East Pakistan. Under Indira Gandhis leadership India sheltered 10 million Bangladeshi war refugees, lobbied for Bangladesh internationally, secured the release of Sheikh Mujib from a Pakistani jail as well as risked a war to hasten Bangladeshs freedom.The award included a 200 tola gold medal and a citation.Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman presented the award, the highest honour for any foreign national after 40 years of Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan. The award was received by her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi who visited Bangladesh at the invitation of Sheikh Hasina. The award recognised Indira Gandhis direct support, cooperation, her strong role and unique contribution to Bangladeshs independence. Bangladesh set up the honours to decorate 47 foreigners who helped the country during its struggle for independence and mark the 40th anniversary of its achievement.

Dhyan Chand Award, 2011

Former India striker Shabbir Ali, who took up full-time coaching after hanging up his boots, has become the first footballer to get the prestigious Dhyan Chand award as recognition for his lifetime achievement in sports. The other awardees are: Sushil Kohli (Swimming) and Rajkumar (Wrestling) The Dhyan Chand Award is Indias highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and was instituted in 2002.

Dronacharya Award, 2011

Inukurthi Venkateshwara Rao (Boxing), Devender Kumar Rathore (Gymnastics), Shri Ramphal (Wrestling), Kuntal Roy (Athletics) and Rajinder Singh (Hockey) have been given the award. Dronacharya Award is an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching. The award comprises a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a scroll of honour and a cash 4

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, 2011

Mphasis Universal Design Awards 2011

The National Centre for Promotion of Empowerment of Disabled People (NCPEDP) in September 2011, Volume: 09

association with AccessAbility and BarrierBreak Technologies announced the winners of the NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Awards-2011 in July 2011.The awards honour organisations and individuals for their exemplary work in promoting the cause of accessibility for the disabled. The awards are given out in three categories -- persons with disabilities, working professionals, and companies and organisations on the eve of Independence Day (15 August).The Awards will cover accessibility in the following fields: Built Environment, Transport, Information and Communication Technology, Services and Aids and Appliances.
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recently, compared with the record low of 4.13 million sq km in 2007, whereas the minimum ice extent in the early 1970s was 7 million square km.

Delhi to have worldclass institute on climate change

Delhi will soon have a worldclass institute that will impart training to people and chalk out strategies to curb the effects of climate change, CM Sheila Dikshit said. Replying to a short duration discussion on environment in New Delhi on Thursday, Dikshit said her government has decided to set up Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Combating Climate Change at Bakauli spread over an area of 18 acres. "The institute will come up in the campus of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Integrated Rural Energy Planning and Development which is presently under utilised," she said. Noting that multi-pronged strategies are needed to control pollution in the city which has 65 lakhs vehicles, she said her government was also looking for a technology to generate energy from the waste. "The number of vehicles is much more than number of total vehicles in other metro cities together," she said. Around 8,000 metric tonne garbage is being generated in Delhi

on daily basis, she said. To control air pollution in Delhi, air ambience fund has been created by imposing a fee of Rs 0.25 per litre of diesel sale in Delhi, she added. For promotion of vehicles operated with clean fuel, the government is giving subsidy to battery operated vehicles from air ambience fund, Dikshit said.

Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture

The Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) initiated a project titled Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability of Indian Agriculture to Climate Change in 2004 to study the impact of climate change and global warming on agriculture crops, horticulture, forests, livestock, fishery etc. The Government has prepared the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture under National Action Plan on Climate Change. The Mission identifies 10 key dimensions for promoting sustainable agriculture practices which will be realized by implementing a Programme of Actions that covers both adaptation and mitigation measures through four functional areas, namely Research & Development, Technology Products & Practices, Infrastructure and Capacity Building and sponsored research. In

ENVIRONMENT ONMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL

ISSUES

The Total Volume of Arctic Sea Ice Fell to a Record Low in 2010

The total volume of Arctic sea ice fell to a record low in 2010, according to a new study. Scientists at the Polar Science Center of the University of Washington estimated that last year broke the previous 2007 record for the minimum volume of ice, which is calculated from a combination of sea ice area and thickness. Axel Schweiger of University of Washington, led the study. According to the scientists, ice volume is now plunging faster than it did at the same time last year when the record was set. The Arctic sea ice area fell below 4.6 million sq km

Projects in Eco-Sensitive Areas

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has issued the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification in September, 2006 mandating prior environmental clearance for developmental projects and activities as detailed in the Schedule to this Notification. The project proponents are required to undertake preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Reports, based on the Terms of Reference, for appraisal of the project for the environmental clearance.The Notification further prescribes under General ndition the procedure for consideration of projects within 10 kms. from the boundary of notified Eco-Sensitive Areas and Protected Areas, notified under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. September 2011, Volume: 09

Career Makers

addition, a new scheme namely National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) has been launched in year 2011 to enhance resilience of Indian agriculture against climate change. As per the Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory 2007 published under the aegis of Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA), agriculture sector contributes to 17% of the net green house gas emissions from India in 2007. ICAR and different State Agriculture Universities have been evolving technologies to reduce emissions from agriculture sector without compromising the food grain production. These tchnologies include improved irrigation management techniques, cultivation of aerobic rice, System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and use of neem-coated urea.
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billion devices will access the Internet. By then, online traffic will reach a zettabyte or one million million billion bytes. Intel foresees that soon companies will have to develop data centres with smaller footprint, which are at the same time secure and energy-efficient. According to the company, their new technology will cater to this necessity and will help companies to deploy cloud faster than ever before. The Cloud Vision 2015, Intels futuristic vision, anticipates an environment where cloud data centres are seamlessly and securely connected, fully automated with little or no human interaction and client-aware providing secure access and optimal experience across a range of devices, from smartphones to notebooks.

based on inputs received from Oceansat-2 launched two years ago.

Sriharikota to be an assembling hub

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is drawing up plans to develop the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota into a centre for assembling satellites and rockets in the near future. Our vision is a quantum jump in satellites and launch vehicles to be dealt with in future years. The space port in Sriharikota should further develop into an area where the industries in India working for space would come together, assemble satellites and rockets there and move to the launch pad, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said. He was addressing a meeting after the inauguration of the Oceansat-2 ground station at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad recently. ISRO and INCOIS were working together in the area of environment and climate monitoring, he said, adding that INCOIS was sending forecast to coastal areas 6

Japanese K Computer
The Fujitsu-designed K Computer, was recently announced the winner of the biannual Top 500 supercomputer list at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) held in Hamburg. It is three times faster on the Linpack high-performance computing (HPC) benchmark than last winner, the Tianhe-

SCIENCE &

TECHNOLOGY
Intel develops worlds smallest data centre

Chip maker Intel is showing off what they are calling the worlds smallest data centre. Dubbed as Cloud-in-a-Box system, the Intel unit is designed to be used as a demonstration tool to illustrate the power and efficiencies of cloud computing. Intel is powering the unit with Xeon processors, but they are also promoting several other security and optimisation technologies like Intel AES New Instructions for more efficient encryption, Intelligent Power Node Manager to better control power needs for increased server density and Intel's Virtualisation Technology. Intel anticipates that by 2015, 2.5 billion people with more than 15 Career Makers

Worlds First Double Leg Transplant

Doctors in Spain performed on 15 July 2011 the worlds first double-leg transplant, giving two new legs to a man whose legs were severed in an accident.The man lost both of his legs above the knee in an accident and the attempts to fit him with artificial limbs were not successful.Pedro Cavadas of La Fe hospital in Valencia performed the operation. He is the first doctor in the world to successfully transplant a jaw and a new tongue while doing a face transplant. September 2011, Volume: 09

1A. K Computer is capable of over eight quadrillion calculations per second with an Rmax score of 8.16 petaflops. This makes it more powerful than the next five systems in the top 10 combined. Unlike previous winners, K Computer does not use graphical processing units (GPUs), such as those made by Nvidia, nor does it use x86 processors from Intel and AMD; instead, it is based on Fujitsu- designed Sparc processors. K Computer is based at the independent Riken research lab in Japan. Riken caries out research in physics, chemistry, medical science, biology and engineering. It needs to be noted here that Japan was last home to the worlds most powerful Top 500 system in 2004, with the 36teraflop Earth Simulator. In the new Top 500 list, Tianhe-1A of China came second and US Oak Ridge National Labs Jaguar came third.

Adviser to PM on Public Information, Infrastructure and Innovation and Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, UIDAI. The HLC has already held 3 meetings and has initiated steps to put the implementation on a fast track. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will assume the responsibility for execution of the project after approval of the scheme by the cabinet. The SPV will be finally owned by the Government/USOF. The BSNL has been entrusted with the task of undertaking the preparatory activity for project execution and establishment of the SPV.

environment by 2015. The group is set up jointly by the Planning Commission and Ministry of Environment. The panel will also include distinguished economists Nitin Desai, Vijay Kelkar and Kirit Parikh. The committee has been mandated to evaluate the environmental and ecological implications of high GDP growth on ecology and biodiversity.

Largest water mass

Two teams of astronomers has discovered the largest and farthest reservoir of water ever detected in the universe. The water, equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in the worlds ocean, surrounds a huge, feeding black hole, called a quasar, more than 12 billion light-years away. A quasar is powered by an enormous black hole that steadily consumes a surrounding disk of gas and dust. As it eats, the quasar spews out huge amounts of energy. Both groups of astronomers studied a particular quasar called APM

Green Growth
The government of India recently announced the setting up of a high-level expert group to assess the impact of economic growth on environment. The expert group has been constituted under environment economist Partha Dasgupta to provide a roadmap for Green National Accounting System (GNA) to evaluate impact of economic growth on

National Optical Fibre Network

The Telecom Commission has recommeneded the Scheme for creation of National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) for providing Broadband connectivity to Panchayats. The objective of the scheme is to extend initially the existing optical fiber network which extends upto districts HQ's/Block HQ's level upto the Gram Panchayat level by utilizing Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) .The cost of the initial phase of the NOFN scheme is likely to be in the region of RS 20,000 crore. Similar amount of investment is likely to be made by private sector complementing the NOFN infrastructure while providing services to individual users. A High Level Committee (HLC) to steer and coordinate all activities related to the creation and implementation of NOFN was earlier constituted by DOT on 26th April 2011 under the Co- Chairmanship of Sam Pitroda, Career Makers

First renewable energy-based mini-grid system

On Jluy 1, 2011, a renewable energy-based smart mini-grid system, the first of its kind in the country, was formally commissioned on the campus of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Gurgaon. The system, which uses advanced digital and control techniques, has been designed and developed by TERI, with support from the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and others. A smart mini-grid is an intelligent electricity distribution network, operating at or below 11KV, to provide electricity to a community. The smart mini-grids use advanced sensing, communication and control technologies to generate, manage, distribute and utilise electricity at the local distribution levels more intelligently and effectively. The system intelligently manages and balances multiple loads through interconnected energy resources, providing rapid responses to network disturbances, minimising outages and preventing black-outs. The electricity is supplied by a diverse range of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and typically include small conventional generators such as diesel gensets, and/or a range of renewable generators such as solar PV, micro-hydro power plants, wind turbines, biomass etc. These smart mini-grids can be wisely used to strengthen the countrys electricity sector and also enhance the performance of rural electricity supply systems. September 2011, Volume: 09

E. coli Infection
E. coli stands for Escherichia coli bacteria (germs) that cause severe cramps and diarrhoea. E. coli is a leading cause of bloody diarrhoea. The symptoms are worse in children and older people, and especially in people who have another illness. E. coli infection is more common during the summer months and in northern states.

Symptoms of E. coli Infection:

(a) bad stomach cramps and belly pain. (b) Vomiting. (c) Diarrhoea, sometimes with blood in it. Complications related to E. coli: The most common complication is called haemolytic uremic syndrome. People with this problem get haemolytic anaemia (which is a low red blood cell count), thrombocytopenia (which is a low platelet count) and renal failure (which is kidney damage). Career Makers

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08279+5255, which harbours a black hole 20 billion times more massive than the sun and produces as much energy as a thousand trillion suns. Astronomers expected water vapour to be present even in the early, distant universe, but had not detected it this far away before. Theres water vapour in the Milky Way, although the total amount is 4,000 times less than in the quasar, because most of the Milky Ways water is frozen in ice. Water vapour is an important trace gas that reveals the nature of the quasar. In this particular quasar, the water vapour is distributed around the black hole in a gaseous region spanning hundreds of light-years in size. Its presence indicates that the quasar is bathing the gas in X-rays and infrared radiation, and that the gas is unusually warm and dense by astronomical standards.

Haemolytic uremic syndrome is more common in children. It can cause acute renal failure in children. This problem starts about 5 to 10 days after the diarrhoea starts.

Recent Outbreak of E. coli:

A new strain of E. coli containing gens from two distinct groups of enters aggregative E. coli (EAEC) and enter haemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) has hit European nations. This outbreak of E. coli linked to contaminated salad vegetables had caused at least 22 deaths and hundreds of infections in Germany, Sweden and other countries.

SPACE RESEARCH

NASA's GRAIL Mission: Studying the Moon from Crust to Core

You can get as poetic about the moon as you want and everyone from lovers to lyricists to astronauts has had a go at it. But the fact is, the thing's a lump beautiful, to be sure, but a lump all the same, created more than 4 billion years ago when a Mars-size planetesimal whizzed by, collided

with Earth and blasted out a mass of molten debris that eventually cooled into the moon. In fact, the moon is a series of lumps within lumps. Even as it was congealing, it did so unevenly, with scattered areas of high density that senologists labeled mascons for mass concentrations. The highlands and plains are made of differing materials too. Higher local density means stronger local gravity, which can not only wreak havoc on precisely calibrated spacecraft orbits but can also reveal a lot about the innards and the history of the moon itself provided you know how to read those gravitational flutters. NASA is preparing to do just that, launching the GRAIL mission (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) on a nine-month journey to deepen our understanding of Earth's closest neighbor. The GRAIL spacecraft, which launched on Sept. 10, is actually two spacecraft, each about the size of a washing machine. Named, prosaically enough, GRAILA and GRAIL-B, they were lofted aboard the same booster and then released in space for separate but closely coordinated flights to the moon. A translunar journey typically takes less than three days, but the GRAIL ships will exceed that by just

September 2011, Volume: 09

a bit not arriving until New Year's Eve in the case of GRAIL-A and New Year's Day in the case of GRAIL-B. Rather than covering the 239,000mi. (385,000 km) distance from the Earth to the moon in a straight, asthe-crow-flies shot, the ships will follow a looping, 2.5-million-mi. (4 million km) trajectory. The longer route and slower speed allow the spacecraft to carry less fuel and ensure that when they do arrive at the moon they can be inserted into orbit more precisely and precision is everything when it comes to the GRAILs. During the three months the ships will spend actively studying the moon from early March to late May they will maintain a distance of 100 to 225 km (62 to 140 mi.), depending on what part of the lunar anatomy they're surveying. A tracking system aboard the ships will measure any change in range between the two within a difference of a few microns or about the size of a red blood cell. And that shifting distance is exactly what the scientists will be looking for. Flying over a mascon will be like driving over a speed bump, jolting the two ships and causing them to shake a bit relative to each other. The denser the mass concentration and the bigger the gravity jolt the greater the degree of disruption will be. "We'll use the moon's gravity to tell us what's inside the moon, all the way down to the core," says principal investigator Maria Zuber of MIT. NASA is prepared for glitches and false positives in the data. No unmanned spacecraft have ever flown in such balletic tandem around another world, and flight planners will thus be refining their navigational skills in real time. Even the solar wind the stream of charged particles that flow outward from the sun could disrupt the readings. Indeed, one more reason Career Makers

for the roundabout translunar route was so that scientists could measure the wind precisely and correct for it as the data is analyzed. Assuming the mission achieves what it's designed to achieve, the GRAILs will do more than reveal new insights about the innards of the moon and the origins of the solar system. They will also help NASA select promising sites for future lunar landings. Such ambitious future missions, of course, require both funding and programmatic clarity that are nowhere in evidence at the moment. But in the event policymakers ever do set their sights moonward again, GRAIL will help tell them precisely where to aim.

been with ISRO for over two decades, were involved in crucial tasks undertaken before declaring the satellite fully operational.

Oceansat-2 ground station inaugurated in Hyderabad

A state-of-the-art Oceansat2 ground station was inaugurated on September 12 by Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) at Hyderabad. The Department of Space and INCOIS established the ground station to receive and process data from Ocean Colour Monitor onboard the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite Oceansat-2 in real time. The Oceansat-2 ground station, fitted with a 7.5 m diameter antenna, could cover an area of 5,000 km diameter circle, covering the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west, a note issued by INCOIS on the occasion said. The ground station consists of various sub-systems like antenna and feed system, radio frequency and tracking, base band, automation, modulation and demodulation systems, direct archival and quicklook browsing and

T.K. Anuradha, Pramodha Hegde & K.S. Anuradha

For the first time in the history of the Indian Space Research Organisation, three senior women scientists monitored and carried out crucial manoeuvres of the communication satellite GSAT-12 which was launched on July 22, 2011. Project Director of GSAT-12 T.K. Anuradha, Mission Director Pramodha Hegde and Operations Director K.S. Anuradha, who have

25th nuclear power plant

India is moving forward with nuclear power generation despite worldwide concerns about the safety of civilian nuclear power electricity generation after the March disaster in Japans Fukushima complex. India recently began construction of its 25th atomic power plant and announced to build four more indigenous 700 MW units than planned earlier. The first pour of concrete for the 700 MW indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), the seventh nuclear plant at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS), took place about 65 km from Kota. RAPS currently operate six PHWRs at the facility, five of which are producing more than 1,180 MW, Indias largest nuclear power electrical generation from a single facility. The new complex will be RAPS seventh nuclear power plant built at the Rajasthan site. The 700-megawatt PHWR was designed by NPCIL by scaling up the design of its 540-megawatt PHWRs operating at Tarapur since 2005. The new RAPS facility is expected to be completed by 2016. September 2011, Volume: 09

Oceansat data production generation system. INCOIS said, the 7.5 meter diameter antenna system at the new ground station could also be used to receive data from satellites launched by ISRO in the future study of oceans. The chlorophyll data received from OCM at the ground station would be integrated with Sea Surface Temperature from NOAA satellites for providing the Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisory services. The PFZ advisories generated by INCOIS using Oceansat-2 data advise fishermen on the optimal locations for fishing. INCOIS said an estimated 65,000 users regularly access the PFZ service, thereby benefiting by 60-70 per cent reduction in search time for fish shoals and 2-3 times increase in net profit. The recent study, carried out by National Council of Applied Economic Research, on the socio economic benefits of PFZ advisory services and ocean state forecasts, has estimated the net annual benefits to be in the range of Rs 34,000 to Rs 50,000 crore due to scientific identification of PFZs based on satellite information, INCOIS said. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences Shailesh Nayak, Incois director Satheesh Shenoi and other officials were present on the occasion.

The Grail spacecraft launch at 9.08 am aboard a Delta II rocket from an Air Force base adjacent to NASAs facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The blastoff had been postponed twice due to bad weather on September 8th and 9th. The two small Grail spacecraft - which are about the size of washing machines - will fly in formation above the moons surface to map its gravity.

Trying to understand how the moon formed, and how it evolved over its history, is one of the things were trying to address with the Grail mission, said researcher Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By measuring variations in gravity across the moons surface over three months, scientists hope to learn how the interior formed, which should also provide general clues about how rocky planets form, Ms. Zuber said.

Atlantis Returns
The 135th, and final, space-shuttle mission was completed recently with the safe return of Atlantis back to earth after making resupplies to the International Space Station and deliver an experiment intended to help develop a refuelling system for telecommunications satellites. The STS-135 crew consisted of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim. They delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, spare equipment and other supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module including 2,677 pounds of food - that will sustain space station operations for the next year. The 21- foot long, 15-foot diameter Raffaello brought back nearly 5,700 pounds of unneeded materials from the station. Atlantis will now become a museum piece, on display at the space centre. STS135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and travelled 125,935,769 miles. The end of the shuttle programme, which leaves America without the ability to launch people into orbit for the first time since 1962, has been the subject of much controversy between those who think manned space flight a waste of money and those who see space as the countrys manifest destiny and the final frontier of human exploration. Alternative systems for launching humans, employing singleshot rockets, are under development by several American companies. In the meantime, American astronauts bound for the space station will have to hitch a lift with the Russians. 10 September 2011, Volume: 09

NASA launches twin satellites bound for moon

Twin satellites blasted off aboard a rocket September 10 on a mission to unveil the inner secrets of the moon, the US space agency NASA said. Career Makers

The Defence Ministry has approved a proposal to develop Deesa Airport in North Gujarat as a full fledged air base, a top IAF officer said. "We had mooted this proposal to the Defence Ministry, which has granted approval. The first phase of the project will cost over Rs 3,000 crore," said A K Gogoi Commanding in Chief, South Western Air Command (SWAC). Considering the strategic importance of the airport, it was thought fit to develop a full-fledged air base at Deesa, which is close to the Pakistani border, he told reporters after induction of 25 squadron at IAF station in Vadodara on Thursday. The IAF base at Jodhpur will have a permanent squadron of SU30 fighter jets in the next couple of years, he said. Two squadrons armed with Akash, the medium range surface to-air missile, are set to be deployed in Pune and Gwalior. Six more squadrons will be deployed for checking any threat from China, Gogoi said. To a question on shortage of aircraft, he said "IAF is expecting to expand the fleet of its fighters after 2012. This will lead to increase in the number of squadrons." "We are getting upgraded MIG aircraft from Russia. Five such aircraft are expected to arrive soon," he said. "SWAC is in the process of strengthening surveillance by inducting a few state-of-the-art Medium Power Radars (MPRs)," Gogoi said. "The MPR has been developed with a view to detect Career Makers

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DEFENCE

Nod given to develop Gujarat's Deesa Airport as air base

small targets at ranges greater than 300 km," Gogoi said. Talking about 25 Squadron, popularly known as Himalayan Eagle', he said it was formed on 1st March 1963 in the wake of 1962 Chinese aggression in the Northern Sector. The unit, equipped with AN32 aircraft, has been adjudged the best transport unit in the IAF three times.

Russia successfully test-launches ballistic missile

Russia on August 27 successfully test launched its Bulava inter-continental ballistic missile to its maximum range of 8,000 km, in a boost to the country's defence capabilities. The missile was fired successfully by the White sea-based Russian nuclear submarine Yuri Dolgoruky, the Defence Ministry said. The successful launch of the Bulava came after a string of setbacks suffered by this programme. Only eight of its previous 15 launches were officially declared successful. "The regular launch of the missile was conducted at 7:20 am Moscow time from a submerged position from the regular carrier in line with the state flight development tests at a maximum flight range of the missile," a defence ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Ria Novosti. The missile successfully reached its target in the Pacific Ocean in accordance with the necessary shipping security measures, the spokesman said. The successful test of the missile was reported to President Dmitry Medvedev by the defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov. 11

The Bulava, expected to become Russia's main naval strategic missile, is capable of carrying 10 warheads with a range of 8,000 km. The first test launch from the Yuri Dolgoruky was conducted on June 28, 2011. Before that the missiles were fired from the typhoon-class Dmitry Donskoy submarine. The three-stage missile is specifically designed for deployment on Borey class nuclear submarines.

Project SANGAM
A software project SANGAM for defence pensioners has been launched. The project SANGAM will provide useful Management Information System (MIS) to the financial planners in the Ministry of Defence. Project SANGAM is a software which will facilitate issuance of corrigendum pension payment orders. This will address the demand from the exservicemen for issue of individual corrigendum pension payment order consequent to implementation of recommendations of Sixth Central Pay Commission (6th CPC). This software project is one step forward from the project SUVIGYA which was launched in October last year on the occasion of Defence Account Department Day and is very popular among defence pensioners. There are about 18 lakh defence pensioners who will be benefitted with the launch of project SANGAM in the long run. It will also help in grievance redressal of pensioners with regard to the correctness of payment of pension. September 2011, Volume: 09

The 5th India-EU seminar on Employment and Social Policy Occupational Safety & Health is commencing on Monday 19th,2011 at Symposia Hall, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, National Agriculture Science Centre (NASC)Complex, Dev Prakash Shastri Marg, New Delhi. The two day seminar will be inaugurated and chaired by Union Minister for Labour & Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and be attended by senior officials from the European Commission and from the member countries of European Union. Ministers from some countries are also likely to attend the seminar. The senior representatives from Workers organizations, Employers Organisation and senior officers from of various State Governments and Central Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India will also be participating in the seminar. The seminar will have four sessions spread over two days in which deliberations on the following issues will be made : Overview of OSH Institutional Framework in India and the European Union; Effective and "Topical Issues in Occupational Health Management" The seminar is in the sequence of a Joint Action Plan entered in between India and European Union (EU) to have a policy dialogue and cooperation in Career Makers

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SUMMITS/

CONFERENCES

5th India-EU Seminar on Employment and Social Policy Occupational Safety & Health

the fields of employment and social policy. Accordingly, the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the European Commission to strengthen dialogue and exchange of views and information on issues of common interests within the area of employment and social policy such as: skills, training and employment, social security, occupational health and safety; workers participation in management; and other relevant issues jointly identified. The structured dialogue consists of exchanges of experience, best practice, views and information on topics of common interest, trends and policy developments related to the above areas. As a part of this structured dialogue, it has been agreed upon to organize a joint seminar on mutually identified issues every year. These seminars will bring together EU and India government experts, social partner representatives, academic experts and other relevant stakeholders to exchange views, information, experience and best practice on topics of common interest. As a result, the first Seminar on Skills Development and training was held on 27-28 November, 2006 at New Delhi. The second seminar on social security and social protection was held on 17-18 September, 2007 at Lisbon, Portugal. The third Seminar on Employment Relations and Resolution of Conflicts was organized on 22nd & 23rd September, 2008 at New Delhi. The 4th India-EU Seminar on the `Skills and Jobs, with a particular focus on the impact of the global crisis and recovery was held in Brussels from 5th to 6th July, 2010. 12

Rio+20 UN meet to focus on sustainable building

The impact of the building sector on climate change, sustainable construction and green buildings will have to be on the top of the agenda of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, according to Mr Arab Hoballah, Chief, Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, United Nations Environment Programme. The world cannot afford to miss this opportunity as the built-up

India Convenes meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers in Washington DC on September 22, 2011
The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that India is convening a meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers in Washington DC on September 22, 2011 on the sidelines of the Fund-Bank and G-20 Meetings. The Finance Minister said that we would explore the manner in which BRICS could coordinate in addressing the evolving economic and financial situation in the various countries of the world. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that the objective of the meeting is to discuss our concerns regarding the current state of the Global Economy and our Policy Response. Shri Mukherjee said that we will discuss the progress on the report commissioned by India on the role that BRICS can play in the global economy going forward, and also our role in the international financial institutions such as IMF and the World Bank. September 2011, Volume: 09

Rabi Conference 2011

The National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign-2011 will begin in New Delhi on September 14. Strategy for the forthcoming rabi season will be deliberated upon and finalized during the two day Conference. Discussion on progress in sowing of crops during the current kharif season will also take place. Kharif assessment and rabi planning, possibility of additional areas under boro/summer rice, pulses and wheat, procurement plan for ensuring timely supply of inputs to farmers and promotion of micronutrients are some of the important issues on the agenda of the Conference. Centrally sponsored flagship schemes of the Ministry of Agriculture will also be discussed during the Conference. The Conference will be inaugurated by Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries. The Conference will be attended by Senior Officers of State Agriculture Departments, experts and representatives of the concerned ministries, scientists from ICAR, other research institutes and crop directorates.

space accounts for one-third of the Green House Gas emissions globally, and consumes nearly half the world's energy and resources. At the Rio +20 UN conference to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, the challenge of creating a sustainable building sector will have to be brought to the fore. The opportunity was missed out earlier and does not figure in the Kyoto Protocol because of the lack of awareness two decades back on this issue. Addressing the International Green Building Conference 2011 organised by the Building and Construction Authority, a Singapore Government body that regulates real estate development, he said, a multipronged approach is needed in the form of multilateral agreements, economic and fiscal incentives and regulatory regimes. Population growth and economic development are driving the demand for buildings with the major growth regions being China, Asia, Latin America and Africa. By 2030 more than 80 per cent of the population will be living in cities where housing will be needed for three billion people. The UNEP green economic report released in February looks at the investments needed to make the process of development sustainable. Two of the 11 chapters deal with buildings and Career Makers

cities. These two also have a direct impact on most of the other sectors the report deals with agriculture, forest, manufacturing, tourism, transport, water and energy.

Conference on Public Private Partnership in National Highways

A Conference on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in National Highways: Challenges and Opportunities organized by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways with the assistance of the Planning Commission concluded in New Delhi at September 12. The one-day conference was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Dr. C. P. Joshi gave a broad overview of the Vision Ahead of the Ministry and the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia delivered the keynote address. The Ministers of State for RT&H, Shri Jitin Prasada and Dr. Tusharbhai A. Choudhary also addressed the inaugural session.

Twenty-Second World Mining Congress

Twenty-Second World Mining Congress and Expo was held at Istanbul, Turkey between 11-16 September 2011. World Mining Congress & Expo is a unique opportunity for companies and manufactures to showcase their latest achievements and equipment technologies to a wide audience especially to t h o s e officials and s p e c i a l i s ts from all over the world. September 2011, Volume: 09

13

India and Malaysia FTA

The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Malaysia has come into force from July 1, 2011. The Indian Government has assured that sensitive sectors like agriculture, fisheries, textiles, chemicals and automobiles have been given protection from imports without duty or with significant cuts. India-Malaysia CECA is Indias fourth bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, after Singapore, South Korea and Japan. The India-Malaysia CECA also facilitates cross-border investments between the two countries. It aims to promote investments and create a liberal, facilitative, transparent and competitive investment regime. The CECA creates an attractive operating environment for the business communities of both countries to increase bilateral trade and investment.

Benefits:
1. This FTA is likely to provide greater opportunity to Indian professionals professionals in commercially meaningful sectors including accounting and auditing, architecture, urban planning, engineering services, medical and dental, nursing and pharmacy, Computer and Related Services (CRS), and Management Consulting Services to have access to the key South-East Asian nation and render their services to them. 2. Besides that like basmati rice, mangoes, eggs, trucks, motorcycles and cotton garments, will attract lower or no duty in Malaysia with the Career Makers

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ECONOMY GLOSSARY

implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and therefore would have better access in Malaysian markets. 3. Further, the CCEA would facilitate temporary movement of business people, including contractual service suppliers and independent professionals in accounting, architecture, engineering services, medical and dental, nursing and pharmacy, computer services and management consulting. 4. It has been expected that the agreement will also help boost crossborder investment between the two countries, which achieved bilateral trade of USD 10 billion in the fiscal year of 2010-11, an increase of 26 per cent from the previous year. With the implementation of this agreement the bilateral trade is likely to touch US$15 billion by 2015.

computer. This amalgamated configuration provides an environment where applications execute independently without regard for any particular configuration. Thus Cloud computing is a paradigm for largescale distributed computing that makes use of existing technologies such as virtualization, serviceorientation, and grid computing. It offers a different way to acquire and manage IT resources on a large scale. A simple example of cloud computing is webmail. The webmail provider maintains the server space and provides access; the webmail user just plugs a web address into a browser and submits user information to access an account.

Benefits of the Cloud Computing:

(a) Reduced cost: Cloud computing can reduce both capital expense and operating expense costs because resources are only acquired when needed and are only paid for when used. (b) Refined usage of personnel: Using cloud computing frees valuable personnel allowing them to focus on delivering value rather than maintaining hardware and software. (c) Robust scalability: Cloud computing allows for immediate scaling, either up or down, at any time without long-term commitment.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a comprehensive solution that delivers IT as a service. It is an Internet-based computing solution where shared resources are provided like electricity distributed on the electrical grid. Computers in the cloud are configured to work together and the various applications use the collective computing power as if they are running on a single system. The flexibility of cloud computing is a function of the allocation of resources on demand. This facilitates the use of the systems cumulative resources, negating the need to assign specific hardware to a task. Before cloud computing, websites and server-based applications were executed on a specific system. With the advent of cloud computing, resources are used as an aggregated virtual 14

Global economic growth to slow down to 3.1% in 2011: UNCTAD

Projecting a slowdown in global economic growth in 2011 to around 3 per cent, compared to almost 4 per cent last year, a UN agency said developing economies could be affected by recession in developed nations. "The pace of global economic recovery has been slowing down in 2011... This year, September 2011, Volume: 09

world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 3.1 per cent, compared to 3.9 per cent in 2010," the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released. It said the developing economies have sustained their strong growth path, despite the recent global downturn, mainly due to domestic demand. "However, they must face financial instability and speculative capital flows generated in developed economies and would not be spared by a new recession in the North," UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report 2011 (TDR 2011) said. Projecting a slowdown in global economic growth in 2011, UNCTAD said private demand alone is not sufficient to maintain momentum of recovery due to high unemployment and stagnant wages in many countries. While developing economies are expected to regain the pre-crisis growth rate of 6 per cent this year, growth in developed economies is expected to be between only 1.5-2 per cent, it said. Regarding South Asia, of which India is a part, UNCTAD said the region is likely to be among the best performers with a growth of 7 per cent in 2011. "Although growth in developing countries has become more and more dependent on the expansion of domestic markets, these countries face significant Career Makers

external risks because of economic weakness in the developed economies and a lack of significant reforms in international financial markets," UNCTAD said. It said that emerging economies remain vulnerable to trade and financial shocks that could strongly affect volume of their exports and the prices of primary commodities, as happened in 2008. The report said that growth in US is likely to remain low on account of low domestic demand, stagnating wages and employment and low interest rates. The debt crisis, along with spreading fiscal austerity, is also expected to act as a drag on the global growth. According to the TDR 2011, trade remains an area of concern, especially for the richer nations. "In 2011, the volume of international trade is expected to return to single-digit from 14 per cent in 2010, particularly in developed economies. Recovery of trade has been faster in developing than in developed economies," it said.

Financial Inclusion Necessary for Inclusive Growth

Financial inclusion is necessary for inclusive growth. To extend the reach of banking to those outside the formal banking system, the Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget Speech 2010-11 had stated that the 15

Government has decided to provide appropriate banking facilities to habitations having population in excess of 2000 (as per 2001 census) by March, 2012. Accordingly, 73,000 such habitations across the country have been identified and allocated to Public Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Private Sector Banks and Cooperative Banks for extending banking services by using the services of Business Correspondents and other models, with appropriate technology back up by March, 2012. According to Dr. Rangarajan Committee Report on Financial Inclusion (2008), the reach of rural cooperatives in terms of number of clients and accessibility is better but the health of a very large population of rural credit cooperatives has deteriorated significantly. RBI guidelines on KYC (Know Your Customer) are similar to both Commercial Banks and Urban Cooperative Banks. Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) affiliated to District Central Cooperative Banks and State Cooperative Banks were having a deposit base of Rs.26,245 crore as on 31.3.2009 that increased to Rs.35,286 crore as on 31.3.2010 registering an increase of 34.45%. The loans issued by such Primary Societies (PACS) were of the order of Rs.58,787 crore as on 31.3.2009 and Rs.74,938 crore as on 31.3.2010 registering an increase 27.47% over the previous year.

New set of coins and Rs 10 notes

On July 8, 2011, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee launched a new set of coins and Rs 10 notes bearing the rupee symbol. With this India became the second country after England to have its currency symbol printed on its notes. September 2011, Volume: 09

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi recently unveiled the Janani-Shishu Suraksha Karyakram an ambitious national healthcare programme aimed at providing free child delivery and neonatal care services across the country. Inaugurated at Mandikhera village located in the relatively backward and predominantly Muslim Haryana district of Mewat, the scheme is expected to bring safe medical services to more than one crore rural and urban families every year. This scheme will give right to all pregnant women to have free delivery in government health organisations. It is here underlined that the ambitious scheme of the Centre, to be implemented under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), has been patterned on the Haryana Governments scheme Janani Suraksha Yojana, and would cost Rs 1100 crore per month. Under the programme, expecting mothers would get care and treatment, including medicines, food and testing facilities free of cost in all government hospitals and dispensaries, she said. They would also be provided, if needed, blood and transport facility to the hospital for delivery free of cost, and the mother-child duo would be transported back home.

The Central Government is implementing Ujjawala, a comprehensive Scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation since 4th Career Makers

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PROGRAMMES

Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram

December, 2007. The Minister of State (I/C) for Women & Child Development Smt. Krishna Tirath stated in Lok Sabha that the Scheme is envisaged for women and children who are vulnerable to trafficking and those who are victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. However, sex workers who are voluntarily in the trade and wish to be rehabilitated, can also avail of rehabilitation services provided under the Ujjawala Scheme. The Minister informed the House that under the Scheme, 76 Protective and Rehabilitative Homes have been sanctioned, in the country, which can accommodate upto 3800 beneficiaries. These Rehabilitative Homes are given financial support for providing the inmates basic amenities such as food, clothing and shelter, medical care, legal aid, education in case the victims are children as well as for undertaking vocational training and income generation activities to provide the victims with alternate livelihood option.

Smt. Tirath said that a comprehensive study on Girls and Women in Prostitution, conducted in 2004, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, had estimated that there were about 2.8 million prostitutes in the country of which 36% are children. It is to be noted here that the Honble Supreme Court vide its order dated 14.2.2011 had asked the State and Central Governments to prepare schemes for rehabilitation of sex workers in all cities in India by giving them technical/vocational training. Subsequently, vide order dated 19.7.2011, the Honble Court has a Panel which will make suitable suggestions to the Court on different aspects including rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave sex work. The Court has asked the Panel to first take up the problems of sex workers in the 4 metropolitan cities i.e. Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. The Panel has met three times to discuss the issues before it.

Rural Business Hubs Scheme

Since the inception of the Central Sector Scheme of Rural Business Hubs (RBHs) in 2007-08, the Government has released a total of Rs. 540.45 lakh upto the period 2011-12 for the Scheme. Rs. 86.17 lakhs was released for the period 2010-11. For the period 2011-12, 13.32 lakhs has been released till date. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been implementing a Central Sector Scheme of RBHs for promoting manufacturing of products using raw materials / skills available in the rural areas. The scheme works on a 4P (Public-Private-Panchayat-Partnership) model and is applicable in all the BRGF districts and all the districts in the North-Eastern Region. Setting up of RBHs is primarily done through convergence of resources from various ongoing schemes. Assistance under the RBH Scheme is available for professional support services, training/skill development and for purchase of minor equipment. RBH is a demand driven scheme and, therefore, no targets can be fixed under the Scheme. There is no State-wise allocation of funds. The financial assistance is provided to the Implementing Agencies in two installments keeping in view the viability of their projects and proper utilization of the funds released. 16 September 2011, Volume: 09

Rehabilitation of Sex Workers

India has continued to deteriorate in the index as it has slipped to 62nd position in the 2011 edition of the Global Innovation Index rankings from being 56th in 2010 and 41st in 2009. India has performed poorly on the Input side at ranked 87th: India is in the last quintile on sub-pillars business environment, elementary education, tertiary education, and knowledge workers. In the Innovation Efficiency Index, India however improved its ranking to 9th this year. It was followed by Sri Lanka (82), Bangladesh (97), and Pakistan (105). The 2011 rankings were by the leading international business school INSEAD and its knowledge partners, Alcatel-Lucent, Booz & Company, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Switzerland has been regarded as ranked one ahead of Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong and Finland. The other major countries are; US (7), China (29), Brazil (47) and Russia (56). The Global Innovation Index has been computed as an average of the scores across inputs pillars

Career Makers

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REPORTS

Global Innovation Index 2011

(describing the enabling environment for innovation) and output pillars (measuring actual achievements in innovation). It added that five pillars constitute the Innovation Input Sub-Index: Institutions, Human capital and research, Infrastructure, Market sophistication and Business sophistication. The Innovation Output Sub-Index is comprised two pillars: Scientific outputs and Creative outputs. The Innovation Efficiency Index, calculated as the ratio of the two Sub-Indices, examines how economies leverage their enabling environments to stimulate innovation results.

World Trade Report 2011

The WTO and preferential trade agreements: From co-existence to coherence:
The ever-growing number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) is a prominent feature of international trade. The World Trade Report 2011 describes the historical development of PTAs and the current landscape of agreements. It examines why PTAs are established, their economic effects, and the contents of the agreements themselves. Finally it considers the interaction between PTAs and the multilateral trading system. According to the latest report of the WTO accumulated trade opening at the multilateral, regional and unilateral level has reduced the scope for offering preferential tariffs under PTAs. As a result, only a small fraction of global merchandise trade receives preferences, and preferential tariffs are becoming less important in PTAs. The report highlights the fact that global production networks have promoted the emergence of these deep PTAs as good governance on a

range of regulatory areas is far more important to these networks than further reductions in already low tariffs.

WTO projects that the world trade will grow 6.5 per cent by volume in 2011:
The latest report of the WTO has projected that the world trade will grow by 6.5 percent this year, which is above the average rate between 1990 and 2008 of 6 percent, but if fails short of last years dramatic rebound. The WTO maintains that the growth in merchandise trade in 2010 as measured by volume of exports was 14.5 percent, revised up from its previous forecast of 13.5 percent.

UN Millennium Development Goals Report

According to the UN Millennium Development Goals Report, as many as 320 million people in India and China are expected to come out of extreme poverty by 2015, while Indias poverty rate is projected to drop to 22%, from 55% in 1990. Those living on less than $1.25 a day are considered extremely poor. September 2011, Volume: 09

17

Developing country trade as measured by exports growth is projected to grow by 9.5 percent, while that of developed countries is set to grow only 4.5 percent.

India is 10th top services exporter:

According to the latest report of the WTO, India has achieved 10th rank in export of services worldwide, while emerged as the 20th biggest merchandise exporter in 2010. In value terms last year, India exported services and merchandise worth USD 110 billion and USD 216 billion respectively. Indias goods exports went up by 31 per cent in 2010, helping the country to expand its market share to 1.4 per cent from 1.2 per cent in 2009. According to the report, China ranked first in terms of merchandise exports followed by the US and Germany. In services export, the US is on the top slot followed by Germany and UK.

comprehensive report, the Asian Development Bank has referred to these seven countries as the driving engines for the re-emergence of the entire Asia. According to the estimates, around 3.1 billion total populations were living in these seven Asian nations in the year 2010. This population makes 78 per cent of the entire population living in Asia. In 2010, these seven countries were generating around $ 14.2 trillion gross domestic product.

World Competitiveness Rankings 2011

India has slipped one rank, to 32nd position in overall competitiveness among 59 nations, according to the latest World Competitiveness Rankings, announced by the International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne (Switzerland). The recovery of financial markets pushed the US and Hong Kong to first place, followed by last years topper, Singapore, which fell to third spot. In 2010, the US and Hong Kong ranked second and third, respectively. Indias neighbouring competitor, China, also slipped one rank, to 19th and Japan went up one rank to 26th slot. Though Indias ranking is below the midway mark, it still did better than Indonesia (37) Philippines (41), Brazil (44) and Russia (49). Sharply different trends were observed in Indias ranking in four major parameters.

Asian Development Bank Economic Report 2011

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has released its economic report on Asian economies titled as Asia 2050 Realizing the Asian Century, saying that by the year 2050, over 45 per cent of the entire worlds gross domestic product (GDP) will be contributed by seven Asian nations. According to the report, Asias rise will be led by China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand. In this exclusively prepared

UNEP Report 2011

Investing an additional US$40 billion a year or 0.034 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the forestry sector could halve deforestation rates by 2030, increase rates of tree planting by around 140 per cent by 2050, and catalyse the creation of millions of new jobs, says a new report launched by the United Nations 18

Environment Programme (UNEP). The report, Forests in a Green Economy: A Synthesis, examines the role of forests in a green economy, and provides policy recommendations to adjust the forest sector in such a way that it can effectively contribute to sustainable development and poverty eradication. The report further highlights that right kind of enabling policies, such as investment equivalent to about 2/3 more than what is spent on the sector today, could help in removing an extra 28 per cent of carbon from the atmosphere, thus playing a key role in combating climate change. The report further highlights that more than a billion people around the world depend on forests for incomes and employment. Forests are also a major source to provide nutrition and diminish energy scarcity. Besides, forests serve as carbon sinks, regulate water cycles and contribute to the world biodiversity. Thus we can convincingly say that economic progress and human well-being are dependent on healthy forests.

World Investment Report 2011

The UNCTAD's World Investment Report (WIR) 2011, the FDI inflow to India has taken a nosedive. In this regard, India position has come down from eighth rank in 2009 to the 14th rank in the top-20 league for global FDI inflows September 2011, Volume: 09

Career Makers

in 2010. As per the report, India's FDI inflows in 2008 stood at $42.5 billion. This had come down to $35.6 billion in 2009 and $24.64 billion in 2010. India attracted FDI worth USD 25 billion last year, much lower than the inflows of USD 36 billion seen in 2009. Whereas United States with $228 billion has topped the list; China stood at 2nd position with inflows totalling $106 billion in 2010, and Brazil stood at 5th position with inflows at $48 billion during the last year. In fact, FDI inflows to South, East and South-East Asia rose 24 per cent to $300 billion, nearly onefourth of the global total of $1.24 trillion in 2010. FDI to South Asia declined to $32 billion, reflecting a 31 per cent slide in inflows to India and a 14 per cent drop in flows to Pakistan. By contrast, inflows to Bangladesh, a rising low-cost production location, increased by nearly 30 per cent to $913 million. FDI inflows in India stood at $ 9.42 billion in 2010-11.

world. The report is a global survey of womens access to justice looking both at legislation passed by governments and the steps taken or not taken to implement those laws. The paradox confronted by the report is that despite the recent and rapid expansion of womens legal entitlements, what is written in the statute books does not always translate into real progress on equality and justice on the ground. The report looks at which countries have passed special legislation on womens political rights and economic opportunities and on womens reproductive health and rights. It looks at which countries have laws against domestic violence, sexual harassment and marital rape. It catalogues data on development indicators related to women, and looks country-bycountry at womens participation in politics.

Major Highlights of the Report:

(a) 139 nations guarantee gender equality, 117 countries have equal pay laws, and 115 countries guarantee womens equal property rights. (b) Globally, 53 per cent of working women are in vulnerable employment and women are paid up to 30 per cent less than men in some countries. (c) 125 countries outlaw domestic violence, but 127 countries do not explicitly criminalise rape within marriage. (d) Around the world, 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not considered a crime and more than 2.6 billion live in countries where marital rape is not a criminal offence. (e) 61 countries severely restrict womens rights to abortion. (f) 50 countries have a lower legal age of marriage for women than for men. 19

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a new Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) scheme, which was announced to be implemented in its Monetary Policy for the year 2011-12. Under the new facility, banks will borrow overnight up to 1 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) outstanding at the end of the second preceding fortnight. The MSF will be 100 basis points above the repo rate the rate at which banks borrow from RBI. It needs to be noted that the repo rate has now become the only independent variable policy rate, marking a shift from earlier method of calibrating various policy rates separately. The reverse repo rate the rate at which RBI borrows will be kept 100 basis points lower than the repo rate. All scheduled commercial banks that have current account and subsidiary general ledger (SGL) account with RBI are eligible to participate in the MSF scheme. RBI will receive requests for a minimum amount of Rs 10 million and in multiples of Rs 10 million thereafter. The central bank has the right to accept or reject partially or fully, the request for funds under this facility.

UN women Report 2011

UN women has issued a new report on womens access to justice worldwide, Progress of the Worlds Women: In Pursuit of Justice. The report focuses on womens access to justice in every country around the Career Makers

Marginal Standing Facility will curb inter-bank lending volatility:

The Reserve Bank of Indias new Marginal Standing Facility is expected to curb volatility in the overnight lending rates in the banking system. The banks will use Marginal Standing Facility to borrow overnight money only when they have exhausted all other existing September 2011, Volume: 09

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BANKING SECTOR

Marginal Standing Facility Scheme

channels like collateralized borrowing and lending obligation (CBLO) and liquidity adjustment facility (LAF). Difference between Liquidity Adjustment Facility-Repo Rate and Marginal

Standing Facility Rate:

Banks can borrow from the RBI under LAF-Repo Rate, which stands at 7.25 per cent by pledging government securities over and above the statutory liquidity requirement of 24 per cent. Though in case of borrowing from the marginal standing facility, banks can borrow funds up to one per cent of their net demand and time liabilities at 8.25 per cent. However, it can be within the statutory liquidity ratio of 24 per cent.

Merger of SBI Commercial with SBI

The Union Cabinet has approved acquisition of the State Bank of India Commercial and International Bank Ltd. (SBICI Bank Ltd.) by State Bank of India (SBI), in terms of sub-section (2) of section 35 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955. SBICI, with two branches in Mumbai, is a wholly owned subsidiary of State Bank of India (SBI) and functions as a private sector bank offering an array of financial products and services. The terms and conditions for the acquisition have been approved by board of directors of both the banks

and also by the Reserve Bank of India. It is hoped that the merger would help in eliminating the cost involved in maintaining the administrative structure of SBICI as both the branches of SBICI would be easily absorbed in the operations of the main bank. Significance of the merger by the government: In the overall analysis, continuation of SBICI in its present form would not create a sustainable organization with a separate niche, able to hold on its own in the medium term. As an independent Bank also, SBICI has had to maintain a full-fledged, elaborate administrative setup to conform to regulatory requirements. The cost of maintaining such a structure is disproportionate to the level of operations of the SBICI. The proposed merger would help in eliminating the cost involved in maintaining the administrative structure of SBICI as both the branches of SBICI would be easily absorbed in the operations of the main Bank. While no present beneficiary of the State Bank of India would be affected, the number of beneficiaries would be the clients of SBI Commercial and International Bank Ltd. who will have access to the bigger network of State Bank of India.

in the nation in addition to expand the scope of UCBs. If the reach of the UCBs is expanded, it will result in promoting financial inclusion. According to the latest guidelines of the RBI, lending to SHGs and JLGs (Joint Liability Groups) would be considered as normal business activity of the bank. UCBs will be required to frame a comprehensive policy on lending to SHGs and JLGs. The maximum amount of loan to SHGs should not exceed four times of the savings of the group. With regard to loans given to JLGs, the guidelines stated that the JLGs were not obliged to keep deposits with the bank and hence the amount of loan granted to them would be based on their credit needs and the banks assessment of the credit requirement.

Definition of Self-Help Group:

A Self-Help Group is a small voluntary association of poor people preferably from the same socioeconomic back drop. The microcredit given to them makes hem enterprising; it can be all women group, all-men group or even a mixed group. However, it has been the experience that womens groups perform better in all the important activities of SHGs. In other words we can define the SHGs as a group of micro entrepreneurs with homogeneous social and economic background who voluntarily come together to save small amounts regularly and mutually agree to contribute to a common fund to meet their emergency needs.

SBICI:
SBICI Bank Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI, which was set up in 1994 after taking over the Indian operations of the erstwhile Bank of Credit and Commerce International Ltd. (BCCI), which went into liquidation in 1991. SBICI Bank Ltd. has only two branches, both in Mumbai.

Defining Joint Liability Groups:

A Joint Liability Group (JLG) is an informal group comprising preferably of 4 to 10 individuals coming together for the purposes of availing bank loan either singly or through the group mechanism against mutual guarantee. The JLG September 2011, Volume: 09

Self-Help Groups
The RBI has allowed urban cooperative banks (UCBs) to give loans to selfhelp groups (SHGs). This decision by the RBI is definitely going to promote financial inclusion Career Makers 20

members are expected to engage in similar type of economic activities. The management of the JLG is to be kept simple with little or no financial administration within the group. JLGs can be formed primarily consisting of tenant farmers and small farmers cultivating land without possessing proper title of their land.

(c)

Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds

Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds are debt instruments issued in a currency different than the issuers domestic currency with an option to convert them in common shares of the issuer company. Its a quasi-debt instrument to raise foreign currency funds at attractive rate. FCCB acts like a bond by making regular coupon and principal payments; and also gives the bondholder an option to convert the bond into stock. In other words we can say that, Foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) is a convertible bond issued by a country in a currency different than its own currency. This is the powerful instrument by which the country raises the money in the form of a foreign currency. The bond acts like both a debt and equity instrument. Like bonds it makes regular coupon and principal payments, but these bonds also give the bondholder the option to convert the bond into stock.

The Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds shall be denominated in any freely convertible foreign currency and the ordinary shares of an issuing company shall be denominated in Indian rupees. (d) The issuing company should deliver the ordinary shares or bonds to a Domestic Custodian Bank as per regulation. The custodian bank on the other hand instructs the Overseas Depositary Bank to issue Global Depositary Receipt or Certificate to non-resident investors against the shares or bonds held by the Domestic Custodian Bank.

Advantages of FCCBs:
(a) It is more stable and predictable than domestic currency. (b) It gives issuers the ability to access investment capital available in foreign markets. (c) Companies can use the process to break into foreign markets. (d) The bond acts like both a debt and equity instrument. Like bonds it makes regular coupon and principal payments, but these bonds also give the bondholder the option to convert the bond into stock. (e) It is a low cost debt as the interest rates given to FCC Bonds are normally 30-50 percent lower than the market rate because of its equity component. (f) Conversion of bonds into stocks takes place at a premium price to market price. Conversion price is fixed when the bond is issued. So, lower dilution of the company stocks.

earnings potential only opted for FCCBs. (b) FCCBs mean creation of more debt and a forex outgo in terms of interest which is in foreign exchange. (c) In case of convertible bond the interest rate is low (around 3-4 per cent) but there is exchange risk on interest as well as principal if the bonds are not converted in to equity. (d) If the stock price plummets, investors will not go for conversion but redemption. So, companies have to refinance to fulfill the redemption promise which can hit earnings. (e) It remains as debt in the balance sheet until conversion.

FCRA
The central government notified the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 and it came into force from May, 1, 2011.

Salient Features of the Act:

(a) Any association granted prior permission or registered with the Central Government under Section 6 or under the repealed FCRA, 1976, shall be deemed to have been granted prior permission or registered, as the case may be, under FCRA, 2010 and such registration shall be valid for a period of five years from the date on which the new Act has come into force. (b) While the provisions of the repealed FCRA, 1976 have generally been retained, the FCRA, 2010 is an improvement over the repealed Act as more stringent provisions have been made in order to prevent misutilisation of the foreign contribution received by the associations. (c) Any organization of a political nature and any association or September 2011, Volume: 09

Guidelines for issuing FCCBs in India:

(a) Any company that requires to raise the foreign funds by issuing FCCB, require prior permission of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. (b) The company issuing the FCCB should have the consistent track record for a minimum period of three years. Career Makers

Some of the perceived disadvantages of FCCBs:

(a) The exchange risk is more in FCCBs as interest on bond would be payable in foreign currency. Thus companies with low debt equity ratios, large forex 21

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

company engaged in the production and broadcast of audio or audio visual news or current affairs programme have been placed in the category prohibited to accept foreign contribution. A new provision has been introduced to the effect that no person who receives foreign contribution as per provisions of this Act, shall transfer to other person unless that person is also authorized to receive foreign contribution as per rules made by the Central Government. Another new provision has been made to the effect that foreign contribution shall be utilized for the purpose for which it has been received and such contribution can be used for administrative expenses up to 50 per cent of such contribution received in a financial year. No funds other than foreign contribution shall be deposited in the FC account to be separately maintained by the associations etc. Every bank shall report to such authority, as may be prescribed, the amount of foreign remittance received, sources and manner and other particulars. Provision has been made for inspection of accounts if the registered person or person to whom prior permission has been granted fails to furnish or the intimation given is not in accordance with law. Any person contravening the provisions of the Act shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or with fine or with both.

may be used for emerging market bonds, mortgage backed securities, corporate bonds and local government bond. The buyer of a credit default swap pays a premium for effectively insuring against a debt default. He receives a lump sum payment if the debt instrument is defaulted. The seller of a credit default swap receives monthly payments from the buyer. If the debt instrument defaults they have to pay the agreed amount to the buyer of the credit default swap. Process: A CDS contract involves the transfer of the credit risk of municipal bonds, emerging market bonds, mortgagebacked securities, or corporate debt between two parties. It is similar to insurance because it provides the buyer of the contract, who often owns the underlying credit, with protection against default, a credit rating downgrade, or another negative credit event. The seller of the contract assumes the credit risk that the buyer does not wish to shoulder in exchange for a periodic protection fee similar to an insurance premium, and is obligated to pay only if a negative credit event occurs. It is important to note that the CDS contract is not actually tied to a bond, but instead references it. For this reason, the bond involved in the transaction is called the reference obligation. A contract can reference a single credit, or multiple credits.

eliminate it, avoid taking a tax hit, or just eliminate exposure for a certain period of time.

(b) Speculation:
The second use is for speculators to place their bets about the credit quality of a particular reference entity. With the value of the CDS market, larger than the bonds and loans that the contracts reference, it is obvious that speculation has grown to be the most common function for a CDS contract. CDS provide a very efficient way to take a view on the credit of reference entity. An investor with a positive view on the credit quality of a company can sell protection and collect the payments that go along with it rather than spend a lot of money to load up on the companys bonds. An investor with a negative view of the companys credit can buy protection for a relatively small periodic fee and receive a big payoff if the company defaults on its bonds or has some other credit event. A CDS can also serve as a way to access maturity exposures that would otherwise be unavailable, access credit risk when the supply of bonds is limited, or invest in foreign credits without currency risk.

Infrastructure Debt Funds

Infrastructure Debt Funds is a debt instrument being set up by the finance ministry in order to channelize long term funds into infrastructure projects which require long term stable capital investment. According to the structure laid out by the finance ministry, after consultations with stakeholders, infrastructure NBGCs, market regulators and banks, an IDF could either be set up as a trust or as a company. IDFs in India: The government of India has unveiled the structure of infrastructure debt September 2011, Volume: 09

CDS have the following two uses: (a) Hedging:

A CDS contract can be used as a hedge or insurance policy against the default of a bond or loan. An individual or company that is exposed to a lot of credit risk can shift some of that risk by buying protection in a CDS contract. This may be preferable to selling the security outright if the investor wants to reduce exposure and not 22

Credit Default Swap

CDS are a financial instrument for swapping the risk of debt default. Credit default swaps Career Makers

Career Makers

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funds (IDFs), allowing local infrastructure developers access to money from insurance and pension funds from India and overseas, even as bank lending to roads and power projects is constrained by limits set by the central bank. IDFs are expected to provide long-term, lowcost debt for infrastructure projects. At present, banks are the main source of funding for these projects. Asset-liability mismatches and loan exposure limits to industries set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have made it difficult for banks to provide long-term funding. It is here underscored that the IDF was proposed by in Budget 2011-12. The ultimate aim of the IDFs is to accelerate and enhance the flow of debt for funding the ambitious programme of infrastructure development in the country. The requirement of infrastructure in the 12th Plan has been pegged at $1 trillion. The IDF would help garner resources from domestic and offshore institutional investors, especially insurance and pension funds. Banks and financial institutions would be allowed to sponsor IDFs. In India the IDFs could be set up by NBFCs or banks, with a minimum capital of Rs 150 crore. Such a fund would be allowed to raise resources through rupee or dollar denominated bonds of minimum five year maturity. These bonds could be traded among the domestic and foreign investors. Company based IDFs would be allowed to fund projects in publicprivate partnership (PPP) which have completed one year of commercial operations. Potential investors in this category, include offshore and domestic institutional investors, high net worth individuals and non-resident Indians. If the IDFs are set up as a trust, the fund could be sponsored by a regulated financial sector domestic entity. It would have to invest 90 per cent of

its assets in the debt securities of infrastructure companies or SPVs across all infrastructure sectors. Minimum investment by trustbased IDF would be Rs 1 crore with Rs 10 lakh as minimum size of the unit. The credit risks associated with underlying projects will be borne by the investors and not by IDF, but in case of company-based IDF, the fund would bear the risk.

COMMITTEES

GN Bajpai committee on NPS

Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) should consider bringing down the minimum annual subscription of Rs 6,000 for the NPS to Rs 1,000 per year to expand its reach and coverage. The committee is of the opinion that the existing NPS architecture did not have a push factor and the absolute value of incentives was flawed. It said there was a need to broadbase the network of points-of presence or PoPs, which act as contact centres for potential subscribers across the country.

The committee, headed by G N Bajpai, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, set up by the pension regulator to suggest ways to energise the national pension scheme (NPS) has submitted its report. In this report, the committee has proposed a complete change in its incentive and fee structures. To enthuse points of presence (PoPs) to push the NPS, the committee has recommended that PoPs be allowed to charge an ad valorem rate of 0.5 per cent of the subscription amount from subscribers. The committee has further recommended that the Pension

Anup K Pujari Committee

The commerce ministry has set up a committee to review the deemed export scheme available to suppliers of products to specified projects. The committee headed by Anup K Pujari, the Director General for Foreign Trade will re-examine the very existence of the scheme and also look up whether it is reflecting the government policies properly. The committee also includes representatives from the finance ministry, Reserve Bank of India, Planning Commission and the revenue department. The committee is expected to give its report within three months. Besides harmonizing

Cyber Law Panel

Considering the security threat of the country, the Cyber Law Panel of India has recommended that none of the 15 mediums of digital communication used in the country, including Gmail, BlackBerry, Nokia, and Skype, can be banned for posing security threats because they cannot be monitored by law enforcement agencies. And as a solution, there is a need to install a Central Monitoring System (CMS) which is capable of intercepting any form of communication service offered within the country. Besides that the committee has recommended that India raise its encryption levels from 40 bits to the US-standard 256 bits. The country currently legally disallows encryption beyond 40 bits so that its security agencies can monitor communications on the Internet. Moreover, the ultimate solution should involve intelligence agencies building up capabilities indigenously to monitor and intercept these technologies Home Ministry. 23 September 2011, Volume: 09

the customs notifications with the policy (on deemed export scheme), the committee has been asked to improve the drafting of the policy as it exists today so that it is not amenable to multiple interpretations. The move follows the governments attempt to check leakages so that a scheme is not open to misuse. The Deemed exports are those transactions in which goods supplied to the users do not leave the country and payment for such supplies is received either in Indian currency or in foreign exchange. Supply of goods to exportoriented units, software technology parks or to projects financed by multilateral agencies and to power projects and refineries are treated as deemed exports at present. The benefits include those available under export promotion schemes.

urbanisation. The committee has also projected an investment requirement of Rs. 39.2 lakh crore for our cities and towns for 2012-32. The committee needs to be complimented for the thoroughness with which it has gone about its work.

Vijay Kelkar committee

The Maharashtra government has appointed a 14member committee headed by the 13th Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar to suggest multiple instruments and measures for the removal of regional imbalance in order to achieve inclusive growth. The committee would decide indicators to assess disparities in regional development of the state after taking into considerations the state government's direct investments and expenditure and also investments by the private sector in the industrial sector. This is the second such committee, after one chaired by VM Dandekar had submitted its report in 1984.

Ashok Chawla Panel

The Ashok Chawla panel has recommended that water should be put on the Concurrent List from the State List of the Constitution. One can recall that the Prime Minister had appointed the panel, headed by Ashok Chawla, an ex-finance secretary, to review exploitation of scarce resources like water. The panel said that considering the recent imperatives, it has become necessary for the Union Government to have more effective control over water resources. In this regard, the panel has advised the government to pass a 'hortatory' legislation to regulate use of water across the country, arguing groundwater can be held and regulated as a 'public trust' by the Centre. A hortatory legislation is a law that nudges and pushes people towards a particular action in this case, more sustainable use of water. Empowered by the Environment Protection Act, now the Central Groundwater Regulatory Authority is the only leverage that the Centre enjoys. Though the Act is powerful, Union governments have always shied away from intervening in a state subject. Further, the panel has also recommended that the government should amend the Easement Act to remove 'water' from the definition of private property under the Constitution. Besides, it has recommended reactivating the River Boards Act that has been lying dormant. 24

Isher Ahluwalia Committee

Urban Infrastructure and Services in India A high-powered expert committee on Urban Infrastructure under Isher Ahluwalia has emphasized that Indias economic growth momentum cannot be sustained if urbanisation is not actively facilitated nor can urban poverty be effectively addressed if the needs of the urban poor are isolated from the broader challenges of managing

Rangarajan Committee
The committee, headed by the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council chairman, C Rangarajan, has strongly recommended to wipeout the distinction between plan and nonplan expenditure. The end of distinction would bring simplicity and instead of three columns at present, Plan, Non-Plan and total, there will be only one column, i.e., expenditure. And moreover, there is no place where such a distinction (Plan and non-Plan) is made. It is, however, not in favour of reclassifying revenue and capital expenditure. The way revenue expenditure (revenex) is classified in the Budget is considered obsolete by many, as the method does not give a true picture of the expense in creating capital assets. It has been argued that if the end-use of funds is for capital creation, it should be classified as capital expenditure (capex). For examples, aid to states for spending on infrastructure development is classified as September 2011, Volume: 09

A Rahmani Panel
Nuclear Power Corporation of India has set up a committee under A Rahmani of the Bombay Natural History Society to study on marine ecology and bio-diversity in the 10 kilometre area around the Jaitapur site and to suggest the possible impact of the 9,900-MW nuclear power park at Jaitapur on the ecology and bio-diversity of the area. Career Makers

revenex, though it is in the nature of capex. Infact, Plan expenditure is aimed to measure what is spent on productive asset creation for the government's programmes and flagship schemes. Non-Plan expenditure includes defence expenditure, subsidies and devolution to states, forming a major part of total government spending.

Naresh Chandra Committee

Amidst persisting security threats, the Government of India has decided to conduct an assessment of the countrys defence preparedness for which it has constituted a task force which will pursue recommendations made by the Kargil Review Committee after the 1999 war (headed by strategic affairs analyst, the late K Subrahmanyam). The 14 member task force is headed by Naresh Chandra. The panel is expected to submit its report within 6 months. Along with reviewing the entire security systems, the task force will suggest ways to implement recommendations made by the Kargil report to suit the countrys requirements in present scenario. With the growing arms of terrorism the security challenges in the nation have changed dramatically. The changing times have necessitated looking at the national security situation in the light of challenges ranging from cyber security to energy security.
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INTERNATIONAL

AFFAIRS

India and Israel Decided to Enhance Tourism Cooperation

India and Israel have decided to enhance cooperation in Career Makers

Tourism Sector. This was decided at a meeting between Stas Misezhnikov, Tourism Minister of Israel and Union Tourism Minister, Subodh Kant Sahai held in New Delhi on 5 September 2011. Welcoming the visiting dignitary, Sahai said both the countries can explore the possibilities of cooperation in wellness, spiritual and religious tourism. The Israeli Minister said hoteliers of his country are interested to set up hotels in India. He also requested for more flights between India and Israel. Stas Misezhnikov invited Sahai to visit Israel. Both the countries have decided to consider exchanging experience in destination management and promotion. Manpower development will be another area of cooperation between India and Israel. Exchange programme for teachers, students, and exchange of information on teaching modules will be considered by the two countries. Tour operators and travel agents of both the countries will interact with each other in order to promote two-way tourism between India and Israel. The possibilities for promoting package tours in either of the countries will also be explored by the travel trade of two countries. Tourist traffic from Israel to India was 40581 in 2009, which rose to 43539 in the year 2010. An agreement between India and Israel on cooperation in the field of tourism was signed in New Delhi in May, 1993. Both the countries have rectified this agreement. India Tourism Office located in Frankfurt is responsible for promoting India as a tourist destination in the Israeli market. India Tourism Office participates in International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) which is held in Tel Aviv to showcase Indias tourism destinations and products to the tour

operators and consumers of Israel. India is known in Israel as an ancient nation with strong cultural traditions and in popular Israeli perception India is an attractive, alternative tourist destination.

India and Turkey to Cooperate in Coal Sector

Sriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of Coal, Government of India met Mr. Taner YILDIZ, Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, Government of Turkey and other officials on the sidelines of the 22nd World Mining Congress inaugural session on 12th September 2011 at Istanbul, Turkey. Shri jaiswal is leading an Indian delegation there to participate in World Mining Congress. Both the Ministers discussed about the energy situation in the two countries, particularly the field of coal mining. Indias Coal Minister offered technical cooperation to develop coal and lignite deposits and coal washing in Turkey. Turkeys Energy Minister evinced keen interest for technical cooperation with India in coal mining and clean coal technologies. He said that Turkey is planning to set up some 15000 MW coal based power generation plants and requested Indian companies to participate in the tenders. Both the ministers agreed for future cooperation in coal related areas.

Rare Persian celestial globe up for auction

A rare 18th century Persian globe, one of only 200 such astronomical instruments available in the world is up for grabs in the Bonhams upcoming Indian and Islamic art sale. The finely engraved celestial treasure from the Zand dynasty passed down through a private English family, contains the position September 2011, Volume: 09

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of 83 stars and their Persian names as well as the Persian names for the North and South Poles. "The rare and unique celestial globe is estimated to fetch between 40,000 to 96,000 pounds at the next sale of Indian and Islamic art on October 4 in New Bond Street in London," according to an official of the auction house. The globe dated 1776 AD, the only known dated example securely attributable to the Zand period is an important addition to the small surviving group of Persian celestial globes. "The use of gold and the very fine script indicate the possibility that this globe was made for the Zand ruler Mohammed Karim Khan Zand (1751-1794)," says the auction house. The Zand period is remarkable for its short length and high artistic productivity. Spanning only 44 years, and an incredible seven rulers, it was a period of relative peace and economic growth when many territories previously lost to the Ottomans were recaptured. The British established a trading post in the port of Busehr, extending the influence of the British East India company in Iran. The art of this era produced a distinct school of painting, fine enamel work and calligraphy. Celestial globes were used primarily for solving problems in astronomy. Although known to have been used in antiquity, the form of the celestial globe came into being in the Islamic world. The globe depicts various constellations in the northern and the southern hemisphere. Only 200 instruments remain in private and museum collection worldwide, the earliest dating to the 11th century. The globe up for auction Career Makers

One in six Americans living below poverty line: Census

One in six Americans are now living below poverty line, the Census Bureau said in a report, reflecting the adverse impact of economic crisis on common man. "The nation's official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 per cent, up from 14.3 per cent in 2009 - the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate," Census Bureau said in its report. "There were 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009 - the fourth consecutive annual increase and the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published," it said. These findings are contained in the report 'Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010.' The government defines the poverty line as income of USD 22,314 (about Rs 10 lakh) a year for a family of four and USD 11,139 (about Rs 5 lakh) for individual. Census Bureau said, the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 49.0 million in 2009 to 49.9 million in 2010, while the percentage without coverage 16.3 per cent was not statistically different from the rate in 2009. Since 2007, the year before the most recent recession, real median household income has declined 6.4 per cent and is 7.1 per cent below the median household income peak that occurred prior to the 2001 recession in 1999. The percentages are not statistically different from each another, the Census Bureau said. The poverty rate increased for children younger than 18 (from 20.7 per cent in 2009 to 22.0 per cent in 2010) and people 18 to 64 (from 12.9 per cent in 2009 to 13.7 per cent in 2010), while it was not statistically different for people 65 and older (9.0 per cent), it said. Similar to the patterns observed for the poverty rate in 2010, the number of people in poverty increased for children younger than 18 (15.5 million in 2009 to 16.4 million in 2010) and people 18 to 64 (24.7 million in 2009 to 26.3 million in 2010) and was not statistically different for people 65 and older (3.5 million), the Census Bureau said. Among race groups, real median income declined for white and black households between 2009 and 2010, while changes for Asian and Hispanic-origin households were not statistically different. Real median income for each race and Hispanic-origin group has not yet recovered to the pre-2001 recession all-time highs, the report said. The Census Bureau said there has been considerable impact of the economic crisis on the people in Washington. Median household income declined the first full year following the December 2007 to June 2009 recession, as well as in the first full year following three other recessions (March 2001 to November 2001, January 1980 to July 1980 and December 1969 to November 1970). However, household income increased the first full year following the November 1973 to March 1975 recession, and the changes following the July 1990 to March 1991 and July 1981 to November 1982 recessions were not statistically significant, it said. The poverty rate and the number of people in poverty increased in the first calendar year following the end of the last three recessions. For the recessions that ended in 1961 and 1975, the poverty rate decreased in the next full calendar year, it said. 26 September 2011, Volume: 09

features labelled stars such as the Pole star, the back of the Lion, three stars in the tail of Ursa major, Sirrah in Pegasus, the knee of the Archer among others. Also included in the upcoming Bonhams auction is a Persian manuscript illustrated with eleven miniatures in the Kashmiri style. The manuscript on creamcoloured paper which was according to the auction house formerly in the collection of Lady George Scott, wife of the youngest son of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry has been estimated to sell between 1,200 pounds and 1,500 pounds. A 16th century Iznik brass flask from a private Belgian collection is also being offered on sale. The flask estimated to sell between 60,000- 80,000 pounds is sourced from the family of the man whose company was commissioned to build the Heliopolis Palace hotel in Egypt which later became the Presidential Palace of the recently deposed Egyptian Prime Minister Hosni Mubarak.

oversee implementation of various initiatives being taken under the framework agreement. In a 65-point joint statement issued at the end of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's two-day visit to Bangladesh, the two nations underscored the need for concluding and extradition treaty between the two countries expeditiously.

Typhoon Talas
A typhoon that pummelled western Japan left at least 20 people dead and more than 50 missing, reports said on Sunday, after swollen rivers swept away buildings and landslides crushed houses. One of the victims drowned after flood waters gushed into his car and streets were submerged in scenes that rekindled memories of the March 11 tsunami disaster.

Thousands of people were left stranded. Typhoon Talas, which made landfall on Saturday and is one of the deadliest in recent years, packed gusts of up to 108 kilometres (68 miles) per hour as it cut across the island of Shikoku and the main island of Honshu. The government set up an emergency task force as the number of victims looked set to grow and landslides and damaged roads hampered relief efforts. In Wakayama prefecture, 12 people were killed and 29 were missing. One man drowned after flood waters surged into his car, and another man was killed after a landslide hit his house, the local government said. In Nara prefecture's Totsukawa village, an overflowing river washed away

Roman gladiator school remains discovered in Austria

A team of archaeologists has sensationally discovered the ruins of a Roman gladiator school on the outskirts of the Austrian capital Vienna. The find is one of the 100 hundred schools that the Romans built to train the fighters before they got involved in a brutal combat with each other. The group from the Ludwig Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Vienna discovered the school, which contains sleeping cells, a bathing area and a training hall with heated floors and a cemetery. The school, which is the only one of its type to have been discovered outside Italy, has been mapped by the use of ground penetrating radar, but the ruins still remain underground. According to officials, the find can compete the famous Ludus Magnus the largest of the gladiatorial training schools in Rome in its structure. Radar scans show that outside the walls of the school, what archaeologists believe was a cemetery for those killed during training. "This is a world sensation, in the true meaning of the word, the Daily Mail quoted lower Austrian provincial Governor Erwin Proell as saying. The team now hopes to unearth a wealth of artefacts, including body armour, weapons, eating utensils and money from the site where warriors trained and lived 2,000 years ago. September 2011, Volume: 09

Manmohan Singh Visited Bangladesh to Sign the Historic Protocol on Land Boundary Agreement
Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh visited Bangladesh on 6-7 September 2011. During his visit, India and Bangladesh signed several agreements including the Historic Protocol on Land Boundary Agreement. India and Bangladesh also signed the framework agreement on cooperation for development. During this visit, India and Bangladesh decided to set up a joint commission led by the Minister of Foreign and External Affairs from both sides to coordinate and Career Makers

27

apartments, leaving at least two people dead and seven missing, the local government said. In the Kansai region and elsewhere up to 30,000 people were evacuated, according to the fire and disaster management agency. Television footage showed massive landslides crushing wooden houses in mountainous communities, with muddy water submerging streets and washing away wooden debris and cars. A tally by the Kyodo news agency showed at least 20 people had been killed, more than 50 were missing and 3,600 were left stranded by landslides and collapsed bridges.

also signed a memorandum of understanding on media exchanges and another agreement on

administrative arrangements to provide social security to people working in India and Korea.

India-US Strategic Dialogue

The India-US strategic dialogue was held in New Delhi on July 18, 2011, during the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A joint statement issued after the strategic dialogue said the two sides covered a wide range of bilateral issues as well as global developments during the four-hour talks. The two countries also signed a MoU to promote closer cooperation and the timely exchange of information between the organisations of their respective governments responsible for cyber security. Defence, security and counter-terrorism were high on the agenda since the dialogue. The dialogue, which was originally scheduled to be held in April, was postponed to July in view of the developments in North Africa and the Assembly elections in India. There were apprehensions that it could be deferred yet again after the July 13 explosions in Mumbai but Clinton decided to stick to the schedule. On the issue of terrorism, Clinton was quite forthright in telling Pakistan that it was in its own interest to deal with violent extremism. Pakistan is a key ally in the fight against terrorism. We have made it clear to Islamabad that terrorism threatens Pakistan itself bombings in mosques, markets, police stations and government buildings. Pakistan must act on its own behalf to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty. In a clear reference to the US raid that found and killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad in early May, she said: We want mutual recognition that we cannot tolerate a safe haven for terrorists anywhere. When we know the location of terrorists whose intentions are clear, we need to work together. We do not believe there are any terrorists who should be given a safe haven or free pass by any government." On the civil nuclear cooperation, Clinton, while reassuring Washingtons commitment to the 123 agreement, wanted India to sign the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) for nuclear damages with the IAEA before the end of the year. The main problem for US operators is a clause in the Indian law that makes the suppliers of reactors liable for 80 years for any accident at a plant. Private US nuclear firms are unwilling to sign up, mainly because they are unable to find insurance to cover them for potentially crippling claims for damages. However, differences continued to plague the two sides on the civil nuclear deal though Clinton expressed the Obamas administration commitment to implementing the accord in letter and spirit, notwithstanding the recent decision of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to deny access to enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies to countries which are not signatories to the NPT. But one major positive that emerged from the strategic dialogue from Indias perspective was Washingtons commitment to New Delhi that the process of reconciliation with the Taliban in Afghanistan would be Afghan-led and Afghan-driven, and not dictated by Pakistan or any other country. 28 September 2011, Volume: 09

India, South Korea Ndeal

On July 25, 2011, India signed a historic civil nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea, paving the way for the possibility of Seoul exporting its atomic power plants. The agreement, signed after summit talks between President Pratibha Patil and her South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak, provides legal ground for South Koreas participation in atomic power plant construction projects in India. South Korea has now become the ninth country which had signed nuclear agreement with India after it got the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in 2008. The other countries are the US, France, Russia, Canada, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia. India and South Korea had decided to start talks on civil nuclear cooperation during a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Lee on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Hanoi in October 2010. Besides the agreement on nuclear cooperation, the two sides Career Makers

The Election Commission of India has launched the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management. It is an advanced resource centre of learning, research, training and extension for participatory democracy and election management.

IIDEM has components:

(a) Training and Capacity Development. (b) Voter Education and Civic Participation (c) Research, Innovation and Documentation. (d) International Projects and Technical Collaboration.

What the institute intends to promote:

The Institute will be a national and international hub for exchange of good practices in election management. The Institute is being developed in collaboration with the Government of India, United Nations, the Commonwealth and intergovernmental organizations like Sweden based International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). The Institute will make efforts to enhance the potential and capacity of the Election Commission so that it carries out its functions in more effective and professional manner. It carries the goal of meticulous, accurate, voter friendly implementation of election processes by committed, competent, credible and skilled managers and associated groups. The institute will strive to promote democratic values and practices, promoting awareness among voters. Career Makers

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority

The Government of India recently announced the setting up of the National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority, a professional, science based autonomous body, as part of efforts to bring in institutional reforms and to improve environmental governance in India. Once appraised by NEAMA, the environment related projects would be sent with a recommendation to the Minister of Environment and Forests for approval. NEAMA will be a full-time body of professionals for environmental appraisals against the current system of appraisals done by environmental committees that are ad hoc and meet once in a month. It will maintain its own realtime and time-series databases on pollution loads across the country. The body will also ensure compliance with the conditions imposed on new projects that are granted environmental clearance.

IIDEM Launched

States average are identified. The districts for implementation of NFSM-Pulses are selected based on existing large area under pulses, potential for area expansion through inter-cropping and utilization of rice fallows. Later, from the year 201011, the Pulses component of Integrated Scheme for Oilseeds, Pulses, Oilpalm & Maize (ISOPOM) was merged under NFSM-Pulses to cover 100% area in the NFSMPulses districts. The Ministry of Agriculture had received requests from some States, including Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh for inclusion of new districts/replacement of existing districts. The districts that fulfilled the criteria were included under the programme.

four

Indias first carbon credit deal

World Bank recently signed an agreement with Himachal Pradesh government for what is tipped to be the worlds largest and Indias first clean development mechanism (CDM) project. Under the Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement, the World Bank will buy carbon credits from the new forests being developed on degraded lands under a watershed management programme. The agreement would

480 Districts Covered under NFSM

Four hundred eighty districts of 18 States are covered under National Food Security Mission (NFSM). NFSM-Rice is being implemented in 142 districts of 15 States, NFSM-Wheat in 142 districts of 9 States and NFSM-Pulses is under implementation in 468 districts of 16 States. The districts under NFSM are identified based on certain criteria. For NFSM-Rice, those districts are identified which have more than 50,000 ha area under rice and productivity is less than the States average; for NFSM-Wheat the districts in which irrigation coverage under wheat is more than 50% and productivity is less than

Most urbanized States in India,

Punjab, Kerala and Karnataka are now among the most urbanized States in India, having more than 35 per cent of their population living in urban areas. Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of its people living in rural areas; 55.5 crore people in UP live in rural areas. Mumbai tops the list of places having maximum number of people in urban area at 5 crore. September 2011, Volume: 09

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be in force till December 2018. The project would impact an area of 4,003.07 hectares.

Commonwealth Express
The Commonwealth Express Train showcasing achievements by Department of Information Technology (DIT) in the field of ICT and e-Governance was launched on 24th June, 2010 and ended its journey on 14th Oct. 2010. The Commonwealth Express, the exhibition train on the theme of information technology and sports, run jointly by DIT, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Ministry of Railways was flagged off on 24th June 2010. It ended its journey on 14th October 2010, covering 49 unique halts across the nation. In the train, the IT part was exhibited in 6 coaches by DIT and the sports part was exhibited in 5 coaches by RSPB. DIT exhibited and demonstrated capability in general, the work done in the country in the area of information and communications technology, and the initiatives carried out by the DIT affiliated entities in the fields of e-governance, infrastructure, technology relevant to rural India, language interfacing technology etc. At the end of the journey, the cumulative football (visitor count) for about 100 days of exhibition was approximately 7.35 lakhs. The cost incurred for Commonwealth Express Train by DIT is Rs 3,77,26,899/-.

rural areas of the country was 21.9 per cent as per census 2001, but with the effective implementation of Total Sanitation Campaign, its coverage in the rural areas has increased to approximately 73 per cent as of July 2011. The Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), a comprehensive programme was started in the year 1999 to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with the main objective of eradicating the practice of open defecation and ensuring clean environment. It is project based programme taking district as a unit operated in a demand driven mode and at present, is being implemented in 607 rural districts of the country. The main components under the programme are incentives for Individual Household Latrines (IHHL), School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE), assistance for Community Sanitary Complex (CSC), Anganwadi toilets and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM).

the season variability of monsoon rainfall, the areas of excess and deficient rainfall vary from year to year. Department has Launched a high-priority Programme to address the Science issues of Global and Regional Climate Change with a well equipped state-of-the-art Center for Climate Change Research (CCCR) at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune for interdisciplinary research and training in the area of science of climate change. Prioritized R & D efforts are initiated to comprehensively understand the causes for the aforementioned changes in the southwest monsoon rainfall and to improve the rainfall predictions in all time scales.

Assam Government Decided to have Brand Names for the Famous Muga and Eri Silks
In Assam, the state government has taken an initiative to have brand names for the famous Muga and Eri silks. The main purpose of the move is to promote the indigenous yarn in a more systematic way within and outside the country. The state handloom and sericulture department hopes that, with a brand name, products made from muga and eri can be exported to across the globe with a higher price. Eri and muga are household names of silk in the region. North- East produces around 95 percent of Eri, of which Assam has 50 percent shares. The state also produces about 86 per cent of Muga. The use of both the silks reflects the culture and tradition of Assamese society and occupies a unique place in the socio-economic life of the people of the state. September 2011, Volume: 09

High Performance Computing System at IITM, Pune

There is no decline in rainfall during 2011 so far in the country. The country received 716.0mm rain as a whole monsoon rainfall till 31st August 2011 is marginally higher than the seasonal quantum of 713.4mm. Although, the rainfall quantum received for the country as a whole during the period 1st June 10th August, 2011 was -4%, the decline was made up fully by the end of August 2011, due to the prevalence of active monsoon rainfall conditions. Continuous R & D efforts are made to understand spatial and temporal variability of monsoon rainfall. Due to the year-to-year variability and the associated within 30

Total Sanitation Coverage in the Country will be Completed by 2017

The Government today reiterated to have total sanitation coverage in the country by the year 2017. The sanitation coverage in Career Makers

MEN'S SINGLES:
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic returned brilliantly and swatted winners from all angles to beat defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 on Monday night and earn his first U.S. Open title and third Grand Slam trophy of 2011.

Djokovic improved to 64 wins from 66 matches with 10 tournament titles in a simply spectacular year, one of the greatest in the history of mens tennis -- or any sport, for that matter. Against No. 2 Nadal, Djokovic is 6-0, all in finals -- three on hard courts, including Monday; two on clay; and one on grass at Wimbledon in July. Djokovic also won the Australian Open in January, and is only the sixth man in the 40plus years of the Open era to collect three major titles in a single season.

WOMEN'S SINGLES:
Samantha Stosur pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the history of womens Grand Slam

Career Makers

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SPORTS
US OPEN 2011 WINNERS

Current champions
Event Men's Singles Women's Singles Men's Doubles Women's Doubles Mixed Doubles Champion Novak Djokovic Samantha Stosur Jurgen Melzer Philipp Petzschner Liezel Huber Lisa Raymond Melanie Oudin Jack Sock Runner-up Spain Rafael Nadal Serena Williams Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski Vania King Yaroslava Shvedova Gisela Dulko Eduardo Schwank

tennis finals by comprehensively outplaying a frustrated Serena Williams and claiming the U.S. Open title with a 6-2, 6-3 win on September 11. Stosur claimed her first Grand Slam singles title and became only the second Australian to win the U.S. Open crown by dominating a match which she was widely expected to lose to the home favourite. Williams lost her composure, arguing with the chair umpire after being docked a point for shouting out in the midst of a rally. It was reminiscent of the ugly tirade against a line judge two years ago. The overwhelming favourite for the match, Williams suffered only her second ever loss in a Grand Slam final to someone other than sister Venus; she was beaten by Maria Sharapova in the 2004 Wimbledon decider.

constantly abusing Indian players from the roof of the stadium. Whenever there was an infringement from the Indian side, he abused liberally. Rajpal Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Yuvraj Walmiki and Sarvanjit Singh scored for India in the penalty shootout while Muhammad Rizwan and Waseem Ahmed sounded the board for Pakistan after both the sides were locked goalless in the regular and extra time.

Malaysia bags bronze

A last-minute goal by Firhan Ashari helped Malaysia beat Japan and clinch the bronze medal. Just when it seemed that the match would go into extra-time, Malaysia moved in from the right flank and the cross found Ashari on top of the circle. He tapped the ball to his left and, with a powerful reverse shot, beat the Japanese goalkeeper. South Korea avoided the wooden spoon beating host China 2-1 in the play-offs for the 5th-6th spot.

India Wins Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament

Goalkeeper S. Sreejesh stole the limelight with two crucial saves as India defeated Pakistan 42 in the penalty shoot-out in a nervewrecking final to clinch the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament on September 11. The high-voltage summit clash was marred by Pakistan coach's unwarranted action of

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September 2011, Volume: 09

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4. Reliance Communications got

Answer: (3) 3. .......... received the infuse of

2. With in how many days the wrong debited amounts must be

1. RBI increased the savings bank rate from 3.5 percent to

Career Makers 5) IFC Answer: (3) 3) China Development Bank 4) IDA 1) World Bank 2) IMF the second installment of $ 400 million from ........... 5) Canara Bank Answer: (3) 3) Oriental Bank of Commerce 4) Indian Overseas Bank 1) Indian bank 2) Axis Bank recapitalization package to shore up banks equity capital? Rs.1740 crore under the 4) 8 days 5) 30 days 2) 14 days 3) 7days of India? 1) 12 days the new order of Reserve Bank reimbursed or else the bank has to pay Rs. 100 per day as per 5) 5 Answer: (3) 4) 10 2) 4.5 3) 4 .percent? 1) 5 banks? pricing. 5) IDA 4) IBRD 3) ADB 2) UNO 1) IFC

CURRENT AFFAIRS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

8. Among the following banks,

7. If there is an inflationary trend in

6. Acting Managing Director of

5. Which international monetary

4) Central Bank of India

3) Union bank of India

2) Allahabad bank

1) IDBI bank

Bank, but not nationalized

which one is the Public Sector

Answer: (4)

inflation and banking products

5) there is no relation between

4) Increasing trend

3) Zero trend

2) Constant trend

1) Decreasing trend

products lead to the ............?

the country, the banking

Answer: (1)

5) None of these

4) Lakshmi Venkatachalam

3) Vineeth Verman

2) Robert Zoellick

1) John Lipsky

( IMF) is ...........?

International Monetary Fund

Answer: (3)

worth of $ 120 million?

electricity. It granted the loan

12,000 villages by providing

organization came forward to lit

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11. Maharatna Status given to ONGC, IOC, SAIL and NTPC.

Answer: (3) 10. Hawala transaction means

Answer: (1) 9. Which among the following bank

least 40 years back. years in a row. 3) The company must be started 10,000 crore in the last three 2) The company must have an average annual net worth of Rs. turnover of Rs.20,000 crore in the last three years. up the wrong one? 1) They should have annual company as Maharatna changed on 17 March 2011. Pick The norms to brand any 5) None of these Answer: (3) 4) Indian mode of keeping the money in the savings account legal channels funds out of India or into the country, by passing official and the government of India 3) a mode of transferring of 2) The transaction done in the bank through proper channel of 1) The transaction done in the bank ...........? 4) State Bank of Patiala 5) State Bank of Mysore 2) State Bank of Travancore 3) State Bank of Indore India in 2010? 1) State Bank of Hyderabad was merged with State Bank of 5) Bank of Maharastra

September 2011, Volume: 09

4) The company must get the average profit of Rs. 2500 crore. 5) None of these Answer: (3) 12. The biggest single day jump registering 623.10 points since May 2009 occurred in Bombay Stock Exchange sensex. This event occurred on.? 1) 11th March 2011 2) 1st January 2011 3) 3rd January 2011 4) 2nd April 2011 5) 1st March 2011 Answer: (5) 13. Tummalapalle, Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh came in to news as the deposits of ...........mines found? 1) Thorium 2) Radium 3) Molybdenum 4) Manganese 5) Uranium Answer: (5) 14. Sulabh International provides the costeffective and environment friendly technology in the providing toilets in the ...........? 1) NAM 2) ASEM 3) APEC 4) ASEAN 5) SAARC Answer: (4) 15. The Award list is given. Pick up wrong one? 1) Man Booker International prize winner Philip Roth ( American author) 2) Award Jawaharlal got by Nehru German International Understanding Chancellor Angela Merkel Career Makers

3) C.K.Naidu life achievement award got by Salim Durani, the famous test cricketer 4) Rajkumar Award got by Saroja devi 5) None of these Answer: (5) 16. Deodhar Trophy won by ...........? 1) South Zone 2) East Zone 3) West Zone 4) North Zone 5) Central Zone Answer: (4) 17. Exchange Control Manual is the publication ofin the context of foreign exchange 1) Finance Minister 2) Department of Commerce 3) Foreign Trade Promotion Board 4) SEBI 5) Reserve Bank of India Answer: (5) 18. ........... called the chief

and Cash Risk 2) Market Risk, Operational Risk and Credit Risk 3) Lending Risk, Operational Risk and Payments Risk 4) Floating Risk, Payment Risk, Credit Risk 5) None of these Answer: (2) 21. Financial Inclusion do not include ...........? 1) Every Indian must hold a bank account 2) Reaching of Banking services to the door steps the common people even in rural areas 3) Business Correspondents will be appointed by the bank to deliver the banking services in rural areas 4) Opening of No frill accounts 5) Opening of satellite banks, door step banking etc Answer: (1) 22. Which Bank is set to open the overseas branches in Mozambique, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Dubai and Sri Lanka in the coming days? 1) State Bank of India 2) Indian Bank 3) Central Bank of India 4) Syndicate Bank 5) Indian Overseas Bank Answer: (3) 23. Pure Banking nothing Else is the punch line of ...........? 1) S.B.I 2) S.B.H 3) Allahabad Bank 4) Syndicate Bank 5) IDBI Answer: (1) 24. The paper currency does not bare the signature of RBI governor is ? 1) 10 rupee September 2011, Volume: 09

Coordinator of the rural credit in India? 1) RBI 2) Co-operative banks 3) NABARD 4) SBI 5) RRB Answer: (3) 19. ........... Committee submitted the report to prime minister of India on Consumer Affairs insisted to ban the futures trading in the essential commodities? 1) Kiran Kumar Reddy 2) Sivaraj Singh Chouhan 3) Narendra Modi 4) Ashok Gehlat 5) Prudveeraj Chouhan Answer: (3) 20. BASEL committee recognizes three risks. They are ...........? 1) Market Risk, Operational Risk

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2) 20 rupee 3) 50 rupee 4) 100 rupee 5) 1 rupee Answer: (5) 25. Apple Advance Scheme launched in ....? 1) Jammu and Kashmir 2) Haryana 3) Uttarakhand 4) Andhra Pradesh 5) Arunachal Pradesh Answer: (1) 26. ........... is not the part of the RBI monetary and Credit Policy? 1)Repo rate 2) Cash Reserve Ratio 3) Reverse Repo Rate 4) Foreign Exchange Rate 5) All of the above Answer: (4) 27. The last journey of ........... returned to Cape Canaveral on March 9, 2011? 1) Columbia 2) Ariana 3) Messenger 4) Apollo 5) Discovery Answer: (5) 28. The Abbreviation list is given. Pick up wrong one? 1) ODA- Overseas Development Assistance 2) LPD- Landing Platform Docks 3) EMMRC -Educational Multimedia Research Centre 4) CRAR -Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio 5) NSDC -National Skill Dealing Council Answer: (5) 29. Indias wild tiger population was increased by ........... percent in the last 4 years. 2010 census telling the tiger population was 1706? Career Makers

1) 18 2) 24 3) 10 4) 12 5) 20 Answer: (4) 30. ...... express run by railways connect state capitals and important towns within the state? 1) Kavi Guru 2) Vivek 3) Matrubhumi 4) Karmabhomi 5) Rajya Rani Answer: (5) 31. A high-level Committee headed by the Chairman of ........... to examine ways of strengthening laws to curb generation of illegal wealth? 1) Central board of Direct Taxes 2) State bank of India 3) IRDA 4) SEBI 5) FICCI Answer: (1) 32. Distribution of subsidized sanitary napkins to adolescent girls in the age group of ........... years in rural India start on 1 August 2011? 1) 8 -12 2) 10 -14 3) 15 -18 4) 10 -19 5) 18 -21 Answer: (4) 33. ........... allowed the women employee for 2 years leave during their entire service period for childrens proper care? 1) Uttarakhand 2) Andhra Pradesh 3) Goa 4) Tamilnadu 5) Bihar Answer: (1)

34. Which state distributed 2 crore health cards to School children for regular check-up and treatment for them? It will be come in to effect from 22 March 2011, on the eve of the state formation day. 1) Andhra Pradesh 2) West Bengal 3) Bihar 4) Karnataka 5) Goa Answer: (3) 35. May day list given. Pick up wrong one? 1) International Labour day May 1 2) World Asthma day - May 2 3) International Energy day May 4 4) Red Cross day - May 8 5) Mohters day - May 2nd Sunday Answer: (3) 36. Extraordinary International Energy Forum meeting was held in.February 2011? 1) Doha 2) Moscow 3) Oslo 3) Dubai 5) Riyadh Answer: (5) 37. Sixth BASIC ministerial meeting on Climate Change held in? 1) Bejing 2) Durban 3) Johannesburg 4) New Delhi 5) Brasilia Answer: (4) 38. G-8 countries list is given. Pick up the not one among them? 1) U.K 2) Australia 3) Canada September 2011, Volume: 09

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4) Russia 5) France Answer: (2) 39. ........... government banned the bartan system which allows the upper caste people to extract work from barbers during and family washermen occasions? 1) Meghalaya 2) Odisha 3) Andhra Pradesh 4) Assam 5) Maharastra Answer: (2) 40. Sanchar Shakti is a scheme benefit ........... a value added service handsets? 1) health workers 2) Doctors 3) Lawyers 4) Women SHG 5) Sports persons Answer: (4) 41. An individual can not open an account in ....? 1) RBI 2) Commercial Bank 3) C0-operative Bank 4) Foreign bank 5) Private Bank Answer: (1) 42. On 7 March 2011, Supreme Court allowed ? 1) Aggressive euthanasia 2) Active euthanasia 3) Violent euthanasia 4) Vibrant euthanasia 5) Passive euthanasia Answer: (5) 43. Planned expenditure excess over the income is called.? 1) Deficit Financing 2) Scarce Financing Career Makers through mobile

3) Float Financing 4) Meter Financing 5) None of these Answer: (1) 44. Aim to introduce the KYC guidelines is? 1) to block black money and money laundering 2) to know the number of customers 3) to share the information in the computers 4) to know the authority of the person to deposit 5) all of above Answer: (1) 45. The Government of India has set up Price Stabilisation Fund for four commodities. Which of the following is NOT covered by the scheme ? 1) Tobacco 2) Coffee 3) Rubber 4) Tea 5) Jute Answer: (5) 46. The organizing committee of FIFA World Cup announced the name of the country selected to host the event to be organized in 2014. Who is the host chosen for the same ? 1) Russia 2) Venzeula 3) Bolivia 4) Peru 5) Brazil Answer: (5) 47. Who among the following is the author of the book :'Half a life'? 1) Mark Tully 2) Deepak Chopra 3) Chetan Bhagat 4) Ved Mehta 5) V.S. Neipaul Answer: (5)

48. In which one of the following states, village level marketing platform has been set up for the first time in the country? 1) Haryana 2) Maharashtra 3) Gujarath 4) Bihar 5) Kerala Answer: (3) 49. With which one of the following sports, the name of Parupalli Kashyap is associated? 1) Chess 2) Tennis 3) Badminton 4) Athletics 5) None of these Answer: (3) 50. While passing the Finance Bill the Finance Minister agreed to with draw the controversial 'misery tax' on healthcare from the tax proposals. What did this 'misery tax relate to? 1) Expenditure tax for luxury treatment 2) Service tax on air conditioned hospitals and diagnostics 3) Sales tax on expensive healthcare 4) GST on costly hospital and medical treatment 5) None of these Answer: (2)

Integrated solid waste management programme

Punjab has become the first State in India to start an integrated solid waste management programme in the entire State. September 2011, Volume: 09

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September 2011, Volume: 09