GS - International Happenings

Foreign Direct Investment in India
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Single Policy Platform For FDI
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand

Sharma on March 31, 2010 released the final document of FDI Policy Framework that would now
comprise the single document on FDI policy and
mark the inception of a whole new chapter on FDI
policy.
Mr. Sharma said the current exercise had been initiated with the aim of integration of all prior regulations on FDI, contained in Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA), RBI circulars, and various Press Notes into one consolidated document,
so as to reflect the current regulatory framework.
Having a single policy platform would also ease
the regulatory burden for Government. The intention of this exercise is not to make changes in the
extant guidelines, but to deal with them comprehensively.
Limit in LLP firms

The government said it was considering allowing
FDI in limited liability partnership (LLP) firms and
also to clearly define whether shares and bonds
issued to overseas investors could be treated as foreign direct investment.
The government may also do away with Schedule
IV of the FEMA that deals with sale and purchase
of shares and debentures by NRIs and overseas
corporate bodies on non-repatriable basis, Mr.
Sharma said.
There are many issues related with FDI policies

that are currently under discussion in the government, he said after releasing a compendium. LLP,
the fast emerging form of business structure, is a
hybrid of companies and partnership firms, which
allows unlimited number of partners in an entity
but their liability is restricted to the extent of the
stake held by them.
FDI Inflows Touch

US $ 1.72 Billion During
February 2010
The Minister said that such consolidation would
ensure all information on FDI policy is available at
one place, which is expected to lead to: simplification of the policy; greater clarity of understanding
of foreign investment rules among foreign investors and sectoral regulators, as also predictability
of policy. Having a single policy platform would
also ease the regulatory burden for Government.
Updation of this document will be carried out after every 6 months. This consolidated Press Note
will be superseded by a Press Note to be issued on
September 30, 2010, ensure that the framework
document on FDI policy is kept updated, Shri
Sharma said.
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Earlier, the draft document was released on 24

December, 2009 and was open for comments until
the 31st of January, 2010. The response to the draft
document has been excellent. Comments from 60
stakeholder organizations (including various Government Departments, Reserve Bank of India, Law
Firms, consultancy firms, Chambers of Commerce
and private companies) have been received. All
comments, received until date, have been considered, before preparation of the final document.
Even after receiving the responses, we held another round of discussions on the document with
a number of consultancy firms that had offered
comments on the draft, as also with the Reserve
Bank of India and the Department of Economic
Affairs.
terpart government organizations and other stakeholders, that there is a need for further simplification and consolidation of the FDI policy framework, so as to make it more comprehensible to all
investors and stakeholders. The Prime Minister,
in his remarks at the World Economic Forum in
December, 2008, had also announced that, Our
policy will be guided by the desire to make India
even more attractive for Foreign Direct Investment. We are particularly keen to rationalize and
simplify procedures so as to create an investor
friendly environment. The present exercise was a
step in the above direction.
There are a number of issues related to FDI policy

that are currently under discussion in the Government, such as foreign investment in Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), policy on issuance of
partly paid shares/warrants, rescinding Schedule
IV of FEMA, clarifications on issues related to Press
Notes 2, 3 & 4 of 2009 and on Press Note 2 of 2005,
as also certain definitional issues etc. When a decision on these is taken, the Government decision
would be announced and thereafter incorporated
into the Consolidated Press Note subsequently.
FDI equity inflows for the month of February, 2010

have been US $ 1.72 billion, which represents an
increase of 15%, in US $ terms, over the inflows
received in February 2009 (which were of the order of US $ 1.49 billion). FDI equity inflows for
current the financial year (i.e. April, 2009 to February, 2010) have been around US $ 24.68 billion.
These are comparable to the FDI equity inflows
for the comparable period of the previous year,
which were around US $ 25.39 billion.
Foreign Direct Investment into India is a capital

account transaction under the Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA), 1999. The Government
of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulate such transactions. The Government comes up
with new regulations or amends/changes the existing ones, keeping in view the requirements that
may exist at a particular point in time. Various aspects of FDI policy are, accordingly, pronounced/
notified through Press Notes issued by DIPP, RBI
circulars, Acts and changes in regulations. DIPP
itself has issued about 177 Press Notes since 1991,
covering various aspects of FDI policy, including
cross border investment, policy liberalisation,
policy rationalization and foreign technology collaborations, Industrial Policy etc.
FDI Inflows
FDI inflows for almost all months in the current

financial year, from June onwards (excepting September, 2009 and January, 2010) have shown an
increasing trend over the FDI inflows of the same
months in the previous financial year (2008-09).
The pace of inflows, therefore, is stable.
Accordingly, it is likely that the total inflows in
the current financial year (2009-10) are comparable to the total inflows received during the last
financial year (2008-09). This is despite the fact
that the UNCTAD World Investment Report,
2009, had noted a fall of global FDI inflows, from a
historic high of 1.979 billion in 2007 to 1.697 billion in 2008, a decline of 14%. UNCTAD had subsequently predicted a fall in global FDI investment
flows by 30%, from US $ 1.7 trillion in 2008 to US
$ 1.2 trillion in 2009.
As far as FDI policy is concerned, it had been felt,

through interaction with various investors, coun-
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It is relevant to note that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in
its latest report on investment, released in March,
2010, has noted a significant stagnation in the global investment activity. It has noted that: The
average monthly Merger &Acquisition (M&A) activity in the past 12 months was just under US $
50 billion. The last time monthly M&A activity
fell below US$50 billion was in April 2006. Yearon-year, global M&A activity is now at its lowest
level since the beginning of the global economic
crisis, at around 35% of the levels reached two years
ago (March, 2007 through February, 2008).
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G20 Summit
Leaders Agree to Cut Deficits by 2013
By: Ram Kumar Pandey
The fourth G20 summit in less than two years has ended at
Toronto on 26-27 June, 2010. The summit ended with global leaders evolving a consensus of sorts on several issues of
economic importance. India, which was represented in
strength at the summit, says it is happy with the outcome.
The leaders of the world's most powerful economies pledged
to slash back spiraling debts on Sunday as they sought to
rebalance a global economy knocked off its axis by a financial crisis.
The heads of the G20, which groups established world powers and the most dynamic emerging players,
vowed to nurture the still shaky recovery with coordinated
measures to spur growth and ensure financial stability.
"I understood that

fiscal consolidation
obviously needed
high priority in
those advanced nations that
The leaders' joint statement, released at the end of two days were experiencing exceptional
of talks in Toronto, warned that "failure to implement con- fiscal stress and in those where
solidation where necessary would undermine confidence and sovereign debt was shaky."
But observers quickly noted the agreements were not binding and the summit statement was filled with caveats and
exemptions, pushing many of the tougher decisions on to
the next G20 summit in Seoul in November.
hamper growth."
"Reflecting this balance, advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that will at least halve deficits
by 2013 and stabilize or reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016," it promised.
Nevertheless, the group exempted Japan and its huge public deficit from the pledge and noted that measures should be "tailored to national circumstances."
The statement called for "greater exchange rate flexibility in some emerging markets" but shied away from
specifically fingering China, which is under pressure to allow the yuan to strengthen to ease trade imbalances.
Amid US fears that global growth may once again become overdependent on American consumers, the
G20 called for "efforts to rebalance global demand to help ensure global growth continues on a sustainable
path."
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European leaders- Germany's Chancellor Angela

Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron -- came
to the talks calling for fiscal restraint and a new
levy on bank profits.
They made some headway on the former, but will
be forced to go it alone on the banking tax, as countries like Australia, Canada and India that have
experienced no banking failures rejected the proposal out of hand.
The G8 statement said "We agreed the financial
sector should make a fair and substantial contribution towards paying for any burdens associated
with government interventions." "We recognized
that there are a range of policy approaches to this
end. Some countries are pursuing a financial levy.
Other countries are pursuing different approaches."
PM asks rich nations to resist protectionism

Making it clear that each country needed to devise its own strategy to weather the deepest global
financial crisis in decades, Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Sunday asked rich nations to
resist protectionism.
Stating that the India was better placed in handling the situation with an average growth of 7
per cent in the past two fiscals, the prime minister
said emerging economies must also rely less on
exports and push domestic demand.
As the leaders of the Group of 20 advanced and
emerging economies listened in attention, the
Oxford-educated economist-prime minister said
India on its part will go for medium-term fiscal
consolidation and halve its fiscal deficit by 201314.
Observers said the degree of divergence in the

countries' policies for dealing with the recovery
showed that, now that the initial shock of recession has passed, national agendas are once more
crowding out G20 cooperation.
Manmohan Singh said he understood that fiscal

consolidation obviously needed high priority in
those advanced nations that were experiencing
exceptional fiscal stress and in those where sovereign debt was shaky.
Outcome For India
"But other advanced countries should opt for a

much more caliberated exit from the stimulus. We
should adopt a carefully differentiated approach,
reflecting the circumstances of individual countries," the prime minister added.
The first point was the civilian nuclear pact with

Canada. Canada is an important supplier of Uranium and nuclear technologies. The pact is actually going to help take Indias plans on that front
forward. In fact the bilateral that the India prime
minster had with the Canadian prime minster actually seems to signal a new beginning in the relationship. Stephen Harper said that the 70s are over
and in fact this is the first visit by an Indian prime
minister after 1973.
There were several other agreements for mining
and other MoUs signed. Another key bilateral was
the India US bilateral, Manmohan Singh meeting
Barack Obama. Much of it was political; no Warren Anderson extradition demand was raised there.
The key thing was that India told the US to take
disclosures by Headley; the 26/11 accused more
seriously and wanted the United States to get Pakistan to act more on terror.
China sets strongest yuan rate in years after G20

pressure:
China set the strongest yuan exchange rate
in years after Beijing came under renewed pressure at the Group of 20 summit to let the currency
appreciate.
The People's Bank of China said it set the
central parity rate -- the centre point of the
currency's allowed trading band -- at 6.7890 to the
dollar.
It was the strongest level policymakers have
set since China unpegged the currency in July 2005
and moved to a tightly managed floating exchange
rate.
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China had effectively pegged the yuan at about

6.8 to the dollar for the past two years to prop up
exporters during the global financial crisis. Critics
say the policy gives Chinese producers an unfair
advantage.
Manmohan meets Obama at G20 summit:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama held their second substantive
dialogue in two months, during which they are
understood to have discussed terrorism, global
economy and other issues of mutual concern.
Singh and Obama met on the sidelines of the G20
Summit and are believed to have discussed the situation in the region.
This was the the first meeting between the two
leaders after they met and reviewed bilateral ties
on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in
Washington in April.
During the meeting, the two leaders are also understood to have discussed about the global economic recovery and the G20 Summit. At the Summit, India and the US had cautioned against winding up of the government funding.
Obama said the two countries would continue to
see how businesses of both countries can get to
work together and then generating recommendations to "each of us in terms of how we can improve ties between the United States and India."
What is the G-20

The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and
Central Bank Governors was established in 1999
to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The inaugural meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December
15-16, 1999, hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers.
Mandate
The G-20 is the premier forum for our international economic development that promotes open
and constructive discussion between industrial and
emerging-market countries on key issues related
to global economic stability. By contributing to the
strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue
on national policies, international co-operation, and
international financial institutions, the G-20 helps
to support growth and development across the
globe.
Origins
The G-20 was created as a response both to the
financial crises of the late 1990s and to a growing
recognition that key emerging-market countries
were not adequately included in the core of global
economic discussion and governance. Prior to the
G-20 creation, similar groupings to promote dialogue and analysis had been established at the initiative of the G-7.
The G-22 met at Washington D.C. in April and
October 1998. Its aim was to involve non-G-7
countries in the resolution of global aspects of the
financial crisis then affecting emerging-market
countries.
Two subsequent meetings comprising a larger
group of participants (G-33) held in March and
April 1999 discussed reforms of the global economy
and the international financial system.
The proposals made by the G-22 and the G-33 to
reduce the world economy's susceptibility to crises showed the potential benefits of a regular international consultative forum embracing the
emerging-market countries. Such a regular dialogue with a constant set of partners was institutionalized by the creation of the G-20 in 1999.
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Membership
Achievements
The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers

and central bank governors of 19 countries:
The G-20 has progressed a range of issues since

1999, including agreement about policies for
growth, reducing abuse of the financial system,
dealing with financial crises and combating terrorist financing. The G-20 also aims to foster the
adoption of internationally recognized standards
through the example set by its members in areas
such as the transparency of fiscal policy and combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In 2004, G-20 countries committed to new
higher standards of transparency and exchange of
information on tax matters. This aims to combat
abuses of the financial system and illicit activities
including tax evasion. The G-20 has also aimed to
develop a common view among members on issues related to further development of the global
economic and financial system.
Argentina
Japan
Australia
Mexico
Brazil
Russia
Canada
Saudi Arabia
China
South Africa
France
Republic of Korea
Germany
Turkey
India
United Kingdom
Indonesia
United States of America
Italy
The European Union, who is represented by the
rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank, is the 20th member of the G-20. To ensure global economic fora and institutions work
together, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of
the World Bank, plus the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and
Development Committee of the IMF and World
Bank, also participate in G-20 meetings on an exofficio basis.
The G-20 thus brings together important industrial and emerging-market countries from all regions of the world. Together, member countries
represent around 90 per cent of global gross national product, 80 per cent of world trade (including EU intra-trade) as well as two-thirds of the
world's population. The G-20's economic weight
and broad membership gives it a high degree of
legitimacy and influence over the management of
the global economy and financial system.
To tackle the financial and economic crisis that

spread across the globe in 2008, the G-20 members were called upon to further strengthen international cooperation. Since then, the concerted and
decisive actions of the G-20 helped the world deal
effectively with the current financial and economic
crisis. The G-20 has already delivered a number of
significant and concrete outcomes. For examples,
it committed to implement the unprecedented and
most coordinated expansionary macroeconomic
policies, including the fiscal expansion of US$5 trillion and the unconventional monetary policy instruments; significantly enhance the financial regulations, notably by the establishment of the Financial Stability Board(FSB); and substantially
strengthen the International Financial
Institutions(IFIs), including the expansion of resources and the improvement of precautionary
lending facilities of the IFIs.
Reflecting on these achievements and recognizing
that more needs to be done to ensure a strong, sustained and balanced global recovery, the G-20
Leaders at Pittsburgh Summit designated the G20 as the premier forum for international economic
cooperation.
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Chair
Unlike international institutions such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), IMF or World Bank, the G-20
(like the G-7) has no permanent staff of its own.
The G-20 chair rotates between members, and is
selected from a different regional grouping of countries each year. In 2010 the G-20 chair is the Republic of Korea, and in 2011 it will be France. The
chair is part of a revolving three-member management Troika of past, present and future chairs.
The incumbent chair establishes a temporary secretariat for the duration of its term, which coordinates the group's work and organizes its meetings.
The role of the Troika is to ensure continuity in
the G-20's work and management across host years.
Meetings and activities

It is normal practice for the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors to meet once a year.
The last meeting of ministers and governors was
held in St. Andrews, UK on 6-7 November 2009.
The ministers' and governors' meeting is usually
preceded by two deputies' meetings and extensive
technical work. This technical work takes the form
of workshops, reports and case studies on specific
subjects, that aim to provide ministers and governors with contemporary analysis and insights, to
better inform their consideration of policy challenges and options.
Interaction With Other International Organi
ations:
cess is well integrated with the activities of the

Bretton Woods Institutions. The G-20 also works
with, and encourages, other international groups
and organizations, such as the Financial Stability
Board and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, in progressing international and domestic economic policy reforms. In addition, experts
from private-sector institutions and non-government organisations are invited to G-20 meetings
on an ad hoc basis in order to exploit synergies in
analyzing selected topics and avoid overlap.
External Communication
The country currently chairing the G-20 posts details of the group's meetings and work program on
a dedicated website. Although participation in the
meetings is reserved for members, the public is
informed about what was discussed and agreed
immediately after the meeting of ministers and
governors has ended. After each meeting of ministers and governors, the G-20 publishes a
communiqu which records the agreements
reached and measures outlined. Material on the
forward work program is also made public.
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The G-20 cooperates closely with various

other major international organizations and fora,
as the potential to develop common positions on
complex issues among G-20 members can add political momentum to decision-making in other bodies. The participation of the President of the World
Bank, the Managing Director of the IMF and the
chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee
in the G-20 meetings ensures that the G-20 pro-
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GANGA, THE MOTHER IN A CURSE

The World Wildlife Fund in March
listed the Ganges among the
worlds 10 most endangered
rivers. In India, the river provides
more than 500 million people with
water for drinking and farming.
More than 100 cities and
countless villages are situated
along the 1,568-mile river, which
stretches from the foothills of the
Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal,
and few of them have sewage
treatment plants. But recent
reports by scientists say the
Ganges is under greater threat
from water pollution & even
greater from global warming.
According to a U.N. climate
report, the Himalayan glaciers
that are the sources of the Ganges
could disappear by 2030 as
temperatures rise. The shrinking
glaciers also threaten Asias supply
of fresh water. The immediate
effect of glacier recession is a
short-lived surplus of water. But
eventually the supply runs out,

and experts predict that the
Ganges eventually will become a
seasonal river, largely dependent
on monsoon rains.
Arrangement at the Central
Level
The river cleaning program was
started with Ganga Action
Plan(GAP) in 1985 under the
aegis of GPD established under
the Ministry of Environment &
Forest. A CGA under the
chairmanship of the PM was
constituted to finalise the policy
framework and to oversee the
implementation of GAP. The
Chief Ministers of the concerned
States, Union Ministers and
Secretaries of the concerned
Central Ministries and Experts
were its members. The GAP was
later extended to GAP II in 1993
and was broad-based in the form
of NRCP in 1995. The GAP II
was merged with NRCP in
December 1996. Since then a

single scheme of NRCP is under
implementation as a Centrally
Sponsored Scheme. The CGA
was renamed as National River
Conservation Authority (NRCA)
with a larger mandate to cover all
the programmes supported by the
NRCD.
National Ganga River Basin
Authority
To face this challenge the Central
Government by a notification on
20th February,2009, has set up
the National Ganga River Basin
Authority (NGRBA) as an
empowered planning, financing,
monitoring and coordinating
authority for the Ganga River, to
ensure effective abatement of
pollution and conservation of the
river Ganga by adopting a holistic
approach with the river basin as
the unit of planning .The Authority
will perform its function under the
Chairmanship of the Prime
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Minister. It has as its members,

the Union Ministers concerned,
the Chief Ministers of the States
through which Ganga flows viz.,
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand and West
Bengal, among others.
The Authority may co-opt one or
more Chief Ministers from any of
the States having major tributaries
of the river Ganga. The objective
of the NGRBA is to ensure
effective abatement of pollution
and conservation of the river
Ganga by adopting a river basin
approach for comprehensive
planning and management; and to
maintain minimum ecological flows
in the river Ganga with the aim of
ensuring water quality and
environmentally sustainable
development.
Key Functions of the
NGRBA
The NGRBA
would be
responsible for addressing the
problem of pollution in Ganga in
a bolistic and comprehensive
manner. This will include water
quality, minimum ecological flows,
sustainable access and other issues
relevant to river ecology and
management. The NGRBA will
not only be regulatory body but
will also have developmental role
in terms of planning & monitoring
of the river conservation activities
and ensuring that necessary
resources are available. The
NGRBA would work for
maintaining the water quality of
the river Ganga upto the
acceptable standards. The
pollution abatement activities will
be taken up through the existing
implementation mechanisms in the
States and also through Special
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Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) at the

pollution hotspots. The NGRBA
will ensure minimum ecological
flow in the Ganga by regulating
water abstraction and by
promoting water storage projects.
The NGRBA will plan and monitor
programmes for cleaning of Ganga
and its tributaries. To begin with
, it will concentrate on Gangamain
stem. The NGRBA would draw
upon professional expertise within
and outside the Government for
advice on techno-economic
issues. The technical and
administrative support to
NGRBA shall be provided by the
Ministry of Environment &
Forests.
Role of State Government
under NGRBA
The State government will be at
the forefront. Implementation will
be at the level of State
Government/ ULBs. The States
may take up steps for
comprehensive management of
the river in the State through their
respective
State
River
Conservation Authorities. The
State Government/ ULBs are
expected to generate resources
through taxes, levies, cess, user
charges, etc., for abatement of
pollution in the rivers and for
proper O&M of the assets
created. Funds thus raised may be
utilized for infrastructure
development including sewage
works. During the finalization of
the respective State Plans, the
States should make adequate
provisions in their budgets for
meeting O&M expenditure.
Compliance of the environmental
norms by industries discharging
wastewater directly into the river

is under the purview of the State
Pollution Control Boards. The
Boards will need to be
strengthened
for
better
enforcement and surveillance of
polluting industries located on the
banks of the rivers. The public
funds for the capital and recurring
costs may not be sufficient to
meet the demand. The States will
therefore have to introduce
policies which may attract private
sector investments, including from
the financial institutions.
Salient Features of the New
Approach
River Basin will be the unit of
planning and management. This is
an internationally accepted
strategy
for
integrated
management
of
rivers.
Accordingly, a new institutional
mechanism in the form of National
Ganga River Basin Authority
(NGRBA) will spearhead river
conservation efforts at the
national level. Implementation will
be by the State Agencies and
Urban Local Bodies. The minimum
ecological flows for the entire
Ganga will be determined through
modeling exercises. NGRBA will
take appropriate measures in
cooperation with the States to
regulate water abstraction for
maintaining minimum ecological
flows in the river. Attention
would also be paid to the
restoration of living parts of the
river ecosystem for its holistic
treatment to enable conservation
of species like dolphin , turtles,
fishes and other native and
endangered species in the river.
Measures Taken
Impact so far
To restore the ecological health

and biological wealth of the river,
projects on biomonitoring and bioconservation by having indicator
species approach were initiated in
the Himalayan segment, mahaseer
followed by otters and crocodiles
from Hardwar to Kanpur, major
carps from Kanpur to Varanasi
and dolphins in the stretch of
Bihar have been identified as
indicator species for these
studies. Scientists of Hemvati
Nandan Bahuguna University,
Garhwal, Jivaji University,
Gwalior, Central Inland Capture
Fisheries research Institute,
Barrackpur and Patna University
are involved in carrying out the
bio-monitoring
and
bioconservation studies.
Under GAP I, only about 35% of

the total sewage generated
presently in towns along the river
has been tackled. On the other
hand, the facilities created to
tackle the targeted pollution load
are not being maintained properly
in States like UP and Bihar.
Therefore, the impact of the
completed works is not fully
visible. However, with the
implementation of GAP, the
water quality of Ganga has shown
improvement over the pre-GAP
period quality in terms of both
BOD & DO, two important
parameters to assess the river
water quality. Despite the
problems of O&M in UP and
Bihar, the improvement in river
water quality can be attributed to
diversion of large quantities of
sewage in towns like Kanpur,
Allahabad and Varanasi for
irrigating the farmlands. Although
the river water quality along
Kanpur and Varanasi has
improved significantly, it still does
not meet the prescribed standard
of BOD of 3 mg/l. This is mainly
because:
In order to evaluate the results of

implementation of the pollution
abatement schemes under GAP,
water quality monitoring in the
state of UP, Bihar and WB is
being carried out regularly at 27
monitoring stations with the help
of reputed research institutes and
universities. The selection of
monitoring stations and the results
are reviewed by experts from time
to time. Amendments in WQM
are provided by incorporating
need based modifications.
8 Only 160 out of 425 mld at

Kanpur and about 100 out of
160 mld of sewage at
Varanasi has been taken up
for interception and diversion

under GAP I.
8 The river stretch from
Farrukhabad to Varanasi in
general and Kanpur in
particular is critical in terms
of the availability of the
desired minimum flow for
dilution purpose. The quality
of river water quality
monitoring leaves much to
be desired. There is lack of
transparency and professionalism in this effort.
Dolphin Conservation
Dolphin is considered to be one
of the major bio-indicators of the
ecological health of Ganga.
Accordingly it has been declared
as a national aquatic animal. A
working group for preparing on
action plan for Dolphin
conservation
has
been
constituted. Resultantly, as we all
know that we Indians treat river
Ganges as Goddess & mother,
we have to make sure that
government take all the corrective
& preventive measures to make
Ganga clean and pure, and for this
we all should also make valiant
efforts as a sincere citizen,
otherwise our next generation
seldom get a chance to see the
river Ganga and they will get to
know about this only in stories
and text books.
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ndia has slipped by two places to

51st in the World Economic
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rankings, while rival China has
managed to improve its standing
to 29th. As per the WEF's Global
Compe::veness Report 2010-11,
released on Sept 9, 2010 switzerland is No. 1 in the world in terms
of its ability to provide the most
compe::ve environment on several fronts.
Sweden, another technology
powerhouse in Europe, ranks second, followed by Singapore and
the United States, which both fell
by two posi:ons from their ranking last year. The African na:on of
Chad gures at the bo;om of the
list of 139 countries.
The global compe::veness
rankings are viewed as a barometer of the business climate in 139
countries and mirrors the assessments of leading businessmen on
a range of poli:cal, social, and
economic parameters.
Though Switzerland has
"[state-supported] monopolies in
key sectors, it maintains overall
economic stability and largely
open trade and investment policies," said Margareta Dryeniek
Vol. - 18
Hanouz, senior economist and director of the WEF, who is also the
of social sector areas such as educa:on, health and infrastruc-
co-author of the report.

India has been pushed down
to 51st posi:on from 49th due to
its poor performance in a range
ture.
Though India has performed
well in complex nancial sector
areas, a;aining the 17th rank
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Hot Topics
globally in terms of its nancial

markets, 44th in business sophis:ca:on and 39th in innova:on, it
has failed to improve the basic
drivers of compe::veness, the
report said.
Life expectancy is 10 years
shorter in India as compared to
China and Brazil. Despite high
economic growth, India con:nues to be plagued by budget
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decits, high public debt and high

ina:on. In contrast, China has
over USD 2 trillion in forex reserves and a sound macro-economic environment.
The WEF, which is a non-governmental organisa:on, is largely
known for its annual Davos show
of captains of industry and business and poli:cal leaders. In the
face of a growing economic crisis
in the western world, the WEF

has increasingly promoted "compassionate capitalism" as an economic model, analysts said.
Global Competitiveness
Report
The Global Compe::veness Report is a yearly report published
Vol. - 18

Hot Topics
how produc:vely a country uses

available resources. Therefore,
the Global Compe::veness Index
measures the set of ins:tu:ons,
policies, and factors that set the
sustainable current and mediumterm levels of economic prosperity."
Description
by the World Economic Forum.

The rst report was released in
1979. The 2009-2010 report covers 133 major and emerging
economies, down from 134 considered in the 2008-2009 report
as Moldova was excluded due to
lack of survey data.
Switzerland leads the ranking
as the most compe::ve economy in the world, as the United
Vol. - 18
States, which ranked rst for several years, fell to fourth place due
to the consequences of the nancial crisis of 20072010 and its
macroeconomic stability. China
con:nue its rela:ve rise in the
rankings reaching 27th.
The report "assesses the ability of countries to provide high
levels of prosperity to their ci:zens. This in turn depends on
Somewhat similar annual reports

are the Ease of Doing Business
Index and the Indices of Economic Freedom. They also look at
factors that aect economic
growth, but not as many as the
Global Compe::veness Report.
One part of the report is the
Execu:ve Opinion Survey which
is a survey of a representa:ve
sample of business leaders in
their respec:ve countries. Respondent numbers have increased every year and is
currently just over 11,000 in 125
countries.
The report ranks the world's
na:ons according to the Global
Compe::veness Index. The report states that it is based on the
latest theore:cal and empirical
research. It is made up of over 90
variables, of which two thirds
come from the Execu:ve Opinion
Survey, and one third comes from
publicly available sources such as
the United Na:ons. The variables
are organized into nine pillars,
with each pillar represen:ng an
area considered as an important
determinant of compe::veness.
The report notes that as a na:on develops, wages tend to increase, and that in order to
sustain this higher income, labor
produc:vity must improve in
order for the na:on to be compe::ve. In addi:on, what creates
produc:vity in Sweden is necesWWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

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sarily dierent from what drives

it in Ghana. Thus, the GCI separates countries into three specic
stages: factor-driven, eciencydriven, and innova:on-driven,
the eciency-driven stage of development, when they must

begin to develop more ecient
produc:on processes and increase product quality. At this
:on of the GCI, pillars are given

dierent weights depending on
the per capita income of the na:on. The weights used are the
values that best explain growth in
recent years For example, the sophis:ca:on and innova:on factors contribute 10% to the nal
score in factor and eciency-driven economies, but 30% in innova:on-driven
economies.
Intermediate values are used for
economies in transi:on between
stages.
2010-2011 rankings
each implying a growing degree

of complexity in the opera:on of
the economy.
In the factor-driven stage
countries compete based on their
factor endowments, primarily unskilled labor and natural resources. Companies compete on
the basis of prices and sell basic
products or commodi:es, with
their low produc:vity reected in
low wages.
To maintain compe::veness
at this stage of development,
compe::veness hinges mainly
on well-func:oning public and
private ins:tu:ons (pillar 1), appropriate infrastructure (pillar 2),
a stable macroeconomic framework (pillar 3), and good health
and primary educa:on (pillar 4).
As wages rise with advancing development, countries move into
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
point, compe::veness becomes

increasingly driven by higher educa:on and training (pillar 5), ecient markets (pillar 6), and the
ability to harness the benets of
exis:ng technologies (pillar 7).
Finally, as countries move
into the innova:on-driven stage,
they are only able to sustain
higher wages and the associated
standard of living if their businesses are able to compete with
new and unique products. At this
stage, companies must compete
by producing new and dierent
goods using the most sophis:cated produc:on processes (pillar
8) and through innova:on (pillar
9). Thus, the impact of each pillar on compe::veness varies
across countries, in func:on of
their stages of economic development. Therefore, in the calcula-
The following are the top 30

countries in the 2010-2011 Report.
1. Switzerland
5.63
2. Sweden
5.56
3. Singapore
5.58
4. United States
5.43
5. Germany
5.39
6. Japan
5.37
7. Finland
5.37
8. Netherlands
5.33
9. Denmark
5.32
10. Canada
5.30
11. Hong Kong SAR
5.27
12. United Kingdom
5.25
13. Taiwan
5.21
14. Norway
5.14
15. France
5.13
16. Australia
5.11
17. Qatar
5.10
18. Austria
5.09
19. Belgium
5.07
20. Luxembourg
5.05
21. Saudi Arabia
4.95
22. South Korea
4.93
23. New Zealand
4.92
24. Israel
4.91
25. United Arab Emirates 4.89
26. Malaysia
4.88
27. China
4.84
28. Brunei
4.75
29. Ireland
4.74
30. Chile
4.69
Vol. - 18

Featured Article
Global
Hunger
Index
2010
Hunger haunts India
India is among 29 countries with
the highest levels of hunger,
stunted children and poorly fed
women, according to the Interna6onal Food Policy Research Ins6tute (IFPRI)s Global Hunger
19
Vol.. - 18
Index 2010 released on Oct 11,

2010. Despite a strong economy
that was last week predicted to
overtake Chinas within three
years by The Economist magazine, India ranked 67th among 85
countries in terms of access to
food.
The report points to widespread hunger in a country that is
By - R.K. Pandey
the worlds largest producer of

milk and edible oils, and the second-largest producer of wheat
and sugar.
The country has a high
hunger score of 24.1 and ranks
behind all its neighbours, barring
Bangladesh. Values between 20
and 29.9 on the index denote an
alarming hunger situa6on.
Globally, the world is
nowhere near mee6ng the target
of the UNs goal of halving the
propor6on of hungry people.
India also runs the worlds
largest free-meal programme for
school-going children. Yet, the
2010 hunger report reveals that
more than 90 per cent of the
worlds stunted children (whose
height is low for their age) live in
Asian countries, such as India and
Bangladesh, apart from some
Africa countries.
The highest regional hunger
indices sugges6ng the worst
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Featured Article
performers are almost the

same for South Asian countries,
such as India, and Sub-Saharan
African na6ons, such as Congo.
India is among countries with
hunger levels considerably
higher that their gross na6onal
income per capita would suggest. Its kind of ironic, Ashok
Gula6, Asia director of the Washington-based IFPRI said.
The IFPRI hunger index
complied in partnership with German NGO Welthungerhilfe, and
Concern Worldwide ranks
countries on three equally
weighted indicators: the propor6on of undernourished, the propor6on of underweight children
under ve, and the child mortality rate.
The UN Food and Agriculture
Organisa6on (FAO) denes
hunger as the consump6on of
fewer than 1,800 kilocalories a
day the minimum required to
live a healthy and produc6ve life.
What is Global Hunger

Index
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is
a mul6dimensional sta6s6cal tool

used to describe the state of
countries hunger situa6on. The
GHI measures progress and failures in the global ght against
hunger. The GHI is updated once
a year.
The Index was adopted and
further developed by the Interna6onal Food Policy Research Ins6tute (IFPRI), and was rst
published in 2006 with the
Welthungerhilfe, a German nonprot organiza6on (NGO). Since
2007, the Irish NGO Concern
Worldwide joined the group as
co-publisher.
The 2009 GHI was calculated
for 121 developing countries and
countries in transi6on, 84 of
which were ranked. Every year,
the GHI report focuses on a main
topic: in 2009 the Index measures
the connec6on between hunger
and gender equality. In addi6on,
the impact of the nancial crisis
on the hunger situa6on was analyzed. In addi6onal to the yearly
GHI, the Hunger Index for the
States of India (ISHI) was published in 2008 and the Sub-Na6onal Hunger Index for Ethiopia
was published in 2009.
Calculation of the Index
The Index ranks countries on a

100 point scale, with 0 being the
best score ("no hunger") and 100
being the worst, though neither
of these extremes is achieved in
prac6ce. The higher the score,
the worse the food situa6on of a
country. Values less than 4.9 reect "low hunger", values between 5 and 9.9 reect
"moderate hunger", values between 10 and 19.9 indicate a "serious", values between 20 and
29.9 are "alarming", and values
exceeding 30 are "extremely
alarming" hunger problem.
The GHI combines three
equally weighted indicators: 1)
the propor6on of the undernourished as a percentage of the popula6on; 2) the prevalence of
underweight children under the
age of ve; and 3) the mortality
rate of children under the age of
ve.
The data used for the 2009
GHI are for the period from 2002
to 2007 the most recent available global data for the three
components of the GHI. The data
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. Vol. - 19
on the propor6on of undernourished come from the Food and

Agriculture Organiza6on of the
UN (FAO) and are for 2003-2005.
Data on underweight of children
under 5 are based on data collected by the World Health Organiza6on (WHO), UNICEF and
MEASURE DHS for the latest year
in the period 200207 for which
data are available and data on
child mortality are for 2007 from
UNICEF. The 2009 GHI and the recalculated base value of 1990 GHI
are not directly comparable to
previously calculated GHI values.
Global and regional trends
The 2009 GHI report shows how

the hunger situa6on has developed since 1990 at global, regional, and na6onal levels.
Globally, the GHI fell nearly one
forth from 20 to 15.2 points. Regardless of this posi6ve trend, the
global ght against hunger is
stagna6ng and not reaching its
goals fast enough. The global averages hide drama6c dierences
among regions and countries. 29
countries s6ll have an alarming
(20-29.9) or extremely alarming
( 30) hunger situa6on. The 2009
GHI had fallen by 13% in Sub-Saharan Africa compared with the
1990 GHI, by about 25% in South
Asia, and by 32% in the Near East
and North Africa. Progress in
Southeast Asia and La6n America
was especially great, with the GHI
decreasing by over 40%.
Sub-Saharan Africa and South
Asia share the highest regional
GHI scores (22.1 and 23.0 respec6vely), but food insecurity in the
two regions stems from dierent
reasons: In South Asia, the major
problem is a high prevalence of
underweight children under ve,
Vol.. - 19
which is a result of lower nutri6on and educa6onal status of

women. In contrast, the high GHI
in Sub-Saharan Africa is due to
high child mortality rates and the
high propor6on of people who
cannot meet their calorie requirements.
Hunger and Conflict
The report shows that conict

and poli6cal instability and economic collapse have increased
hunger in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries and North
Korea.
Hunger and Gender

Inequality
A comparison of the GHI 2009 results with the respec6ve rankings

in the World Economic Forums
2008 Global Gender Gap Index
shows that hunger and gender inequalitypar6cularly inequali6es
in
educa6on
and
healtho'en go hand in hand.
Hunger in India: 'The real cause is
lack of poli6cal will'
The poker is glowing red hot
in the ames of the burning
wood. Suklal Hembrom holds a
leaf against his stomach and warily eyes the
older man sit6ng on the
other side of
the re. Suddenly Thakur
Das takes hold
of the poker
and lunges towards
the
boy's stomach.
Ev e r y o n e
in the village
knows what
Featured Article
should happen next. The child

will scream loudly as the esh begins to blister. Held down, he will
writhe in agony. Again and again,
the poker will jab at his belly. The
more the child screams, the happier everyone will be, because
the villagers of Mirgitand in
India's Jharkhand state believe
the only way they can "cure" the
distended stomachs of their famished children is by branding
them with pokers.
Das sees nothing wrong with the
procedure. Nor does anyone in
the village most have scars of
their own. Even though some
children have died, the villagers
con6nue because the alterna6ve
providing enough nutri6ous
food to sustain their children or
paying for medical treatment is
simply not an op6on. In common
with millions of others in the
world's 11th largest economy,
they face a daily ba7le to put
even the most basic meal on the
table.
A report out today warns that
even in a fast-growing economy
like India, failure to invest in agriculture and support small farms
has le' nearly half the country's
children malnourished, with one
'h of the one billion plus popula6on going hungry.
Ac6onAid, which published
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.
.
Featured Article
the report ahead of next week's

summit in New York to discuss
progress on the millennium development goals, says hunger is
cos6ng the world's poorest na6ons 290bn a year more than
10 6mes the es6mated amount
needed to meet the goal of halving global hunger by 2015.
India now has worse rates of
malnutri6on than sub-Saharan
Africa: 43.5% of children under
ve are underweight and India
ranks below Sudan and Zimbabwe in the Global Hunger
Index. Even without last year's
disastrous monsoon and the ensuing drought and crop failures,
hunger was on the increase.
The government has promised a new food security bill to
provide cheap food for the poor,
but progress has been slow. The
reality is that a country desperate
to take its place at the world's top
table is unwilling to commit to
feeding its own popula6on.
Last month the country's
supreme court cas6gated the
government for allowing 67,000
tonnes of badly stored grain to
rot enough to feed 190,000
people for a month and ordered it to distribute 17.8m
tonnes in imminent danger of
ro8ng.
India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, protested, saying
the court had crossed the line
into policy-making and warning
that distribu6ng free food to the
es6mated 37% of the popula6on
living below the poverty line destroyed any incen6ves for farmers to produce. The court stood
rm. It was an order, not a sugges6on, the judges said.
According to Ac6onAid,
global hunger in 2009 was at the
same level as in 1990. The charity
urged developed countries to
.
make good on 14bn pledge to

ght hunger, announced at last
year's G8 summit in Italy.
"On the eve of the most important development summit for
ve years, a billion people will be
going to bed hungry," said
Meredith Alexander, the charity's
policy head. "Despite promises to
the contrary, one-sixth of humanity doesn't get enough to eat. But
we grow enough food to feed
every man, woman and child on
the planet. The real cause of
hunger isn't lack of food, it is lack
of poli6cal will."
The UN Food and Agricultural
Organisa6on announced today
that the number of hungry people worldwide has dropped by 98
million to 925 million in the past
year. However, Oxfam warned
the decline is largely down to
luck, such as two years of
favourable weather pa7erns,
rather than ac6on from world
leaders.
Molilal Kisku li's his shirt. He is

ve, with a large, distended belly.
There are dark circles on the skin
from where the poker was applied. There is not a child unscarred.
Manoranjan Mahta, 44, sits
on a log, watching. He works for
the post oce, he says: he is an
educated man. Yet he submi7ed
his son, Hemanth, to the process.
"My son had a protruding
belly. We went to many doctors,
but they didn't cure it," he says.
Abandoned to its fate
Mirgitand lies in hills about

195km east of the state capital
Ranchi, at the end of a stony, ver6ginous track. It is part of India,
but at the same 6me not part of
it: abandoned to its fate by the
state, in the hands of Maoist Naxalite guerillas who hold the security forces at bay with apparent
ease.
Das squats next to the re,
poking it with a s6ck. The poker
lies cooling on the ground. This
6me he did not make contact,
warned in advance that the child
must not be harmed for the
demonstra6on, though he came
worryingly close.
Instead, the villagers instruct
the children to show their scars.
.
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
. Vol. - 19
"In this village when a child has a

big pot belly we put a piece of banana leaf on the skin and then we
put burning charcoal or a burning
rod on the leaf. If the child is
writhing in pain, the no6on is
that the germs are dying."
But it was Hemanth who succumbed. The wound became infected and he died on 21
December 2007. He was seven
years old.
Struggle for survival
India may be thriving economi-
Vol.. - 19
cally but it is s6ll dogged by

poverty and hunger.
A recent Oxford University report found 410 million people
were living in poverty in just eight
Indian states more than in the
26 countries of sub-Saharan
Africa.
Last year's Global Hunger
Index placed India in the "alarming" category, ranked 65 out of 84
countries, below even North
Korea. Across the country, hundreds of millions are malnour-
Featured Article
ished. A study released in May

warned that 66% of children
under the age of six in Delhi's
slums were malnourished. The
report noted that the most vulnerable sec6ons of society were
not covered under government
schemes which were supposed to
support them.
In Jharkhand state, a study of
20 villages carried out last year
recorded 13 deaths from starva6on and 1,000 families suering
from chronic hunger syndrome. It
is es6mated that each year,
nearly 50,000 children in the
state die before their rst birthday. It does not help that Jharkhand's doctors are among the
most poorly paid in India, earning
barely half what their contemporaries in Delhi might earn. This
may explain why 2,200 of the
2,468 doctors recruited by the
state ve years ago have moved
on. The state is said to need more
than 800 primary health centres,
although it has just 330.
The situa6on in the central
Indian state of Madhya Pradesh
is, if anything, worse than in
Jharkhand. More than half a million children below the age of ve
have died in the past ve years
and 60% of its children are categorised as malnourished. The
government es6mates that 37%
of the popula6on subsist on less
than the ocial poverty line of
327 rupees (4.57) per month in
rural areas and 570 rupees in
urban areas. In May, television
and newspaper pictures showed
100,000 tonnes of wheat ro8ng
in the open in the state.
And in Ganne, in U7ar
Pradesh, children have resorted
to ea6ng mud. When the reports
began to surface, ocials apparently sent some food and told the
villagers to keep quiet.
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
.
.
GROWTH FOR ALL WITH

SUSTAINABLE USE OF RESOURCES
Today the main challenge in front
of international community is to
sustain and accelerate the process
of poverty eradication and ensure
food and energy security,
particularly to developing
countries while shifting gradually
to a Green Economy. A green
economy
approach
to
development holds the potential
to achieve greater convergence
between
economic
and
environmental
objectives.
Agriculture plays a critical role in
determining food, water,
ecological and livelihood security.
Integrating the strategies and
policies for a green economy into
agriculture has to proceed with an
absolute imperative of ensuring
these and not forgetting the
differentiated needs of subsistence
agriculture and market-oriented
crops.
Also, transitioning to a greener
model of agriculture will depend
WWW.UPSC.PORTAL.COM
on the expeditious provision of

green technologies and financial
support to developing countries
for productivity enhancement,
improved
resilience
and
diversification of production
systems.
integration of supply chains and

strengthening of public distribution
systems. Eradicating poverty is an
indispensible requirement for
sustainable development. A major
cause aggravating poverty is the
unsustainable pattern
of
Sustainable development and

management of agriculture would
benefit from sharing of best
practices including farm and nonfarm development, improved
post-harvest
management,
consumption and production.

Poverty eradication remains an
overriding
objective
of
governments in developing
countries, and efforts to build
green
economies
should
contribute substantially to
realizing that objective.
Integrating green economy
strategies and policies into
poverty eradication, food security
and energy security is an
imperative for sustainable
development.Food security and
access to affordable clean energy
are both crucial to eradicating
poverty and promoting social
development.The issue of energy
security and universal energy
access is intricately linked with
economic development and
growth, and rising energy needs to
meet it.
Energy poverty coexists with
inefficient energy use in much of
the world, which given
continued heavy dependence on
fossil fuels has been a major
contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions. Understanding the
flexibility or lack of flexibility of
each country to change this
energy mix and devising
innovative methods to secure
energy security are the need of the
hour without compromising on the
need for high economic growth to
meet the aspirations of the people,
especially in developing countries.
Energy security is a multi-faceted
concept. In the current context,
the primary focus is on poor
peoples securing adequate energy
supplies to raise their living
standards, including through
improved income generation,
health and education. Renewable
energy should be considered as an
integral part of the solution to the
energy needs of the poor, but that
will only be feasible if it is
affordable and technologically
accessible. As affordability is a
function in part of large-scale
deployment and learning, the
strategy to address energy

poverty needs to be linked to a
broader alternative energy
strategy as part of a green
economy.With respect to energy
security, rural energy access
remains seriously deficient in
many developing countries, with
well over a billion people lacking
access to electricity and clean
cooking and heating fuels. At the
same time, even in urban areas,
electricity is often underprovided
and unreliable, especially for urban
poor
communities.
This
exacerbates poverty and closes
off escape routes by limiting
income generation opportunities
as
well
as
educational
opportunities especially for girls.
What is Green Economy?
A green economy is typically
understood as an economic
system that is compatible with the
natural
environment,
is
environmentally friendly, is
ecological, and for many groups,
is also socially just. These
attributes are the conditions that
must be imposed on an economy
from the perspective of many
green economy advocates. This
conventional concept of a green
economy may be alternatively
described as the greening of an
economy.
Some fundamental criteria for
meeting these conditions have
been established since Rio, such
as using renewable resources
within their regenerative capacity,
making up for the loss of nonrenewable resources by creating
their renewable substitutes,
limiting pollution within the sink
functions of nature, and
maintaining ecosystem stability

and resilience. A Green Economy
is a system of economic activities
related to the production,
distribution and consumption of
goods and services that results in
improved human well-being over
the long term, whilst not exposing
future generations to significant
environmental risks and ecological
scarcities. Conditions for social
justice may include: 1) not
compromising future generations
capability to meet their needs; 2)
the rights of poor countries and
poor people to development and
the obligations of rich countries
and rich people to changing their
excessive consumption levels; 3)
equal treatment of women in
access to resources and
opportunities; and 4) ensuring
decent labor conditions. A green
economy is one that results in
improved human well-being and
social equity, while significantly
reducing environmental risks and
ecological scarcities.
A green economy is a economy or
economic development model
based on sustainable development
and a knowledge of ecological
economics.Its most distinguishing
feature from prior economic
regimes is direct valuation of
natural capital and ecological
services as having economics value
and a full cost accounting regime
in which costs externalized onto
society via ecosystems are
reliably traced back to, and
accounted for as liabilities of, the
entity that does the harm or
neglects an asset.
WWW.UPSC.PORTAL.COM
Green Economy defined by

Karl Burkart is based on six
mai n se ctor s,wh ich are as
follows:
8 Renewable energy (solar,
wind, geothermal, marine
including wave, biogas, and
fuel cell)
8 Green buildings (green
retrofits for energy and
water efficiency, residential
and commercial assessment;
green products and materials,
and LEED construction)
8 Clean
transportation
(alternative fuels, public
transit, hybrid and electric
vehicles, carsharing and
carpooling programs)
8 Water management (Water
reclamation, greywater and
rainwater systems, lowwater landscaping, water
purification, stormwater
management)
8 Waste
management
(recycling, municipal solid
waste salvage, brownfield
land remediation, Superfund
cleanup,
sustainable
packaging)
8 Land management (organic
agriculture,
habitat
conservation
and
restoration; urban forestry
and parks, reforestation and
afforestation and soil
stabilization)
UNEP Green Economy
Initiative (GEI)
The Green Economy Initiative
launched by the United Nations
Environment Programme in
October 2008 is aimed at seizing
the opportunities this modern
WWW.UPSC.PORTAL.COM
concept of a green economy has

to offer. It seeks to accomplish
two tasks. First, it tries to make
a beyond-anecdotal macroeconomic case for investing in
sectors that produce environmentally
friendly
or
environmentally enhancing
products and services (green
investment).
By
a
macroeconomic case, it mainly
refers to the contribution of green
investment to output and job
growth. Second, the initiative tries
to provide guidance on how to
boost pro-poor green investment.
The goal is to encourage and
enable policymakers to support
increased green investment from
both the public and private
sectors.
The UNEP GEI activities include
providing advisory services to
countries interested in greening
their economies; producing
research products, such as The
Green Economy Report, The
Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity (TEEB) series of
reports, and the Green Jobs
Report; and engaging partners to
effectively
promote
and
implement green economy
strategies.
Concept of Inclusive
Growth
Rapid and sustained poverty
reduction requires inclusive growth
that allows people to contribute
to and benefit from economic
growth.Inclusive Growth refers
both to the pace and pattern of
growth, which are considered
interlinked, and therefore in need
to be addressed together.
Inclusive growth by its very

definition implies an equitable
allocation of resources with
benefits accruing to every section
of society, which is a utopian
concept. But the allocation of
resources must be focused on the
indented short and long terms
benefits and economic linkages at
large and not just equitable
mathematically on some regional
and population criteria.Utopia it is
because it dreams of an ideal
state which we all strive
towards.The inclusive growth
approach takes a longer term
perspective as the focus is on
productive employment rather
than on direct income
redistribution, as a means of
increasing incomes for excluded
groups. The inclusive growth
definition is in line with the
absolute definition of pro-poor
growth, but not the relative
definition.
By focusing on inequality, the
relative definition could lead to
sub-optimal outcomes for both
poor and non-poor households.
Inclusive growth focuses on exante analysis of sources of, and
constraints to sustained, high
growth, and not only on one
group the poor.
Key components of Inclusive
Gr owth (IG )sh ould be as
follows:8 IG focuses on economic
growth which is a necessary
and crucial condition for
poverty reduction.
8 IG adopts a long term
perspective and is concerned
with sustained growth.
(i) For growth to be
sustained in the long
Green Economy defined by

Karl Burkart is based on six
mai n se ctor s,wh ich are as
follows:
8 Renewable energy (solar,
wind, geothermal, marine
including wave, biogas, and
fuel cell)
8 Green buildings (green
retrofits for energy and
water efficiency, residential
and commercial assessment;
green products and materials,
and LEED construction)
8 Clean
transportation
(alternative fuels, public
transit, hybrid and electric
vehicles, carsharing and
carpooling programs)
8 Water management (Water
reclamation, greywater and
rainwater systems, lowwater landscaping, water
purification, stormwater
management)
8 Waste
management
(recycling, municipal solid
waste salvage, brownfield
land remediation, Superfund
cleanup,
sustainable
packaging)
8 Land management (organic
agriculture,
habitat
conservation
and
restoration; urban forestry
and parks, reforestation and
afforestation and soil
stabilization)
UNEP Green Economy
Initiative (GEI)
The Green Economy Initiative
launched by the United Nations
Environment Programme in
October 2008 is aimed at seizing
the opportunities this modern
WWW.UPSC.PORTAL.COM
concept of a green economy has

to offer. It seeks to accomplish
two tasks. First, it tries to make
a beyond-anecdotal macroeconomic case for investing in
sectors that produce environmentally
friendly
or
environmentally enhancing
products and services (green
investment).
By
a
macroeconomic case, it mainly
refers to the contribution of green
investment to output and job
growth. Second, the initiative tries
to provide guidance on how to
boost pro-poor green investment.
The goal is to encourage and
enable policymakers to support
increased green investment from
both the public and private
sectors.
The UNEP GEI activities include
providing advisory services to
countries interested in greening
their economies; producing
research products, such as The
Green Economy Report, The
Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity (TEEB) series of
reports, and the Green Jobs
Report; and engaging partners to
effectively
promote
and
implement green economy
strategies.
Concept of Inclusive
Growth
Rapid and sustained poverty
reduction requires inclusive growth
that allows people to contribute
to and benefit from economic
growth.Inclusive Growth refers
both to the pace and pattern of
growth, which are considered
interlinked, and therefore in need
to be addressed together.
Inclusive growth by its very

definition implies an equitable
allocation of resources with
benefits accruing to every section
of society, which is a utopian
concept. But the allocation of
resources must be focused on the
indented short and long terms
benefits and economic linkages at
large and not just equitable
mathematically on some regional
and population criteria.Utopia it is
because it dreams of an ideal
state which we all strive
towards.The inclusive growth
approach takes a longer term
perspective as the focus is on
productive employment rather
than on direct income
redistribution, as a means of
increasing incomes for excluded
groups. The inclusive growth
definition is in line with the
absolute definition of pro-poor
growth, but not the relative
definition.
By focusing on inequality, the
relative definition could lead to
sub-optimal outcomes for both
poor and non-poor households.
Inclusive growth focuses on exante analysis of sources of, and
constraints to sustained, high
growth, and not only on one
group the poor.
Key components of Inclusive
Gr owth (IG )sh ould be as
follows:8 IG focuses on economic
growth which is a necessary
and crucial condition for
poverty reduction.
8 IG adopts a long term
perspective and is concerned
with sustained growth.
(i) For growth to be
sustained in the long
linkages of a green economy for

poverty eradication and broadbased, inclusive growth.
Integrating green economy
strategies and policies into
poverty eradication, food security
and energy security is an
imperative for sustainable
development.
Objectives of the Ministerial
Discussion were:(i) To obtain a comprehensive
update on the recent green
economy developments
within major international
policy forums and through
the UNEP-led green
economy initiative;
(ii) To discuss how the concept

of the green economy can be
further implemented at the
country level;
(iii) To build on existing policies
and processes that are
supporting the shift to
sustainable consumption and
production and a green
economy;
Conclusively we can say,designed
properly, green economy policies
and programmes with inclusive
growth mechanism can directly
contribute to poverty eradication.
Successful examples can offer
lessons and possible models for
replication. For instance, Indias

rural employment guarantee
programme is at one and the same
time an anti-poverty programme
and an ecosystem restoration
programme.
Understanding the flexibility or
lack of flexibility of each country
to change this energy mix and
devising innovative methods to
secure energy security are the
need of the hour without
compromising on the need for high
economic growth to meet the
aspirations of the people,
especially in developing countries.
UPSCPORTALS
UPSC
Hindi/English/Essay
(Compulsory)
(Mains) Examination
Topic wise Papers- 20 + years
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12
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INDIA IN SPACE :
A BAG FULL OF SUCCESS
The space activities in the

country were initiated with
the setting up of Indian
National Committee for
Space
Research
(INCOSPAR) in 1962. In
the same year, the work on
Thumba
Equatorial
Rocket Launching Station,
(TERLS) near Thiruvananthapuram was also
started. The Indian space programme was
institutionalized in November 1969 with the formation
of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The
Government of India constituted the Space
Commission and established the Department of Space
(DOS) in June 1972 and brought ISRO under DOS
in September 1972. Department of Space (DOS) has
the primary responsibility of promoting development
of space science, technology and applications towards
achieving self reliance and assisting in all round
development of the nation. Both the DOS and ISRO
Headquarters are located at Bangalore. The
development activities are carried out at the Centres
and Units spread over the country.
FIRST FEW STEPS TOWARDS SPACE
India launched its first experimental satellite,
Aryabhatta, in 1975 this was followed by a series of
experimental satellites like Bhaskara , Rohini,
stretched Rohini satellite series, SROSS. The first
Indian experimental satellite, APPLE, was launched.
Indian space programme reached the new stage with
the launch of the series of INSAT (Indian National
6
Satellite) in1983, we have entered the fourth

generation of these satellites. The first generations of
INSAT satellites were imported from United States.
DEVELOPMENT OF INDIGENOUS TECHNOLOGY
India has indigenously developed the subsequent
generation of INSAT satellites. The INSAT satellite
system was jointly owned by the departments of
Telecommunications, Space, All India Radio,
Doordarshan, Indian Meteorology department. The
super cyclone of Orissa has highlighted the limitation
of Indian space programme. This led to the
development of exclusive satellites. The first ever
exclusive satellite for weather monitoring called
METSAT was launched. This was named Kalpana
after the Indian born American astronaut Kalpana
Chawla who died in Colombia crash.India had
launched an exclusive satellite for education called
EDUSAT. This has revolutionized the fields of
education and health too. The tele education and tele
medicine projects got further boost with the
successful launching of this exclusive satellite. India
launched the series of remote sensing satellites in
1988. The latest in this series was RESOURCE SAT.
Apart from satellites and satellite launch vehicles,
India developed an impressive space infrastructure.
For instance, the Vikram Sarabai Space Centre-VSSC
at trivendrum, National Remote Sensing Agency in
Hyderabad, Space Application Centre-SAC, in
Ahmedabad., Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching
Station - TERLS at Thumba in Kerala. Physical
Research laboratories - PRL in Ahmedabad , and a
host of satellite tracking ground stations in India and
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Abroad. Several universities, research institutions are

also actively associated with the development of space
programme in India.
Research and development in space sciences and

technologies as well as application programme for
national development.
OBJECTIVES & SPECIALITIES

INDIAN SPACE PROGRAMMES
REMOTE SENSING SATELITES
OF
The Space Commission formulates the policies and

oversees the implementation of the Indian space
programme to promote the development and
application of space science and technology for the
socio-economic benefit of the country. The speciality
of Indian space programme is that it is dedicated to
the socio economic development of our country. Even
before India had its first experimental satellite, India
conducted the Satellite Instructional Television
Experimen t- SITE in 1975-76. The American satellite
ATS-6 was leased out for this purpose. As a part of
this experiment, television programmes were beamed
to 2500 villages using satellite. This experiment paved
the way for the development of television in India. In
1977-79, India successfully conducted Satellite
Telecommuni-cation Experimental Project - STEP.
The Franco German satellite, Symphony was taken
on lease for this purpose. The INSAT satellites
provided benefits ranging from television
broadcasting
to
weather
prediction.
Telecommunication, tele education, tele medicine
projects are carried out with the help of INSAT
satellites. The myriad hour multi channel television
boom would not have been possible without the
INSAT satellite system. The information revolution
and telecommuni-cation revolution were also the
result of the INSAT satellites. Indian National Satellite
(INSAT) programme for telecommunications, TV
broadcasting, meteorology, developmental education,
etc. Remote Sensing programme for application of
satellite imagery for various developmental purposes.
Indigenous capability for design and development of
spacecraft and associated technologies for
communications, resources survey and space sciences.
Design and development of launch vehicles with
indigenous technology for access to space and orbiting
INSAT, IRS spacecraft and space science missions.
The Remote Sensing satellites provide a range of

benefits. They include the Exploration of natural
resources, flood zone mapping, drought assessment,
desert land identification and reclamation, estimating
the forest cover, assessing the extent of smoke
generated by thermal power stations, estimating the
crop yield and crop acreage, providing location
specific development information, monitoring of
command areas, etc. India is conducting National
Natural Resources Management Systems- NNRMS
using remote sensing data provided by these satellites.
We are also conducting Integrated Mission for
Sustainable Development-IMSD, with the service
provided by these satellites. The Vanjuvanka
watershed in Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh is
also part of IMSD. These satellites are the most
advanced and sophisticated satellites making us
leaders in the area of remote sensing. For instance,
the OCEAN SAT can measure the oxygen quantity
in the algae underneath the oceans thereby giving an
accurate estimate of marine resources. Biennial forest
surveys are conducted using the data provided by
remote sensing satellites. Our remote sensing satellites
can provide reasonably accurate data about the extent
of crops sown helping us to undertake agricultural
plans. These remote sensing satellites can estimate the
possible crop yield one month before harvest.
Monitoring of command areas using these satellites
would ensure supply of irrigation water to the tail end
farmers. The very small aperture terminals VSATs
were set up to support the national information and
communication network.
INDIA IN ELITE LEAGUE & MARKETING PROCESS
Apart from satellites, India developed capabilities in
launch vehicle technology too. Starting with a
simple Satellite Launch Vehicle-SLV, India went on
to develop the Augmented Satellite Launch vehicle-
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ASLV, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-PSLV,

the Geo Synchronous Satellite Launch VehicleGSLV . India has also indigenously developed the
VIKAS engine used in the PSLV. The PSLV is used
for the launching of remote sensing satellites in earths
polar orbit. The PSLV was also used in the
Chandrayan, Indias first ever Lunar Mission. The
Geo Synchronous satellite launch vehicle is used in
the launching of communication satellites in earths
Geo Synchronous orbit. India has also indigenously
developed the cryogenic engine used in the GSLV.
India is not only self sufficient in space programme,
but infact attained international recognition. This
helped us to enter into highly competitive global space
products market. A special agency called ANTRIX
Corporation was set up for this purpose within the
Department of Space. Indias INSAT- 2 E
transponders were leased to INTELSAT, International
Telecommunication Satellite. India has also entered
into an agreement with the European space agency
AERIAN space for the marketing of its Launch
Vehicle Technology. We have also reached an
agreement with the American Remote Sensing
Company SIO SAT for marketing its remote sensing
data. India conducted a programme called sharing of
experience in space, shares to train the third world
space personnel. India is also becoming part of Russia
s GLOSNOS project. Indian Space Programme
developed many products which are now used in
industry. The space programme has several spin off
benefits which include production of low weight
material used in creation of artificial limbs.Against
this impressive background, India has now embarked
upon the ambitious programme of lunar mission. The
success of Chandrayaan-1 revealed to the world,
Indias capability in one of the highly sophisticated
areas of science and technology.
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF
ISRO SO
FAR IN
BRIEF
So far, 51 Indian Satellite Missions, and 27 Launches

from Sriharikota have been conducted.Namely they
are as follows:8
2011
PSLV-C16 successfully launches Three

SatellitesRESOURCESAT-2, YOUTHSAT,
X-SAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2011).
2010
GSLV-F06 launched from Shriharikota (Dec

25, 2010). GSAT-5Pcould not be placed into
orbit as the GSLV-F06 mission was not
successful.
PSLV-C15 successfully launches Five Satellites

CARTOSAT-2B, ALSAT-2A, two
nanosatellites-NLS-6.1 & 6.2 and a picosatellite-STUDSAT from Sriharikota (July 12,
2010).
GSLV-D3 launched from Sriharikota (Apr 15,

2010). GSAT-4satellite could not be placed in
orbit as flight testing of the Indigenous
Cryogenic Stage in GSLV-D3 Mission was not
successful.
2009
PSLV-C14 successfully launches Seven

Satellites OCEANSAT-2, Four CUBESAT
Satellites and Two RUBIN-9 from Sriharikota
(Sept. 23, 2009).
PSLV-C12 successfully launches RISAT-2 and

ANUSAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2009).
2008
PSLV-C11
successfully
launches
CHANDRAYAAN-1 from Sriharikota
(October 22, 2008).
PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT2A, IMS-1 and 8 foreign nano satellites from
Sriharikota (April 28,2008).
PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR

satellite under a commercial contract with
Antrix Corporation (January 21, 2008).
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2007
2003
Successful launch of GSLV (GSLV-F04) with
ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
INSAT-4CR on board from SDSC SHAR

(September 2, 2007).
C5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT1(IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota (October

17, 2003). Successful launch of INSAT-3E by
Ariane from Kourou French Guyana,
(September 28, 2003).
ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC8, successfully launched Italian astronomical
satellite, AGILE from Sriharikota (April 23,
2007).
The Second developmental launch of GSLV-
Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5

from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12,
2007).
Successful recovery of SRE-1 after

manoeuvring it to reenter the earths atmosphere
and descend over the Bay of Bengal about 140
km east of Sriharikota (January 22, 2007).
ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC7 successfully launches four satellites
Indias CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule
Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) and Indonesias
LAPAN-TUBSAT
and
Argentinas
PEHUENSAT-1 (January 10, 2007).
D2 with GSAT-2on board from Sriharikota

(May 8, 2003).
Successful launch of INSAT-3A by Ariane from

Kourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003).
2002
ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLVC4, successfully launched KALPANA-1

satellite from Sriharikota(September 12, 2002).
Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from

Kourou French Guyana, (January 24, 2002).
2001
ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-
2006
Second operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F02)
C3,successfully launched three satellites

Technology Experiment Satellite (TES)of
ISRO, BIRD of Germany and PROBA of
Belgiuminto their intended orbits (October 22,
2001).
from SDSC SHAR with INSAT-4C on board.

(July 10, 2006). Satellite could not be placed
in orbit.
2005
Successful launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from
The first developmental launch of GSLV-D1
Kourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005).
ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV- 2000

C6, successfully launched CARTOSAT-1 and
HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota(May 5,
2005).
INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third

generation INSAT-3 series, launched by Ariane
from Kourou French Guyana, (March 22,
2000).
2004
The first operational flight of GSLV (GSLVF01) successfully launched EDUSAT from
SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota (September 20,
2004)
with GSAT-1 on board from Sriharikota (April

18, 2001).
1999
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4

(OCEANSAT), launched byPolar Satellite
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Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean

KITSAT-3 and German DLR-TUBSAT from
Sriharikota (May 26, 1999). INSAT-2E, the last
satellite in the multipurpose INSAT-2 series,
launched by Ariane from Kourou French
Guyana, (April 3, 1999).
1993
First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS1E on board (September 20, 1993). Satellite
could not be placed in orbit
INSAT-2B, the second satellite in the INSAT-2

series, launched (July 23, 1993).
1998
INSAT system capacity augmented with the 1992

readiness of INSAT-2DTacquired from
INSAT-2A, the first satellite of the
ARABSAT (January 1998).
indigenously-built second-generation INSAT

series, launched (July 10, 1992).
1997
INSAT-2D, fourth satellite in the INSAT series,

launched (June 4, 1997). Becomes inoperable
on October 4, 1997. (An in-orbit satellite,
ARABSAT-1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT,
was acquired in November 1997 to partly
augment the INSAT system).
Third developmental launch of ASLV with

SROSS-Con board (May 20, 1992). Satellite
placed in orbit.
1991
Second operational Remote Sensing satellite,
First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D 1990

on board (September 29, 1997). Satellite placed
in orbit.
1996
IRS-1B, launched (August 29, 1991).
INSAT-1D launched (June 12, 1990).

1988
Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-
INSAT-1C launched (July 21,1988).
P3, on board (March 21, 1996). Satellite placed

in polar sunsynchronous orbit.
Abandoned in November 1989. Second

developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-2
on board (July 13, 1988). Satellite could not
be placed in orbit.
1995
Launch of third operational Indian Remote

Sensing Satellite, IRS-1C(December 28, 1995).
INSAT-2C, the third satellite in the INSAT-2
series, launched (December 7, 1995).
1994
Launch of first operational Indian Remote

Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A(March 17, 1988).
1987
First developmental launch of ASLV with

SROSS-1 satellite on board (March 24, 1987).
Satellite could not be placed in orbit.
Second developmental launch of PSLV with

IRS-P2, on board (October 15, 1994). Satellite
successfully placed in Polar Sunsynchronous
Orbit.
1984
Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April
Fourth developmental launch of ASLV with

SROSS-C2, on board (May 4, 1994). Satellite
placed in orbit.
10
1984).
1983
INSAT-1B, launched (August 30, 1983).
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Second developmental launch of SLV-3. RSD2 placed in orbit (April 17, 1983).
1982
INSAT-1A launched (April 10, 1982).

Deactivated on September 6, 1982.
19721976
Air-borne remote sensing experiments.

1972
Space Commission and Department of Space

set up (June 1, 1972). ISRO brought under
DOS.
1981
Bhaskara-II launched (November 20, 1981). 1969

APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary
communication satellite successfully launched
(June 19, 1981). RS-D1 placed in orbit (May
31, 1981)First developmental launch of SLV3.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

formed under Department of Atomic Energy
(August 15, 1969).
1968
TERLS dedicated to the United Nations
1980
Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini

satellite successfully placed in orbit. (July 18,
1980).
1979
(February 2, 1968).
1967
Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set

up at Ahmedabad.
First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini 1965

Technology Payloadon board (August 10,
1979). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.
Bhaskara-I, an experimental satellite for earth

observations, launched (June 7, 1979).
Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC)

established in Thumba.
1963
First sounding rocket launched from TERLS
1977
Satellite Telecommunication Experiments
(November 21, 1963).
1962
Project (STEP) carried out.
Indian National Committee for Space Research
19751976
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment

(SITE) conducted.
1975
ISRO First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata,

launched (April 19, 1975).Becomes
Government Organisation (April 1, 1975).
(INCOSPAR) formed by the Department of

Atomic Energy and work on establishing
Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station
(TERLS) started.
Source : Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO)
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11
12
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India-Japan
Starting Active Partnership
billion to $15 billion will help India
better manage the rupee's slump
against the dollar. This should also
boost financial cooperation and economic and trade ties, which are currently far below potential. The Indian side wants more Japanese investment. For its part, Japan, which
has just lifted a longstanding ban on
the export of weapons, will be looking to sell defence hardware to New
Delhi.
this month, India, Japan, and the

United States held their first trilateral strategic dialogue. It is creditable that despite the political instability in Japan, and the scandal-induced paralysis in India, both countries managed to fit in these highlevel
exchanges. It is crucial that
The determined effort by India and
growing India-Japan ties are viewed
Japan to inject life into their bilatindependently of each country's reeral relationship is showing positive
lations with China. New Delhi and
results. The meeting between Prime
Beijing are engaged in improving
Minister Manmohan Singh and Japarelations at various levels, including
nese premier Yoshihiko Noda, the
sixth of the annual India-Japan sum- Prime Minister Noda reiterated his trade, eventually aiming to amicamits, is a marker of the steady gratitude for the substantial support bly resolve the boundary question.
progress. It yielded the first official extended from India in the wake of China is Japan's biggest trading partconfirmation since Japan's devastat- the Great East Japan Earthquake. ner; the two have a bilateral trade
ing tsunami-earthquake-Fukushima Prime Minister Singh expressed his of $340 billion that neither can afmeltdown that the country has not hope that Japan will make a full re- ford to endanger. The fears exshut the door on a civilian nuclear covery as early as possible.The two pressed in a section of China's news
deal with India. While Mr. Noda Prime Ministers concurred that, as media that Mr. Noda's visit is part
stressed the importance of learning next year marks the 60th anniversary of a containment strategy aimed
the right lessons from Japan's of the establishment of diplomatic at Beijing are needless. The Chinese
nuclear accident, it appears that relations between Japan and India, government has done well to play
negotiations on a deal to assist In- they would make best use of the them down.
dia develop peaceful nuclear energy opportunity to strengthen cultural
and people-to-people exchanges in
History
will continue.
order to deepen mutual understandExchange between Japan and India
His pledge of $4.5 billion over the ing at their citizens' level.
is said to have begun in the 6th cennext five years for the development
Prime
Minister
Noda's
visit
capped
tury when Buddhism was introduced
of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, a commitment of financial as- a year of intense bilateral activity. to Japan. Indian culture, filtered
sistance for two more infrastructure The Foreign Ministers held a strate- through Buddhism, has had a great
projects Phase 3 of the Delhi gic dialogue in October, followed by impact on Japanese culture, and this
Metro and a biodiversity conserva- talks between the defence minis- is the source of the Japanese
tion project in West Bengal and ters. In February, the two sides people's sense of closeness to Inhis interest in sharing high-speed signed the Comprehensive Economic dia. After World War II, in 1949, Inrailway technology with India are sig- Partnership Agreement covering dian Prime Minister Jawaharlal
nificant. Japan's enhancement of its trade in goods as well as services; Nehru donated two Indian elephants
currency swap arrangement from $3 it came into effect in August. Earlier to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. This
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Integrated Guidance Programme for IAS (Pre) - 2012
http://upscportal.com/civilservices/online-course/integrated-free-guidance-programme
brought a ray of light into the lives

of the Japanese people who still had
not recovered from defeat in the war.
Japan and India signed a peace
treaty and established diplomatic
relations on 28th April, 1952. This
treaty was one of the first peace
treaties Japan signed after the World
War II. Ever since the establishment
of diplomatic relations, the two
countries have enjoyed cordial relations.
Bilateral Treaties and

Agreements
Treaty of Peace (1952)
Agreement for Air Service (1956)
Cultural Agreement (1957)
Agreement of Commerce (1958)
Convention for the Avoidance of
Double Taxation (1960)
Agreement on Cooperation in the
field of Science and Technology
(1985)
In the post World War II period,

India's iron ore helped a great deal
Japan's recovery from the
devastation. Following Japanese
Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi's visit
to India in 1957, Japan started
providing yen loans to India in 1958,
as the first yen loan aid extended
by Japanese government. Since
1986, Japan has become India's
largest aid donor, and remains so.
Prime Minister Mori's visit to India
in August 2000 provided the
momentum to strengthen the JapanIndia relationship. Since then, annual
meetings between prime ministers,
including Prime Minister Koizumi's
visit to India in April 2005, Prime
Minister Singh's visit to Japan in
December 2006, Prime Minister
Abe's visit to India in August 2007,
manufacturing abilities, whereas

India has advantages in IT services
and bioinformatics. Thanks to
vigorous economic growth in the
wake of the economic reforms and
the Look East Policy introduced
after 1991, India has successfully
deepened its economic relations
with the East Asian countries. We
can see a remarkable expansion of
Indias economic tie-ups with the
ASEAN countries, China and Korea
since the late 1990s, with only
While India has become the largest IndoJapan relations lagging behind.
recipient of Japanese ODA since India-China bilateral trade has
2003-04, both bilateral trade in remarkably expanded to be more
goods and Japans FDI into India than four times larger than Indiahave almost stagnated during the Japan bilateral trade.
past decade. With major Indian
exports to Japan being dominated
Koizumis Visit to India
by products of mineral oils, gems &
in 2005
jewels, marine products (mainly
shrimps) and iron ore, India and The significance of visit of Japanese
Japan have not yet formed such a Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in
dynamic international division of 2005 cannot be understated
labour as can be seen among the considering the fact that this was the
East Asian countries. Japans first visit by a Japanese head of state
cumulative FDI into India is so far after a hiatus of nearly half a
larger than that of Korea, but as far decade. Prior to that, only two
as electronics appliances are serving Japanese heads of state
concerned, Japanese companies have visited India with a 10 year gap.
have been overwhelmed by Korean While these statistics amply
companies in the Indian market.
demonstrate that a regular exchange
and Prime Minister Singh's visit to
Japan in October 2008, have led to
the establishment of the "Strategic
and Global Partnership between
Japan and India" as well as the
further strengthening of the bilateral
relationship. Most recently, during
Prime Minister Hatoyama's visit to
India in December 2009, Japan and
India singed the Joint Statement
"New Stage of Japan-India Strategic
and Global Partnership".
India and Japan are highly

complementary economies, but their
mutual complementarities remained
underexploited hitherto. Recently,
however, a new tide has been
observed in Japan to expand IndoJapan relations based on mutual
complementarities. Japan has
abundant capital and is highly
advanced in technological skills and
product development while India is
endowed with a huge market and
abundant human resources. Japan is
outstanding
in
terms
of
of high-level political visits have

been a weak link in Indo-Japanese
ties, perhaps Prime Minister
Koizumis visit is a landmark one as
it promises to initiate bilateral
comprehensive ventures into two
areas - economic and strategic,
which were lying potentially
untapped for several years. The
highlight of the Prime Ministers visit
was indubitably the signing of the
Japan-India Partnership in a New
Asian Era: Strategic Orientation of a
Japan-India Global Partnership an
eight-fold initiative announced
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towards strengthening Japan-India

Global Partnership, which include
the following:
Enhanced and upgraded dialogue
architecture, including strengthening
of the momentum of high-level
exchanges, launching of a High Level
Strategic Dialogue and full
utilization of the existing dialogue
mechanisms.
Comprehensive economic
engagement, through expansion of
trade in goods and services,
investment flows and other areas of
economic cooperation, and
exploration of a Japan-India
economic partnership agreement.
Enhanced security dialogue and
cooperation.
Science & Technology Initiative
Cultural an academic initiatives
and strengthening of people-topeople contacts
Cooperation in ushering a new
Asian era
Cooperation in the UN and other
international organization, including
early reform of the UN Security
Council
Cooperation in responding to
global challenges and opportunities.
While this eight-fold initiative
incorporates many issues addressed
by the two countries in their Joint
Declaration of December 2001, it is
common interests and concerns in

the years to come so that they can
look back at their relations with pride
and satisfaction at the end of the
next five decades, when we
celebrate a hundred years of the
establishment of relations.
Bilateral trade is expanding in the
recent years. However, the speed
and scope of expansion are still
limited. Joint Study Group (JSG),
composed of government officials
and representatives of business and
academia from the two countries,
held four meetings after July, 2005.
JSG submitted its report to both
Prime Ministers when they met in
July, 2006, which includes a
recommendation for launching EPA
negotiations. In December, 2006, the
Prime Ministers of the two countries
decided to launch immediate
negotiations for the conclusion of a
An increased awareness among the bilateral Economic Partnership
general populace of the two nations A g r e e m e n t / C o m p r e h e n s i v e
as envisaged under the eight-fold Economic Partnership Agreement
initiative is equally crucial as the aiming to complete in substance as
extent of media coverage received soon as possible in approximately
by such landmark steps as Koizumis two years. Thirteen rounds of
visit and need to be highlighted. negotiations were held in New Delhi
While Indias embarkation on a Look and Tokyo respectively as of July
East policy in the last decade was 2010.
symptomatic of the significance
India attaches to the region, the time Japan-India Strategic Dialogue on
has come to exploit the full potential Economic Issues which reviews the
of interaction with countries like current status of bilateral economic
Japan. The two countries should issues discussed at Summit
and
undertakes
work together in the areas of meetings,
certainly a more comprehensive
delineation and framework of areas
of common interests and concerns.
In a nutshell, it can be stated that
there is a unique paradox that has
defined India-Japan relations at
large. On the one hand, there has
been the absence of any major
dispute. On the other, however, what
has been missing is the richness that
could have characterized bilateral
ties. In other words, the relationship
to date can be chronicled as one of
missed opportunities. It is clear that
the synergy of Indo-Japanese
cooperation is essential not just to
further bilateral relations, but for the
greater cause of a more secure AsiaPacific region. Even though the visit
by Prime Minister Koizumi was short,
it should be used as bedrock for
furthering bilateral ties.
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coordination as necessary was held 3 times in New Delhi and Tokyo

respectively as of July 2010 since the Dialogue was launched in July 2007.
In August 2007, the Business Leaders' Forum was held in New Delhi on the
occasion of Prime Minister Abe's visit to India, and the Second meeting
was held in Tokyo in October 2008.
Japanese private-sectors interest in India is rising, and, currently, about

627 Japanese companies have branches in India. (The figure doubled over
the last 3 years.)
The two Prime Ministers welcomed the entry into force of the Japan-India
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in August this
year and the commencement of negotiations on an agreement on social
security. With regard to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), Prime
Minister Noda announced the intention of the Government of Japan to
make available finance totaling 4.5 billion US dollars in the next five years.
The two Prime Ministers concurred that they would promote participation
of Japanese companies to realize the DMIC.
In this regard, both Governments reached an agreement on such issues as
Japan's involvement with the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor
Development Corporation (DMICDC), relaxation of financial restrictions
so as to promote DMIC projects, allocation of natural gas for DMIC projects,
and early realization of three model projects, namely, seawater desalination
at Dahej, Gujarat, a microgrid system using large-scale photovoltaic (PV)
power generation Project at Neemrana Industrial Area in Rajasthan, and
gas-fired independent power producer (IPP) Project in Maharashtra. The
two Prime Ministers concurred on the need to strengthen bilateral
cooperation on infrastructure development in Southern India, improvement
of connectivity between Chennai and Bangalore, and development of India's
High-speed railway system. Prime Minister Noda pledged that the
Government of Japan would extend ODA loans totaling approximately 1.7
billion US dollars (approx. 134.3 billion yen) in total for two projects
including for the Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project. The two Prime
Ministers decided to enhance the earlier bilateral currency swap
arrangement from 3 billion US dollars to 15 billion US dollars. Concerning
civil nuclear cooperation, Prime Minister Singh noted that he understood
Japan's sensitivity well. The two Prime Ministers decided to move forward
with the negotiations with a view to

concluding an Agreement for
Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of
Nuclear Energy in a mutually
satisfactory manner. With regard to
rare earths, the two Prime Ministers
shared the view that both
Governments should continue their
dialogue in order for Japanese and
Indian enterprises to jointly
undertake industrial activities.
The long-awaited India-Japan CEPA/
EPA was finally signed in February
2011, and came into effect in
August. Tariffs will be eliminated on
90 per cent of Indian and 97 per cent
of Japanese goods over ten years.
Japan is expected to export more
auto-parts and steel products to
India and import more agricultural
and marine products from India.
National treatment, on the side of
Japan, is accorded for the
application of approvals for the
release of generic medicines. Some
improvement has been made for the
movement of people, including Yoga
instructors, English teachers and
Indian cuisine masters. IndiaJapan
bilateral trade will be more than
doubled to $25 billion by 2014 under
the CEPA/EPA.
What is CEPA ?
The second phase of Indias Look
East Policy aims to achieve just that.
Against this background, IndiaJapan ties are appropriately
positioned for take-off. The
significance of Prime Minister
Singhs visit to Japan can be seen in
four areas: conclusion of four years
of negotiations on a Comprehensive
Economic Partnership Agreement
(CEPA), deciding to speed up
negotiations on a civil nuclear deal,
simplifying visa procedures, and
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finding common ground for

convergence of interests in securing
peace and stability in Asia. CEPA is
broader than a free trade agreement
because it includes steps to promote
greater investment and also
addresses intellectual property
rights. The CEPA will help address
this imbalance and Japan will have
to reduce tariffs on 97 per cent of
Indian imports, and India will have
to reduce tariffs on 90 per cent of
goods imported from Japan over the
next decade. Japan will get greater
market access for most industrial
goods, as well as several
agricultural products such as durian,
curry, tea leaves, lumber, shrimp and
shrimp products. India will get
improved market access in Japan in
auto parts, steel panels, and other
industrial materials, as well as DVD
players, video cameras and
industrial machinery.
The two countries began talks on a
civilian nuclear deal in June 2010 but
the subject is too sensitive in Japan
because India has refused to adhere
to the NPT and CTBT as it considers
them discriminatory, even though
India has voluntarily suspended
nuclear testing. In late 2009, Prime
Minister Singh said that Indias
position on the CTBT could change
if Beijing and Washington were to
join the pact. China, India and the
US are three of the nine Annex 2
states that must ratify the treaty for
it to enter into force. Japan thus
agreed to start negotiation with
India on a framework for the
peaceful transfer of nuclear power
technologies to India. Prime
Minister Kan agreed to speed up
negotiations, while seeking Indias
understanding
for
Japans
sentiments. Both leaders agreed
, As for the destination of Japans IT

offshoring, currently 80 per cent of
Japanese companies offshore to
China and only 25 per cent to India.
For India, Japan accounts for only
less than 2 per cent of its total
software and IT services exports. As
Until recently, Japanese companies for Japanese subsidiaries of IBM and
had a negative image about Indias Accenture, they are already fully
investment environment, which utilizing Indian IT resources through
constituted
a
sense
of offshoring to their Indian
psychological distance from India. subsidiaries. It will be strategically
However, the success of Korean more important for Japanese
companies in gaining a large share companies to focus on India as an
of the Indian consumer electronics IT offshore location, especially if
market indicates that what Japanese they want to go global.
companies tended to identify as
areas of concern, i.e. adverse The level of people-to-people
investment environment, are not exchange between India and Japan
necessarily critical factors that is still far from satisfactory, which
deterred Korean or Singaporean is exemplified by stagnated student
companies. The number of Japanese exchanges. It should be remembered
companies in India has increased that there are as many as three
from 267 in January 2006 to 438 in million Indian Americans, most of
January 2008 and from 550 in whom are professionals, playing an
October 2008 to 725 in October indispensable role in deepening and
2010. Their investment value has cementing the relationship between
more than doubled to 189 billion yen India and USA. Improving the
in 2007-08 and totalled 809 billion scholarship and Japanese language
yen in 2008-09, outstripping training schemes for Indian
students, increasing the number of
Japanese FDI into China.
lectures given in English at Japanese
Japan is globally ranked the second universities, and providing attractive
largest IT market with an estimated career paths for Indian graduates to
turnover of $100 billion. Japan is apply for Prospects and Challenges
renowned as one of the most for Expanding India-Japan Economic
competitive
nations
in Relations enlarged employment
in
Japanese
manufacturing industries or opportunities
hardware production. As of 2007, companies are urgently needed for
Japan had a total of 907,990 IT attracting more Indian students to
engineers and was short of 501,000 Japan. Now is a good time, when
IT engineers including 360,000 entering a new phase of India-Japan
professionals. Generally speaking, relations, for us to consolidate our
Japanese companies are inclined relations especially through
towards in-house procurement and accelerated people-to-people
are rather cautious about overseas exchanges. Number of Japanese
IT offshoring. But when they nationals residing in India: 3,284 (as
offshore, they prefer to turn to China of October, 2008)
that civil nuclear energy can be a
mutually beneficial area for
cooperation. India welcomes
Japanese firms to participate in the
expansion of its nuclear industry for
peaceful purposes.
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Number of Indian nationals residing Project (Phase 2) (Yen Loan: 146.0

in Japan: 22,335 (as of December, million dollars).
2008).
Transmission
System
Modernization and Strengthening
The Japanese economy has been Project in Hyderabad Metropolitan
strained in the aftermath of the Area (Yen Loan: 197.5 million
massive earthquake and tsunami, dollars)
accompanied by radiation leak at
the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Conclusion
We cannot ignore the after effects
of the Great East Japan Earthquake As this year marks the fifth year
on India-Japan economic relations. since the establishment of the
F irst, the number of Indian IT Japan-India Strategic and Global
engineers working in Japan has been Partnership in 2006, with the 60th
reduced from 15,000 to 7,000, since anniversary of the establishment of
many Indian IT engineers have not diplomatic relations next year, this
yet returned to Japan. Further, since State visit by Prime Minister Noda
domestic supply chains have been has impressed on all sides the
damaged by the earthquake and friendly bilateral relationship
given the record appreciation of the between Japan and India, and
yen, Japanese companies are under contributed to further consolidating
even greater pressure to reallocate a trusting relationship at the leaders'
their production facilities to level. With regard to bilateral
emerging economies.
relations, the two Prime Ministers
All these factors provide a good
opportunity for further accelerating
Japanese FDI into India. The
following two tasks should be
addressed for further expanding
India-Japan economic relations.
First, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial
Corridor should be started along the
right line, which will be the
touchstone for future India-Japan
collaboration. Second, human
exchanges should be promoted by
all means for cementing and
expanding bilateral relations.
Japanese Aid to India (1,545.7
million dollars)
Kerala Water Supply Project (II)
(Yen Loan: 273.1 million dollars)
Delhi Mass Rapid Transport
System Project (Phase 2) (II) (Yen
Loan: 113.2 million dollars)
Gujarat Forestry Development
shared the view that they should

expand cooperation in the area of
maritime security in the political and
security fields. Substantial progress
was made in many economic areas,
including cooperation for the DMIC,
infrastructure development in
Southern India including the
connectivity between Chennai and
Bangalore, enhancement of the
bilateral
currency
swap
arrangement, extension of ODA
loans including for the Delhi Mass
Rapid Transport System, joint rare
earths projects, among others. With
regard to regional situations and
global issues, the two Prime
Ministers also affirmed that the two
countries continue cooperation in
various regional issues in Asia and
other international issues such as
the global economy and climate
change.
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12
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INDIA-NEPAL
Relations in New Light
India - Nepal relations are unique for

reasons ranging from geographical
contiguity to close cultural ties, and
extensive institutional and social
relationships. Cultural, economic and
geographical factors along with the
common bond of a shared religion
have had a great influence on bilateral
relations. As two sovereign nations,
both India and Nepal are naturally
guided by their national interests.
These interests are related to cultural,
economic and security areas. Despite
some turbulence in the past, IndiaNepal relations have remained close,
stable and mutually beneficial. Cultural
bond provides moral strength to the
relationship, while respect for each
others political identity as independent,
sovereign countries provides the
political base for meaningful
interaction. Nepal recognizes and
admires Indias position as the largest
democracy and an emerging economic
and strategic power which is striving
to find its rightful place in the comity
of nations. article-india & nepal It
appreciates the support accorded to
Nepal in the spirit of Panchsheel.
There exist vast areas of
complimentarity and mutuality of
benefits between the two countries.
Economic reforms in both countries
have opened up new avenues of
cooperation in trade and commerce,
investment and joint collaboration
projects. Nepal can benefit
tremendously from such bilateral

interaction. Greater creativity is
required, however, to take full
advantage of the complimentarity of
economies between the two countries.
Security issues are the most vital
questions that determine the tenor and
content of the relationship between
the two countries at present. It
determines the trust, endurance and
sustainability of the relationship. There
have been strong commitments to
each other in the past like assurances
not to allow their territory to be used
for undertaking unlawful activities
against the other. Formation of
governmental committees and
frequent consultations aim at bettering
the security scenario. Despite these
efforts, perceptions about Nepal not
being adequately appreciative of
Indias sensitivities has caused
sufferings to Nepal in the form of
criticism and lack of help at times. As
a result, mutual trust and confidence
are sometimes shaken and put to
stress. Promoting regional cooperation
is another way of indirectly improving
bilateral relations. A few areas
marked for the purpose include trade
and transit, energy, water resources,
investment and combating terrorism.
The biggest problem troubling the
Himalayan kingdom is the Maoist
insurgency. There are diverse opinions
depending upon ones vantage point
about where the blame lies for the
present crisis. A number of measures

are urgently needed to tackle the
present situation. Security related
establishments
have to be
strengthened to tackle the rising tide
of Maoist attacks and to maintain the
fabric of the State. But this should not
be misconstrued as remilitarization of
Nepal. The move is solely for the
purpose of facing the Maoist threat
forcefully and adequately. The Maoist
problem is not a problem of Nepal
alone. It has ramifications on India as
well in the form of growing linkages
with the Naxals in India and even
Bangladesh. Ever since the
confrontation between the Maoist-led
government and the Nepal Army in
2009 led to the resignation of Mr.
Prachanda as Prime Minister, India
has been dead-set against the Maoists
leading any kind of coalition
government in Kathmandu. Indeed,
the officials running Indias Nepal
policy made it clear the Maoists
should ideally not even be allowed to
join a coalition headed by someone
else, that they be punished a
word Indian diplomats in Kathmandu
have used with their counterparts from
other countries for having dared to
presume they could call the shots in
the wake of their victory in the April
2008 CA elections.
During the wasted year of Madhav
Kumar Nepals premiership, which
India backed to the hilt, New Delhi
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hoped the Maoists would either split

or come under pressure to accept a
unilateralist reading of the Twelve Point
Understanding and the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement two documents
which paved the way for the
constitutional
and
political
transformation of Nepal. Though the
Maoists see themselves as creating a
new mainstream, India wants them to
stick to the old mainstream and
abandon the hope of restructuring the
Nepali state and its institutions in any
fundamental way. This the Maoists are
not prepared to do.
Historical Background
Nepals trade with India continued till
1923 without having a trade
agreement with British India. Prior to
the signing of this trade agreement,
British East India Company was
interested to have trade relations with
Nepal, for expansion of its own
exports. The opening of direct India Tibet route via Gyantse routes further
promoted Nepal to develop trade with
India. Moreover, the development of
good transportation system and the
creation of many trade centers in the
northern India further helped to
enhance the trade turnover between
Nepal and India.
India Nepal Trade Treaty 1923
The Article VI of the first Trade
Treaty between Nepal and India
signed in 1923 provided that No
customs duty shall be levied at British
Indian Ports as goods imported on
behalf of the Nepal government for
immediate transport to that country.
Provision of this Article in Trade
Treaty 1923 led to the development of
Nepal-British trade freely through the
port of British India for Nepal could
not import goods from other overseas
countries.
Nepal was compelled to purchase
goods manufactured in Britain Nepal
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was very much isolated from other

countries, especially from the
developed Western countries prior to
the political change of 1951.
Treaty of Peace and Friendship
The signing of Treaty of Peace and
Friendship, and Treaty of Trade and
Commerce between Nepal and an
independent India in July 1950 can be
seen as the landmark towards the
external trade of Nepal. Treaty of
Peace and Friendship 1950 formalized
close relations between the two
countries. This Treaty can be seen as
a non-reciprocal treaty. The Treaty
symbolizes a balanced document and
served for more than five decades to
keep harness between the two
countries. Formal trade relation
between the two countries was
established in 1950 with the signing of
the Treaty of Trade. This Treaty was
modified and renewed in 1961 and
1971, and incorporated provisions
regarding transit facilities extended by
India for Nepals trade with a third
country, as well as on cooperation to
control unauthorized trade.
Duty free access to Nepalese imports
on a non-reciprocal basis was first
given in 1971 but with a Nepalese/
Indian material content requirement of
90 per cent. Indias influence over
Nepal increased throughout the 1950s.
The Citizenship Act of 1952 allowed
Indians to immigrate to Nepal and
acquire Nepalese citizenship with
easea source of some resentment
in Nepal. And, Nepalese were allowed
to migrate freely to Indiaa source
of resentment there. (This policy was
not changed until 1962 when several
restrictive clauses were added to the
Nepalese constitution.) Also in 1952,
an Indian military mission was
established in Nepal. In 1954 a
memorandum provided for the joint
coordination of foreign policy, and
Indian security posts were established
in Nepals northern frontier. At the

same time, Nepals dissatisfaction with
Indias growing influence began to
emerge, and overtures to China were
initiated as a counterweight to India.
King Mahendra continued to pursue a
nonaligned policy begun during the
reign of Prithvi Narayan Shah in the
mid-eighteenth century (see The
Expansion of Gorkha , ch. 1). In the
late 1950s and 1960s, Nepal voted
differently from India in the UN
unless Indias basic interests were
involved. The two countries
consistently remained at odds over the
rights of landlocked states to transit
facilities and access to the sea.
Following the 1962 Sino-Indian border
war, the relationship between
Kathmandu and New Delhi thawed
significantly. India suspended its
support to India-based Nepalese
opposition forces. Nepal extracted
several concessions, including transit
rights with other countries through
India and access to Indian markets
(see Foreign Trade , ch. 3). In
exchange, through a secret accord
concluded in 1965, similar to an
arrangement that had been suspended
in 1963, India won a monopoly on
arms sales to Nepal. In 1969 relations
again became stressful as Nepal
challenged the existing mutual security
arrangement and asked that the Indian
security checkposts and liaison group
be withdrawn. Resentment also was
expressed against the Treaty of Peace
and Friendship of 1950. India
grudgingly withdrew its military
checkposts and liaison group, although
the treaty was not abrogated.
The 1978 agreements incorporated
Nepals demand for separate treaties
for trade and transit. The relationship
between the two nations improved
over the next decade, but not steadily.
India continued to support the
Nepalese opposition and refused to
endorse Nepal as a zone of peace. In
1987 India urged expulsion of
Nepalese settlers from neighboring

Indian states, and Nepal retaliated by
introducing a work permit system for
Indians working in Nepal. That same
year, the two countries signed an
agreement setting up a joint
commission to increase economic
cooperation in trade and transit,
industry, and water resources.
Relations between the two countries
sank to a low point in 1988 when
Kathmandu signed an agreement with
Beijing to purchase weapons soon
after a report that China had won a
contract for constructing a road in the
western sector to connect China with
Nepal. India perceived these
developments as deliberately
jeopardizing its security.
India also was annoyed with the high
volume of unauthorized trade across
the Nepalese border, the issuance of
work permits to the estimated 150,000
Indians residing in Nepal, and the
imposition of a 55 percent tariff on
Indian goods entering Nepal. In
retaliation for these developments,
India put Nepal under a virtual trade
siege. In March 1989, upon the
expiration of the 1978 treaties on trade
and transit rights, India insisted on
negotiating a single unified treaty in
addition to an agreement on
unauthorized trade, which Nepal saw
as a flagrant attempt to strangle its
economy. On March 23, 1989, India
declared that both treaties had expired
and closed all but two border entry
points.
The economic consequences of the
trade and transit deadlock were
enormous. Shortages of Indian
imports such as fuel, salt, cooking oil,
food, and other essential commodities
soon occurred. The lucrative tourist
industry went into recession. Nepal
also claimed that the blockade caused
ecological havoc since people were
compelled to use already dwindling
forest resources for energy in lieu of
gasoline and kerosene, which came
mostly via India. To withstand the

renewed Indian pressure, Nepal
undertook a major diplomatic initiative
to present its case on trade and transit
matters to the world community. The
relationship with India was further
strained in 1989 when Nepal
decoupled its rupee (see Glossary)
from the Indian rupee which
previously had circulated freely in
Nepal. India retaliated by denying port
facilities in Calcutta to Nepal, thereby
preventing delivery of oil supplies from
Singapore and other sources. A swift
turn in relations followed the success
of the Movement for the Restoration
of Democracy in early 1990. In June
1990, a joint Kathmandu New Delhi
communiqu was issued pending the
finalization of a comprehensive
arrangement covering all aspects of
bilateral relations, restoring trade
relations, reopening transit routes for
Nepals imports, and formalizing
respect of each other s security
concerns. Essentially, the communiqu
announced the restoration of the status
quo ante and the reopening of all
border points, and Nepal agreed to
various concessions regarding Indias
commercial privileges. Kathmandu
also announced that lower cost was
the decisive factor in its purchasing
arms and personnel carriers from
China and that Nepal was advising
China to withhold delivery of the last
shipment. The communiqu declared
that Kathmandu and New Delhi would
cooperate in industrial development, in
harnessing the waters of their
common rivers for mutual benefit, and
in protecting and managing the
environment. This was gradually
reduced when the Trade Treaty was
periodically renewed and in 1993, it
was brought down to 50 per cent of
Nepalese/Indian material content and
Nepalese labor content.
Indo-Nepal Treaty of Trade, 1991
In order to expand trade between
Nepal and India and also to encourage
collaboration
in
economic
development, Treaty of Trade, 1991
was signed on 6 December 1991. It
was explicitly expressed in the Treaty
to promote mutual trade between the
two countries for the benefits of
mutual sharing of scientific and
technical knowledge and experience.
Treaty of Transit, 1991 Recognizing
the fact that Nepal is a land-locked
country and its need to have access
to and from the sea to promote its
international trade, the Treaty made
the provision in its Article I that the
contracting parties shall accord to
traffic in transit freedom of transit
across their respective territories
through routes mutually agreed upon.
No distinction shall be made which is
based on flag of vessels, the places of
origin, departure, entry, exist,
destination, ownership of goods or
vessels. Further, exemption from
customs duties and from all transit
duties or other charges were made
except reasonable charges for
transportation and such other charges
as needed to commensurate with the
costs of services. In addition, for the
convenience of traffic in transit the
contracting parties agreed to provide
point or points of entry or exist
warehouses or shed and open space
for the storage of traffic in transit
awaiting customs clearance before
onward transmissions. As such the
requirements in course of import and
export of goods and articles from
Nepal was well established in this
Treaty.
Indo-Nepal Trade Treaty, 1996
This Treaty, signed on December 3,
1996 at Kathmandu, sets a landmark
in bilateral trade relation between
Nepal and India. It gave a new
direction in the trade related areas as
well as a scope for the trade
improvement especially to Nepal.
Some of the provisions made in the
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earlier treaties were replaced and

modified. It made the procedures
simple and straight so as to remove
the procedural delays. This Treaty is
seen more often as the turning point
in the history of Nepal- India trade
relations leading to several policy
changes. Government of India
provided access to the Indian market
free of customs duties and
quantitative restrictions for all products
manufactured in Nepal on the basis of
the certificate of origin. The negative
list of product imported to India were
shortened from seven to three items
which are alcoholic liquors/beverages
and their contents except industrial
spirits, perfumes and cosmetics,
cigarettes and tobacco. Export of
Nepalese consignments with the
certificate of origin would not be
delayed at the Indian customs border/
check-post. Indian investment in
Nepal in Indian Rupees for up to 25
crores would get fast track clearance.
It was decided to increase the air seat
capacity from 4000 to 6000 per week.
Also two more points in India would
be opened for Nepalese airlines. The
governments of the two countries also
agreed to have open sky policy. f. The
government of India opened the transit
route to Bangladesh through Phulbari.
Nepal amended its foreign investment
policy, company law and transfer of
technology act. h. Nepal decided to
open Nepali Stock Exchange to
overseas investors. India and Nepal
signed the power trade agreement
and allowed private investment in
hydropower project.
India was the first country to welcome
the restoration of democracy in Nepal.
Government of India welcomed the
roadmap laid down by the historic
Comprehensive Peace Agreement of
November 2006 towards political
stabilization in Nepal through peaceful
reconciliation and inclusive democratic
processes.
A comprehensive
economic package worth Rs.1000
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crores was announced during the visit.

A soft credit line of USD 100 million
for infrastructure development projects
was extended, and outstanding dues
on defence purchases worth NRs. 1.6
billion waived. Government of India
also agreed to doubling the number of
GOI scholarships for Nepalese
students and to supply of 25,000
metric tons of fertilizers to Nepal at
subsidized prices.PM Pushpa Kamal
Dahal Prachanda paid an official
visit to India from 14-17 September
2008, A Joint Press Statement was
issued at the conclusion of the visit,
reiterating the special features of the
bilateral relationship and committing
both sides to work towards further
improving relations.India agreed to
implement the Naumure hydro-electric
project on Rapti river besides the Rs.
20 crores assistance for Kosi breach
relief. Credit of up to Rs 150 crores
was also provided to GON to ensure
uninterrupted supplies of petroleum
products. Prime Minister Madhav
Kumar Nepal paid an official visit to
India from August 18 22, 2009 at
the invitation of the Prime Minister of
India. The two leaders had also met
earlier on the sidelines of the XVth
NAM Summit in Sherm-el-Sheikh,
Egypt. The two Prime Ministers
expressed their satisfaction on the
age-old, close, cordial and multifaceted
relations between Nepal and India and
agreed to expand them further.
India expressed full support for the
ongoing peace process and the efforts
to
bring
about
economic
transformation in Nepal.2009 IndiaNepal Treaty of Trade and Agreement
of Cooperation to Control
Unauthorized Trade The 2009 Trade
Treaty revises the 1996 Trade Treaty
between the two countries. The 1996
Treaty has been a turning point in the
trade relations between the two
countries and resulted in phenomenal
growth of bilateral trade from Rs. 28.1
billion in 1995-96 to Rs. 204.8 billion
in 2008-09. While the Nepalese

exports to India increased from Rs.
3.7 billion to Rs. 40.9 billion, the Indian
exports to Nepal increased from Rs.
24.4 billion to Rs. 163.9 billion during
the period -1995- 2009.The 2009
Agreement of Cooperation to Control
Unauthorized Trade will allow export
of goods imported by Nepal from
India to the third countries without
necessity of carrying out any
manufacturing activity in Nepal. This
will enhance exports from Nepal to
third countries where it has a better
market access as compared to India.
Similarly it will allow export of the
goods imported by India from Nepal
to third countries. This will help
Nepalese exporters to take advantage
of the third country market access
developed by the Indian export
houses.
The relations and agreements
institutionalised in the 20th century
may not be enough to meet the needs
of the 21st century. Hence, the
emphasis should be to develop bilatersl
relations further, clear misgivings and
misunderstandings that we have
against each other, and sort out the
problems left by history. When the
subcontinent was colonised by the
British, they left behind a legacy which
has created friction among the nations
of South Asia. Both the nations will
have to overcome that, and develop
mutual relations in the changed time
and context. Instead of harping on old
disputes, India and Nepal will have to
look forward, and create an
atmosphere of cooperation. There are
certain political issues, which would
need more discussions. We can
engage on it freely and frankly, but
they can be postponed for the future.
The major thing is to build trust
between two countries, two
governments, and two peoples. Once
there is trust, and we are sensitive and
empathise with each other, even the
most difficult issues can be resolved
amicably.
12
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Indian River System
An Overview Over Major Features

By: Avadhesh Pandey
The rivers of India play an important role in the

lives of the Indian people. The river systems provide irrigation, potable water, cheap transportation, electricity, and the livelihoods for a large
number of people all over the country. This easily
explains why nearly all the major cities of India
are located by the banks of rivers. The rivers also
have an important role in Hindu mythology and
are considered holy by all Hindus in the country.
Seven major rivers along with their numerous
tributaries make up the river system of India. Most
of the rivers pour their waters into the Bay of Bengal; however, some of the rivers whose courses take
them through the western part of the country and
towards the east of the state of Himachal Pradesh
empty into the Arabian Sea. Parts of Ladakh, northern parts of the Aravalli range and the arid parts of
the Thar Desert have inland drainage. All major
rivers of India originate from one of the three main
watersheds:
The Himalaya and the Karakoram ranges

Vindhya and Satpura ranges and Chotanagpur
plateau in central India
These tributaries are the source of the name of the

Punjab region of South Asia; the name is derived
from the Persian words Punj ("five") and aab ("water"), hence the combination of the words (Punjab)
means "five waters" or "land of five waters".
Beas
The Beas originates in Beas Kund, lying near the
Rohtang pass. It runs past Manali and Kulu, where
its beautiful valley is known as the Kulu valley. It
joins the Sutlej river near Harika, after being joined
by a few tributaries. The total length of the river is
615 .
Chenab
The Chenab originates from the confluence of two

rivers, the Chandra and the Bhaga, It is also known
as the Chandrabhaga in Himachal Pradesh. It runs
parallel to the Pir It enters the plains of Punjab
near Akhnur and is later joined by the Jhelum. It
is further joined by the Ravi and the Sutlej in Pakistan.
Jhelum
The Jhelum originates in the south-eastern part of

Kashmir, in a spring at Verinag.
Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western India

Indus River System
The Indus River originates in the northern slopes

of the Kailash range near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet. Although most of the river's course runs
through neighboring Pakistan, a portion of it does
run through Indian territory, as do parts of the
courses of its five major tributaries, listed below.
Ravi
The Ravi originates near the Rotang pass in the
Himalayas and follows a north-westerly course. It
turns to the south-west, near Dalhousie, and then
cuts a gorge in the Dhaola Dhar range entering
the Punjab plain near Madhopur. It flows as a part
of the Indo-Pakistan border for some distance before entering Pakistan and joining the Chenab
river.
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The Tapti River

System
Sutlej
The Sutlej originates from the Rakas Lake, which
is connected to the Manasarovar lake by a stream,
in Tibet. It enters Pakistan near Sulemanki, and is
later joined by the Chenab. It has a total length of
almost 1500 km.
The Brahmaputra River

System
The Brahmaputra originates in the Mansarovar
lake, also the source of the Indus and the Satluj. It
is slightly longer than the Indus, but most of its
course lies outside India. It flows eastward, parallel to the Himalayas. Reaching Namcha Barwa
(2900m), it takes a U-turn around it and enters
India in Arunachal Pradesh and known as dihang.
The undercutting done by this river is of the order
of 5500 metres. In India, it flows through
Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and is joined by
several tributaries.
Every year during the rainy season, the river overflows its banks, causing widespread devastation like
floods in Assam and in Bangladesh.Unlike other
north Indian rivers the Brahmaputra is marked by
huge deposits of silt on its bed causing it to rise.
The river also shifts its channel frequently.
The Narmada River

System
The Narmada or Nerbudda is a river in central
India.It forms the traditional boundary between
North India and South India, and is a total of 1,289
km (801 mi) long. Of the major rivers of peninsular India, only the Narmada, the Tapti and the Mahi
run from east to west. Its total length through the
states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and
Gujarat amounts to 1,312 kilometres (815 mi), and
it empties into the Arabian Sea in the Bharuch district of Gujarat. It also forms the 'Dhuadhar
Falls'where the river plunges over steep rocks.
The Taapti is a river of central India. It is one of

the major rivers of peninsular India with the length
of around 724 km, It rises in the eastern Satpura
Range of southern Madhya Pradesh state, before
emptying into the Gulf of Cambay of the Arabian
Sea, in the State of Gujarat. The Western Ghats or
Sahyadri range starts south of the Tapti River near
the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The principal tributaries of Tapi River are Purna
River, Girna River, Panzara River, Waghur River,
Bori River and Aner River. car is the rivers food.
The Godavari River

System
The river with second longest course within India, Godavari is often referred to as the Vriddh
(Old) Ganga or the Dakshin (South) Ganga. The
river is about 1,450 km (900 mi) long. It rises at
Trimbakeshwar, near Nasik and Mumbai (formerly
Bombay) in Maharashtra around 380 km distance
from the Arabian Sea, and empties into the Bay of
Bengal. At Rajahmundry, 80 km from the coast,
the river splits into two streams(Vasista which
flows to Narsapur & Gautami which flows to other
side pasarlapudi) thus forming a very fertile delta.
Like any other major rivers in India, the banks of
this river also has many pilgrimage sites, Nasik,
Triyambak and Bhadrachalam, being the major
ones. It is a seasonal river, widened during the
monsoons and dried during the summers. Godavari
river water is brownish.
Some of its tributaries include Indravati River,
Pranahita (Combination of Penuganga and Warda),
Manjira, Bindusara and Sabari kinnerasani. Some
important urban centers on its banks include Nasik,
Bhadrachalam, Rajahmundry and Narsapur. The
Asia's largest rail-come-road bridge on the river
Godavari linking Kovvur and Rajahmundry is considered to be an engineering feat.
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The Krishna River

System
The Mahanadi River

System
The Krishna is one of the longest rivers of India

(about 1300 km in length). It originates at
Mahabaleswar in Maharashtra and meets the sea
in the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladeevi in Andhra
Pradesh. The Krishna River flows through the
states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh.
The Mahanadi River Delta in India is a basin of

deposit that drains a large land mass of the Indian
subcontinent into the Bay of Bengal. The alluvial
valley is wide and relatively flat with a meandering river channel that changes its course.
The traditional source of the river is a spout from

the mouth of a statue of a cow in the ancient temple
of Mahadev in Mahabaleshwar.
The Mahanadi River flows slowly for 560 miles

(900 km) and has an estimated drainage area of
51,000 square miles (132,100 square km). It deposits more silt than almost any other river in the
Indian subcontinent.
Its most important tributary is the Tungabhadra

River, which itself is formed by the Tunga and
Bhadra rivers that originate in the Western Ghats.
Other tributaries include the Koyna, Bhima,
Malaprabha, Ghataprabha, Yerla, Warna, Dindi,
Musi and Dudhganga rivers.
In 2009 River Krishna has seen the worst hit floods
in 100 years
The Kaveri River

System
The Kaveri is one of the great rivers of India and is
considered sacred by the Hindus. This river is also
called Dakshin Ganga. The headwaters are in the
Western Ghats range of Karnataka state, and from
Karnataka through Tamil Nadu. It empties into the
Bay of Bengal. The source of the river is
Talakaveri(Kodagu District) located in the Western Ghats about 5,000 feet (1,500 m) above sea
level. it has many tributaries including Shimsha,
Hemavati River, Arkavathy, Kapila, Honnuhole,
Lakshmana Tirtha, Kabini, Lokapavani, Bhavani,
Noyyal and Famous Amaravati.the dam constructed for the river is KRS(Krishna Raja Sagara)
by the Highness of Mysore through the well known
engineer Bharata Ratna Sir Mokshagundam
Visvesvarayya, which is located in Mandya district
and this river is serving as water of life for South
Indians.
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LIBYAN CRISIS
Following a spate of protests in countries around the region,
protests broke out in several areas of Libya challenging Col.
Muammar Qaddafis 42-year rule. In late February, as the
governments response to these protests turned increasingly
violent, the UN Security Council responded by passing
Resolution 1970 to impose sanctions on Qaddafi and refer the
situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In
early March, the UN General Assembly suspended Libyas
membership to the Human Rights Council.On March 17th, the
UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 calling for a no-fly zone to deter the bombardment of
civilian targets by government forces. Resolution 1973 marks the first time the Security Council passed
a resolution to authorize the use of force with an explicit reference to the responsibility to protect.An ad
hoc coalition composed of the US, France, and the UK began implementing the no-fly zone immediately
after the adoption of Resolution 1973. On March 27th, NATO assumed command of the military operation
in Libya. NATO follows Resolution 1973 in banning all flights in Libyan airspace, except those for
humanitarian and aid purposes, to make sure that civilians and civilian populated areas cannot be
subjected to air attack by Qaddafi forces.NATO should develop a civilian casualty tracking, analysis
and response mechanism with personnel in both Naples and in Benghazi. In addition to cataloguing all
available known data, the cell would also recognize and investigate all allegations of civilian casualties,
in anticipation of future development of an amends system.
France announced its official recognition for the Libyan National Council as the
sole representative of the Libyan people and became the first western country to
do so. France also handed over the building of the former Libyan Embassy to
Paris to the Council. It also announced to send an ambassador to Benghazi (Libyas
second largest city) which is the seat of Libyan National Council.The President of
France, Nicholas Sarkozy had presented the global plan on the Crisis in Libya at
an emergency summit of European Union heads of government in Brussels on 11
March 2011. European nations took actions to isolate the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi
with France officially recognising the rebel group in Libya. Britain pressed for the imposition of a nofly zone and Germany freezed assets worth billions. Foreign ministers from the G8 failed to reach any
agreement on military intervention in Libya during the two-day summit in Paris. Despite France pushing
for a no-fly zone, G8 nations couldnt reach consensus on the establishment of a no-fly zone against
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Qadhafis forces in Libya. International conference

called by UK and held at London urged Muammar
Qadhafi to resign as the ruler of Libya. The London
conference in its resolution called for an immediate
ceasefire and to stop all attacks on civilians and
providing full humanitarian access to needy people.
The London conference made a declaration that
the NATO-led military operations would continue
in Libya until the above mentioned requirements
were met.
Russian Angle
The air campaign against Colonel
Gaddafis forces in Libya has had
an unexpected consequence far
from the front lines: it has resulted
in the first distinct manifestation of disagreement
within Russias ruling duo. And the evident
difference in position between President Dmitry
Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has
revealed a fork in the road for Russias foreign
policy. When questions of war and peace are being
decided, powers that aspire to a global role should
occupy a clear position either for, or against. In
the case of Libya, Russia abstained from voting
on the UN Security Council resolution. Abstention
under President Medvedev contradicts Russias
prior strict adherence to a single foreign policy
principle: opposition of foreign interventions in
internal affairs.These days, the Kremlin remains
neutral, although the case of Libya is far more
urgent. As for the real goal of the military
campaign, there should be no illusions: the aim is
regime change. Any scenario that leaves Muammar
Gaddafi in power would be a moral and political
defeat for the West and West-friendly regimes in
the region.
To Moscow, Col Gaddafi is just one of many
partners, and for Russia to jeopardise the current
positive dynamic in relations with the US and the
EU for the sake of Tripoli makes no sense.
Deliberations about lost contracts in Libya are a
waste of breath: given the situation there now, there
would be no more business as usual with the
Libyan ruler anyway. The geopolitical purpose of
Operation Odyssey Dawn for Washington is to stop

the erosion of its influence in the Middle East,
while for Europe it is to prevent the definitive loss
of its international role. If they put a quick end to
the Gaddafi regime they will have achieved their
aim, at least for a while. But if the operation drags
on and requires more than air strikes, which looks
probable, the effect may be just the reverse:
Western influence may plummet in the region. Arab
regimes that supported the action will also be in a
vulnerable position. After the collapse of the Soviet
Union, Moscow was at pains for a long time to
assume or at least imitate the status of a global
power, participating in all decisions on the
international stage. But towards the end of the last
decade, Russia began to see itself not as a likeness
of the former Soviet Union, but as a major and
influential, although regional, power whose vital
interests have definite geographical contours. To
defend its interests, Moscow is ready to use force,
as it did in South Ossetia.Both approaches have
the right to exist, but it would be advisable to pick
one of them and stick to it. Simultaneously
declaring both puts the country in a weak and
ambivalent position, indicating that the Russian
leadership has no mutual understanding and no coordinated policy. This is especially dispiriting at a
time when chaos is only increasing around the
world.
Indias Interests
Along with Russia and China, India
has been critical of the ongoing
western air strikes launched against
Libya on the ground that ordinary
Libyans would be affected and the air attacks
would prove counterproductive to the US
purported humanitarian objective. The External
Affairs Minister, Mr S. M. Krishna, has urged the
western nations, which have imposed a no fly
zone over Libya, to ceasefire and called upon the
Gaddafi regime and the rebel forces to abjure
violence and talk to each other. From an Indian
national security and foreign policy perspective,
the regime in Tripoli needs to be a friendly one
since Libya is an oil rich country and an eternal
shock western air attacks or civil war could

affect Indian industrial investments and energy
security interests there. New Delhis stand that air
attacks on Libya must cease is, therefore, grounded
in rational choice and Waltzian realism: Every big
or aspiring power weighs the costs and benefits of
the use of force and that their position on particular
matters in world politics is guided by self-interest.
In Indias case, it was protection of its vital interest
Libyan oil.
Indias national interests in Libya are essentially
economic in nature. Considering an estimated
18,000 Indians who work in that country, it is a
considerable contribution to the remittance
economy and adds to our foreign exchange kitty.
Otherwise, Indian companies, especially in the
hydrocarbon, power, construction and IT sector,
have several ongoing projects in Libya. Besides,
Indian oil majors Indian Oil, Oil India and
ONGC Videsh are increasingly involving
themselves with the Libyan hydrocarbon sector
both in upstream and downstream. Also, BHEL
has successfully completed execution of the
prestigious Western Mountain Gas Turbine Power
Project. Similarly, i-flex Solutions is implementing
a project on core banking solutions with the Central
Bank of Libya and five other banks. Also, over the
past three decades, Indian companies have
executed several projects there. These included
building hospitals, houses, schools, roads, power
plants, airports, dams, transmission lines etc. The
presence of Indian companies in Libya has risen
significantly in the last five years.
This includes major PSUs such as BHEL, OVL,
IOC, Oil India, and private companies such as Punj
Llyod, Unitech Ltd, KEC, Dastur Engineering,
Shapoorji Pallonji International, SECON Pvt Ltd,
Global Steel Ltd (Ispat Group Co.), NIIT, Sun
Pharma, Simplex Projects and Simplex
Infrastructure Ltd. The bilateral trade figures for
2009-10 were at $844.62 million, showing a
significant upward trend since 2004-05, peaking
to $ 1,366.65 million in 2007-08 compared to
$29.12 million in 2003-04.
Today, the western limited liability intervention in

Libya minus boots-on-the-ground aims to provide
the rebels a level-playing field against the more
organised military muscle of Gaddafis forces.
Perhaps, some level of western covert para-military
support like special forces/commandos may be
operationally deployed to advice the rebels on
tactics to adopt against the regimes forces.
Otherwise, the only advantage that the regimes
forces have would be in terms of some superior
weaponry such as shoulder fired rocket propelled
grenades/missile launchers.
Apart from this infantry-support weaponry, the
qualitative difference would be in terms of
command and control of the regimes forces that
in a sense would amount to a force multiplier visa-vis the motley groups of rebels who lack such a
coordinated approach to combat. he ostensible
logic of the US-led western powers to embark on
this two-dimensional military adventure from the
air and sea was only to prevent a carnage of the
rebel forces through neutralisation of Gaddaffis
airpower, tanks and artillery by aerial and naval
bombardment. The opposition to western air strikes
is solely on the grounds that collateral damage
would ensue and innocent citizenry would be hurt
due to flaws in military target acquisit ion
procedures based on inaccurate intelligence inputs.
India abstained from voting in the UNSC and did
not go along with the NATO-EU and Arab League
countries. Clearly, the US anti-dictator policy over
Libya is a contradiction considering Washington
adopted a pro-dictator stance on Bahrain and
supported the Saudi Arabian force deployment to
quell the opposition to the entrenched monarchy
there. Similarly, India also was equally inconsistent
by voting with the western industrial democracies
against Iran in 2009 at the UN, but not doing so
now. But foreign policy and consistency are not
always synonymous with each other; instead,
foreign policy and national interests have to be in
tune with each other.
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LOKPAL BILL
A Drama Unfold
The Jan Lokpal Bill campaign began

in January 2011 in the backdrop of
the publicity that accompanied the
several mega-scams that surfaced
in 2010, notably those relating to the
Commonwealth Games and the
telecom spectrum allocations. It
caught the public imagination with
Anna Hazare's fast at Jantar Mantar
in New Delhi in April 2011. That
forced the UPA government to constitute a joint drafting committee for
a Lokpal bill. The civil society representatives in the committee proposed a bill called the Jan Lokpal
bill, which became the basis for discussions. The basic principles on
which the bill was drafted were
culled from the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which
required all countries to put in place
anti-corruption investigative agencies that would be independent of
the executive government and would
have the jurisdiction to investigate
all public servants for corruption.
The Lok Sabha passed a historic
Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, but
defeated a parallel Constitution
(116th Amendment) Bill, which
would have given the Lokpal constitutional status. On December 22, the
government introduced the Bill
along with the Constitution (116th
Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha.
However the UPA government didnt
put it to vote in the Upper House.
This Bill incorporated some of the
recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. This was a completely new Bill
as the government had withdrawn
its previous Lokpal Bill, which it introduced in the Lok Sabha on August
4, 2011, and later referred to the
Standing Committee. The Standing
Committee tabled its report on December 9, 2011. The August Bill did
not propose to confer constitutional
status on the Lokpal. The Standing
Committee recommended constitutional status so that the Lokpal had
higher stature and increased legitimacy. The committee believed that
constitutional status would enhance
the legal and moral authority of the
Lokpal institution and also insulate
the basic principles of the Lokpal
from the vicissitudes of ordinary or
transient majorities.
Yet, the Lok Sabha, which passed the
Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill with a
few amendments, rejected the Constitution (116th Amendment) Bill,
which required two-thirds majority
of the House present and voting for
its passage. The object of the Constitution Amendment Bill is laudable
as it seeks to create an autonomous

and independent Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the States with
powers of superintendence and direction over investigation and prosecution of public servants accused
of corruption. Yet, it failed to secure
the requisite support in the Lok
Sabha because members found a
huge gap between its object and the
provisions of the Lokpal and
Lokayuktas Bill.
During the debate in Parliament, the
opposition was critical of the
government's control over the selection and removal of members of the
Lokpal. But the Standing Committee report shows that it wanted to
dilute the provisions with regard to
selection and removal in the Bill that
was introduced in August. That Bill
had proposed a nine-member selection committee, five of whom would
have been government nominees.
The Standing Committee recommended a four-member selection
committee comprising the Prime
Minister, the Speaker of the Lok
Sabha, the Chief Justice of India
(CJI), an eminent Indian nominated
unanimously by the Comptroller and
Auditor General (CAG), the Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC) and
the Chairman of the Union Public
Service Commission (UPSC), and the
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok
Sabha. The December Bill proposes
five members, of whom three should
be government nominees the
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says, shall refer a preliminary inquiry against Group A, B, C and D

employees to the Central Vigilance
Commission (CVC). The Bill further
says that after conducting the inquiry, the CVC shall submit a report
to the Lokpal in the case of Group A
and B employees and proceed according to specified procedure in the
case of Group C and D staff. The
CVC, according to the current Bill,
Though the Bill kept the CBI with the shall send periodic reports to the
government, it allowed the Lokpal to Lokpal on its cases.
have its own anti-corruption investigative body. It eliminated the need The Rajya Sabha witnessed a sordid
to get prior sanction for investiga- drama. Several parties which had
tion from the government. It provided walked out in the Lok Sabha (the
for the confiscation of the assets of Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan
corrupt public servants and the re- Samaj Party) or had not moved any
covery of losses caused by their acts amendments there (the Trinamool
of corruption from them. But it cre- Congress) moved amendments in
ated a terribly cumbersome proce- the Rajya Sabha and their represendure for investigation, by which a tatives delivered fiery speeches oppreliminary inquiry and hearing of posing the provisions of the Bill.
the corrupt public servant were made When it became clear that at least
compulsory before investigation three of the amendments (those recould begin. This ended the possi- lating to the selection and removal
bility of making surprise raids and of Lokpal members, the CBI being
seizures on the premises of corrupt brought under the administrative
public servants or their abettors. The control of the Lokpal, and the deleBill of August provided that the tion of the chapter on Lokayuktas in
Lokpal would have its own investi- the States) were likely to be passed,
gation and prosecution wings. The the government engineered disturStanding Committee, however, bances in the House, resorted to filisought to dilute this by recommend- bustering and prevented the amending instead that the Lokpal conduct ments from being voted upon. And
a preliminary inquiry, after which the the House was prorogued with the
Central Bureau of Investigation Bill hanging in the air.The drama in
(CBI) would investigate. Also, the the Rajya Sabha showed that the
CBI would have autonomy over its government was not even willing to
go by the will of Parliament. This
investigation.
gives rise to fundamental questions
The committee also proposed that about the functioning of Indian dethe Lokpal will have a supervisory mocracy.
role over the CBI in cases relating The Bill adds that if a prima facie
to Group A and B officers. The Bill case exists against a public servant,
of December further diluted these the Lokpal may refer it to the CBI for
recommendations. The Lokpal, it investigation. Also, it may refer a
Prime Minister, the Speaker, the

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok
Sabha and the CJI or a judge of the
Supreme Court nominated by the CJI,
and one eminent jurist nominated by
the President. Had the government
accepted the Standing Committee's
recommendation, it could have
dented somewhat the opposition's
criticism.
case for preliminary inquiry to the

CBI (other than Group A, B, C and D
officers). The Bill also provides that
the Lokpal shall exercise general
superintendence over the CBI (similar to the CVC's supervision currently). These additional dilutions in
the later Bill, according to critics,
reduce the Lokpal to just a post office.
The committee recommended that
the Lokpal conduct only the preliminary inquiry and that it be authorised
to initiate it suo motu. In such cases,
the inquiry would have to be done
by a five-member Lokpal Bench that
is not connected with the suo motu
initiation. More important, the accused would not get an opportunity
to be heard at this stage, though the
Bill of August allowed that. The later
Bill rejects both these recommendations and sticks to the August version, which provided that the Lokpal
could initiate an inquiry only on the
basis of a complaint by a citizen. The
only concession the Bill makes is that
the Lokpal shall have its own inquiry
wing to conduct a preliminary inquiry on a complaint it has received
and has decided can be inquired
into.
Under Article 252 or 253

Some parties questioned that lokpal
bill should be brought under article
253 & not under article 252.
Article 252: Article 252. Power of
Parliament to legislate for two or
more States by consent and adoption of such legislation by any other
State
(1) If it appears to the Legislatures
of two or more States to be desirable that any of the matters with
respect to which Parliament has no
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
power to make laws for the States

except as provided in Articles 249
and 250 should be regulated in such
States by Parliament by law, and if
resolutions to that effect are passed
by all the House of the Legislatures
of those States, it shall be lawful for
Parliament to pass an Act for regulating that matter accordingly, and
any Act so passed shall apply to
such States and to any other State
by which it is adopted afterwards by
resolution passed in that behalf by
the House or, where there are two
Houses, by each of the Houses of
the Legislature of that State.
(2) Any Act so passed by Parliament
may be amended or repealed by an
Act of Parliament passed or adopted
in like manner but shall not, as respects any State to which it applies,
be amended or repealed by an Act
of the Legislature of that State
Article 253: Article 253. Legislation
for giving effect to international
agreements Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of
this Chapter, Parliament has power
to make any law for the whole or any
part of the territory of India for
implementing any treaty, agreement
or convention with any other country or countries or any decision made
at any international conference, association or other body.
Relation between Union and States
The relation between Union and
States is the very bedrock of the Indian Federal system. India is a federal State with a national government and a government of each constituent state. Although the structure
of India is federal in a general way,
yet there are certain aspects that are
unique to federalism as practiced in
India. The Indian government fol-
lows a strong central bias.

Some of the special features of India are as follows:
Agreement between the States: If
two states agree that the Parliament
can legally make laws with respect
to the two states, then the Parliament can make laws relating to any
law or set of laws related to the State
Laws. This is an extension of the Parliamentary legislative as laid down
by the Article 252 of the Indian Constitution.
Implementation of Treaties: The
Parliament makes laws for the
implementation of treaties, even if
the subject falls under the legislative power of the State, for the bigger international interest of the
country. This power has been given
to the Union by the Article 253.
Suggested Amendments: Team
Anna had suggested 34 amendments
to rectify the government's Bill, and
pointed out that four of these were
critical to making the Lokpal a workable institution. These were that the
selection and removal procedure
should be made independent of the
government; the CBI should be
brought under the Lokpal's administrative control or, alternatively, the
Lokpal should have its own investigative body; all government servants should be brought under the
Lokpal's investigative ambit; and the
procedure for investigation should
be in line with the normal criminal
investigation procedure. But the government was adamant in not accepting any of these either, and
went on to bulldoze the passage of
its Bill. It rejected all the amendments moved by the Opposition in
the Lower House.
Notices for 187 Amendments in Rajya Sabha

Notice had been given for as many
as 187 amendments to the Lokpal
and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 including
from the Trinamool Congress for
deletion of the entire Part III of the
Bill regarding establishment of the
Lokayuktas. The Biju Janata Dal and
the Shiromani Akali Dal too had given
similar notices. By afternoon, the
Rajya Sabha had received 173
amendment notices. The number
swelled to 187 by evening as announced by the Minister of State for
Personnel V. Narayanasamy. Normally notices are taken 24 hours in
advance but on Thursday, notices
were accepted till late evening, while
the government took the stand in the
House that there were too many
amendments which needed consideration.
Among major amendments were the
ones given by the Bharatiya Janata
Party for deletion of words not less
than 50 per cent of members of
Lokpal belonging to Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled tribes, Other
Backward Classes, Minorities and
Women in Clause 3. They also asked
for deletion of the word Minorities'
in Clause 3 and inclusion of Leader
of Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Selection Committee in Clause 4. They
also wanted Lokpal to appoint his
secretary and not select from a
panel given by the government.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) gave amendment for replacement of eminent jurist on the Selection Committee with an eminent
person to be nominated by the Chief
Election Commissioner, Comptroller
and Auditor General and Union PubWWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
lic Service Commission. They also

wanted the Inquiry Wing under the
Lokpal to be replaced by Investigation Wing with the Central government providing officers and staff
under exclusive jurisdiction of the
Lokpal as decided in consultation
with the Lokpal. The Party gave another amendment for inclusion under the Lokpal of any corporate
body, its promoters, its officers including Director against whom there
is a complaint of corruption in relation to grant of government licence,
lease, contract, agreement or any
other action to influence government policy through corrupt means.
They wanted Lokpal to take suo
motu action in a compliant of corruption.
Other Angle
Passing of Lokpal Bill seems quite
an impossible task,because every
party to it has its interest.The UPA
government summarily checkmated the social activists and
drove them into existential crisis
while simultaneously reducing the
Lokpal bill to a maere a game tool.
At the moment, the activists will be
happier with the no bill at all than
the current version of the bill tabled
by the government. None of the political parties wants the Lokpal bill.
Even if individual politicians want it,
they cant do a thing about it because their High Command does
not want it. But the countrys future
is at stake. The politicians are out
to maintain the status-quo in order
to protect their corrupt practices and
ill-gotten wealth. But Team Anna
has accepted this mission and is not
going to relent until their goals are
met. Team Anna rallied the masses
and raised hopes of a utopian tomor-
row - one with a clean and indepen- ness in W. Bengal. But at present,
dent CBI under an incorruptible everything she does is to extract the
Lokpal. But after an entire year of maximum from the Congress.
wrangling with the government.
Meanwhile, the elections in UP are
round the corner, and the Congress
has been expanding its reach with
some crafty electoral mathematics,
a specialization offered at the
Allahabad University. Ajit Singh is
already in the bag. He was traded
the lucrative civil aviation ministry
in return for joining the Congress
electoral alliance in UP. Likewise, the
Railway Ministry is being dangled
in front of Mulayam Singh Yadav of
the SP. Doing well in the UP elections
will surely serve as a shot in the arm
for the Congress. First, it might
cause a mental breakdown for
Mayawati, especially after the election commission decided to cover
her statues across the state. Secondly, it sets the stage for Rahul
Gandhis coronation as the PM. Besides, it will also give the Congress
greater leverage against Didi.
Conclusion
Indias politicians again stand discredited in the eyes of people, who

are asking questions to which the
politicians, both the ruling party and
the opposition, do not have an answer. If we truly want to make India
corruption free we need to look at
the new generation. Yes the government can help first by cleaning
up their administration and then by
punishing corrupt people so severely
that punishment becomes a deterrent to corruption. The government
can support and reward honesty
reward people who pay taxes instead of harassing them and go after the people who do not pay taxes
and yet lead opulent lives. Rewarding honesty and penalising dishonesty will create an ecosystem that
supports a life of integrity. Let the
honest man be privileged and acknowledged so that people aspire to
On the other side of this pitched be honest.
battle is the opportunistic BJP, which
recently threw open its gates for We need to target schools and colMayawati discards in UP. In contrast, leges; motivate the youngsters to
the same BJP passed a strong take charge so that they can start
Lokayutkha bill in Uttarkhand. The changing the world around them. We
BJPs goal is simple - stall the bill, have to stop paying the cop for trafharp on the governments incompe- fic offences, and we have to have
tence, and cash in on the general dis- the will to fight each time a bribe is
content in the country, in hope of asked of us. The people of India need
riding an anti-corruption wave to get the media now the media that
back in power. The battle lines are catapulted the movement to fame
drawn. On one side is the Congress needs to open an action line where
party and its fickle, calculative al- every act of corruption can be relies. The leading trouble-maker ported and exposed. Because this
among the allies is the TMC. The battle can be won, this change can
Congress needs her now and she be made and we do not need reguknows that. Her primary long-term lation to do so.
goal is to put the CPI(M) out of busi-
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12
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LOKPAL BILL
The word Lokpal means an ombudsman in India. The word has been
derived from the Sanskrit words "loka" (people) and "pala" (protector/
caretaker). So the word Lokpal means 'protector of people'. The concept of Lokpal has been drawn up to root out corruption at all levels in
the prevailing Indian polity.
The Lokpal will be a three-member body with a chairperson who is or
was a chief justice or Supreme Court judge, and two members who are
or have been high courts judges or chief justices.Implementation of
the Lokpal bill will hopefully reduce corruption in India. The basic
idea of the Lok Pal is borrowed from the office of ombudsman, which
has played an effective role in checking corruption and wrong-doing in Scandinavian and other nations.
In early 1960s, mounting corruption in public administration set the winds blowing in favour of an
Ombudsman in India too.
The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) set up in 1966 recommended the constitution of a
two-tier machinery - of a Lokpal at the Centre, and Lokayukta(s) in the states.the Lokpal has to complete the inquiry within six months.
Duties of Lokpal are as follows:
1. To judge the cases and make jurisdictions against corruption cases with the Lokpal.
2. To judge whether a case is legal or whether a fake complaint has been made.
3. To potentially impose fines on a fake complaint, or even a short span of jail time, if the case is not
proved to be legally true.
In India, the Jan Lokpal Bill (also referred to as the citizens' ombudsman bill) is a proposed anticorruption law designed to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances and protect whistleblowers.
The law would create an ombudsman called the Lokpal; this would be an independent body similar to
the Election Commission of India with the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without prior
government permission.
A compromise bill, merging the Government's version and that of the civil group's version (Jan Lokpal),
is being drafted by a committee of five Cabinet Ministers and five social activists. As of July 2011, the
most current version of the bill is version 2.3, according to the government website. For 42 years, the
government-drafted bill has failed to pass the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.The
first Lokpal Bill was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament, in 1969 but stalled
in the Rajya Sabha. Subsequent Lokpal bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998,
2001, 2005 and 2008 but all failed to pass.
Latest Developments
Anna Hazare, a Gandhian rights activist, had
started a fast unto death at Jantar Mantar in New
Delhi demanding the passing of the bill. Hazare
called off his hunger strike on the 9th of April,
2011 bringing to an end his 98-hour protest after
the government issued a gazette notification constituting a 10-member Joint Committee of government ministers and civil society activists, including him, to draft a bill for the creation of an effective Lokpal.
Drafting Committee
The drafting committee was officially formed on
8 April 2011. It consists of ten members, including five from the government and five drawn from
society.
Chairmen
The Government of India accepted that the committee be co-chaired by a politician and an activist, non-politician. It is reported that Pranab
Mukherjee, from the political arena, and Shanti
Bhushan, from civil society, will fill those roles.
Government representation (Five Cabinet ministers )They are:
Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Co-Chairman;
P. Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs;
Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law and Justice;
Kapil Sibal, Minister for Communications and
Information Technology; and
Salman Khursid, Minister of Water Resources.
Civil society representation (Five leading social
activists). They are:
Shanti Bhushan, Former Minister of Law and
Justice, Co-Chairman;
Anna Hazare, Social Activist;
Prashant Bhushan, Lawyer;
N. Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta (Karnataka); and

Arvind Kejriwal.
Thousands of people from all over India, especially
the youth, supported Anna Hazare's cause by candle
light marches and online campaigns through social media.Recently Yoga guru, Swami Ramdev,
was on a fast for this cause for 9 consecutive days
from 4 June - 12 June 2011. He wanted the Government of India to accept various demands which
mainly included those related to the Lokpall
bill.Anna Hazare on the 8th of June, 2011, declared
that he will restart his fast unto death on the 16th
of August if the Lokpal bill is not passed by the
Parliament of India by 15 August, which is the
Inependence Day of India.On the 16th of June, the
civil society reported that only 15 points of total
71 that they recommended have been agreed to by
the Joint Committee consisting of five central ministers. Following differences with the Civil Society, the team of five central ministers decided to
forward two drafts of the Lokpal Bill to the Cabinet, one from each side.
The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill)
is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment
of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body that would
investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the
case getting over in the next one year. Drafted by
Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court
Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka),
Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and
Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found
guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being
confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal
to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without
government permission.
Salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:
1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and
LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up.
2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission,
they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able
to influence their investigations.
3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on
for years anymore: Investigations in any case will
have to be completed in one year. Trial should be
completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two
years.
4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of
conviction.
5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work
of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any
government office, Lokpal will impose financial
penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as
compensation to the complainant.
6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration
card or passport or voter card is not being made
or if police is not registering your case or any other
work is not being done in prescribed time.
Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time.
You could also report any case of corruption to
Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its
investigations in a year, trial will be over in next
one year and the guilty will go to jail within two
years.
7. But won't the government appoint corrupt and
weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be
possible because its members will be selected by
judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and
not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.
8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta
will be completely transparent. Any complaint
against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated
and the officer dismissed within two months.
9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption

agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anticorruption branch of CBI will be merged into
Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and
machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
10. It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide
protection to those who are being victimized for
raising their voice against corruption.
Some people have opined that the Jan Lokpal Bill
is 'Nave' in its approach to combating corruption.
The Lokpal concept was criticized by the Human
Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil
Sibal because of concerns that it will lack accountability, oppresively, and undemocratically.The
claim that the Lokpal will be an extra-constitutional body has been derided by Hazares closest
lieutenant, Arvind Kejriwal. He states the Jan
Lokpal Bill drafted by civil society will only investigate corruption offences and submit a charge
sheet which would then tried and prosecuted,
through trial courts and higher courts. Kejriwal
further states that the proposed bill also lists clear
provisions in which the Supreme Court can abolish the Lokpal.Although Kejriwal has stated that
all prosecutions will be carried out through trial
courts, the exact judicial powers of LokPal is rather
unclear in comparison with its investigative powers.
The bill requires "...members of Lokpal and the
officers in investigation wing of Lokpal shall be
deemed to be police officers". Although some supporters have denied any judicial powers of
Lokpal,the government and some critics have recognized Lokpal to have quasi-judicial powers.The
bill states that "Lokpal shall have, and exercise the
same jurisdiction powers and authority in respect
of contempt of itself as a High court has and may
exercise, and, for this purpose, the provisions of
the Contempt of ourts Act, 1971 (Central Act 70
of 1971) shall have the effect subject to the modification that the ref rences therein to the High Court
shall be construed as including a reference to the
Lokpal." Review of proceedings and decisions by
Lokpal is prevented in the bill, stating "...no proceedings or decision of the Lokpal shall be liable to be
challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court of ordinary Civil Jurisdiction." Without judicial review, there is concern that Lokpal could become a extra-constitutional body with investigative and judicial powers whose decisions cannot be reviewed in regular courts.
Whether or not to include the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under the Lokpal remains as one of
the major issues of dispute. Although Hazare proposed Justice Verma, the former Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, as the Chairman of the Lokpal Bill panel,Justice Verma later expressed his constitutional objections for including the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under Lokpal, stating "this
would foul with the basic structure of the constitution".
Difference Between Draft Lokpal Bill 2010 and Jan Lokpal Bill
Jan Lokpal Bill
(Citizen's Ombudsman Bill)
Draft Lokpal Bill (2010)
Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo motu
Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo
action or receive complaints of corruption from

the general public. It can only probe.
moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public.
Complaints forwarded by the Speaker of the

Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Lokpal will have the power to initiate
Lokpal will have police powers as well as
Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body with a

role limited to forwarding reports to a "Competent Authority".
Lokpal will have no police powers and no ability to register an First Information Report or proceed with criminal investigations.
prosecution of anyone found guilty.
the ability to register FIRs.
Lokpal and the anti corruption wing of the

CBI will be one independent body.
Punishments will be a minimum of 5 years

and a maximum of up to life imprisonment.
The CBI and Lokpal will be unconnected.
Punishment for corruption will be a minimum

of 6 months and a maximum of up to 7 years.
India is a country where honesty and integrity in public and private life have been glorified andupheld
in great epics such as the Vedas, Upanishads and in the books and practices of everyreligion practiced
here.Yet, India today is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.Bringing public servants under a
scanner which makes them strictly accountable is the start of amovement against corruption in India.
And one significant step in attacking the spectre ofcorruption in India will be the implementation of the
lok pal bill.
In the regular dispensation of government there are implicit and explicit ways that citizens canvoice
their grievances and demand change. But these are often difficult. Within administrative departments,
for example, any decision of one official can be appealed to a higher official, all the way up to the head
of a department. However, this mechanism has inherent flaws.But it can be said that Lokpal is the need
of the hour and it will have to be implemented first ,then only we can decide whether it is fruitful or not.
ORDER ONLINE
Causes & Cure

Controversy continues to surround the death of 29-year-old
Mark Duggan in north London
on Thursday evening. His shooting at the hands of police while
he was travelling in a taxi cab
sparked rioting and looting in
Tottenham on Saturday. The unrest subsequently
spread across London and other parts of the UK in
what police have described as copycat attacks. Officers from Operation Trident the Metropolitan Police unit that deals with gun crime in London's black
communities stopped the cab Duggan was travelling in during a pre-planned operation. Duggan died
of a single gunshot wound to the chest, an inquest at
north London Coroner's Court heard on Tuesday.The
fact that a bullet had lodged in a police radio worn
by an officer at the scene, raising speculation he might
have been fired at from the vehicle. A non-police issue handgun was also recovered at the scene where
Duggan was shot dead, the IPCC said. However, a
report said that initial tests by the National Ballistics Intelligence Service on the bullet found lodged
in the police radio suggested that the bullet fragments
were from police-issue ammunition, meaning they

could not have been from a weapon fired by Duggan,
casting doubt on claims that he was killed in an exchange of gunfire. 120 people, including members of
Duggan's family and community workers, marched
to Tottenham police station in north London, only a
short distance from the scene of the shooting.The
march was peaceful according to reports, with protesters calling for "justice" and an investigation. Local roads were closed and traffic diverted.
What sparked the rioting is still unclear but police
said that certain elements, who were not involved
with the vigil, took the opportunity to commit disorder and physically attack police officers, verbally
abuse fire brigade personnel and destroy vehicles and
buildings. "Police say the subsequent riots in other
parts of London and the UK are copycat events that
have little or nothing to do with the death of Duggan.
Rioting had taken place in several London locations,
including Battersea in south London, Ealing in the
west and Hackney in east London. Disturbances were
also reported in Birmingham in central England,
Bristol in the southwest and Liverpool in northwest
England.Rioting and looting was reported from several other parts of London, including Brixton in south
London, Enfield in north London and Oxford Street
in central London, the capital's main shopping district. Yet the riots we are seeing now are fundamentally different from those that have gone before. They
might, ostensibly, have been triggered by the police
shooting of Mark Duggan, a notorious gangster, in
north London; but they are fuelled by pure greed, by
a belief that something can be had for nothing. The
usual brakes on such behaviour either an appreciation that it is wrong, or by the prospect that the culprit will be caught and punished are largely absent.
but they also include the interpretation of womens

rights, the willingness of governments to allow factory fodder to be imported because business sector
insists on paying salaries so low that governments
have to top up those wages simply in order to ensure
people can live and the ill-discipline of generations
of latch key children. Of course not all such kids are
rioting and not all rioters are unemployed but it is
the atmosphere created which leads to these problems.
It is of course no coincidence that Mr.cameroons very
philosophy is to reduce the role of the state, meaning
that assistance is harder to get and takes longer to
get.
The police introduced special powers in four areas of

London -- Lambeth, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham
Forest -- allowing stop and search without reasonable suspicion in a bid to keep rioters off the streets.In
theory, parliament could invoke powers to implement
curfews, use water canons or even call in the armed
forces.However, senior politicians and police officers have said that these options are unlikely to be used
unless the situation got significantly worse.The government has yet to respond, most of them are sunning
themselves on beaches across the globe but the Prime
Minister doubtless to promise terrible retribution be
visited upon those caught rioting. He will also say
that there is no excuse for rioting or stealing and he
will set up an enquiry which will doubtless be headed
by somebody who has never been unemployed, lived
on a squalid council estate. They will cite poverty
and unemployment but will not accept that immigration has played any part or that ill-discipline in
schools and indeed in many homes has any baring.
They will not accept that reducing the role of motherhood to something to be fitted around work has
caused havoc in society for these people by and large
have their own agenda which has the unfortunate pitfall of being utterly un-costed. Printing money and
handing it out for free would not solve the problems
faced.
They appear to believe that social safety nets can be

fixed on the cheap but if the rioters believe that their
actions will change this philosophy they are deluded.
The solution must lie in long term if not life long
employment being found for the people which pays
well and includes provision for both health care and
old age. This will involve a deal of planning from the
cradle to the grave but the alternative, to leave people
increasingly to their own devices is surely not an option? Such a massive undertaking would require
change in all sectors of the community.
We must distribute wealth more evenly and we cannot continue to refuse to use legislation to make it
happen. Of course many business people will tell you
that they would be forced to move abroad in such circumstances but the time has come to treat such threats
as what they are unpatriotic and based on greed.They
must also stop all immigration immediately. This is
not a racial point or one of human rights. The truth is
that the population is already too big for a nation of
their size to sustain both moves to tackle serious deprivation and support further immigration our services cannot stretch to it. Perhaps in the future Britain may once more be in a position to offer safety and
solace to those less fortunate, but at this juncture in
they cannot continue to countenance such ideas.
Epithets like rabble or riff-raff are too mild for

the lawless, feckless, mindless and amoral thugs who
forced passers-by to strip naked while they stole their
clothes; or who torched a furniture warehouse that
had withstood the Blitz; or who ransacked shops
across London. But the question is what is the root
cause behind this ruthless and nonsensical riots. The
causes are many and varied. They certainly include
the failure of successive governments to more fairly
distribute the nations wealth and the draconian measures being taken to cut the social security budget,
Attitudes on all sides then must change but sadly there

is little sign of compromise. The camps are set up,
lines are drawn, those who have intend to keep and
those who have not intend to take from those who
have, it is a spiral which can only lead to greater and
greater unrest. My consolation is my age which may
prevent me from having to witness the culmination
of this madness but I also hope against hope that somebody will emerge with the power and the vision to
drag us back from the abyss. As yet he/she are keeping their own counsel but you never know.
If ever we wanted proof that Britain has been divided into two nations, then here it was. But hasnt it always
been? You did not need to look far beneath the surface at any time over the past 200 years or more to find
people ready to loot and rob and steal. After all, the London mob is hardly a new phenomenon. The word
itself was coined in the late 17th century as the citys population grew and aggressive crowds, fuelled by
alcohol and perceived grievance, took to the streets with alarming regularity.
ORDER ONLINE
Nuclear Power in India
Future Enery Source for Development

By: Ram Kumar Pandey
When the agreement goes

through, India is expected to generate an additional 25,000 MW of
nuclear power by 2020, bringing
total estimated nuclear power
generation to 45,000 MW.
Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydro and renewable sources of electricity. As of 2010, India has 19
nuclear power plants in operation generating 4,560
MW while 4 other are under construction and are
expected to generate an additional 2,720 MW. India is also involved in the development of fusion
reactors through its participation in the ITER
project.
Since early 1990s, Russia has been a major source
of nuclear fuel to India. Due to dwindling domestic uranium reserves, electricity generation from
nuclear power in India declined by 12.83% from
2006 to 2008. Following a waiver from the Nuclear
Suppliers Group in September 2008 which allowed
it to commence international nuclear trade, India
has signed nuclear deals with several other countries including France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Namibia, Mongolia, Argentina,
Kazakhstan In February 2009, India also signed a
$700 million deal with Russia for the supply of 2000
tons nuclear fuel.
India now envisages to increase the contribution

of nuclear power to overall electricity generation
capacity from 4.2% to 9% within 25 years. In 2010,
India's installed nuclear power generation capacity will increase to 6,000 MW. As of 2009, India
stands 9th in the world in terms of number of operational nuclear power reactors and is constructing 9 more, including two EPRs being constructed
by France's Areva. Indigenous atomic reactors include TAPS-3, and -4, both of which are 540 MW
reactors. India's $717 million fast breeder reactor
project is expected to be operational by 2010.
Nuclear Power Growth

in India
India, being a non-signatory of the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty, has been subjected to a defacto
nuclear embargo from members of the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG) cartel. This has prevented
India from obtaining commercial nuclear fuel,
nuclear power plant components and services from
the international market, thereby forcing India to
develop its own fuel, components and services for
nuclear power generation. The NSG embargo has
had both negative and positive consequences for
India's Nuclear Industry.
On one hand, the NSG regime has constrained India from freely importing nuclear fuel at the volume and cost levels it would like to support the
country's goals of expanding its nuclear power gen-
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eration capacity to at least 20,000 MW by 2020. Also, by precluding India from taking advantage of the
economies of scale and safety innovations of the global nuclear industry, the NSG regime has driven up the
capital and operating costs and damaged the achievable safety potential of Indian nuclear power plants.
On the other hand, the NSG embargo has forced the Indian government and bureaucracy to support and
actively fund the development of Indian nuclear technologies and industrial capacities in all key areas
required to create and maintain a domestic nuclear industry. This has resulted in the creation of a large
pool of nuclear scientists, engineers and technicians that have developed new and unique innovations in
the areas of Fast Breeder Reactors, Thermal Breeder Reactors, the Thorium fuel cycle, nuclear fuel reprocessing and Tritium extraction & production.
Ironically, had the NSG sanctions not been in place, it would have been far more cost effective for India to
import foreign nuclear power plants and nuclear fuels than to fund the development of Indian nuclear
power generation technology, building of India's own nuclear reactors, and the development of domestic
uranium mining, milling and refining capacity.
The Indian nuclear power industry is expected to undergo a significant expansion in the coming years
thanks in part to the passing of The Indo-US nuclear deal. This agreement will allow India to carry out
trade of nuclear fuel and technologies with other countries and significantly enhance its power generation
capacity. when the agreement goes through, India is expected to generate an additional 25,000 MW of
nuclear power by 2020, bringing total estimated nuclear power generation to 45,000 MW.
India has already been using imported enriched uranium and are currently under International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, but it has developed various aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle to support
its reactors. Development of select technologies has been strongly affected by limited imports. Use of
heavy water reactors has been particularly attractive for the nation because it allows Uranium to be burnt
with little to no enrichment capabilities.
India has also done a great amount of work in the development of a Thorium centered fuel cycle. While
Uranium deposits in the nation are limited there are much greater reserves of Thorium and it could provide hundreds of times the energy with the same mass of fuel. The fact that Thorium can theoretically be
utilized in heavy water reactors has tied the development of the two. A prototype reactor that would burn
Uranium-Plutonium fuel while irradiating a Thorium blanket is under construction at the Madras/
Kalpakkam Atomic Power Station.
Uranium used for the weapons program has been separate from the power program, using Uranium from
indigenous reserves. This domestic reserve of 80,000 to 112,000 tons of uranium (approx 1% of global
uranium reserves) is large enough to supply all of India's commercial and military reactors as well as supply
all the needs of India's nuclear weapons arsenal. Currently, India's nuclear power reactors consume, at
most, 478 metric tonnes of uranium per year. Even if India were quadruple its nuclear power output (and
reactor base) to 20GW by 2020, nuclear power generation would only consume 2000 metric tonnes of
uranium per annum.
Based on India's known commercially viable reserves of 80,000 to 112,000 tons of uranium, this represents
a 40 to 50 years uranium supply for India's nuclear power reactors (note with reprocessing and breeder
reactor technology, this supply could be stretched out many times over). Furthermore, the uranium requirements of India's Nuclear Arsenal are only a fifteenth (1/15) of that required for power generation
(approx. 32 tonnes), meaning that India's domestic fissile material supply is more than enough to meet all
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needs for it strategic nuclear arsenal. Therefore, India has sufficient uranium resources to meet its strategic
and power requirements for the foreseeable future.
Nuclear Power Plants

Currently, nineteen nuclear power reactors produce 4,560.00 MW (2.9% of total installed base).
The projects under construction are:
Atomic Energy Commission of India

The Atomic Energy Commission is a governing body functioning under the Department of Atomic Energy
(DAE), Government of India. The DAE is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The Indian
Atomic Energy Commission was first set up in August 1948 in the then Department of Scientific Research,
which was created a few months earlier in June 1948. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was set up
on August 3, 1954 under the direct charge of the Prime Minister through a Presidential Order. Subsequently, in accordance with a Government Resolution dated March 1, 1958, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was established in the Department of Atomic Energy. The then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru also laid a copy of this Resolution on the table of the Lok Sabha on March 24, 1958. Dr Homi
Jehangir Bhabha was the first chairman of the commission.
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According to the Resolution constituting the AEC,

the Secretary to the Government of India in the
Department of Atomic Energy is ex-officio Chairman of the Commission. The other Members of
the AEC are appointed for each calendar year on
the recommendation of the Chairman, AEC with
the approval of the Prime Minister.
Salient Milestones of
Atomic Energy in India
March. 12, 1944 : Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha

writes to Sir Dorabji Tata Trust for starting Nuclear
Research in India
December 19, 1945 : Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai is inaugurated.
April 15, 1948 : Atomic Energy Act is passed

August 10, 1948 : Atomic Energy Commission
is constituted
July 29,1949 : Rare Minerals Survey Unit

brought under Atomic Energy Commission and
named as Raw Materials Division (RMD), with
Headquarters at New Delhi. In 1958, this unit becomes Atomic Minerals Division (AMD), and later
in 1974, shifts to Hyderabad. It is renamed as
Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and
Research (AMD) on July 29, 1998.
August 18, 1950 : Indian Rare Earths Limited
August 01, 1955 : Thorium Plant at Trombay
goes into production. Thorium Plant at Trombay

is closed.
1956 : AMD discovers uranium mineralisation

at Umra, Rajasthan.
August 04, 1956 :APSARA - first research reactor in Asia, attains criticality at Trombay,
Mumbai.
January 20, 1957 : Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) is inaugurated
August 19, 1957 : AEET Training School starts

functioning at Trombay.
January 30, 1959 :Uranium Metal Plant at

Trombay produces Uranium.
February 19, 1960 : First lot of 10 Fuel Elements for CIRUS reactor, is fabricated at Trombay
July 10, 1960 : CIRUS the 40 MWt research
reactor, attains criticality. After its successful refurbishment, the reactor was dedicated to the Nation on October 31, 2002.
January 14, 1961 : Research Reactor ZERLINA

attains criticality. (It is decommissioned in 1983).
1965: IRE takes over operation of Mineral Pro-
cessing Unit at Manavalakurichi in Tamil Nadu and

at Chavara in Kerala.
January 22, 1965 : Plutonium Plant is inaugu-
rated at Trombay.
(IRE), owned by the Government of India and Government of Travancore, Cochine, is set up for recovering minerals, processing of rare earths compounds and Thorium - Uranium concentrates. In
1963, IRE becomes a full-fledged government undertaking under DAE
covered by AMD. Drilling operations commence

in December 1951.
June 1, 1967 : Power Projects Engineering Di-
April 1951: Uranium Deposit at Jaduguda is dis-
December 24, 1952 : Rare Earths Plant of IRE
at Alwaye, Kerala, is dedicated to the nation and

production of Rare Earths & Thorium - Uranium
concentrate commences.
August 03, 1954 : Department of Atomic Energy is created.
January 22, 1967 : AEET is named as Bhabha

Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
April 11, 1967 : Electronics Corporation of In-
dia Limited (ECIL) is set up at Hyderabad for producing electronic systems, instruments and components.
vision (PPED), Mumbai is formed. The Division is

subsequently converted to Nuclear Power Board
on August 17, 1984.
October 4, 1967: Uranium Corporation of India

Limited (UCIL) is established with head quarters
at Jaduguda Mines in Jharkhand (then Bihar).
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May 1968: Uranium Mill at Jaduguda, with a

capacity of 1,000 TPD, commences commercial
production of Magnesium diuranate (yellow cake).
Jaduguda Mine Shaft is commissioned in November 1968.
ings at Surda, Hindustan Copper Limited commenced.
May 1975 : Commercial production of by-prod-
ucts - Molybdenum and Copper concentrates starts.
December 31, 1968 : Nuclear Fuel Complex is
September 1975 : Surda Uranium Recovery

Plant of UCIL is commissioned.
March 12, 1969 : Reactor Research Centre (RRC)
comes operational at Kolkata.
set up at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
June 16, 1977 : Variable Energy Cyclotron be-
1978 : High-sensitivity airborne spectrometric
starts at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu. The Centre is

fully established in 1971. It is named as Indira
Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) on
December 18, 1985.
1979 : AMD hands over Bhatin and Turamdih
tuted at Mumbai. This later becomes Heavy Water Board.
Nov 18, 1979 : Plutonium-Uranium Mixed Ox-
tion starts commercial operation.
May 01, 1969 : Heavy Water Projects is consti-
October 02, 1969 : Tarapur Atomic Power Sta 1970 : AMD hands over the Uranium Deposit at
Narwapahar to UCIL.
September 06, 1970 : Uranium-233 is separated
from irradiated Thorium
February 18, 1971 : Plutonium fuel for Research
Reactor PURNIMA-I is fabricated at Trombay.
1972 : AMD hands over the beach sand heavy
mineral deposits of Chhatrapur, Orissa and

Neendakara-Kayankulam, Kerala to IRE.
February 3, 1972 : DAE Safety Review Committee is formed.
May 18, 1972 : Research Reactor PURNIMA-I

attains criticality.
November 30, 1972 : Unit-1 of Rajasthan

Atomic Power Station at Rawatbhatta, near Kota,
Rajasthan, begins commercial operation. Unit II
goes commercial on November 1, 1980.
and magnetometric surveys started.
(East) uranium deposits (now in Jharkhand State)

to UCIL.
ide (MoX) fuel is fabricated at Trombay.
November 19, 1982 : BARC's Power Reactor

Fuel Reprocessing Plant at Tarapur is commissioned.
1983 : Fbtr attains first criticality.

February 1983 : Rakha Uranium Recovery Plant
of UCIL is commissioned.
November 15, 1983 : Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) in Mumbai is constituted.
1984 : Sandstone-type uranium deposit at

Domiasiat, Meghalaya is discovered.
January 27, 1984 : Madras Atomic Power Sta-
tion - Unit I at Kalpakkam starts commercial operation. Unit II goes commercial on March 21,
1986.
February 19, 1984 : Centre for Advanced Tech-
nology (CAT) at Indore (Madhya Pradesh) is inaugurated.
March 08, 1984 : Plutonium - Uranium mixed
1974: By-product Recovery Plant of UCIL at

Jaduguda is commissioned.
Carbide Fuel for Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR)

is fabricated at Trombay.
Experiment is conducted at Pokhran, Rajasthan.
II, a Uranium-233 fuelled homogenous reactor,

attains criticality.
May 18, 1974 : Peaceful underground Nuclear

March 1975 : Commercial production of Uranium Mineral Concentrates from Copper plant tail-
May 10, 1984 : Research Reactor PURNIMA-
1985 : AMD hands over the Bodal uranium deposit to UCIL.
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March 05, 1985 : Waste Immobilisation Plant
(WIP) at Tarapur is commissioned.

August 08, 1985 : Research Reactor DHRUVA (100
MWt) attains criticality. It attains full power on
January 17, 1988.
October 18, 1985 : FBTR at IGCAR attains criticality.
1986 : Dredge Mining, Mineral Separation and
Synthetic Rutile Plant at OSCOM, Chhatrapur,

Orissa is commissioned by IRE. HERO Project at
Alwaye, Kerala, is commissioned. Production is
started at OSCOM.
October 1986 : Bhatin Mine is commissioned

by UCIL and the ore is transported to Jaduguda
mill for processing.
December 1986 : Mosaboni Uranium Recovery

Plant of UCIL is commissioned.
1987 : AMD hands over Turamdih (West) uranium deposits to UCIL, and beach sand deposits in
Tamil Nadu to IRE.
September 17, 1987 : Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is formed by converting the erstwhile Nuclear Power Board.
1988 : AMD hands over the Kuttumangalam

and Vettumadia sand deposits, Tamil Nadu to IRE.
December 30, 1988 : 12 MV Pelletron Accel-
erator is inaugurated in Mumbai. The accelerator

is a joint endeavour of BARC & TIFR.
1989 : AMD Training School is inaugurated.

Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT)
is constituted.
January 3, 1989 : Regional Radiation Medicine
Centre (RRMC) is inaugurated at Kolkata.
missioned at Alwaye. Dredge & Wet Concentrator Plant at Chavara, Kerala, is commissioned.
November 09, 1990 : Research Reactor

PURNIMA-III, a Uranium-233 fuelled reactor, attains criticality.
1991: AMD discovers uranium mineralisation

at Lambapur, Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh
and produces upgraded xenotime concentrate at
Pre-concentrate Upgradation Plant (PUP) at
Kunkuri.
May 16, 1991: First ECR heavy ion source of

the country becomes operational at the Variable
Energy Cyclotron Centre.
1992 : First remotely operated radiography cam-
era is launched. Significant heavy mineral concentration along the East Coast, Andhra Pradesh, is
identified.
New
Thorium
Plant
at
OSCOM,Chhattrapur, Orissa is commissioned by
IRE.
September 03, 1992 : Kakrapar Atomic Power
Station - Unit I attains criticality. Its Unit II attains criticality on January 08, 1995
1993 : BARC supplies one millionth radioisotope consignment.
1995 : Research Irradiator Gamma Chamber

5000 is launched by BRIT.
January 1995 : Narwapahar mine is inaugurated.

1996 : 30kWt Kamini Reactor attains criticality. The reactor is taken to full power in September, 1997.
March 27, 1996 : Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant
(KARP) is cold commissioned. KARP is dedicated

to the nation on September 15,1998.
March 12, 1989 : Narora Atomic Power Station
1990 : Dolostone -hosted uranium mineralisation
1997 : AMD discovers of uranium mineralisation
Unit I attains criticality. Its Unit II attains criticality on October 24, 1991.
in the western margin of Cuddapah basin is discovered.

Mineral Research Development Centre (MRDC)
of IRE is launched at Kollam. HERO Plant is com-
October 20, 1996 : Kalpakkam Mini Reactor

(KAMINI), with Uranium-233 fuel, attains criticality at IGCAR, Tamilnadu.
in brecciated limestone at Gogi, Gulbarga district,
Karnataka in the Bhima basin. Microzir Plant is
commissioned in Chavra, Kerala.
March. 31, 1997 : Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Unit-1 is re-commissioned.
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December 1997: Jaduguda Mill is expanded to
treat 2,090 tonnes ore per day. PRYNCE (95%

Neodymium Oxide) Plant is commissioned at Rare
Earths Division.
May 11 & 13, 1998 : Five underground nuclear

tests are conducted at Pokhran Range, Rajasthan.
May 27, 1998 : Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Unit-2 is re-commissioned after enmasse replacement of coolant channels.
August 10, 1998 : The 500 keV industrial elec-
tron accelerator developed indigenously by the

BARC is commissioned for its first phase of operation. Ammonium diuranate (ADU) production
commences at Rare Earths Division of IRE at
Alwaye, Kerala.
April 22, 1999 : 450 MeV Synchrotron Radia-
tion Source Indus-1 achieves electron beam current of 113 milli-ampere superceding the design
value of 100 milli-ampere.
July 1999 : Solid Storage and Surveillance Facil-
ity (S3F) is commissioned at Tarapur.

September 24, 1999 : Unit-2 of Kaiga Atomic Power
Station attains criticality. It is synchronised to the
grid on December 02, 1999, and becomes commercial on March 16, 2000.
December 24, 1999 : Unit-3 of Rajasthan Atomic
Power Station attains criticality. It is synchronised

to the grid on March 10, 2000, and becomes commercial on June 2, 2000.
January 1, 2000 : BRIT's Radiation Processing
Plant at Vashi, Navi Mumbai is commissioned.

2000 : Boron Enrichment Plant is commissioned
at IGCAR, Kalpakkam.
March 8, 2000 : Tarapur Atomic Power Project
3&4 rises up.
March, 2000 & May 2000 : First concrete pour
of Unit-3 and Unit-4 of Tarapur Atomic Power

Project-3 & 4.
April 21, 2000 : Folded Tandem Ion Accelera-
tor (FOTIA) at Trombay delivers first beam on target.
September 26, 2000 : Unit-1 of Kaiga Atomic

Power station attains criticality. It synchronises to
the grid on October 12, 2000.
November 03, 2000 : Unit-4 of Rajasthan

Atomic Power station attains criticality. It creates
history by synchronising with the grid within a
period of 14 days on November 17, 2000. The unit
becomes commercial on December 23, 2000.
November 16, 2000 : Unit - 1 of Kaiga Atomic

Power Station becomes commercial.
2001 : FBTR fuel reaches burn up of 100,000 MWd/
T.
March 18, 2001: Units 3 & 4 of Rajasthan Atomic

Power Stations dedicated to the nation.
February 12, 2002 : India signs the biggest con-
tract with the Russian Federation for the Nuclear

Power Station at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu. March
30 & May 10, 2002 : First pours of concrete

respectively of Unit-3 and Unit-4 of Kaiga Atomic
Power Project 3 & 4.
March 31, 2002 : First pour of concrete of Units

1&2 of Kudankulam Atomic Power Project.
September 18, 2002 : First pour of concrete of

Unit-5 of Rajasthan Atomic Power Project 5 & 6
October 31, 2002 : Waste Immobilisation Plant
and Uranium-Thorium Separation Plant at (both

at Trombay), and the Radiation Processing Plant
Krushak at Lasalgaon, district Nasik, Maharashtra,
are dedicated to the Nation.
November 2002 : UCIL's Turamdih Mine,

Jharkhand is inaugurated and Technology Demonstration Pilot Plant becomes operational at
Jaduguda.
2003 : 1.7 MeV Tandetron Accelerator and the
demo facility Lead Mini Cell (LMC), for reprocessing of FBTR carbide fuel on lab scale, are commissioned at IGCAR.
06-March-2005 : India's first 540 MWe Nuclear

Power Reactor Tarapur Unit 4 Attains Criticality.
04-June-2005 : TAPS 4 synchronised to the grid
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IAEA financial resources include the regular budget and voluntary contributions. The Regular Budget for 2008 amounts to 277 million. The target
for voluntary contributions to the Technical Cooperation Fund for 2008 is $80 million.
IAEA Mission And

Programmes
The IAEA is the worlds center of cooperation in

the nuclear field. It was set up as the worlds "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957 within the
United Nations family. The Agency works with
its Member States and multiple partners worldwide
to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.
Organizational Profile
The IAEA Secretariat is headquartered at the
Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria.
Operational liaison and regional offices are located
in Geneva, Switzerland; New York, USA; Toronto,
Canada; and Tokyo, Japan. The IAEA runs or supports research centers and scientific laboratories
in Vienna and Seibersdorf, Austria; Monaco; and
Trieste, Italy.
The IAEAs mission is guided by the interests and

needs of Member States, strategic plans and the
vision embodied in the IAEA Statute. Three main
pillars - or areas of work - underpin the IAEAs
mission: Safety and Security; Science and Technology; and Safeguards and Verification.
Relationship with
United Nations
As an independent international organization related to the United Nations system, the IAEAs
relationship with the UN is regulated by special
agreement. In terms of its Statute, the IAEA reports annually to the UN General Assembly and,
when appropriate, to the Security Council regarding non-compliance by States with their safeguards
obligations as well as on matters relating to international peace and security.
The IAEA Secretariat is a team of 2200 multi-disciplinary professional and support staff from more
than 90 countries. The Agency is led by Director
General Yukiya Amano and six Deputy Directors
General who head the major departments.
IAEA programmes and budgets are set through
decisions of its policymaking bodies - the 35-member Board of Governors and the General Conference of all Member States. Reports on IAEA activities are submitted periodically or as cases warrant to the UN Security Council and UN General
Assembly.
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Nuclear Security Summit
Adopted Communiqu and Plan of Work

By: Sant Prasad Gupta
A major international summit convened by Barack

Obama to discuss ways of improving the security
of nuclear materials got under way on April 12, 2010
with the American President underlining the importance of preventing terrorists from getting hold
of the ingredients for a nuclear bomb in Washington.
The two-day summit brought together 47 countries,
including the U.S., 37 of whom are being represented
by their heads of state or government. A final declaration, negotiated over the past few months by
officials from participating countries has been released.
Romania has nearly 1500 MWe of nuclear generating capacity and sources 20 per cent of its electricity from nuclear energy, Bulgaria's two reactors
account for 35 per cent of its national power grid,
and Hungary has four reactors generating one-third
of its power. All three countries also figure in the
list compiled by the International Panel on Fissile
Material with stocks of Highly Enriched Uranium
in the 10-100 kg. range. Yet, neither country will
be at the Washington summit, even though Armenia, with just 370 MWe of nuclear power has been
invited. Uzbekistan has also not been invited, despite holding HEU stocks in the 100-1000 kg range.
But Georgia, with no nuclear programme to speak
of, will be in Washington.
Two other countries whose presence ought to have

been considered essential to such an endeavour are
Niger and Namibia, who together account for nearly
18 per cent of the world's mined uranium. But the
two African states, whose yellowcake drives much
of the world's nuclear programme, were not considered important enough for the summit.
Laura Holgate, Senior Director, WMD Terrorism
& Threat Reduction at National Security Council,
told that the idea was to get a representative set of
countries. We couldn't invite every single country
that has any nuclear connectivity and so we were
looking for countries that represented regional diversity where we had states that had weapons, states
that don't have weapons, states with large nuclear
programs, states with small nuclear programs.
Both India and Pakistan has attended the summit at
the prime ministerial level. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu pulled out at the last minute,
opting to send his Foreign Minister instead.
Statement by Indian Prime

Minister
Nuclear security is one of the foremost challenges
we face today. I therefore wish to commend President Barack Obama for his initiative in convening
this Summit on Nuclear Security. We would like
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the Summit to lead to concrete outcomes which help

make our world a safer place.
dia. We must learn from past mistakes and institute

effective measures to prevent their recurrence.
The developmental applications of nuclear science

in areas such as medicine, agriculture, food preservation and availability of fresh water are by now
well established. Today, nuclear energy has emerged
as a viable source of energy to meet the growing
needs of the world in a manner that is environmentally sustainable. There is a real prospect for nuclear
technology to address the developmental challenges
of our times.
The world community should join hands to eliminate the risk of sensitive and valuable materials and
technologies falling into hands of terrorists and illicit traffickers. There should be zero tolerance for
individuals and groups which engage in illegal trafficking in nuclear items.
In India we have ambitious plans for using nuclear

energy to meet our growing energy needs. Our target is to increase our installed capacity more than
seven fold to 35000 MWe by the year 2022, and to
60,000 MWe by 2032.
The nuclear industrys safety record over the last
few years has been encouraging. It has helped to restore public faith in nuclear power. Safety alone,
however, is not enough. The challenge we face today is that of ensuring nuclear security.
The danger of nuclear explosives or fissile material
and technical know-how falling in to the hands of
non-state actors continues to haunt our world. India
is deeply concerned about the danger it faces, as do
other States, from this threat.
Since 2002, we have piloted a resolution at the
United Nations General Assembly on measures to
deny terrorists access to Weapons of Mass Destruction. We fully support the implementation of United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 and the
United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy.
The primary responsibility for ensuring nuclear security rests at the national level, but national responsibility must be accompanied by responsible
behaviour by States. If not, it remains an empty slogan. All States should scrupulously abide by their
international obligations. It is a matter of deep regret that the global non-proliferation regime has
failed to prevent nuclear proliferation. Clandestine
proliferation networks have flourished and led to
insecurity for all, including and especially for In-
Global non-proliferation, to be successful, should

be universal, comprehensive and non-discriminatory and linked to the goal of complete nuclear
disarmament.We welcome the fact that the world
is veering around to our view that the best guarantor of nuclear security is a world free from nuclear
weapons.
Starting with Jawaharlal Nehru over five decades
ago, India has been in the forefront of the call for
global and complete nuclear disarmament. In 2006
India proposed the negotiation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention. We have also expressed our readiness to participate in the negotiation of an internationally verifiable Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty
in the Conference on Disarmament.
Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had put forward a concrete Action Plan in 1988 for the universal and non-discriminatory elimination of nuclear
weapons leading to global nuclear disarmament in
a time-bound framework. I once again reiterate
Indias call to the world community to work towards
the realisation of this vision.
We welcome the agreement between the United
States and Russia to cut their nuclear arsenals as a
step in the right direction. I call upon all states with
substantial nuclear arsenals to further accelerate this
process by making deeper cuts that will lead to
meaningful disarmament.
We are encouraged by the Nuclear Posture Review
announced by President Obama. India supports the
universalisation of the policy of No First Use. The
salience of nuclear weapons in national defence and
security doctrines must be reduced as a matter of
priority. The dangers of nuclear terrorism make the
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early elimination of nuclear weapons a matter of

even greater urgency.
The Indian Atomic Energy Act provides the legal
framework for securing nuclear materials and facilities, and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
ensures independent oversight of nuclear safety and
security. We are party to the Convention on the
Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005
amendment.
Indias three stage nuclear power programme which
began sixty years ago is based on a closed nuclear
fuel cycle. A direct benefit of this is that it ensures
control over nuclear material that is generated as
spent fuel. At the same time, we are continually
upgrading technology to develop nuclear systems
that are intrinsically safe, secure and proliferation
resistant. We have recently developed an Advanced
Heavy Water Reactor based on Low Enriched Uranium and thorium with new safety and proliferation-resistant features.
India has maintained an impeccable non-proliferation record, of which we are proud of. As a responsible nuclear power, India has and will not be the
source of proliferation of sensitive technologies. We
have a well-established and effective export control
system which has worked without fail for over six
decades. We have strengthened this system by
harmonisation of our guidelines and lists with those
of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Missile
Technology Control Regime. Our commitment to
not transfer nuclear weapons or related materials
and technologies to non-nuclear weapon states or
non-state actors is enshrined in domestic law
through the enactment of the Weapons of Mass
Destruction Act. We stand committed not to transfer reprocessing and enrichment technologies and
equipment to countries that do not possess them.
As a founder member of the International Atomic
Energy Agency, we have consistently supported the
central role of the IAEA in facilitating national efforts to strengthen nuclear security and in fostering
effective international cooperation. We have so far
conducted nine Regional Training Courses on
Nuclear Security in cooperation with the IAEA. We
have entered into a Safeguards Agreement with the

IAEA in 2008, and have decided to place all future
civilian thermal power reactors and civilian breeder
reactors under IAEA safeguards.
We will continue to work with the IAEA and our
partners in the United Nations as well as other forums such as the Global Initiative to Combat
Nuclear Terrorism to upgrade standards, share experiences and ensure effective implementation of
international benchmarks on nuclear security.
we have decided to set up a Global Centre for
Nuclear Energy Partnership in India. We visualize
this to be a state of the art facility based on international participation from the IAEA and other interested foreign partners. The Centre will consist of
four Schools dealing with Advanced Nuclear Energy System Studies, Nuclear Security, Radiation
Safety, and the application of Radioisotopes and
Radiation Technology in the areas of healthcare,
agriculture and food. The Centre will conduct research and development of design systems that are
intrinsically safe, secure, proliferation resistant and
sustainable. We would welcome participation in this
venture by your countries, the IAEA and the world
to make this Centres work a success.
Communiqu and Plan of

Work
The 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit ended with
the adoption of a short final communiqu and seven
page work plan aimed at promoting the effective
security of nuclear materials worldwide.
The communiqu includes general commitments
while the more specific work plan constitutes a political commitment by participating countries to
carry out applicable measures, on a voluntary basis,
in all aspects of the storage, use, transportation and
disposal of nuclear materials.
Unlike most nuclear documents springing from the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty system, the
Washington communiqu makes no legal distinction between nuclear weapon states and the rest. Nor
www.upscportal.com
is there any reference to the NPT. Instead, it reaffirms the fundamental responsibility of States, consistent with their international obligations, to maintain effective security of all nuclear materials. These
materials are defined as including nuclear materials used in nuclear weapons, and nuclear facilities
under their control.
The document calls for wider support for existing
international instruments on nuclear security such
as the 1979 Convention on the Physical Protection
of Nuclear Material and its 2005 amendment, the
Convention on the Suppression of Nuclear Terrorism.
There is no reference in the documents to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1887 on nuclear security
and non-proliferation, passed last year at the urging
or U.S. President Barack Obama. Indian officials say
the reference in that to NPT adherence meant it could
not be included in the communiqu.
Next Nuclear Security

Summit in the South Korea
President Barack Obama announced that the next
Nuclear Security Summit would be held in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in two years. He said
that this would help to ensure that our progress is
not a fleeting moment, but part of a serious and sustained effort.
Mr. Obama said the summits provided the nations
with the opportunity to take specific and concrete
national-level actions to secure the nuclear materials, to strengthen the International Atomic Energy
Agency, and to deepen international cooperation
aimed at preventing nuclear materials from falling
into the hands of terrorists.
But the communiqu and work plan have words of

support for the G8-led Global Partnership against
the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction. This
initiative includes the annual G8 statements on nonproliferation, the last of which sought to prevent
India from accessing enrichment and reprocessing
technologies.
The work plan covers a wide range of issues from
nuclear detection and forensics to exchange of information to detect and prevent illicit nuclear trafficking, and the promotion of nuclear security culture.
The document recognises that highly enriched uranium (HEU) and separated plutonium basic ingredients of a nuclear weapon require special precautions and that participating countries agree to
promote measures to secure, account for, and consolidate these materials. It also says that they agree
to encourage the conversion of reactors from HEU
to low-enriched uranium, a stated priority of the
U.S. in the run-up to the Summit.
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Occupy Movement
Danger Bell is Ringing
Whatever the original impulse behind
Occupy Wall Street, or the speculation of what the movement might
become, this much is true: The
groups of protesters, now camping or
hanging out in many U.S. cities, and
the police agencies that have responsibility for public safety and order, are
both shifting into new postures of
action and response. Whether that
evolving chemistry will push things
toward more confrontation remains
unclear. But the combination new
participants, new police tactics is
clearly opening an uncertain chapter
in a story that from its inception has
embraced the notion of unplanned,
unscripted civil action.
The Occupy movement is an international protest movement which is
primarily directed against economic

and social inequality. The first Occupy protest to be widely covered was
Occupy Wall Street in New York City,
taking place on September 17, 2011.
By October 9, Occupy protests had
taken place or were ongoing in over
95 cities across 82 countries, and over
600 communities in the United States.
As of December 1 the Meetup page
"Occupy Together" listed 2,686 Occupy communities worldwide. The
movement was initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters, and
partly inspired by the Arab Spring,
especially Cairo's Tahrir Square protests, and the Spanish Indignants. The
movement commonly uses the slogan
We are the 99%, the Occupy hashtag
for mat, and organizes through
websites such as "Occupy Together".

According to the Washington Post,
the movement, which has been described as a "democratic awakening"
by Cornel West, is difficult to distill
to a few demands.
On May 30, 2011, a leader in the
Spanish Indignants movement, inspired by the Arab Spring, made a call
for a worldwide protest on October
15. In mid-2011, the Canadian-based
group Adbusters Media Foundation,
best known for its advertisement-free
anti-consumerist
magazine
Adbusters, proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest
corporate influence on democracy,
address a growing disparity in wealth,
and the absence of legal repercussions
behind the recent global financial criWWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
sis. "One of the inspirations for the

movement was the Democracy Village set up in 2010, outside the British Parliament in London. The first
protest was held at Zuccotti Park in
New York City on September 17,
2011. The phrase "The 99%" is a
political slogan used by protesters of
the Occupy movement. It was originally launched as a Tumblr blog page
in late August of 2011. It refers to
the concentration of wealth among
the top 1% of income earners compared to the other 99 percent; the top
1 percent of income earners nearly
tripled after-tax income over the last
thirty years according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report.
The report was released just as concerns of the Occupy Wall Street
movement were beginning to enter
the national political debate. According to the CBO, between 1979 and
2007 the incomes of the top 1% of
Americans grew by an average of
275%. During the same time period,
the 60% of Americans in the middle
of the income scale saw their income
rise by 40%. Since 1979 the average
pre-tax income for the bottom 90%
of households has decreased by
$900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal
taxation became less progressive.
Thus, the top 20% of Americans
owned 85% of the country's wealth
and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%.
The movement has been described as
having an "overriding commitment"
to Participatory democracy. Much of
the movement's democratic process
occurs in "working groups," where
any protestor is able to have their say.
Important decisions are often taken
at "General assemblies", which can
themselves be informed by the findings of multiple working groups. Gen-
eral assemblies take place at most

Occupy sites every evening at 7PM.
Decisions are made using the consensus model of direct democracy, waving hands in various simple signals
and operating with discussion facilitators rather than leaders, a system
that may have originated in the
Quaker movement several centuries
ago.
Impact
In the United States, the protests have
helped shift the national dialogue
from the deficit to economic problems
many ordinary Americans face, such
as unemployment, the large amount
of student and other personal debt
that burdens middle class and working class Americans, and other major
issues of social inequality, such as
homelessness. The movement appears to have generated a national
conversation about income inequality, as evidenced by the fact that print
and broadcast news mentioned the
term income inequality more than
five times more often during the last
week of October 2011 than during
the week before the occupation began.
The increased public focus on the
growing income gap between economic elites and the middle class and
on the importance of the rights of
ordinary workers brought about by the
Occupy Movement gave a significant
boost to organized labor's campaign
to repeal an anti-labor union law
passed in the State of Ohio known
as Ohio Senate Bill 5 (SB5). In the
November 2011 elections, Ohio voters repealed SB 5. In November 2011,
U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch, member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced the "Outlawing Cor-
porate Cash Undermining the Public

Interest in our Elections and Democracy (OCCUPIED) Constitutional
Amendment," which would overturn
the Citizens United Supreme Court
decision recognizing corporate constitutionally-protected free speech
rights and would ban corporate
money from the electoral process.
Where India
Stands
India has very unequal distribution of

wealth as well. In Bihar and Orissa,
the country's poorest states, at least
half of the population is estimated
to be under the poverty line. (This
should be contrasted with only 10%
in some other states). Although the
rate of poverty has decreased since
Independence, steady population
growth means that the total number
of Indians in poverty have increased.
Wealth is often a crucial factor in
human security. The poorest people
in India are those with extremely limited resources, in terms of land, education, or social networks. If the poor
are unable to make enough income
to cover their most basic needs (such
as food, water, fuel, shelter), it is
much more difficult for them to access their right to education, health,
and political participation. Likewise,
it is hard for people to demand basic
needs from the government if they
don't have freedom.
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
In support, the inequality measure of

Gini coefficient (with values of zero
for no inequality, and one for extreme
inequality) on the basis of NSS consumption data is usually cited. This
Gini coefficient in 2004-05 was
0.325, and is indeed lower than in
many developing countries, including
China, and by constant repetition,
both in national and international
documents and the financial press,
this has become part of the folklore
about Indian inequality. But there are
reasons to believe that the NSS data
under-represent the rich, and in any
case while for other developing countries the Gini coefficient often refers
to income distribution, India's refers
to distribution of consumption expenditure, which is usually less than
that of income (partly because the
rich tend to save more than the poor).

But ethically and socially one is more
interested in inequality of opportunity rather than that of outcome (like
income). After all, with the same opportunity two people can end up with
different incomes, simply because one
is more ambitious and hard-working
than the other, and many of us may
not be too worried about that as long
as the opportunities are equalised. For
Latin America some attempts have
now been made to measure inequality of opportunity, but very little as
yet in India. But in a country like India inequality of opportunity will
surely depend on distribution of land,
of education, and social identity -- a
child born in a rural landless adivasi
family with very little scope for education will be severely handicapped
in her life chances for no fault of her

own.
So, it can be said that unequal distribution of wealth is a matter of great
concern worldwide. It should be dealt
with keeping this in mind that every
individual has his humanrights and it
should not be suppressed. However,
inequality of opportunity is rather
damaging as that of unequal distribution of wealth. Ethically and socially one is more interested in inequality of opportunity rather than
that of outcome (like income). After
all, with the same opportunity two
people can end up with different incomes, simply because one is more
ambitious and hard-working than the
other, and many of us may not be too
worried about that as long as the opportunities are equalised.
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Article
By : Dr. Divya
Three major elements of
the United Progressive
Alliance government's
commitment to provide food security
to the people are reforming the
public distribution system (PDS),
raising foodgrain productivity and
production, and creating a
decentralised, modern warehousing
system.
Ideally, the reforms in the PDS
should have come first for the
availability and delivery of subsidised
foodgrains to become meaningful
and comprehensive. Be that as it may,
the recommendation of the National
Advisory Council (NAC) to launch
universal PDS in one-fourth of all
districts or blocks for a start should be
seen as a paradigm shift towards
universalisation. This move reveals
that the all-powerful NAC headed by
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has
realised that the ability to deliver
cheap foodgrains will be contingent
on availability availability that is
home-grown, not based on imports.
In order to make a serious effort to
meet the provisions of the proposed
food security Bill, it is essential to
enhance the production of wheat,
rice, pulses, oilseeds and millets.
This, in turn, needs a policy review in
favour of land reforms, securing
fertile agricultural land for foodgrain
production rather than allowing the
indiscriminate setting up of special
economic zones (SEZs), mega-food
parks and builders' colonies on
farmers' fields.
Vol. - 17
By all indications, the 150 districts

from where universal PDS would
commence will be in the rural
poverty-belt in Jharkhand, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Assam, eastern
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan. Recent events have
shown that there is a certain urgency
about reaching out to the poor and
the marginalised people in this belt.
The rough calculation is that
universalisation will begin in some
1,500 blocks (an average of 10 in each
of the 150 districts) where more than
95 per cent of the population is poor.
The criterion that is being worked out
will exclude those who are in salaried
or government jobs, are income tax
payees, have a four-wheeler or own a
plot or a house with a plinth area of
over 500 square feet. Using these
criteria, it is estimated that about five
per cent of the population would be
out of the scheme in these districts.
This will be crucial because the
identification of beneficiaries and
implementation of the scheme will
be done by the State governments.
It has also been decided to
subsume the poorest of the poor
the Antyodaya Anna Yojna beneficiary families now numbering 2.5
crore of the 6.5 crore Below Poverty
Line (BPL) families. The AAY
beneficiaries buy PDS foodgrains at
Rs.2 a kg. They will have to pay Re.1
more for grain under the universal
PDS, which will provide 35 kg wheat
or rice at Rs.3 a kg per family to all the
identified beneficiaries, including
those in the Above Poverty Line (APL)

category, in the identified districts.
For the rest of the 490-odd
districts where targeted PDS will
continue for now, the Tendulkar
Committee's poverty estimate of
8.07 core families will hold. Hence,
for the APL population that is brought
in or kept out of the PDS depending
on grain availability, it will be status
quo for the time being. The APL
families will gradually (possibly over
five years) be assured of a minimum
of 25 kg per family at prices that will
be worked out by the govern-ment.
The subsidy burden will depend on
the estimated offtake and the cost
will be worked out by the Union
Ministry of Food and Public
Distribution.
Welfare measures including midday meal programmes, the
integrated child development
scheme and calamity relief
programmes will continue. The
inclusion of the destitute, migrants,
the old, the infirm and the urban poor
will be worked out after the Hashim
Committee report on urban poverty
is received. For now, pulses and
edible oils will not be included in the
food basket under the proposed
National Food Security Act as the
acute shortfall in the production of
these commodities is met by largescale imports.
Broadly, there will be an
enhanced outgo of about 20 million
tonnes on account of providing 35 kg
(up from the present 12 kg) to the APL


Article
population at Rs.3 a kg in the 150
districts in addition to the BPL outgo.
In a bad year, this may come from
cutting APL or Open Market Sale
Scheme allocations.
It is clear by now that the key to
universalisation is the availability of
foodgrains. For this reason, even the
activists working under the banner of
the Right to Food Campaign have
accepted phased universalisation.
The Food Ministry's cautious
estimate is that the average annual
availability for the PDS is about 43
million tonnes. The NAC seems to
have gone by the Planning
Commission estimate of availability
of about 50 to 55 million tonnes to
ensure the supply of cheap
foodgrains in 150 districts besides
fulfilling regular commitments of
buffer and welfare schemes.
It is obvious that the UPA's
seeming benevolence on the food
security front is not going to be
entirely without strings. The
underlying principle is that the
subsidy accruing from providing
foodgrains at cheap rates will come
from withdrawal of subsidies on
petrol, diesel and, gradually,
kerosene, and other unforeseen
measures.
Besides ensuring minimum
foodgrain entitlements at a discount,
the draft of the National Food
Security Act will indicate enabling
clauses with regard to enhancing
foodgrain production, public distribution reforms and improvement in
drinking water, sanitation, health and
hygiene for better intake and
absorption of food by the poor.
In other words, the proposed Bill
will provide for food security but call
for nutrition security.
Salient features of the Food Security
Bill are as follows:
President Pratibha Patil on June 4,
2009 said that a National Food
Security Act would be formulated
whereby each BPL family would be
entitled by law to get 25 kg of rice or
wheat per month at Rs 3 a kg, a
promise made by the Congress

before general elections 2009.
The draft Food Security Bill would
provide 25 kg of wheat/ rice to BPL
households at Rs. 3/- per kg. For
some, it is just old wine in a new
bottle and would rely excessively on
existing infrastructure and logistical
support of the public distribution
system (PDS).
If made into a law, the draft Food
Security Bill would reduce the
allocation for a below poverty line
(BPL) household (e.g. in the case of
Antodaya Anna Yojana) from 35 kg of
rice/ wheat per month to 25 kg of
rice/ wheat per month. This would
appear contradictory to many who
expected the Bill to be a benign effort
of the UPA-II (2009-****) to ensure
food security. There are possibilities
o f i n c re a s e d fo o d s u b s i d i e s
amounting to Rs. 70,000 crore per
annum if the Bill becomes a law,
which might be opposed by those
who prefer to follow neo-liberal
doctrine. Subsidies are usually
opposed on the pretext of distortion
in prices, inefficiency and leakages.
The Interim Budget 2009-10 estimate
of the food subsidy bill in 2009-10
was Rs. 42,490 crore.
The exact number of BPL
households may vary according to
the definition of poverty line one
selects. In that case, it would be
difficult to target the original BPL
households under the new Food
Security law. There are four different
estimates for the number of BPL
households: one by Prof. Arjun
Sengupta, another by Dr. NC Saxena,
World Bank estimates and the
Planning Commission estimates.
According to Prof. Arjun Sengupta
who chaired the National
Commission for Enterprises in the
Unorganized Sector, 77% of the
population of India lives below the
poverty line. Dr. NC Saxena, a retired
civil servant acting as a
Commissioner appointed by the
Supreme Court, feels that half the
country's population of 1.15 billion is
below the poverty line, which he

apparently defines as a monthly per
capita income of Rs 700 in rural areas
and Rs 1,000 in urban areas. While a
Planning Commission estimate puts
the number of below poverty line
(BPL) families at 62.5 million, state
governments estimate that this
number is closer to 107 million. Some
experts feel that availing the public
with more number of BPL ration
cards help the state-level politicians
to win elections through populist
means. The World Bank's figure for
the percentage of population below
the poverty line in India is 42 per cent,

based on 2005 data.
The Uniform Recall Period (URP)
Consumption distribution data of
National Sample Survey (NSS) 61st
Round places the poverty ratio at
28.3 per cent in rural areas, 25.7 per
cent in urban areas and 27.5 per cent
for the country as a whole in 2004-05.
The corresponding poverty ratios
from the Mixed Recall Period (MRP)
consumption distribution data are
21.8 per cent for rural areas, 21.7 per
cent for urban areas and 21.8 per
cent for India as a whole. While the
former consumption data uses 30day recall/reference period for all
items of consumption, the latter uses
365-day recall/reference period for
five infrequently purchased non-food

Vol. - 17

Article
items, namely, clothing, footwear,
durable goods, education and
institutional medical expenses and
30-day recall/reference period for
remaining items. The percentage of
poor in 2004-05 estimated from URP
consumption distribution of NSS 61st
Round of consumer expenditure data
are comparable with the poverty
estimates of 1993-94 (50th Round)
which was 36 per cent for the country
as a whole. The percentage of poor in
2004-05 estimated from MRP
consumption distribution of NSS 61st
Round of consumer expenditure data
are roughly comparable with the

poverty estimates of 1999-2000
(55th Round) which was 26.1 per cent
for the country as a whole Instead of
better implementation of the already
existing schemes such as the
Targeted Public Distribution System
(TPDS), Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY),
Integrated Child Development
Scheme (ICDS), Mid Day Meal
Scheme (MDMS) etc., the Food
Security law might make things
unduly worse and unnecessarily
complicated. A cynical question here
would be: Is the Food Security Bill
going to replace all such food related
schemes that existed before its
enactment?
If the Bill is about ensuring food
security, how can it leave those who
Vol. - 17
may not fall below the poverty line

but are already exposed to food
insecurity? The Rome Declaration
(1996) made during the World Food
Summit states that 'food security is
achieved when all people, at all
times, have physical and economic
access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food to meet their dietary
needs and food preferences for an
active life'. Food security is about
nutrition security too. If that is the
case, the Food Security Bill has to
rethink about the quality of
foodgrains supplied and distributed.
The Food Security Bill must also aim
at providing fortified foodgrains
along with edible oils, salt and
essential spices. A balanced diet
would ensure both food and nutrition
security. The basket of commodities,
which would be available to the
consumers, should reflect local tastes
and preferences and must include
locally grown cereals and legumes.
The alternative draft Food
Security Bill that has been prepared
by Prof. Jean Dreze and his team and
which has been scrutinized by 10,
Janpath, according to media
resources, has clauses to make the
various food related programmes
running in the country more
accountable and transparent. There
is focus on public accountability and
more coverage of BPL households
under the yet to be enacted Food
Security law. Prof. Dreze's draft points
out that subsidy would not rise due to
reduction in allocation for rice/
wheat per BPL household.
If targeting of BPL households is
done under the Food Security Bill,
then it might lead to inclusion
(including the non-poor) and
exclusion (excluding the poor) errors.
It would be wiser to go for
universalization (rather than
targeting) as was recommended by
the Committee on Long Term Grain
Policy under the chairmanship of
Prof. Abhijit Sen (2000-02).
There are apprehensions that
sustainability of Food Security law
would be at peril if India faces lower

agricultural production due to poor
harvest, drought etc. in the future. Is
India ready to rely upon food imports
and food aid to ensure right to food?
At present, the country has been
facing shortage in south-west
monsoon rainfall that might affect
agricultural production and prices of
commodities. Is India ready to rely
exclusively upon biotechnology for
increasing its agricultural production
so as to ensure food security for all?
Some analysts feel that India
presently has adequate buffer stocks
to enact and implement the Food
Security law.
The Food Security law is nothing
but a gimmick so as to increase the
popularity of the UPA II. This is a
forward-looking step to ensure vote
for the Congress so that Rahul Gandhi
could lead UPA-III.
Seeing the popularity of the
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which
helped the Congress to win the 2009
parliamentary elections, the newly
constituted Government has thought
of bringing out the Food Security Act
within the first 100 days of its stay in
the office for the second time.
The World Development Report
2008-Agriculture for Development,
which has been brought out by the
World Bank mentions that India
presently faces the problem of
depleting ground water level that
makes agriculture unsustainable and
poses risk to environment. If rice is
one of the foodgrain that would be
supplied when the Food Security Act
comes into being, then more and
m o re fa r m e rs wo u l d g o fo r
cultivation of rice. In the Punjab
region, overexploitation of
groundwater takes place thanks to
the huge subsidies given on
electricity. Moreover, minimum
support prices (MSP) for rice increase
the financial attractiveness of rice
relative to less water-intensive crops,
which makes depletion of ground
water table more obvious.

Right to Recall
Solidarity of Democracy
Should we have the right to 'recall' MPs? It can be
done in America, why not here? Few of us had
heard of recall until 2003 when California Governor Gray Davis lost the recall ballot to the
'governator', Arnold Swarzenegger. The idea is
simple, as a Civitas online briefing proposed yesterday. Sometimes voters regret the choice they
made at the last general election and do not want
to wait until the next time. If a proportion of the
electorate (say 20%) can be persuaded to sign a
petition to recall the elected office holder, then an
immediate by-election must be held.
The process should not be too easy to prevent constant harassment by disgruntled rivals but, if a significant proportion of the electorate wants a ballot, it should be held. How many signatures should
be required? In ten of the 18 American states 25
per cent of the electorate is needed, while Louisiana requires 33.3 per cent and Kansas 40 per cent.
At 12 per cent, California has the lowest requirement. A recall ballot is a costly procedure and has
been used sparingly. Only two state governors have
ever been recalled: North Dakota Governor Lynn
Frazier in 1921 and California's Gray Davis in 2003.
There is cross-party support. Back in February 2008

a group of 27 Tory MPs wrote to The Daily Telegraph calling for local voters to be allowed to 'recall' their MP and at the weekend Lib-Dem leader
Nick Clegg came out in favour.
However, it was not for lack of trying: one study

estimated that there had been around 40 failed attempts to recall state officials in California.
How common is it? In America 18 states allow

elected officials to be recalled from their posts by a
petition of between 12 and 40 per cent of voters.
In 1903 the city of Los Angeles was the first large
area to introduce recall, followed in 1908 by Oregon and in 1911 by California. Then Arizona,
Colorado, Nevada and Washington all adopted recall in 1912. In addition eleven more states, while
not permitting recall of state-level officials, do allow the recall of local officials.
Recall ballots are useful in precisely the sort of situation that has now arisen in the UK. We are told
that MPs have acted within the rules, but few voters think they have behaved ethically. Some may
have to face criminal charges but it is likely to be
difficult to reach the high standard of proof required in a criminal trial, as disgraced MP Derek
Conway found. Some will face the wrath of their
local constituency party, but as Luton MP Margaret Moran discovered, that may not mean very
much. If a significant number of voters think their
MP is not fit to hold public office, then it should
be possible to require them to stand for re-election immediately.
,
If the policy were introduced in the UK, how many

signatures should be required? There should be a
significant hurdle, perhaps about 20 per cent of
registered voters in a constituency. The average
constituency size in England is about 75,000 voters and so a petition of 15,000 would be needed.
The number is achievable without being too easy.
In practice the procedure would probably not be
used very often, but the fact that it was available
would have a salutary effect on MPs and the 'gravy
train' mentality that can only flourish amidst secrecy would be no more.
If MPs would like to prove themselves deserving
of respect, voting for recall ballots would go a long
way to restoring public confidence.
Electorate has no Role in the

Selection of Candidates
The Common Wealth Parliament Association debated the matter and considered the right to recall
as a strategy for enforcing greater accountability
of Parliament to the people. People are disillusioned
with the conduct of Parliamentary business.
www.upscportal.com
The very process of legislative functioning is subverted, leading to incalculable harm to the representation of democratic institutions.
The National Commission to Review the Working
of the Constitution has pointed out in its report
how a Parliamentary system, unlike the Presidential system, lays emphasis on accountability.
Half a centurys experience of the working of the
Constitution has brought to the fore several inadequacies, failures and distortions. The National
Commission referred in particular to the emergence
of the unhealthy role of money and mafia power
and to criminalisation, corruption, communalism
and casteism.
The Electorate has no role in the selection of candidates for election and the majority of the candidates are elected by minority of votes under the
first-past-the-post system.
Referendum and Recall

Democracies can be of several types : Parliamentary, Presidential and Direct. In a direct democracy, sovereignty is lodged in the assembly of all
citizens who choose to participate.
Such an assembly may pass executive motions (decrease), make law, elect and dismiss officials and
conduct trials. In a representative democracy, sovereignty is exercised by a subset of the people,
elected periodically, but otherwise free to advance
their own agendas. Direct democracy deals with
how citizens are directly involved with voting
for various laws, instead of voting for representatives to decide for them. Referendum and recall
are pillars of direct democracy.
People at large are conferred the power in a referendum to decide whether a given law should be
scrapped. They have a veto on government legislation.
Recall is a procedure by which voters can remove
an elected representative from office. It was one
of the major electoral reforms advocated by lead-
ers of the Progressive moment in the US during

the twentieth century.
This movement was less than successful because
in the US recall elections are prohibited in the federal system. Recall is a political device designed to
enable voters dissatisfied with an elected official
to replace him before the expiry of his term of office. The concept originated in Switzerland but
became operative in several American States since
1903.
American Experience
Eighteen States in the American Federation permit recall elections to remove their State Officers.
In 1921, North Dakotas Governor Lin Frazier was
recalled over a dispute about state-owned industries. In 2003, the Californian Governor, Gray
Davis, was recalled over mismanagement of the
Stage budget. In many of these States, the petition
for recall must identify some form of malfeasance
or misconduct while in office. The minimum number of signatures of voters and time limit to qualify
a recall varies between States.
Quite often, a recall triggers a simultaneous special election, where the vote on the recall and the
replacement recall succeed are on the same
ballet. In 1988, there was a successful petition-drive
to recall the Arizona Governor. But before the
completion of the process, he was impeached and
removed from the Office by the Senate.
Recall in Canada
Canadian provinces have been effective using the
device of recall to infuse discipline in the representatives. The Canadian province of British Columbia enacted representative recall in 1995. The
voters in that province can petition the Government to have a sitting representative removed from
office.
Even a Premier presently leading a Government
can be removed from office if enough registered
voters signed the petition.
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A by-election will follow. In January 2003, a record 22 recall efforts were launched.
Venezuelan Constitution
The 1999 Constitution of Venezuela enables a recall of any elected representative including the President.
Article 72 of the Constitution declares that all offices filled by popular vote are subject to revocation.
When half the term of the office has elapsed, voters representing at least 20 per cent of the registered
voters in the constituency may petition for the calling of a referendum to revoke the mandate of the
official.
When the number of voters equals to or is greater than the number of those who elected the representative vote in favour of the recall, the representatives mandate shall be deemed to have been revoked.
Action will be taken to fill the permanent vacancy as per the Constitution. The provision for recall was
successfully utilised in 2004.
Switzerland model
Switzerland is often cited as the strongest example of modern direct democracy. It has put to use the
initiative and the referendum at both local and federal levels. Initiatives are proposals, drafted by a citizen
or group of citizens that by virtue of attaining a requisite member of signatures on a petition, are put to the
electorate for acceptance or rejection. However, the populace showed its conservative nature, approving
only about 10 per cent of the initiatives put before them. Recall is not much in use in Switzerland.
Flawed system
The National Commission correctly identified the main cause and source of political decay in India as the
ineptness of the electoral process, which has not been able to keep out criminal, anti-social and undesirable elements from participating in and even dominating the political scene and polluting the electoral and
parliamentary processes.
A Constitution, however lofty its exhortations and sentiments, is not a self-executing document. The
present system by which the voters are allowed to assert their sovereignty only once in five years is
woefully flawed.
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Rising Food Prices Worldwide

Causes & Cure
A sharp increase in food prices over the past couple
of years, intensifying in early 2008, has raised serious concerns about food and nutrition for many poor
people in developing countries. The key affected areas are Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Central America.
There are also related concerns about inflation, and
in some countries about civil unrest. The current
situation is distinctive because it is not just a select
few but nearly all major food and feed commodities
that are seeing a concurrence of the hike in world
prices. Real prices are higher than they have been
since the 1974 price spike. When adjusted for inflation and the recent decline of the dollar, the foodprice increases are smaller but still dramatic, carrying serious consequences for the purchasing power of
the poor.
Dramatic increases in international agricultural commodity prices began in 2006 and peaked in July 2008.
An equally remarkable and rapid decline of those
prices then ensued, accompanied by extreme volatility in those prices. The trend in food prices lagged
the rapid increases in other commodity prices,with
rice among the most expensive at the peak and rising
as much as crude oil. High commodity prices quickly

raised farmgate prices in developed countries. In developing countries, poor market integration and border barriers may have limited pass-through of these
prices to the farmgate, but there was more rapid food
price and general inflation than occurred in many
developed countries. Countries were impacted to differing extents, and food riots occurred in the most
affected cases. In response to the crisis, countries from
India and Egypt to Vietnam and Indonesia banned
exports of rice, a staple for half the world. World food
prices rose to a record in December on higher sugar,
grain and oilseed costs, the United Nations said.An
index of 55 food commodities tracked by the Food
and Agriculture Organization gained for a sixth month
to 214.7 points, above the previous all-time high of
213.5 in June 2008, the Rome-based UN agency said
in a monthly report.
Moreover, debate persists on the exogenous mechanisms driving these changes, which are often interrelated (e.g., worldwide economic boom and then global recession, speculation in commodities). The goal
will be to identify factors likely to drive commodity
prices in the future and to provide some understanding of the dynamics and persistence of the observed
global price changes. There is an emerging and reasonable consensus among experts and academics about
the range of causes. However, debate is ongoing about
the relative contribution of these causes. There is certainly no one, single cause; rather, many factors are
interacting in different, locally specific ways. Causes
vary between different places and over time, as has
happened in previous commodity booms. Some are
cyclical, some are structural and some are unique The
cost of food climbed 25 percent from a year earlier in
December, based on the FAO figures.The agencys
food-price indicator rose from 206 points in November. Record fuel prices, weather- related crop problems, increasing demand from the growing Indian and
Chinese middle classes, and the push to grow corn
for ethanol fuel all contributed to the crisis that year.
Global food production will have to rise 70 percent
by 2050 as the world population expands to 9.1 billion people from about 6.8 billion people in 2010,
the FAO has said.
Main factors responsible for the recent rises
in food prices:-
believe that the effect of this on world prices has been

exaggerated.
Topsoil erosion: modern ploughing, overgrazing,

fertiliser and pesticide use result in the steady depletion of worldwide topsoil. Water and winds carry
away the soil, when it is not fixed by plant cover. An
estimated 25 billion tons of topsoil are lost to erosion each year. The UN estimates that erosion has
now seriously degraded about 40 per cent of the
worlds agricultural land.
Increasing urbanisation often means that more
people are becoming purchasers rather than producers of food.
Food in Figures
93,000,000 Acres of corn planted by US farmers

last year, up 19 per cent on 2006.
76% Amount of US corn used for animal feed.

8kg Amount of grain it takes to produce 1kg of
beef.
Weather disruptions, including serious droughts, 20% Portion of US corn used to produce five bil-
have affected output in several key producing countries (Australia, Turkey, Ukraine and parts of North
America) in the mid-2000s. This has led to two successive years of negative growth in world cereal production.
lion gallons of ethanol in 2006-07.
50kg Quantity of meat consumed annually by the

average Chinese person, up from 20kg in 1985.
10% Anticipated share of biofuels used for transport in the EU by 2020.
Under-investment in rural infrastructure and agri- $500m The UN World Food Programme's short-
cultural innovation.
Increased demand due to use of food crops in biofuel

production has resulted in reduced soybean and wheat
cultivation.
fall this year, in attempting to feed 89 million needy

people.
9.2bn The world's predicted population by 2050.

It's 6.6bn now.
World production of cereals has slowed, causing a 130% The rise in the cost of wheat in 12 months.
decline in stocks over the last decade. This has weakened the ability of the world food system to cope with 16 times The overall food consumption of the
shocks and created conditions in which short-term
shocks cause large price increases (Wiggins,
2008).High cost of oil and energy is affecting transportation of agricultural inputs and outputs, mechanical cultivation, fertilisers and pesticides.
world's richest 20 per cent compared with that of the

poorest 20 per cent.
58% Jump in the price of pork in China in the past

year.
Increasing and changing demand in China and In- $900 The cost of one tonne of Thai premier rice,
dia, due to economic growth, has led to increased

consumer purchasing power and consequent shifts
away from traditional staples and toward higher-value
foods like meat and milk. However, some analysts
up 30 per cent in a month.
It has been argued that by 2030 there will be 600 million more chronically under-nourished people in the
world due to continued pressure on prices, in part due

to the conversion of maize away from food uses to
ethanol production. Demand for agricultural commodities food, feed, and fuel is likely to continue
to escalate. Climate change and rising energy demand
could re-accelerate food prices in the future. Ad-hoc
market and trade policies such as export bans and
import subsidies add further volatility in the international food market.
Higher food prices can have radically different effects across countries and population groups. A recent IFPRI report provides a conceptual framework
for understanding these impacts, which powerfully
highlights the complexity of cause and effect. Broadly
speaking, at the country level, net food exporters will
benefit from improved terms of trade, although the
benefits may be offset in situations where exports are
being banned to protect consumers. Net food-importing nations, however, will struggle to meet domestic
food demand.
An FAO report published in
June 2008 highlights twenty
two developing countries
that are especially vulnerable
due to a combination of high
levels of chronic hunger
(more than 30 per cent under-nourishment), and high
dependence on imports of
petroleum products (100 per cent in most countries)
and, in many cases, also of major grains (rice, wheat
and maize) for domestic consumption. Food-price increases are having serious consequences for the purchasing power of the poor. Affected groups include
the rural landless, pastoralists, small-scale farmers
and the urban poor. Despite the various causes of food
crises, the hardships that individuals and communities face have striking similarities across disparate
groups and settings.
The rise in global commodity prices is fueling inflation everywhere particularly in developing countries
where food and energy forms a major percentage of
the inflation basket.This has forced countries like India and China to accelerate interest rate hikes to cool
down inflation.Rising Food Prices has caused distress
in a number of places leading to food riots in Africa
and have been said to be a leading cause of the revolutions in the Middle East.Oil Prices continues to increase unabated as dollar decreases with US Money
Printing.Commodities are touching new all time
peaks as rising global demand,finite resources,money
printing by developed countries fuel price hikes.Silver
has been increasing in a parabolic manner with other
commodities too showing heart-stopping jumps in
prices.The rise in global wheat,rice prices has been
at a record as well.Almost all commodities have seen
sharp prices increase.
Specific policies are needed to deal with the changing causes and consequences of high food prices, to
help the most vulnerable people in the short term,
while working to stabilise food prices by increasing
agricultural production in the long term. A detailed
set of policy prescriptions has been laid out in the
Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA), developed by the High Level Task Force on the Global
Food Crisis. The CFA highlights two major objectives meeting immediate needs, and building
longer-term resilience with related outcomes and
actions.
These include:
Inability to afford food, and related lack of adequate

caloric intake
Distress sales of productive assets

Migration of household members in search of work
Reduced household spending on healthcare, education and other necessities.
ORDER ONLINE:
Article : (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization )
By: Avadhesh Kumar Pandey
The NATO Response Force (NRF) was launched at the 2002

Prague summit on 21 November. On 19 June 2003, a major
restructuring of the NATO military commands began as the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic were abolished and a new command, Allied Command Transformation
(ACT), was established in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and
the Supreme Headquarters..
NATO agreed on April 23, 2010 to begin handing
over control of Afghanistan to the Afghan government this year, a process that if successful would
enable President Barack Obama to meet his target
date of July 2011 for starting to bring U.S. troops
home.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
warned of a rocky road ahead, but said she was
pleased with progress towards eliminating the
shortage of allied trainers for the Afghan army and
police. She offered a generally sunny outlook for
Afghanistan and said the government of much criticized President Hamid Karzai gets too little credit
for progress in building a viable democracy.
NATO is still about 450 short of its target for a training force to assist the Afghan security forces, and
while that gap apparently was not filled during
Fridays session, Ms. Clinton said she was not discouraged.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
said the 28 nation alliance is on track with its new
strategy for winding down the war in Afghanistan,
despite security setbacks and a continuing shortage
of foreign trainers for the fledgling Afghan police
and army.
NATO aims in 2010 is clear to take the initiative
against the insurgents, to help the Afghan govern-
ment exercise its sovereignty, and to start handing

over responsibility for Afghanistan to the Afghans
this year.
He said a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, including Hillary Clinton, agreed on what it will take
to create conditions enabling Afghans to assume
control of their own country. He was not specific
about what those conditions will be, but said
progress in that direction is important in order to
avoid further erosion of public support for the war
effort.
Citizens in Afghanistan and in all troop contributing countries are demanding visible progress, and
they are right to insist on that, he added. We should
have no illusions. Making progress will not be easy
and will not be quick. But based on what we see on
the ground now, it is happening.
He added that looking ahead to a winding down of
the war does not mean the allies will leave before
the mission is accomplished. In earlier remarks, Mr.
Fogh Rasmussen offered a mostly upbeat assessment
to the gathering.
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen asserted that the Afghan government, which has been hampered by a Taliban
insurgency, political corruption, a dysfunctional
economy and a dependence on foreign assistance, is
starting to take more responsibility for running the
countrys affairs.
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We are preparing to begin the process of handing

over leadership, where conditions allow, back to the
Afghan people, he said. The future of this mission
is clear and visible: more Afghan capability and more
Afghan leadership.
During meeting, which was closed to the press after Mr. Fogh Rasmussen made brief introductory
remarks, Ms. Clinton was expected to press other
NATO nations to provide more trainers for
Afghanistans police and military forces as part of
preparations to withdraw Western troops from there
by summer 2011.
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen said that an additional 450
trainers are needed for Afghanistans security forces.
Insufficient numbers of foreign trainers has plagued
the U.S. led war effort for years, although the shortfall has narrowed in recent months.
This session also was focusing on a NATO initiative aimed at stimulating the Afghan economy by
making it a priority for all foreign contingents operating in Afghanistan to hire Afghan contractors
and purchase Afghan goods and services whenever
possible.
This Afghan First policy, as NATO calls it, has
been deemed the most important step in promoting the development of the Afghan private sector
and supporting the economic development of the
country, according to a NATO statement.
To underscore NATOs effort to coordinate all aspects of its strategy and operations with the Afghan
government, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai
Rassoul was participating in the Tallinn meeting.
NATOs assessment of its exit strategy comes just
five months after Mr. Obama sharply escalated
troop strength in the rugged mountain nation to
challenge a resurgent Taliban movement. NATO has
struggled, in some cases, to coordinate military operations with Afghan civilian authorities and agencies.
NATO was founded 61 years ago this month with
the signing of a treaty of collective defence against
a feared land invasion by the Soviet Union.

During talks, Ms. Clinton ruled out an early withdrawal of about 200 short range U.S. nuclear weapons from bases in five European countries. She said
any reductions should be tied to a negotiated nuclear
pullback by Russia, which has far more of the weapons in range of European targets.
No such talks are in the offing, and Moscow has
shown little interest thus far in bargaining away its
tactical nuclear arms. Ms. Clinton also said the
Obama administration wants NATO to accept missile defence as a core mission of the alliance.
The U.S. sees anti missile systems as part of a broader
effort to combat the dangers posed by nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and the rockets that
can deliver them.
Some European members of NATO, including Germany, have said its time for the U.S. to withdraw
its remaining Cold War era nuclear weapons from
Europe and cite Obamas pledge in Prague last year
to seek a nuclear free world. Late last year, Germany was joined by NATO members Belgium, the
Netherlands, Norway and Luxembourg in requesting that the nuclear issue be put on the agenda of the
Tallinn meeting.
But some newer NATO members in central and eastern Europe, which lay within Moscows orbit during the Cold War, oppose a U.S. nuclear withdrawal.
They argue that the presence of the weapons is the
surest guarantee of their territorial integrity.
What is NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
is an intergovernmental military alliance based on
the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4
April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization constitutes a
system of collective defence whereby its member
states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.

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For its first few years, NATO was not much more
than a political association. However, the Korean
War galvanized the member states, and an integrated
military structure was built up under the direction
of two U.S. supreme commanders. The first NATO
Secretary General, Lord Ismay, famously stated the
organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out,
the Americans in, and the Germans down". Doubts
over the strength of the relationship between the
European states and the United States ebbed and
flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of
the NATO defence against a prospective Soviet invasion doubts that led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO's military structure from 1966.
and the United Kingdom is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. The treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Union's Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United
States was thought necessary in order to counter the
military power of the USSR, and therefore talks for
a new military alliance began almost immediately.
These talks resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty,
which was signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 April
1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states,
as well as the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy,
Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Popular support for
the Treaty was not unanimous; some Icelanders commenced a pro-neutrality, anti-membership riot in
March 1949.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the organization became drawn into the Balkans while building better links with former potential enemies to
the east, which culminated with several former
Warsaw Pact states joining the alliance in 1999 and
2004. On 1 April 2009, membership was enlarged
to 28 with the entrance of Albania and Croatia. Since
the 11 September attacks, NATO has attempted to
refocus itself to new challenges and has deployed
troops to Afghanistan as well as trainers to Iraq.
The Berlin Plus agreement is a comprehensive package of agreements made between NATO and the
European Union on 16 December 2002. With this
agreement the EU was given the possibility to use
NATO assets in case it wanted to act independently
in an international crisis, on the condition that
NATO itself did not want to act the so-called "right
of first refusal". Only if NATO refused to act would
the EU have the option to act. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over
70% of the world's defence spending, with the United
States alone accounting for about half the total military spending of the world and the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy accounting for a
further 15%.
The Parties of NATO agreed that an armed attack

against one or more of them in Europe or North
America shall be considered an attack against them
all. Consequently they agree that, if such an armed
attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right
of individual or collective self-defence will assist
the Party or Parties being attacked, individually and
in concert with the other Parties, such action as it
deems necessary, including the use of armed force,
to restore and maintain the security of the North
Atlantic area.
Beginnings
The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948
by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France
Such action as it deems necessary, including the use

of armed force does not necessarily mean that other
member states will respond with military action
against the aggressors. Rather they are obliged to
respond, but maintain the freedom to choose how
they will respond. This differs from Article IV of
the Treaty of Brussels (which founded the Western
European Union) which clearly states that the response however often assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily. Further, the article limits the organization's scope to
Europe and North America, which explains why the
Falklands War did not result in NATO involvement.
The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, which in many cases meant
European countries adopting U.S. practices. The
roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements
(STANAGs) codifies the standardization that NATO
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has achieved. Hence, the 7.6251 NATO rifle cartridge was introduced in the 1950s as a standard firearm cartridge among many NATO countries.
Fabrique Nationale de Herstal's FAL became the
most popular 7.62 NATO rifle in Europe and served
into the early 1990s. Also, aircraft marshalling signals were standardized, so that any NATO aircraft
could land at any NATO base. Other standards such
as the NATO phonetic alphabet have made their way
beyond NATO into civilian use.
Cold War
The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 was crucial for NATO as it raised the apparent threat level
greatly (all Communist countries were suspected of
working together) and forced the alliance to develop
concrete military plans. The 1952 Lisbon conference, seeking to provide the forces necessary for
NATO's Long-Term Defence Plan, called for an
expansion to 96 divisions. However this requirement
was dropped the following year to roughly 35 divisions with heavier use to be made of nuclear weapons. At this time, NATO could call on about 15 ready
divisions in Central Europe, and another ten in Italy
and Scandinavia. Also at Lisbon, the post of Secretary General of NATO as the organization's chief
civilian was also created, and Baron Hastings Ismay
eventually appointed to the post. Later, in September 1952, the first major NATO maritime exercises
began; Operation Mainbrace brought together 200
ships and over 50,000 personnel to practice the defence of Denmark and Norway.
Greece and Turkey joined the alliance the same year,
forcing a series of controversial negotiations, in
which the United States and Britain were the primary disputants, over how to bring the two countries into the military command structure. Meanwhile, while this overt military preparation was
going on, covert stay-behind arrangements to continue resistance after a successful Soviet invasion
('Operation Gladio'), initially made by the Western European Union, were being transferred to
NATO control. Ultimately unofficial bonds began
to grow between NATO's armed forces, such as the
NATO Tiger Association and competitions such as
the Canadian Army Trophy for tank gunnery.
In 1954, the Soviet Union suggested that it should

join NATO to preserve peace in Europe. The NATO
countries, fearing that the Soviet Union's motive was
to weaken the alliance, ultimately rejected this proposal. The incorporation of West Germany into the
organization on 9 May 1955 was described as "a
decisive turning point in the history of our continent" by Halvard Lange, Foreign Minister of Norway at the time. A major reason for Germany's entry into the alliance was that without German manpower, it would have been impossible to field
enough conventional forces to resist a Soviet invasion. Indeed, one of its immediate results was the
creation of the Warsaw Pact, signed on 14 May 1955
by the Soviet Union, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, and East Germany, as a formal response to this event, thereby
delineating the two opposing sides of the Cold War.
French withdrawal
The unity of NATO was breached early in its history, with a crisis occurring during Charles de
Gaulle's presidency of France from 1958 onwards.
De Gaulle protested at the United States' strong role
in the organization and what he perceived as a special relationship between the United States and the
United Kingdom. In a memorandum sent to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Prime Minister
Harold Macmillan on 17 September 1958, he argued for the creation of a tripartite directorate that
would put France on an equal footing with the
United States and the United Kingdom, and also for
the expansion of NATO's coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France, most notably
French Algeria, where France was waging a counterinsurgency and sought NATO assistance.
Considering the response given to be unsatisfactory,
de Gaulle began to build an independent defence for
his country. He also wanted to give France, in the
event of an East German incursion into West Germany, the option of coming to a separate peace with
the Eastern bloc instead of being drawn into a
NATO-Warsaw Pact global war. On 11 March 1959,
France withdrew its Mediterranean Fleet from
NATO command; three months later, in June 1959,
de Gaulle banned the stationing of foreign nuclear
weapons on French soil. This caused the United

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States to transfer two hundred military aircraft out

of France and return control of the ten major air
force bases that had operated in France since 1950
to the French by 1967.
Though France showed solidarity with the rest of
NATO during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, de
Gaulle continued his pursuit of an independent defence by removing France's Atlantic and Channel
fleets from NATO command. In 1966, all French
armed forces were removed from NATO's integrated military command, and all non-French
NATO troops were asked to leave France. This withdrawal forced the relocation of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from
Rocquencourt, near Paris, to Casteau, north of Mons,
Belgium, by 16 October 1967. France remained a
member of the alliance, and committed to the defence of Europe from possible Communist attack
with its own forces stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany throughout the Cold War. A series
of secret accords between U.S. and French officials,
the Lemnitzer-Ailleret Agreements, detailed how
French forces would dovetail back into NATO's
command structure should East-West hostilities
break out.
During most of the Cold War, NATO maintained a
holding pattern with no actual military engagement
as an organization. On 1 July 1968, the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty opened for signature:
NATO argued that its nuclear sharing arrangements
did not breach the treaty as U.S. forces controlled
the weapons until a decision was made to go to war,
at which point the treaty would no longer be controlling. Few states knew of the NATO nuclear sharing arrangements at that time, and they were not
challenged.
On 30 May 1978, NATO countries officially defined two complementary aims of the Alliance, to
maintain security and pursue dtente. This was supposed to mean matching defences at the level rendered necessary by the Warsaw Pact's offensive capabilities without spurring a further arms race.
On 12 December 1979, in light of a build-up of
Warsaw Pact nuclear capabilities in Europe, min-
isters approved the deployment of U.S. GLCM cruise

missiles and Pershing II theatre nuclear weapons in
Europe. The new warheads were also meant to
strengthen the western negotiating position regarding nuclear disarmament. This policy was called the
Dual Track policy. Similarly, in 198384, responding to the stationing of Warsaw Pact SS-20 mediumrange missiles in Europe, NATO deployed modern
Pershing II missiles tasked to hit military targets
such as tank formations in the event of war. This
action led to peace movement protests throughout
Western Europe.
Escalation
With the background of the build-up of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States,
NATO decided, under the impetus of the Reagan
presidency, to deploy Pershing II and cruise missiles in Western Europe, primarily West Germany.
These missiles were theatre nuclear weapons intended to strike targets on the battlefield if the Soviets invaded West Germany. Yet support for the
deployment was wavering and many doubted
whether the push for deployment could be sustained.
On 1 September 1983, the Soviet Union shot down
a Korean passenger airliner when it crossed into
Soviet airspacean act which Reagan characterized
as a "massacre". The barbarity of this act, as the U.S.
and indeed the world understood it, galvanized support for the deploymentwhich stood in place until the later accords between Reagan and Mikhail
Gorbachev.
The membership of the organization at this time
remained largely static. In 1974, as a consequence
of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Greece withdrew
its forces from NATO's military command structure but, with Turkish cooperation, were readmitted in 1980. On 30 May 1982, NATO gained a new
member when, following a referendum, the newly
democratic Spain joined the alliance.
In November 1983, NATO manoeuvres simulating
a nuclear launch caused panic in the Kremlin. The
Soviet leadership, led by ailing General Secretary
Yuri Andropov, became concerned that the

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manoeuvres, codenamed Able Archer 83, were the

beginnings of a genuine first strike. In response,
Soviet nuclear forces were readied and air units in
East Germany and Poland were placed on alert.
Though at the time written off by U.S. intelligence
as a propaganda effort, many historians now believe
that the Soviet fear of a NATO first strike was genuine.
Expansion and restructuring

New NATO structures were also formed while old
ones were abolished: The NATO Response Force
(NRF) was launched at the 2002 Prague summit on
21 November. On 19 June 2003, a major restructuring of the NATO military commands began as the
Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander,
Atlantic were abolished and a new command, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), was established in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and the
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
(SHAPE) became the Headquarters of Allied Command Operations (ACO). ACT is responsible for
driving transformation (future capabilities) in
NATO, whilst ACO is responsible for current operations.
As a result of post-Cold War restructuring of national forces, intervention in the Balkan conflicts,
and subsequent participation in Afghanistan, starting in late 2003 NATO has restructured how it commands and deploys its troops by creating several
NATO Rapid Deployable Corps.
Membership went on expanding with the accession of seven more Northern European and
Eastern European countries to NATO: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and also Slovenia, Slovakia,
Bulgaria, and Romania. They were first invited to
start talks of membership during the 2002 Prague
Summit, and joined NATO on 29 March 2004,
shortly before the 2004 Istanbul summit. The same
month, NATO's Baltic Air Policing began, which
supported the sovereignty of Latvia, Lithuania and
Estonia by providing fighters to react to any unwanted aerial intrusions. Four fighters are based in
Lithuania, provided in rotation by virtually all the
NATO states. Operation Peaceful Summit temporarily enhanced this patrolling during the 2006 Riga
summit.
The 2006 Riga summit was held in Riga, Latvia,
which had joined the Atlantic Alliance two years
earlier. It is the first NATO summit to be held in a
country that was part of the Soviet Union, and the
second one in a former Comecon country (after the
2002 Prague summit). Energy Security was one of
the main themes of the Riga Summit. At the April
2008 summit in Bucharest, Romania, NATO agreed
to the accession of Croatia and Albania and invited
them to join. Both countries joined NATO in April
2009. Ukraine and Georgia were also told that they
will eventually become members.
Future Enlargement
New membership in the alliance has been largely
from Eastern Europe and the Balkans, including
former members of the Warsaw Pact.
At the 2008 summit in Bucharest, three countries were promised future invitations: the
Republic of Macedonia, Georgia and Ukraine.
Though it has completed the requirements for membership, the accession of Macedonia is blocked by
Greece, pending resolution of the Macedonia naming dispute. Turkey has also threatened to block an
attempt from Cyprus.[citation needed]
Other potential candidate countries include
Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which
joined the Adriatic Charter of potential members in
2008. Russia, as referred to above, continues to oppose further expansion, seeing it as inconsistent with
understandings between Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev and U.S. President George H. W. Bush
that allowed for a peaceful German reunification.
NATO's expansion policy is seen by Moscow as a
continuation of a Cold War attempt to surround and
isolate Russia.

.
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Signed New Strategic Arms

Reduction Treaty By: Ram Kumar Pandey
The day after the U.S. elections, in his first state of the
nation address, that Russia would move to deploy shortrange Iskander missile systems in the western exclave
of Kaliningrad "to neutralize if necessary the anti-ballistic missile system in Europe.
Presidents Barack Obama of the United States and
Dmitry Medvedev of Russia signed a new Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty for the reduction of their
nuclear weapons stockpiles on April 8, 2010.
The new START deal, which will last for ten years,
was signed at a meeting in Prague, where President
Obama outlined his vision for nuclear disarmament
and non-proliferation around a year ago.
Speaking after the signing, President Obama said,
This day demonstrates the determination of the
United States and Russia - the two nations that hold
over 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons - to
pursue responsible global leadership.
President Obama further said that the treaty would
significantly reduce missiles and launchers and puts
in place a strong and effective verification regime.
He added that it would also maintain the flexibility
needed to protect and advance the U.S.s national
security and guarantee its unwavering commitment
to the security of our allies.
Describing the deal as a win-win for both countries, President Medvedev said, This agreement
enhances strategic ability and, at the same time, allows us to rise to a higher level of cooperation between Russia and the United States.
Specifically, the treaty agrees to aggregate limits of
1,550 warheads; a combined limit of 800 deployed
and non-deployed Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile launchers, Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for
nuclear armaments; and separate limit of 700 deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs, and deployed
heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments.
The White House noted that the warheads on deployed ICBMs and deployed SLBMs will count toward the limit and each deployed heavy bomber
equipped for nuclear armaments would count as one
warhead toward this limit. The warhead limit itself
was 74 percent lower than the limit of the 1991
START Treaty and 30 percent lower than the deployed strategic warhead limit of the 2002 Moscow Treaty, a White House statement added. Further, the limit on launchers and bombers is less than
half the corresponding strategic nuclear delivery
vehicle limit of the previous START Treaty.
In terms of verification and transparency, the new
treaty has a verification regime that combines the
appropriate elements of the 1991 START Treaty
with new elements tailored to the limitations of the
Treaty. In this regard, the White House also stated
that measures under the new treaty include on-site
inspections and exhibitions, data exchanges and notifications related to strategic offensive arms and
facilities covered by the Treaty.
The signing of the new treaty came two days after
the announcement of the Obama administration of
its Nuclear Posture Review, in which the U.S. forswore nuclear attacks on all nuclear states compliant with the Non-Proliferation treaty. However, the
U.S. reiterated its commitment to maintaining a
credible nuclear deterrent.
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START I or Strategic Arms

Reduction Treaty
START (for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was
a bilateral treaty between the United States of
America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. The treaty was signed on 31
July 1991 and entered into force on 5 December 1994
. The treaty was signed by the United States and the
USSR, that barred its signatories from deploying
more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of
1,600 ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and bombers. START negotiated the largest
and most complex arms control treaty in history,
and its final implementation in late 2001 resulted
in the removal of about 80 percent of all strategic
nuclear weapons then in existence. Proposed by
United States President Ronald Reagan, it was renamed START I after negotiations began on the second START treaty, which became START II.
The START I treaty expired 5 December 2009. On
8 April 2010, the new START treaty was signed in
Prague by U.S. President Obama and Russian President Medvedev. It will enter into force after its ratification through the parliaments of both countries.
The first START proposal was presented by United
States President Ronald Reagan in Geneva on 29 June
1982. Reagan proposed a dramatic reduction in strategic forces in two phases, which he referred to as
SALT III at the time. The first phase would reduce
overall warhead counts on any missile type to 5,000,
with an additional limit of 2,500 on ICBMs. Additionally, a total of 850 ICBMs would be allowed,
with a limit of 110 "heavy throw" missiles like the
SS-18, with additional limits on the total "throw
weight" of the missiles as well. The second phase
introduced similar limits on heavy bombers and
their warheads, and other strategic systems as well.
At the time the US had a commanding lead in strategic bombers. The US B-52 force, while aged, was
a credible strategic threat but was only equipped
with AGM-86 cruise missiles, beginning in 1982,
because of Soviet air defense improvements in early
1980s.
The US also had begun to introduce new B-1B Lancer
quasi-stealth bomber and was secretly developing

the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) project
that would eventually result in the B-2 Spirit stealth
bomber. The USSR's force was of little threat to the
US, on the other hand, as it was tasked almost entirely with attacking US convoys in the Atlantic and
land targets on the Eurasian landmass. Although the
USSR had 1,200 medium and heavy bombers, only
150 of them (Tupolev Tu-95s and Myasishchev M4s) could reach North America (the latter only with
in-flight refueling).
They also faced difficult problems in penetrating
admittedly smaller and poorly defended US airspace.
Possessing too few bombers available when compared to US bomber numbers was evened out by the
US forces having to penetrate the much larger and
heavier defended Soviet airspace. This changed when
new Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bombers appeared in
1984 equipped with first Soviet AS-15 cruise missiles. By limiting the phase-in as it was proposed,
the US would be left with a strategic advantage, for
a time.
As Time magazine put it at the time, "Under
Reagan's ceilings, the U.S. would have to make considerably less of an adjustment in its strategic forces
than would the Soviet Union. That feature of the
proposal will almost certainly prompt the Soviets
to charge that it is unfair and one-sided.
No doubt some American arms-control advocates
will agree, accusing the Administration of making
the Kremlin an offer it cannot possibly accept a deceptively equal-looking, deliberately nonnegotiable
proposal that is part of what some suspect is the
hardliners' secret agenda of sabotaging disarmament
so that the U.S. can get on with the business of rearmament." However, Time did point out that, "The
Soviets' monstrous ICBMs have given them a nearly
3-to-1 advantage over the U.S. in "throw weight"
the cumulative power to "throw" megatons of death
and destruction at the other nation."
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Negotiations
Continued negotiation of the START process was
delayed several times because US agreement terms
were considered non-negotiable by pre-Gorbachev
Soviet rulers. President Reagan's introduction of the
Strategic Defense Initiative program in 1983 was
viewed as a threat by the Soviet Union, and the Soviets withdrew from setting a timetable for further
negotiations.
Due to these facts, a dramatic nuclear arms race proceeded during the 1980s, and essentially ended in
1991 by nuclear parity preservation at a level of
more than ten thousand strategic warheads on both
sides. This treaty also stated that the United States
and Russia would have 6,000 fighter aircraft, 10,000
tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,000 attack helicopters.
Ratification
It was signed on July 31, 1991, five months before
the collapse of the Soviet Union. Entry-into-force
was delayed due to the collapse of the USSR and
awaiting an Annex that enforced the terms of the
treaty upon the newly independent states of Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The latter three
agreed to transport their nuclear arms to Russia for
disposal.
It remains in effect between the U.S. and Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine These latter three
have disarmed since becoming independent nations
in the wake of the break up of the Soviet Union.
Today, the United States has 3,696 and Russia has
4,237 deployed strategic warheads. The US has
roughly 10,000 total warheads, counting strategic
and tactical, both deployed and in reserves. The figures for Russia are less reliable, but are considered
to be in the range of 15,000 to 17,000 total warheads.
Implementation
365 B-52Gs were flown to the Aerospace Mainte-
nance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan

Air Force Base in Arizona. The bombers were
stripped of all usable parts, then chopped into five
pieces by a 13,000-pound steel blade dropped from
a crane. The guillotine sliced four times on each
plane, severing the wings and leaving the fuselage
in three pieces. The ruined B-52s remained in place
for three months so that Russian satellites could
confirm that the bombers had been destroyed, after
which they were sold for scrap.
"It remains in effect between the U.S. and Russia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The latter three
became non-nuclear weapons states under the Treaty
on the non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of July
1, 1968 (NPT) as they committed to do under the
"Lisbon Protocol" (Protocol to the Treaty Between
the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms) after becoming
independent nations in the wake of the break up of
the Soviet Union."
Efficacy
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have disposed of
all their nuclear weapons or transferred them to
Russia; while the U.S. and Russia have reduced the
capacity of delivery vehicles to 1,600 each, with no
more than 6,000 warheads.
Expiration and renewal

START I expired December 5, 2009. Both sides
agreed to continue observing the terms of the treaty
until a new agreement is reached. There are proposals to renew and expand the treaty, supported by
U.S. President Barack Obama. Sergei Rogov, director of the Institute of the U.S. and Canada, said:
"Obama supports sharp reductions in nuclear arsenals and I believe that Russia and the U.S. may sign
in the summer or fall of 2009 a new treaty that would
replace START-1".
He added that a new deal would only happen if
Washington abandoned plans to place elements of a
missile shield in central Europe. He expressed will-
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ingness "to make new steps in the sphere of disarmament," however, saying they were waiting for
the U.S. to abandon attempts to "surround Russia
with a missile defense ring." This referred to the
placement of ten interceptor missiles in Poland, as
well as an accompanying radar in the Czech Republic.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, said, the day
after the U.S. elections, in his first state of the nation address, that Russia would move to deploy shortrange Iskander missile systems in the western exclave of Kaliningrad "to neutralize if necessary the
anti-ballistic missile system in Europe." Russia insists that any movement towards a new START
should be a legally binding document, and must,
then, set lower ceilings on the number of nuclear
warheads, and their delivery vehicles.
On March 17, 2009, Russian President Dmitri
Medvedev signaled that Russia would begin a "largescale" rearmament and renewal of Russia's nuclear
arsenal. President Medvedev accused NATO of pushing ahead with expansion near Russian borders and
ordered that this rearmament commence in 2011
with increased army, naval, and nuclear capabilities. Additionally, the head of Russia's strategic
missile forces, Nikolai Solovtsov, told news agencies that Russia would start deploying its next-generation RS-24 missiles after the December 5 expiry
of the START-1 treaty with the United States. Russia hopes to change the START-1 treaty with a new
accord. The increased tensions come despite the
warming of relations between the United States and
Russia ever since U.S. President Barack Obama took
office.
As of May 4, 2009, the United States and Russia
began the process of renegotiating START, as well
as counting both nuclear warheads and their delivery vehicles when making a new agreement. While
setting aside problematic issues between the two
countries, both sides agreed to make further cuts in
the number of warheads they have deployed to
around 1,000 to 1,500 each.
sian proposal to use radar in Azerbaijan rather than

Eastern Europe for the proposed missile system. The
Bush Administration was using the Eastern Europe
defense system as a deterrent for Iran, despite the
Kremlin's fear that it could be used against Russia.
The flexibility by both sides to make compromises
now will lead to a new phase of arms reduction in
the future.
A 'Joint understanding for a follow-on agreement
to START-1' was signed by Presidents Barack
Obama and Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow on 6 July
2009. This will reduce the number of deployed warheads on each side to 1,5001,675 on 5001,100
delivery systems. A new treaty was to be signed
before START-1 expired in December 2009 and the
reductions are to be achieved within seven years.
After many months of negotiations, Presidents
Obama and Medvedev signed the successor treaty,
Measures to Further Reduction and Limitation of
Strategic Offensive Arms, in Prague, Czech Republic on 8 April 2010.
START II
START II (for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was
signed by United States President George H. W. Bush
and Russian President Boris Yeltsin on January 3,
1993, banning the use of MIRVs on ICBMs. Hence,
it is often cited as the De-MIRV-ing Agreement.
MIRVed land-based ICBMs are considered destabilizing because they tend to put a premium on striking first. When a missile is MIRVed, it is able to
carry many warheads and deliver them to separate
targets and thereby possibly destroy more than one
missile of an enemy who does not strike first in their
silos.
The LGM-118 Peacekeeper missile was capable of
carrying up to 10 MIRVs. However, in 2001, President George W. Bush set a plan in motion to reduce
the countrys missile forces from 6,000 to between
1,700 and 2,200. Russian President Vladimir Putin
agreed to follow a similar plan and in October 2002
the deactivation of the Peacekeeper missile began
and was completed by 19 September 2005.
The United States has said they are open to a Rus-
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The Minuteman III ICBM is the primary U.S. missile system and can carry up to 3 MIRVs. Hypothetically, if one were to assume that each side had
100 missiles, with 5 warheads each, and further that
each side had a 95 percent chance of neutralizing
the opponent's missiles in their silos by firing 2
warheads at each silo, then the side that strikes first
can reduce the enemy ICBM force from 100 missiles to about 5 by firing 40 missiles with 200 warheads and keeping the remaining 60 missiles in reserve. Thus the destruction capability is greatly increased by MIRVs but the number of targets does
not increase.
START II followed START I and, although ratified,
the treaty has never entered into force; in other words
never been activated. On June 14, 2002, one day after the U.S. withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Russia withdrew from START II. The
historic agreement started on June 17, 1992 with
the signing of a 'Joint Understanding' by the presidents. The official signing of the treaty by the presidents took place on January 3, 1993. It was ratified
by the U.S. Senate on January 26, 1996 with a vote
of 87-4. However, Russian ratification was stalled
in the Duma for many years. It was postponed a
number of times to protest American invasion of
Iraq and military actions in Kosovo, as well as to
oppose the expansion of NATO.
As the years passed, the treaty became less relevant
and both sides started to lose interest in it. For the
Americans, the main issue became the modification
of the ABM Treaty to allow the U.S. to deploy a
national missile defense system, a move which Russia fiercely opposed. On April 14, 2000 the Duma
did finally ratify the treaty, in a largely symbolic
move since the ratification was made contingent on
preserving the ABM Treaty, which it was clear the
U.S. was not prepared to do.
START II did not enter into force because the Russian ratification made this contingent on U.S. Senate ratifying a September 1997 addendum to START
II which included agreed statements on ABM-TMD
demarcation. Neither of these occurred because of
U.S. Senate opposition, where a faction objected to
any action supportive of the ABM Treaty. On June

14, 2002, one day after the U.S. withdrew from the
ABM Treaty, Russia announced that it would no
longer consider itself to be bound by START II provisions.
The treaty was officially bypassed by the SORT
treaty, agreed to by Presidents George W. Bush and
Vladimir Putin at their summit meeting in November 2001, and signed at Moscow Summit on May
24, 2002. Both sides agreed to reduce operationally
deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,700 from
2,200 by 2012.
START III
The third Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or
START III, was a proposed Nuclear disarmament
treaty negotiated between the United States and
Russia. It was never signed. It meant to drastically
reduce the deployed nuclear weapons arsenals of
both countries. The treaty was meant to continue
the weapons reduction efforts that had taken place
in the START I and START II negotiations. The
framework for negotiations of the treaty began with
talks in Helsinki between President Bill Clinton and
President Boris Yeltsin in 1997.
Proposed basic elements of the treat included:
By December 31, 2007, coterminous with START
II, the United States and Russia would each deploy
no more than 2,000 to 2,500 strategic nuclear warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers. Russian officials stated that they were willing
to consider negotiated levels as low as 1,500 strategic nuclear warheads within the context of a START
III agreement.
The United States and Russia would negotiate measures relating to the transparency of strategic
nuclear warhead inventories and the destruction of
strategic nuclear warheads, as well as other jointly
agreed technical and organizational measures to
promote the irreversibility of deep reductions.
The talks faced a number of obstacles. Russia opposed the eastward expansion of NATO and Ameri-
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can plans to build a limited missile defense system

(which would have required changes to or the US
withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty). Russia strongly hinted that any progress on
START III would be subject to the satisfaction of its
concerns on these issues. In addition, a Russian proposal to reduce stockpiles still further to 1,000-1,500
warheads was opposed by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Very little progress was made towards completing
negotiations on START III. President Clinton revived the issue in 1999 and it played a role in the
2000 presidential elections, but persistent disagreement, especially on the issue of missile defense, resulted in stalemate. The 2002 decision by the Bush
Administration to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty all but killed START III. It was
superseded by much the weaker SORT treaty.
SORT
The Treaty Between the United States of America
and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive
Reductions (SORT), better known as the Moscow
Treaty "represents an important element of the new
strategic relationship between the United States and
Russia". with both parties agreeing to limit their
nuclear arsenal to 17002200 operationally deployed
warheads each. It was signed in Moscow on May
24, 2002. SORT came into force on June 1, 2003
after the Bush-Putin ratification in St. Petersburg,
and expires on December 31, 2012. Either party can
withdraw from the treaty upon giving three months
written notice to the other.
Mutual nuclear disarmament

SORT is the latest in a long line of treaties and negotiations on mutual nuclear disarmament between
Russia (and its predecessor the Soviet Union) and
the United States, which includes SALT I (1969
1972), the ABM Treaty (1972), SALT II (1972
1979), the INF Treaty (1987), START I (1991),
START II (1993), and START III, which died as of
the linkage to START II.
The Moscow Treaty is different from START in that

it limits actual warheads, whereas START I limits
warheads only through declared attribution to their
means of delivery (ICBMs, SLBMs, and Heavy
Bombers). Russian and U.S. delegations meet twice
a year to discuss the implementation of the Moscow Treaty at the Bilateral Implementation Commission, or "BIC".
The treaty has been criticized for various reasons:
There are no verification provisions to give confidence, to either the signatories or other parties, that
the stated reductions have in fact taken place.
The arsenal reductions are not required to be permanent; warheads are not required to be destroyed
and may therefore be placed in storage and later redeployed.
The arsenal reductions are required to be completed
by December 31, 2012, which is also the day on
which the treaty loses all force, unless extended by
both parties. This is why some experts joke that SORT
is only 'sort' of a treaty.
There exists a clause in the treaty which provides
that withdrawal can occur upon the giving of three
month's notice and since no benchmarks are required
in the treaty, either side could feasibly perform no
actions in furtherance of the treaty, and then simply
withdraw in September of 2012.
Implementation
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reported
that President Bush directed the US military to cut
its stockpile of both deployed and reserve nuclear
weapons in half by 2012. The goal was achieved in
2007, a reduction of US nuclear warheads to just
over 50 percent of the 2001 total. A further proposal by Bush will bring the total down another 15%.
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Strategic Arms Limitation

Talks
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks refers to two
rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the
Soviet Union-the Cold War superpowers on the issue of armament control. There were two rounds of
talks and agreements: SALT I and SALT II. A subsequent treaty was START.
The first ever negotiations started in Helsinki, Finland, in 1970. They were held during Apollo 12's
flight - four months after astronauts from Apollo
11 had returned safely home. Primarily focused on
limiting the two countries' stocks of nuclear weapons, the treaties then led to START (Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty). START I (a 1991 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union) and
START II (a 1993 agreement between the United
States and Russia) which placed specific caps on each
side's number of nuclear weapons.
SALT I
SALT I is the common name for the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks Agreement, also known as Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. SALT I froze the number of strategic ballistic missile launchers at existing levels, and provided for the addition of new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) launchers only after the same number of older intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and SLBM launchers had been dismantled.
The strategic nuclear forces niche of the Soviet Union
and the United States were changing in character in
1968. The U.S.'s total number of missiles had been
static since 1967 at 1,054 ICBMs and 656 SLBMs,
but there was an increasing number of missiles with
multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle
(MIRV) warheads being deployed. MIRV's carried
multiple nuclear warheads, often with dummies, to
confuse ABM systems, making MIRV defence by
ABM systems increasingly difficult and expensive.
One clause of the treaty required both countries to
limit the number of sites protected by an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system to two each. The Soviet Union had deployed such a system around Moscow in 1966 and the United States announced an
ABM program to protect twelve ICBM sites in 1967.
A modified two-tier Moscow ABM system is still
used. The U.S. built only one ABM site to protect
Minuteman base in North Dakota where the "Safeguard Program" was deployed. Due to the system's
expense and limited effectiveness, the Pentagon disbanded "Safeguard" in 1975.
Negotiations lasted from November 17, 1969 until
May 1972 in a series of meetings beginning in
Helsinki, with the U.S. delegation headed by Gerard
C. Smith, director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Subsequent sessions alternated
between Vienna and Helsinki. After a long deadlock, the first results of SALT I came in May 1971,
when an agreement was reached over ABM systems.
Further discussion brought the negotiations to an
end on May 26, 1972 in Moscow when Richard
Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Interim Agreement Between The United States of America and The Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics on Certain Measures
With Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. A number of agreed statements were also
made. This helped improve relations between the
USA and the USSR.
SALT II
It was a controversial experiment of negotiations
between Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev from
1977 to 1979 between the U.S. and the Soviet Union,
which sought to curtail the manufacture of strategic nuclear weapons. It was a continuation of the
progress made during the SALT I talks. SALT II was
the first nuclear arms treaty which assumed real
reductions in strategic forces to 2,250 of all categories of delivery vehicles on both sides.
SALT II helped the U.S. to discourage the Soviets
from arming their third generation ICBMs of SS17, SS-19 and SS-18 types with many more MIRVs.
In the late 1970s the USSR's missile design bureaus
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had developed experimental versions of these missiles equipped with anywhere from 10 to 38 thermonuclear warheads each. Additionally, the Soviets secretly agreed to reduce Tu-22M production to
thirty aircraft per year and not to give them an intercontinental range.
It was particularly important for the US to limit
Soviet efforts in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces (INF) rearmament area. The SALT II Treaty
banned new missile programs (a new missile defined as one with any key parameter 5% better than
in currently deployed missiles), so both sides were
forced to limit their new strategic missile types development although US preserved their most essential programs like Trident and cruise missiles, which
President Carter wished to use as his main defensive weapon as they were too slow to have first strike
capability. In return, the USSR could exclusively
retain 308 of its so-called "heavy ICBM" launchers
of the SS-18 type.
An agreement to limit strategic launchers was
reached in Vienna on June 18, 1979, and was signed
by Leonid Brezhnev and President of the United
States Jimmy Carter. In response to the refusal of
the U.S. Congress to ratify the treaty, a young member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, met with the
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko, "educated him about American concerns and interests"
and secured several changes that neither the U.S.
Secretary of State nor President Jimmy Carter could
obtain.
Six months after the signing, the Soviet Union deployed troops to Afghanistan, and in September of
the same year senators including Henry M. Jackson
and Frank Church discovered the so-called "Soviet
brigade" on Cuba. In light of these developments,
the treaty was never formally ratified by the United
States Senate. Its terms were, nonetheless, honored
by both sides until 1986 when the Reagan Administration withdrew from SALT II after accusing the
Soviets of violating the pact.
Subsequent discussions took place under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
USA/USSR Arms Limitation

Treaties
Partial or Limited Test Ban Treaty (PTBT/

LTBT): 1963. Also put forth by Kennedy; banned
nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater and in
space. However, neither France nor China (both
Nuclear Weapon States) signed.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT):

1968. Established the U.S., USSR, UK, France, and
China as five "Nuclear-Weapon States". NonNuclear Weapon states were prohibited from
(among other things) possessing, manufacturing, or
acquiring nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. All 187 signatories were committed
to the goal of (eventual) nuclear disarmament.
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM): 1972.

Entered into between the U.S. and USSR to limit
the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in
defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear
weapons; ended by the US in 2002.
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties I & II

(SALT I & II): 1972 / 1979. Limited the growth of
US and Soviet missile arsenals.
Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement:

1973. Committed the U.S. and USSR to consult with
one another during conditions of nuclear confrontation.
Threshold Test Ban Treaty: 1974. Capped

Nuclear tests at 150 kilotons.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

(INF): 1987. Eliminated nuclear and conventional
ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with
intermediate ranges, defined as between 500-5,500
km (300-3,400 miles)
Strat eg ic A rms Re duct ions Treat y I

(START I): 1991. This was signed by George H.
W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev; reduced the numbers of U.S. and Soviet long-range missiles and
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nuclear warheads from 10,000 per side to 6,000 per

side.
Mutual Detargeting Treaty (MDT): 1994.

U.S. and Russian missiles no longer automatically
target the other country; nuclear forces are no longer
operated in a manner that presumes that the two
nations are adversaries.
St rat egic A rms Reduct ions Treaty II

(START II): 1993. Will reduce the numbers of U.S.
and Russian long-range missiles and nuclear warheads from 6,000 per side to 3,500-3,000 per side.
(START III proposed for 2007).
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) 1996. Prohibits all nuclear test explosions in all environments;
signed by 180 states, and ratified by 148. The United
States has signed, but not ratified, the CTBT.
Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT/Moscow Treaty (2002)). Established bilateral strategic
nuclear arms reductions and a new "strategic nuclear
framework"; also invited all countries to adopt nonproliferation principles aimed at preventing terrorists, or those that harbored them, from acquiring or
developing all types of WMD's and related materials, equipment, and technology.
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United Nations Report on

Toxic Electronic Waste
According to a United Nations report released recently Developing

countries face increasing environmental and health hazards from
electronic waste unless toxic materials are collected and recycled properly.
The report highlights the problem of recycling and
salvaging procedures in poorer countries, often in
unsafe conditions by unregulated operators. Sales
of electronic devices are set to rise sharply in the
next 10 years, particularly in emerging economies
such as China and India, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said.
According to report, titled Recycling - from EWaste to Resources, the world produces about 40
million tons of waste from electronic devices,
known as e-waste, every year.
Main Feature
Experts said exposure to toxic chemicals from ewaste - including lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium and polybrominated biphenyls - can damage the brain and nervous system, affect the kidneys and liver, and cause birth defects.
The report was launched in Indonesias resort island of Bali. It used data from 11 developing countries to estimate current and future e-waste generation from discarded computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, cameras, music players, refrigerators, toys, televisions and other items.
China produces an estimated 2.3 million tons of ewaste annually, and though the country has banned
e-waste imports, it remains a major dumping
ground for waste from developed countries, the
report said.
The UN research predicts that in South Africa and
China, e-waste from old computers may jump by
200 to 400 per cent from 2007 levels and by 500
per cent in India.
E-waste from mobile phones in the same period is
forecast to rise seven times in China, and 18 times
in India.
According to the report, over 1 billion mobile
phones were sold in 2007 worldwide, up from 896
million in 2006.
The report said most e-waste in China was improperly handled, with much of it incinerated by backyard recyclers to recover valuable metals like gold.
Jim Pucket of the Basel Action Network, a nongovernmental organization fighting the international trade in toxic wastes, said massive amounts
of discarded devices had been exported to China
for years.
But China is not alone in facing the serious e-waste
problem. India, Brazil, Mexico and others may also
face rising environmental damage and health problems if e-waste recycling is left to the vagaries of
the informal sector.
Report urged governments to establish e-waste
management centres, building on existing organi-
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zations working in the area of recycling and waste

management.
What is Electronic Waste

Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes
loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, broken, electrical or electronic devices. The processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems because electronic equipment contains some very serious contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium and
brominated flame retardants. Even in developed
countries recycling and disposal of e-waste involves
significant risk to workers and communities and
great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure
in recycling operations and leaching of material
such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes.
Problems
Rapid technology change, low initial cost, and
planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe.
Dave Kruch, CEO of Cash For Laptops, regards
electronic waste as a "rapidly expanding" issue.
Technical solutions are available, but in most cases
a legal framework, a collection system, logistics,
and other services need to be implemented before
a technical solution can be applied. An estimated
50 million tonnes of E-waste is produced each year.
The USA discards 30 million computers each year
and 100 million phones are disposed of in Europe
each year.
In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy
metals in landfills comes from discarded electronics, while electronic waste represents only 2% of
America's trash in landfills. The EPA states that
unwanted electronics totaled 2 million tons in 2005.
Discarded electronics represented 5 to 6 times as
much weight as recycled electronics.
The Consumer Electronics Association says that
U.S. households spend an average of $1,400 annually on an average of 24 electronic items, leading
to speculations of millions of tons of valuable metals sitting in desk drawers. The U.S. National Safety
Council estimates that 75% of all personal computers ever sold are now gathering dust as surplus
electronics. While some recycle, 7% of cellphone
owners still throw away their old cellphones.
Surplus electronics have extremely high cost differentials. A single repairable laptop can be worth
hundreds of dollars, while an imploded cathode
ray tube (CRT) is extremely difficult and expensive to recycle. This has created a difficult freemarket economy. Large quantities of used electronics are typically sold to countries with very high
repair capability and high raw material demand,
which can result in high accumulations of residue
in poor areas without strong environmental laws.
Trade in electronic waste is controlled by the Basel
Convention. The Basel Convention Parties have
considered the question of whether exports of hazardous used electronic equipment for repair or refurbishment are considered as Basel Convention
hazardous wastes, subject to import and export
controls under that Convention. In the Guidance
document produced on that subject, that question
was left up to the Parties, however in the working
group all of the Parties present believed that when
material is untested, or contains hazardous parts
that would need to be replaced as part of the repair process, then the Convention did apply.
Like virgin material mining and extraction, recycling of materials from electronic scrap has raised
concerns over toxicity and carcinogenicity of some
of its substances and processes. Toxic substances
in electronic waste may include lead, mercury, and
cadmium. Carcinogenic substances in electronic
waste may include polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs). Capacitors, transformers, and wires insulated with or components coated with polyvinyl
chloride (PVC), manufactured before 1977, often
contain dangerous amounts of PCBs.
Up to 38 separate chemical elements are incorporated into electronic waste items. Many of the plastics used in electronic equipment contain flame
retardants. These are generally halogens added to
the plastic resin, making the plastics difficult to
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recycle. Due to the flame retardants being additives, they easily leach off the material in hot
weather, which is a problem because when disposed of, electronic waste is generally left outside.
The flame retardants leach into the soil and recorded levels were 93 times higher than soil with
no contact with electronic waste.[12] The
unsustainability of discarding electronics and computer technology is another reason commending
the need to recycle or to reuse electronic waste.
When materials cannot or will not be reused, conventional recycling or disposal via landfill often
follow. Standards for both approaches vary widely
by jurisdiction, whether in developed or developing countries. The complexity of the various items
to be disposed of, the cost of environmentally approved recycling systems, and the need for concerned and concerted action to collect and systematically process equipment are challenges. One
study indicates that two thirds of executives are
unaware of fines related to environmental regulations.
Hotspots
Increased regulation of electronic waste and concern over the environmental harm, which can result from toxic electronic waste, has raised disposal
costs. The regulation creates an economic disincentive to remove residues prior to export. In extreme cases, brokers and others calling themselves
recyclers export unscreened electronic waste to
developing countries, avoiding the expense of removing items like bad cathode ray tubes, the processing of which is expensive and difficult.
Defenders of the trade in used electronics say that
extraction of metals from virgin mining has also
been shifted to developing countries. Hard-rock
mining of copper, silver, gold and other materials
extracted from electronics is considered far more
environmentally damaging than the recycling of
those materials. They also state that repair and reuse of computers and televisions has become a "lost
art" in wealthier nations, and that refurbishing has
traditionally been a path to development. South
Korea, Taiwan, and southern China all excelled in
finding "retained value" in used goods, and in some

cases have set up billion-dollar industries in refurbishing used ink cartridges, single-use cameras, and
working CRTs. Refurbishing has traditionally been
a threat to established manufacturing, and simple
protectionism explains some criticism of the trade.
Works like "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard
explain some of the criticism of exports of working product, for example the ban on import of
tested working Pentium 4 laptops to China, or the
bans on export of used surplus working electronics by Japan.
Opponents of surplus electronics exports argue that
lower environmental and labor standards, cheap
labor, and the relatively high value of recovered
raw materials leads to a transfer of pollution-generating activities, such as burning of copper wire.
In China, Malaysia, India, Kenya, and various African countries, electronic waste is being sent to
these countries for processing, sometimes illegally.
Many surplus laptops are routed to developing nations as dumping grounds for e-waste.
Because the United States has not ratified the Basel
Convention or its Ban Amendment, and has no
domestic laws forbidding the export of toxic waste,
the Basel Action Network estimates that about 80%
of the electronic waste directed to recycling in the
U.S. does not get recycled there at all, but is put on
container ships and sent to countries such as China.
This figure is disputed as an exaggeration by the
EPA, the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries,
and the World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association.
Guiyu in the Shantou region of China, Delhi and
Bangalore in India as well as the Agbogbloshie site
near Accra, Ghana have electronic waste processing areas. Uncontrolled burning, disassembly, and
disposal can cause a variety of environmental problems such as groundwater contamination, atmospheric pollution, or even water pollution either
by immediate discharge or due to surface runoff
(especially near coastal areas), as well as health
problems including occupational safety and health
effects among those directly involved, due to the
methods of processing the waste. Thousands of
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men, women, and children are employed in highly

polluting, primitive recycling technologies, extracting the metals, toners, and plastics from computers and other electronic waste.
Proponents of the trade say growth of internet
access is a stronger correlation to trade than poverty. Haiti is poor and closer to the port of New
York than southeast Asia, but far more electronic
waste is exported from New York to Asia than to
Haiti. Thousands of men, women, and children are
employed in reuse, refurbishing, repair, and
remanufacturing, sustainable industries in decline
in developed countries. It is held that denying developing nations access to used electronics denies
them affordable products and internet access.
Opponents of the trade argue that developing countries utilize methods that are more harmful and
more wasteful. An expedient and prevalent method
is simply to toss equipment onto an open fire, in
order to melt plastics and to burn away unvaluable
metals. This releases carcinogens and neurotoxins
into the air, contributing to an acrid, lingering
smog. These noxious fumes include dioxins and
furans. Bonfire refuse can be disposed of quickly
into drainage ditches or waterways feeding the
ocean or local water supplies.
In June 2008, a container of electronic waste, destined from the Port of Oakland in the U.S. to
Sanshui District in mainland China, was intercepted in Hong Kong by Greenpeace. Concern over
exports of electronic waste were raised in press
reports in India, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
Recycling
Today the electronic waste recycling business is in
all areas of the developed world a large and rapidly consolidating business. Electronic waste processing systems have matured in recent years, following increased regulatory, public, and commercial scrutiny, and a commensurate increase in entrepreneurial interest. Part of this evolution has
involved greater diversion of electronic waste from
energy-intensive down cycling processes (e.g., con-
ventional recycling), where equipment is reverted

to a raw material form.
This diversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing. The environmental and social benefits
of reuse include diminished demand for new products and virgin raw materials (with their own environmental issues); larger quantities of pure water and electricity for associated manufacturing;
less packaging per unit; availability of technology
to wider swaths of society due to greater
affordability of products; and diminished use of
landfills.
Audiovisual components, televisions, VCRs, stereo equipment, mobile phones, other handheld
devices, and computer components contain valuable elements and substances suitable for reclamation, including lead, copper, and gold.
Electronic Waste Substances

Some computer components can be reused in assembling new computer products, while others are
reduced to metals that can be reused in applications as varied as construction, flatware, and jewelry.
Substances found in large quantities include epoxy resins, fiberglass, PCBs, PVC, thermosetting
plastics, lead, tin, copper, silicon, beryllium, carbon, iron and aluminium.
Elements found in small amounts include cadmium, mercury, and thallium.
Elements found in trace amounts include americium, antimony, arsenic, barium, bismuth, boron,
cobalt, europium, gallium, germanium, gold, indium, lithium, manganese, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, selenium,
silver, tantalum, terbium, thorium, titanium, vanadium, and yttrium.
Almost all electronics contain lead and tin (as solder) and copper (as wire and printed circuit board
tracks), though the use of lead-free solder is now
spreading rapidly.
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Winners
of
Nobel
Prize
2010
speech as well as
freedom of assembly. This year there
were a record number of nomina6ons
for the Nobel Peace
Prize at a staggering
two hundred and
thirty seven. Last
year President Barrack Obama won a
Nobel Peace Prize
for his extraordinary eorts in
strengthening interna6onal diplomacy.
The Nobel Peace
Prize awarded to Liu
Xiaobo is the 'h
Featured Article
amount of money that comes

with it.
China is of course angry at
the Nobel commi7ee for awarding the pres6gious award to Liu
Xiaobo. Obama has called on the
chine government to release the
prisoner.
The Nobel Prize in

Physics 2010
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010

was awarded jointly to Andre
Nobel Peace Prize

Winner 2010 :
Liu XiaoboI
In Oslo, it was announced that

Chinese ac6vist and writer Liu Xiaobo has won a Nobel Peace
Prize. It has been reported that
the writer and ac6vist was chosen for the award because of his
constant ba7le for human rights.
The commi7ee who chose the
winners of the awards stated that
there is a close connec6on between peace and human rights,
hence Liu being awarded the coveted prize which is worth one
point ve million dollars.
The Nobel Prize winner is currently serving an eleven year
prison sentence for inci6ng subversion of state power in China.
The commi7ee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland said that China was
in breach of several interna6onal
conven6ons such as freedom of
Vol.. - 19
Geim and Konstan6n Novoselov

"for groundbreaking experiments
regarding the two-dimensional
material graphene"
award in two thousand and ten.

The other awards which are for
medicine, physics, chemistry, and
literature were announced to the
public earlier on in the week.
There are usually many nomina6ons for Nobel Peace Prizes each
year, but this year it was more
than most, as men6oned above.
Those lucky enough to win not
only have the privilege of winning
the award, but also the huge
Nobel Prize for medicine
The intensely modest Bri6sh scien6st who pioneered IVF has

been honoured with a long overdue Nobel prize for medicine.
Just seven years ago Robert
Edwards joked that he wasnt
bothered about being overlooked
for a knighthood, but a Nobel
would be nice.
Professor Edwards, emeritus
professor of human reproduc6on
at Cambridge University, was herWWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
.
.
Featured Article
alded as the creator of modern

reproduc6ve medicine.
His work with gynaecologist and
fellow Briton Dr Patrick Steptoe
led to the birth in July 1978 of
Louise Brown, the worlds rst
test tube baby.
Their research came against a
backdrop of signicant opposi6on from the medical and religious establishments. They
persevered, however, and in vitro
fer6lisa6on whereby human
eggs are fer6lised outside the
body and then implanted in the
womb has since resulted in
4.3million births worldwide.
The Nobel prize commi7ee in
Stockholm said Professor Edwardss achievements have
made it possible to treat infer6lity, a medical condi6on aic6ng
a large propor6on of humanity.
Nobel Literature Prize
Peruvian writer Mario Vargas
award "for his cartography of

structures of power and his
trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt and defeat".
The 74-year-old writer is the
rst South American to win the
Nobel since Colombian magic-realist innovator Gabriel Garcia
Marquez in 1982. Mexico's Octavio Paz won the prize in 1990.
Like Paz and many other La6n
American authors, Vargas Llosa
has dabbled in poli6cs over the
years. He even ran, unsuccessfully, for the the Peruvian presidency in 1990.
From the publica6on of his
rst novel, 1963 -- The Time of
the Hero, based on his experiences at a Peruvian military academy, Vargas Llosa is recognized as
a leading gure in the La6n American literature in the second half
of the 20th century.
He has wri7en essays, nonc6on, and c6on in a wide variety of genres and styles. The
brothel of the 6tle.

The bi7er 1969 novel Conversa6ons in the Cathedral embeds
a cri6que of the dictatorship of
Peruvian president Manuel Odria
in the story of one man's search
for the truth about his minister
father's role in the murder of a
notorious underworld gure.
In the 2000 novel The Feast
of the Goat (published in the U.S.
in 2002), Vargas Llosa makes a
startlingly unsympathe6c, Shakespeare-worthy villain of Rafael
Trujillo, the real-life military despot who ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930-61.
Many Americans may know
Vargas Llosa best for his 1977
comic novel, Aunt Julia and the
Screenwriter, which was adapted
into American director Jon
Amiel's widely praised movie
Tune in Tomorrow, starring Peter
Falk as a larger-than-life creator
of radio soap operas who manipulates the May-December rela6onship of a young aspiring
writer (Keanu Reeves) and his
older, twice-divorced aunt by
marriage (Barbara Hershey).
(EW's Owen Gleiberman said the
lm "crackles with roman6c
heat.")
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Llosa has won the 2010 Nobel

prize for literature. The Nobel
Prize commi7ee said in a statement Vargas Llosa received the
.
Green House is widely considered

among his best works. It is a nonchronological account of unrest
in Peru centered on the desert
Two Japanese scien6sts and an

American researcher won the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing chemical reac6ons that
help create large quan66es of organic substances that can be used
for medicine.
Richard F. Heck of the University of Delaware in Newark,
Delaware, Akira Suzuki, 80, of
Hokkaido University in Sapporo,
Japan, and Ei-Ichi Negishi, 75 of
Purdue University in West
.
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
. Vol. - 19
Featured Article
nan, of the United Kingdom;

Thomas A. SteitzThomas A.
Steitz, of the United States; and
Ada E. Yonath, of Israel, for their
work on how the DNA code is
translated into life, ndings that
have been used to ght infec6ous
disease.
Nobel Economic Prize
Lafaye7e, Indiana, will share the

10 million-kronor ($1.5 million)
award, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said at a press
conference in Stockholm.
Last years prize in chemistry
went to Venkatraman RamakrishVol.. - 19
Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen

Dale Mortensen and Christopher
Pissarides won the 2010 Nobel
Prize in Economics Sciences.
Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen
and Christopher Pissarides received the 2010 Nobel Prize in
Economics Sciences for their research on ecacy of service and
compensa6on model. Peter Diamond had also made contribu6ons to the labor-market
considera6ons along with the
other two scien6sts that nally
led them to win the Nobel Prize
for Economic Sciences 2010.
Now that Peter Diamond
marked his name on the Nobel
Prize in economics Shelby must
rethink his objec6on. Shelby, in
fact, by no means said that Peter
Diamond was not a good economist. He actually held that Peter
Diamond has no idea of monetary economics. That too is a foolish idea in itself.
Peter Diamond has analyzed
the founda6ons of search markets. Dale Mortensen and
Christopher Pissarides have expanded the theory and have applied it to the labor market. The
laureates models help us understand the ways in which unemployment, job vacancies, and
wages are aected by regula6on
and economic policy, said the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Peter Diamond is seventy

years old. Peter Diamond is an
economics professor at the Massachuse7s Ins6tute of Technology. Peter Diamond has
conducted many researches on a
wide range of topics.
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
.
.
16th SAARC Summit
Towards a Green and Happy South Asia

Avadhesh Kumar Pandey
The 16th SAARC (South Asia association of Regional Cooperation) summit concluded in the capital of Bhutan. The theme of the
summit was Towards a green and happy south Asia. South Asia
is the home of 1.5 billion people, which comprise eight nations,
namely India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and
Afghanistan. This is the silver jubilee year of SAARC. According
to a World Bank report the 2/3rd people of south Asia live on less then 2 dollar per day. Certainly, it is far
behind from the other regional organizations when compared about the progress and development of the
region.
In the summit, the leaders of member countries rightly raised this issue. First, our Prime Minister, Man
Mohan Singh called the 25-year long journey of SAARC, a glass half empty then Bhutans PM Jigmi Y
Thinley said that SAARC is losing its focus from core issues, such as poverty, food security etc. In one sense
these statements are true, as there are many bilateral issues between member countries which used to
affect the multilateral efforts and initiatives of the developments, e.g. India-Pakistan relations have always
overshadowed the SAARC summits and this time also the summit started with the huge speculations of
Indo-Pak meets at the sidelines of the summit. Though, according to SAARC charter, bilateral issues
cannot be raised on its forum, still the mere possibilities of Indo-Pak high level meet used to occupy a lot
of space of the summits unofficial or official agenda. This fact is clear through the comment of Mohammad
Nasheed, president of Maldives, he said, the summit will lead to a greater dialogue between India and
Pakistan. The state heads of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan also expressed the similar views. President
Nasheed also asked for the more focus on important issues which are related to SAARC nations and their
problems which used to be overshadowed by the Indo-Pak stern relation.
One more issue, which has maintained gap between members, is the India factor. India has geographically, economically and politically a big brother image among the rest member countries of SAARC. All
the nations of south Asia are connected geographically with India (Afghanistan through POK). Only
Maldives, the island nation has no land connectivity with India. This big brother image has always raised
negative thoughts and fears among the other members, the political parties have frequently used the antiIndia card to raise the public emotions, e.g. in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and off course Pakistan. This
insecurity has provided a suitable opportunity for big powers to intervene in south Asia. Besides, ethnic,
language, border and water disputes between the members, it has also created set-backs among bilateral
and multilateral relations.
However, some significant events took place in Thimphu. The landmark decision was the announcement
of a fund by Indian PM, to meet with the challenges of climate change and to cater for the needs of
effective adaptation and capacity building of small nations. Though no proper action plan for climate
change was drafted, still this is an important initiative as all the nations of south Asia are facing serious
threats of global warming, such as, glacial melting, frequent cyclones, floods and droughts.
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The next important event of summit was the IndoPak meeting on 29th April, between Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh and his counter part Yusuf
Raza Gilani. It was the first meeting of both leaders after the one in Sharm- el Sheikh in July 2009.
In the meeting, India insisted on Pak to take some
credential action against the 26/11 perpetrates, LeT
and Hafeez Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai
attack. India refused to start the conventional form
of composite dialogue that is based on eight issues.
Pakistans emphasis remained on delinking of terror from talks and an immediate return of composite dialogue. However, India rejected this offer
and no joint statement took place, but the positive
side of talks was that both sides agreed to keep the
dialogue process open and decided to meet as soon
as possible at Foreign Ministers level and at foreign secretary level.
Besides above developments, the 16th SAARC
summit lacked behind on many issues. No progress
took place on SAFTA (south Asia free trade agreement), nor the leaders of south Asia tried to find
out any regional solution of Afghan problem.
Though in a joint statement released by prime
Minister Man Mohan Singh and President Karzai,
Dr. Singh supported an Afghan-led , Afghanowned rebuilding of Afghanistan, based on the
principles of national sovereignty, independence
and non interference. The rising interference of
superpowers such as USA and China in south Asia
too did not become an issue of concern for the leaders of subcontinent. The leaders of SAARC though
felt that bilateral issues are creating hurdles in the
progress of the region and its 1.5 billion people but
no concrete step has been taken to overcome those
issues.
However, the summit remarked the need of dialogue and conversation among the members to resolve their differences. After all, it gives an open
forum to its members to exchange their views and
visions regarding south Asias present, future and
its potential role in international political and economic structure.
The South Asian Association

for Regional Cooperation
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and political organization of eight countries in Southern Asia. In
terms of population, its sphere of influence is the
largest of any regional organization: almost 1.5 billion people, the combined population of its member states. It was established on December 8, 1985
by Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan,
India and Sri Lanka. In April 2007, at the
Association's 14th summit, Afghanistan became its
eighth member.
In the late 1970s, Bangladeshi President Ziaur
Rahman proposed the creation of a trade bloc consisting of South Asian countries. The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was again mooted
in May 1980. The foreign secretaries of the seven
countries met for the first time in Colombo in April
1981. The Committee of the Whole, which met in
Colombo in August 1981, identified five broad areas for regional cooperation. New areas of cooperation were added in the following years.
The objectives of the Association as defined

in the Charter are:
To promote the welfare of the people of South

Asia and to improve their quality of life;
To accelerate economic growth, social progress

and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potential;
To promote and strengthen collective selfreliance among the countries of South Asia;
To contribute to mutual trust, understanding
and appreciation of one another's problems;
To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural,
technical and scientific fields;
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To strengthen cooperation with other developing countries;

To strengthen cooperation among themselves
in international forums on matters of common interest; and
To cooperate with international and regional
organisations with similar aims and purposes.
The Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation was adopted by the Foreign Ministers in
1983 in New Delhi. During the meeting, the Ministers also launched the Integrated Programme of
Action (IPA) in nine agreed areas, namely, Agriculture; Rural Development; Telecommunications;
Meteorology; Health and Population Activities;
Transport; Postal Services; Science and Technology; and Sports, Arts and Culture. The South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was
established when its Charter was formally adopted
on 8 December 1985 by the Heads of State or Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Afghanistan was added to the regional grouping at
the behest of India on 13 November 2005, and became a member on 3 April 2007. With the addition of Afghanistan, the total number of member
states were raised to eight (8). In April 2006, the
United States of America and South Korea made
formal requests to be granted observer status. The
European Union has also indicated interest in being given observer status, and made a formal request for the same to the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting in July 2006. On 2 August 2006 the
foreign ministers of the SAARC countries agreed
in principle to grant observer status to the US,
South Korea and the European Union. On 4 March
2007, Iran requested observer status. Followed
shortly by the entrance of Mauritius.
SAARC Secretariat
The SAARC Secretariat was established in
Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 and was inaugurated by Late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of
Nepal.
It is headed by a Secretary General appointed by

the Council of Ministers from Member Countries
in alphabetical order for a three-year term. He is
assisted by the Professional and the General Services Staff, and also an appropriate number of functional units called Divisions assigned to Directors
on deputation from Member States. The Secretariat
coordinates and monitors implementation of activities, prepares for and services meetings, and
serves as a channel of communication between the
Association and its Member States as well as other
regional organizations.
The Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of the Secretariat which was signed by
Foreign Ministers of member countries on 17 November 1986 at Bangalore, India contains various
clauses concerning the role, structure and administration of the SAARC Secretariat as well as the
powers of the Secretary-General.
In several recent meetings the heads of state or
government of member states of SAARC have
taken some important decisions and bold initiatives to strengthen the organisation and to widen
and deepen regional co-operation.
The SAARC Secretariat and Member States observe
8 December as the SAARC Charter Day1.
Free Trade Agreement

Over the years, the SAARC members have expressed their unwillingness on signing a free trade
agreement. Though India has several trade pacts
with Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, similar trade agreements with Pakistan and Bangladesh
have been stalled due to political and economic
concerns on both sides. India has been constructing a barrier across its borders with Bangladesh and
Pakistan. In 1993, SAARC countries signed an
agreement to gradually lower tariffs within the
region, in Dhaka. Eleven years later, at the 12th
SAARC Summit at Islamabad, SAARC countries
devised the South Asia Free Trade Agreement
which created a framework for the establishment
of a free trade area covering 1.4 billion people. This
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agreement went into force on January 1, 2006.

Under this agreement, SAARC members will bring
their duties down to 20 per cent by 2007.
SAARC Preferential Trading

Arrangement
The Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading
Arrangement (SAPTA) was signed on 11 April 1993
and entered into force on 7 December 1995, with
the desire of the Member States of SAARC (India,
Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and
the Maldives) to promote and sustain mutual trade
and economic cooperation within the SAARC region through the exchange of concessions.
The establishment of an Inter-Governmental
Group (IGG) to formulate an agreement to establish a SAPTA by 1997 was approved in the Sixth
Summit of SAARC held in Colombo in December
1991.
South Asian Free

Trade Area
The Agreement on the South Asian Free Trade
Area is an agreement reached at the 12th SAARC
summit at Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on 6 January 2004. It creates a framework for the creation
of a free trade area covering 1.4 billion people in
India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Bhutan and the Maldives.The seven foreign ministers of the region signed a framework agreement
on SAFTA with zero customs duty on the trade of
practically all products in the region by end 2016.
The new agreement i.e. SAFTA, came into being
on 1 January 2006 and will be operational following the ratification of the agreement by the seven
governments.
The least developed nations in South Asia consisting of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives
have an additional three years to reduce tariffs to
zero. India and Pakistan have signed but not ratified the treaty.
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SAFTA requires the developing countries in South

Asia, that is, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to bring
their duties down to 20 percent in the first phase
of the two year period ending in 2007. In the final
five year phase ending 2012, the 20 percent duty
will be reduced to zero in a series of annual cuts.
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BRIC and IBSA

Summits
The two Summits
has discussed global economic crisis besides ways to
enhance cooperation among the
member countries
of the two groupings. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in
Brazil on a two day visit inApril 2010 during which
he attended the BrazilRussiaIndiaChina
(BRIC) and IndiaBrazil South Africa (IBSA)
Summits and held bilateral meetings with Chinese
President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev. The Prime Minister reached from Washington on the second leg of his eight nation tour.
At the 2nd BRIC Summit, Irans nuclear issue and
the controversy surrounding it also discussed under
the groupings format by Singh, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao and
Brazilian President Lula da Silva. This was the first
time that Iran has been part of focussed agenda of
the grouping.
BRIC is a significant grouping comprising two of
the worlds leading energy producers Russia and
China and top energy consumers India and China,
which officials say forms the basis for natural synergy.
In the BRIC format, Foreign Ministers of the four
countries have met regularly on the sidelines of international conferences, including the UN General
Assembly.
The BRIC countries, representing 40 per cent of the
global population, are among the largest and fastest
growing economies with rich human and material
resources. They represent the future of the global
economic landscape.
With a similarity of views on several issues like

climate change and reform of global institutions,
including the UN, the four countries have been fine
tuning their collective approaches to these issues.
In the IBSA format too, India, Brazil and South Africa, the three fastest growing economies of three
continents, have evolved common and coordinated
approaches to the challenges like global economic
crisis and climate change besides pushing efforts to
enhance cooperation among themselves.
After the IBSA Summit, India, Brazil and South Africa signd two trilateral MoUs. These are in the areas of solar energy and science and technology. An
MoU in the field of sport is also likely to be inked.
These groupings reflect the growing role of emerging economies in shaping the global economic order, the Prime Minister had said in a statement.
He said the IBSA process has come of age as it today encompasses a wide range of activities which
supplement the excellent bilateral relations that India enjoys with each of these countries.
Our coordination on important international issues
has expanded, and our trilateral cooperation is beginning to bear fruit in many sectors, the Prime
Minister had said.
We have a high stake in the revival of the global
economy, an open trading system, energy security,
combating climate change and addressing non traditional threats to international security, he said.
Singh also held bilateral meetings with the Chinese
President and Russian President. Ahead of his meeting with Hu, Singh said in Washington that India
and China were working very hard to find a practical and pragmatic solution to the boundary question and it would take time to get resolved.
Noting that both countries recognise that it would
take time, he said both the nations have agreed that
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pending the resolution of the border issues, peace

and tranquility should be maintained along the Line
of Actual Control and by and large that situation
prevails on the ground.
Dr. Singh said the three developing economies and

democracies shared similar views with regard to
reform of global institutions of governance like the
UN.
On the overall Sino India relations, he said the economic content of the relationship has increased significantly, with China today being Indias largest
trading partner.
Mr. Zuma said that IBSA has a natural dialogue forum and he has great confidence in its future. He
said the decision to develop the satellite jointly was
symbolic of the fact that the forum has entered a
new phase.
There are large Chinese investments in our country

and there are large Indian investments in China. On
the economic front the relationship is moving in the
right direction, he said.
On multilateral issues, he said, there was a recognition in China that there was a similarity of approach
between the two countries and they can gain by
working together.
In this context, he referred to the Copenhagen conference on climate change last December during
which India and China worked closely to block developed nations from imposing their agenda IBSA
to develop satellites, cooperate on global issues
India, Brazil and South Africa decided to jointly
develop two satellites and forged closer cooperation on global issues like UN reforms, climate
change and world trade talks. This emerged after
the fourth India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit.
The two satellites will be used for studying climate
to help agriculture sector in the three countries.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that IBSA
besides the embodiment of south-south cooperation
had entered the phase of consolidation and implementation of initiatives.
He said IBSA has immense prospects for the people
of the three countries and the right direction was
being provided to it by strengthening cooperation
in science and technology, energy, oceans research,
which were the hallmark of the forum.
OBS has developed into a vibrant organisation
which will play important role in world affairs,
Dr. Singh said.
He pointed out that the member countries had common positions on the Doha round of WTO talks.
He pressed for early conclusions of the Doha round
of trade talks saying it cant be put indefinitely.
Mr. Zuma said the IBSA was rapidly emerging as
an important forum for engagement. But we are
yet to fully explore the full potential of this forum,
he said.
The South African president, whose country will
host the next IBSA summit, said there was an opportunity for expanding cooperation in science and
technology and reinforcing shared developmental
objectives.
Noting that all the three IBSA countries were influential in their own regions, Mr. Zuma said, We
are in a position to make contributions to a global
debate. This became clear at the Copenhagen Summit on climate change when IBSA and China played
a key role in reaching an agreement.
He said the four countries were able to reflect the
interest of developing nations at the climate meet.
He said the IBSA countries were key for reform of
global bodies like UN to make them more democratic and more responsive to the poor.
Mr. Zuma said the three countries needed more coordination on climate change to ensure legally binding agreement on the issue in the next summit in
Mexico next year.
BRIC, IBSA nations not keen on Iran sanctions
As the United States and its western allies press ahead
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with efforts to impose tough penalties on Iran, leaders and officials from two major international
groupings BRIC and IBSA meeting in Brasilia this
week took a contrary view, agreeing that new sanctions would not help resolve the nuclear issue.
On the sidelines, Indias national security adviser,
Shiv Shankar Menon, took part in a meeting of BRIC
senior security officials alongside Nikolai Patrushev
of Russia and Dai Binguuo of China. Earlier in the
week, Mr. Menon also met with his U.S. counterpart, James L. Jones, who provided a detailed description of Washingtons current approach to the
Iran issue.
Giving an account of the intra-BRIC exchanges on
Iran, a senior Indian official said, All of us agreed
that we dont think sanctions will help solve the
current problems with Iran. In addition, there was
agreement that dialogue and diplomacy were essential and that the central role of the International
Atomic Energy Agency in settling the Iran nuclear
docket had to be re-established.
The official said the BRIC nations agreed Iran had
the right to nuclear energy but that it also has an
obligation to set at rest international fears about the
nature of its nuclear programme.
Though the BRIC summit statement did not touch
on Iran, the IBSA communiqu said the three leaders reiterated the need for a peaceful and diplomatic
solution of the issue.
Indian officials said President Lula would be going
to Iran next month and that his visit had added significance since Brazil was a non-permanent member of the Security Council through 2011. Another
factor which might have a bearing on sanctions was
that Lebanon whose government has tended not to
support the U.S. on Iran would assume the rotating
chair of the UNSC in May.
India buys a significant amount of crude oil from
Iran. Until 2009, Indian companies like Reliance also
sold refined products to Iran but have withdrawn
from the market as American pressure on banks
around the world has made it more difficult to open

letters of credit.
An analysis
Summits of IBSA and BRIC nations, India and Brazil were the lucky two who had overlapping membership in both forums. But South Africa, which is
only part of the former, would very much like BRIC
to become BRICS, while China, which is part of the
latter as well as of the climate change ginger group
of BASIC with India, Brazil and South Africa
would not be averse to IBSA becoming CHIBSA.
Equation Reversed
Last year, when the Russian hosts at Ekaterinburg
held back-to-back summits of BRIC and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the equation was reversed. Russia and China belong to both groupings,
while India, which has mere observer status in the
SCO, agreed to have Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh attend that summit only after receiving assurances that he would have full speaking rights and
would not have to leave the room when the real
members met.
On the sidelines of the April 15 IBSA and BRIC
meets in Brasilia, President Hu Jintao of China held
a bilateral meeting with his Brazilian counterpart,
Lula da Silva, and the two countries signed a number of agreements. One of these was an 'action plan',
and buried deep within it was this proposal: The
two sides will discuss conducting long-term research
on the potential for furthering the development of
trade relations between IBSA and China.
Not Enthusiastic
Some in Brazil have quietly been suggesting
Beijing's inclusion in IBSA -- China is, after all, its
largest trading partner -- but India and, to a lesser
extent, South Africa, which sees IBSA as a great vehicle for itself on the world stage -- are not enthusiastic.
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Well, IBSA has a character of its own -- three large

democracies coming together, Prime Minister
Singh told reporters who managed to throw a question to him on China joining the trilateral forum.
He was standing with his delegation in the lobby of
Itamaraty Palace, home to the Brazilian foreign
ministry, on Thursday evening, waiting for his motorcade in between the IBSA and BRIC summits. I
think IBSA has now come into its own.
The reference to democracies was not accidental. It
was present in Dr. Singh's speech to the IBSA plenary and the final summit communiqu spoke of
shared democratic traditions. For Indian officials,
this is what provides additional glue to a grouping
that joins India with the most important powers of
Africa and South America. It helps, of course, that
as a criterion for club membership, China would
not quallify.
Problematic
ceuticals as well as agriculture. In an article written on the eve of the BRIC summit, President Dmitri
Medvedev spoke of the four countries collaborating with each other in nuclear technology, space
technology, aircraft manufacturing, nanotechnology
and other fields. But some in the Indian establishment remain sceptical of doing too much with BRIC,
fearing a backlash from the U.S.
II BRIC SUMMIT: Joint

Statement
We, the leaders of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India
and the Peoples Republic of China, met in Braslia
on 15 April 2010 to discuss major issues of the international agenda as well as concrete steps to move
forward the cooperation and coordination within
BRIC.
We have agreed on the following:
Asked about the expansion of BRIC, the Prime Minister said this was an idea of Goldman Sachs. We
are now trying to give it some shape, flesh it out.
Let us see.
Like IBSA, the expansion of BRIC is problematic
because the majority of its members fear the dilution of the forum's core competence: fast rising
economies with a growing footprint in the global
economy and system. BRIC today accounts for a
little under a quarter of world output. The South
African economy is not yet in that league.
Other countries that have expressed an interest in
joining BRIC are Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey. The
Turks are also apparently interested in IBSA.
What makes BRIC a good fit today is that the four
countries have complementary factor endowments
and national skills, a senior Indian official told The
Hindu. If China has solid manufacturing and huge
financial clout, Russia has energy and advanced technology in certain fields, while Brazil is an agricultural superpower with strong manufacturing and
India has a comparative advantage in IT, pharma-
Common Vision and Global

Governance
We share the perception that the world is undergoing major and swift changes that highlight the need
for corresponding transformations in global governance in all relevant areas.
We underline our support for a multipolar, equitable and democratic world order, based on international law, equality, mutual respect, cooperation,
coordinated action and collective decision-making
of all States.
We stress the central role played by the G-20 in
combating the crisis through unprecedented levels
of coordinated action. We welcome the fact that the
G-20 was confirmed as the premier forum for international economic coordination and cooperation
of all its member states. Compared to previous arrangements, the G-20 is broader, more inclusive,
diverse, representative and effective. We call upon
all its member states to undertake further efforts to
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implement jointly the decisions adopted at the three

G-20 Summits.
moting development in our own countries and

worldwide.
We advocate the need for the G-20 to be proactive

and formulate a coherent strategy for the post-crisis period. We stand ready to make a joint contribution to this effort.
We underline the importance of maintaining relative stability of major reserve currencies and
sustainability of fiscal policies in order to achieve a
strong, long-term balanced economic growth.
We express our strong commitment to multilateral

diplomacy with the United Nations playing the central role in dealing with global challenges and
threats. In this respect, we reaffirm the need for a
comprehensive reform of the UN, with a view to
making it more effective, efficient and representative, so that it can deal with todays global challenges more effectively. We reiterate the importance we attach to the status of India and Brazil in
international affairs, and understand and support
their aspirations to play a greater role in the United
Nations.
We are convinced that emerging market economies

and developing countries have the potential to play
an even larger and active role as engines of economic
growth and prosperity, while at the same time commit to work together with other countries towards
reducing imbalances in global economic development and fostering social inclusion.
We believe the deepened and broadened dialogue

and cooperation of the BRIC countries is conducive
not only to serving common interests of emerging
market economies and developing countries, but
also to building a harmonious world of lasting peace
and common prosperity. We have agreed upon steps
to promote dialogue and cooperation among our
countries in an incremental, proactive, pragmatic,
open and transparent way.
International Economic and

Financial Issues
The world economic situation has improved since
our first meeting in June 2009, in Ekaterinburg. We
welcome the resumption of economic growth, in
which emerging market economies are playing a
very important role. However, we recognize that
the foundation of world economic recovery is not
yet solid, with uncertainties remaining. We call upon
all states to strengthen macroeconomic cooperation,
jointly secure world economic recovery and achieve
a strong, sustainable and balanced growth. We reiterate our determination to make positive efforts in
maintaining domestic economic recovery and pro-
G-20 members, with a significant contribution from

BRIC countries, have greatly increased resources
available to the IMF. We support the increase of
capital, under the principle of fair burden-sharing,
of the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and of the International Finance Corporation, in addition to more robust, flexible and
agile client-driven support for developing economies from multilateral development banks.
Despite promising positive signs, much remains to
be done. We believe that the world needs today a
reformed and more stable financial architecture that
will make the global economy less prone and more
resilient to future crises, and that there is a greater
need for a more stable, predictable and diversified
international monetary system.
We will strive to achieve an ambitious conclusion
to the ongoing and long overdue reforms of the
Bretton Woods institutions. The IMF and the World
Bank urgently need to address their legitimacy deficits. Reforming these institutions governance structures requires first and foremost a substantial shift
in voting power in favor of emerging market economies and developing countries to bring their participation in decision making in line with their relative weight in the world economy. We call for the
voting power reform of the World Bank to be fulfilled in the upcoming Spring Meetings, and expect
the quota reform of the IMF to be concluded by the
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G-20 Summit in November this year. We do also

agree on the need for an open and merit based selection method, irrespective of nationality, for the heading positions of the IMF and the World Bank. Moreover, staff of these institutions needs to better reflect the diversity of their membership. There is a
special need to increase participation of developing
countries. The international community must deliver a result worthy of the expectations we all share
for these institutions within the agreed timeframe
or run the risk of seeing them fade into obsolescence.
In the interest of promoting international economic
stability, we have asked our Finance Ministers and
Central Bank Governors to look into regional monetary arrangements and discuss modalities of cooperation between our countries in this area. In order
to facilitate trade and investment, we will study
feasibilities of monetary cooperation, including local currency trade settlement arrangement between
our countries.
Recent events have shattered the belief about the selfregulating nature of financial markets. Therefore,
there is a pressing need to foster and strengthen cooperation regarding the regulation and supervision
of all segments, institutions and instruments of financial markets. We remain committed to improve
our own national regulations, to push for the reform
of the international financial regulatory system and
to work closely with international standard setting
bodies, including the Financial Stability Board.
note and strongly support Russia's bid for accession

to the WTO.
Development
We reiterate the importance of the UN Millennium

Declaration and the need to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). We underscore the
importance of preventing a potential setback to the
efforts of poor countries aimed at achieving MDGs
due to the effects of the economic and financial crisis. We should also make sustained efforts to achieve
the MDGs by 2015, including through technical
cooperation and financial support to poor countries
in implementation of development policies and social protection for their populations. We expect the
UN MDG Summit, in September 2010, to promote
the implementation of MDGs through policy recommendations. We stress that sustainable development models and paths of developing countries
should be fully respected and necessary policy space
of developing countries should be guaranteed.
The poorest countries have been the hardest hit by
the economic and financial crisis. The commitments
regarding the aid to the developing states, especially
those related to the MDGs, should be fulfilled, and
there should be no reduction in development assistance. An inclusive process of growth for the world
economy is not only a matter of solidarity but also
an issue of strategic importance for global political
and economic stability.
Agriculture
International Trade
We stress the importance of the multilateral trading system, embodied in the World Trade Organization, for providing an open, stable, equitable and
non discriminatory environment for international
trade. In this connection, we commit ourselves and
urge all states to resist all forms of trade protectionism and fight disguised restrictions on trade. We
concur in the need for a comprehensive and balanced
outcome of the Doha Round of multilateral trade
talks, in a manner that fulfills its mandate as a "development round", based on the progress already
made, including with regard to modalities. We take
We express our satisfaction with the Meeting of

Ministers of Agriculture and Agrarian Development
in Moscow, where they discussed ways of promoting quadripartite cooperation, with particular attention to family farming. We are convinced that this
will contribute towards global food production and
food security. We welcome their decision to create
an agricultural information base system of the BRIC
countries, to develop a strategy for ensuring access
to food for vulnerable population, to reduce the
negative impact of climate change on food security,
and to enhance agriculture technology cooperation
and innovation.
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Fight against poverty
Climate Change
We call upon the international community to make

all the necessary efforts to fight poverty, social exclusion and inequality bearing in mind the special
needs of developing countries, especially LDCs,
small islands and African Countries. We support
technical and financial cooperation as means to contribute to the achievement of sustainable social development, with social protection, full employment,
and decent work policies and programmes, giving
special attention to the most vulnerable groups, such
as the poor, women, youth, migrants and persons
with disabilities.
We acknowledge that climate change is a serious

threat which requires strengthened global action.
We commit ourselves to promote the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 6th
Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of
the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, in Mexico, to
achieve a comprehensive, balanced and binding result to strengthen the implementation of the Convention and the Protocol. We believe that the Convention and the Protocol provide the framework for
international negotiations on climate change. The
negotiations in Mexico should be more inclusive,
transparent, and should result in outcomes that are
fair and effective in addressing the challenge of climate change, while reflecting the principles of the
Convention, especially the principle of equity and
common but differentiated responsibilities.
Energy
We recognize that energy is an essential resource
for improving the standard of living of our peoples
and that access to energy is of paramount importance to economic growth with equity and social
inclusion. We will aim to develop cleaner, more
affordable and sustainable energy systems, to promote access to energy and energy efficient technologies and practices in all sectors. We will aim to diversify our energy mix by increasing, where appropriate, the contribution of renewable energy sources,
and will encourage the cleaner, more efficient use
of fossil fuels and other fuels. In this regard, we reiterate our support to the international cooperation
in the field of energy efficiency.
We recognize the potential of new, emerging, and
environmentally friendly technologies for diversifying energy mix and the creation of jobs. In this
regard we will encourage, as appropriate, the sustainable development, production and use of
biofuels. In accordance with national priorities, we
will work together to facilitate the use of renewable energy, through international cooperation and
the sharing of experiences on renewable energy, including biofuels technologies and policies.
We believe that BRIC member countries can cooperate in training, R&D, Consultancy services and
technology transfer, in the energy sector.
Terrorism
We condemn terrorist acts in all forms and manifestations. We note that the fight against international terrorism must be undertaken with due respect to the UN Charter, existing international conventions and protocols, the UN General Assembly
and Security Council resolutions relating to international terrorism, and that the prevention of terrorist acts is as important as the repression of terrorism and its financing. In this context, we urge
early conclusion of negotiations in the UN General
Assembly of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and its adoption by all Member States. Brazil and China express their sympathy
and solidarity with the people and Governments of
Russia and India which suffered from recent barbaric terrorist attacks. Terrorism cannot be justified by any reason.
Alliance of Civilizations
We affirm the importance of encouraging the dialogue among civilizations, cultures, religions and
peoples. In this respect, we support the Alliance of
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Civilizations, a United Nations initiative aimed

at building bridges, mutual knowledge and understanding around the world. We praise the Brazilian
decision to host, in Rio de Janeiro, in May 2010, the
3rd Global Forum and confirm our intention to be
present at the event, in appropriate high level.
Haiti
We reaffirm our solidarity towards the Haitian
people, who have been struggling under dire circumstances since the earthquake of January 12th, and
reiterate our commitment to gather efforts with the
international community in order to help rebuilding the country, under the guidance of the Haitian
government, and according to the priorities established by the Action Plan for National Recovery and
Development of Haiti.
Cooperation
We welcome the following sectoral initiatives aimed at strengthening cooperation
among our countries:
a) the first Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture
and Agrarian Development;
b) the Meetings of Ministers of Finance and Governors of Central Banks;
c) the Meetings of High Representatives for Secu-
i) the first Business Forum;

j) the Conference of think tanks.
28. We also endorse other important manifestations of our desire to deepen our relationship, such as:
a) the joint publication by our respective national
statistical institutions which is going to be released
today;
b) a feasibility study for developing a joint BRIC
encyclopedia.
29. We reaffirm our commitment to advance
cooperation among BRIC countries in science,
culture and sports.
We express our confidence in the success of the 2010
World Expo in Shanghai, the 2010 Commonwealth
Games in New Delhi, the 2013 World Student
Games in Kazan, the 2014 Winter Olympic and
Paralympic Games in Sochi, the FIFA 2014 World
Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic
Games in Rio de Janeiro.
We reaffirm the efforts to strengthen our cooperation and assistance for reduction of natural disasters. Russia and India express their condolences and
solidarity with the people and Governments of Brazil and China, for the lives lost in the mudslide in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in the earthquake in
Yushu, China.
rity Issues;
III BRIC Summit
d) the I Exchange Program for Magistrates and

Judges, of BRIC countries, held in March 2010 in
Brazil following the signature in 2009 of the Protocol of Intent among the BRIC countries Supreme
Courts;
e) the first Meeting of Development Banks;
Brazil, Russia and India appreciated the offer of

China to host the III BRIC Summit in 2011.
Russia, India and China expressed their profound
gratitude to the Government and people of Brazil
for hosting the II BRIC Summit.
f) the first Meeting of the Heads of the National

Statistical Institutions;
g) the Conference of Competition Authorities;
h) the first Meeting of Cooperatives;
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Caste Census
Cabinet clears caste census in 2011
'er several delibera6ons

within the government on
the poli6cally-sensi6ve
issue, the Union cabinet decided
to carry out a separate house-tohouse caste enumera6on from
June to September next year
Giving in to demands from almost all poli6cal par6es, government on Sep 9 2010. decided to
hold caste census next year
under an exercise to be carried
out separately from the enumera6on of popula6on.
A'er several delibera6ons within
the government on the poli6cally-sensi6ve issue, the Union
cabinet decided to carry out a
.
separate house-to-house caste

enumera6on from June to September next year.
According to home minister P.
Chidambaram, a'er considering
various op6ons, the op6on that
we have approved is, based on
the responses of various poli6cal
par6es, that caste must be canvassed and the integrity of the
headcount must not be aected.
The caste enumera6on will be
conducted in a phased manner
a'er the popula6on enumera6on, which will include biometric
capture and headcount, is completed by March next year, he
said. He evaded a reply when
By : Avadhesh Kumar Pandey
asked whether caste enumera6on would be merged with the

headcount.
The decision has been taken
a'er considering op6ons suggested by the Group of Ministers
(GoM) set up on the issue and
the consulta6ons that nance
minister Pranab Mukherjee held
with leaders of various par6es.
Par6es like Rashtriya Janata
Dal, Samajwadi Party and Janata
Dal (United) had disrupted proceedings in Parliament for several
days during the Budget and Monsoon sessions while pressing for
caste census.
The Bhara6ya Janata Party,
.
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
. Vol. - 19
which was divided ini6ally, later

decided to support it. The issue
even divided the Congress as well
as the Union cabinet with some
favouring caste census and others
opposing it, promp6ng the government to set up a GoM to consider all aspects related to such a
move.
Chidambaram said a suitable
legal regime for collec6on of data
on castes would be formulated in
consulta6on with the ministry of
law and jus6ce.
There will be an addi6onal
cost for the exercise which will be
assessed at a separate mee6ng.
The oce of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner
would conduct the eld opera6ons of the caste enumera6on.
The Central government will
cons6tute an expert group to
classify the caste/tribe returns
a'er the enumera6on is completed. The oce of the Registrar
General and Census Commissioner would hand over the details of the castes/tribes returned
in the enumera6on to the proposed expert group.
The last caste-wise census
was held in 1931 and such a prac6ce had been given up as a matter of policy a'er Independence.
In response to the demands
for enumera6ng castes other
than Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in the Census
2011 raised inside Parliament as
well as by various groups outside,
the ministry of home aairs submi7ed a note to the Union cabinet in May 2010 pertaining to this
issue.
India launches Census

2011, the biggest-ever in
history
India on Apr 01, 2010 launched

Vol.. - 19
Census 2011,'' the biggest-ever

census a7empted in the history
of mankind enumera6ng the
country's 1.2 billion popula6on
and classifying usual residents according to their gender, religion,
occupa6on and educa6on.
The massive exercise, to be
spread over next 11 months, will
mark a milestone as the rst-ever
Na6onal Popula6on Register
(NPR) will also be prepared in
which all persons aged over 15
years will be photographed and
ngerprinted to create a biometric na6onal database. With this
India will probably become the
rst democra6c na6on in the
world which would have got its
popula6on ngerprinted in a year
from now.
As the rst ci6zen of the
country, President Pra6bha Devisingh Pa6l was the rst person
to be listed in the decennial exercise. She appealed to her compatriots to follow her example for
the good of the na6on.''
The 15th Na6onal Census exercise, since 1872, will see over
25 lakh ocials
capturing
the
socio-economiccultural prole of
its ci6zens. It will
cost around Rs.
2,209 crore while
the expenditure on
NPR will be Rs.
3,539.24
crore.
The exercise will
also
consume
more than 11 million tonnes of
paper.
During
the
massive exercise,
the enumerators
for the rst 6me
will collect informa6on like owner-
Featured Article
ship of mobile phones, computers, internet, having treated or

untreated drinking water facility
and usage of banking services.
They will also seek addi6onal informa6on for the crea6on of
NPR. The government has already said that no informa6on
will be collected on castes as no
caste-based census has ever been
conducted in independent India.
The second phase, called the
Popula6on Enumera6on phase,
will be conducted simultaneously
all over the country from February 9 to 28, 2011, and the en6re
exercise would be completed by
March 5, 2011.
All 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils,
7,742 towns and more than six
lakh villages will be covered.
What is Census
The Indian Census is the most

credible source of informa6on on
Demography (Popula6on characteris6cs), Economic Ac6vity, Literacy & Educa6on, Housing &
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Featured Article
Household Ameni6es, Urbaniza6on, Fer6lity and Mortality,

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes, Language, Religion, Migra6on, Disability and many other
socio-cultural and demographic
data since 1872. Census 2011 will
be the 15th Na6onal Census of
the country. This is the only
source of primary data at village,
town and ward level. It provides
valuable informa6on for planning
and formula6on of polices for
Central & State Governments and
is widely used by Na6onal & Interna6onal agencies, scholars,
business people, industrialists,
and many more. The delimita6on/reserva6on of Cons6tuencies
Parliamentary/Assembly/Panchayats and other Local Bodies is
also done on the basis of the demographic data thrown up by the
Census. Census is the basis for reviewing the country's progress in
the past decade, monitoring the
on-going schemes of the Government and most importantly, plan
for the future. That is why the slogan of Census 2011 is "Our Census, Our Future".
.
Na$onal Popula$on
Register
The NPR would be a Register of

usual residents of the country.
The NPR will be a comprehensive
iden6ty database that would help
in be7er targe6ng of the benets
and services under the Government schemes/programmes, improve planning and help
strengthen security of the country. This is being done for the rst
6me in the country.
How will both these exercises be
conducted?
The Census is a statutory exercise
conducted under the provisions
of the Census Act 1948 and Rules
made there under. The NPR is
being created under the provisions of the Ci6zenship Act and
Rules.
Census Process
The Census process involves visi6ng each and every household

and gathering par6culars by ask-
ing ques6ons and lling up Census Forms. The informa6on collected about individuals is kept
absolutely conden6al. In fact
this informa6on is not accessible
even to Courts of law. A'er the
eld work is over the forms are
transported to data processing
centres located at 15 ci6es across
the country. The data processing
will be done using sophis6cated
so'ware called Intelligent Character Recogni6on So'ware (ICR).
This technology was pioneered
by India in Census 2001 has become the benchmark for Censuses all around the globe. This
involves the scanning of the Census Forms at high speed and extrac6ng the data automa6cally
using computer so'ware. This
revolu6onary technology has enabled the processing of the voluminous data in a very short 6me
and saving a huge amount of
manual labour and cost.
NPR Process
Details such as Name, Date of

Birth, Sex, Present Address, Permanent Address, Names of Father, Mother and Spouse etc will
be gathered by visi6ng each and
every household. All usual residents will be eligible to be included irrespec6ve of their
Na6onality. Each and every
household will be given an Acknowledgement Slip at the 6me
of enumera6on. The data will
then be entered into computers
in the local language of the State
as well as in English. Once this
database has been created, biometrics such as photograph, 10
ngerprints and probably Iris informa6on will be added for all
persons aged 15 years and above.
This will be done by arranging
.
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. Vol. - 19
camps at every village and at the

ward level in every town. Each
household will be required to
bring the Acknowledgement Slip
to such camps. Those who miss
these camps will be given the opportunity to present themselves
at permanent NPR Centres to be
set up at the Tehsil/Town level. In
the next step, data will be printed
out and displayed at prominent
places within the village and ward
for the public to see. Objec6ons
will be sought and registered at
this stage. Each of these objec6ons will then be enquired into
by the local Revenue Department
Ocer and a proper disposal
given in wri6ng.
Persons aggrieved by such
order have a right of appeal to
the Tehsildar and then to the District Collector. Once this process
is over, the lists will be placed in
the Gram Sabha in villages and
the Ward Commi7ee in towns.
Claims and Objec6ons will be received at this stage also and dealt
with in the same manner described above. The Gram
Sabha/Ward Commi7ee has to
give its clearance or objec6on
within a xed period of 6me a'er
which it will be deemed that the
lists have been cleared. The lists
thus authen6cated will then be
sent to the Unique Iden6ty Authority of India (UIDAI) for de-duplica6on and issue of UID
Numbers. All duplicates will be
eliminated at this stage based on
comparison of biometrics.
Unique ID numbers will also be
generated for every person. The
cleaned database along with the
UID Number will then be sent
back to the Oce of the Registrar
General and Census Commissioner, India (ORG&CCI) and
would form the Na6onal Popula6on Register. As the UID system
Vol.. - 19
works on the basis of biometric

de-duplica6on, in the case of persons of age 15 years and above
(for whom biometrics is available), the UID Number will be
available for each individual. For
those below the age of 15 years
(for whom biometrics is not available), the UID Number will be
linked to the parent or guardian.
Will Caste Census in

India Change Anything?
The recent approval by the Government of India for caste based

census has aroused concerns
among poli6cal par6es as well as
social scien6sts and ethnographers. For the self-proclaimed
modernists such regressive
measures are likely to heighten
caste consciousness among Indians. While the pragma6sts argue
that data on caste can help the
government to be7er target arma6ve ac6on policies and
thereby address caste dierences
ra6onally. The fact however is the
that caste as a social reality in
India draws succour from mul6ple sources which will remain untouched by either the proposed
census or the resultant ocial
policies. Caste issues inuence
everyday life of Indians in countless ways.
For those who think that
caste in India is merely a tool of
poli6cal opportunism or a remnant of ancient Hindu culture,
visit to the rural regions of North
Kerala during the winter months
can be surprising and unnerving.
Every year as the winter sets in,
rural areas of North Kerala prepare for a unique transforma6on
of social rela6ons. Theyyam is an
art form where performers, belonging to lower castes, are be-
Featured Article
lieved to be incarnated by local

dei6es and members of higher
castes ock to seek their blessing.
For three months of the year individuals from the lower castes are
elevated to the status of God but
have to live as untouchables once
the Theyyam season culminates.
Numerous rituals and customs like Theyyam con6nue to
nourish the prac6ce of caste differences in India. One only needs
to skim through the matrimonial
columns in leading English dailies
to get a sense that caste is an important considera6on even for
the modern elite segment of the
urban Indian popula6on.
Stephen P. Rosen in his book
Socie6es and Military Power:
India and its Army discuss the
con6nuing salience of caste in
Indias army. Though many would
consider Rosens conclusions
somewhat extreme but he does
raise several valid concerns. The
ba7alions in the Indian Army con6nue to be organised as the Jat,
Sikh, Dogra or Rajput regiments.
The Poona Pact between Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar in 1932 gran6ng reserva6on
for depressed classes in the
provincial legislatures was a precursor for the phenomenal poli6cal salience of caste in Indian
poli6cs. From the Backward
Classes Commissions endeavour
to create a master list of other
backwards classes in 1955 to
KHAM (Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis and Muslims) poli6cs of the
Congress (I) in the 1980s; from
the Mandal Commission uproar
in the 1990s to growing mass appeal of Dalit based poli6cal par6es like the Bahujan Samaj Party,
Indias poli6cal arena has witnessed countless caste inspired
s6rrings. No observer of Indian
poli6cs can ignore the role of
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Featured Article
caste in determining electoral

outcomes.
Moreover, even before the
on-going controversy over the
2010 caste census erupted, the
Government of India had been involved in many projects categorizing its popula6on along caste
lines. Despite cri6cisms from historians, poli6cal scien6sts and anthropologists the Government of
India did not abandon the colonial states prac6se of dieren6a6ng people along lines of caste
and religion in the People of India
projects. According to Susan
Bayly, in the late 1990s the Anthropological Survey of India was
undertaking massive exercise in
caste-based data collec6on- the
People of India Project- with
funding from Planning Commission. The project has used DNA
sampling to iden6fy dierence
between individual castes and
tribes. Readers are told that as
composite type, the Schduled
Castes have rela6vely broad
noses; chamars says another
entry are characterized by a long,
narrow head shape and a long
moderately broad nasal shape.
Such, outrageous dis6nc6ons
based on caste in a report sponsored by a State agency had gone
completely unno6ced by the
modernists and pragma6cs involved in recent debate. Though
previous censuses have not included ques6ons of caste directly,
the ethnographic notes in the
census reports have contributed
much to literature on caste in
.
India.
According to the pragma6sts India cannot simply
assume modernity by ignoring caste. They see
caste as a form of social
stra6ca6on much like
class in Britain or race in
the U.S. The U.S. census
and job applica6ons have a voluntary disclosure segment requiring informa6on about the
individuals race. Comparing
caste with class and race appears
incorrect if one realises that unlike other forms of social stra6ca6ons, caste in India is allegedly
sanc6oned by the sacred scriptures. Even though the scriptural
sanc6ty of caste is open to debate many Indians cite the
Manusmri6 and Bhagavad Gita to
support arguments in favour of
caste. It is much simpler to address dieren6a6ons based on
skin colour or na6onality than
stra6ca6ons perceived to be ordained by religious texts.
Caste based social prac6ces
in India go beyond the more visible poli6cal and economic dimensions and these subtle aspects
are unlikely to be impacted by
the enumera6on of caste through
the census.
Brief History of Census
The earliest literature 'Rig-Veda'

reveals that some kind of popula6on count was maintained in during 800-600 BC in India. The
celebrated 'Arthashastr' by 'Kau6lya' wri7en in the 3rd Century
BC prescribed the collec6on of
popula6on sta6s6cs as a measure
of state policy for taxa6on. It contained a detailed descrip6on of
methods of conduc6ng popula6on, economic and agricultural
censuses. During the regime of

the Mughal king Akbar, the administra6ve report 'Ain-e-Akbari'
included comprehensive data
pertaining to popula6on, industry, wealth and many other characteris6cs.
A systema6c and modern
popula6on census, in its present
form was conducted non synchronously between 1865 and
1872 in dierent parts of the
country. This eort culmina6ng in
1872 has been popularly labeled
as the rst popula6on census of
India However, the rst synchronous census in India was held in
1881. Since then, censuses have
been undertaken uninterruptedly
once every ten year.
The Census of India 2001 was
the fourteenth census in the con6nuous series as reckoned
from1872 and the sixth since independence. The gigan6c task of
census taking was completed in
two phases. In the rst phase,
known as House -lis6ng Opera6ons, all building and structures,
residen6al, partly residen6al or
non- residen6al were iden6ed
and listed and the uses to which
they were put recorded. Informa6on on houses, household
ameni6es and assets were also
collected. In the second phase,
known as Popula6on Enumera6on, more detailed informa6on
on each individual residing in the
country, Indian na6onal or otherwise, during the enumera6on period was collected.
At the Census 2001, more
than 2 million (or 20 lakh) enumerators were deployed to collect the informa6on by visi6ng
every household. The Indian Census is one of the largest administra6ve exercises undertaken in
the world.
.
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Commonwealth
Games
2010
Delhi 2010 set to

become largest
Commonwealth
Games in history
rganising Commi;ee Commonwealth Games 2010

Delhi announced that
around 7000 athletes and team
ocials from 71 na:ons and territories will make next months
Games the biggest in the history
of the Commonwealth Games.
India will eld the biggest con:ngent of more than 600 athletes
and team ocials while Bostwana
will be the smallest with less than
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By Dr. Divya
from Africa.
ve athletes and ocials.
Many na:ons are sending their Indias neighbours Pakistan and
Sri Lanka will send
largest
con:nTHESE INCLUDE
con:ngents of around
gents to a Com125 each. Australia,
m o n w e a l t h Australia (550)
Canada, England, New
Games outside England (525)
Zealand, Scotland and
their home na- Canada (400)
Wales
will keep their
:ons.
New Zealand (325)
record as the only naWith a 220- Malaysia (325)
:ons to par:cipate in
strong con:ngent, Scotland (300)
South Africa will Wales (240)
all edi:ons of the
be biggest team
Commonwealth
Vol. - 18

Games when they compete in

Delhi 2010.
The exact number of athletes
will be known only when the Delega:on Registra:on Mee:ngs
(DRM) are held between September 16 and October 2, 2010. Un:l
this process is complete, the Organising Commi;ee is not allowed by the Commonwealth
Games Federa:on to reveal the
names of the individual athletes.
Delhi 2010 Sports

XIX Commonwealth Games 2010
Delhi will feature following 17
sport:
Aqua:cs
Archery
Athle:cs
Badminton
Boxing
Cycling
Gymnas:cs
Hockey
Lawn Bowls
Netball
Rugby Sevens
Shoo:ng
Squash
Table Tennis
Tennis
Weightli'ing
Vol. - 18
Article
Year
Table showing par'cipa'on in recent Games
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
Venue
Edmonton
Disciplines
No. of athletes & ocials
10
2154
Brisbane
Edinburgh
10
10
Auckland
14
Kuala Lumpur
15
Victoria
Manchester
Melbourne
10
17
16
Competition Venues
Construc:on of the following
new venues is underway in full
swing and progressing sa:sfactorily: Badminton and Squash (Siri
Fort Sports Complex); Netball
(Thyagaraj Sports Complex);
Rugby 7s (Delhi University); Table
Tennis (Yamuna Sports Complex);
Weightli'ing and Wrestling (Indira Gandhi Sports Complex);
Shoo:ng (Dr Karni Singh Shoo:ng
Range);Archery Preliminaries (Yamuna Sports Complex); and Lawn
Bowls (Jawaharlal Nehru Sports
1978
2123
2826
3671
5065
3679*
5766
Complex).
Renova:on of the following
exis:ng venues will be completed
on schedule: Athle:cs (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium); Boxing (Talkatora Indoor Stadium); Gymnas:cs
(Indira Gandhi Stadium); Hockey
(Major Dhyan Chand Na:onal
Stadium); Swimming (Dr S.P.
Mukherjee Aqua:cs Complex);
and Tennis (R.K. Khanna Tennis
Stadium).
These are the following venues:
1. Jawaharlal Nehru Sports
Complex
2. Thyagaraj Sports Complex
3. Indira Gandhi Sports Complex
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Article
4. Dr. S.P. Mukherjee Swimming

Stadium
5. Talkatora Indoor Stadium
6. Major Dhyan Chand Na:onal
Stadium
7. Siri Fort Sports Complex
8. Dr. Karni Singh Shoo:ng
Range
9. R.K. Khanna Tennis Complex
10. Yamuna Sports Complex
11. Delhi University
About Delhi 2010

The Organising Commi;ee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi
(OC CWG Delhi 2010) came into
being on 10 February 2005, as a
registered society under the Socie:es Registra:on Act 1860. It was
resolved by the Commonwealth
Games Federa:on (CGF) in the
General Assembly held in Jamaica
on 13 November 2003 to entrust
the organising and hos:ng of the
XIX Commonwealth Games to the
Indian Olympic Associa:on (IOA).
As per Clause 2(C) of the Host
City Contract, signed by the Government of India(GOI), the Gov-
ernment of Na:onal Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), IOA, and

CGF, the CGF has delegated the
organisa:on of the Games to the
OC CWG Delhi 2010.
The OC CWG Delhi 2010 has
set itself the goal of conduc:ng
the best Commonwealth Games
to date, including the provision of
impeccable standards of service
to athletes, ocials and the general public, in close collabora:on
with its partners. It hopes to set
new benchmarks for other Host
na:ons with regards to urban
sustainable development by
showcasing excellent infrastructure and facili:es which could be
used by the society and the general public for genera:ons to
come.
people coming together to full

their true des:nies. India`s journey from tradi:on to modernity,
her economic transforma:on into
a super power reaching out to
the world and leading the way,
even as she enthusias:cally embraces all the 71 CGA na:ons and
territories of the Commonwealth
to become one and host the best
ever Commonwealth Games in
Delhi.
Come Out and Play
The logo tagline is in an invita:on

to every person across all divides
Indian and Commonwealth - to
The Games 'look'
The logo of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi is inspired by the Chakra, the na:onal
symbol of freedom, unity and
power. Spiralling upwards, it depicts the growth of India into a
proud, vibrant na:on. Her billion
let go of themselves and par:cipate in the Games to the best of

their abili:es, in the true sprit of
the Games. It is an exhorta:on to
them to set new records, to outperform, and to raise the bar by
scaling new peaks of achievement. It is also a call to the people of India, especially Delhi, to
come out in support of the
Games and play the perfect hosts
at the XIX Commonwealth Games
2010 Delhi.
Colour Pale(e : The colour
pale;e for the Delhi 2010 look
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Vol. - 18

programme combines two of the

dis:nc:ve colours of the Delhi
2010 Emblem with the ocial
colours of the Commonwealth
Games.
Green : The colour that signies
life, energy and high spirits also
represents the fact that Delhi
2010 will be the rstever Green
Games. With a spring in your
step, face every challenge and
overcome hurdles with radiance
and gusto.
Purple : Combining the stable
and calming aspects of blue with
the mys:cal quali:es of pink, this
colour sa:ses the need for reassurance, while adding a hint of
mystery and excitement.
Red, Yellow & Blue : Commonwealth Games colours, representing the Trinity of Values that
symbolise the games; unifying
Humanity (Red) giving all athletes
a chance to realise their Des:ny
(Yellow) and promo:ng Equality
(Blue).
Pink : This colour has also been
introduced to the pale;e adding
an element of surprise and luxury
to the Games look programme. It
plays to the crowd and truly reects India in all its resplendent
glory.
hearted gentleman who loves

making friends and enthusing
people to come out and play.
In Indian mythology,
the :ger is associated
with
Goddess
Durga, the embodiment of
Shak: (or female power)
and the vanquisher of
evil.
She
rides her
powerful
vehicle
the :ger
into combat,
especially in
her epic and
victorious ba;le
against Mahishasur, a dreaded
demon.
Shera embodies values
that the na:on is proud of:
majesty, power, charisma, intelligence and grace. His athle:c
prowess, courage and speed on
the eld are legendary. He is also
a reminder of the fragile environment he lives in and our responsibility towards the protec:on of
his ecosystem.
Shera - The Mascot
Commonwealth Games
Shera, mascot of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi, is

the most visible face of the XIX
Commonwealth Games 2010
Delhi. His name comes from the
Hindi word Sher meaning :ger.
Shera truly represents the modern Indian. He is an achiever with
a posi:ve a<tude, a global ci:zen but jus:ably proud of his na:ons ancient heritage, a erce
compe:tor but with integrity and
honesty. Shera is also a largeVol. - 18
The Commonwealth Games is a
Article
mul:na:onal, mul:-sport event

which features compe::ons involving thousands of elite athletes from members of
the Commonwealth
of Na:ons. Organised every four
years, they are
the
thirdlargest
mul:-sport
event in
the world,
a'er the
Summer
Olympic
Games and
the Asian
Games.
As well
as
many
Olympic sports,
the Games also include some sports
that are played mainly in
Commonwealth countries, such
as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and
netball. The Games are overseen
by the Commonwealth Games
Federa:on (CGF), which also controls the spor:ng programme
and selects the host ci:es. The
host city is selected from across
the Commonwealth, with eighteen ci:es in seven countries having hosted it.
The event was rst held in 1930
under the :tle of the Bri:sh Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario,
WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Article
Canada. The event was renamed

as the Bri:sh Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, the
Bri:sh Commonwealth Games in
1970, and gained its current :tle
in 1978. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth
Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and
Wales. Australia has been the
highest achieving team for ten
games, England for seven and
Canada for one.
There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of
Na:ons, and 71 teams par:cipate
Games, and individual teams are

also sent from the Bri:sh Crown
dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man (unlike at
the Olympic Games, where the
combined "Great Britain" team
represents all four home na:ons
and the Crown dependencies).
Many of the Bri:sh overseas territories also send their own
teams. The Australian external
territory of Norfolk Island also
sends its own team, as do the
Cook Islands and Niue, two states
in free associa:on with New
Zealand. It has been reported
in the Games. The four Home Na:ons of the United Kingdom

England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland send separate
teams to the Commonwealth
that Tokelau, another dependency of New Zealand will be

sending a team to the 2010
Games in Delhi, India.
The most recent games were
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in 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.

The next edi:on will be held in
2010 in Delhi, India.
History
A spor:ng compe::on bringing
together the members of the
Bri:sh Empire was rst proposed
by the Reverend Astley Cooper in
1891 when he wrote an ar:cle in
The Times sugges:ng a "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and
Fes:val every four years as a
means of increasing the goodwill
and good understanding of the
Bri:sh Empire".
In 1911,
the Fes:val of
the Empire was
held in come
London to celebrate the corona:on of King
George V. As
part of the fes:val an Inter-Empire Champi
onships
was
held in which
teams from Australia, Canada,
South Africa and
the United Kingdom competed
in events such
as
boxing,
wrestling, swimming and athletics.
In 1928,
Melville Marks
Robinson
of
Canada
was
asked to organise the rst ever
Bri:sh Empire Games. These
were held in Hamilton, Canada
two years later.
The rst Games were held in
Vol. - 18

1930 in Hamilton, Ontario,

Canada. The name changed to
Bri:sh Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, to Bri:sh
Commonwealth Games in 1970
and assumed the current name
of the Commonwealth Games in
1978.
At the 1930 games, women
competed in the swimming
events only. From 1934, women
also competed in some athle:cs
events.
The Empire Games ag was
donated in 1931 by the Bri:sh
Empire Games Associa:on of
Canada. The year and loca:on of
subsequent games were added
un:l the 1950 games. The name
of the event was changed to the
Bri:sh Empire and Commonwealth Games and the ag was
re:red as a result.
Tradi:ons
From 1930 un:l 1950, the parade of na:ons was led by a

single agbearer carrying the
Union Flag.
Since 1958, there has been a
relay of athletes carrying a
baton from Buckingham
Palace to the Opening Ceremony. This baton has within
it the Queen's message of
gree:ng to the athletes. The
baton's nal bearer is usually
a famous spor:ng personage of the host na:on.
All other na:ons march
in English alphabe:cal
order, except that the
rst na:on marching in
the Parade of Athletes
is the host na:on of
the previous games,
and the host na:on of
the current games
marches last. In 2006
countries marched in
Vol. - 18
alphabe:cal order in geographical regions.

Three na:onal ags y from
the stadium on the poles that
are used for medal ceremonies: Previous host na:on,
Current host na:on, Next
host na:on.
The military is more ac:ve in
the Opening Ceremony than
in the Olympic Games. This is
to honour the Bri:sh Military
tradi:ons of the Old Empire
Editions
The rst edi:on of the event was
the 1930 Bri:sh Empire Games
and eleven na:ons took part. The
quadrennial schedule of the
games was interrupted by World
War II and the 1942 Games (set
to be held in Montreal, Canada)
were abandoned.
The games were con:nued in
1950 and underwent a name
change four years later with the
rst Bri:sh Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954. Over 1000
athletes par:cipated in the 1958
Games as over thirty teams took
part for the rst :me. The event
was briey known as the Bri:sh
Commonwealth Games for the
1970 and 1974 edi:ons and the
1978 Games, held in Edmonton,
Article
Canada, were the rst to be held

under the :tle of the "Commonwealth Games". The Edmonton
event marked a new high as almost 1500 athletes from 46
countries took part.
Par:cipa:on at the 1986 Games
was aected by a boyco; by
some African and Caribbean na:ons in protest to the par:cipa:on of New Zealand, following
the All Blacks Rugby tour of
Apartheid era South Africa in
1985, but the Games rebounded
and con:nued to grow therea'er.
The 1998 Commonwealth Games
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia saw
the spor:ng programme grow
from 10 to 15 sports as team
sports were allowed for the rst
:me. Par:cipa:on also reached
new levels as over 3500 athletes
represented 70 teams at the
event. At the most recent Games
(in Melbourne, Australia in 2006),
over 4000 athletes took part in
spor:ng compe::ons. The three
na:ons to have hosted the games
the most number of :mes are
Australia (4), Canada (4), and
New Zealand (3). Furthermore,
ve edi:ons have taken place in
the countries within the United
Kingdom. Two ci:es have held
the games on mul:ple occasions:
Auckland (1950 and 1990), and
Edinburgh (1970 and 1986).
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CORRUPTION IN INDIA ROOTED DEEPLY
One would say the

corruption in India
has an ancient
linkage,and it is
deeply rooted in our
tradition. The author
of the Arthasastra
made some remarks
on government officials of his time which are relevant
even today: Just as it is impossible not to taste the
honey or the poison that finds itself at the tip of the
tongue, so it is impossible for a government servant
not to eat up at least a bit of the kings revenue. These
in the post-war world became only bolder while eating
up government money and accepting bribes. A corrupt
person is termed immoral, dishonest and unscrupulous
in his dealings. His disregard for honesty,
righteousness and truth results in his alienation from
society. He is treated with contempt. But as erosion
of values leads to decadence, remedies for the social
malaise remain elusive, and so no amount of contempt
can eradicate corruption which is a symptom of
decadence.
When we ask a question to ourselves that why India
is still not a developed nation even after 60 years of
independence? Why there is not enough development
when India is having immense potential and talent at
par with any developed nation have? The answer is
very simple. The main culprit behind this situation is
widespread corruption in every field. To get an
admission in a collegeto get a legal paper from a
Government officeto get an approval for the
construction of a houseto get an electricity

connectionto do an urgent surgery for life
saving. Thus not even nook and corner of the
daily life is spared from this evil. Now, people so
adapted and well familiar with the situation and ready
to give bribe without any hesitation and accepted as
a part of the system. They also will demand bribe
when they are sitting in a decisive position. This is
the epicenter of this deadly evil which spread over
the entire system from executive to class IV level. The
only motive to become a peoples representative, a
civil servant or even an attender is how to get the
undeserved money.
The more dangourous factbribes and corruption got
reputation in society. If there is an official who dosent
accepts bribehe will be isolated even in public and
will have an image of usless person. In todays India
these officials representing all government
departments are very close to the most corrupt
businessmen who are too unscrupulous to let any
opportunity of amassing profits slip. This collusion
broadens the base of the vicious circle and corruption
spreads like wild fire to engulf the entire society. The
political and social guardians depend only too much
on the richer communities and they look indulgently
on while these communities hold the entire society
and the government to ransom.Corruption starts at the
top and percolates down to the whole society. Such
corruption cannot be confined to the towns alone. It
is as widespread in the villages where the dishonest
officials and the traders carry the germs of the disease.
Economic need and exposure to western luxuries are
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tempting factors in society for the youth. They try to

find means and ways to make money, however
deceptive or defective these methods may be. It is
meaningless to blame the system, it is the defect of
people who handle the same.A number of reasons like
lack of stringent legislation, slow and delayed judicial
systems, poverty, illiteracy, lack of faith in Dharma
or righteousness, greedy mind and a tendency to be
smart are responsible behind corruption. It is not
prevalent in India only but Corruption is today a
world-wide phenomenon.
It is shameful that the officials meant for administering
public welfare themselves provide enough scope to
the offenders to commit the offence and go scot-free,
for equal compensation that they get from the
offenders. Here, if the statute provides severe
punishment (more than the one provided to the
offender) to the erring official, perhaps, corruption
could be minimised. Society itself has had a drastic
change in its behaviour today, to what it was earlier.
The need to be morally upright is irrelevant, under
the speed of its activity.
REMEDIES
society could be improved, so that luxuries become

basics and the value for them also become affordable,
corruption would be unnecessary.
Democratic spirit can flourish only in an environment
of openness and trust. Every citizen should know what
the administrators, working under the overall control
of peoples representatives, are doing. Since
administration in a democracy serves the public
interest, there is no need or justification for hiding
the decision making process from the public scrutiny
Transparency in public administration will bring about
a fundamental change in the attitude of people. Tenets
of transparency will require the civil servants to
publicly display the names of beneficiaries of a
development scheme along with selection criteria and
the procedure for making the selection. The
requirement for public disclosure will ensure that civil
servants take correct and defensible decisions. They
will, henceforth treat all the citizens as their masters
and they will have to keep them in good humour if
they have to retain their jobs and privileges.
Government agencies are financed by taxes and levies
imposed on citizens. They are, therefore, answerable
and accountable to the public for their acts of omission
and commission. Freedom of Information Act will put
premium on probity and integrity in the functioning
of the civil servants. Since all their activities subserve
the public interest they have nothing to hide.They will
readily supply all the information about government
policies and decisions to the people whenever
approached by them. People will then give them
respect and recognition that they rightly deserve. It is
only the dishonest and the devious that would be hard
pressed to hide their partisan decisions.
In a modern welfare and development administration,
the government provides a large number of services
to the citizens. If these services are indifferently or
inefficiently performed, people can rightfully protest
and complain. They can insist on optimum utilization
of the taxes and service charges paid by them to
finance the civic services like water supply, power
supply, sanitation and public health care. Dereliction
of duty by public servants will be immediately
Corruption can not be abolished overnigh, first,

political parties should take the responsibility and
highly principled & determined personalities have to
lead the executive. With persistent efforts, the mindset
of the public has to change. Cant say how much time
it will take this evil spread over and established by
taking 50 yearsany way let us transfer the hope and
luck to next generation. There are many legal as well
as illegal means and methods with which one can
come out unscathed after committing any offence. It
requires only a management skill to convince the right
forums. Therefore, if society has to be cleansed from
being immorality and illegal doings, just legislation,
however stringent will not help. The resistance to
commit offences should be developed from ones
conscience or heart and it can never be created fully
by legislation. Hence, inculcating moral values in
people right from infancy could provide the remedy
over a period of time. If the economic levels of the
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4
detected and publicized and criticized by the public.

It will put a tremendous pressure on the civil servants
to perform or lose their face or even their jobs.The
advancement of Information technology is very much
conducive to the successful implementation of the
Right to Information if enacted by the government
now. The storage, retrieval and dissemination of vast
amount of information have been greatly facilitated
by the successive improvement in computers. Since
the enforcement of Right to Information requires an
enabling Freedom of Information Act, the existing
government can always formulate the provisions of
the Act in such a way as to leave for the government
sufficient leeway to conceal many decisions or

decision making processes from public scrutiny. The
Freedom of Information Bill, which has been
presented to the Parliament, has a very long list of
exceptional situations wherein it is not incumbent
upon the government agencies to part with
information. It is, however, expected that once the
people get used to obtain information contained in the
government files, their appetite for information will
be whetted and they will ask for more information.
Lokpal can be another milestone towards abolishing
corruption from india.
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MONEY MATTERS IN
THE MOST
CORRUPTION
SPORTS
Money Matters the Most
Sport is a big phenomenon of today, it

is very important part of today life.
However, sport is rather contradictory
phenomenon. It is connected with big
humanistic values and it formats life
and values of billions of people on the
one side. It is also connected with
dirty business, doping, corruption and
violence on the other side. Corruption
in sport should be matter of concern
not of pessimism. We are not speaking
about decline of sport values. But we
are facing of a new challenge. This
challenge is higher as the issue is still
not dealt with properly. We may
perhaps compare doping in sport with
corruption in sport. However, doping
has been seriously treated for many
years now, with number of experts,
scientific background and international
co-ordination structures. Nothing of it
exists in the area of corruption in sport
yet.
Just over a decade after cricket was
hit by one its biggest scandals, three
Pakistani cricketers were given prison
sentences last week by a London
court on charges of spot-fixing. For
the first time in crickets history,
players face jail terms of between six
and 30 months, besides the prospect
of never again playing the game. This
is in stark contrast to investigations into
match-fixing in 2000 where the central
figure was the former South African

captain, Hansie Cronje. Cricketers
from various countries were alleged
to have been involved, including a
former captain of the Indian team who
is now a member of the Indian
Parliament. Enquiry commissions
were set up in South Africa and
Pakistan following the scandal, but
most players got away with bans,
fines or in some cases just a
reprimand. After the events of 2000,
crickets governing body, the
International Cricket Council, set up
the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit
to tackle the menace of match fixing.
But ironically it was a sting operation
by the now discredited and defunct
News of the World in 2010 which
exposed the spot-fixing by the
Pakistani cricketers and provided
evidence for sentencing.
While cricket with its elaborate rules
is particularly prone to spot-fixing where you bet on individual events
within the game rather than the result
itself - the phenomenon of fixing is
hardly confined to cricket. We are at
a time when the world of sport seems
to be awash in corruption. Earlier this
year, prosecutors in South Korea
indicted an astonishing 46 football
players on charges of fixing matches
in the football K-League. According to
the South Korean prosecutors, the

players received up to US$50,000 for
fixing matches, and sometimes even
bet on the outcome. In Turkey, the
champion club Fenerbahce is at the
centre of a match-fixing scandal,
having won 16 of its 17 league
matches at the end of the season to
clinch the title on goal difference. Its
not just sportspersons who are in the
dock. Sports administrators all over
the world are facing scrutiny. FIFA,
footballs governing body and the
richest sports association in the world,
is in the midst of its biggest scandal.
FIFAs 24-member executive
committee, which has had Sepp
Blatter at the helm of affairs for 13
long years, is among the most sought
after clubs. But this elite club has now
been riven apart with influential
committee members accused of
paying bribes.
The head of the Caribbean and North
and Central American region has
already resigned. And Qatar s
Mohamed bin Hammam, who was
head of Asias football federation, has
been banned for life by FIFAs ethics
committee. Bin Hammam is not going
down without a fight. He has not only
challenged FIFAa ban but also
promised to reveal wrongdoings by
Blatter. This has put a question mark
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over the bidding process for the 2018

and 2022 World Cups which were
awarded to Russia and Qatar
respectively. What many had long
suspected about the cronyism and
corruption within FIFA is now coming
to light. The obvious reason why there
are so many corruption scandals
involving both players and
administrators is the incredible amount
of money involved in sport. FIFAs
current annual revenue is now pegged
at US$1.3 billion and it even gets tax
breaks from Switzerland where it is
headquartered. There is plenty of
money too in other sports like cricket
which enjoys much less global
popularity, but is akin to a religion in
South Asia. In 2010-11, the Board of
Control for Cricket in India generated
over US$400 million in revenues. With
this kind of money it is not surprising
that corruption has eaten into sport.
While sports administrators in many
parts of the world have never had a
great reputation, it is the corruption of
players that is more worrying. Many
individual sporting disciplines have
been tainted by performance
enhancing drugs, but that is something
the administrators have tried to check
by putting in place an elaborate
regime of doping tests.
Transparency International has
produced this collection of articles,
links and information resources to cast
a light on the vulnerabilities of the
sport world to corruption as well as
efforts being undertaken to combat it.
We speak with investigative
journalists. We look at the mysterious
lack of convictions in sports
corruption. We examine a book that
details the history of FIFA (Fdration
Internationale
de
Football
Association). And we talk about the
role of civil society organisations in
keeping the beautiful game beautiful.
If sport was a largely informal affair
a century ago, it has morphed into a
full-fledged industry total costs,
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including infrastructure, of the 2006

World Cup in Germany are estimated
at upwards of 6 billion (see
interview with sport journalist Jens
Weinreich). With such increasingly
huge sums in play, whether in terms
merchandising, sponsorship, betting or
athlete salaries, the seduction of and
vulnerability to corrupt behaviour has
grown. The sport world has
responded slowly and, to date,
inadequately. It is as serious a threat
as doping; only it has the potential to
inflict much greater damage on the
sport world and the communities,
representing billions of people globally,
that support it.
Football scandals in Germany, Brazil,
Italy, Belgium and China are evidence
that the problem is real and it is global.
This means that international sports
associations such as FIFA and the
International Olympic Committee
(IOC) must lead the way in terms of
systematic enforcement of a zerotolerance policy on corruption. FIFA is
currently trumpeting the introduction
of an Ethics Commission as well as
the creation of a commercial firm
called Early Warning System designed
to detect irregularities in game
scoring. These are laudable efforts,
but the phenomenon runs deeper than
match-fixing. There is a need to
address the conflicts of interest that
are part and parcel of a familial
network of athletic officials that spans
the globe. While statements have
been made and ethical codes adopted,
what is missing is rigorous
enforcement and follow-through,
including the systematic ejection of
tainted officials.
For preventing and eliminating
corruption it is important to know the
scope of corruption and areas where
it occurs. Knowing this it is also
important to know patterns under
which corruption is predominantly
performed. This simple request is not
easy to fulfill. When corruption is
regarded it is very difficult

everywhere, in all sectors of society,
to get reliable figures. Especially to get
police and judicial statistic, which is
successfully used in many other areas
of crime and social pathology, do not
bring required information. Detected
or reported corruption is always only
an iceberg of the whole problem and
not always indicates correctly areas
where corruption is most wide spread
.A comprehensive study of this issue
would be most desirable. But even for
the short study like this one a survey
of international press and Internet
provides interesting mapping of the
problem. It appears that corruption can
be found in almost any imaginable
areas of sport. The main areas are
match fixing, embezzlement or
misusing of sport funds, corruption in
hosting of games, corruption in
changing sport results, corruption in
transfers of players, corrupted
elections in sporting bodies. We can
also mention situations where high
sport officials were convicted of
corruption in their non-sport activities
which is not corruption in sport itself
but it certainly influences the sport life.
We also keep aside a role of politics
in sport which might be very close to
political corruption of sport. It
represents another very interesting and
controversial issue of sport closely
related to the issue of corruption in
sport.
Match Fixing
Match fixing is a quite common
problem in number of sports like
football, tennis, basketball, volleyball
etc. The reasons for match fixing may
be also numerous. Perhaps the most
commonly match fixing is connected
with betting, legal or illegal. In this
cases match fixing is connected with
financial profit and it may be
connected with organized groups or
we can even directly speak about
links to organized crime. Match fixing

may also occur in direct links with
sport life. Matches can be fixed in
order to gain better position in sport
competition. It often occurs in cases
where a club is in a risk of falling to
lower league. While the visible purpose
is of a purely sport nature the
underlining causes are often again
financial remaining in a higher
league can generate higher income for
the club and its owners (TV rights,
better value for players). Devastating
impact to sport is the same.
However, match-fixing is something
that requires not just administrators
but investigative agencies to be on
their toes. Prison terms for the guilty
cricketers, one of them still a teenager,
is not a happy occurrence. But its
heartening that the Pakistani people
have by and large welcomed the court
judgment and said the players
deserved it. Indeed, we can only hope
that such punishment will deter
sportspersons in future from giving in
to the temptation of making quick
money through dubious means. Fixing
of any sort destroys the purity of sport
and the sacrosanct relationship
between a spectator and the sports
hero. Once that trust is destroyed, it
does irreparable damage to the
enterprise of sport. Thats why the jail
terms for the cricketers, however
distasteful, were needed.
Managing of International Sport
Federations
International sport federations with
their often-enormous wealth and
limited external control are of an
especially high risk of corruption.
Corruption here can take different
form from simple misuse or
embezzlement of federation funds
though corruption related to media
rights up to corruption of federation
members. To make picture more
structured we take the later two
options as separate one. Following

case of Ruben Acosta, former
president of Volleyball Federation
represents a very good example of
difficulties regarding possible
corruption in sport. Media rights and
other marketing activities represents
one of major income source of sport,
namely of a top international sport.
Large sum of money attract the fraud
and corruption and organised crime.
Large amount of money also always
attracted organized criminal groups. At
the 12 Anti-corruption conference in
November 2006, on workshop The
Business of Sports and Corruption
Henri Roemer, of UEFA, presented
part of the findings of a report that he
had made to UEFA and which is
expected to lead to some reforms of
the organization in the next few
months: There are no sport mafias
but mafias invest into sports. With the
huge potential for financial returns and
the generally rather low standards of
professionalism in the administration
of clubs, football attracts criminal
activities such as the trafficking of
young players, money laundering,
illegal betting etc. The risks for
criminals are minimal and control
systems are weak. Players are
normally young and easy to influence,
while by bribing one key player, the
outcome of a game can be bought
and generate revenues from betting.
National laws and systems often have
little chances to be effective in relation
to the international dimension of illegal
activities in sports. There is also a
legal vacuum: even the EU itself
counts only half as many members as
UEFA. Because player trafficking,
money laundering and corruption are
bloodless crimes, they tend to be
rather accepted socially. One can also
see that these problems started to
affect amateur sports too. But the
risks are great and the loss of interest
by fans can already be witnessed in
empty Italian stadia.
Doping is another grave area of

concerns. There have been many
successful partnerships between antidoping and Governments worldwide,
collaborating together to bring fair
honest sport to all that deserve it.
Anti-doping operations including the
Balco case, the Italian police
investigations at the 2007 Turin
Olympics and operation Puerto were
all conducted with close partnerships
between the police and anti-doping
agencies. Drug testing, research and
education is overseen by the World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the
WADA Code forms the bible of antidoping, seen by many as one of the
most significant developments in antidoping to date. Many now believe that
the other evil of sport is that of
corruption, yet there is no anticorruption body solely for sport.
Corruption is growing and at an
alarming rate. Betting scandals are
taking up more headline space in
sports such as snooker, tennis and
soccer. Where there is money there
will be crime and corruption.
Unfortunately there is no test for
corruption, although WADA have
close ties with Interpol and the World
Customs Organisation to help combat
such evils. Sport is big business, with
millions being gambled on events each
day, we are faced with many
challenges. It is important that the
anti-doping community unite against
such spoils and that all athletes respect
ethical, honest sport.
Outcomes of above mentioned
discussion must reach wide sport
audience. They must therefore be
transferred into ethical guidelines and
training manuals. Ethical and integrity
aspect including risk of corruption and
corruption prevention principles should
become a part of sport education and
training. While many manifestation of
corruption in sport may be ambiguous
there are many acts of corruption in
sport which can be prosecuted under
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existing international legislations. As

Council of Europe and United Nations
conventions provide rather sufficient
framework for corruption investigation
and prosecution it is highly
recommended to adhere to these
convention for countries which had not
done so yet. Transparency is one of
the most powerful tools against
corruption. Any measure which will
make sport life, including sport
financing, more transparent should be

supported and promoted. National
subsidies provided by government to
sport can be use a tool for requesting
increased transparency. Having in
mind limited possibilities of
governments to intervene to internal
sport life also other measures should
be explored. For instance big sponsors
and marketing partners might be
encouraged to play an important role

in promoting transparency in sport. To
avoid risk that they will be perceived
negatively together with corrupted
sport in the case of corruption
scandals they may man connect their
support to the sport organization with
demands on bigger transparency. The
power of money can be in this way
put to the service of a good purpose.

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12
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COUP IN PAKISTAN : QUITE A POSSIBILITY

POSSIBL ITY
Amid near-open conflict between

Pakistan's civilian and military
leadership, the Pentagon has neither
sought nor received assurances that
the Pakistani army won't stage a
coup, a Pentagon spokesman said
Wednesday."This is a matter for Pakistani
officials -- their government leaders,
military and civilian -- to work out," the
spokesman, Navy Capt. John Kirby, told
reporters. It also is a matter of grave
concern in light of Pakistan's status as
a nuclear power and the risk that its
arsenal -- said to be well protected now
-- could fall into the wrong hands in
the event of civil conflict. The Pentagon
disclosed that Army Gen. Martin
Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, talked by phone on Tuesday
with his Pakistani counterpart, Army
Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Dempsey's
office declined to provide details of the
conversation but said it was their first
contact since Dec. 21. Dempsey has
an unusually close connection with
Kayani. He has known the Pakistani
general since 1988, when both attended
the U.S. Army's Command and General

Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
Pakistan's prime minister fired the
defense secretary yesterday in a dispute
over a memo sent to Washington that
enraged the army. The army has warned
darkly of "grievous consequences"
as a result of the standoff. Relations
between President Asif Ali Zardari
and the generals have never been good
but have soured dramatically in recent
months. The unsigned memo sent to
Washington asked for its help in reining
in the military in exchange for favorable
security policies. It was masterminded
by Pakistan's envoy to Washington,
who has denied the accusation but
resigned in a failed attempt to stem
fallout from the crisis. Pakistan's
new ambassador to Washington,
Sherry Rehman, met yesterday at the
State Department with Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton. State
Department spokeswoman Victoria
Nuland called the meeting a chance to
talk about "getting our relationship back
on track in all of its elements in the new
http://www.civilservicesmentor.com
year." Asked about Pakistan's political

instability, Nuland said U.S. diplomats
in Islamabad were monitoring the
situation but insisted that these were
internal matters for Pakistan to solve
on its own.
Since coming to power in 2008, the
ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has
enjoyed a relatively good relationship
with the countrys powerful Army.
Analysts say the Army had been content
to rehabilitate its image after nine years
of unpopular direct military-rule under
General Pervez Musharraf, winning key
victories against the Taliban in Pakistans
restive northwest and Tribal Areas.
That changed when a US businessman,
Mansoor Ijaz, brought to a light a secret
memo sent by unknown persons to the
US government, requesting help in
curtailing the Army in exchange for
a set of pro-US policies. The secret
memo, which was allegedly drafted in
the aftermath of the Osama bin Laden
raid in 2011 because the government
feared a coup, created a major scandal
in the country known as Memo-gate


that cost former Pakistani Ambassador
to the US Husain Haqqani his job, and
ratcheted tensions and drove a stake
between the civilian government and the
military. President Zardari has denied
any involvement with the memo.
Though the Army has ruled Pakistan
directly for half of the countrys 64 year
history, analysts say its increasingly
unlikely that the Army will forcibly
oust the civilian government this time,
because it just wouldnt be popular
with the media, Supreme Court, or
the general public. If the government
is to be dismissed before elections,
its more likely to come legally via
a Supreme Court ruling. Right now,
Pakistan is closely watching two high
profile cases just for that reason. The
Supreme Court is investigating the
Memo-gate scandal, pitting the Army
and civilian government against each
other in court. On Jan. 16, the Supreme
Court charged Prime Minister Yusuf
Raza Gilani with contempt for failing to
re-open corruption cases dating back
to the 1990s against President Asif Ali
Zardari. If Mr. Gilani is found guilty, his
jailing and dismissal from office could
create a power vacuum that could be
used to help the Army install a promilitary interim government. Adding
further interest, Mansoor Ijaz is due
to appear before the court on Jan. 25,
and has promised to unleash what he
describes as damning revelations that
could send Pakistans hyperactive media
into overdrive and further damage the
governments fragile reputation.
The government says he does, but
the Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that
the National Reconciliation Ordinance,
a political amnesty signed by former
leader Pervez Musharraf and the late
Benazir Bhutto, Zardaris husband, is
not valid casting a legal shadow on
Zardaris presidency and uncertainty

on what would happen to him if the
court rules hes guilty of past crimes.
Prime Minister Gilani, on the other
hand, does not enjoy immunity, and if
he is found guilty of contempt of court
for not reopening corruption cases
against Zardari, faces dismissal, jail
time, and a bar from public office. On
Monday, Mr. Gilani, who finds himself
at the center of the clash between
the institutions, received a welcome
boost when parliament passed a prodemocracy resolution calling for the
military and Supreme Court to remain
within their constitutional limits.Still,
the governments position is precarious
and many expect snap elections before
the governments five-year tenure is up
in February 2013. While on the other
hand military coup seems quite distinct
in Pakistan in the present scenario,
as the army desired democracy and
stability in the country. After the Memo
Gate scandal broke out, there were
speculations that a military coup will
take place in the country. Earlier, the
Pakistan military had rubbished reports
of a coup amid the recent tension over
the Memo Gate scandal. The alleged
confrontation between the military and
the government became more apparent
following the military taking on Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over the
sacking of the Defence Secretary, and
the appointment of a new commander
of the 111 Brigade. However, the
military brass expressed surprise and
concern over the repeated reports of
a possible military coup and decided
to hold briefings from the platforms
of parliamentary committees of the
National Assembly, the Senate and
special panels, which deal with national
security and defence-related matters,
to address the misgivings of the elected
leadership. Earlier, the US had also

rejected such speculations, with many
analysts saying that a military coup in
Pakistan was 'unlikely' at this point in
time.
A head-on collision between an
elected civilian government in Pakistan
and the Pakistan Army is usually
expected to culminate with the Army
chief of the day announcing a takeover by
the military on national television with
the words: Merey aziz humwatanon
In the history of Pakistan's troubled
civilian-military relations, the military
has always wielded the upper hand, the
bigger stick. But the rapidly heating
stand-off between the Pakistan People's
Party government and the Pakistan
Army, which threatened to boil over on
Wednesday as a war of words erupted
between Prime Minister Yusuf Raza
Gilani and the military, may yet escape
the traditional ending. Prime Minister
Gilani's remarks to the Chinese People's
Daily , that the responses of the Army
Chief and the ISI head to the Supreme
Court on the infamous memo affair
were illegal and unconstitutional,
were extraordinary. The sub-text of the
Prime Minister's remarks was that the
government could sack both General
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Lt. Gen Shuja
Pasha both officers are serving on
extension, and the ISI chief's extended
term is ending in March 2012 for
their conduct. This reinforced the view
that he was upping the ante against the
Army, almost daring it to take on the
government. The military's response,
that the Prime Minister's words had
serious ramifications with potentially
grievous consequences carried an alltoo-familiar and ominous ring. Mr.
Gilani's decision to immediately hit
back by sacking the Defence Secretary,
Naeem Khlaid Lodhi, a retired general


who is seen as close to the Army chief,
and his replacement with a career civil
servant, also served to heighten the
coup fears. Reinforcing these fears, a
new commander took charge of the
infamous 111 Brigade stationed in
Rawalpindi, also known as the coupmaking brigade because its soldiers
have been used to occupy important
buildings and installations during a
military takeover.
Still there is hope that this stand-off
may not end in the seemingly inevitable.
That Prime Minister Gilani made his
provocative comments to a Chinese
newspaper itself was unusual. More
unusual was the timing as noted by
the military in its statement, General
Kayani was at that precise time on an
official tour of China. It seemed almost
as if the Prime Minister was trying to
draw Pakistan's biggest ally into the
government's battle for survival. The
Army has also learnt that in the long
run, coups usually do not work to its

advantage. The example of General
Pervez Musharraf and his downward
spiral is fresh in its institutional
memory. The job of running a country,
one as difficult as Pakistan, especially at
the moment, means getting elbow-deep
into the muck, most of which sticks on
the uniform, and hurts the military's
long-term interest of retaining its preeminent national position.
There is no popular appetite
for military rule, even going by the
commentary in Pakistan's traditionally
pro-military media. The explosion of
the media traditional and new media,
social networks such as Facebook and
Twitter also means that it is difficult
for the Army to control the narrative
to justify coups. On Wednesday,
Pakistan Prime Minister was trending
on Twitter, and was by itself a cause of
much pride amongst Pakistani tweeters.
The Court's confrontation has added
the pressure on the PPP government.

Some Pakistani analysts are of the view
that Prime Minister Gilani's aggressive
stand with the military, practically
provoking it to carry out a coup, may
be a ploy to go down as shaheed ,
martyred by the military the PPP
takes pride in its troubled history with
the Pakistan Army instead of being
hauled into court to answer corruption
charges.But the stand-off cannot
continue indefinitely, and it is clear that
one or more actors will have to quit the
stage in order to end the uncertainty,
or at least this phase of it. Pakistani
analysts are not ruling out that it could
be Generals Kayani and Pasha. A more
likely scenario is that the Army, though
reluctant to carry out an outright coup,
might not be as averse to effecting a
change of government, which means
the present dispensation gets replaced
with another political formation, or
perhaps a fresh election is called a year
before it is due in 2013.
http://upscportal.com/civilservices/test-series/2012/csat-paper-1
http://upscportal.com/civilservices/test-series/2012/csat-paper-2
10 http://www.civilservicesmentor.com

The United Nations Climate

Change Conference in Durban, South
Africa, was held from 28 November
- 11 December 2011. The conference
involved a series of events, including the
seventeenth session of the Conference
of the Parties (COP 17) to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) and the seventh
meeting of the Conference of the
Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties
to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 7). In
support of these two main bodies, four
other bodies convened: the resumed
14th session of the Ad hoc Working
Group on Long-term Cooperative
Action under the Convention (AWGLCA); the resumed 16th session of the
Ad hoc Working Group on Further
Commitments for Annex I Parties
under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP);
and the 35th sessions of the Subsidiary
Body for Implementation (SBI) and
the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and
Technological Advice (SBSTA).
The Conference drew over
12,480
participants,
including
over 5400 government officials,
5800 representatives of UN bodies
and
agencies,
intergovernmental
organizations
and
civil
society
organizations, and more than 1200
members of the media. The meetings
resulted in the adoption of 19 COP
decisions and 17 CMP decisions and the
approval of a number of conclusions by
the subsidiary bodies. These outcomes
cover a wide range of topics, notably the
establishment of a second commitment
period under the Kyoto Protocol, a
decision on long-term cooperative
action under the Convention, the launch
of a new process towards an agreed
outcome with legal force applicable to
all parties to the Convention, and the
operationalization of the Green Climate
Fund.
The negotiations were driven by a
series of interdependent linkagessome
constructed to drive the negotiations
forward, some integral to the field of
climate change politics, and some based
decisively on an understanding that 21st
century global challenges need global
solutions. This brief analysis examines
some of the defining interdependencies
that help tell the story of the Durban
Climate Change Conference and the
launch of a new phase of climate change
negotiations. At the outset, expectations
were modest with many countries

feeling that operationalizing the
Cancun agreements was all that could
be achieved. Others wanted a balanced
and interdependent package within a
year that resolved the Kyoto Protocol
question, moved to a new legallybinding treaty and operationalized the
Green Climate Fund.
In Durban early informal
consultations
helped
to
clarify
the technicalities of the second
commitment period under the Kyoto
Protocol, especially the two-stage
approach that defers the definition
of quantified emission limitation and
reduction objectives (QELROs) and
their adoption as amendments to Annex
B to the eighth session of the Kyoto
Protocol Meeting of the Parties, proved
very useful in keeping prospective
participants on board.This core demand
drew legitimacy from Bali and helped
frame the Durban negotiations. Indeed
it is arguable that the EU drafted the
script for the central plot in Durban
by setting out their stall early in the
process and offering to do the heavy
lifting to save the Kyoto Protocol within
the context of a roadmap that put up a


challenge to other partiesdeveloped
and developing.
The package agreed comprises four
main elements: a second commitment
period under the Kyoto Protocol, the
design of a Green Climate Fund and a
mandate to get all countries in 2015 to
sign a deal that would force them to cut
emissions no later than 2020, as well
as a workplan for 2012. Progress on
each element of the Durban Platform
unlocked other elements. For example
early in the second week, delegates
made headway on the Green Climate
Fund (GCF) as an operating entity of the
financial mechanism of the Convention;
a fund expected to mobilize US$100
billion a year by 2020. Reports of
early progress on the GCFa priority
deliverable for the South African hosts
and the region, proved to be a major
contributor in raising the stakes. A
fragile sense of possibility emerged
as Ministers arrived, although there
were increasing concerns about the
diplomatic management of the process
by the South African Presidency.
India and China: Role

redefined
The intensity of the negotiations was
highlighted by an impassioned speech by
India's Environment Minister Jayanthi
Natarajan that capped the finale of the
UN climate summit which concluded
with a Durban Package, after she warned
that India "will never be intimidated by
any threat or pressure". "Natarajan's
speech ensured that India's main
concern the inclusion of the concept
of equity in the fight against climate
change became part of the package,".
The COP17 plenary session came to a
halt following row between Natarajan
and European Union (EU) Climate
Commissioner Connie Hedegaard after
objection over agreements reached

behind closed doors. India had wanted
a "legal outcome" as the third option,
but Hedegaard said this would put
countries' sincerity in doubt. That set
off Natarajan, who roared: "We have
shown more flexibility than virtually
any other country. But equity is the
centrepiece, it cannot be shifted. This is
not about India. Xie Zhenhua, the vice
minister of the National Development
and Reform Commission, who headed
the Chinese delegation, pointed out
that the developing countries like
India and China were "already doing
much more than developed countries"
against global warming. "U.S. and
Chinese chief negotiators joined the
huddle too. More frenzied applause
indicated an agreement had finally been
reached. When the session reconvened,
Natarajan announced that India had
agreed to a change of wording in the
third option 'in a spirit of flexibility and
accommodation'. Hedegaard thanked

India." Commenting, the Chinese
delegation said the conference had
produced "progressive and balanced
outcome." Xie Zhenhua, head of the
Chinese delegation, told Xinhua that
the outcome is fully in accordance with
the mandate of the UNFCCC, the Kyoto
Protocol and the Bali Roadmap.
The outcome, he added, is also in
line with the two-track negotiation
process and the principle of common
but differentiated responsibilities. "The
conference made decisions on the
arrangement of the second commitment
period under the Kyoto Protocol, which
is the most concerned issue of developing
countries," Xie noted. "Also, there is an
important progress on the finance issue,
the establishment of the Green Climate
Fund," he added. However, Xie said, the
Durban conference did not accomplish
the completion of negotiations under
the Bali Roadmap. "The implementation


of the Cancun Agreements and the
Durban Outcome will not be achieved
in a short run," Xie said. "A heavy
load of work ahead on the post-2020
arrangement needs to be done in order
to enhance the implementation of the
Convention." Xie also cautioned that
some developed countries are reluctant
to reduce emissions and support
developing countries with financial
and technical aid. "The lack of political
will is a main element that hinders
cooperation on addressing climate
change in the international community,"
he said. "We expect political sincerity
from developed countries next year
in Qatar." Xie stressed that China will
make further contributions to the
global cause of tackling climate change
by taking stronger domestic actions
and continuing to play an active role in
relevant international talks.
Critically, in a deeply complex mix
of issues, with essential and constructed
linkages across the package there was
an onus on the Presidency to draw on
all available talent and experience to
line up the interdependent chain of
deliverables with clarity and dexterity.
Even as late as Thursday evening, anxiety
was rising and, in the wee hours of
Friday morning, a relatively closed highlevel Indaba of 26 parties representing
the major negotiating groups began to
hammer out the final terms of a deal.
This was also helped by a parallel set of
ministerial-led facilitations and bilateral
meetings to seek common ground.
It was deemed essential that the
EU assure China and India that they
would simply be expected to turn
their Cancun pledges into new legal
arrangements. As one observer noted,
the 2020 timeframe for any future
instrument under the Convention
was a source of some reassurance to
BASIC countries that their Cancun

pledges and their timeframes would
be acceptable. The Presidency and the
EU were able to lock in the relatively
constructive role of countries such as
Brazil. While China seemed content to
allow India to do BASICs heavy lifting
and profile the equity issue, an issue
alongside common but differentiated
responsibilitiesthat has helped define
the contest over contemporary rights
to development and the debate over
mitigation commitments.
Equity will come to the fore in the
negotiation of a new instrument as the
distribution and pace of mitigation
responsibilities increasingly mirrors a
debate on access to ecological space,
driven by an ethical demand from the
least developed and most vulnerable
that the world must overcome a form
of atmospheric apartheid wherein the
glittering prizes of development have
to datebeen heavily concentrated in
the hands of the few. Its a demand that
also finds an echo in popular protests
in response to the crisis-prone global
financial system. An intriguing decision
recognizing loss and damage also points
to the future prominence of the equity
debate.
Although there was enough
political ground to secure a deal, it was
not until the final moments on the floor
of the plenary that the ultimate deal
fell into place. Described as a defining
moment, a last-minute huddle on
the plenary floorperhaps the most
authentic of all the Indabasin the
early hours of Sunday morning enabled
the EU to reach a compromise with
India on an option to describe the new
UNFCCC instrument in acceptable
legal terms. At the eleventh hour, they
agreed to launch a process to develop
a protocol, another legal instrument or
an agreed outcome with legal force

under the Convention applicable to all
Parties. It is an issue that could come
back to haunt the Europeans who might
well discover with the passage of time
just how big a compromise they made
to India, if other countries choose to
construct an escape hatch around the
legal terminology that falls short of a
new protocol.
Bye Bye Kyoto

It would be easy to look at the
greenhouse gas-constraining Kyoto
Protocol as a failure, particularly after
all the desultory wrangling that oversaw
its demise in all but name in Durban
on the weekend. But that might be
to see Kyoto through too much of a
Canadian-orchestrated prism. In 1997,
the industrialized world save for Bill
Clinton's America promised to roll
back climate-changing, GHG emissions
to pre-1990 levels by 2012, and these
countries have pretty much met that
goal. Indeed, according to detailed
study in September by the Netherlands
Environmental Assessment Agency
and the European Commission's Joint
Research Centre, the 37 main Kyoto
nations plus the U.S. (which has still
never ratified the treaty) have emitted 7.5
per cent less CO2 into the atmosphere
in 2010 than in 1990. What's more,
as a group, they are poised to meet
the collective Kyoto target of 5.2 per
cent less than 1990 by 2012, when the
agreement was to kick over to a more
stringent second stage, which is what
the Durban conference was supposed
to be about.
Today that second stage is something
of a mirage. Kyoto now looks like it
will live on essentially as a reporting
mechanism to keep the statistics
flowing and the 195 or so countries


expectations were raised and primed
to maintain pressure on Ministers and
their negotiators. Dozens of traditional
and new media practitioners were on
hand to produce an iconic image of the
Greenpeace activist as he co-opted the
trappings of the UN for a well-executed
piece of agitprop and was led away by
UN guards to be expelled from the ICC.
This was a supreme example of the way
in which climate politics have been
transformed by the professional politics
of media spectacleon this occasion
drawing on a deep tradition of South
African activism twinned now with a
new technological capacity that brings
climate politics to every screen.
under the UN umbrella still talking.
The goal now is to try to come up with
some sort of replacement "framework"
that may or may not bind all GHGemitting countries to the same degree
by somewhere around 2020. A handful
of Kyoto signatories Japan, Russia
and, notably, Canada stated pretty
explicitly at Durban that they won't
be bound by any second-stage Kyoto
commitments. (Not that the pre-2012
version carried any real penalties for
non-compliance). And they are already
setting their markers down for whatever
will come next. Essentially what Durban
did was change the discussion from
talking about specific commitments to
talking about timetables and, probably,
categories of polluters.
As climate change negotiators in
Durban marked the 14th birthday of the
Kyoto Protocol, the air in the conference
rooms was thick with a sense of both
the troubled history of climate politics
and a historic opportunity for intergenerational change and redefined
responsibilities. Veteran negotiators
who invoked personal memories of their
formative days negotiating the original
Convention and/or Protocol knew

that their audience reached far outside
the room to a virtual global society
wanting meaningful and immediate
action. Combined with the South
African Presidencys commitment
to the Indaba formatdesigned to
encourage a true participatory and
open process of deliberation, the
transparency of Durban had a number
of unexpected consequences. Not
least was the effect of depriving some
ALBA negotiators of an opportunity to
repeatwith credibilitycomplaints
about exclusion. In contrast, Ministers,
negotiators and youth delegates found
themselves sometimes competing for
the same seat in the Indaba room.
South Africa certainly understood
the virtual social media huddle
could render swift judgments to the
champions of ambition and ridicule for
those who did not measure up to the
ambitions of the global environmental
community. At one point the President
convened a meeting at a critical
endpoint in the negotiations with,
apparently, little other purpose than
to ensure that global civil societys
A New ERA IN CLIMATE

NEGOTIATIONS
While 21st century global challenges
certainly need global solutions, it is
important not to forget that climate
change has very local impacts. One
such story loomed over the Conference.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
recalled a tragic encounter with a child
in Kiribati who could not sleep soundly
for fear that he would be stolen away in
the night by a rising ocean. This story
captures the urgency of the dilemma
confronting negotiatorsthe call to
respond to the most vulnerable states
and their peoples facing the impacts of
climate change. The story also speaks
of an impatient generation of young
people who care passionately about
the issue because they will live their
lives in the future. This is a future of
networked interdependence that stands
in stark contrast with the geopolitics of
dependency that marked most of the
20th century and the era that gave rise to
the Berlin Mandate and Kyoto Protocol.
These are the voices calling across
generations for urgency and increased
ambition on targets to ensure that
temperatures will not rise more than


1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius. And these are
the voices that recognize that the only
bridge that will span the current gap in
ambition is a global ethic of inclusion
and fairness built on foundations of
transparency and accountability. These
are the voices bearing witness in the
corridors, engaging with delegations,
disseminating every twist and turn
in the negotiations in the unforgiving
virtual public commons of the internet
where negotiators are held to account in
real time. These are the voices that have
judged the Durban Platform harshly.
Negotiators, however, who
embody the incremental expectations
of the institutions they serve, judge
themselves
with
more
modest
benchmarks. From their point of view,
after the trauma of Copenhagen and
the struggle to rescue the multilateral
climate regime in Cancun, negotiators
in Durban turned a corner and not only
resuscitated the Kyoto Protocol but, in
doing so, leaped to a decision that will
see negotiations on a more inclusive
21st century climate regime with
something approaching symmetrical
reporting systems for country efforts on
mitigation. The variable but symmetrical
architecture of any new instrument will
be important for countries such as the
United States in convincing skeptical
domestic publics that a truly universal
effort is now in prospect. To paraphrase
one US negotiator commenting at the
conclusion of negotiations, the sales job
just went from impossible to very hard.
There was a strong sense that
elements of the Cancun-Durban
packages, guided by a need to fulfill
long overdue commitments from Bali,

restored sufficient momentum for new
negotiations that will need to be shaped
by moving beyond the traditional lines
dividing the developed and developing
world. This transcendence was first
signaled in Bali but only came into full
view after Copenhagen. A fluid new
set of coalitions is now taking shape,
defined by shifting interests. However,
those who look first to science to
measure success were the least
enthusiastic about the Durban Platform,
for they know thatonce againthe
endemic incrementalism that has
resuscitated the Kyoto Protocol but, in

doing so, adopted a decision that will
lead to negotiations on a more inclusive
21st century climate regime. There
was a strong sense that elements of
the Durban package, guided by a need
to fulfill long overdue commitments
that go back to the Bali Roadmap,
restored sufficient momentum for
a new negotiation process, one that
will continue to witness a series of
differentiated interests across and within
the traditional lines of division between
developed and developing countries.
Many welcomed the adoption decisions
haunted climate negotiations since

1992 continues to force compromise on
sufficient commitments on mitigation.
The prospects for something different
this time remain to be seen.
After the frustrations at the
Copenhagen conference and the
struggle to rescue the multilateral
climate regime in Cancun, negotiators
in Durban turned a corner and not only
including on the Green Climate Fund,

and the Durban Platform, as well as the
process to launch an agreement with
legal force, while others continued to
insist on the urgent need to significantly
scale up the level of ambition to address
the gap between existing mitigation
pledges and the needed emission
reductions recommended by science.

European Debt Crisis

A New Fear of Collapse
Dr. Sachchidanand
Fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed In early 2010 concerning some countries in Europe including: Greece, Ireland, Spain,
and Portugal. This led to a crisis of confidence as well as the widening of bond yield spreads and risk insurance on credit default
swaps between these countries and other EU members, most importantly Germany.
Concern about rising government deficits and debt levels across the globe together with a wave of downgrading of European Government debt has created alarm on financial markets. The debt crisis has been
mostly centred on recent events in Greece, where there is concern about the rising cost of financing
government debt. On 2 May 2010, the Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund agreed to
a 110 billion loan for Greece, conditional on the implementation of harsh Greek austerity measures. On
9 May 2010, Europe's Finance Ministers approved a comprehensive rescue package worth almost a trillion
dollars aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe.
Stimulates
The Greek economy was one of the fastest growing in the eurozone during the 2000s; from 2000 to 2007
it grew at an annual rate of 4.2% as foreign capital flooded the country. A strong economy and falling bond
yields allowed the government of Greece to run large structural deficits. According to an editorial published by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, large public deficits are one of the features that have marked
the Greek social model since the restoration of democracy in 1974.
www.upscportal.com
After the removal of the right leaning military

junta, the government wanted to bring
disenfrachised left leaning portions of the population into the economic mainstream. In order to do
so, successive Greek governments have, among
other things, run large deficits to finance public
sector jobs, pensions, and other social benefits. Initially currency devaluation helped finance the borrowing. After the introduction of the euro Greece
was initially able to borrow due the lower interest
rates government bonds could command. Since the
introduction of the Euro, debt to GDP has remained
above 100%. The global financial crisis that began
in 2008 had a particularly large effect on Greece.
Two of the country's largest industries are tourism
and shipping, and both were badly affected by the
downturn with revenues falling 15% in 2009.
To keep within the monetary union guidelines, the
government of Greece has been found to have consistently and deliberately misreported the country's
official economic statistics. In the beginning of
2010, it was discovered that Greece had paid
Goldman Sachs and other banks hundreds of millions of dollars in fees since 2001 for arranging
transactions that hid the actual level of borrowing. The purpose of these deals made by several
subsequent Greek governments was to enable them
to spend beyond their means, while hiding the
actual deficit from the EU overseers.
In 2009, the government of George Papandreou
revised its deficit from an estimated 6% (or 8% if a
special tax for building irregularities were not to
be applied) to 12.7%. In May 2010, the Greek government deficit was estimated to be 13.6% which
is one of the highest in the world relative to GDP.
Greek government debt was estimated at 216 billion in January 2010. Accumulated government
debt is forecast, according to some estimates, to
hit 120% of GDP in 2010. The Greek government
bond market is reliant on foreign investors, with
some estimates suggesting that up to 70% of Greek
government bonds are held externally. Estimated
tax evasion costs the Greek government over $20
billion per year.
Despite the crisis, Greek government bond auctions have all been over-subscribed in 2010 (as of
26 January). According to the Financial Times on
25 January 2010, "Investors placed about 20bn
($28bn, 17bn) in orders for the five-year, fixedrate bond, four times more than the (Greek) government had reckoned on." In March, again according to the Financial Times, "Athens sold 5bn
(4.5bn) in 10-year bonds and received orders for
three times that amount."
Downgrading of Debt
On 27 April 2010, the Greek debt rating was decreased to 'junk' status by Standard & Poor's amidst
fears of default by the Greek government. Yields
on Greek government two-year bonds rose to
15.3% following the downgrading. Some analysts
question Greece's ability to refinance its debt. Standard & Poor's estimates that in the event of default investors would lose 3050% of their money.
Stock markets worldwide declined in response to
this announcement.
Following downgradings by Fitch, Moody's and
S&P, Greek bond yields rose in 2010, both in absolute terms and relative to German government
bonds. Yields have risen, particularly in the wake
of successive ratings downgrading. According to
the Wall Street Journal "with only a handful of
bonds changing hands, the meaning of the bond
move isn't so clear." As of 6 May 2010, Greek 10year bonds were trading at an effective yield of
11.31%.
On 3 May 2010, the European Central Bank suspended its minimum threshold for Greek debt "until further notice", meaning the bonds will remain
eligible as collateral even with junk status. The
decision will guarantee Greek banks' access to
cheap central bank funding, and analysts said it
should also help increase Greek bonds' attractiveness to investors. Following the introduction of
these measures the yield on Greek 10-year bonds
fell to 8.5%, 550 basis points above German yields,
down from 800 basis points earlier.
www.upscportal.com
Austerity and Loan

Agreement
On 5 March 2010, the Greek parliament passed
the Economy Protection Bill, expected to save 4.8
billion through a number of measures including
public sector wage reductions. Passage of the bill
occurred amid widespread protests against government austerity measures in the Greek capital, Athens. On 23 April 2010, the Greek government requested that the EU/IMF bailout package be activated. The IMF has said it was "prepared to move
expeditiously on this request". Greece needs some
of the money before 19 May, when it faces a debt
roll over of $11.3bn. On 2 May 2010, a loan agreement was reached between Greece, the other
eurozone countries, and the International Monetary Fund. The deal consists of an immediate 45
billion in low interest loans to be provided in 2010,
with more funds available later. A total of 100
billion has been agreed. The interest for the
Eurozone loans is 5%, considered to be a rather
high level for any bailout loan. The government of
Greece agreed to impose a fourth and final round
of austerity measures.
These include:
Public Sector limit introduced of 1,000 to biannual bonus, abolished entirely for those earning
over 3,000 a month.
Cuts of 8% on public sector allowances and
3% pay cut for DEKO (public sector utilities) pay
cheques.
Freeze on increases in public sector wages for
three years.
Limit of 800 to 13th and 14th month pension
installment. Abolished for those pensioners receiving over 2,500 a month.
Return of special tax (LAFKA) on high pensions.
Changes planned to the laws governing layoffs and overtime pay.
Extraordinary taxes on company profits.
Increases in VAT to 23%, 11% and 5.5%.

10% rise in taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and
fuels.
10% increase in luxury taxes.
Equalisation of men's and women's pension
age limits.
General pension age does not change but a
mechanism is introduced to scale them to life expectations changes.
Creation of a financial stability fund.
Average retirement age for public sector workers increased from 61 to 65.
Public-owned companies to diminish from
6,000 to 2,000.
On 5 May 2010, a national strike was held in opposition to the planned spending cuts and tax increases. Protest on that date was widespread and
turned violent in Athens, killing three people and
injuring dozens.
According to research published on 5 May 2010,
by Citibank, the EMU loans will be pari passu and
not senior like those of the IMF. In fact the seniority of the IMF loans themselves has no legal
basis but is respected nonetheless. The amount of
the loans will cover Greece's funding needs for the
next three years (estimated at 30bn for the rest of
2010 and 40bn each for 2011 and 2012). Citibank
finds the fiscal tightening "unexpectedly tough".
It will amount to a total of 30 billion (i.e. 12.5%
of 2009 Greek GDP) and consist of 5 pp of GDP
tightening in 2010 and a further 4 pp tightening
in 2011.
Danger of Default
Without a bailout agreement, there was a possibility that Greece would have been forced to default on some of its debt. The premiums on Greek
debt had risen to a level that reflected a high chance
of a default or restructuring. One analyst gave a 80
to 90% chance of a default or restructuring. Martin Feldstein called a Greek default "inevitable." A
default would most likely have taken the form of a
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restructuring where Greece would pay creditors

only a portion of what they were owed, perhaps
50 or 25 percent. This would effectively remove
Greece from the euro, as it would no longer have
collateral with the European Central Bank. It
would also destabilise the Euro Interbank Offered
Rate, which is backed by government securities.
Since Greece is on the euro, it cannot print its own
currency. This prevents it from inflating away a
portion of its obligations or otherwise stimulating
its economy with monetary policy.
For example, the U.S. Federal Reserve expanded
its balance sheet by over $1.3 trillion since the global financial crisis began, essentially printing new
money and injecting it into the system by purchasing outstanding debt.
The overall effect of Greece being forced off the
euro, would itself have been small for the other
European economies. Greece represents only 2%
of the eurozone economy. The more severe danger is that a default by Greece will cause investors
to lose faith in other Eurozone countries. This concern is focused on Portugal and Ireland, all of whom
have high debt and deficit issues. Italy also has a
high debt, but its budget position is better than
the European average, and it is not considered
amongst the countries most at risk.
Recent rumours raised by speculators about a Spanish bail-out were dismissed by Spanish President
Mr. Zapatero as "complete insanity" and "intolerable". Spain has a comparatively low debt amongst
advanced economies, at only 53% of GDP in 2010,
more than 20 points less than Germany, France or
the US, and more than 60 points less than Italy,
Ireland or Greece, and it doesn't face a risk of default. Spain and Italy are far larger and more central economies than Greece, both countries have
most of their debt controlled internally, and are in
a better fiscal situation than Greece and Portugal,
making a default unlikely unless the situation gets
far more severe.
Objections to Proposed
Policies
The crisis is seen as a justification for imposing fiscal austerity on Greece in exchange for European
funding which would lower borrowing costs for
the Greek government. The negative impact of
tighter fiscal policy could offset the positive impact of lower borrowing costs and social disruption could have a significantly negative impact on
investment and growth in the longer term. Joseph
Stiglitz has also criticised the EU for being too slow
to help Greece, insufficiently supportive of the new
government, lacking the will power to set up sufficient "solidarity and stabilisation framework" to
support countries experiencing economic difficulty,
and too deferential to bond rating agencies.
An alternative to the bailout agreement, would
have been Greece leaving the Eurozone. Wilhelm
Hankel, professor emeritus of economics at the
University of Frankfurt am Main suggested in an
article published in the Financial Times that the
preferred solution to the Greek bond 'crisis' is a
Greek exit from the euro followed by a devaluation of the currency. Fiscal austerity or a euro exit
is the alternative to accepting differentiated government bond yields within the Euro Area. If
Greece remains in the euro while accepting higher
bond yields, reflecting its high government deficit, then high interest rates would dampen demand,
raise savings and slow the economy. An improved
trade performance and less reliance on foreign capital would result.
EU Emergency Measures
On 9 May 2010, Europe's Finance Ministers approved, in an emergency meeting, a rescue package that could provide 750 billion Euros for crisis
aid aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe.
The package announced has three components:
The first part expands a 60 billion (US$70 billion)
Eurogroup's stabilisation fund (European Financial
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Stabilization mechanism). Countries will be able

to draw on that fund but activation will be subject
to strict conditionalities. It is intended to help any
member of the eurozone that is struggling to finance its debts because of high interest rates demanded by the financial markets. All EU countries contribute to this fund on a pro-rata basis,
whether they are eurozone countries or not.
The second part worth 440 billion (US$570 billion) consists of government-backed loans to improve market confidence. The loans will be issued
by a Special purpose vehicle (SPV) managed by the
Commission and backed by the explicit guarantee
of the EMU member states and the implicit guarantee of the European Central Bank. All eurozone
economies will participate in funding this mechanism, while other EU members can choose
whether to participate.
Sweden and Poland have agreed to participate,
while the UK's refusal prompted strong criticism
from the French government, along with a threat
that eurozone countries would not support the
pound in the case of speculative attacks. Denmark
will not contribute despite its participation in the
European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
Finally the third part consists of 250 billion
(US$284 billion), half the size of the EU participation, with additional contribution from the International Monetary Fund.
The agreement also allowed the European Central
Bank to start buying government debt which is
expected to reduce bond yields. (Greek bond yields
fell from over 10% to just over 5%; Asian bonds
also fell with the EU bailout.)
The ECB has also announced a series measures
aimed at reducing volatility in the financial markets and at improving liquidity:
First, it began open market operations buying government and private debt securities.
Second, it announced two 3-month and one 6month full allotment of Long Term Refinancing
Operations (LTRO's).
Thirdly, it reactivated the dollar swap lines with

Federal Reserve support.
Subsequently, the member banks of the European
System of Central Banks started buying government debt.
Stocks worldwide surged after this announcement
as fears that the Greek debt crisis would spread
subsided, some rose the most in a year or more.
The Euro made its biggest gain in 18 months, before falling to a new four-year low a week later.
Commodity prices also rose following the announcement. The dollar Libor held at a nine-month
high. Default swaps also fell. The VIX closed down
a record almost 30%, after a record weekly rise
the preceding week that prompted the bailout.
Despite the moves by the EU, the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Olli
Rehn, called for "absolutely necessary" deficit cuts
by the heavily indebted countries of Spain and
Portugal. Private sector bankers and economists
also warned that the threat from a double dip recession has not faded. Stephen Roach, chairman
of Morgan Stanley Asia, warned about this threat
saying "When you have a vulnerable post-crisis
economic recovery and crises reverberating in the
aftermath of that, you have some very serious risks
to the global business cycle.
" Nouriel Roubini said the new credit available
to the heavily indebted countries did not equate
to an immediate revival of economic fortunes:
"While money is available now on the table, all
this money is conditional on all these countries
doing fiscal adjustment and structural reform."
After initially falling to a four-year low early in
the week following the announcement of the EU
guarantee packages, the euro rose as hedge funds
and other short-term traders unwound short positions and carry trades in the currency.
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Long-Term Solutions
European Union leaders have made two major proposals for ensuring fiscal stability in the long term.
The first proposal is the creation of a common fund
responsible for bailing out, with strict conditions,
an EU member country. This reactive tool is sometimes dubbed as the European Monetary Fund by
the media. The second is a single authority responsible for tax policy oversight and government
spending coordination of EU member countries.
This preventive tool is dubbed the European Treasury. The monetary fund would be supported by
EU member governments, and the treasury would
be supported by the European Commission.
However, strong European Commission oversight
in the fields of taxation and budgetary policy and
the enforcement mechanisms that go with it have
been described as infringements on the sovereignty
of eurozone member states and are opposed by key
EU nations such as France and Italy, which could
jeopardise the establishment of a European Treasury.
Some think-tanks such as the CEE Council have
argued that the predicament some EU countries
find themselves in is the result of a decade of debtfueled Keynesian policies pursued by local policy
makers and complacent EU central bankers, and
have recommended the imposition of a battery of
corrective policies to control public debt. Some
senior German policy makers went as far as to say
that emergency bailouts should bring harsh penalties to EU aid recipients such as Greece.
Others argue that an abrupt return to "nonKeynesian" financial policies is not a viable solution and predict the deflationary policies now being imposed on countries such as Greece and Spain
might prolong and deepen their recessions. The
Economist has suggested that ultimately the Greek
"social contract," which involves "buying" social
peace through public sector jobs, pensions, and
other social benefits, will have to be changed to
one predicated more on price stability and government restraint if the euro is to survive. As
Greece can no longer devalue its way out of economic difficulties it will have to more tightly control spending than it has since the inception of the
Third Hellenic Republic.
Regardless of the corrective measures chosen to
solve the current predicament, as long as cross border capital flows remain unregulated in the Euro
Area, asset bubbles and current account imbalances
are likely to continue. For example, a country that
runs a large current account or trade deficit (i.e., it
imports more than it exports) must also be a net
importer of capital; this is a mathematical identity
called the balance of payments. In other words, a
country that imports more than it exports must
also borrow to pay for those imports. Conversely,
Germany's large trade surplus (net export position)
means that it must also be a net exporter of capital, lending money to other countries to allow them
to buy German goods. The 2009 trade deficits for
Spain, Greece, and Portugal were estimated to be
$69.5 billion, $34.4B and $18.6B, respectively
($122.5B total), while Germany's trade surplus was
$109.7B. A similar imbalance exists in the U.S.,
which runs a large trade deficit (net import position) and therefore is a net borrower of capital from
abroad. Ben Bernanke warned of the risks of such
imbalances in 2005, arguing that a "savings glut"
in one country with a trade surplus can drive capital into other countries with trade deficits, artificially lowering interest rates and creating asset
bubbles.
A country with a large trade surplus would generally see the value of its currency appreciate relative to other currencies, which would reduce the
imbalance as the relative price of its exports increases. This currency appreciation occurs as the
importing country sells its currency to buy the
exporting country's currency used to purchase the
goods. However, many of the countries involved
in the crisis are on the Euro, so this is not an available solution at present.
Alternatively, trade imbalances might be addressed
by changing consumption and savings habits. For
example, if a country's citizens saved more instead
of consuming imports, this would reduce its trade
deficit.
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Likewise, reducing budget deficits is another

method of raising a country's level of saving. Capital controls that restrict or penalize the flow of
capital across borders is another method that can
reduce trade imbalances. Interest rates can also be
raised to encourage domestic saving, although this
benefit is offset by slowing down an economy and
increasing government interest payments.
The suggestion has been made that long term stability in the eurozone requires a common fiscal
policy rather than controls on portfolio investment.
In exchange for cheaper funding from the EU,
Greece and other countries, in addition to having
already lost control over monetary policy and foreign exchange policy since the euro came into being, would therefore also lose control over domestic fiscal policy.

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FDI
in
Retail
To be or Not To be..
The Union cabinet on 24 November
2011 approved 51 per cent foreign
direct investment (FDI) in multibrand retail. The Cabinet also decided
to raise the cap on foreign investment
in single-brand retailing to 100 per
cent from 51 per cent. An estimated
Rs 30-lakh-crore retail sector was
thus opened to foreign investors by
clearing a bill that allows 51 per cent
investment in multi-brand retail.The
decision being perceived as gamechanger for the estimated USD 590
billion (Rs 29.50 lakh crore) retail
market was taken at the meeting of
the Cabinet presided over by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh.
India currently allows 51 percent foreign investment in single-brand retailers and 100 percent for wholesale operations but no FDI in multi-brand
retail.
The major provisions for FDI investment include that the minimum in-
vestment will have to be $100 million. Retail stores will only be allowed
in cities with more than one million
people. Also it will be mandatory for
retailers to source a minimum 30 per
cent of the value of manufactured
goods, barring food products, from
small and medium enterprises. Investment up to 50 per cent will have to
be in storage and back-end infrastructure. India being a signatory to World
Trade Organisations General Agreement on Trade in Services, which include wholesale and retailing services, had to open up the retail trade
sector to foreign investment. There
were initial reservations towards
opening up of retail sector arising
from fear of job losses, procurement
from international market, competition and loss of entrepreneurial opportunities. FDI in cash and carry or
wholesale trade, was allowed way
back in 1997 during the United Front
Government. Foreign investment of

up to 51 per cent in single brand retailing came to India in January 2006.
The Union government further asserted that 30 per cent sourcing under FDI in multi-brand retail has been
made mandatory from Indian MSEs
only. The government highlighted
that the 30 per cent obligation before
the global players is limited to India.
The governments explanation came
amidst protests from the opposition
and the micro and small enterprises
(MSEs).According to governments
previous stand, the overseas players
have to do 30 per cent of their sourcing from MSEs which, however, can
be done from anywhere in the world
and is not India-specific. The only
condition placed was that these
MSEs must not have more than $1
million [Rs.5 crore] investment in
plant and machinery.
In 2004, The High Court of Delhi
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defined the term retail as a sale for

final consumption in contrast to a
sale for further sale or processing (i.e.
wholesale), A sale to the ultimate
consumer. Thus, retailing can be said
to be the interface between the producer and the individual consumer
buying for personal consumption.
This excludes direct interface between the manufacturer and institutional buyers such as the government
and other bulk customers Retailing is
the last link that connects the individual consumer with the manufacturing and distribution chain. A retailer is involved in the act of selling
goods to the individual consumer at
a margin of profit.
The retail industry is mainly divided
into:- 1) Organised & 2) Unorganised
Retailing Organised retailing refers to
trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who
are registered for sales tax, income tax,
etc. These include the corporatebacked hyper markets and retail
chains, and also the privately owned
large retail businesses. Unorganised
retailing, on the other hand, refers to
the traditional formats of low-cost
retailing, for example, the local kirana
shops, owner manned general stores,
paan/beedi shops, convenience
stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc. The Indian retail sector is
highly fragmented with 97 per cent
of its business being run by the unorganized retailers. The organized retail however is at a very nascent stage.
The sector is the largest source of
employment after agriculture, and has
deep penetration into rural India generating more than 10 per cent of
Indias GDP.
For those brands which adopt the
franchising route as a matter of
policy, the current FDI Policy will not
make any difference. They would
have preferred that the Government

liberalize rules for maximizing their
royalty and franchise fees. They must
still rely on innovative structuring of
franchise arrangements to maximize
their returns. Consumer durable majors such as LG and Samsung, which
have exclusive franchisee owned
stores, are unlikely to shift from the
preferred route right away. For those
companies which choose to adopt the
route of 51% partnership, they must
tie up with a local partner. The key is
finding a partner which is reliable and
who can also teach a trick or two
about the domestic market and the
Indian consumer.
Positive Aspects
FDI can be a powerful catalyst to spur
competition in the retail industry, due
to the current scenario of low competition and poor productivity. The
policy of single-brand retail was
adopted to allow Indian consumers
access to foreign brands. Since Indians spend a lot of money shopping
abroad, this policy enables them to
spend the same money on the same
goods in India. FDI in single-brand
retailing was permitted in 2006, up
to 51 per cent of ownership. Between
then and May 2010, a total of 94 proposals have been received. Of these,
57 proposals have been approved.
An FDI inflow of US$196.46 million
under the category of single brand
retailing was received between April
2006 and September 2010, comprising 0.16 per cent of the total FDI inflows during the period. Retail stocks
rose by as much as 5%. Shares of
Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd ended
4.84% up at Rs 441 on the Bombay
Stock Exchange. Shares of Shoppers
Stop Ltd rose 2.02% and Trent Ltd,
3.19%. The exchanges key index rose

173.04 points, or 0.99%, to
17,614.48. But this is very less as
compared to what it would have been
had FDI upto 100% been allowed in
India for single brand. The policy of
allowing 100% FDI in single brand
retail can benefit both the foreign retailer and the Indian partner foreign
players get local market knowledge,
while Indian companies can access
global best management practices,
designs and technological knowhow.
By partially opening this sector, the
government was able to reduce the
pressure from its trading partners in
bilateral/ multilateral negotiations
and could demonstrate Indias intentions in liberalising this sector in a
phased manner.
Permitting foreign investment in
food-based retailing is likely to ensure
adequate flow of capital into the
country & its productive use, in a
manner likely to promote the welfare
of all sections of society, particularly
farmers and consumers. It would also
help bring about improvements in
farmer income & agricultural growth
and assist in lowering consumer prices
inflation. Apart from this, by allowing FDI in retail trade, India will significantly flourish in terms of quality
standards and consumer expectations,
since the inflow of FDI in retail sector is bound to pull up the quality
standards and cost-competitiveness
of Indian producers in all the segments. It is therefore obvious that we
should not only permit but encourage FDI in retail trade.Lastly, it is to
be noted that the Indian Council of
Research in International Economic
Relations (ICRIER), a premier economic think tank of the country,
which was appointed to look into the
impact of BIG capital in the retail
sector, has projected the worth of
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tors. Antagonists of FDI in retail sector oppose the same on various

grounds, like, that the entry of large
global retailers such as Wal-Mart
would kill local shops and millions of
jobs, since the unorganized retail sector employs an enormous percentage
of Indian population after the agriculture sector; secondly that the global retailers would conspire and exercise monopolistic power to raise
prices and monopolistic (big buying)
power to reduce the prices received
by the suppliers; thirdly, it would lead
to asymmetrical growth in cities,
causing discontent and social tension
elsewhere. Hence, both the consumers and the suppliers would lose,
while the profit margins of such retail chains would go up.
Argument that only foreign players
can create the supply chain for farm
produce is bogus. International retail
players have no role in building roads
or generating power. They are only
required to create storage facilities
and cold chains. This could be done
by governments in India. Move will
lead to large-scale job losses. International experience shows supermarIt is feared that, it would lead to un- kets invariably displace small retailfair competition and ultimately result ers. Small retail has virtually been
in large-scale exit of domestic retail- wiped out in developed countries like
ers, especially the small family man- the US and in Europe. South East
aged outlets, leading to large scale dis- Asian countries had to impose strinplacement of persons employed in gent zoning and licensing regulations
the retail sector. Further, as the manu- to restrict growth of supermarkets
facturing sector has not been grow- after small retailers were getting dising fast enough, the persons displaced placed. Fragmented markets give
from the retail sector would not be larger options to consumers. Consoliabsorbed there. Another concern is dated markets make the consumer
that the Indian retail sector, particu- captive. Allowing foreign players with
larly organized retail, is still under- deep pockets leads to consolidation.
developed and in a nascent stage and International retail does not create
that, therefore, it is important that additional markets, it merely disthe domestic retail sector is allowed places existing markets. India has the
to grow and consolidate first, before highest shopping density in the world
opening this sector to foreign inves- with 11 shops per 1,000 people. It has
Indian retail sector to reach $496 billion by 2011-12 and ICRIER has also
come to conclusion that investment
of big money (large corporates and
FDI) in the retail sector would in the
long run not harm interests of small,
traditional, retailers. In light of the
above, it can be safely concluded that
allowing healthy FDI in the retail sector would not only lead to a substantial surge in the countrys GDP and
overall economic development, but
would inter alia also help in integrating the Indian retail market with that
of the global retail market in addition to providing not just employment but a better paying employment,
which the unorganized sector (kirana
and other small time retailing shops)
have undoubtedly failed to provide
to the masses employed in them.
Concerns
1.2 crore shops employing over 4

crore people; 95% of these are small
shops run by self-employed people.
Global retail giants will resort to
predatory pricing to create monopoly/oligopoly. This can result in
essentials, including food supplies,
being controlled by foreign organizations. Jobs in the manufacturing sector will be lost because structured
international retail makes purchases
internationally and not from domestic sources. This has been the experience of most countries which have
allowed FDI in retail. Comparison
between India and China is misplaced. China is predominantly a
manufacturing economy. It's the largest supplier to Wal-Mart and other
international majors. It obviously cannot say no to these chains opening
stores in China when it is a global
supplier to them. India in contrast will
lose both manufacturing and services
jobs.
Conclusion
Conclusively we can say that FDI in
retail has the both positive as well as
negative aspects of it ,but what we
should consider before jumping on
any conclusion that fears of small
shopkeepers getting displaced are
vastly exaggerated. When domestic
majors were allowed to invest in retail, both supermarket chains and
neighbourhood pop-and-mom stores
coexisted. If anything, the entry of
retail big boys is likely to hot up competition, giving consumers a better
deal, both in prices and choices. Mega
retail chains need to keep price points
low and attractive - that's the USP
of their business. This is done by
smart procurement and inventory
management: Good practices from
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which Indian retail can also learn. The argument that farmers will suffer once global retail has developed a virtual
monopoly is also weak. To begin with, it's very unlikely that global retail will ever become monopolies. Stores like
Wal-Mart or Tesco are by definition few, on the outskirts of cities (to keep real estate costs low), and can't intrude
into the territory of local kiranas. So, they can not eat up their share of pie. Secondly, it can't be anyone's case that
farmers are getting a good deal right now. The fact is that farmers barely subsist while middlemen take the cream.
Let's not get dreamy about this unequal relationship.

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GS - International Happenings

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Foreign Direct Investment in India

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Single Policy Platform For FDI

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand

Limit in LLP firms

There are many issues related with FDI policies

FDI Inflows Touch

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Earlier, the draft document was released on 24

There are a number of issues related to FDI policy

FDI equity inflows for the month of February, 2010

Foreign Direct Investment into India is a capital

FDI inflows for almost all months in the current

As far as FDI policy is concerned, it had been felt,

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By: Ram Kumar Pandey

"I understood that

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European leaders- Germany's Chancellor Angela

PM asks rich nations to resist protectionism

Observers said the degree of divergence in the

Manmohan Singh said he understood that fiscal

Outcome For India

"But other advanced countries should opt for a

The first point was the civilian nuclear pact with

China sets strongest yuan rate in years after G20

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China had effectively pegged the yuan at about

What is the G-20

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The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers

The G-20 has progressed a range of issues since

United States of America

To tackle the financial and economic crisis that

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Meetings and activities

cess is well integrated with the activities of the

The G-20 cooperates closely with various

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GANGA, THE MOTHER IN A CURSE

eventually the supply runs out,

December 1996. Since then a

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Minister. It has as its members,

Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) at the

wastewater directly into the river

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To restore the ecological health

Under GAP I, only about 35% of

In order to evaluate the results of

8 Only 160 out of 425 mld at

for interception and diversion

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Specially designed for UPSCPORTAL.COM Members.

ndia has slipped by two places to

of social sector areas such as educa:on, health and infrastruc-

co-author of the report.

ORDER Free HARD COPY of This Magazine.

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globally in terms of its nancial

decits, high public debt and high