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2015-12-08T18:01:00.002+05:30

All the new posts will be updated on www.pmfias.com
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Recent FDI Reforms–Current Affairs 12/11/2015

2015-11-12T23:00:00.000+05:30

After some crazy experimentation my blog became a total mess. I will try to set things right in few weeks.

The topic is complex and is beyond my ability. This is just a mere copy paste from The Hindu etc.

Moral of the story: Finish theory first or current affairs will sound like a French picture.

No choice but to depend on mrunal.org

Inward and Outward Remittances

· Scenario A: Mr. Sharma has a son abroad who is studying his master’s program in London. In the first week of every month, he sends across a certain amount of money in INR which is converted by the transacting bank into pounds and credited into his son’s operating account in London.

· Scenario B: Mrs. Verma is a widow who is currently residing in India and her son is a successful engineer working in the United States of America. Every month, he sends across some money in USD which is then converted by the transacting bank into INR and credited into her operating account in India.

· Scenario A is a perfect example of outward remittance while the latter is technically termed as inward remittance.

· Inward remittances mean receipt of funds acquired either locally or from offshore locations (or accounts), while outward remittances refer to funds that are transferred to recipient(s) located within the country or internationally.

· Most commonly, these terms are used for financial transactions that are international rather than domestic in nature.

Automatic route and Government route in FDI

· A foreign company planning to set up business operations in India has two options:

a) investment under automatic route; and

b) investment through prior approval of Government.

Procedure under automatic route

· FDI in sectors to the extent permitted under automatic route does not require any prior approval either by the Government or RBI.

· The investors are only required to notify the Regional office concerned of RBI within 30 days of receipt of inward remittances and file the required documents with that office within 30 days of issue of shares to foreign investors.

List of activities or items for which automatic route for foreign investment is not available, include the following (the list keep changing from time to time)

· Banking

· NBFC's Activities in Financial Services Sector

· Civil Aviation (some changes introduced this time)

· Petroleum Including Exploration/Refinery/Marketing

· Atomic Energy & Related Projects

· Defense and Strategic Industries (some changes introduced this time)

· Print Media

· Broadcasting

· Postal Services

Procedure under Government approval

· FDI in activities not covered under the automatic route, requires prior Government approval and are considered by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

· FIPB falls under Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance.

‘Big Bang’ Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) reforms

· Government relaxes FDI norms across 15 sectors.

· This will improve India’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Rankings’.

· The World Bank had recently improved India's ranking by 12 places (to 130th rank from 142nd rank last year) in the 2016 Study of Ease of Doing Business.

· Besides, many global institutions have projected India as the leading destination for FDI in the World.

· IMF has branded India as the brightest spot in the global economy whereas the World Bank has retained the growth forecast for India at 7.5 per cent for FY16.

Threshold limit of approval by FIPB

· The government has raised the threshold limit of approval by Foreign Investment Promotion Board from the earlier Rs.3,000 crore to Rs.5,000 crore to facilitate faster approvals on most of the proposals.

· Now FIPB will considers foreign investment proposals of inflow up to Rs.5,000 crore.

· Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs will give approvals for foreign investments beyond Rs.5,000 crore.

Main sectoral changes in the FDI regime

Construction sector

· FDI norms have been brought in to

a) boost demand for steel, cement and spur economic activity, ultimately

b) help build 50 million affordable houses for the poor.

· Several conditions have been removed including the area restriction of floor area of 20,000 sq.mt. in construction development projects,

· Minimum capitalization of $5 million which needed to be brought in within six months of the commencement of business and

· Foreign investors have been allowed to exit and repatriate their investment under automatic route before the completion of the project provided they complete a lock-in period of three years.

Defense

· Foreign investment up to 49 per cent has been allowed under automatic route.

· Proposals for foreign investment in excess of 49 per cent will be considered by FIPB.

· Portfolio investment and foreign venture capital investment, which were restricted to 24 per cent, have now been hiked to 49 per cent and that too through the automatic route.

· To ensure that ownership and control remain in Indian hands, Government approval will be required in case of infusion of fresh foreign investment within the permitted automatic route level.

· Success story: Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems had announced their JV to make aerostructures for the AH64 Apache helicopters and to compete for additional manufacturing work across Boeing platforms, commercial and defence.

· The latest FDI reforms are expected to result in more such JVs in defence.

Broadcasting

· In terrestrial Broadcasting FM (FM Radio), and in up-linking of ‘News & Government route Current Affairs’ TV Channels (news channels) FDI upto 49 per cent is allowed through the FIPB route (from the earlier 26 per cent).

· 100 per cent FDI is allowed through the automatic route in up-linking of Non-‘News & Current Affairs’ TV Channels (entertainment channels).

· 100 per cent FDI is also allowed (up to 49 per cent automatic route and beyond that through government route) in teleports, direct to home, cable networks, mobile TV, headend in the sky broadcasting service and cable networks.

Banking

· In private sector banking, the government has brought in a composite cap by removing the sub-limits for FDI and FII (visit mrunal.org), thereby allowing FIIs/FPIs/QFIs (visit mrunal.org) to invest up to the sectoral limit of 74 per cent provided there is no change of control and management of the investee company.

· The existing foreign portfolio limit of 49 per cent was coming in the way of fund raising plans of private sector banks such as Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank. The new rule will give the banks and investors considerable flexibility in raising funds and investing respectively.

Plantation

· The government also decided to plantation activities namely; coffee, rubber, cardamom, palm oil tree and olive oil tree plantations also for 100 per cent foreign investment under automatic route.

· As of now, only tea plantation was open to foreign investment.

NRIs

· Investment by companies/trusts/partnerships owned & controlled by NRIs on non-repatriation basis will now be treated as domestic investment.

E-commerce

· Manufacturers have been allowed to sell their product through wholesale and/or retail, including through e-commerce without Government approval.

Retail

· No change in multi-brand retail (Walmart)

· Announced easing of several conditionalities for single brand retail trade (SBRT)(Adidas stores) and e-commerce.

· It has now been decided that in case of state of art and cutting edge technology, sourcing norms (that 30 per cent of value of goods will have to be purchased from India) can be relaxed subject to Government approval.

· The government also permitted entities who have been granted permission to undertake SBRT, to do e-commerce.

· The government has eased FDI policy conditionalities for Single Brand Retail Trading, besides permitting 100 per cent FDI in duty free shops.

· Also, a single entity will be permitted to undertake both the activities of single brand retail trading and wholesale with the condition that conditions of FDI policy on wholesale/ cash & carry and SBRT have to be complied by both the business arms separately. Currently, wholesale/cash & carry trader cannot open retail shops to sell to the consumer directly.

LLPs

· 100 per cent FDI in LLPs (Limited Liability Partnerships) has been permitted under automatic route.

· LLP: A limited partnership is similar to a general partnership except that it has two classes of partners.

· The general partner(s) have full management and control of the partnership business but also accept full personal responsibility for partnership liabilities (one partner elopes with the money and all will go to jail)

· Limited partners have no personal liability beyond their investment in the partnership interest.

· Limited partners cannot participate in the general management and daily operations. (profit and loss are the only concern. No credit for companies success and not liable to companies obligations)

Aviation

· Regional Air Transport Service will be eligible for foreign investment up to 49 per cent under automatic route.

· Under the present FDI policy, foreign investment up to 49 per cent is allowed only in Scheduled Air Transport Service/Domestic Scheduled Passenger Airline.

Foreign equity caps of certain sectors

· Non-Scheduled Air Transport Service, Ground Handling Services, Satellites-establishment and operation and Credit Information Companies have now been increased from 74 per cent to 100 per cent. Further, sectors other than Satellites- establishment and operation have been placed under the automatic route.

Other changes in rules

· No government approval is required for investment in automatic route by way of swap of shares.

Current Affairs 9,10-11-2015: Radio Galaxy-Agni Missile system-Manipur Bills-Kosovo

2015-11-11T12:26:00.004+05:30

· Indian astronomers detect dying, giant radio galaxy

· Government considers Africa route to help central PSUs

· SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

· Pakistan invites India for key Afghan meet

· Agni-IV successfully test-fired

· Controversial Manipur Bills sent for Presidential assent

· UNESCO rejects Kosovo’s bid for membership

Indian astronomers detect dying, giant radio galaxy

· The Radio Galaxy was discovered by National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, PUNE.

· Radio galaxies are extremely rare galaxy of gigantic size.

· This galaxy- located about nine billion light years away (1 light year = distance travelled by light in one year. Speed of Light = 3,00,000 Km/sec)- emits powerful radio waves.

· Such galaxies with extremely large ‘radio size’ are called giant radio galaxies.

· This newly discovered galaxy known was discovered using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), Pune.

· While radio galaxies with size less than a million light years are common, giant radio galaxies are extremely rare.

· Click Here for more Astronomy Concepts

· http://www.pmfias.com/p/astronomy.html

Government considers Africa route to help central PSUs

· Centre is considering a plan to help the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) set up subsidiaries or form joint ventures with State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in poor African countries.

· The proposal has been moved by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) of the Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises (HI & PE) ministry.

· The DPE wants the MEA to influence African countries to replicate the ‘Nehruvian’ post-independence period industrial policy of India that heavily favoured SOEs.

· Private companies tend to not take the risk of investing in unstable economies such as those in Africa.

· So PSUs, with the help of African governments, can take the lead in investments and the private sector can then follow.

· If the plan becomes a reality, many of the CPSUs, currently struggling in India due to competition from efficient private sector companies, can get a new lease of life.

· Centre has identified 58 loss-making PSUs for either reviving or closing them down.

· Africa is not entirely a new playing ground for Indian PSUs, especially for those in the energy sector.

· Indian private companies including Bharti Airtel and the Tata Group also have their presence in several African countries.

· Africa presents a great potential that neither the PSUs nor the private sector firms can take advantage of on their own.

· In areas such as railways, oil and gas and heavy industries, the public sector has an edge.

· However, India is far behind China in this game. China-Africa trade has surpassed $200 billion, and is almost thrice as large as the about $70 billion for India-Africa trade.

· By 2020, China aims to double its trade with Africa to $400 billion and increase direct investment to $100 billion.

· Read posts on India-Africa Relations http://www.pmfias.com/search/label/India-Africa

SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)

· Morocco claims the SADR, while the AU recognises it as a full state, which led Morocco to walk out of the AU in 1984.

· India recognised the SADR in 1985, but then withdrew recognition in 2000.

· The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 54 countries in Africa.

· The only African state that is not a member is Morocco.

Pakistan invites India for key Afghan meet

· Pakistan has invited External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for a crucial regional conference on Afghanistan.

· The ‘Heart of Asia’ conference will be held on December 7 and 8, where representatives from Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE are expected to attend.

Agni-IV successfully test-fired

· Agni IV with a strike range of 4,000 km.

· Successfully test-fired from the Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.

· It is a surface to surface variant.

· It is operated by Army’s Strategic Forces Command tasked with handling of strategic weapon systems.

· Ring laser gyro-based inertial navigation system along with MEMS-based Micro Inertial Navigation system guide the missile along its predetermined path.

Agni missile system

· Agni – VI is in development stage.· Agni—I—II—III—IV—V—VI

· IRBM è Intermediate-range ballistic missile (Agni-II, Agni-III, Agni-IV)· MRBM è Medium-range ballistic missile (Agni-I)

· ICBM è Intercontinental ballistic missile (Agni-V, Agni VI)

· Manufacturer è Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)

· Agni-I was developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program and tested in 1991.

· After its success, Agni missile program was separated from the IGMDP upon realizing its strategic importance.

· It was designated as a special program in India's defence budget and provided adequate funds for subsequent development.

· Agni missiles are used by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Indian Army.

· Agni missiles are claimed to be a part of the "credible deterrence" against China and Pakistan.

Controversial Manipur Bills sent for Presidential assent

· The acting Governor of Manipur has forwarded three Bills — the passage of which led to a month-long protest in which nine persons were killed — to the President for his assent.

· The Protection of Manipur People Bill, 2015, The Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment Bill), 2015 and The Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment Bill) 2015

· For more read this post: Inner Line Permit controversy

· http://www.pmfias.com/2015/09/inner-line-permit-controversy.html

UNESCO rejects Kosovo’s bid for membership

· Members of the U.N. cultural agency have narrowly rejected Kosovo’s bid for membership.

· It is a victory for Serbia and Russia which have long prevented Kosovo from becoming a UN member state.

· Kosovo has been recognized by 111 countries since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

· Russia, which backed Serbia in Kosovo’s 1998—99 war for independence, has used its U.N. Security Council veto to block Kosovo from becoming a full U.N. member.

Kosovo

· Disputed territory and a partially recognized state.

· It declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo.

· Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula.

· It is bordered by the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south, Montenegro to the west, and the uncontested territory of Serbia to the north and east.

· After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, in the late 19th century Kosovo became the centre of the Albanian independence movement.

· As a result of the defeat in the First Balkan War (1912–13), the Ottoman Empire ceded Kosovo to the Balkan League; the Kingdom of Serbia took its larger part, while the Kingdom of Montenegro annexed the western part.

· Both Serbia and Montenegro became a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I.

· After a period of Yugoslav unitarianism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the post-World War II Yugoslav constitution established the Autonomous Province of Kosovo.

· Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the Kosovo War of 1998–99.

· The war ended with a military intervention of NATO, which forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo.

· In 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence.

· It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 108 UN member states.

Current Affairs 07/11/15

2015-11-07T20:32:00.000+05:30

Cess on services and air travel

0.5% cess on services to support Swachh Bharat

· The government announced Swachh Bharat cess at the rate of 0.5% on all services liable to service tax.

· Swachh Bharat cess is in line with the announcement made in Union Budget for 2015-16.

· The government estimates that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will be able to prevent diseases and hence will reduce the stress on the health sector.

· At present, an estimated Rs.6,700 crore or about Rs.60 per capita is spent annually on health.

2 % cess on air fares to support regional connectivity

· 2% cess will be levied on air fares on all international flights as also those between metros and big cities.

· This 2% cess will be used for the creation of the regional connectivity.

· The scheme provides for viability gap funding (VGF) for operations of small aircraft to small towns with a fare cap of Rs. 2,500 per hour of flying.

Worsening unemployment scenario

· Ten million Indians (15% of all Indians) with the highest levels of education were unemployed as of 2011.

· Kerala had India’s highest graduate unemployment rate at over 30 per cent.

· Unemployment rates were higher among the better qualified.

· At all levels of education, unemployment rates were higher in rural than in urban areas.

· At every level of education female unemployment exceeded male unemployment.

· Overall, India’s unemployment rate grew from 6.8 p.c. in 2001 to 9.6 p.c. in 2011, based on official Census data.

Trans Pacific trade pact text triggers fresh debate in U.S.

· TPP will cover 40 per cent of the global commerce, and will ease trade among the participant countries — Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam.

Proponents (From US perspective)

· It will eliminate taxes that various countries put on American goods.

· It will boost Made-in-America exports abroad while supporting higher-paying jobs at home.

Opponents (From US perspective)

· TPP works well for CEOs and bad for domestic workers. (Pro corporate and anti poor)

· TPP would offshore more American jobs, lower wages, flood with unsafe imported food.

Impact on India

· Indian textile industry will be the biggest sufferer. It will lose its market share in UK, USA and other western countries.

· Indian textile exports will become highly uncompetitive in the world market with respect to Vietnam’s textile exports that benefit immensely from TPP due to reduced import duties.

· Other exports from India will also take a hit and it is said that India will lose 12-20% of its export market share.

For More on TPP Visit:

TPP vs RCEP

TPP Fodder Points

Geostationary orbit,Geosynchronous orbit,Kepler's laws,Low Earth Orbit,Polar Orbits,Hofmann Transfer Orbit

2015-11-07T15:42:00.000+05:30

Previous Post: GSAT-15,Ariane 5 Launch Vehicle,Guiana Space Centre,Ideal Locations to Launch Satellites, Why is Sriharikota an Ideal location

Next Post will be on PSLV, GSLV, Frequency Bands, Transponder etc..

Types of Orbits

1. Kepler's laws of planetary motion

2. Low Earth Orbit

a) Why should satellites rotate?

b) What is the speed required to keep a satellite in LEO?

c) Advantages and Disadvantages of LEO

3. Highly Elliptical Orbits

4. Geosynchronous Orbits

5. Geostationary vs. Geosynchronous

6. Medium Earth Orbits

7. Polar Orbits

8. Parking Orbit

9. Hofmann Transfer Orbit

Types of Orbits

· These terms keep on appearing whenever there is a satellite launch.

· So I decided to keep all the related concepts at one place.

· Titbit: Russia's Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, was launched in 1957.

Kepler's laws of planetary motion (applicable to satellites as well)

1. The orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two focii.

2. A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

Low Earth Orbit

· International Space Station (400 km), Space Shuttles, and the Hubble Space Telescope (560 km) and some observation satellites are all rotating the earth in Low Earth Orbit (commonly called "LEO" – 300-600 km. above the earth’s surface).

· LEO is high enough to significantly reduce the atmospheric drag (friction due to atmosphere) acting on the satellite.

Why should satellites rotate?

· Rotation gives centrifugal force (the object tends to move away from the center).

· Higher rotational speed = Higher centrifugal force.

· There are two important forces acting on the satellite. One, the gravitational force which will pull the satellite towards earth and two, the centrifugal force due to rotation which will counter gravitational pull.

· So by varying the speed of rotation, we can make the satellite

a) fall back to earth [By decreasing the speed of rotation]

b) stay in its orbit [By giving it the required speed. It varies with distance from earth. Lower the orbit, highest should be the speed]

c) escape earth’s influence (By keeping the speed of rotation above the required speed).

What is the speed required to keep a satellite in LEO?

· 18,000 mph roughly to place a satellite in orbit at 400 km.

· The speed, however is dependent on the distance from the center of the Earth.

· In the case of the space shuttle, it orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes at an altitude of 466 km (290 miles) above the surface of the Earth.

Advantages and Disadvantages of LEO

Advantages

· Low Earth Orbit is used for things that we want to visit often.

· Like the ISS [International Space Station placed in Upper Ionosphere (upper thermosphere) or lower exosphere], the Hubble Space Telescope and some satellites (usually spy satellites and other observation satellites).

· This is convenient for installing new instruments, fixing things, experiments, and return to earth in a relatively short time.

Disadvantages

· Atmospheric drag (friction offered by the scarce atmosphere)(this will lead to more fuel consumption and constant speed adjustments)(if the speed is not adjusted, the satellite will fall back to earth).

· The most important disadvantage: A satellite traveling 18,000 miles per hour or faster does not spend very long over any one part of the Earth at a given time. (this doesn’t work for communication and weather observation and forecasting satellites which needs to keep an eye always on a specific location)

Solution

· One solution is to put a satellite in a highly elliptical orbit (non-geosynchronous most of the time).

· The other is to place the satellite in a geosynchronous orbit.

Highly Elliptical Orbits

· Kepler's second law: an object in orbit about Earth moves much faster when it is close to Earth than when it is farther away.

· Perigee is the closest point and apogee is the farthest (for Earth - for the Sun we say aphelion and perihelion).

· If the orbit is very elliptical, the satellite will spend most of its time near apogee (the furthest point in its orbit) where it moves very slowly.

· Thus it can be above a specific location most of the time.

· With a highly elliptical orbit, the satellite has long dwell time over one area, but at certain times when the satellite is on the high speed portion of the orbit, there is no coverage over the desired area.

· To solve this problem we could have two satellites on similar orbits, but timed to be on opposite sides of the orbit at any given time.

· In this way, there will always be one satellite over the desired coverage area at all times.

· If we want continuous coverage over the entire planet at all times, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), then we must have a constellation of satellites with orbits that are both different in location and time.

· In this way, there is a satellite over every part of the Earth at any given time.

· In the case of the GPS system, there are three or more satellites covering any location on the planet.

Geosynchronous Orbits

· Another solution to the dwell time problem is to have a satellite whose orbital period is equal to the orbital period of the earth (it revolution is in sync with the earth’s rotation)(it appears along the same longitude to an observer from earth).

· The way we do this is to have the orbital period of the satellite exactly the same as the rotation period of the Earth, which is one day.

· This is called a geosynchronous orbit, or GEO for short.

· In this case, the satellite cannot be too close to the Earth because we already figured out that it would not be going fast enough to counteract the pull of gravity.

· If you recall, the space shuttle, in order to stay aloft, must circle the planet every 90 minutes.

· We can use Kepler's third law to figure out how far out a satellite must be to spend all its time over one part of Earth.

· The answer is that a satellite has to be placed approximately 22,000 miles (36,000 km) away from the surface of the Earth in order to remain in a GEO orbit.

· That is a lot farther than a low Earth orbit, or a relatively close to highly eccentric GPS-like orbit, so it costs more to get it there (This is why GSAT 16 is launched by Ariane Launch Vehicle. GSLV doesn’t have enough capability to launch 4 tonne class satellites to Higher Earth Orbit or GEO).

· However, then you only need one satellite to do the job and it is on the job 24 hours per day.

· By positioning a satellite so that it has infinite dwell time over one spot on the Earth, we can constantly monitor the weather in one location, provide reliable telecommunications service, and even beam television signals directly to your house.

· If you have satellite TV at home, notice that the small dish antenna outside is pointing at the same location in the sky at all times. There is a geosynchronous satellite sitting 22,000 miles away in that direction sending the signal to your house!

· The down side of a geosynchronous orbit is that it is more expensive to put something that high up and not possible to repair it from the shuttle.

· When a satellite is in LEO, the shuttle can repair it if needed, as we have done with the Hubble Space Telescope several times. So you only put something in GEO if you really need to have it in the same location in the sky at all times.

Geostationary vs. Geosynchronous

Geostationary Orbits Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)	Geosynchronous Orbits Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO)

Orbital period is the sidereal rotation period of the Earth which is 86,164.0909 seconds, or 23 hrs 56 min 4.0909 seconds (the time it takes the Earth to rotate once on its axis)	Same
Orbital path is circular.	Orbit is an inclined ellipse.
Orbital center point is the center of the earth	Orbital center point - the center of the Earth is at one of the two "foci" of the elliptical orbit
Orbital tilt is zero.	The orbital tilt is non-zero
Orbit and equator are coplanar (orbit of the satellite and the equator lie in the same plane).	Tilt is non-zero = not coplanar
Orbital height is 42,164 km (26,200 miles) always rotating exactly with the Earth.	Orbital height varies (the satellites will have an apogee different from its perigee.
Orbital position is always above a certain point on the Earth's equator (i.e. a specific longitude and latitude).	It moves along a specific longitude but not latitude.
an observer on the ground would not perceive the satellite as moving and would see it as a fixed point in the sky	Since the orbit has some inclination and/or eccentricity, the satellite would appear to describe a more or less distorted figure-eight in the sky, and would rest above the same spots of the Earth's surface once per sidereal day.
There are a limited number of positions available [traffic jam, interference of signals due to more satellites in the same orbit and risk of damage due to space debris (Movie GRAVITY)] in this orbit due to safety and maneuvering limits. Retired satellites are often pushed slightly away from the precious exact positions.	There are more orbital planes and positions available to satellites using this technique
Line of sight transmission	Line of sight transmission
Can receive signals with a simple antenna as the satellite is in relatively same position (DTH, VSAT services). (Parabolic antenna is used to nullify the effect of atmospheric distortions)	Requires a parabolic antenna as the satellite’s position slightly changes longitudinally.
Steering the antenna is not required.	It may sometimes require steering the antenna to achieve line of sight
Because of the very high altitude of their orbits, geostationary satellites may have a very wide signal footprint covering up to 42% of the Earth's surface
Need more powerful launch vehicles to put them in place.	Same
Communications system needs higher power transmitters and more sensitive receivers because of the increased path loss.	Same
The satellite is first placed in Geosynchronous orbit and later maneuvered to Geostationary orbit.

Medium Earth Orbits

· Medium Earth Orbits (MEO) range in altitude from 1,200 miles (2,000 kms) up to the geosynchronous orbit at 22,236 miles (35,786 kms) which includes part of the lower and all of the upper Van Allen radiation belts.

· The Van Allen Radiation Belt is a region of high energy charged particles moving at speeds close to the speed of light encircling the Earth which can damage solar cells, integrated circuits, and sensors and shorten the life of a satellite or spacecraft.

· Practical orbits therefore avoid these regions.

Polar Orbits

· Satellites in these orbits fly over the Earth from pole to pole in an orbit perpendicular to the equatorial plane.

· This orbit is most commonly used in surface mapping and observation satellites since it allows the orbiting satellite to take advantage of the earth's rotation below to observe the entire surface of the Earth as it passes below.

· Many of the pictures of the Earth's surface in applications such as Google Earth come from satellites in polar orbits.

Parking Orbit

· It is not always possible to launch a space vehicle directly into its desired orbit.

· The launch site may be in an inconvenient location with respect to the orbit or the launch window may be very short, a few minutes or even seconds.

· In such cases the vehicle may be launched into a temporary orbit called a parking orbit which provides more options for realising the ultimate orbit.

· For manned space missions the parking orbit provides an opportunity to check that all systems are working satisfactorily before proceeding to the next critical stage.

Hofmann Transfer Orbit

· The transfer orbit is the orbit used to break out of the parking orbit and break into the geosynchronous or geostationary orbit.

· The Hofmann transfer uses two rocket engine impulses, one to move the spacecraft onto the transfer orbit and a second to move off it into a new orbit.

· The inclination of the transfer orbit is the angle between the spacecraft's orbit plane and the Earth's equatorial plane and is determined by the latitude of the launch site and the launch azimuth (direction).

· To obtain a geostationary orbit the inclination and eccentricity must both be reduced to zero.

India–Maldives Relations-Operation Cactus

2015-11-07T00:49:00.003+05:30

Recent Developments in Maldives

November 2015 Emergency

Maldives

Geography

Politics

India-Maldives relations since Yameen took presidency

India–Maldives relations

Operation Cactus

Post Operation Cactus

Aftermath of GMR - Maldives Airport Row

Drinking-water crisis in Male

2015 arrest of ex-President Nasheed

Recent Developments in Maldives

Emergency was declared in the Maldives for 30 days in November, 2015.
There is a political turmoil since the election of Abdulla Yameen as President in 2013.
It is said that Maldives is moving closer to China which is definitely of concern to India.

November 2015 Emergency

Imposed by current President Abdulla Yameen, brother of former autocrat Abdul Gayoom that ruled the island nation for thirty years.
Emergency was imposed on the grounds that some groups planning to topple the government were possessing arms on a large scale.
The emergency measures effectively snatches away the freedoms that followed the August 2008 Constitution.
Maldives, for the most of the years after its independence in 1965, was an autocratic nation and became a democracy only in 2008.
With the present political turmoil, there is a threat of reemergence of autocratic polity.

Maldives

Maldives is an archipelago (chain of islands) in the Indian Ocean.
It is located southwest of India and Sri Lanka in the Laccadive Sea.
All islands are coral islands and were formed by hotspot volcanism.
The capital and largest city is Male, traditionally called the "King's Island".
The Maldives is a Muslim-majority country with significant religious diversity.

Independence

From the mid-sixteenth century, it was dominated by colonial powers: Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain.
The islands gained independence from the British Empire in 1965, becoming a republic in 1968.
It is ruled by a president and its government is authoritarian. The Maldivian economy is dominated by tourism and fishing.

Geography

The islands are a part of Reunion Hotshot Volcanism which include Lakshadweep islands, Chagos Islands, Reunion Islands, Mauritius Islands etc..

Reunion Hotspot Volcanism and Fromation of Lakshadweep Islands

It is the smallest Asian country in both land area and population.
The archipelago is located atop the Chagos-Maldives-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean.
With an average ground level elevation of 1.5 metres above sea level, it is the planet's lowest country. (Extremely vulnerable to sea level changes)
It is also the country with the lowest natural highest point in the world, at 2.4 metres.

Politics

Maldives is a presidential republic, with the President as head of government and head of state.
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was an autocratic leader that ruled Maldives for 30-years from 1978 to 2008. Maldives was made a tourist hub under his regime.
The dissident journalist Mohamed Nasheed challenged the autocratic rule of Gayoom.
Mohamed Nasheed’s political activism, as well as civil unrest, pressured Gayoom into allowing for gradual political reforms.
In 2008 a new constitution was approved and the first direct presidential elections were held.
Mohamed Nasheed won the election and became president in 2008.
In 2012, the Maldives military unconstitutionally arrested The Chief Justice of the Maldives Criminal Court, on charges of blocking the prosecution of corruption and human rights cases against allies of former President Gayoom.
Nasheed ordered the police and army to subdue the anti-government protesters.
Police came out to protest against the government instead.
Nasheed was deposed by a military coup led by President Waheed.
Mohammed Waheed Hassan, was sworn in as President in 2012.
In 2013 elections Nasheed got 47% of the votes. But the opposition conspired against him and elected Abdulla Yameen (~25% votes)(half-brother of former dictator Gayoom) as president.
In March of 2013 Nasheed was convicted and jailed for 13 years under the country's terrorism laws for ordering the arrest of an allegedly corrupt judge.
Nasheed was dragged out of the Indian Embassy where he was taking refuge and the police arrested him.
Since then the country is boiling under civilian unrest and political turmoil.
In 2015, Maldives vice president Ahmed Adheeb was arrested on accusation of conspiring to kill the president.
There is a fear that the bad old days of autocratic rule would return.

India-Maldives relations since Yameen took presidency

Abdulla Yameen implemented a foreign policy shift towards increased engagement with China, establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Yameen employed Islam as a tool of identity politics, framing religious mobilization to counter Western influence.
Islamic radicalization became a common phenomenon under him.
More and more radicalised youths are enlisting in significant numbers to fight for Islamic State militants in the Middle East. (This is bad for Maldives as well as India)

India–Maldives relations

Relations have been friendly and close in strategic, economic and military cooperation.
India contributed to maintaining security on the island nation and has forged an alliance with respect to its strategic interests in the Indian Ocean (Fighting piracy and keeping China out of the game. India doesn’t want Maldives to be a pearl in the Chinese String of Pearls).

Images from https://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/string-of-pearls-demystified/

Image from: http://s1106.photobucket.com/user/MonasinghX/media/SOP_zpsedee4696.jpg.html

India and Maldives officially and amicably decided their maritime boundary in 1976.
India and Maldives signed a comprehensive trade agreement in 1981.
Both nations are founding members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the South Asian Economic Union and signatories to the South Asia Free Trade Agreement.
Indian and Maldivian leaders have maintained high-level contacts and consultations on regional issues.

Operation Cactus

In November 1988 around 80 armed militants of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam landed in Maldives
Militants along with their allies began taking over the government.
The plot, planned in Sri Lanka by the Tamil nationalist group was believed to be an attempt by a Maldivian businessman and politician opposed to the regime of Abdul Gayoom.
The militants took control of the airport in Male, the national capital, but failed to capture the President of Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom,
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom asked for military aid from India.
The then-Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ordered 1,600 troops to aid the Maldivian government.
In a military operation codenamed "Operation Cactus," Indian forces arrived within 12 hours of the request.
Indian forces squashed the coup attempt and achieved full control of the country within hours.
India's intervention was endorsed by other nations such as the United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain and its neighbors Nepal and Bangladesh.

Post Operation Cactus

Since the success of Operation Cactus, the relations between India and Maldives have expanded significantly.
India has provided extensive economic aid and has participated in bilateral programs for the development of infrastructure, health, civil aviation, telecommunications and labour resources.
India and Maldives established the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Male, the capital of Maldives.
While India's exports to Maldives during 2006 were worth Rs. 3.84 billion, imports were worth less than Rs. 60 million.

Aftermath of GMR - Maldives Airport Row

The Maldivian Government terminated the Indian company GMR contract of the Male airport on allegations of irregularity in awarding the project.
Bilateral relations between the two countries hit an all-time low after the GMR row, 2012.
Indian government froze its US$25 million aid to the island nation.
Infrastructure commitments were put on the back burner.
The real reason for New Delhi's anguish is said to be the anti-India sentiments being aired by some parties in President Mohamed Waheed's coalition.

Drinking-water crisis in Male

In the wake of a drinking water crisis in Male on 4 December 2014, following collapse of the island's only water treatment plant, Maldives urged India for immediate help.
India came to rescue by sending its heavy lift transporters like C-17 Globemaster III, Il-76 carrying bottled water.
The navy also sent her ships like INS Sukanya, INS Deepak and others which can produce fresh water using their onboard desalination plants.
The humanitarian relief efforts by the Indian side was widely appreciated in Male across all sections of people.

2015 arrest of ex-President Nasheed

Maldives' first democratically elected President from 2008 to 2012 Mohammed Nasheed, was arrested on 22 February 2015 on terror charges.
India and US expressed concern over Nasheed's arrest and manhandling.
Indian PM Modi was to also visit Maldives in the second week of March as a part four nation visit to Indian Ocean neighbours. But, he later omitted Maldives from his tour.

GSAT-15,Ariane 5 Launch Vehicle,Guiana Space Centre,Ideal Locations to Launch Satellites, Why is Sriharikota an Ideal location

2015-11-06T20:53:00.000+05:30

1. GSAT-15 set to replace dying INSAT-3A and 4B

a) Utility of GSAT-15

b) Leased transponders

c) Other details

d) Previous GSAT Launch: GSAT-16

e) Why GSAT 16 was not launched by Indian Launch Vehicle?

2. Ariane 5 Launch Vehicle

a) Guiana Space Centre

3. Why are satellites launched from east coast in eastward direction and from locations that are close to equator?

a) Where is the best place to launch a rocket from?

b) Why at equator?

c) Why in eastward direction?

d) What about polar satellites (remote sensing and earth observation satellites)?

e) Why launch sites on east coast?

4. Why is Sriharikota a place suitable for launching rockets?

Other terms in satellite communication like, LEO, GTO, Geosynchronous orbit, Geostationary orbit, Transponders, PSLV, GSLV, Cryogenic Engine, Vikas engine, K band, S band, Ku band etc. will be explained in the next post

GSAT-15 set to replace dying INSAT-3A and 4B

· GSAT-15, the mainly communications satellite will be put in space in November, 2015.

· It will replace two ageing spacecrafts, INSAT-3A and INSAT-4B.

· INSAT-3A, launched in April 2003, has completed its 12-year life.

· INSAT-4B, flown in March 2007, got reduced to half its functions in 2010 after one of its two power-generating solar panels developed a snag.

Utility of GSAT-15

· Its 24 transponders are solely in the Ku band.

· They will cater to DTH (direct-to-home) television.

· They will cater to thousands of VSAT operators who provide broadband services; and DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) for TV news channels (This is how news reporters are able to quickly transfer information to their control centers).

· GSAT-15 will not add new transponder capacity to the country; it will ‘ensure sustainability of service’ for the capacity-hungry DTH sector.

· It will also carry the third GAGAN satellite navigation transponder as a back-up for airlines and other users of augmented GPS-based systems.

Leased transponders

· Indian DTH broadcasters have been forced to lease 59 transponders on foreign satellites over the region; less than half of that capacity (26) is allotted for DTH on Indian communication satellite. (This makes DTH costly)

· The immediate focus is on bridging the Ku-band shortage.

· ISRO intends to reduce dependence on external transponders in about two years.

· The heavyweight 4,000-kg-class GSAT-11 due in a couple of years, would add a significant number of transponders for the national users.

Other details

· Weight of GSAT-15 ==> 3,164 kg

· It will be launched from Kourou in French Guiana (in South America) on the European Arianespace’s Ariane-5 launcher.

· The satellite cost and the launch fee ==> Rs. 860 crore.

· GSAT-15 will be flown along with Saudi Arabia’s Arabsat-6B/Badr-7.

· It will be stationed over the country at a slot at 93.5 degrees East longitude.

· The two Indian rockets -- PSLV and GSLV -- cannot pitch the weight of GSAT-15 to its slot 36,000 km high.

· ISRO had signed up Arianespace to launch GSAT-17, GSAT-18 and the heavier GSAT-11.

Previous GSAT Launch: GSAT-16

· Launched on December 7, 2014 by the Ariane-5 launch vehicle of Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana.

· Ariane-5 precisely placed GSAT-16 into the intended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

· ISRO`s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka will start operating the satellite.

· The present orbit of the satellite will be raised to Geostationary Orbit of about 36,000 km altitude

GSAT-16

· 11th Indian communication satellite meant to increase the number of transponders that in turn enhance the satellite based telecommunication, television, VSAT services in India.

· Weight ==> 3,150 kg.

Why GSAT 16 was not launched by Indian Launch Vehicle?

· GSAT-16 is a 3-4 ton satellite and ISRO doesn’t have a Launch Vehicle that can carry a payload of more than 2 tons.

· PSLV can only launch satellites below 2 tons. GSLV can launch 3-4 ton payload only to Lower Earth Orbit.

· GSLV Mk III is capable of launching 4 ton satellite to Higher Earth Orbits. It is still in development stage.

Ariane 5 Launch Vehicle

· European rocket that is a part of the Ariane rocket family.

· It is an expendable launch system (The launch vehicle is not reusable).

· It is used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) and low Earth orbit (LEO).

· Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) [Space agency of France].

· Function è Heavy launch vehicle

· Launch sites è Guiana Space Centre

Guiana Space Centre

· French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France, on the north Atlantic coast of South America.

· The Guiana Space Centre or, more commonly, Centre spatial guyanais (CSG) is a French and European spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana.

Why are satellites launched from east coast in eastward direction and from locations that are close to equator?

· If you observe the location of all the launch centers like Sriharikota, Kennedy Launch Center (USA: Florida), Guiana Space Centre etc., all are located on the East coast of the continent and are close to the equator.

Where is the best place to launch a rocket from?

· NASA has quite often had to “scrub” (cancel) launches from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida because of inclement weather.

· But why build a Space Centre in Florida in the first place? It’s location makes it particularly vulnerable to hurricanes and other weather “events”. (Compare this with Sriharikota).

· Florida is a good location for rocket launches because it is both on the east coast of the US and because it is close to the equator.

· In detail below.

Why at equator?

Reason 1

· Earth’s rotational velocity is maximum at the equator (on earth, centripetal force is maximum at the equator).

· When a spacecraft is launched into orbit, it should end up spinning around the Earth quickly enough not to be pulled back in by the Earth's gravity.

· The huge rockets used in launching a spaceship help this to happen by giving a huge amount of thrust, enough to achieve escape velocity.

· However, the spin of the Earth itself can help give it a push as well.

· Anything on the surface of the Earth at the equator is already moving at 1670 kilometers per hour (rotational velocity of earth).

Why in eastward direction?

· A satellite launched from the sites near the equator towards the east direction will get an initial boost equal to the velocity of Earth surface.

· This is similar to an athlete circling round and round before throwing a discus or a shot put.

[Escape Velocity is the minimum velocity needed for an object to escape earth’s gravitational pull. It is equal to 11.2 km/s or 40,270 km/h (25,020 mph).

In simple terms: If an abject is thrown towards the sky at a speed of 11.2 km/s or greater, it will have enough capacity to escape earth’s gravitational influence. If an object is thrown towards the sky at a speed lesser than 11.2 km/s, it will fall back to the earth after reaching a certain height.

Practically achieving this speed in the atmosphere is impossible as the object will burn up due to friction]

What about polar satellites (remote sensing and earth observation satellites)?

· But this benefit can be taken only for such satellites which are placed in geo-stationary orbit or which circle the Earth parallel to the equator.

· Such satellites are usually communication satellites or satellites used for scientific research such as ISS.

· There are other satellites which are placed in polar orbits moving across the equator in north south direction and used mainly for mapping or some times for spying.

· Such satellites are generally launched in south ward or north ward direction and therefore cannot take advantage of the Earth’s rotation.

Why launch sites on east coast?

· Another characteristic of launching satellites is that the launching stations are generally located near eastern coast line so that, just in case of failure of the launch, the satellite does not fall on built-up hinterland.

Reason 2

Communication satellites are put into geostationary orbit above the equator with zero inclination to the equatorial plane.

· The ideal place to launch to geostationary orbit is, obviously, on the equator.

· Equatorial launches only require the vehicle to bring the payload to orbital speed and do not require inclination changes.

· For launches that are not on the equator, the vehicle must perform a complex adjustment burn in the GTO (geostationary transfer orbit) phase of the mission to bring the vehicle an inclination of 0º.

· The below image depicts this.

· The vehicle first reaches low earth orbit (green circle), then makes a burn to geostationary transfer orbit (the red ellipse), then makes a second burn to circularize the orbit into geostationary orbit (orange circle).

· When a vehicle is launched from the equator, the three orbits shown are planar (they lie in the same plane).

· If the vehicle is launched from a non-equatorial launch site, the green circle and the orange circle are non-planar, thus requiring the red ellipse to bridge the two orbits (More fuel will be required = high costs).

· This maneuver consumes propellant and thus decreases the payload. That's another reason why equatorial launches (or as close as possible) are preferred.

Why is Sriharikota a place suitable for launching rockets?

· All above points +

· It should be located away from populated areas.

· Since it involves moving of heavy equipment to the launch site, rail, road and/or shipping accessibility should be taken care of.

· Coastal areas become the preferred launch sites.

· Sriharikota fits all these requirements. Some of the other famous launch sites which fulfil these requirements in the world are: Kennedy site in Florida, U. S., Kourou in French Guiana, South America, San Marco in Africa and Alcantara in Brazil, South America.

Syrian Crisis Current Affairs 04/11/2015

2015-11-05T20:35:00.001+05:30

Syrian Crisis

· Syria is a major weapons buyer of Russia. So Russia backs Bashar al-Assad and his regime.

· USA wants Syria to be a part of its ‘sphere of influence’. It wants to remove Al Assad and his regime (pro-Russia) and install a puppet regime (Like in Afghanistan).

· The rival interests of USA and Russia is the main reason behind Syrian Crisis. (USA succeeded in Ukraine but failed miserably in Syria and ended up creating a demon called ISIS)

· Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia (Sunni majority countries) and the U.S are Team A.

· Iran (Shia majority country) and Russia are Team B.

· Al Assad is a Shia Muslim. As long as a Shia rules Syria, Iran is happy. If Shia ruler is replaced by a Sunni, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia are happy.

Sunni Shia Rivalry

· After Prophet Mohammed’s death, a war of succession broke out between two groups of followers. These two groups are Sunni and Shia.

· Sunnis prevailed over Shias and they became the most dominant group of Islam.

· Since then there is intense rivalry between Shia and Sunni groups.

· Presently Sunnis make up 80-85% of Muslim population and Shia only 15-20%.

· Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain are Shia majority countries and rest Islamic countries are Sunni majority.

· Before the occupation of Turkey (Sunni majority) by the British, The Caliphate of Turkey was like the leader of the Islamic world.

· After WW I the British partitioned Turkey and Caliphate was weakened. (The Khilafat movement (1919–26) happened because of this reason)

· The Turkey lost the ‘The Leader of the Islamic World’ status and the leadership went into the hands of Saudi Arabia (Oil makes the difference).

· Slowly Iran also strengthened and it is not ready to accept a Sunni country as the leader of the Islamic world.

· Iran wants to reduce the role of Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Islamic world. But Iran is at a disadvantage because of its population profile which is predominantly Shia.

· So it needs to gather allies and it started supporting Shia regimes across the Islamic world.

· Saudi is defending its status by trying to install Sunni regimes where ever possible.

· Finally ISIS was born out of such rivalry between Shia and Sunni.

· USA and Russia are the Shakunis that add fuel to the existing rivalry in order to secure their own selfish interests (Oil, markets, allies, regime change etc.)

· So all these countries (Russia and Iran on one side. USA, Saudi, Turkey etc. on the other side) started to create proxies to secure their interests.

· Al Assad is a proxy of Russia and Iran. ISIS is a proxy of USA and Saudi. (Moral of the story: Don’t feed a snake)

· Russia’s military intervention is mainly to hit at the proxies of the USA (ISIS and other Saudi, Turkey backed groups – Qatari, Turkish, Saudi and al-Qaeda proxies)

How long will the Syrian Crisis continue?

· It will continue as long as Russia and USA doesn’t come to terms.

· Fed up by the stalemate, U.S. and Russia met at The Vienna meetings (October 23 and October 30).

· The Saudis are already overstretched in Yemen (fighting Houti rebels backed by Iran) and unable to move a more robust agenda for their proxies in Syria. So soon they will have to give up.

· USA - Iran negotiations and a subsequent deal will also help to put an end to Syrian crisis.

· The biggest challenge will be the ISIS (mad god biting everyone in its way).

GUPTA DYNASTY TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE by Sriteja

2015-11-05T10:48:00.001+05:30

1. GUPTA DYNASTY TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

a) Model Questions

b) EVOLUTION OF GUPTA STYLE TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

2. TYPES OF GUPTA ARCHITECTURE

3. SITES OF TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

a) Temple of Bhitaragaon

b) Parvati Temple at Nachana Kuthara

c) Vishnu Temple at Tigawa

d) Lad Khan Temple at Aihole

e) Shiva Temple at Bhumara

f) Dasavatara Vishnu Temple at Deogarh

4. SITES OF ROCK-CUT TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

a) Ajanta Caves

b) Ellora Caves

c) Udayagiri Caves

GUPTA DYNASTY TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

Guest Post By Sriteja

· Sriteja is the brain behind www.nextgenias.com and NEXTGEN IAS YouTube Channel which help UPSC CSE Aspirants in their preparation process. He has well over 13,000 subscribers on his YouTube Channel.

· He is a Central Government Employee working for Indian Overseas Bank.

· Success doesn’t come easy. And it didn’t come easy for Sriteja as well. He failed in 20+ interviews before tasting success. Lack of guidance and exposure taught him life lessons the hard way.

· Motivated by his own life experiences, Sriteja started the YouTube channel NEXTGEN IAS to help his friends in preparing the most dreaded Culture Topic of CSE.

· His YouTube channel has grown by leaps and bounds since then and has proved that one doesn’t need an ‘IAS tag’ to reach out to thousands of aspirants.

· In this post he will try to explain in brief about the development of Temple architecture under the Gupta dynasty rulers.

· For more posts on Culture you can visit his website www.nextgenias.com

Model Questions

· Which was the domain of rule of Gupta rulers?

· What are the architectural creations which brought acclaim to this dynasty as lovers of art and architecture?

· What are the characteristics of Gupta style Temple architecture?

· What are the important sites attributed to Gupta Style Temple architecture?

· The Gupta Period is often described as “ The Golden Age of Art and Architecture in India”.

· During this period the iconographic canons of Brahmanical, Jain and Buddhist divinities were perfected and standardized, which served as ideal models of artistic expression for later centuries, not only in India but also beyond its border.

· It was an age of all round perfection in domestic life, administration, literature, as seen in the works of Kalidasa, in art creations and in religion and philosophy as exemplified in the wide-spread Bhagavata cult, which identified itself with an intensive cult of beauty.

EVOLUTION OF GUPTA STYLE TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

· During the Gupta period, a firm foundation of temple architecture was laid when the basic elements of the Indian temple consisting of a square sanctum and pillared porch emerged.

· The evolved Gupta temple also had a covered processional path for circumambulation (Pradakshana Path) that formed a part of the worship-ritual.

· Earlier temples of the period had a monolithic flat slab roof

· Later temples in brick and stone developed a Shikhara

· The gradual evolution of the Gupta style is traceable through development of the plan and the ornamentation on the pillars and doorframe, the later introducing new decorative motifs like goblins, couples, flying angels, door-keepers and a figure relief in the centre of the lintel emblematic of the deity consecrated in the temple

· Sculptures of deities, their consorts, celestial beings, couples, directional deities, composite animals and decorative motifs formed the mass of images that adorned the walls of the temples and their interiors.

· The deities consecrated in the sanctum were carved strictly according to religious canons and installed by performing a special consecration ceremony.

· Temple sculptures were not necessarily religious. Many drew on secular subject matters and decorative motifs.

· The scenes of everyday life consist of military processions, royal court scenes, musicians, dancers, acrobats and amorous couples.

· Another group of non-religious figures is the Apsaras or Devanganas (celestial women) andVyalas (composite animals).

TYPES OF GUPTA ARCHITECTURE

1. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

2. ROCK-CUT TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

SITES OF TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

Temple of Bhitaragaon

· This temple is the earliest and the most remarkable example of brick building and bears resemblance to the Buddhist temple of Bodhgaya.

· The temple at Bhitaragaon stands at the centre of a fairly high plinth.

· It is a tower-like edifice, rising in diminishing stages to a height of 70 feet.

· The projected porch on the east side is approached by steps.

· The outer ornamentation of terracotta sculpture is certainly the most striking feature of the Bhitaragaon temple.

· The walls rise in bold mouldings, their upper portions being decorated with a row of rectangular panels alternating with ornamental pilasters.

· Like many Brahmanical structures, it was not a temple for worshippers but a repository or a shrine for an image.

· This is the oldest remaining Hindu shrine with a roof and a high Sikhara in which there is a series of arches.

Parvati Temple at Nachana Kuthara

· This is a west facing temple, contrary to most of other Hindu temples which face east.

· The sanctum doorway is surrounded by finely carved guardians with Ganga and Yamuna, river goddesses.

· North and south walls are provided with pierced stone windows so that the light can enter the sanctum.

Vishnu Temple at Tigawa

· The temple has a sanctum and an open portico supported on four pillars.

· The facade owes its character entirely to the design of its pillars.

· The pillars form the main elements of its frontage and each consists of a massive abacus surmounted by a device of lions, a capital resembling a broad conventional Vase, a short shaft of many sides and a plain square pedestal.

· The pillar is a descendant of the Vishnu column at Besnagar of five centuries earlier, and the lion motif is of Ashoka’s monoliths.

· The Tigawa temple’s doorway to the cella, with Yakshini motif reminds of the Buddhist torana, but is transmuted in the Gupta temple to suit Brahmanical text.

· In the earlier compositions a dryad embraces a tree but here it has become an allegory of the holy waters of the Jamuna and Ganga with a river goddess standing on a tortoise on one side symbolizing the Jamuna and a similar figure standing on a crocodile or a makara on the other representing the Ganges.

Lad Khan Temple at Aihole

· Dedicated to Shiva

· Temple consists of a shrine (garba griha) with mandapa in front of it rectangular building with a flat roof of stone slabs stone-grills on two sides to admit light

· The eastern end opens in the pillared porch. The wall is in reality a peristyle of massive stone posts between which the latticed slabs have been placed like screens.

· The main shrine houses a Shiva Linga with a Nandi and outer walls having many carved images alongwith floral motifs.

· The mukha mandapa situated in front of the sanctum and consists of a set of twelve carved pillars.

· Lad Khan temple is the earliest example of the massive bracket-like capital continued throughout the Hindu Renaissance period.

Shiva Temple at Bhumara

· It resembles in type and plan to the Bhitaragaon temple.

· This shrine consists of a square masonary cella ( garba griha) of about 35 feet with a flat slab-roof and a carved doorway having representations of river-goddesses on the jambs and a fine bust of Shiva, with flying figures on the lintel.

· Around the garba griha are the scattered remains of a larger chamber which surrounded it, providing a roofed pradaksina patha, and of amandapam attached to and preceding this enclosure.

· These remains consist of a great variety of columns which are not monolithic, of richly carved lintels that supported the roofing slabs, of Chaitya-window niches from the cornice.

· Some of the gana figures have raksasa faces on their Bellies.

Dasavatara Vishnu Temple at Deogarh

· The most important feature of the temple is Sikhara instead of the conventional flat roof

· Another most important feature of this temple is the arrangement of its portico.

· In the centre of the over-door slab is a plaque of Vishnu on the great naga

· To the right and the left at the top and outside the main zone of the frame are reliefs of the river goddess Ganga and Jamuna.

· Dvarpalas or door guardians and female divinities are carved on the overlapping frames of the door.

SITES OF ROCK-CUT TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE

· The cave architecture also attained a great degree of refinement during the Gupta period.

· The Chaitya and Vihara caves at Ajanta and the Ellora caves are the best specimens of cave architecture of the period.

· Important sites of Rock-cut Temples of the Gupta Period

Ajanta Caves

· There are two cave designs at Ajanta called Chaitya Grihas and Viharas.

· Chaitya Grihas were hall of worship- large, rectangular chambers separated by rows of pillars into a central nave, surrounded by aisles on three sides, for circumbulation during prayer, with a sanctuary opposite the entrance

· Viharas or monastries were rectangular shaped halls with a series of small cells attached on two sides.

Ellora Caves

· The contemporary Viharas or monastries at Ellora are the fine examples of Buddhist rock-cut architecture and are in direct line with Ajanta.

· The Buddhists created twelve rock-cut halls for their creed at Ellora.

· This series is divided into two sub groups: Cave nos. I-V are known as ‘Dhedwada group’. Each sub-group has a prayer hall and its attached monastries. The later group of monastries nos. VI-XII are notable for their size and extent.

Udayagiri Caves

· Extensively carved and reworked under the command of Chandragupta II.

· The most famous sculpture in the monumental figure of Vishnu in his incarnation as the boar-headed Varaha.

NSG membership,India’s APEC membership,Thorium-fuelled reactors,Chinese ‘Water Bomb’–Current Affairs 03/11/15

2015-11-04T23:00:00.001+05:30

India NSG Membership
India’s APEC membership not on the agenda, says U.S.
Thorium-fuelled reactors
Misuse of sedition law
Chinese ‘Water Bomb’

India pushes for NSG membership

Nuclear Suppliers Group is 48-member nuclear club.
NSG members can trade in and export nuclear technology.
India hopes for membership in NSG Group, MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime) and Australian and Wassenaar Arrangement.
NSG works by consensus, not majority, India is reaching out to every possible country, much like the push at the UNGA for reforms.

Positives

Being a signatory of Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is an unofficial prerequisite to be a member of NSG.
India has not signed NPT but its undisputable Non Proliferation credentials can help India get a membership in NSG.
India has also cooperated with IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) when it comes to inspection of civilian nuclear facilitates.
India – USA nuclear deal, 2008 is a mile stone in India’s nuclear regime. India USA deal has also improved the changes of India’s entry into NSG.
Indian officials are hopeful that India would get a membership in both NSG and MTCR by 2016.
Norway supports for India's membership to the NSG and MTCR regimes. Previously it took a tough stand against India’s entry into NSG.
Just like Norway, Sweden, Ireland and Switzerland have also changed their stance. This will definitely boost India’s chances.
At present these countries insist only want India to align its civil nuclear safeguards with NSG guidelines.
India hopes to conclude its nuclear deal with Australia this year. (this is easy)
A nuclear deal with Japan (this is tough because nuclear technology related issues are very sensitive ones in Japan) related issues that has been hanging for several years may also be concluded soon. These deals make India’s entry into NSG easier.
U.S. and Russia have already pledged their support any they can be helpful in getting more supporters. [They have lot of old outdated (Gujri) Nuclear technologies and they want to make better gains out of such technologies by selling them to India. India’s energy needs are very vast and there is no time to invest in new technologies. So it wants to buy outdated reactors from Russia, USA, France etc. Also it needs U-235 fissile material which has to be imported from foreign nations. To import fissile material easily, India has to be a part of NSG]

Negatives

Norway is the outgoing MTCR chair, and had said there was “broad consensus for Indian membership in MTCR, but regrettably no consensus yet.”
India’s biggest worry remains possible opposition from China which offers full support to Pakistan’s aspirations for the same.

India’s APEC membership not on the agenda, says U.S.

India’s desire for membership is not on the agenda of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting in Manila in Philippines, on November 18 and 19, the U.S. said.
U.S. President Barack Obama had “supported” India’s desire for membership of the forum during his 2015 visit to India on Republic Day.
U.S.-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region released during Mr. Obama’s New Delhi visit had said: “the United States welcomes India’s interest in joining the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, as the Indian economy is a dynamic part of the Asian economy.”
The statement was widely interpreted as U.S. support for India’s membership in the APEC.

APEC

APEC is an organization which is consensus based. So each of the APEC members has to agree to expansion of the APEC membership.
The 21-member APEC, established in 1989, has nearly half of the world trade among the members and India has been lobbying for its membership for the last two decades.

Observer status since 2011

India has been an observer at the forum since 2011
A membership would have been in tune with the Modi government’s ‘Act East Policy.’ [Previously ‘Look East Policy.’]
U.S. diplomat had said influential sections within the Obama administration considered India as an “obstructionist” force in multilateral forums. [India is the prime reason behind the failure of Doha Round Negotiations (WTO). This seriously damaged India’s image in international forums]

Thorium-fuelled reactors (Very Very Important but too much science will crack your brain)

What is the single greatest factor that prevents the large-scale deployment of thorium-fuelled reactors in India?
The construction of the advanced heavy-water reactor (AHWR) — a 300 MWe, indigenously designed, thorium-fuelled, commercial technology demonstrator — has been put off several times since it was first announced in 2004
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre have successfully tested all relevant thorium-related technologies in the laboratory, achieving even industrial scale capability in some of them.
In fact, if pressed, India could probably begin full-scale deployment of thorium reactors in ten years.
The single greatest hurdle, to answer the original question, is the critical shortage of fissile material (NSG membership is so important for India).

Too much science below

A fissile material is one that can sustain a chain reaction upon bombardment by neutrons.
Thorium is by itself fertile, meaning that it can transmute (change in form, nature, or substance) into a fissile radioisotope but cannot itself keep a chain reaction going.
In a thorium reactor, a fissile material like uranium or plutonium is blanketed by thorium.
The fissile material, also called a driver in this case, drives the chain reaction to produce energy while simultaneously transmuting the fertile material (thorium) into fissile material.

3 Stage Nuclear Programme

India has very modest deposits of uranium and some of the world’s largest sources of thorium.
It was keeping this in mind that in 1954, Homi Bhabha envisioned India’s nuclear power programme in three stages.
In the first stage, heavy water reactors fuelled by natural uranium would produce plutonium.
The second stage would initially be fuelled by a mix of the plutonium from the first stage and natural uranium.
This uranium would transmute into more plutonium and once sufficient stocks have been built up, thorium would be introduced into the fuel cycle to convert it into uranium 233 for the third stage.
In the final stage, a mix of thorium and uranium fuels the reactors.
The thorium transmutes to U-233 which powers the reactor.
Fresh thorium can replace the depleted thorium in the reactor core, making it essentially a thorium-fuelled reactor.
After decades of operating pressurised heavy-water reactors (PHWR), India is finally ready to start the second stage.
A 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam is set to achieve criticality any day now.
Four more fast breeder reactors have been sanctioned, two at the same site and two elsewhere.
However, experts estimate that it would take India many more FBRs and at least another four decades before it has built up a sufficient fissile material inventory to launch the third stage.

NSG is a Solution

The obvious solution to India’s shortage of fissile material is to procure it from the international market.
As yet, there exists no commerce in plutonium though there is no law that expressly forbids it.
In fact, most nuclear treaties such as the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material address only U-235 and U-233.
This is because plutonium is not considered a material suited for peaceful purposes.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) merely mandates that special fissionable material — which includes plutonium — if transferred, be done so under safeguards.
Thus, the legal hurdle for safeguarded sale of plutonium already exists.
The physical and safety procedures for moving radioactive spent fuel and plutonium also already exists.
If India were to start purchasing plutonium, it would immediately get it from Japan and the U.K. who are looking to reduce their stockpile of plutonium.

Advantages of Thorium technology (important for prelims)

One, thorium reactors produce far less waste than present-day reactors.
Two, they have the ability to burn up most of the highly radioactive and long-lasting minor elements that makes nuclear waste from Light Water Reactors.
Three, the minuscule waste that is generated is toxic for only three or four hundred years rather than thousands of years.
Four, thorium reactors are cheaper because they have higher burn up.
And five, thorium reactors are significantly more proliferation-resistant than present reactors.
This is because the U-233 produced by transmuting thorium also contains U-232, a strong source of gamma radiation that makes it difficult to work with.
Its daughter product, thallium-208, is equally difficult to handle and easy to detect.
The mainstreaming of thorium reactors worldwide thus offers an enormous advantage to proliferation-resistance as well as the environment.
For India, it offers the added benefit that it can act as a guarantor for the lifetime supply of nuclear fuel for reactors.

Obstacles in harnessing Thorium

There is little doubt that India will one day have a fleet of FBRs and large quantities of fissile material that can easily be redirected towards its weapons programme.
The U.S. could perhaps emerge as the greatest obstacle to plutonium commerce.
Although the U.S. cannot prevent countries from trading in plutonium, it has the power to make it uncomfortable for them via sanctions.
The strong non-proliferation lobby in the U.S. will stop a non-signatory of the NPT (India) from regulating trade in plutonium.
The challenge for Delhi is to convince Washington to sponsor rather than oppose such a venture.
Scientists predict that the impact of climate change will be worse on India.
Advancing the deployment of thorium reactors by four to six decades via a plutonium market might be the most effective step towards curtailing carbon emissions.

Misuse of sedition law

Once again the law of sedition has been misused, this time in Tamil Nadu.
A folk singer associated with a radical leftist group has been charged with sedition and committing an act with an intent to cause a riot.
His offence: disseminating two songs pillorying (attack or ridicule publicly) Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and her government for its policy of retailing liquor.
I have previously given a detailed post on Sedition Law.

Chinese ‘Water Bomb’: Downstream concerns on the Brahmaputra

China’s largest hydroelectric dam, Zangmu hydroelectric dam on the Brahmaputra, or Yarlung Tsangpo, became fully operational in Oct, 2015.
Tere are growing concerns over worsening environmental degradation.
Yarlung Tsangpo, Lhasa river and Nyangchu basins in central Tibet are worst hit by Chinese aggressive water diversion strategy.
Gyama valley, situated south of the Lhasa river has large polymetallic deposits of copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, lead and zinc (China is fully exploiting these regions).
Chinese scientists are pointing to the possibility of a high content of heavy metals in the stream sediments could pose a potential threat to downstream water users (India and Bangladesh).
Global warming could further accelerate the movement of these heavy metals.
By 2050, the annual runoff in the Brahmaputra is projected to decline by 14 per cent. This will have significant implications for food security and social stability.
The dangers of water accumulation behind dams could also induce devastating artificial earthquakes in the highly fragile region.

Data-sharing protocols

China supplies flood-forecasting data from three measuring stations on the Brahmaputra, namely Nugesha, Yangcun and Nuxia. (China can manipulate data and is the most obvious threat. Trust Deficit)
India pays China Rs. 82 lakh annually to receive advance flood data.
India provides such data to Pakistan and Bangladesh free of cost.

Current Affairs 02/11/2015

2015-11-03T22:42:00.003+05:30

10th ministerial meet of the WTO

Where: Nairobi, Kenya.
When: Dec, 2015
Significance: The ministerial meet is the highest policy making body of the WTO covering 161 members.

Why this meet is special

The very relevance of the WTO and more specifically its Doha development round will be under question.
TPP and RCEP and their role in world trade will take center stage.
The TPP and RCEP will force significant structural changes in the way WTO functions.

TPP and RCEP

TPP: Trans-Pacific Partnership vs RCEP: Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
Two important trade blocs are on the anvil —
the Trans-pacific Partnership (TPP), which excludes India and
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes India and ten members of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) plus Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Trans-pacific Partnership (TPP) TPP includes the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan among the large economies and Chile, Peru, Mexico, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia among the smaller economies. Together they account for 40 per cent of global trade. 800 million people live in these countries.
China, India and South Korea are not a part of TPP.
The TPP seeks to ease the flow of goods, services and investments among its members and to strengthen the rules on labour standards, environmental issues, origin criteria and intellectual property.
For India, the TPP might signal the erosion of the competitive edge its goods and services enjoy especially in the traditional markets of European union and the U.S.

Govt. forms committee to review drug pricing policy

The government has formed an inter-ministerial committee to review the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013.
Supreme Court verdict termed the drug pricing policy as irrational and unreasonable.
The Supreme Court had observed that the Centre was fixing maximum price of a medicine above the retail price of the leading company.
MBP (Market Based Pricing) was never used for any price regulatory purposes.
Under the new policy, simple average ceiling prices were, in many cases, higher than the market leader price.
The committee will look into the pricing of medicines, and specifically in the market based pricing formula which is being used at present under DPCO 2013.

Market based pricing was never used for any price regulatory purposes and this was making medicines costlier.

Essential Drugs

The petitioner sought inclusion of more life-saving medicines of diseases such as diabetes and tuberculosis in the list of drugs whose prices would be regulated by the government.
As stipulated under DPCO 2013, drug price regulator NPPA fixes the ceiling price of essential medicines of schedule-I.
So far, the authority has fixed the ceiling price of 530 formulations from the list.
No one is authorized to sell any scheduled medicine to a consumer at a price higher than the one notified by NPPA under the order.
While fixing the ceiling price, 16 per cent margin is allowed for retailers.

United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention

Was basically meant to protect the Europeans who became refugees due to World War-II.
The Convention offers the refugee three basic protections — non-discrimination, non-penalisation, and non-refoulement.
Of these, the most critical is the principle of non-refoulement, which mandates that no one can ‘return’ or expel a refugee against his will back “to a territory where he or she fears threats to life of freedom”.
The Convention also states that a refugee is entitled to basic rights such as access to the courts, primary education, work, and travel documents.
Over 140 nations are signatories to it.
But the sad reality is that these statutes are observed mostly in the breach.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs): people forcibly displaced by, say, the violence of ‘development’ (by a dam, a mine, a nuclear plant); by communal violence; or even a Salwa Judum .
Asylum-seeker: a person who, as per UNHCR’s definition, “says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated.”

Decentralization (Very Very Very Important)

Why decentralization?

To strengthen participatory democracy (encouraging people to utilize their right to vote),
To facilitate responsive governance (peoples demands will be heard by the administration)
To ensure greater accountability (people will find it easy to question local governments. State and Central governments are too far away you know) and
To enable public service delivery according to diversified preferences of the people (it will be more easy to demand different freebies. Students = Phones, laptops; Ladies = Sarees, Men = liquor etc..)

Reality: Arguments against decentralization

Decentralization has only helped Khap Panchyats grow more powerful.
Caste based politics have become much stronger due to Local Elections.
Moreover, local elections result in unnecessary expenditure.
Elections every now and then creates an explosion of freebie policies, caste and religion based appeasement. But these Hindu Editorials….).

Meaningful argument put forward by VVIP

Dr. Ambedkar was apprehensive that in the hierarchical society (caste based society) with highly skewed nature of asset and power distribution (upper caste = more power, more wealth, lower caste = ….), vesting more powers at the village level would only perpetuate exploitation of the dispossessed.
[Constitution placed local governance in the State List (Entry 5) = More scope for misuse of decentralization]

73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments

Part IX was inserted into the Constitution with Article 243(A to O) specifying matters such as the constitution, elections and the functions to be devolved for panchayats and for urban local bodies under Article 243P to Z.
Article 243I and Y mandated the appointment of the State Finance Commission by the Governor every five years to balance their functions with funds.
Article 280 was seeded with an additional term of reference (TOR) to the Union Finance Commission to take cognisance of the resource requirements of local bodies.

Five important issues

Constitution assigns decentralisation including funding entirely to the discretion of State governments.
Secondly, the constitutional framework does not prescribe any pattern, standard or model of decentralisation which again is left to the discretion of State governments (Every state has its own exploitation strategy).
Third, there are no easy mechanisms to ensure compliance of even the prescribed provisions of the Constitution by the States.
Most States have not complied with the requirement of having to appoint gram sabhas (243A), ward committees, district planning committees and metropolitan planning committees.
There have been several attempts to postpone elections though they are required to hold them well before the expiry of the prevailing elected body or before six months if the body is dissolved for some reason, as required under 243K and U (don’t have to remember each and every provision).
The States are required to appoint a Finance Commissions every five years and their reports are required to be placed in the legislatures with the action taken reports.
Unfortunately, the States’ record shows complete violations of Article 243I and Y.
Fourth, on the financial side, local bodies do not have any independent revenues. There is no separate list of tax bases assigned to them in the Constitution and they have to depend on the State governments to levy the taxes.
There is also the problem of administrative capacity and interest groups resisting payment of taxes and user charges (one more –ve of Decentralization).

FFC did not continue the decentralisation reform initiated TFC

Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) did not continue the decentralisation reform initiated by the Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC).
TFC initiated a package of conditionalities for availing the performance grants which was not continued by the FFC. (TFC intiated merit based grants and FFC ignored it)

The important features of the TFC recommendations included

1. linking the grants to local governments to previous year’s divisible pool of taxes and

2. linking a significant proportion of the grants for performance.

In contrast, the FFC while recommending a much higher level of transfers, did not see Constitutional validity in linking the transfers to the divisible pool.
It continued the performance grants, but linked them directly to the actions by the panchayats and municipalities rather than the State governments.
Thus, the FFC in its report explained that it did not carry on the scheme of rewards and punishment because truthful adherence to the Constitutional framework did not permit it to do so.
It is another issue that only a fraction of the performance grants recommended by the TFC were actually utilised and the Union government was the beneficiary in the process!

Legal checks to political vandalism (No legal checks to be accurate)

The Representation of People Act, 1951 governs political parties in India.
However, despite containing a list of barred activities, the Election Commission can only censure individual party members
The Act does not provide for the punishment of political parties for any criminal activities their members commit.
The Supreme Court has held that in the absence of such a provision, the EC cannot even de-register parties as it would amount to a quasi-judicial action being committed without a fair trial, a basic requirement of natural justice.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
It has been used to ban associations like the Communist Party of India (Maoist) for engaging in “unlawful activity” and “terrorism”.
However, these terms can legally be applied to only a few criminal activities. For example, the definition of “unlawful activity” only covers activities questioning and prejudicing the sovereignty and integrity of the Indian state.
Moreover, the decision to ban an association is the prerogative of the Central government and not the judiciary.
Ruling parties would obviously make no efforts to censure themselves and any action against opposing parties would inevitably lead to a media furore that would probably culminate in a logjam in Parliament.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) is another available provision.
It empowers State governments, via a magistrate, to issue an order “in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger”.
Governments generally use it to prevent acts or prohibit organizations if they feel it is in the public interest to do so.
In a recent use of Section 144, the Goa government banned the Sri Ram Sena from enforcing its policy of moral policing in the State.
However, Section 144 has also failed to prove a sufficient deterrent to parties because the response is determined by the discretion of politicians and is not automatic as with most crimes.

Corporate example: SC judgment on corporate criminal liability.

SC says, “If an agent of a company commits a crime on behalf of the company, the company should be held responsible. [If RSS wala does something bad in the name of RSS, then the governing body of the RSS can be held responsible]
It is high time that other organisations like political parties are also made liable for actions committed through their agents (Silly solution by The Hindu).
Ideally, there should also be an amendment in the Representation of the People Act that allows the Election Commission to suspend a party from contesting elections if successfully convicted (Another impractical solution by The Hindu. EC cannot take the role of SC. Any such ban will lead to breakdown in democracy)

Geography Optional for CSE mains: Booklist, Syllabus

2015-11-03T14:05:00.002+05:30

How to choose optional

Credibility: I am no topper. For that matter I have not even written mains atleast once. So this guide is based on my understanding of the CSE throughout these two years of CSE journey. Read and follow at your own risk.

Some must read posts on Geo Optional.

https://thesupermanreturns.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/geog-optional/
http://mrunal.org/2012/05/strategy-geography-mains-booklist-study.html#7
http://mrunal.org/2015/07/upsc-topper-kranti-singh-rank-417-geography.html#1021

According to my opinion there are only few credible sources for UPSC prep and Mrunal.org is one such indispensable source. Lot of major websites are run with purely profit motive so you cannot really trust them.

My interests are Physical Geography, International Relations, General Science and Environment. I am not an expert but I can say I have some serious understanding of these subjects.
Senior Advice: If you once choose a subject as your optional, you will have to live with it for many months. So choose it wisely.

What to consider before choosing an optional?

Very Very Important: Your interest in the subject (You should do what you love or you should love what you do).
Complexity of the subject, availability of resources, time required: Geography is complex because of its technical nature. It requires some imagination. It takes 3 – 6 months to finish Geo Optional syllabus. Most of the toppers have said that it took them nothing less than 4-5 months to complete Geo Optional Syllabus.
Resources: Books are easily available and might cost you somewhere around Rs 3000-4000.
Guidance: This is the biggest problem with technical optionals. You need guidance to save precious time. You should get help from Seniors with Geo Optional (so not me) and you should make groups among your self and help out each other (Use http://discuss.forumias.com for this).

So what not to consider while choosing optional.

Other persons free biased advices: I have PSIR as my optional. It is very easy. You also take PSIR as optional. We will study together.
Coaching walas free propaganda: This sir that sir etc.. If you have concrete review about a teacher, then you can consider him/her. Don’t fall to internet comments because they are either paid or self written.
Why didn’t this guy (pmfias.com) choose PSIR over Geography. May be geo is a tough one. (Everybody has their own comfort zone. So don’t make a decision based on other person’s decision)

Booklist Geography Optional

Refer www.pmfias.com and https://www.youtube.com/c/PoorMansFriend For basics only.
My notes and Videos are meant for General Studies only. But they can be helpful for Optional as well. They will help you understand basics and if your basics are strong, understanding the core concepts will be a cake walk.
My Climatology Videos are extremely important. Climatology is technical and is confusing so watch my videos on climatology which I have done in good detail.
You can finish Geo Optional with selective study of these books. (All coaching notes are simplified versions of these books only)
One big advise: Don’t read cover to cover. Relate with Syllabus. Read only important topics. Thoroughly analyse Geo Optional Question Paper before kickstarting your preparation.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY by Savindra singh [Amazon][Flipkart]
Certificate Physical and Human geography by goh cheng leong [Amazon][Flipkart]
Human Geography by Majid Hussain [Amazon][Flipkart]
Evolution Of Geographical Thought by Majid Hussain [Amazon][Flipkart]
Economic and Social Geography Made Simple – Rupa Publication [Amazon][Flipkart]
Models In Geography Majid Husain [Amazon][Flipkart]
India A Comprehensive Geography by Kullar [Amazon][Flipkart]

Geography Optional Syllabus

Part I: Principles of Geography

Physical Geography

Geomorphology

Factors controlling landform development; endogenetic and exogenetic forces;
Origin and evolution of the earth's crust;
Fundamentals of geomagnetism;
Physical conditions of the earth's interior;
Geosynclines;
Continental drift;
Isostasy;
Plate tectonics;
Recent views on mountain building (Sub topic under plate tectonics);
Vulcanicity; Earthquakes and Tsunamis;
Concepts of geomorphic cycles and Landscape development Denudation chronology; Channel morphology; Erosion surfaces; Slope development (In simple terms – erosional and depositional land forms);
Applied Geomorphology : Geohydrology, economic geology and environment.

Climatology

Temperature and pressure belts of the world;
Heat budget of the earth;
Atmospheric circulation; atmospheric stability and instability.
Planetary and local winds;
Monsoons and jet streams;
Air masses and fronto genesis, Temperate and tropical cyclones;
Types and distribution of precipitation;
Weather and Climate; Koppen's, Thornthwaite's and Trewartha's classification of world climates;
Hydrological cycle;
Global climatic change and role and response of man in climatic changes;
Applied climatology and Urban climate.

Oceanography

Bottom topography of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans;
Temperature and salinity of the oceans;
Heat and salt budgets, Ocean deposits;
Waves, currents and tides;
Marine resources: biotic, mineral and energy resources;
Coral reefs, coral bleaching;
sea-level changes;
law of the sea and marine pollution.

Biogeography

Genesis of soils; Classification and distribution of soils; Soil profile; Soil erosion, Degradation and conservation;
Factors influencing world distribution of plants and animals;
Problems of deforestation and conservation measures;
Social forestry; agroforestry;
Wild life;
Major gene pool centres.

Environmental Geography

Principle of ecology;
Human ecological adaptations;
Influence of man on ecology and environment;
Global and regional ecological changes and imbalances;
Ecosystem their management and conservation;
Environmental degradation, management and conservation;
Biodiversity and sustainable development;
Environmental policy;
Environmental hazards and remedial measures; Environmental education and legislation.

Human Geography

Perspectives in Human Geography

Areal differentiation;
regional synthesis;
Dichotomy and dualism;
Environmentalism;
Quantitative revolution and locational analysis; radical, behavioural, human and welfare approaches;
Languages, religions and secularisation;
Cultural regions of the world;
Human development index.

Economic Geography

World economic development: measurement and problems;
World resources and their distribution;
Energy crisis; the limits to growth;
World agriculture: typology of agricultural regions; agricultural inputs and productivity; Food and nutrition problems; Food security; famine: causes, effects and remedies;
World industries: locational patterns and problems; patterns of world trade.

Population and Settlement Geography

Growth and distribution of world population; demographic attributes;
Causes and consequences of migration; concepts of over-under-and optimum population; Population theories, world population problems and policies, Social well-being and quality of life; Population as social capital.
Types and patterns of rural settlements; Environmental issues in rural settlements;
Hierarchy of urban settlements; Urban morphology: Concepts of primate city and rank-size rule; Functional classification of towns; Sphere of urban influence; Rural - urban fringe; Satellite towns; Problems and remedies of urbanization; Sustainable development of cities.

Regional Planning

Concept of a region; Types of regions and methods of regionalisation;
Growth centres and growth poles; Regional imbalances; regional development strategies; environmental issues in regional planning; Planning for sustainable development.

Models, Theories and Laws in Human Geography

Systems analysis in Human geography;
Malthusian, Marxian and demographic transition models;
Central Place theories of Christaller and Losch;Perroux and Boudeville; Von Thunen's model of agricultural location; Weber's model of industrial location; Ostov's model of stages of growth. Heartland and Rimland theories; Laws of international boundaries and frontiers.

PART II: Geography Of India

Physical Setting

Space relationship of India with neighboring countries; Structure and relief; Drainage system and watersheds; Physiographic regions; Mechanism of Indian monsoons and rainfall patterns, Tropical cyclones and western disturbances; Floods and droughts; Climatic regions; Natural vegetation; Soil types and their distributions.

Resources

Land, surface and ground water, energy, minerals, biotic and marine resources; Forest and wild life resources and their conservation; Energy crisis.

Agriculture

Infrastructure: irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, power; Institutional factors: land holdings, land tenure and land reforms; Cropping pattern, agricultural productivity, agricultural intensity, crop combination, land capability; Agro and social-forestry; Green revolution and its socio- economic and ecological implications; Significance of dry farming; Livestock resources and white revolution; aqua - culture; sericulture, apiculture and poultry; agricultural regionalisation; agro-climatic zones; agroecological regions.

Industry

Evolution of industries; Locational factors of cotton, jute, textile, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilizer, paper, chemical and pharmaceutical, automobile, cottage and agro-based industries; Industrial houses and complexes including public sector undertakings; Industrial regionali-sation; New industrial policies; Multinationals and liberalization; Special Economic Zones; Tourism including eco - tourism.

Transport, Communication and Trade

Road, railway, waterway, airway and pipeline networks and their complementary roles in regional development; Growing importance of ports on national and foreign trade; Trade balance; Trade Policy; Export processing zones; Developments in communication and information technology and their impacts on economy and society; Indian space programme.

Cultural Setting

Historical Perspective of Indian Society; Racial, linguistic and ethnic diversities; religious minorities; major tribes, tribal areas and their problems; cultural regions; Growth, distribution and density of population; Demographic attributes: sex-ratio, age structure, literacy rate, work-force, dependency ratio, longevity; migration (inter-regional, intra- regional and international) and associated problems; Population problems and policies; Health indicators.

Settlements

Types, patterns and morphology of rural settlements; Urban developments; Morphology of Indian cities; Functional classification of Indian cities; Conurbations and metropolitan regions; urban sprawl; Slums and associated problems; town planning; Problems of urbanization and remedies.

Regional Development and Planning

Experience of regional planning in India; Five Year Plans; Integrated rural development programmes; Panchayati Raj and decentralised planning; Command area development; Watershed management; Planning for backward area, desert, drought prone, hill, tribal area development; multi-level planning; Regional planning and development of island territories.

Political Aspects

Geographical basis of Indian federalism; State reorganisation; Emergence of new states; Regional consciousness and inter state issues; international boundary of India and related issues; Cross border terrorism; India's role in world affairs; Geopolitics of South Asia and Indian Ocean realm.

Contemporary Issues

Ecological issues: Environmental hazards: landslides, earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods and droughts, epidemics; Issues relating to environmental pollution; Changes in patterns of land use; Principles of environmental impact assessment and environmental management; Population explosion and food security; Environmental degradation; Deforestation, desertification and soil erosion; Problems of agrarian and industrial unrest; Regional disparities in economic development; Concept of sustainable growth and development; Environmental awareness; Linkage of rivers; Globalisation and Indian economy.

Compost Tea, Bio char, Leaching, Carbon Sink & Carbon Sequestration, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plants, Micro-nutrients and Macro-nutrients in soil

2015-11-02T21:32:00.004+05:30

Agricultural Benefits of Compost Tea
Bio char

Agricultural Benefits of Bio char

Other Environmental Benefits

Rhizosphere

The post is important under Environment section for Prelims and, Conservation and Sustainable Growth for mains (Environmentally Sustainable Agriculturally Practices, Green Revolution and Second Green Revolution)

Today there is an article in The Hindu titled “Bio-char, compost tea are the new recipe”.

The bold words and sentences are the ones that are important, especially for prelims.

I have given a detailed explanation for each of the key terms.

Kollam, Kerala, is famous for fishing and fishery-related activities; as an agricultural sector, it does not evoke any enthusiasm. (Why?)

What with the prevailing soil and climatic conditions, which favours leaching and draining of soil nutrients into the Arabian sea and Ashtamudi Lake (Ashtamudi Lake is located in Tamil Nadu. True or False?), the soil has high acidity making it unfit for cultivation of any kind (Why? Because friendly micoorganisms don’t like acidic medium. They like slightly alkaline or basic medium [having a pH greater than 7]).
Vertical farming: More plants in less space. Highly successful in Israel. Future agriculture will be highly based on vertical farming techniques. (This can make life easier in urban areas where inflationary effects are very high)

The ooze is enriched before application with bio-fertilisers and friendly microbes, such as azetobacter and azospirilum (explained below)
He diluted one litre of sea water with 10 litres of fresh water and applied it in the soil and on the foliage, to utilise the 92 micro-nutrients (What are micro nutrients and macronutrients? ) (How can sea water be helpful in agriculture?) available in sea water by spraying this sea water-fresh water mixture once in a month, he claimed that he could produce nutrient rich organic vegetables.

Related Post: ‘Aerobic’ rice cultivation

Bio-char reduces the acidity of the soil, protects the plants from diseases, promotes growth of friendly microorganisms, and reduces the loss of micro nutrients apart from increasing water retain-ability.

Agricultural Benefits of Compost Tea

Compost Tea is a Liquid fertilizer for flowers, vegetables and houseplants.
Compost tea is an aerobic (in the presence of oxygen) water solution that has extracted the microbe population from compost (dead and decaying matter) along with the nutrients.
In simple terms, it is a concentrated liquid created by a process to increase the numbers of beneficial organisms as an organic approach to plant/soil care.
Air is sent through the water to keep the water oxygenated, as this favors the beneficial bacteria and fungi over the pathogens.
At the end of the brewing cycle, what you have is a concentrated liquid full of billions of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes) that can then be sprayed directly onto the leaf surface.
The liquid fertilizer occupies the infection sites on the leaf surface and is held there by simple sugars that the plant puts out that work as a glue to keep the beneficial microorganisms thriving and protecting the plant.

Bio char

Bio char is found in soils around the world as a result of vegetation fires and historic soil management practices.
Intensive study of bio char-rich dark earths in the Amazon (terra preta), has led to a wider appreciation of bio char’s unique properties as a soil enhancer.
Bio char is charcoal that is as soil amendment (minor improvement).
It created using a pyrolysis process (decomposition brought about by high temperatures), heating biomass in a low oxygen environment.
Once the pyrolysis reaction has begun, it is self-sustaining, requiring no outside energy input.
Byproducts of the process include syngas (H2 + CO), minor quantities of methane (CH4) (greenhouse gas), organic acids and excess heat.
Once it is produced, bio char is spread on agricultural fields and incorporated into the top layer of soil.
The syngas and excess heat can be used directly or employed to produce a variety of biofuels.

Agricultural Benefits of Bio char

It increases crop yields, sometimes substantially if the soil is in poor condition.
It helps to prevent fertilizer runoff and leeching, allowing the use of less fertilizers.
It retains moisture, helping plants through periods of drought more easily.
Most importantly, it replenishes exhausted or marginal soils with organic carbon
It fosters the growth of soil microbes essential for nutrient absorption, particularly mycorrhizal fungi.
Bio char can increase soil fertility of acidic soils (low pH soils)[pH < 7 = Acidic Soils; pH > 7 = Basic Soils] [The most fertile soils are slightly acidic (pH just below 7)]
Bio-char reduces the acidity of the soil, protects the plants from diseases, promotes growth of friendly microorganisms, and reduces the loss of micro nutrients apart from increasing water retain-ability.

Other Environmental Benefits

Most carbon in the soil is lost as greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide, CO2) into the atmosphere if natural ecosystems are converted to agricultural land.
Soils contain 3.3 times more carbon than the atmosphere.
This makes soils an important source of greenhouse gases but also a potential sink if right management is applied.
The use of crop residues for bio-energy production reduces the carbon stocks in cropland.
Further the dedication of cropland to bio-fuel production increases the area of cultivated land and thus carbon loss from soils and vegetation.
Bio char remains stable for millennia, providing a simple means to sequester carbon emissions.
If bio char is returned to agricultural land it can increase the soil’s carbon content permanently and would establish a carbon sink for atmospheric CO2.
Source: http://www.biochar.info/biochar.biochar-overview.cfml

Leaching

In agriculture, leaching refers to the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil, due to rain and irrigation.
Leaching may also refer to the practice of applying a small amount of excess irrigation where the water has a high salt content to avoid salts from building up in the soil (salinity control).
Leaching is an environmental concern when it contributes to groundwater contamination.
As water from rain, flooding, or other sources seeps into the ground, it can dissolve chemicals and carry them into the underground water supply.
It takes decades to restore a lost forest in evergreen rain forest regions. Why?
Leaching is particularly important in evergreen rain forests where the top soil is devoid of nutrients due to leaching by surface runoff. It takes decades to restore a lost forest in evergreen rain forest because of poor top soil.

Carbon Sink & Carbon Sequestration

A carbon sink is a natural or artificial reservoir that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period.
The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is known as carbon sequestration.

I will confine this post to Environmentally Sustainable Agricultural practices. I will post detailed articles on Environment concepts later.

Azotobacter

Azotobacter is a spherical bacteria.
They are aerobic, free-living soil microbes.
They play an important role in the nitrogen cycle in nature, binding atmospheric nitrogen, which is inaccessible to plants, and releasing it in the form of ammonium ions into the soil.
Apart from being a model organism, it is used by humans for the production of bio fertilizers, food additives, and some biopolymers.

Azospirillum

Azospirillum represents the best characterized genus of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria.
It is nitrogen-fixing and is found in rhizospheres of several grasses.

Rhizosphere

The rhizosphere is the narrow region of soil that is directly influenced by root secretions and associated soil microorganisms.
Soil which is not part of the rhizosphere is known as bulk soil.
Protozoa and nematodes that graze on bacteria are also more abundant in the rhizosphere.
Thus, much of the nutrient cycling and disease suppression needed by plants occurs immediately adjacent to roots.

Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plants

What are Mycorrhizae?

Mycorrhizae are symbiotic relationships that form between fungi and plants.
The fungi colonize the root system of a host plant, providing increased water and nutrient absorption capabilities while the plant provides the fungus with carbohydrates formed from photosynthesis.
Mycorrhizae also offer the host plant increased protection against certain pathogens.

What Benefits do Mycorrhizal Fungi Offer to Plants?

Fungi are heterotropic organisms, and must absorb their food.
Fungi also have the ability to easily absorb elements such a phosphorus and nitrogen which are essential for life.
Plants are autotropic, producing their food in the form of carbohydrates through the process of photosynthesis.
More than 80% of the species of higher plants have these relationships, and so do many pteridophytes (ferns and their allies – fir, douglas fir, pine, spruce etc.) and some mosses (especially liverworts). They are as common on crop plants (cereals, peas, tomatoes, onions, apples, strawberry, etc) as in wild plant communities
However, plants often have difficulty obtaining and absorbing many of the essential nutrients needed for life, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus.

Micro-nutrients and Macro-nutrients in soil

Source: http://soils.wisc.edu/facstaff/barak/soilscience326/macronut.htm
Macronutrients: N, K, Ca, Mg, P, and S, and
Micronutrients: Cl, Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, and Ni

“Macro” and “micro” nutrient fertilizers refer to the quantity of nutrient needed by plants, not to their importance to plant growth.
Macronutrients are divided into two classes: primary and secondary.
The three primary macronutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K); all are required in relatively large quantities by plants. The ratio considered ideal stands at 4:2:1. (this was asked in previous prelims)
The secondary macronutrients, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S), are required in lesser quantities relative to the primary category.
Micronutrients are required by plants in far smaller quantities than any macronutrient. Micronutrients required by plants include zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), boron (B), molybdenum (Mo), and chlorine (Cl). Relative to the macronutrients, micronutrients are required in trace quantities.
The uses of each of these elements for plants will be covered under NCERT Biology

Nepal Crisis–Current Affairs 31/10/15–01/11/2015

2015-11-02T09:10:00.000+05:30

Nepal Crisis

India’s Self Goal

Nepal finally has a Constitution after seven years of turmoil.
When it seemed like all is going to be well, loomed a new crisis in the form of agitation by the Madhesis, the Janajatis and the Tharus.
The Madhesis, the Janajatis and the Tharus of the Terai region were traditionally backward and felt that the new constitution didn’t represent their interests.
The agitations across terai region turned violent which threatened to cause a spill over effect into India (Bihar election were in progress and the Madhesis are of Indian origion).
India, in an attempt to solve the crisis, imposed an unofficial trade blockade which cutoff the supply of fuel and other essentials to Nepal.
So, India overacted and flexed its arm too far into Nepal’s internal affairs in this process.
This strategy of India backfired completely and created an upsurge of Nepali nationalism, coupled with anti-Indianism.
China took full advantage of India’s mistake to get closer to Nepal by offering to supply much needed fuel.
Prior to the crisis, there were agitations by conservative Hindu groups in Nepal which were demanding to make Nepal a Hindu State instead of a secular state.
Here too, Nepalese believe that the Indian Government led by the Nationalist BJP, which is enslaved by a fundamentalist RSS, had a role.
All this amounts to self goal by India.

Important Events:

Third India Africa Forum Summit; India Africa relations

India–Africa Relations: India vs China in Africa; India and UN peacekeeping missions

Reason behind Madhesi agitation

Citizenship has long been an emotive issue among the Madhesis as they often marry Indians from the northern districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Spouses of Nepali citizens become ‘naturalised Nepali citizens’.
However, there is a discriminatory provision regarding the offspring of such marriages.
Children of a Nepali male marrying a foreigner are ‘Nepalis by descent’ (citizens by birth = natural citizenship) whereas if a Nepali woman marries a foreigner, their children are ‘naturalised Nepalis’ (citizens not by birth = artificial citizenship) which bars them from important and powerful constitutional positions.
This is also an issue that has been taken up by women’s groups on the grounds that it violates the basic principle of equality guaranteed by the Constitution.

Likely Threats from Prolonged Nepal crisis

Madhesi demands will start snowballing if the government doesn’t make quick decisions.
Madhesis have a strong maoist background but now they have shunned their arms. If their demands are ignored, it might invigorate maoist ideology in them.
The Janajatis still form a major chunk of the Maoist cadres. So there is definitely a serious threat of maoist revival.
A maoist revival will hurt both Nepal and India.
Above all, Nepal will get closer to marauding (go about in search of things to steal or people to attack) and mercantilist China.
History teaches us that once the Chinese get a foothold somewhere, they never leave.

Fodder points: India-US

As India confronts a marauding (go about in search of things to steal or people to attack) and mercantilist China — with its disdain (the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one's consideration or respect) for international law — the US is an invaluable strategic partner.
India cannot handle China without American support.
Now is the time to choose sides in the impending Mahabharata between the US and China, and in siding with Washington, India has chosen the Pandavas. Think of Xi Jinping as Duryodhana (US is bad but China is worse. So better side with USA).

Previous Month Current Affairs: Current Affairs October 2015

Tropical Cyclones: Disastrous Effects Storm Surge, Storm Tide, Category ...

2015-10-31T13:58:00.001+05:30

Geography for UPSC IAS by www.pmfias.com

Notes Links

http://www.pmfias.com/2015/08/climatology-tropical-cyclones-part-1.html

http://www.pmfias.com/2015/08/climatology-tropical-cyclones-part-2.html

http://www.pmfias.com/2015/08/climatology-tropical-cyclones-part-3.html

Current Affairs 30/10/2015

2015-10-30T19:12:00.001+05:30

China steps in to fill the space left by India

China confirmed it was sending fuel supplies to Nepal amidst the blockade of India Nepal border by Indian origin Madhesi Nepali’s.
This ends India’s monopoly on the export of petroleum products to the Himalayan nation.

Recent Developments in India Nepal Relations

WB says growth will remain under 8 per cent till 2018

World Bank projected that India’s GDP growth will remain below 8 per cent till 2018.
The projection contrasts sharply with the Government’s projection that the growth rate will cross 8 per cent this year and will be in double digits before the end of its term.

WB’s suggestions

For the economy to achieve its potential, the Update called for three key reforms:
First, boosting balance sheets of the banking sector by addressing the underlying challenges in the infrastructure sector, especially power and roads.
Second, continuing to improve the ease of doing business and enacting the GST and
Third, enhancing the capacity of states and local governments to deliver public services as more resources are devolved from the centre.

Reasons for low growth projections

Loss of export market share due to Chinese devaluation of Yuan and less competitive Indian exports.
Stressed financial sector (NPAs).
Since oil prices are unlikely to fall further, reducing deficits beyond the current financial year is a tough challenge.

Positives from WB update

Foreign exchange levels improved from equivalent to six months of imports in 2012-13 to nine months of imports as a consequence of the current account deficit narrowing.
WB welcomed greater devolution of taxes to the states and the higher capital spending by the Centre.

Urget need to shift towards Green Energy based Economy

Green Jobs: Helps to reduce dependence on outsourced jobs:
For decades, mature economies have seen their jobs being off-shored to newly industrializing countries. To stop the bleeding, they are working hard to unleash the digital and renewable energy revolutions.
In the long run, India’s comparative advantages are under pressure. In many emerging economies, manufacturing costs have almost reached US levels, shifting investors’ focus to factors like quality, supply chains, shipping times and local governance. Digital automation will further erode the comparative advantage of cheap labour.
Renewable emery development needs lot of research and innovation. It can provide high paying skilled jobs to thousands of youth locally.
We have to reap maximum out of ‘cheap labour’ advantage: Ever increasing manufacturing costs are making exports uncompetitive. China is slowly losing its cheap labour advantage. Though India has lot of potential in terms of cheap labour, it fares badly in terms of cheap energy production which offsets labour advantage. So manufacturing will be viable only with reduction in energy costs. But fossils fuels are driving energy costs higher and higher. So the only available solution is Green Energy.
Environmental degradation offsets economic gains: Pollution has put a lot of stress on healthcare system which sucks up billions. Pollution is also responsible for climate change and associated natural calamities which are responsible for damages costing billions of dollars.
Less vulnerable to external shocks: Less dependence on imported fossil fuels, especially petrol, diesel etc. = ENERGY SECURITY. (No more a slave of Oil Cartel and their petty politics – freedom from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nigeria etc.)
Lower subsidy burden: Excess expenditure in the form of fuel subsidy can be phased out. This money can be used to build sustainable infrastructure.
Less environmental pollution, improved life expectancy and less stress on health care.
Green Energy is becoming cheaper compared to fossil fuels: Constant innovations in green energy sector have reduced the costs involved to a great extent.
Overall, we need Sustainable Development and Green Energy is the only option.

NJAC is already Discussed

Tropical Cyclones,Favourable Conditions,Origin and Development,Distribut...

2015-10-30T15:29:00.001+05:30

Current Affairs 29/10/2015

2015-10-29T20:24:00.000+05:30

Fodder points on Economic reforms

Reforms are meant to improve efficiency by improving competition.
Despite the enormous noise made about reforms, there is no clarity on what constitutes reforms wrt Indian economy.
No clarity on what should the impact of reforms be on growth and social sector spending (Health, education, MGNREA etc.).
It is important to have a clear understanding on the requirements and set goals accordingly.

Pre 1991

Until the end of the 1970s, and to a large extent even in the 1980s, development was state-directed and state-driven.
The government subscribed to the theory of ‘commanding heights’ which meant that key sectors of the economy were to be under state control.
The private sector was kept in check through an elaborate scheme of licences and controls (Licence Raj).
In foreign trade, ‘import substitution’ was the guiding principle and this meant quantitative controls on imports and high import tariffs.
[Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy which advocates replacing foreign imports with domestic production. ISI is based on the premise that a country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of industrialized products.]

Post 1991

The country in 1991 faced an acute economic crisis, triggered by a severe balance of payments problem.
But the crisis was converted into an opportunity to bring about fundamental changes.
It led to the dismantling of various controls and licences.
It led to the beginning of LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization) reforms on a major scale.
Many areas which were exclusively reserved for the state were thrown open to the private sector.
The role of the state as a producer of marketable goods and services has gone down.
However, its role as a regulator and as a provider for public goods and services has increased.

	Post 1991-92	Pre 1991
Economic growth	6.8 per cent	3.5 per cent (1952 and 1980)

Some measures required towards reforms.

The basic principle underlying liberalisation is of the need to create competitive markets with minimal barriers to entry and should be extended to all sectors.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) - enhances efficiency and improves tax buoyancy and brings in uniformity in tax collection.
Land Acquisition – important to build manufacturing infrastructure. Fixing land prices is against the spirit of competition and the reach of any Land Acquisition Act must therefore, be limited.
Reforming sugar industry - Molasses are subject to a type of control which results in subsidization of the liquor industry. Gunny bags made form jute should only be used to pack sugar. These measures are anti-competitive and are a curse to sugar industry. All these illogical regulations should be phased out.
Pricing of natural resources has become an issue. In the absence of competition, transparent mechanisms for fixing the prices must be followed which will be fair to both the producers and the end users.
Among the sectors that have remained untouched by reforms, the most important is agriculture. Much needs to be done to improve agricultural productivity through scientific research.
The present marketing arrangements are archaic (They benefit middle men at the cost of farmers). APMC and related laws should be rationalized to suite the present situation.
Barriers to movement of trade across the country must be brought to an end (Improves competitiveness).
The administrative framework and delivering systems must be such as to maximize benefits (they should act as facilitators rather than regulators).
Reforms, to be credible, must not only result in higher growth but also benefit all sections of society.

Fodder points: India-Pakistan-China

India recently is playing a proactive role in exposing Pakistani atrocities in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan. This comes as a counter to Pakistan’s propaganda in J&K.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

During Mr. Xi’s visit to Islamabad in April 2015, China pledged to invest $46 billion on CPEC.
“Karamay Declaration” of August 2015 defines China’s role in CPEC and Pakistan’s role in China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.
CPEC’s main infrastructural corridor, running over 3,000 km, will connect Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang province to the Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
CPEC will no doubt boost Pakistan’s progress and prosperity.

India’s objection to CPEC

Many in India have objected to CPEC passing through a part of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), on the ground that it is disputed territory.

Alternative policy

India can support CPEC and try to get its border regions under it improving economic prospects.
As a part of regional co-operation architecture, India should make efforts to extend Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline into India.
CPEC-BCIM interconnection has the potential to immensely bolster India’s energy security both on the western and eastern flanks.

Benefits of CPEC to China and Pakistan

CPEC helps China build a crucial two-way bridge-link to access the Indian Ocean and conversely for Pakistan to reach out to Eurasia.
But it is likely to deepen the already complex strategic ties between the two “iron brothers”, dubbed now as equivalent to the U.S.-Israel links.
China expects CPEC will yield far-reaching economic benefits and regional security.
First, the Karakoram (land) with Gwadar (sea) alignment has both commercial and military significance to serve as strategic chokepoints vis-à-vis India.
Second, the CPEC is suspected to be about offsetting the growing U.S.-India intimacy as also in China’s quid pro quo to counter India’s “Act East” policy.
Third, it seems linked to preventing the Afghan-Pak area from potentially becoming a safe haven for Uighur militants once the U.S. troops leave Afghanistan.
Clearly, Beijing seeks new opportunity to fill up gaps where India has largely failed.
Considering PoK’s strategic location, it could have many ramifications for India. It helps manipulate legal and demographic profile of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
Pakistan could lease additional areas in GB to China like the Shaksgam Valley that was surrendered in 1963.
CPEC will help Pakistan to get access to some landlocked Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members.
It helps Central Asian countries to get access to Indian Ocean and this will in turn help Pakistan economically.

India’s dilemma

For India, China’s OBOR plan poses a dilemma: joining it raised fears of getting sucked into China game plan.
But not joining is inconsistent with New Delhi’s broader diplomatic strategy.
India should explore opportunistic aspects in the OBOR especially for regaining access to the northern axis, prevented by loss of GB to Pakistan.
Just as India joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a wise approach would be to creatively join the Silk Route.

Nepal gets first woman President

Nepal’s Parliament elected communist lawmaker Bidhya Bhandari as the country’s first woman President.
This comes after the adoption of secular and democratic Constitution in September 2015.
Recent Issue: India Nepal Border Blockade

Poverty estimates

http://mrunal.org/2014/08/economic-survey-ch13-poverty-line-tendulkar-rangarajan-engels-law-mnrega-aajeevika-nrum.html
http://www.studydhaba.com/poverty-estimation-in-india-c-rangarajan-and-tendulkar-committee/

Current Affairs 28/10/2015

2015-10-28T20:11:00.000+05:30

Ancient temples in Mandya district unearthed

ASI have found five temple complexes defining Jaina identity at Chikkabetta of Artipura in Mandya district.
These are now believed to be the oldest known archaeological find belonging to the Western Ganga dynasty.
Although the Western Ganga dynasty is said to have thrived from the 4th century BC, the earliest archaeological evidence available was only from the 10th century inscriptions of Shravanabelagola in Hassan district.
These structures have inscriptions that mirror the similarities of stone structures at Chandragiri in Shravanabelagola.
Shravanabetta of Artipura already sports an age-old 10-feet statue of Gomateshwara, with one-side carving said to have been done earlier than the 60-ft Gomateshwara at Sharavanabelagola.

India moves up in ‘ease of doing business’ ranking

India improved its rank from last year’s 134 by 4 places.
This year it is ranked at 130 in World Bank Doing Business 2016 ranking.
The WB Doing Business reports, started in 2002.
It reviews business regulations and their enforcement across 189 countries.
WB Global Indicators Group brings out the report.

Performance in each metric

Just for understanding.

India ranks in the top 10 in Protecting Minority Investors (8).
The improvement in two indicators, ‘starting a business’ and ‘getting electricity,’ pushed India up the ladder.
The number of days it takes to start a new business has gone up marginally from last year, from 28.4 to 29 this year.
Singapore, New Zealand and Denmark occupied the first three spots in the list while South Sudan, Libya and Eritrea were ranked at the bottom three.

Income Tax Dept sets up panel to simplify tax law

The Income Tax Department has set up a panel to help simplify the Income Tax Act, 1961, as part of the government’s move to improve the ease of doing business.
The committee will be chaired by Justice R.V. Easwar, a former judge of the Delhi High Court and former president Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
The committee’s objective is to study and identify the provisions or phrases in the Act that are leading to litigation due to different interpretations, impacting the ease of doing business, and those that can be simplified.
The committee is also tasked with suggesting alternatives to these provisions or phrases “to bring about predictability and certainty in tax laws”.

Six member panel formed to revise Companies Act 2013

E-sahyog

Finance Minister introduced a pilot project of ‘e-sahyog’, an online portal set up by the Income Tax Department to help taxpayers resolve any mismatches in their returns without having to visit the department’s offices.
Under this initiative the Department will provide an end-to-end e-service using SMS, e-mails to inform the taxpayers of the mismatch.

China furious over U.S. warship patrol

Zhubi reef is part of the Spratly islands, which the Chinese call Nansha islands. China claims full sovereignty over the islands and its adjacent waters.
U.S. warship, USS Lassen , had entered waters near Zhubi Reef.
Washington said it doesn’t have to “consult with any nation when you are exercising the right of freedom of navigation in international waters.”

For More Read Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

Side effects of Green Revolution

Punjab is suffocating from its estimated 6,00,000-plus tractors. Tractor-ownership is viable only if they are operated for over 900 hours per year.
Over exploitation of groundwater because of the free power provided to farmers has resulted in the water table falling to dangerously low levels.
Augmenting the inadequate free power with diesel engines works out to be more expensive.
Urea is sold at one-fourth the price of table salt today. But the excessive use of cheap urea destroys the soil and leads to more plant vegetative growth. An explosion of insect and pest populations is then inevitable.
Indiscriminate, unregulated sale of pesticides and spurious products is leading to an ecological disaster.

UCC

Minority women in India do not enjoy the same benefits as their counterparts in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Muslim countries like Turkey and Tunisia have modernised their Islamic personal laws and gender parity in these countries is much better than in India.
UCC is the only solution to bring gender parity in not just minority communities but also in majority communities.
The main opposition to UCC comes from muslim population who fear that UCC will impose a domination of Hindu culture over muslim culture.
To ally fears and suspicion from certain communities, UCC must be framed based on logic and reasoning.

Read full post on UCC here

Blood banks can borrow from one another

Till recently, National Blood Policy prohibited borrowing of blood from other blood banks.
Despite getting most of our requirements from donors, the inability of the banks to lend each other surplus units is a major hurdle.
Blood banks will now be able to borrow units from one another in case of a shortage.
The decision was taken by Union Health Ministry.
A shortage of blood units has been a problem since the Supreme Court banned paid donations in 1998.
When the Supreme Court banned paid donation, the government was mandated, under the National Blood Policy (2002), to phase out replacement donation in five years. (hospitals ask family members of patients to donate blood so as to pre-emptively replace the blood withdrawn from the blood bank)
The government has been encouraging voluntary donation ever since.
National and State Blood Transfusion Councils were established in the 1990s to promote voluntary donations.
There are three kinds of blood banks — government, private and those run by NGOs.
India at present has 2,760 licensed blood banks.
Other than the non-governmental blood banks, the rest are linked to hospitals.
Only the NGOs or government-run banks are allowed to conducted donation camps.
Titbit: In India, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) implements the National Blood Safety Programme.

Sekhar Basu is the new chairman of AEC

Sekhar Basu takes over as Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, from R.K. Sinha.
Played a key role in building the reactor for India’s nuclear-powered submarine called Arihant.
AEC is headquarted in Mumbai.
He was till now Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, Mumbai.
He was responsible for developing the 80 MWt Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) which propels Arihant.
The PWR uses enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator.
Land-based PWR prototype was being built at Kalpakkam.
Mr. Basu played an important role in the development of the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) slated to come up in Tamil Nadu. [This is Indian counterpart of CERN]

CERN

The European Organization for Nuclear Research
Also known as CERN (acronym for French name of The European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.
Based in a northwest suburb of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border.
CERN's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research.
CERN is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.

India-Pak-USA

American appreciated Pakistan’s anti-terror operations (lol).
American pledges to provide eight F-16 aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force.
Pakistan had acquired tactical and miniaturised battlefield nuclear weapons.
President Barack Obama has extended to securing finances for the Diamer-Bhasha and Dasu dams in Gilgit Baltistan (part of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan)

Stagflation

stagnation and inflation
Situation in which the inflation rate is high, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high.
Most of the important economies are facing this problem in recent times.
Indian economy is not suffering from stagflation due to encouraging internal demand (Unlike China and US we are not heavily dependent on foreign markets. But demand in foreign plays a significant role).

Current Affairs for UPSC IAS – 25,26,27/10/2015

2015-10-27T21:46:00.002+05:30

Discovery of four new species of crab

Discovered on the the Kerala coast.
Crustacean: a member of the large group Crustacea, which comprises mainly aquatic arthropods such as crabs, lobsters, shrimps etc.

Three of the species discovered were hermit crabs.
The discovery was published in Zootaxa, the international journal of taxonomy.
Hermit crabs are ubiquitous animals often not considered to be ‘true’ crabs as they lack an external shell on their soft abdomen which leaves them vulnerable to predators.
To protect themselves, they live in abandoned gastropod (snail) shells and often select larger shells as they grow up.

Atal Innovation Mission

Atal Innovation Mission is a Part of the proposed overhaul of the innovation ecosystem in the country.
As a part of AIM, Prime Minister’s Office will take on the task of identifying and nurturing an idea with the potential to be an Indian enterprise equivalent of Google or GE.
The organisation will identify critical path breaking innovations where it would actively pursue implementation in coordination with the NITI Aayog and the Prime Ministers office.
The AIM will provide the framework to the government for encouraging and promoting self-employment.

Faults of the collegium

Read full article on NJAC and Collegium System here

It lacks transparency, is inherently secretive, and provides for no oversight (an unintentional failure to notice or do something), due to which there are no checks or balances on the judiciary.
Choosing judges based on undisclosed criteria in largely unknown circumstances has led to an increasing democratic deficit.
Under the informal “seniority” norm, in place since 1993, High Court Chief Justices are routinely elevated to the Supreme Court on the basis of seniority, rather than on merit or other objective qualifications.

Other issues

Another unwritten rule — the minimum age for appointments to High Courts (45 years), and the Supreme Court (55 years) — has perpetuated the misconception that age and maturity are necessarily tied together (Compare this with Corporate world where people in 30s run MNCs effectively).
The Law Commission of India’s 14th Report (1958) on judicial reforms observed that young judges would bring a freshness and vigour to constitutional courts.
The appointment of older judges, particularly in the Supreme Court, comes with shorter tenures, which threatens the Court with institutional incoherence and consequent ineffectiveness (Significant reforms in judiciary are not possible in such short tenure).
The different retirement ages of judges in High Courts (62 years) and the Supreme Court (65 years) encourages sycophancy (a servile flatterer; excessively willing to serve or please others; lavish compliments on, especially in order to further one's own interests).
Many judges receive post-retirement appointments from the government (the largest litigant), thus incentivising sitting judges to curry favour with the government of the day (Present Kerala Governer is P Sathasivam, former CJI)(If NJAC is unconstitutional, then judges accepting post retirement appointment is also unconstitutional).

India-China

Zam Hydropower Station (Zangmu Hydropower Project) built on Brahmaputra was commissioned recently.
The river is known as Yarlung Zangbo river in Tibet.
There are many such projects coming up on Yarlung Zangbo river which is a cause of concern to India.
Some experts have coined the term ‘Water Bomb’ to express the gravity of Chinese strategy which can be unleashed during the time of crisis.

Public finances

The three most important indicators of economic health are inflation, current account deficit and fiscal deficit.
Macroeconomic conditions in India have improved since the second half of 2013
Narrowly avoided a ratings downgrade to junk after the so-called “taper tantrum”(Fed Tapering and its effects on India. Visit mrunal.org).
The current account deficit and inflation are now under control, and there has been a considerable improvement in the fiscal position.
Standard & Poor’s, a rating agency, dismissed rating improvement citing the state of public finances as a key constraint for an upgrade.

State of public finances

The coming Pay Commission recommendations will increase pressure on both central and state government finances.
The government has accepted the One Rank One Pension scheme for the armed forces.
Debt-laden state electricity boards will have to be rescued at some point in the near future, possibly by transferring part of the debt to the books of state governments.
Further, the central government may have to infuse more equity in the public sector banks to help them deal with their bad loans, meet global regulatory requirements (Basel III norms) and enhance their lending capability.
The government also has to push capital expenditure to revive economic growth in the absence of investment activity in the private sector.
All these factors put together will make further fiscal consolidation (managing public finances) a tough task.

Fixes

Rationalizing subsidies.
Improving tax buoyancy (GST).
Disinvestment at a faster rate to increase capital expenditure (to build infrastructure)
Economic reforms for overall growth.

Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDCs)

Announced in September 2015 by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
Announcement come ahead of the 12th Climate Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris.
MoEFCC made a commitment to create an additional forest cover (carbon sink) to hold 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2030.
This is to be achieved through existing programmes and schemes such as the
National Afforestation Programme (NAP),
Joint Forest Management (JFM),
the Green India Mission (GIM) and
compensatory afforestation (CA).

Issues

The survival rate of trees planted under various afforestation programmes in the country is only 10-20 per cent.
The performance of numerous centrally sponsored plantation programmes such as the NAP, launched in 2002, had been negative.
Though a total of Rs. 3044 crore had been spent and the total area under forest cover had declined by 367 sq km (Hatsoff to Indian Bureaucracy, Government and above all insensitive public).
Energy projects like coal mining, nuclear power plans etc. would require the diversion of forest land under the Forest (Conservation) Act.
EIAs have confirmed the diversion of thousands of hectares of forest land.
Identification of No-Go or inviolate areas for coal mining have not helped forests either.

Full article on India-Africa Summit after the summit is over

Failed American Pakistan Policy CA 23/10/2015

2015-10-23T15:54:00.000+05:30

China’s Confucius peace prize.

Also dubbed as China’s Nobel peace prize.
Big joke of the year: Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe gets China’s Nobel peace prize
He gets it for “injecting fresh energy (killing more people for power and rigging up elections)” into the global quest for harmony (Dictatorship, the Chinese way).
He is criticized for systematic violence and torture to maintain his 35-year grip on power.
He is the present chairman of 54-state African Union.

India, China begin counter-terrorism drills

Oct 2015
India-China joint exercise at the Kunming Military Academy in Yunnan, China.
It coincides with Malabar-2015 naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal.
The exercise comes amidst growing Chinese suspicion about Indian foreign policy which it thinks is shifting towards U.S.-led “Asia- Pivot.”
Along with counter terror exercises, the militaries focused on disaster management drills as well.
Disaster management drills have become a necessity after the recent events of devastating earthquakes in the Himalayan region (Nepal earthquake).

Failed American Pakistan Policy

US needs Pakistan to counter the influence of Taliban and other jihadi groups in Afghanistan.
But Pakistan needs these jihadi groups to counter India’s influence in Afghanistan and to destabilize Kashmir.
US has given multibillion dollar aid (Carrot Policy) ($40 billion since 1950, of which $23 billion were given after the 9/11 attacks) to Pakistan hoping that the later would help pursue formers security agenda in Afghanistan.
Instead of using the aid to fight the jihadi groups, Pakistan used it to achieve military parity with India. This defeated the very purpose of the aid.
Pakistan’s attitude not only worsened USA’s security challenges in Afghanistan, but created more problems which compelled USA to station its troops in Afghanistan for few more years. [USA previously announced that it would pull back its troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Recently it halted the pulling back of troops till 2017. All credit to Pakistan].
Pakistan’s support for the Taliban in Afghanistan is the main reason Mr. Obama had to reverse his decision of pulling out troops from that country.
Frequent warnings to Pakistan also didn’t work (both carrot and stick approach failed miserably).

Growing mistrust between USA and Pakistan

Pakistan received aid promising US that it would not acquire nukes. And it didn’t live up to the promise.
USA wanted Pakistan to reduce the role of military in its governance and foreign policy. But military’s power remained beyond question.
Pakistan has received aid to strengthen the country’s resolve in fighting terrorism (Taliban and Haqqani Network that killed thousands of US soldiers over the last 14 years). This not only remained a dream but is creating more nightmares to US.
Pakistan’s military and ISI helped Bin Laden, USA’s nemesis, hide in Pakistan. Nothing could be worse for US than this.
The recent Pakistani announcement about an ‘India-centric’ tactical nuclear programme also didn’t go well with the US as it will lead to nuclear arms race in the region.
Officially Pakistan acts as if it is helping the U.S. and Afghan officials in peace talks with the Taliban. But its covert support is preparing the latter for reoccupying Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal.
Pakistan’s theory of good and bad terrorists helped Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its other incarnation, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) to propser in mainland Pakistan. This is not only a threat to India, but is also to US.
American readiness to offer aid has bred dependence, and the U.S. has ended up as an enabler of Pakistan’s dysfunction

Japan offers India soft loan of $15 billion

Japan has offered to finance India’s first bullet train link between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Japan concluded it would be technically and financially viable.
It is estimated to cost $15 billion. Japan has promised to finance $15 billion at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent.
China won the contract to assess the feasibility of a high-speed train between Delhi and Mumbai, a 1,200-km route estimated to cost twice as much. No loan has yet been offered.
The two projects are part of a ‘Diamond Quadrilateral’ of high-speed trains over 10,000 km of track that India wants to set up connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
Japan has offered to meet 80 per cent of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project cost, on condition that India buys 30 per cent of equipment including the coaches and locomotives from Japanese firms.
Fierce competition between Japan and China is expected to benefit India.
Japan’s decision to give virtually free finance is part of its broader push back against China’s involvement in infrastructure development in South Asia.
Japanese companies are also keen to collaborate with their Indian counterparts on the rail project as part of Make-in-India programme.
Tokyo’s push in India comes just weeks after it lost out to China on the contract to build Indonesia’s first fast-train link.

Need for foreign investment in Indian railways

India’s State-controlled rail system has a poor safety record and is in desperate need of funds to modernize it.
The average speed of trains is 54 km/hour, and the priority ought to be to improve the speed and safety on existing trains and routes.
Labour laws and lack of finances are a roadblock in streamlining the railway management.

Make in India attracting flow of foreign funds in big way

Digital India sectors are the key investment attractions.
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) surveys point out that major chunk of foreign investments are flowing into Digital India.
Construction sector and automobile sector — a pillar of the Make in India mission, have received comparatively less foreign funds.

India submitted its climate contribution on October 2

India promised by 2030 to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35 per cent from 2005 levels, increase the share of non-fossil fuel-based electricity to 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity, and to significantly increase its forest and tree cover.
It is useful to place India’s contribution in the context of the negotiations for the 2015 climate agreement
The provisions of the UN Climate Convention most often cited by developing countries are those that set out the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (bear the costs as per the damage done. Developed countries are completely against this).

Failing state health insurance schemes

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY): Government-financed health insurance scheme.
Due to rampant leakage of funds, the scheme has no impact on financial risk protection. The case is similar with state health schemes.
Despite high enrolment in RSBY, health expenditures are not reimbursed in many cases.

I will post on India-Africa Summit after the summit is over.

Startups: Governments Role; Venture Capital, Angel investors

2015-10-21T19:11:00.002+05:30

Should government act as venture capitalist for Startups

Startup Business Culture in India

Steps required to boost startup environment

Government Funding

Problems with government funding

Venture Capital

Venture Capital Firms and Funds

Angel investors

Should government act as venture capitalist for Startups

Rajasthan government recently announced its Startup policy (Innovation and Technology Startup Policy 2015).
Karnataka and West Bengal governments followed suit and announced their own startup policy.
Prime Minister is expected to announce centers startup policy by the year end. [Competitive federalism]
Center’s policy will complement PM’s “Start-up India, Stand up India” slogan.

Startup Business Culture in India

Startup culture began in India some 15-20 years back.
It is only recently that the startup culture is picking up well in the country.
More than 90% of this funding in start-ups is by foreign venture capital funds.
Forty percent of these start-ups are in Bengaluru.
Eight out of the 107 unicorns in the world are India-originated or domiciled. [Start-ups that are valued at more than $1 billion are called unicorns.]
These start-ups range from food technology in idli (ID Fresh Food (India) Pvt. Ltd) to space technology (Lunar X).
Some of these new innovative companies have made an impact on job creation in the economy.
Start-ups using technology to aggregate taxi services to food delivery generate hundreds of thousands of “gigs”, if not full-time jobs.
This “gig economy”, as popularized in the US, can be substantially more vital in economies such as India, where net new job creation is abysmal.

Steps required to boost startup environment

To create a thriving startup industry, there is need for Special economic zones with robust digital and physical infrastructure. The government must lay special emphasis on the creation of such infrastructure.
Governments need to play a proactive role in attracting investors by improving the ease of doing business in the country (GST: Uniform tax structure, unambiguous laws; clear laws on land acquisition; elimination of red tapeism; minimum government interference; facilitator rather than a regulator; transparent procedures; etc.).
Enriching human capital: Create a robust higher education system to supply necessary and affordable human capital (Improve employability of Engineering Graduates).

Government Funding

Governments are willing to offer funding for such risky businesses and innovations.
The Rajasthan start-up policy proposes using taxpayer funds to invest in early-stage venture capital funds to finance start-ups domiciled in the state.
Rs.2,000-crore India Aspiration Fund model was launched by the Union ministry of finance recently.
This public venturing idea has been tried in various countries over many decades with limited success.

Problems with government funding

Squandering of taxpayers money is the biggest risk with the inevitable frauds and scams that accompany government programmes (In India its worse).
In India, there is a thriving private venture capital industry that has kicked off an innovation industry already. Direct government funding (won’t last long) might discourage such industry.

Instead of funding, the state can provide indirect financing in terms of tax exemptions to start-ups domiciled in its territory.
Long term solution will be improving ease of doing business and investor confidence.

Venture Capital

To start a new business, you need money.
There are several places where you can get this money:
Personal wealth -- you can fund the business yourself (you need to be pretty rich for this).
Bootstrapping -- With a very small investment, you can get the business going and then use the profits from each sale to grow the business. [This approach works well when capital required and competition are negligible (such businesses practically don’t exist)]
Bank loan -- You can borrow money from a bank (not everyone gets a bank loan. Only suitable for people like Vijay Mallya).
A fourth way to get money to start a business is called Venture Capital (comes from Venture Capital Funds or Angel Investors). (This is for people with less money but loads of ideas). This is a quick way to grow business.

Venture Capital Firms and Funds

Venture capital firm will open a fund. A fund is a pool of money that the VC firm will invest in startups.
The firm gathers money from wealthy individuals, companies, pension funds, etc.
The firm will raise a fixed amount of money in the fund -- for example, $100 million.
The VC firm will then invest the $100 million fund in some number of companies -- for example, 10 to 20 companies. (Not all these companies succeed. But one or two successful ones are enough to fetch enough returns on the investment made by the VC firm)
The VC firm will choose only such companies which are highly promising (High probability of returns on investment).
In many cases, a VC firm offers more than just money. For example, it might have good contacts in the industry or it might have a lot of experience it can provide to the company.
The Venture Capital firm will invest the entire fund hoping to liquidate its investment in few years.
VC firm expects each of the companies it invested in to either "go public" (meaning that the company sells shares on a stock exchange) or to be bought (acquired) by another company.
In either case, a certain percentage of the cash that flows in is acquired by the VC firm (X times greater than its investment, i.e. $200 million or $300 million or even greater).
When the whole process is done, the goal is to have made more money than the $100 million originally invested.
The fund is then distributed back to the investors based on the amount each one originally contributed.
In some cases, instead of money, the company (previously startup) gives the VCs stock in the company as well as some control over the decisions the company makes.
The company, for example, might give the VC firm a seat on its board of directors (VC firm will have considerable influence on company’s affairs).
Dot Coms (website based business; Amazon, Flipkart etc. Almost all these companies were created with the help of VC firms) typically use Venture Capital to start up because they need lots of cash for advertising, equipment, and employees. (Many of the eCommerce Dot Coms typically consume $50 million to $100 million to get to the point where they can go public. Up to half of that money can be spent on advertising!)

Angel investors

If a business is high-tech or something very innovative, and if it requires large amounts of capital, then such companies will knock the door of angel investors and venture capitalists (VCs).
Angel investors are simply wealthy people (Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet) who operate in a similar manner as VCs, but independently rather than with a firm.
They usually invest less than VC forms and stick to new businesses within their own geographical region.
They are called "angels" because they usually aren't interested in controlling your company, but simply acting as a mentor.
It is speculated that angels account for the largest source of start-up capital for new business, but their ventures are more informal and private.

Source: http://money.howstuffworks.com/question3982.htm

Watch this video: http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/who-are-venture-capitalists/

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO),Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

2015-10-20T21:18:00.001+05:30

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GM cotton: whitefly attack raises anxiety among farmers

Bt cotton

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)

Uses

Genetically modified crops

Genetically modified food controversies

Golden rice

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

Targets are set for three phases

Domestic content controversy

GM cotton: whitefly attack raises anxiety among farmers

The ineffectiveness of genetically modified (GM) cotton against the recent whitefly attack in Punjab and Haryana, which witnessed widespread protests by farmers.
The whitefly attack in Punjab that damaged over 75 per cent crop across the cotton belt.
This has raised concern among agricultural experts and farmers over the growing dependency on Bt cotton.
Analysts believe it is time for India to actively promote and involve public-private partnership (PPP) model in GM crop technology and also focus on developing new technologies to fight pest infestation on cotton and other crops.

Bt cotton

Strains of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produce over 200 different Bt toxins, each harmful to different insects.
Most notably, Bt toxins are insecticidal to the larvae of moths and butterflies, beetles, cotton bollworms and ghtu flies but are harmless to other forms of life. (this is why Bt cotton failed against whitefly)

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)

Also known as a transgenic organism (containing genetic material into which DNA from a different organism has been artificially introduced).
In GMO, genetic material is altered using genetic engineering techniques.
Genetic modification involves the mutation, insertion, or deletion of genes.
Inserted genes usually come from a different species in a form of horizontal gene-transfer. (In Bt cotton seeds contain Bt genes from bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis)

Uses

GMOs are used in biological and medical research, production of pharmaceutical drugs, experimental medicine (e.g. gene therapy), and agriculture (e.g. golden rice, Bt cotton etc.).
Genetically modified bacteria are used to produce the protein insulin to treat diabetes.
Similar bacteria have been used to produce biofuels, clotting factors to treat hemophilia (medical condition in which the ability of the blood to clot is severely reduced, causing severe bleeding from even a slight injury), and human growth hormone to treat various forms of dwarfism.
In addition, various genetically engineered micro-organisms are routinely used as sources of enzymes for the manufacture of a variety of processed foods.

Genetically modified crops

Genetically modified crops (GM crops, or biotech crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering techniques.
In most cases the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species.
Examples in food crops include resistance to certain pests, diseases, or environmental conditions, reduction of spoilage, or resistance to chemical treatments (e.g. resistance to an herbicide), or improving the nutrient profile of the crop.

Genetically modified food controversies

Genetically modified food controversies are disputes over the use of foods and other goods derived from genetically modified crops instead of conventional crops, and other uses of genetic engineering in food production.
The key areas of controversy related to genetically modified food (GMO food) are

whether such food should be labeled,

the role of government regulators,

the objectivity of scientific research and publication,

the effect of genetically modified crops on health and the environment,

the effect on pesticide resistance,

the impact of such crops for farmers, and

The role of the crops in feeding the world population.

Scientists tend to be more concerned about the potential for genetically modified organisms to cause ecological damage.

Golden rice

Golden rice is a variety of rice (Oryza sativa) produced through genetic engineering to biosynthesize beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, in the edible parts of rice.
It is mostly consumed in areas with a shortage of dietary vitamin A.

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

Also known as the National Solar Mission
To promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenges.
Major contribution by India to the global effort to meet the challenges of climate change.
One of the several initiatives that are part of National Action Plan on Climate Change.
The program was inaugurated in 2010.
Initial target was 20GW by 2022 and it was increased to 100 GW in 2015 Union budget.
Long term goal: Global leader in solar energy; maximum in energy production.
Immediate goal: Setting up an enabling environment for solar technology penetration in the country.

Targets are set for three phases

First phase 2010-13

Second phase 2013–17

Third Phase 2017–22

At each stage progress will be reviewed and roadmap for future targets will be adopted.
Total target of 100,000 MW by 2022.
MNRE has proposed to achieve it through 40,000 MW through Rooftop Solar Projects and 60,000 MW through Large and Medium Scale solar projects.

Domestic content controversy

Guidelines for the solar mission mandated cells and modules for solar PV projects based on crystalline silicon to be manufactured in India.
This accounts to over 60% of total system costs.
For solar thermal, guidelines mandated 30% project to have domestic content.
A vigorous controversy emerged between power project developers and solar PV equipment manufacturers.
The former camp prefers to source modules by accessing highly competitive global market to attain flexible pricing, better quality, predictable delivery and use of latest technologies.
The latter camp prefers a controlled/planned environment to force developers to purchase modules from a small, albeit growing, group of module manufacturers in India.
Manufacturers want to avoid competition with global players and are lobbying the government to incentivize growth of local industry.
US Trade Representative has filed a complaint at World Trade Organization challenging India’s domestic content requirements citing discrimination against US exports.
WTO ruled in favor of USA.

National Pension Scheme,Swavalamban Scheme,Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

2015-10-20T18:33:00.000+05:30

Add caption

National Pension System

NPS was started by GOI to provide social security (provide financial security and stability) during old age.
PFRDA is authorized by Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services.
Life expectancy in India is expected to reach 75 years by 2050 from present level of 65 years. As a result number of post-retirement years increases. This necessitates pan India pension system.

PFRDA

GOI established Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in October, 2003 to develop and regulate pension sector in the country.
PFRDA is responsible for appointment of various intermediate agencies such as Central Record Keeping Agency (CRA), Pension Fund Managers, Custodian, NPS Trustee Bank, etc.
The National Pension System (NPS) was launched in 2004 with the objective of providing retirement income to all the citizens. NPS will be functioning under PFRDA.
NPS aims to institute pension reforms and to inculcate the habit of saving for retirement amongst the citizens.
Initially, NPS was introduced only for the new government recruits (except armed forces).
With effect from 1st May, 2009, National Pension Scheme under NPS has been provided for all citizens of the country including the unorganized sector workers on voluntary basis.

Swavalamban Scheme

To encourage people from the unorganized sector to voluntarily save for their retirement.
It is a co-contributory pension scheme, i.e. government will contribute a sum of Rs.1,000 to each eligible NPS subscriber who contributes a minimum of Rs.1,000 and maximum Rs.12,000 per annum. This scheme is presently applicable upto F.Y.2016-17.

NPS features

The subscriber will be allotted a unique Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN).
PRAN will provide access to two personal accounts:
Tier I Account: This is a non-withdrawable account meant for savings for retirement. Tax benefits available to type of account.
Tier II Account: This is simply a voluntary savings facility. The subscriber is free to withdraw savings from this account whenever subscriber wishes. No tax benefit is available on this account.
On maturity, the individual has a choice to withdraw up to 60 % of the pension fund; Balance 40% is paid out by way of monthly pension.
The minimum investment is Rs 6000 per year.

Point of Presence (POP)

Points of Presence (POPs) are the first points of interaction of the NPS subscriber with the NPS architecture.
The authorized branches of a POP, called Point of Presence Service Providers (POP-SPs), will act as collection points and extend a number of customer services.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has authorized ~60 institutions including public sector banks, private banks, private financial institutions and the Department of Posts as Points of Presence (POPs) for opening the National Pension System (NPS) accounts of the citizens.
Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA): The recordkeeping for all subscribers of the NPS are being handled by the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).
Annuity Service Providers (ASPs): Annuity Service Providers (ASPs) would be responsible for delivering a regular monthly pension to the subscriber after exit from the NPS.
Individual eligibility: All citizens of India between the age of 18 and 60 years can join NPS.

Benefits of NPS

It is transparent - NPS is transparent and cost effective system wherein the pension contributions are invested in the pension fund schemes and the employee will be able to know the value of the investment on day to day basis.
It is simple - All the subscriber has to do, is to open an account with his/her nodal office and get a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN).
It is portable - Each employee is identified by a unique number and has a separate PRAN which is portable i.e., will remain same even if an employee gets transferred to any other office.
It is regulated - NPS is regulated by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority investment norms & regular monitoring and performance review of fund managers by NPS Trust.
Cost - NPS is the cheapest among current retirement products and defined contribution schemes; It is also easy to transact in NPS.
Returns - The returns would be higher than traditional debt investments (such as post-office schemes, bank deposits etc) due to equity element in the investment.

Disadvantages of NPS

Liquidity and rigidity issues: There are restrictions on premature withdrawal from Tier I account making the scheme very rigid.
There is an option to prematurely withdraw 20% of amount but it leads to closure of account.
Even on maturity, only 60% of fund can be withdrawn and the rest is to be compulsorily used to buy an annuity. (An annuity is an insurance product that allows you to swap your pension savings for a guaranteed regular income that will last for the rest of your life. How much you get is determined by the rate the annuity provider offers.)
Restriction on equity exposure: The exposure to equity investment is restricted at 50%. People in the young age group who can take higher risks may see this as a disadvantage as they might be losing an opportunity, as equity investments can give good returns.
Tax on maturity proceeds: The most crucial concern is in relation to taxation at withdrawal. NPS currently comes under the EET (exempt, exempt, tax) regime. Current laws state that the funds will be taxed at withdrawal. Moreover, returns from annuity insurance plan obtained after retirement will not be tax free.
No guarantee on returns: The NPS is not a defined benefit plan. It is a defined contribution plan. The returns are market linked and there is no guarantee of getting good returns.
But then the subscribers have the choice of investing 100% funds in Government securities wherein returns are more or less assured.

NPS as of October 2015

The AUM (assets under management) of national pension system (NPS) has crossed Rs.1-trillion-mark while the NPS subscriber base also crossed 1-crore-mark in October.

Uniform Civil Code, Secularism and Uniform Civil Code, Shah Bano Case (1985)

2015-10-20T16:12:00.000+05:30

Uniform Civil Code
What is Uniform Civil Code?
History
Current situation
What does Constitution say about Uniform Civil Code?
Secularism and Uniform Civil Code
Uniform Civil Code: Constitutional or Unconstitutional
Important Cases related to Personal laws

Ø Shah Bano Case (1985)

Ø Daniel Latifi vs Union of India (2001)

Ø Githa Hariharan vs RBI (1999)

Ø Recent

Opposition to Uniform Civil Code

Uniform Civil Code

The Supreme Court asked the central government whether it was willing to bring a Uniform Civil Code to ride over inconsistent personal laws in different religions.
The court said that, “There was “total confusion” over the incoherent stipulations about marriage, divorce, adoption, maintenance and inheritance”.
It asked the Solicitor General of India to express government’s view.
Previously, the court had suggested there should be uniformity in personal law.

What is Uniform Civil Code?

A Uniform Civil Code essentially means a common set of laws governing personal (marriage, divorce etc.) matters for all citizens of the country, irrespective of religion.
Uniform civil code in India is the proposal to replace the personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community in the country with a common set governing every citizen.
These laws are distinguished from public law and cover marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance.
Apart from being an important issue regarding secularism in India, it became one of the most controversial topics in contemporary politics during the Shah Bano case in 1985.
The debate then focused on the Muslim Personal Law, which is partially based on the Sharia law and remains unreformed since 1937, permitting unilateral divorce [triple Talaaq (saying "I divorce thee" three times)] and polygamy in the country.

History

Personal laws were first framed during the British Raj, mainly for Hindu and Muslim citizens.
The British feared opposition from community leaders and refrained from further interfering within this domestic sphere.
The demand for a uniform civil code was first put forward by women activists in the beginning of the twentieth century, with the objective of women's rights, equality and secularism.
Till Independence in 1947, a few law reforms were passed to improve the condition of women, especially Hindu widows.
In 1956, the Indian Parliament passed Hindu Code Bill amidst significant opposition.
Though a demand for a uniform civil code was made by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, his supporters and women activists, they had to finally accept the compromise of it being added to the Directive Principles because of heavy opposition.

Current situation

Currently, different laws regulate the personal aspects of different religions.
Example: Christian couple have to be judicially separated for two years before getting a divorce, whereas this period is one year for Hindus and other non-Christians.

What does Constitution say about Uniform Civil Code?

Article 44 of the Constitution, which is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy, says: “The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.”
Directive Principles, as Article 37 makes clear, are not enforceable by any court.
But a body of judicial precedents says that they are fundamental in the governance of the country, and the State shall strive towards fulfilling obligations laid therein.

Secularism and Uniform Civil Code

“Secular” character of India has been identified as part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
Article 25 guarantees the freedom to practice, profess and propagate any religion.
By the 42nd Amendment of 1976, India was declared a secular nation.
As a result of this, and the understanding of Article 25, the State and its institutions have not interfered with religious practices, including in relation to various personal laws.

Uniform Civil Code: Constitutional or Unconstitutional

Personal laws made by governments run contradictory to the idea of secularism which requires the State to be inert to religious considerations.
Clause (2) of Article 25 empowers the State to frame any law to regulate or restrict “secular activity which may be associated with religious practice” — therefore, it is argued, Article 25 is no bar to having a Uniform Civil Code.
The inconsistency in personal laws has been challenged on the touchstone of Article 14, which ensures the right to equality (gender parity is a part of right to equality. Most of the personal laws clearly undermine gender parity).
So, Uniform Civil Code is definitely constitutional and the existing Personal Laws are highly unconstitutional. It is very unfortunate that draconian Personal laws which go completely against gender parity still exist in the modern era.

Important Cases related to Personal laws

Litigants have contended that their right to equality is endangered by personal laws that put them at a disadvantage.

Shah Bano Case (1985)

The first prominent case founded on Article 14 was Shah Bano (1985) in which the apex court ruled that a Muslim woman was entitled to alimony (maintenance for a spouse after separation or divorce) under the general provisions of the CrPC, like anybody else.
Following protests from Muslim leaders, Rajiv Gandhi’s government in 1986 got the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act passed in Parliament, which nullified the ruling. (Great!!)
The Act allowed maintenance to a divorced woman only during the period of iddat, or for 90 days after divorce, according to provisions of Islamic law, but in stark contrast to general provisions under the CrPC.

Daniel Latifi vs Union of India (2001)

In Daniel Latifi vs Union of India (2001), the Supreme Court upheld the Act in so far as it confined the time period of maintenance to the iddat period, but held that the quantum of maintenance must be “reasonable and fair”, and therefore, last her a lifetime.
In effect, the verdict did a balancing act between the Shah Bano judgment and the 1986 law.

Githa Hariharan vs RBI (1999)

In Githa Hariharan vs RBI (1999), the top court adjudicated upon the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Guardian Constitution and Wards Act, on a petition claiming they violated Articles 14 by treating the father as the natural guardian of a child under all circumstances.
The court held that the interest of the child was paramount, and that the letter of law would not override this aspect.
It ushered in the principle of equality in matters of guardianship for Hindus, making the child’s welfare the prime consideration.

Recent

The Supreme Court examined the aspect of uniformity again in 2015.
The case pertained to seeking the court’s recognition to the Ecclesiastical Court, which operates under the Canon Law for Catholic Christians and not under India’s civil laws.
The apex court was upset and called for stamping out religions from civil laws.

Opposition to Uniform Civil Code

All conservatives and fundamentalists, except RSS and related institutions, vehemently oppose Uniform Civil Code.
Congress as usual is worried about Muslim vote bank and is completely against Uniform Civil Code.
Left parties support it while the Congress Party and All India Muslim Personal Law Board oppose it.

Titbit: Goa has a common family law, thus being the only Indian state to have a uniform civil code.

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