January 2013 Current Affairs - Part I

JAN 2013 CURRENT AFFAIRS
murugesansenthil.blogspot.com
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CONTENTS:-
JANUARY 2013 CURRENT AFFAIRS PART I
Topic
01
02
03
04
05
06
Awards/Honours.........................................................
Committee/Panel/Commission.
Court Judgments
Science & Technology
Tension in India Pakistan relation
Economics/Business
Page No
03
24
33
44
50
61
23
32
43
49
60
73
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Padma Awards 2013

EC: National Awards
Krishi Karman Awards
PART (I)
AWARDS / HONOURS
-3-
PADMA AWARDS 2013

Noted physicist Yash Pal and space scientist Roddam Narasimha
were chosen for this years Padma Vibhushan while yesteryear film
actors late Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Rahul
Dravid were selected for Padma Bhushan.
Renowned sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra and painter S. Haider
Raza were chosen for Padma Vibhushan as the government came out
with a list of 108 Padma awardees that included actress Sridevi, actors
Nana Patekar and Malayalam star Madhu of Chemmeen fame and
Olympians Mary Kom, Yogeshwar Dutt and Vijay Kumar.
In all four personalities were awarded Padma Vibhushan, 24
Padma Bhushan and 80 Padma Shri. Of the awardees 24 are women,
11 belong to the category of foreigners, NRI, PIOs and posthumous.
Nobody was named for Bharat Ratna for this year too. The last
awardee was late Bhimsen Joshi in 2008.
Here is the complete list of the award winners:PADMA VIBHUSHAN AWARDS 2013
S.NO
NAME
DISCIPLINE
STATE/DOMICILE
1.
Shri Raghunath
Mohapatra
Art
Odisha
2.
Shri S. Haider
Raza
Art
Delhi
3.
Prof.Yash Pal
Science and
Engineering
Uttar Pradesh
4.
Prof.Roddam
Narasimha
Science and
Engineering
Karnataka
Note:* Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/

PIOs/ Posthumous
# indicates Duo Case.
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PADMA BHUSHAN AWARDS 2013

S.NO
NAME
1.
Dr. Ramanaidu
Daggubati
Art
Andhra Pradesh
2.
Smt.Sreeramamurthy
Janaki
Art
Tamil Nadu
3.
Dr.(Smt.) Kanak Rele
Art
Maharashtra
4.
Smt. Sharmila
Tagore
Art
Delhi
5.
Dr. (Smt.) Saroja

Vaidyanathan
Art
Delhi
6.
Shri Abdul Rashid

Khan
Art
West Bengal
7.
Late Rajesh Khanna
Art
Maharashtra #
8.
Late Jaspal Singh

Bhatti
Art
Punjab #
9.
Shri Shivajirao
Girdhar Patil
Public Affairs
Maharashtra
10.
Dr. Apathukatha
Sivathanu Pillai
Science and
Engineering
Delhi
11.
Dr.Vijay Kumar
Saraswat
Science and
Engineering
Delhi
12.
Dr. Ashoke Sen
Science and
Engineering
Uttar Pradesh
13.
Dr. B.N. Suresh
Science and
Engineering
Karnataka
14.
Prof. Satya N. Atluri
Science and
Engineering
USA*
15.
Prof. Jogesh Chandra

Pati
Science and
Engineering
USA *
DISCIPLINE
STATE/DOMICILE
-5-
16.
Shri Ramamurthy
Thyagarajan
Trade and
Industry
Tamil Nadu
17.
Shri Adi Godrej
Trade and
Industry
Maharashtra
18.
Dr. Nandkishore
Shamrao Laud
Medicine
Maharashtra
19.
Shri Mangesh
Padgaonkar
Literature &
Education
Maharashtra
20.
Prof. Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak
Literature &
Education
USA*
21.
Shri Hemendra Singh

Panwar
Civil Service
Madhya Pradesh
22.
Dr. Maharaj Kishan

Bhan
Civil Service
Delhi
23.
Shri Rahul Dravid
Sports
Karnataka
24.
Ms. Mary Kom
Sports
Manipur
Note:* Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous

PADMA SHRI AWARDS 2013

S.NO
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
NAME
Shri Gajam Anjaiah
Swami G.C.D. Bharti
alias Bharati Bandhu
Ms. B. Jayashree
Smt. Sridevi Kapoor
Shri Kailash Chandra
Meher
Shri Brahmdeo Ram
Pandit
Shri Vishwanath
Dinkar Patekar alias
Nana Patekar
Shri Rekandar
FIELD
Art
Art
STATE/DOMICILE
Andhra Pradesh
Chhattisgarh
Art
Art
Art
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Orissa
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Andhra Pradesh
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9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
Nageswara Rao
Shri Lakshmi
Narayana Sathiraju
Smt. Jaymala
Shiledar
Shri Suresh
Dattatray Talwalkar
Shri P. Madhavan
Nair alias Madhu
Shri Apurba Kishore
Bir
Shri Ghanakanta
Bora Borbayan
Smt. Hilda Mit
Lepcha
Smt. Sudha Malhotra
Shri Ghulam
Mohammad
Saznawaz
Shri Ramesh
Gopaldas Sippy
Ms. Mahrukh
Tarapor
Shri Balwant Thakur
Shri Puran Das Baul
Shri Rajendra Tikku
Shri Pablo
Bartholomew
Shri S. Shakir Ali
Sh. S.K.M
Maeilanandhan
Ms. Nileema Mishra
Ms. Reema Nanavati
Ms. Jharna Dhara
Chowdhury
Late Dr. Ram
Krishan
Art
Tamil Nadu
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Kerala
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Assam
Art
Sikkim
Art
Art
Maharashtra
Jammu and Kashmir
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Maharashtra
Art
Art
Art
Art
Jammu & Kashmir

West Bengal
Jammu & Kashmir
Delhi
Art
Social Work
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Social Work
Social Work
Social Work
Maharashtra
Gujarat
Bangladesh *
Social Work
Uttar Pradesh #
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30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
Late Manju Bharat

Prof. Mustansir
Barma
Shri Avinash
Chander
Prof. Sanjay Govind
Dhande
Prof. (Dr.) Sankar
Kumar Pal
Prof. Deepak B.
Phatak
Dr. Mudundi
Ramakrishna Raju
Prof. Ajay K. Sood
42.
Prof. Krishnaswamy
Vijayraghavan
Dr. Manindra
Agrawal
Dr. Jayaraman
Gowrishankar
Prof. Sharad
Pandurang Kale
Smt. Vandana Luthra
43.
Ms. Rajshree Pathy
44.
45.
Shri Hemendra
Prasad Barooah
Shri Milind Kamble
46.
Ms. Kalpana Saroj
47.
Dr. Sudarshan K.
Aggarwal
Dr. C. Venkata S.
Ram alias Chitta
Venkata Sundara
39.
40.
41.
48.
Social Work
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Science and
Eng
Trade and
Ind
Trade and
Ind
Trade and
Ind
Trade and
Ind
Trade and
Ind
Medicine
Delhi #
Maharashtra
Medicine
Andhra Pradesh
Delhi
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Maharashtra
Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka
Karnataka
Uttar Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Maharashtra
Delhi
Tamil Nadu
Assam
Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Delhi
-8-
62.
Ram
Dr. Rajendra Achyut
Badwe
Dr. Taraprasad Das
Prof. (Dr.) T.V.
Devarajan
Prof. (Dr.) Saroj
Chooramani Gopal
Dr. Pramod Kumar
Julka
Dr. Gulshan Rai
Khatri
Dr. Ganesh Kumar
Mani
Dr. Amit Prabhakar
Maydeo
Dr. Sundaram
Natarajan
Prof. Krishna
Chandra Chunekar
Dr. Vishwa Kumar
Gupta
Prof. (Capt.) Dr.
Mohammad Sharaf-eAlam
Dr. Radhika
Herzberger
Shri J. Malsawma
63.
Shri Devendra Patel
64.
65.
Dr. Rama Kant

Shukla
Prof. Akhtarul Wasey
66.
Prof. Anvita Abbi
67.
Shri Nida Fazli
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
Medicine
Maharashtra
Medicine
Medicine
Orissa
Tamil Nadu
Medicine
Uttar Pradesh
Medicine
Delhi
Medicine
Delhi
Medicine
Delhi
Medicine
Maharashtra
Medicine
Maharashtra
Medicine
Uttar Pradesh
Medicine
Delhi
Literature &
Education
Bihar
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Andhra Pradesh
Mizoram
Gujarat
Delhi
Delhi
Delhi
Madhya Pradesh
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68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
Shri Surender Kumar

Sharma
Dr. Jagdish Prasad
Singh
Late Shaukat Riaz
Kapoor Alias Salik
Lakhnawi
Prof. Noboru
Karashima
Shri Christopher
Pinney
Smt. Premlata
Agrawal
Shri Yogeshwar Dutt
Shri Hosanagara
Nagarajegowda
Girisha
Subedar Major Vijay
Kumar
Shri Ngangom
Dingko Singh
Naib Subedar
Bajrang Lal Takhar
Ms. Ritu Kumar
Dr. Ravindra Singh
Bisht
Education
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Delhi
Bihar
West Bengal #
Literature &
Education
Literature &
Education
Sports
Japan *
Sports
Sports
Haryana
Karnataka
Sports
Himachal Pradesh
Sports
Maharashtra
Sports
Rajasthan
Fashion
Designing
Archaeology
Delhi
UK *
Jharkhand
Uttar Pradesh
Note:* Indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous

- 10 -
S. Janaki rejects the award:- Ms. Janaki, winner of four National

Awards, stirred up a new controversy when she rejected the Padma
Bhushan Award conferred on her describing it as too late. The singer
said to mediapersons that, she deserved Bharat Ratna for having sung
thousands of songs in various languages. She added that the
government should show some more consideration to artists from south
India in recognizing their talents and contributions.
Long since these Padma awards have lost any merit. The
practice of awarding posthumously had diluted its worth to
zero. It is really surprising why Bharat Ratna was ever
awarded posthumously, to Mahatma Gandhi or Netaji Bose or
Sardar Patel or even Jhansi ki Rani! Because no longer they
count for vote banks! We, as a country know how to spoil
anything, instituted by us or borrowed from others!
What Janaki said about the rejection of the award?
http://murugesansenthil.blogspot.in/2013/01/i-deserve-muchmore-s-janaki.html
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ARYABHATTA AWARD
The former secretary of the Department of Ocean Development,
A.E. Muthunayagam, will receive the prestigious Aryabhatta award,
instituted by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), for 2010 and V.K.
Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, will receive the
award for 2011. They have been selected for their achievements in
rocketry.
The ASI awards for rocket and related technologies will go to G.
Satheesh Reddy, associate director of the Research Centre, Imarat,
Hyderabad, for 2010 and P. Kunhikrishnan of the Vikram Sarabhai
Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),
Thiruvananthapuram, for 2011.
The awards for spacecraft and related technologies will go to P.
Chakraborty of the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS),
ISRO, Bangalore, (for 2010) and Yateendra Mehta, ISRO Satellite
Centre, Bangalore (for 2011). Several other awards under various
categories have been won by ISRO engineers and scientists.
Dr. Muthunayagam was the director of the Liquid Propulsion
Systems Centre, ISRO. In 2011, the Department of Atomic Energy
appointed him as head of a committee to look into safety issues related
to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu.
Dr. Saraswat, who is also the director-general of Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is an architect of the
interceptor missile programme, the Agni and Prithvi programmes.
Mr. Reddy is a specialist in navigation systems and he developed
the avionics, including the ring-laser gyroscope-based navigation
system, in the target missile (Prithvi) of the DRDOs interceptor
programme and the fibre-optic gyroscope-based inertial navigation
system in the interceptor. Mr. Kunhikrishnan has been the mission
director of several Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles.
EC: NATIONAL AWARDS

The Election Commission awarded Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and
West Bengal for best electoral practices and election management for
the year 2012. The awards were received by their respective chief
electoral officers.
- 12 -
ORDER OF CANADA
IIT-Madras alumnus, M.G. Venkatesh Mannar is one of 91
persons who have received the Order of Canada, one of the highest
civilian honours of the Canadian government. The distinguished
chemical engineer was given the awarded for his leadership in the
global fight against malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency.
For nearly 40 years, Dr. Mannar has been working to reduce
debilitating micronutrient deficiencies amongst the worlds most
vulnerable populations. He is the president of the Ottawa-based
Micronutrient Initiative (MI). As a sixth-generation salt processor in
India, he became interested in salt iodisation, given that iodine is
extremely important for brain development.
The process of adding nutrients to salt, without changing its
colour, texture or taste and not complicating its manufacture, is not
easy, but Dr. Mannar has not only developed different technologies to
do so, but has also spearheaded the movement in different countries
across the world. Dr. Mannar helped establish salt iodisation in over 50
countries and today, nearly 4 billion people have access to iodised salt.
Dr. Mannar has also been associated with the State governments
initiative to offer double-fortified salt to school students as part of the
noon meal scheme. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where many children
suffer from dehydration, Dr. Mannar has been developing dispersible
zinc tablets that need to be placed on the tongues of children for them
to develop resistance.
He said that, the problem of iron deficiency is the worst in
southern states of India, where people mostly rely on rice-based diets
which comprise heavily polished rice and starch. He also said the
situation of malnourishment in India was grave, and even worse than
in Bangladesh and several African countries. Dr. Mannar also said that
these days the double burden of nutrition has been a cause of concern
too, with cases of lifestyle disorders and obesity increasing. Studies
have shown that when undernourished children eat unhealthy food,
their bodies tend to absorb them disproportionately.
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DSC PRIZE FOR SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE

Kerala-born writer Jeet Thayil was named the winner of the
prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for his debut novel
Narcopolis.
Thayil, who was at the centre of a controversy last year for
reading excerpts from The Satanic Verses after Salman Rushdies visit
to the Jaipur Literature Festival was cancelled, is the first Indian to
win the prize. The award carrying a prize money of $50,000 was given
to Thayil for his novel which has a Mumbai setting and deals with the
lesser known aspects of drugs and its effects. The author who first
made his mark as a poet said it was natural for him to choose the topic
for Narcopolis as he had lived the life
MAHARASHTRA BHOOSHAN AWARD

Eminent nuclear scientist, Dr Anil Kakodkar, will be the
recipient of the Maharashtra Bhushan award for 2011-12. The
announcement was made by the Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chava.
The award, instituted in 1997 by the Maharashtra Government
to recognise distinguished work and achievements of eminent persons
from the state, representing different walks of life, carries a cash prize
of Rs 5 lakh and a citation. The State Government has been seeking
guidance from Dr Kakodkar, former Chairman of the Atomic Energy
Commission, on the issue of Jaitapur nuclear power project in coastal
Konkan.
He has also conducted interactive sessions with state legislators
to inform them about the benefits of the nuclear project.
CHINAS AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION

Noted Indian scientist Dr C N R Rao has been conferred with
China's top science award for his important contributions in boosting
Sino-India scientific cooperation. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
gave its 2012 Award for International Scientific Cooperation to three
scientists from India, Germany, and Russia.
Rao, 79, founder of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced
Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore, shared the 2012 award with
Herbert Jaeckle of Germany's Max Planck Society and Russian space
physicist G A Zherebtsov.
- 14 -
The awards are given every year by the CAS, which is China's
top academic and research institution for natural sciences. It has so far
honoured 17 international scientists for their contributions in SinoForeign research cooperation, since the prize was instituted in 2007.
State-run Xinhua news agency quoted that, Rao is devoted to the
research of solid-state and structural chemistry. He was awarded for
his important contributions in boosting scientific cooperation between
China and India, as well as raising the scientific capabilities of
developing countries.
Rao has won various prestigious awards. He is currently the
Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Indian Prime Minister.
German scientist Jaeckle specialised in the fields of molecular
developmental biology. He has actively promoted scientific cooperation
between China and Germany. He has explored and put into practice
approaches that integrate a Max Planck management model with the
CAS's scientific research system, as well as set up an international
team of researchers.
Zherebtsov has actively promoted the construction of a SinoRussian weather research centre and is currently working to get Russia
involved in a CAS space science programme.
ATOMIC ENERGYS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh gave the lifetime
achievement awards of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to four
of its veteran scientists. The scientists who were presented the lifetime
achievement are:
R.B. Grover, who played a key role in negotiating the IndoU.S. nuclear deal
K. Balaramamoorthy, who developed non-destructive
testing techniques
Mathematician R. Balasubramanian
S.K. Sikka, a key player in the nuclear tests of 1974 and
1998.
Known as Indias leading nuclear diplomat, Dr. Grover played a
key role in opening ensuring India became a part of the international
nuclear trade which was shut after the peaceful nuclear experiment of
1974. He was also in the forefront of talks that resulted in India's entry
into the pioneering International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
project to tap fusion energy to meet future global power needs. Among
other things, he conceptualised and set up the Homi Bhabha National
- 15 -
Institute to meet the human resources requirements of the nuclear

programme.
Dr. Balaramamoorthy, a
former Chief Executive of the
Nuclear Fuel Complex, was
honoured for his pioneering
contribution to the development of
non-destructive testing techniques
and outstanding work in the field
of nuclear fuel and nuclear
components fabrication.
Dr. Balasubramanian, who
is the Director of the DAEs
Chennai-based
Institute
of
Mathematical Sciences, was conferred the award for his outstanding
contribution to the field of higher mathematics, cryptology and
theoretical computer science.
Dr. Sikka was honoured for his contribution to condensed matter
physics and to the strategic programme of the department of atomic
energy.
KRISHI KARMAN AWARD

President Pranab Mukherjee awarded the Krishi Karman
awards to 18 States for excellence in production of foodgrains.
President said the country could achieve the 12 Plan growth target of
four cent through crop diversification, developing high-yield diseaseresistant seeds, improvement in water management practices and
promotion of balanced use of fertilizers and pesticides.
Among the new States to be recognised this year for exemplary
performance were Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu,
Nagaland and Manipur.
States awarded for enhancing production/productivity of a
particular commodity included,
Uttar Pradesh (coarse cereals)
Bihar (rice)
Jharkhand (pulses)
Haryana (wheat)
Ten states namely, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Assam, West Bengal,
Tripura, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and
Himachal Pradesh received commendation awards.
- 16 -
From the eight awards winning states, for the first time one male
and one female farmer were also awarded for their outstanding
performance.
States awarded for enhancing total foodgrains production are
given a trophy, citation and Rs. 2 crore each, while those recognised in
individual crops are given a trophy, citation and Rs. 1 crore each. The
rest are given Rs. 25 lakh each, while individual farmers are given Rs.
1 lakh, a citation and a trophy.
Total Food grains Category-I (production over 10MT)
State
Production (Lakh
Productivity
Tonnes)
(Kg/ha)
Previous Highest in 2011-12

last Five years
1. Madhya
Pradesh
2. Punjab
160.16
%
increase
190.46
18.91
283.52
1.74
189.63
0.70
(2009-10)
278.66
(2010-11)
3. Rajasthan
188.32
(2010-11)
- 17 -
Total Food grains Category-II (production between 1 and 10 MT)
State
Production (Lakh Tonnes)
Productivity
(Kg/ha)
Previous highest in last five years
2011-12
% increase
1. Tamil Nadu
82.63 (2006-07)
96.41
16.67
2. Gujarat
83.42 (2010-11)
90.66
8.68
3. Uttarakhand 18.16 (2010-11)
18.53
2.06
Total Food grains Category-III (production below 1 MT)
State
Productivity
(Kg/ha)
2011-12
% increase
1. Manipur
4.22 (2007-08)
5.93
40.52
2. Nagaland
5.14 (2008-09)
5.68
10.52
3. Arunachal 3.09 (2009-10)
3.34
8.02
Pradesh
4. Tripura
6.479 (2009-10)
7.124
9.96
5. Mizoram
0.624 (2009-10)
0.668
7.05
- 18 -
Rice
State
Productivity
(Kg/ha)

1. Bihar
55.9 (2008-09)
2011-12
% increase
72.01
28.81
Wheat
State
Productivity
(Kg/ha)

1. Haryana
116.30 (2010-11)
2. Himachal 5.473 (2008-09)
2011-12
% increase
126.84
9.07
5.958
8.86
Pradesh
Pulses
State
Productivity
(Kg/ha)
2011-12
% increase
1. Jharkhand 3.296 (2010-11)
4.923
49.34
2. Assam
0.701 (2010-11)
1.08
54.06
3. West
1.761 (2010-11)
1.878
6.63
Bengal
- 19 -
Coarse Cereals
State
Productivity
(Kg/ha)

1. Uttar
32.18 (2010-11)
2011-12
35.49
% increase
10.30
Pradesh
About Krishi Karman Awards:The award was instituted in the year 2010-11 for recognizing the
meritorious efforts made by the states in production of food grains. The
Awards include a trophy, a citation and a cash reward of 2 crore rupees
for total food grain production and 1 crore rupees for each of the four
individual crops. For commendation award winner the cash prize
declared is of 25 lakh rupees and for individual farmers the prize
amount is 1 lakh rupees, with a citation and a trophy.
The awards are presented in two different sets and they are one
for the total food grain production and second for the production of
individual food grains that includes rice, wheat, pulses and coarse
cereals.
The awards were finalized and the states were selected by a
selection committee that was headed by the secretary of agriculture
and cooperation that accessed the performance of states following
certain fixed criteria, which took into account the outcomes of
production, implementation of programmes for crop production as well
as the innovative approach adopted for delivery of effective services.
- 20 -
COUNTDOWN TO OSCAR 2013

Steven Spielbergs political biopic Lincoln is leading this years
Oscars race with 12 nominations, while the tally for Ang Lees Indian
drama Life of Pi rose to 11, including in the Best Picture and Best
Director categories. Here is some of the list of 85th Annual Academy
Award nominations,
Category
Best Picture
Nominations
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserbales
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Denzel Washington (Flight)
Best Actress
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Jennifer Lawerence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Quvenhzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Best Supporting Actor Alan Arkin (Argo)
Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Best
Supporting Amy Adams (The Master)
Actress
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
- 21 -
Best Direction
Michael Haneke (Amour)

Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Best
Foreign Amour Austria
Language Film
Kon-Tiki Norway
No Chile
A Royal Affair Denmark
War Witch Canada
Adapted Screenplay
Chris Terrio (Argo)
Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern
Wild)
David Magee (Life of Pi)
Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Original Screenplay
Michael Haneke (Amour)
Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
John Gatins (Flight)
Wes NAderson, Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)
Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
Animated Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
Original Score
Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina)
Alexandre Desplat (Argo)
Mychael Danna (Life of Pi)
John Willimas (Lincoln)
Thomas Newman (Skyfall)
Original Song
Before My Time(Chasing Ice) J Ralph
Everybody Needs a Best Friend(Ted) Walter
Murphy and Seth MacFarlane
Pis Lullaby (Life of Pi) Mychael Danna and
Bombay Jayashri
Skyfall(Skyfall) Adele Adkins and Paul
Empworth
Suddenly (Les Miserables) Claude-Michel
Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boubill
- 22 -
How is the Oscar shortlist decided?

The nomination process kicks off in November, 2013 when about
6000 odd members of the Academy start viewing the entries
The Academy is split into 15 branches, or professions within the
film industry
Each branch votes for nominees within their own category
Nominees for Animated Feature Film and a Foreign Language
Film Categories are voted for by committees of mixed branches
Every member votes for the Best Picture
Members Started to vote on Dec 17, 2013
The deadline was extended this year due to the controversial
electronic voting system
Votes are then sent to PricewaterhouseCoopers to be counted,
verified and secured until the day of the announcement
Life of Pi to inspire Land of Pi campaign
Seeking to cash in on the worldwide popularity of Life of Pi,
which has been shot in Puducherry and Munnar in Kerala, the Union
Tourism Ministry has decided to launch a full-fledged Land of Pi
campaign. Union Tourism Minister, Mr. K Chiranjeevi said that, the
government would soon unleash the campaign across all media,
including print, online, electronic and outdoor, to promote Puducherry
and Munnar as major tourist destinations.
Luxury buses plying between Chennai and Puducherry and Kochi
and Munnar will carry Land of Pi slogan. Special tours and walking
trails will be organised for tourists visiting Puducherry and Munnar.
Short films on tourist attractions in Puducherry and Munnar, as
depicted in the film, have been created and they will be put on Youtube
and other social media networks.
The Minister said the campaign will be undertaken in English as
well as in French, German, Chinese, Spanish and Japanese languages.
Land of Pi posters, produced by Tourism Ministry, will be exhibited
worldwide through India tourism offices overseas. These would also be
put on the Incredible India website and the websites of the Puducherry
and Kerala Tourism Departments.
The Ministry will also organise road shows to promote Indian
destinations in China and Taiwan. Director Lee is of Taiwanese origin.
T-shirts and caps branding the two destinations will also be
distributed.
The Ministry has already announced special National Tourism
Awards for Ang Lee, Director, and Yann Martel, author of the
book Life of Pi.
- 23 -
Rangarajan Panel
Manipur Killings
Verma Panel
PART (II)
COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONS
- 24 -
RANGARAJAN PANEL
The Prime Minister-appointed Rangarajan Committee has
suggested mandating a price of domestically-produced natural
gas at an average of international hub prices and cost of
imported LNG instead of the present mechanism of market
discovery. The panel, in its report made public, suggested first taking
an average of the U.S., Europe and Japanese hub or market price and
then averaging it out with the netback price of imported liquefied
natural gas (LNG) to give the sale price of domestically-produced gas.
The panel headed by C. Rangarajan, Chairman, Economic
Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said the PSC provided for
arms length pricing and prior government approval of the formula or
basis for gas pricing, subject to policy on natural gas pricing.
The committee recommended deriving one price from the
volume-weighted netback price to producers at (LNG) exporting
country well-head for Indian imports for the trailing 12 months.
Simultaneously, the volume-weighted price of U.S. Henry Hub, U.K.s
NBP and Japan Custom Cleared prices for the trailing 12 months be
calculated. The arms length price thus computed as the average of the
two price estimates would apply equally to all sectors.
The suggested formula will apply to pricing decisions made in
future, and can be reviewed after five years. On the future exploration
contracts, it said a close scrutiny of costs becomes critical for the
government since there is incentive for contractors to book as cost
expenses that do not reflect the true economic cost to the contractor (for
example, through transfer pricing).
Audit is prerogative of CAG and so the power of audit remains
with CAG. The comments come in the backdrop of intense bickering
over the scope of CAG audit of Reliance Industries spending on the
flagging eastern offshore KG-D6 gas fields. RIL has argued that while
it is open to CAG doing a financial scrutiny as provided, the production
sharing contract does not provide a performance audit by the official
auditor.
Dr. Rangarajan said blocks with low value could be audited by
panel of auditors formed by CAG and for high value blocks, the official
auditor should audit directly. The CAG had the power to decide the
value of the block that would be audited by it directly.
In its report, the Rangarajan Committee has suggested shunning
the present cost recovery model that allows operators like RIL to first
recover all their investment before sharing profits with the
- 25 -
government. This model had come in for criticism from CAG which said
it encouraged companies to keep raising cost to defer higher profit for
the government. For the future, the panel suggested bidding out the
blocks based on the highest production share offered.
PANEL SET UP TO SUGGEST STEPS FOR AI TURNAROUND

A committee was set up to suggest measures to lower the high
costs of Air Indias operations and
improve utilisation of resources in line
with best global practices to help the
state-run carrier achieve the goals of
its
turnaround
and
financial
restructuring plans. A five-member
committee,
headed
by
IIMAhmedabads Prof Ravindra H.
Dholakia, was set up by Civil
Aviation Minister Ajit Singh after a
review meeting of the ailing national
carriers functioning.
Though the panel has been
given two months to submit its report,
it has been asked to give interim
recommendations without waiting for its final report so that these
could be implemented by Air India immediately. With improvements in
Air Indias performance in recent months, the airline is likely to end
this financial year with a positive cash flow or earning before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) positive. Expressing
concern over the projected net shortfall of Rs.404 crore a month, the
Minister had recently asked Air India to cut redundant costs and
optimally utilise its resources to meet the annual financial projections
envisaged in the Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP).
Other members of the committee are: Prabhat Kumar, Joint
Secretary in the Ministry; Rajesh Agrawal, Director Finance of
ICRISAT; S Mukherjee, former Director Commercial and Inflight
Services of Air India; and Nasir Ali, Joint Managing Director of the
airline. It would go into the expenses, identify loopholes in the
companys existing structure and functioning leading to wasteful
expenditure and recommend measures to plug them.
- 26 -
PANEL TO PROBE MANIPUR FAKE ENCOUNTER KILLINGS

The Supreme Court appointed a commission headed by the
former Supreme Court judge, Santosh Hegde; the former CEC,
J.M. Lyngdoh; and a senior police officer to probe the fake
encounter killings in Manipur. A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and
Ranjana Prakash Desai passed a formal order to this effect after
getting consent from Justice Hegde and Mr. Lyngdoh. It was hearing a
petition by Manipur-based Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families
Association that sought a special investigation team probe into the
extra-judicial killings by the Army and other security forces.
The Bench said the Commission would initially probe six cases
where the magisterial inquiry had raised questions on the genuineness
of encounter and security forces had unlawfully killed people,
including a 12-year-old boy. The Bench was upset at the stand of the
Manipur government when it questioned the motives of the petitioner.
The Bench observed that, nationalism is not a monopoly of the State.
Simply because you represent the State, you dont have the authority to
impute motives on others.
Questioning as to why petitioner families should establish their
credentials as nationalists, the Bench said that, these are the
allegations that drive people to anti-national activities. Justice Desai
told Ranjit Kumar that, government talk about insurgency but
dont point fingers at them.
PANEL TO CLEAR INFRA PROJECTS

Under fire for delaying clearances to infrastructure projects, the
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has set up a committee
under Dr K Kasturirangan, former ISRO chairman and Planning
Commission member, to review the existing rules.
The committee will examine the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) notifications issued for projects like highways, SEZ
projects, and high-rises in 2006. The move appeared to be prompted by
the recent pull out by private companies such as GMR and GVK from
highway projects citing delays in getting forest clearances. While GMR
was building the 5,387 crore Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad project,
GVK had exited the 332 km Shivpuri-Dewas project over similar
concerns.
- 27 -
SAM PITRODA PANEL

Noted technocrat Sam Pitroda will head a panel set up by the Union
Information &Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) to redefine the role of
the national broadcaster -- Prasar Bharati -- and its
relationship with the Centre. And the committee which was formed
will review the public broadcasting role of the body that controls both
the Doordarshan (DD) and the All India Radio (AIR) which now face
intense competition from over 800 private channels.
The need to set up a panel has been prompted by the fact that
despite being an autonomous body, the Prasar Bharati has had a
chequered relationship with the government of the day, which controls
its functioning.With a none-too-modest yearly budget of Rs. 1,500crore,
the Prasar Bharati is dependent on the government to fulfil its public
service role. And a whopping 70 per cent of the I&B Ministrys
budgetary outlay is used to fund the mammoth body which has around
38,000 employees on its rolls.
A group of ministers (GoM) is already reviewing the functioning of
Prasar Bharati. Recently, the Centre started refurbishing the DD news
to take on the private news channels. The terms and reference of the
Pitroda panel also include redefining the role of the public broadcaster
as its monopoly of being the sole broadcaster has long been demolished.
Unlike the BBC -- funded by the public exchequer and Queens
charter -- whose programmes have effectively countered the private
channels, the DD has not been able to compete with the private players
on the Indian market.
Pitroda, who is currently the adviser to the Prime Minister on Public
Information Infrastructure and Innovations, will study and recommend
ways of using the new media to deliver digital content -- both in the
broadcast mode (DTH) and in a demand-based mode -- using social
media like YouTube, and on payment via IPTV.
The other members of the committee include Shekhar Kapur,
director and member of the National Innovation Council; Asha
Swaroop, former Secretary;
B K Gairola, Mission Director (eGovernance); M P Gupta, IIT Delhi; Jitendra Shankar Mathur,
Additional Secretary and Jawhar Sircar, CEO Prasar Bharati.
Moreover, the panel has been asked to study means by which the
Prasar Bharatis role as a public broadcaster can be sustained,
strengthened and amplified. It will also study the previous reports on
Prasar Bharati like those submitted by the Sengupta Committee, the
Bakshi Committee and the Narayanamurthy committee.
- 28 -
VERMA PANEL
The Justice Verma Committee formed to look into crimes against
women ruled against recommending the death penalty even in the
rarest of the rare rape cases, and also did not favour lowering the age of
a juvenile from 18 to 16.
The committee, which was tasked with suggesting legal reforms
to deal with sexual assault cases, however said the minimum sentence
for a rapist should be enhanced from 7 years to 10 and that life
imprisonment must always mean jail for the entire natural life of the
convict. It has also recommended forming a new constitutional
authority like the CAG for dealing with issues related to education and
non-discrimination of women and children.
Presenting the report on Amendments to Criminal Law, Mr.
Verma said at a time when there were talks of abolishing the death
sentence, the committee has enhanced the punishment to mean the
remainder of life. An overwhelming majority of scholars and womens
organisations told the committee they were strongly against death
penalty. After the gangrape and death of the para-medical student in
Delhi last month that led to a nationwide uproar, Union Home Minister
Sushilkumar Shinde had said that the government favoured death
sentence in the rarest of the rare rape cases.
He had then announced formation of a three-member committee
headed by the former Chief Justice of India, with former Chief Justice
of Himachal Pradesh Justice Leila Seth and former Solicitor General of
India Gopal Subramaniam as its members. The Committee
recommended that, according to the Working Group on Human Rights,
the murder rate has declined consistently in India over the last 20
years despite the slowdown in the execution of death sentences since
1980. Hence we do take note of the argument that introduction of death
penalty for rape may not have a deterrent effect.
The Committee also said that in the proposed Criminal Law
Amendment Bill, 2012, the minimum sentence for punishment for rape
should be enhanced to a minimum of 10 years (currently it is 7 years)
with maximum punishment being life imprisonment.
The Committee said castration would be unconstitutional and
inconsistent with basic human rights treaties to expose any citizen
without their consent to potentially dangerous medical side effects.
On the issue of reducing the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16, Mr.
Verma said, assuming that a person at the age of 16 is sent to life
- 29 -
imprisonment, he would be released sometimes in the mid-30s. There is

little assurance that the convict would emerge a reformed person.
The Committee has criticised lack of reformatory and
rehabilitation policies in jails and juvenile homes.
Comments in social network site about the panel report: It seems the juvenile gets more protection as per this report. The
report is a total failure as it denied public opinion on hanging and
even wasted others time by collecting opinions. Please try
understand a bit the sufferings of those victims and their families
and make a reasonable report.. Rapists should be hanged, if its
proved.
NO death penalty to rapists..!! Juvenile age not reduced to 16,
just a solitary confinement of 20 years..!...Huh..Why just a
normal jail life, provide them with a T.V, radio set, fridge, wifi
connection, a laptop too..
Why the committee isn't making it clear that what it means by
"rarest of rare". Isn't the Delhi gang rape issue come under that?
Going to the practical running of society can we ask whether the
majority of scholars and women organization give safety to
women as they are against capital punishment. All rape may not
be come under capital punishment but "brutal rape and murder"
deserves that. The committee shouldn't dilute such heinous crime
with such light penalty.
Some of the highlights of the report:
New offenses have been created and stiffer punishment has been
suggested by the panel. The new offenses include disrobing a
woman, voyeurism, stalking and trafficking.
It has recommended enhancing the duration of punishment to up
to 20 years in jail for rape leading to death or the victim being
reduced to a vegetative state and life for gang rape. In case of
gang rape leading to death, the person should be imprisoned for
life. The present law provides for imprisonment to rapists
ranging from seven years to life.
The panel sought amendments to Section 100 of the Indian Penal
Code dealing with the right of private defense, which extends to
causing death.
- 30 -
The committee rejected the suggestion of chemical castration of

rapists as it considered handing down such a punishment would
violate human rights and that mutilation of the body is not
permitted under the Constitution.
The committee has also touched upon marital rape and safety of
women in conflict zones suggesting a review of the Armed Forces
Special Protection Act (AFSPA) that can be used by the forces for
exploiting women in areas of conflict.
According to the report the judiciary has the primary
responsibility of ensuring fundamental rights through
constitutional remedies. The CJI can take suo motu cognizance;
social activists should assist the court. The Chief Justice of the
high court of every state should device appropriate machinery for
administration and supervision of these juvenile homes in
consultation with experts in the field.
All marriages in the country irrespective of the personal laws
under which such marriages are solemnized should
mandatorily be registered in the presence of a magistrate and the
magistrate will ensure that the marriage has been solemnized
without any demand for dowry having been made and that the
marriage has taken place with the full and free consent of both
partners.
Medical examination of victims of sexual assault which were
prepared on the basis of the best practices advised by global
experts in the field of gynaecology and psychology.
Trafficking of minor children must be made a serious offense.
Trafficking must be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a
term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may
also extend to 10 years.
There is also a suggestion to bar elected representatives from
holding office or for candidates to file nomination for election if a
court has taken cognizance of the charge-sheet filed by the
investigating agency.
The panel also recommended for Scraping two-finger test for
rape victims.
- 31 -
The panel rapped Union Home Secretary Mr. R K Singh for

showering praise on Delhi Police Commissioner Mr. Neeraj
Kumar in the aftermath of the Delhi gangrape. He said that he
was shocked to see instead of an apology, appreciation is given.
The panel criticised the lathicharge on peaceful demonstrations.
The lathicharge has scarred the democracy
There is a need to review the appointment of DGPs who failed to
appear or did not respond to the panel request for suggestions.
Exempt disabled women from coming to police stations
- 32 -
Gujarat Lokayukta SC upholds

Cauvery Tribunal Award & SC
No more statues, idols in roads
PART (III)
COURT JUDGMENTS
- 33 -
SC: NO MORE STATUES, IDOLS ON ROADS

The Supreme Court directed all State governments and Union
Territories not to grant permission to erect statues or for construction
of any structure at public places, pavements, sidewalks or on any other
public utility, which obstructs traffic movement. A Bench comprising
justices R M Lodha and S J Mukhopadhyaya said the right of citizens
to move freely cannot be taken away.
The Bench said that, public interest must be paramount. Public
road is nobodys property. Each and every citizen has a right to move
freely on roads. That right cannot be taken away by putting statues,
temples, mosques, churches etc... Such a practice must be done away
with.
The Bench further asked that, instead of glorifying the
leaders, why dont you use the funds for the upliftment of the
poor? Why do you want to use public funds meant for people of
India?
The Bench was hearing an application opposing the Kerala
governments permission for erecting a statue of late Congress leader N
Sundaram Nadar on the traffic island at Neyyattinkara junction on a
national highway in Thiruvananthapuram district. The application was
filed in a pending petition in which the apex court had already directed
all state governments to remove unauthorised constructions, including
places of worship, from roads and public places, without disturbing the
law and order situation.
The Bench also clarified that this order would not apply for
installation of traffic utility structures like streetlights, which facilitate
smooth traffic movement.
SC BANS TOURSITS IN JARAWA AREA

The Supreme Court banned tourists from taking the Andaman
Nicobar Trunk Road that passes through the area where the Jarawas
live. The road is used to reach the Limestone Cave. The court has
already banned all commercial and tourism activities within a five-km
radius of the Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands.
A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and H.L. Gokhale passed the
order, taking on record the Andaman and Nicobar Administrations
January 17 notification to comply with the court directives issued last
year. Except 30 villages notified in the schedule, the notification
- 34 -
declares a buffer zone of an area up to a five-km radius, adjacent and

contiguous to the Jarawa Tribal Reserve Area starting from the
Constance Bay in South Andaman to Lewis Inlet Bay in Middle
Andaman. No person shall operate any commercial or tourist
establishment directly or indirectly in the buffer zone. Furthermore, no
one shall carry out any activity, which may be prejudicial to the safety,
security and interests of the Jarawas in any of the settlement villages.
The Bench directed that only government officials, persons
residing in the reserve and vehicles carrying essential commodities for
the Jarawas would be allowed on the Trunk Road.
The Bench directed the Andaman and Nicobar Administration to
file an affidavit, along with a detailed map indicating the areas of
Jarawas and settlement of others. The October 30, 2007 notification,
imposing the ban, was quashed by the Calcutta High Court. On an
appeal, the Supreme Court, stayed the order and asked the
administration to strictly enforce the notification till it was considered
by the court.
Who are the Jarawas?
Tribe indigenous to Andamans. Other tribes are Onges,
Sentinelese, Andamanese. Of all the tribes in the islands,
Jarawas have had the least contact with the outside world. As
per 2001 census, there are 240 Jarawas.
SC: SPECIAL COURT TO TRY ITALIAN MARINES

The Supreme Court held that the State of Kerala had no
jurisdiction to investigate into the `Italian marines shooting incident
on February 15, 2012 in which two fishermen were killed and said only
the Union of India had jurisdiction to proceed with the investigation
and trial of the two marines. A Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir
and J. Chelameswar in two concurring judgments therefore directed
the Centre, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, to set up a
Special Court to try the two marines Massimilano Latorre and
Salvatore Girone cited as accused in this case.
The Bench after the pronouncement of the judgment in a brief
order in the afternoon said that, the order passed by the Kerala High
Court restricting the movement of the petitioners is lifted, but the same
conditions will stand reinstated. As and when the petitioners come to
- 35 -
Delhi, they shall not leave the precincts of Delhi without the leave of
the Court. Instead of reporting to the Police Station at City
Commissioner at Kochi, they will now report to the Station House
Officer of the Chanakayapuri Police Station, New Delhi, once a week,
subject to further relaxation, as may be granted. Once the said
petitioners have moved to Delhi, they shall upon the request of Italian
Embassy in Delhi, remain under their control. The Italian Embassy, in
Delhi, also agrees to be responsible for the movements of the
petitioners and to ensure that they report to the trial court, as and
when called upon to do so. Since their passports had been surrendered
to the trial court in Kollam, the same is to be transferred by the said
court to the Union Home Ministry. The two marines will be under the
custody of this court.
The Bench directed the special court {to be set up} to dispose of
the matter in accordance with the provisions of the Maritime Zones
Act, 1976, the Indian Penal Code, the Cr.P.C. and most importantly,
the provisions of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) 1982, where there is no conflict between the domestic law
and UNCLOS 1982.
The Bench said this would not prevent the petitioners from
invoking the provisions of Article 100 of UNCLOS 1982 and the
question of jurisdiction of the Union of India to investigate into the
incident and for the Courts in India to try the accused. It said that, if it
is found that both the Republic of Italy and the Republic of India have
concurrent jurisdiction over the matter, then these directions will
continue to hold good.
In his judgment the CJI said while India is entitled both under
its Domestic Law and the Public International Law to exercise rights of
sovereignty upto 24 nautical miles from the baseline on the basis of
which the width of Territorial Waters is measured, it can exercise only
sovereign rights within the Exclusive Economic Zone for certain
purposes.
The incident of firing from the Italian vessel on the Indian
shipping vessel having occurred within the Contiguous Zone, the Union
of India is entitled to prosecute the two Italian marines under the
criminal justice system prevalent in the country. However, the same is
subject to the provisions of Article 100 of UNCLOS 1982.
- 36 -
A NON-MEMBER CAN MOVE FOR SPEAKER FOR DISQUALIFICATION - SC

The Supreme Court held that, not only an MLA but any
interested person is entitled to bring to the notice of the Speaker the
fact that a member has incurred disqualification under the Tenth
Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law) and the presiding
officer is bound to take action on the complaint.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices
J. Chelameswar and Vikaramait Sen said that, on receipt of such
information, the Speaker would be entitled to decide under paragraph 6
of the Tenth Schedule whether the member concerned had, in fact,
incurred disqualification and to pass appropriate orders on his findings.
Writing the judgment on an appeal filed by Odisha Speaker, the
CJI said that, in a case such as this, where all four members elected
from the Nationalist Congress Party had changed their allegiance to
the Biju Janata Dal, there would be no one to bring the fact to the
notice of the Speaker and ask for their disqualification. After the four
MLAs crossed over to the BJD, the president of the NCP, Utkar
Keshari Parida, who was not an MLA, filed an application to the
Speaker seeking their disqualification. As no action was taken on the
complaint, he moved the Orissa High Court, which held that the writ
petition was maintainable.
Dismissing the Speakers appeal against this order, the Supreme
Court said that, although disqualified under paragraph 2(1) (a) of the
Tenth Schedule, in the absence of any application for disqualification to
the Speaker, they [the four MLAs] would continue to function as
members of the Assembly, which was not the object sought to be
achieved by the 52nd Amendment, by which the Tenth Schedule was
introduced in the Constitution. The Bench said that, the Statement of
Objects and Reasons of the Bill, which finally became the Constitution
[52 Amendment] Act, 1985, indicated that the evil of political defection
had become a matter of national concern and if it was not checked, it
could very well undermine the very foundation of our democracy and
the principles which sustain the same. In such an event, if the
provisions of the Tenth Schedule are interpreted to exclude the right of
any person interested to bring to the notice of the Speaker of the House
the fact that any or some of its members had incurred disqualification
on any of the eventualities indicated in paragraphs 2 and 4 therein, it
would render the inclusion of the Tenth Schedule in the Constitution
otiose and defeat the objects and intent of the 52nd Amendment.
- 37 -
SC SET ASIDE THE APPOINTMENT OF UPALOKAYUKTA

The appointment of Justice (retd.) Chandrashekaraiah as
Karnataka UpaLokayukta was set aside by the Supreme Court. The
court held that the Chief Minister should have consulted the Chief
Justice of the High Court in the selection process.
SC ISSUES NOTICE TO CBI ON MARAN CASE

The Supreme Court issued notices to the CBI and BSNL on a
plea for inquiry against DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran for allegedly
misusing public office by setting up a exchange in his Chennai house
and routing 323 lines to his family-owned Sun TV Network offices
during his tenure as telecom minister.
A bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam sought responses of the
CBI and BSNL on plea against Maran by a journalist, who alleged that
the agency has "buried" the case under political pressure despite its
inquiry revealing a loss of Rs 440 crore to the exchequer in the case.
The petitioner said that, the fraudulent arrangement was executed to
facilitate and satisfy the data transfer requirements of Sun TV
Network and has caused, on the estimates provided by the CBI in its
preliminary inquiry a whopping loss of Rs 440 crores to BSNL and
national exchequer. The petition, filed through advocate Bina Gupta,
said despite adverse findings in preliminary inquiry, neither the CBI
nor the Centre has taken any step to pursue the matter.
The petitioner also said that he had sent letter to the CBI
director along with evidence in his possession but no further step was
taken in the case. He also alleged the agency had recommended action
in the case to telecom secretary in 2007 but the department had not
given its nod.
WHY ALLOW CRIMINALS IN FRAY? - SC

The Supreme Court directed the Centre to file its response to a
public interest litigation petition challenging the constitutional validity
of certain provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1951 which
allow convicted persons to contest elections to Parliament and the State
Legislatures six years after release from jail. A Bench of Justices A.K.
Patnaik and Gyan Sudha Misra said this.
- 38 -
WHATS DIFFICULTY IN NOTIFYING CAUVERY TRIBUNAL AWARD? - SC

The Supreme Court pulled up the Centre for dilly-dallying on
notifying the final decision of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal
(CWDT) dated February 5, 2007, even though it informed the court on
December 5, 2012 that it would notify the decision by the end of
December. When Additional Solicitor General Harin P. Raval sought
more time for the Centre to take a decision whether to notify the final
decision or not, a Bench of Justices D.K. Jain and Madan B. Lokur told
that, it is strange.
Supreme Court said that, the Cauvery Monitoring
Committee (CMC) in its order dated December 7 has also
recorded that the final decision will be notified by the end of
December. Then what is the difficulty? Is it government
argument that government is not bound by the CMC order?
Produce the file, SC want to see it.
Mr. Raval said the Water Resources Ministry had approved the
notification and it was sent to the Legislative Department in the
Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting. The Law Ministry took the
view that since there was an earlier decision not to notify the final
decision, the matter required further consideration. He also drew the
courts attention to a letter written by Karnataka Chief Minister
Jagadish Shettar asking the Centre not to notify the final decision.
Mr. Justice Jain told senior counsel Fali Nariman, appearing for
Karnataka that, SC dont want this hide-and-seek game from
Karnataka of telling something in court and taking a different
stand outside the court. Mr. Nariman, reiterated the stand that
there was no objection in notifying the final decision without prejudice
to the rights of the State.
FIRST FAST TRACK COURT FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES OPEN

Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir inaugurated the first of the
five newly announced fast-track courts set up in New Delhi to try cases
related to sexual offence against women. Chief Justice of India Altamas
Kabir said he appreciated peoples anger over rape but warned against
letting it overwhelm the due process of law.
- 39 -
He said that, peoples reaction has been that do not send the
accused to trial. Hand them over to people, people will deal with them
or hang them. But let us not get carried away. A swift trial should not
be at the cost of a fair trial. He added that let us not lose sight of the
fact that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Appreciating the government for the fast-track courts, he said that it is
welcome that the government has woken up to the need for courts
which would try such cases on a priority basis. The perpetrators of such
crimes should be brought to justice as quickly as possible.
He said that while handling such cases one has to understand the
trauma of a rape victim. It is not a crime against the body but it is also
a crime against the soul. Justice Kabir said that the gang-rape case
could have been averted had the Supreme Court guidelines on tinted
glasses in vehicles been strictly imposed. Justice Kabir said the root of
the problem of sexual violence against women should be found. Blame
game will not serve anything.
SC UPHOLDS GUJARAT LOKAYUKTA APPOINTMENT

The Narendra Modi government in Gujarat suffered a setback
with the Supreme Court upholding the appointment of Justice R.A.
Mehta as Lokayukta by the Governor, saying it was done in
consultation with the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Ibhrahim Kalifulla said
that, the facts make it clear that the process of consultation by the
Governor with the then Chief Justice stood complete, and in such a
situation, the appointment of Justice Mehta cannot be held illegal and
thus dismissing the State governments appeal against a 2:1 majority
verdict of the High Court. It is pertinent to note that, in order to avoid
an inquiry by the Lokayukta [anti-corruption ombudsman], an inquiry
- 40 -
commission was set up under the Commission of Inquiry Act by the

State government, appointing Justice M.B. Shah, a former judge of this
court, Chairman.
Writing the judgment, Justice Chauhan said the case revealed a

very sorry state of affairs. The post of Lokayukta had been lying vacant
for more than nine years since November 24, 2003 after the resignation
of Justice S.M. Soni. A few half-hearted attempts were made to fill
the post, but for one reason or another it could not be filled.
SC criticised Governor:
However, the Bench also criticised Governor Kamla Beniwal who,
it said, has misjudged her role and has insisted that under the
Lokayukta Act, the Council of Ministers has no role to play in
the appointment of the Lokayukta and she could therefore fill
it in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court and
the Leader of the Opposition. Such an attitude is not in
conformity or in consonance with the democratic set-up of
government envisaged in our Constitution.
The Bench said that, the appointment of the Lokayukta can
be made by the Governor, as head of the State, only with the aid
and advice of the Council of Ministers, and not independently
as a statutory authority.
The Supreme Court has reiterated that the Governor is bound to
act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, unless he acts as
persona designata i.e., eo nomine under a particular statute or acts in
his own discretion under the exceptions provided for in the Constitution
itself. It is evident that the Governor enjoys complete immunity under
Article 361(1) and that under this, his/her actions cannot be
challenged for the reason that the Governor acts only upon the aid and
advice of the Council of Ministers. If this was not the case, democracy
itself would be in peril. The Governor is not answerable to either the
House of the State or Parliament or even to the Council of Ministers,
- 41 -
and his/her acts cannot be subject to judicial review. In such a

situation, unless he/she acts upon the aid and advice of the Council of
Ministers, he/she will become all powerful, and this is an anti-thesis to
the concept of democracy.
Governor Kamla Beniwals version, stated in her letter, that she
was not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers and
that she had the exclusive right to appoint the Lokayukta is most
certainly not in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution. It seems
this was an outcome of an improper legal advice, and the opinion
expressed is not in conformity with the rule of law. The view of the
Governor was unwarranted and logically insupportable.
The Bench said that, the Governor consulted the AttorneyGeneral of India for legal advice and communicated with the Chief
Justice of the Gujarat High Court directly, without taking into
confidence the Council of Ministers Be that as it may, it is evident
that the Chief Minister had full information and was in receipt of all
communications from the Chief Justice, whose opinion is to be given
primacy in such matters and can be overlooked only for cogent reasons.
The recommendation of the Chief Justice, suggesting only one name,
instead of a panel of names [for the post of Lokayukta], is in
consonance with the law laid down by this court, and we do not find
any cogent reason not to give effect to the recommendation.
As for Chief Minister Narendra Modis objection that Justice Mehta
was affiliated to certain NGOs, the Bench agreed with the reasoning
given by the then Chief Justice of the High Court for rejecting it. On a
close scrutiny, the reasons discussed by the Chief Justice appear
rational and based on facts involved. This establishes an application of
mind and a reasonable approach with hardly any element of perversity
to invoke a judicial review of the decision-making process. The issue
appears to have been dealt with objectively.
Underlining the importance of the Lokayukta for having a check
on corruption, the Bench said that, corruption often results from
patronage of statutory/higher authorities and it erodes quality of life,
and it has links with organised crimes [and] economic crimes such as
money-laundering etc., terrorism and serious threats to human security
to flourish. Its impact is disastrous in the developing world as it hurts
the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for
development. Corruption generates injustice as it breeds inequality and
becomes a major obstacle to poverty alleviation and development
- 42 -
SC RAPS GOVT ON ILLEGAL CLINICAL TRIALS

The Supreme Court rapped the Centre for its failure to stop
illegal clinical trials of untested drugs by multinational companies and
said such drug trials are causing havoc in the country and claiming the
lives of many citizens. A Bench comprising justices R M Lodha and A R
Dave said the government seems to have gone into a deep slumber on
the issue and has failed to put in place a proper mechanism to stop
rackets of multinational firms which are conducting illegal clinical
trials. Advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the petitioner, told the
Bench that in the 11,000-odd clinical trials between 2005 and 2011, as
many as 5,700 people had died. But, Additional Solicitor General (ASG)
Siddhartha Luthra disputed the figure and said only 87 people had
died. Justice Lodha asked whether these clinical trials are essential.
Justice Lodha remarked, government has slipped into deep
slumber. It pains us that children of the country are being uses as
guinea pigs by the companies. Government does not have even respect
of the Parliamentary Committee which has said that the companies are
running racket and showing just draft rules.
The
Judges
strongly
said
that,
committees
are
formed just to divert
public
attention.
Government
set
up
committees
and
commissions so that
peoples attention is diverted. Supreme Court given government several
opportunities, but people are dying. Supreme Court asked why the
government is shying away from its responsibility. It also added that, it
is very easy to form a committee or a commission. It is done just to
divert peoples attention on the issue. It is the best way to divert
attention on important issues.
- 43 -
Internet@30
Filipino cities gain in outsourcing
Red Planet & Black Beauty
PART (IV)
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
- 44 -
BLACK BEAUTY FROM RED PLANET

Scientists said that a Martian meteorite containing 10 times
more water than average could unlock clues to the Red Planets
evolution from a warm, wet past to its current cold and dry state. The
new meteorite, designated NWA (Northwest Africa) 7034 and
nicknamed Black Beauty, is a dark, fist-sized rock that landed in the
Sahara Desert in 2011. Unlike most Martian meteorites, it is thought
to be from the planets surface, not deeper inside, and to date from a
crucial time in its evolution.
Many scientists think that Mars was warm and wet in its early
history, but the planets climate changed over time. Scientists believe
NWA 7034 was formed from lava from a volcanic eruption on Mars
around 2.1 billion years ago that cooled and hardened on the surface of
the planet, possibly with the help of water.
The abundance of water molecules in the rock about 6,000 parts per
million, 10 times more than other known meteorites suggest water
activity persisted on the Martian surface at that time, known as the
Amazonian epoch. More than 100 Martian meteorites have been
discovered on Earth to date.
INTERNET TURNS 30
The world is moving in Internet. 2013 marks the 30th birthday
for Internet. Heres the storyline: the computer network officially began
functioning when it fully substituted previous networking systems
January 1, 1983. On that day, it was the first time the US Department
of Defence-commissioned Arpanet network fully switched to use of the
Internet protocol suite (IPS) communications system. This new method
of linking computers paved the way for the arrival of the World Wide
Web (www).
Based on designs by Welsh scientist Donald Davies, the Arpanet
network began as a military project in the
late 1960s. It was developed at many
American universities, including the
University of California - Los Angeles
(UCLA) and the Stanford Research
Institute. In 1973, work on the IPS and
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
technology began. The new systems were
designed to replace the more vulnerable Network Control Program
- 45 -
(NCP) used previously, and made sure the network was not exposed to
a single point of failure.
By Jan 1 1983, the substitution of the older system for the new
Internet protocol had been completed and the Internet was born.
British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee later used it to host a
system of interlinked hypertext documents in 1989, known as the
World Wide Web.
Internet users by language:
Top 10 countries with the highest number of internet users:

#
Country
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
China
USA
India
Japan
Brazil
Russia
Germany
Indonesia
UK
France
Penetration
(% Population)
40.1
78.1
11.4
79.5
45.6
47.7
83.0
22.1
83.6
79.6
Users
% World
22.4
10.2
5,7
4.2
3.7
2.8
2.8
2.3
2.2
2.2
- 46 -
EARTHS TWIN MAY BE FOUND IN 2013

Scientists claim that the first truly Earth-like alien planet is
likely to be spotted in 2013. Scientists said that the epic discovery
would cause humanity to reassess its place in the universe.
Astronomers may have found a number of exoplanets over the last few
years that share one or two key traits with our planet - such as size or
inferred surface temperature - they have yet to bag a bona fide "alien
Earth".
Astronomers discovered the first exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like
star in 1995. Since then, they have spotted over 800 worlds beyond our
solar system, and many more await confirmation by follow-up
observations. Nasa's Kepler Space Telescope, for instance, has flagged
more than 2,300 potential planets since its March 2009 launch. Only
100 or so have been confirmed to date, but mission scientists estimate
that at least 80% will end up being the real deal.
ENGLISH IS PREFERRED LANGUAGE BY NET USERS

Here is an affirmation of one more Indian fact/stereotype
English communication is an urban phenomenon and that local
languages are more popular in rural areas. According to the Vernacular
Report, 2012, of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI),
a higher percentage of rural people are aware of regional language
content than urban users.
In India, 45 million users access content in the local language.
Around 64 per cent of rural Internet users (24.3 million active users out
of a total 38 million) use the Internet in the local language. But only 25
per cent of the total 84 million urban users browse the Net in regional
languages (20.9 million).
By and large, the applications that are most used by regional
language users include emails, search engines and news content, text
chat, matrimonial services and online banking services. In rural areas,
the report shows a bias in favour of sites offering government services,
land records and private initiatives such as eChoupal, which provides
aggregated information of interest to farmers and facilitates sale of
farm produce.
- 47 -
Last March, Minister

of State for Communications
and Information Technology
Sachin Pilot, speaking at a
conference on mobile web
initiatives, said the biggest
challenge that would have to
be addressed was the nonavailability of online content
in
regional
languages.
According to the IAMAI
report, Internet non-users
have mentioned that lack of
content in local language as
one of the major reasons,
along
with
lack
of
infrastructure.
With a low working
knowledge of English in India
(according to the National
Readership Survey, 2006,
only 18.2% of the population
is English-literate; 34.2% in
urban and 11.1% in rural
areas), Internet penetration
in India is only 12%, since
content is primarily available in English.
However, the report says a number of websites have started
offering translation and transliteration services that only require input
of text in the phonetic equivalent of the local language in English.
The study covered the top metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and
Kolkata, the cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Pune,
and 12 smaller cities. Five non-metro towns and 10 small towns were
also included in the study. It was conducted by the e-Technology group
of the Indian Market Research Bureau and the IAMAI, an industry
body representing the online and mobile industry in India.
- 48 -
FILIPINO CITIES GAIN IN OUTSOURCING RANKS

The Philippines, led by its capital Manila and followed by
secondary cities such as Cebu, Mandaluyong and Taguig, has emerged
as a key IT/ITeS destination, posing a challenge to India's outsourcing
story. The latest annual ranking of the top 100 global outsourcing
destinations by Tholons, an advisory firm for global outsourcing and
research, places Manila at No. 3, up from No. 4 in last year's survey. It
has pushed Delhi down to No. 4. Cebu City too went up one rank in the
top 10, pushing Dublin (Ireland) down. Indian dominance continues
though, with six Indian cities in the top 10 and Bangalore still the top.
The critical factors that are adding
momentum to Philippines are its cultural and
accent similarities with the US, cost
competitiveness, and a strong positive
perception of BPO careers (they are not stopgap careers like in India). The Philippines
government is also keeping its focus firm on
the development of the industry through
grants and infrastructure developments.
Salil Dani, practice director at
outsourcing advisory and research firm
Everest Group, said the Philippines is
cheaper by up to 70% for US companies. The
country is the leader in voice (call centres).
But its non-voice story is still untold. A lot of Indian and global BPOs in
the financial, analytical, HR and people-based services are expanding
in the country. The Philippines' current IT/ITeS market is $14 billion,
of which IT is only $2 billion. But remember, a few years ago the total
market was barely $7 billion. Look at the way it's catching up. Ankita
Vashistha, managing director, Tholons, said costs are rising in India.
Infrastructure and quality of life are also under pressure in Indian
cities and these could impact growth in the future.
Convergys, a US-based customer management solutions
company, has 18 call centres in the Philippines. UnitedHealth, a USbased healthcare provider, has back-office operations in Taguig City.
EXL is opening its third centre in Cebu City. IBM is planning to grow
its BPO services in the country, focusing on higher value analytics and
high-value customer support services. Wells Fargo & Co is setting up a
business support centre in Taguig City.
- 49 -
PART (V)
INDIA PAKISTAN TENSE
- 50 -
INDIA PAKISTAN
LoC UNDER TENSE
Indian bunker construction on the northern reaches of the Line of
Control initiated after a grandmother crossed into Pakistanadministered Kashmir to be with her sons sparked off a spiral of
violence which culminated in the brutal killing of two soldiers. (The
Hindu said like this, saying highly placed military and government
sources have told the newspaper)
The clashes, among the worst on the Line of Control since a
ceasefire went into place, have provoked fears that the ceasefire may
melt down. In India, news that the two soldiers (Naik Sudhakar Singh
and Naik Hemraj) were beheaded has provoked widespread outrage
and calls for large-scale military retaliation.
Why now tense in LoC?
Early in September, 70-year old Reshma Bi, left the village of

Charonda, near Uri, to live with her sons and grandchildren across the
Line of Control. Ms. Reshma and her husband Ibrahim Lohar, a highlyplaced military source said, had remained in Charonda after their sons
crossed into Pakistan-administered Kashmir several years ago, to
- 51 -
escape police investigations of their alleged role in cross-border

trafficking. Police officers contacted by The Hindu said that Ms.
Reshma appeared to have left in the hope of living out her last years
with her family.
Ms. Reshmas September 11 flight, a senior Srinagar-based
military official said, set off alarms at the Uri-headquartered 19
infantry brigade. There, the incident was seen as highlighting
vulnerabilities in defences along this stretch of the Line of Control.
Charonda is located within metres of the Line of Control, outside of the
three-layer counter-infiltration fencing which runs along the frontier.
After Ms. Reshmas departure, troops of the 9 Maratha Light
Infantry began constructing observations bunkers around Charonda,
seeking to monitor the movement of villagers. The construction work
barred by the terms of the Line of Control ceasefire which India and
Pakistan agreed on in 2003 provoked furious protests from Pakistani
troops. Indian commanders, the military source said, conceded that the
construction was in violation of the ceasefire.
However, they refused to stop work, arguing that the posts faced
out towards the village, posing no threat to Pakistan. Early in October,
tensions began to escalate. Pakistan even made announcements over a
public address system, demanding that Indian troops end the
construction work. Following the announcement, shells followed.
Pakistani troops fired mortar and high-calibre automatic weapons at
Indian forward positions. The fire missed its intended target, but killed
three villagers, 25-year-old Mohammad Shafi Khatana, 20-year-old
Shaheena Bano, and a ninth-grade school student, Liaqat Ali. In the
weeks leading up to the New Year, military sources said, hardly a week
went by without occasional shots being fired at troops headed to the
new observation posts. Finally, on January 6, matters came to a head.
Following a low-grade exchange of fire that night, 19 Infantry Division
commander Gulab Singh Rawat sought and obtained permission for
aggressive action against the Pakistani position from where his troops
were being targeted. Pakistan insists its post, Sawan Patra, was raided
by Indian troops. India has denied the allegation. Indian army
spokesperson said that, none of Indian troops crossed the Line of
Control. Either way, though, a Pakistani soldier was dead before the
shooting ended and another critically injured.
Another Army official in New Delhi said that, there was no
formal permission to stage a cross-border raid to target Sawan Patra.
However, in the heat of fighting, these things have been known to
- 52 -
happen. Pakistan has done this, and our forces have done this, ever
since fighting began in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990.
INDIA REJECTS PAKISTANS UN PROBE

India has rejected Pakistans proposal for a United Nations (UN)
probe into the chain of killings along the Line of Control (LoC) and led
to the killing of two Indian soldiers. The Indian response was to a
Pakistani suggestion for investigating the incidents by the UN Military
Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) which is present on
both sides of the LoC.
- 53 -
But high-level sources said the brutality with which the Indian
soldiers were killed (soldiers were beheaded) will be taken up with
Pakistan
through
back
channels. After taking part
in meetings of the Union
Cabinet and the Cabinet
Committee
on
Security
which
was
briefed
by
Defence Minister A. K.
Antony,
Union
Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram
said
that,
India
is
certainly not going to
agree to internationalise
the issue or allow the UN
to hold an inquiry. That
demand
is
obviously
rejected out of hand, but
India takes a serious
view of what happened.
Whatever has to be done
will be done. He also added
that the decapitation of an
Indian soldier as brutal.
At another news conference, National Security Advisor Shiv
Shankar Menon said there had been an increase in ceasefire violations
and infiltration attempts. In 2012 there was an increase overall over
2011. That is a fact. Both India and Pakistan have denied the
involvement of their troops. Meanwhile Pakistan summoned Indian
envoy Mr. Sharat Sabharwal and said to him that Pakistan is
disappointment with Indias continual violations on ceasefire in LoC.
Flag meeting at LoC:While talking tough, India has suggested a flag meeting on the
Line of Control with Pakistan to sort out the skirmishes that have led
to the death of four soldiers from both sides. The Army has suggested a
brigadier-level meeting at Baloni in the Mendhar sector, one of the four
spots on the LoC where flag meetings are usually held. At first, there
has been no response from the Pakistani side so far. Later, Paksitan
agreed to the flag meet. On the other hand, Defence Minister A.K.
Antony said that India had enough firepower on the border to take care
of any situation and described the beheading of an Indian soldier as a
- 54 -
turning point. The Minister, however, did not elaborate. He said that,
it is not an isolated incident. Ceasefire violations and infiltration
attempts are increasing. It is a matter of concern to us and the tragic,
provocative actions two days back [killing of two Indian soldiers and
the beheading of one] were a turning point.
The intermittent exchange of fire between the Pakistan and
Indian armies had an adverse impact on the cross-LoC trade ands
people-to-people contact in the area. Pakistan stopped 65 Indian goods
trucks from crossing the Chakan-da-Bagh point in Poonch district of
Jammu and Kashmir into Rawalakote in PoK. It also cancelled the
Carvan-e-Aman, bus service between PoK and Jammu.
Visa-on-arrival: on hold
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned that business as
usual was not possible with Pakistan in the wake of the incident on
the Line of Control in which two Indian soldiers were killed, the sudden
chill in bilateral relations claimed its first casualties: elderly Pakistanis
who had queued up at the Wagah border for the start of the visa-free
entry regime for senior citizens were turned back as India cited
technical reasons for putting on hold the much-awaited travel policy;
and the Hockey Federation decided that nine Pakistani hockey players
who were to take part in the Hockey India League tournament would
be sent home as protests by radical outfits against their presence had
allegedly raised security fears.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid issued a structured
statement against the beheading of an Indian soldier. In the main, it
asked Pakistan to come out of its state of denial and book those
involved in the incident. There was no word on whether the scheduled
month-end meeting of Commerce Ministers would take place, even as
the Prime Minister said he hoped Pakistan realised that India wanted
the prosecution of those involved in the beheading of Lance Naik
Hemraj.
The marked hardening of the governments posture came soon
after Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitey
told National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon that they expected
the government to send a tough message to Pakistan. At the same time,
Dr. Singh briefed President Pranab Mukherjee on the issues arising out
of the flare-up on the LoC that has claimed the lives of four soldiers
from both sides. The foreign offices of both countries have summoned
the other sides diplomats to protest against the killings.
- 55 -
India has put on hold the visa on arrival facility, which was to begin
operating. Officially, technical reasons were responsible for the freeze
but government sources said growing tension between the two
neighbours led to India suspending the facility. Home Ministry officials
said a decision on the issue would be taken at an appropriate time and
quoted objections raised by various government agencies for the delay
in implementation of visa on arrival facility for Pakistani senior
citizens.
India revealed that it had demanded a Pakistani probe to book
the culprits responsible for the beheading on at least two earlier
occasions. The Director-General, Military Operations, first made the
request for an investigation in his hotline conversation with his
Pakistani counterpart. This was repeated during the Brigadier-level
Flag Meeting held on the LoC.
Pakistan offers talks to ease tension:Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar suggested a
ministerial meeting with her Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid to
de-escalate tensions between the two countries over cross-Line of
Control (LoC) firings in which soldiers on both sides have been killed.
Stating that continued tension along the LoC is not in the interest of
peace and stability in the region, the Minister said it is imperative that
both countries demonstrate requisite responsibility for ensuring peace
by addressing all concerns through dialogue. Earlier, the DirectorsGeneral of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan agreed
not to allow the situation in Jammu and Kashmir to escalate. The
DGMOs spoke to each other for 10 minutes, Army sources said.
Pakistans DGMO confirmed that orders have been passed to troops to
observe ceasefire strictly and exercise restraint on the LoC where
tension has prevailed.
U.S. Nuclear Component may have reached Pakistan via
China:Pakistan is circumventing matters of legality and geopolitical
complexities in the procurement process for nuclear components. This
may well be the conclusion reached in the case of Qiang Hu, a Chinese
national who has been charged in Massachusetts with conspiracy for
violating U.S. export controls by allegedly selling thousands of pressure
transducers to unnamed customers through his position of sales
manager at MKS Instruments Shanghai Ltd. in China.
- 56 -
Among the list of nations that use pressure transducers to

measure the gas pressure inside centrifuge cascades in nuclear plants
is Pakistan. The list reportedly includes Iran and possibly North Korea,
but Pakistan, according to experts at the Washington-based Institute
for Science and International Security, is among those nations that
use a considerable quantity of the equipment in their centrifuge plants
and have regularly sought them through surreptitious means as used
in this alleged scheme.
That Islamabad was a likely final customer of Mr. Hus
deceptions cannot be ruled out. According to a report published by ISIS
on this case, Hu and his co-conspirators allegedly arranged their
unlawful export to unauthorised Chinese end-users or to other,
unnamed country end-users.
The reports authors, David Albright and Andrea Stricker, said
that while recent case studies or evidence of Pakistani procurements of
pressure transducers may not be available, Pakistan is likely
procuring them, assuming they dont have enough in their centrifuge
plants or havent made them themselves.
With the general assumption here that illicit procurement of
components is quite a common practice experts are now urging that the
U.S. ought to designate China a Destination of Diversion Concern, an
action that would then require companies there to apply for special
licences to import controlled or sensitive U.S. goods on account of the
high risk that they may be diverted to rogue nuclear powers.
Nuclear screws may indeed be tightened on China in the second
Obama term as the Hu case also suggested acute embarrassment for
U.S. law enforcement agencies. The Federal Bureau Investigations
complaint in the matter, for example, cited deception that Mr. Hu and
his co-conspirators resorted to, in order to procure export licences.
The complaint argues that they used two primary means of
deception to export the pressure transducers. First, the conspirators
used licences issued to legitimate MKS business customers to export
the pressure transducers to China and then caused the parts to be
delivered to other end-users who were not themselves named on the
export licences or authorised to receive the parts, the FBI said, adding
that the conspirators then obtained export licences in the name of a
front company and then used these fraudulently obtained licences to
export the parts to China, where they were delivered to the actual endusers.
- 57 -
However, MKS Instruments itself was not a target of the

governments investigation into these matters, the FBI noted, adding
that Mr. Hu remained in custody and faced a maximum sentence of 20
years in federal prison, to be followed by up to three years of supervised
release, and a $1 million fine.
15 YEARS OF BLOODLETTING AT LoC

In classified protests to a United Nations watchdog that have
never been disclosed till now, Pakistan has accused Indian soldiers of
involvement in the torture and decapitation of at least 12 Pakistani
soldiers in cross-Line of Control raids since 1998, as well as the
massacre of 29 civilians. The allegations, laid out in confidential
Pakistani complaints to the United Nations Military Observer Group in
India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), suggest that Indian and Pakistani
troops stationed on the Line of Control remain locked in a pattern of
murderous violence, despite the ceasefire both armies entered into in
November 2003.
UNMOGIP set up after the India-Pakistan war of 1947-1948 to
monitor ceasefire violations, does not conduct criminal investigations,
or assign responsibility for incidents. The reports of its ceasefire
monitors are sent to the organisations headquarters in New York, and
forwarded to the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi.
- 58 -
Ever since 1972, India has responded to UNMOGIP queries with

a standard-form letter, saying it believes the organisation has lost its
relevance following the demarcation of the LoC. Earlier this month,
India argued in the United Nations that the organisation ought to be
wound-up.
The most savage cross-LoC violence Indian forces are alleged to
have participated in was the killing of 22 civilians at the village of
Bandala, in the Chhamb sector, on the night of March 26-27, 1998. The
bodies of two civilians, according to Pakistans complaint to UNMOGIP,
were decapitated; the eyes of several others were allegedly gouged out
by the attackers. The Pakistani military claimed to have recovered an
Indian-made watch from the scene of the carnage, along with a handwritten note which asked, How does your own blood feel?
Even though the large-scale killings of civilians did not take place
again, Pakistan continued to report cross-border attacks, involving
mutilations, to UNMOGIP.
Six months after the Kargil war, on the night of January 21-22,
2000, seven Pakistani soldiers were alleged to have been captured in a
raid on a post in the Nadala enclave, across the Neelam River. The
seven soldiers, wounded in fire, were allegedly tied up and dragged
across a ravine running across the LoC. The bodies were returned,
according to Pakistans complaint, bearing signs of brutal torture.
Indian troops, Pakistan alleged, killed a JCO, or junior
commissioned officer, and three soldiers in a raid on a post in the Baroh
sector, near Bhimber Gali in Poonch, on September 18, 2003. The
raiders, it told UNMOGIP, decapitated one soldier and carried his head
off as a trophy.
Near-identical incidents have taken place on at least two
occasions since 2008, when hostilities on the LoC began to escalate
again. Indian troops, Pakistans complaints record, beheaded a soldier
and carried his head across on June 19, 2008, in the Bhattal sector in
Poonch. Four Pakistani soldiers, UNMOGIP was told, died in the raid.
The killings came soon after a June 5, 2008 attack on the Kranti
border observation post near Salhotri village in Poonch, which claimed
the life of 2-8 Gurkha Regiment soldier Jawashwar Chhame.
Finally, on August 30, 2011, Pakistan complained that three
soldiers, including a JCO, were beheaded in an Indian raid on a post in
the Sharda sector, across the Neelam river valley in Kel.
In October last year, highly placed military sources said,
Pakistans Director-General of Military Operations complained about
Indian construction work around Charunda, in Uri. His Indian
- 59 -
counterpart, Lieutenant-General Vinod Bhatia, however, responded

that Indias works were purely intended to prevent illegal border
crossings. The unresolved dispute led to exchanges of fire, which
eventually escalated into shelling and the killings of soldiers on both
sides.
The November 2003 ceasefire, Indian diplomatic sources say, was
based on an unwritten agreement, which in essence stipulated that
neither side would reinforce its fortifications along the LoC a
measure first agreed to after the 1971 war. In 2006, the two sides
exchanged drafts for a formal agreement. Since then, the sources said,
negotiations have stalled over differing ideas on what kind of
construction is permissible. In essence, a senior government official
said, we accept that there should be no new construction, but want to
be allowed to expand counter-infiltration measures and expand existing
infrastructure.
India insists that it needs to expand counter-infiltration
infrastructure because of escalating operations by jihadist groups
across the LoC. Pakistan argues that Indias own figures show a sharp
decline in operations by jihadists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Last year, according to the Indian government, 72 terrorists, 24
civilians and 15 security personnel, including police, were killed in
terrorist violence in the State lower, in total, than the 521 murders
recorded in Delhi alone. In 2011, the figures were, respectively, 100, 40
and 33; in 2010, 232, 164 and 69.
You cant say that you need more border defences to fight off
jihadists when you yourself say there is less and less jihadist
violence - Pakistani military
The only reason there are less jihadists, is because weve
enhanced our defences - Indian military officer
- 60 -
14th Finance Commission

RBI Cuts Policy Rates
Taxes for Super Rich
PART (VI)
ECONOMICS / BUSINESS
- 61 -
TAXES FOR SUPER RICH

Pitching for higher rates of taxes for super rich, Prime Ministers
economic advisor C. Rangarajan said that the forthcoming budget could
look at imposing surcharge on income above a threshold. His
suggestion comes ahead of the Budget for 2013-14 for which Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram has started consultations with different
interest groups.
India taxes income at three rates 10 per cent, 20 per cent and
30 per cent. These rates were fixed in 1997 by the then Finance
Minister Mr. Chidambaram. Interestingly, recently at a lecture to
honour Raja Chelliah, Mr. Chidambaram had called for a debate on the
need of inheritance tax in India, wondering if the country had paid
enough attention to accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few.
The U.S. Congress voted for raising taxes on rich Americans, as
part of resolutions of crisis over the so-called fiscal cliff. The U.S.
legislation raises taxes on individual earning more than $400,000 per
year, and on couple earning more than $450,000. The veteran
economist, a former RBI governor, also stressed for fiscal discipline to
promote growth.
INDIAS GROWTH ESTIMATES FOR 2012-13
Rating Agencies/Org/Banks
ADB
Morgan Stanley
HSBC
Union Finance Ministry
RBI
Planning Commission
Fitch
SCB
S&P
UN-ESCAP
Growth Rate (in %)

5.4
5.4
5.7
5.7 5.9
5.8
6.0
6.0
6.2
6.5
6.8
- 62 -
ENGINEERS INDIA 10% DISINVESTMENT

The government, decided to offload its 10 per cent stake in
Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) through public offer, which might fetch it
around Rs.800 crore this fiscal. Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram
said that, government expects to get around Rs.800 crore at current
prices. The disinvestment would take place through further public
offering.
Mr. Chidambaram expressed the hope that disinvestment of the
leading engineering consultancy firm would happen this fiscal. After
the disinvestment, the governments shareholding in the company
would come down to 70.40 per cent. The paid-up equity capital of the
company, as on March 31, 2012, was Rs.168.47 crore. The government
holds 80.40 per cent stake in EIL.
NATIONAL INVESTMENT FUND TO BUY PSU SHARES

Aimed at taking the disinvestment exercise forward at a faster
clip, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), authorised
the National Investment Fund (NIF) to buy shares of public sector
undertakings (PSUs), including banks and insurance companies. As per
the string of approvals given by the CCEA at its meeting chaired by
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to align the NIF operation to
enhance the disinvestment policy, the NIF will also be used to
recapitalise public sector banks (PSBs) and state-owned insurance
companies.
According to an official release, the disinvestment proceeds with
effect from the fiscal year 2013-14 will be credited to the existing public
account under the head National Investment Fund (NIF), and they
would remain there until withdrawn/invested for the approved
purposes. The NIF will be used for subscribing to the shares being
issued by the Central public sector enterprise (CPSE) including public
sector banks (PSBs) and public sector insurance companies, on a rights
basis so as to ensure that 51 per cent ownership of the government is
not diluted.
Alongside, the Fund will also be utilised for issuing preferential
allotment of shares of the CPSE to promoters as per the Securities and
Exchange Board of India SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure
Requirements) Regulations, 2009, so that government shareholding
does not go down below 51 per cent, in all cases where the CPSE is
- 63 -
going to raise fresh equity to meet its capital expenditure programme.

Fund managers now managing the NIF will stand discharged of their
responsibility from the date the funds and the interest income are
transferred to the NIF, it said.
Set up in 2005, the NIF is being hitherto managed by three fund
managers UTI Asset Management Company, SBI Funds
Management Company and LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management
Company. Essentially, while about 75 per cent of the income from NIF
is being used to fund select social sector programmes, the balance
amount is utilised to meet the capital investment requirements of
profitable PSUs and revival of sick state-owned units. However,
following the global meltdown and its impact on the domestic economy,
the government, in November, 2009, decided to utilise the
disinvestment proceeds only for social sector spending.
UN REPORT PROJECTS 6.1% GROWTH FOR INDIA

Indian economy is projected to grow at a slower pace of 6.1% this
year even as exports and capital investments are likely to be much
better than in 2012, according to the United Nations. The UN has
trimmed its growth forecast from 7.2% estimated in June 2012.
However, the forecast of 6.1% growth for this year is much better
than 5.5% expansion seen in 2012, as per the UN 'World Economic
Situation and Prospects 2013' report. The report said that, GDP growth
in India will accelerate to 6.1 per cent in 2013 and 6.5 per cent in 2014
as a result of stronger growth of exports and capital investment.
Investment demand is expected to respond to a more accommodative
monetary policy stance and slightly improved business confidence.
UN ESCAP's (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific) Chief Economist Nagesh Kumar said that India has huge
growth potential in the long term. He said that, India and China are
playing a major role in the growth of world economy.
The slowdown in growth to 5.5 per cent last year reflected weaker
consumption and investment demand as a result of persistent inflation,
high nominal interest rates, large fiscal deficits and political gridlock.
According to the UN, India's annual growth declined from over 9
per cent clocked in 2010 to about 5.5 per cent last year, "the slowest
pace in ten years".
Indian economy accounts for almost three-quarter of South Asia's
overall GDP. Other countries in South Asia region include Bangladesh,
Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- 64 -
RBI CUTS POLICY RATES

For the first time in nine months, the Reserve Bank of India cut
the indicative policy rate (Repo) by 25 percentage points, from 8 per
cent to 7.75 per cent, and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 25
percentage points, from 4.25 per cent 4 per cent. The step is likely to
benefit retail borrowers, as lending rates are likely to come down.
The RBI first cut the Repo rate in the current fiscal in April 2012,
with a reduction of 50 percentage points, from 8.5 per cent to 8 per
cent. It reduced the CRR from a peak of 6 per cent to 4.25 till midDecember 2012.
Repo is the rate at which banks borrow funds from the central
bank. CRR is the portion of deposits banks must keep with the
RBI.
The RBI has scaled down the projection for GDP growth for the
current year, from 5.8 per cent to 5.5 per cent, and for the wholesale
price inflation in March 2013, from 7.5 per cent to 6.8 per cent.
However, the RBI has warned that retail inflation is still at a higher
level.
As of January 31, 2013 the important policy rates are:Bank Rate: 8.75%
Repo Rate: 7.75%
Reverse Repo Rate: 6.75%
CRR: 4%
SLR: 23%
GROSS DIRECT TAX COLLECTIONS UP 8%

Direct tax collection has
improved marginally, with the
gross growth rate at over eight per
cent
during
April-December.
However, it is still lower than the
Budgeted target of 15%. A Finance
Ministry statement said gross
direct tax collections during AprilDecember increased to Rs 4.28 lakh
crore from Rs 3.96 lakh crore,
showing a growth of 8.01%.
However, with lower refund, net
direct tax collection grew to Rs 3.68
- 65 -
lakh crore from Rs 3.24 lakh crore registering a jump of 13.7%.

The Ministry aims to mop up Rs 5.70 lakh crore through direct
taxes, which constitute personal income tax, corporate tax, securities
transaction tax and wealth tax. Experts believe that with the slowdown
in industrial activity, corporate tax collection may not be on expected
lines, affecting overall direct tax collection.
Achieving the tax collection as targeted is crucial for capping the
fiscal deficit within the revised target. The Budget projected the fiscal
deficit at 5.1 per cent of GDP.
URJIT PANEL DY GOVERNOR OF RBI

Economist Urjit Patels name has been cleared for appointment
as the new Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Dr.
Patel is at present a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution, a U.S.-based thinktank.
RBI Team:
The current Governor of RBI is Duvvuri Subbarao. The RBI
extended the period of the present governor up to 2013. There are four
deputy governors, Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty, Urjit Patel, Shri
Anand Sinha, and Shri H.R. Khan. Deputy Governor K C
Chakrabarty's term has been extended further by 2 years. (Subir
Gokarn was replaced by Mr. Urjit Patel in January 2013)
IMPORTS OF GOLD TO BE MADE COSTLIER

Worried over the widening current account deficit (CAD), in a
large measure owing to rising imports of gold, Finance Minister
P. Chidambaram, indicated that steps were under consideration to
render its imports a little more expensive to curb demand for the
yellow metal.
Mr. Chidambaram said that, gold imports constituted a
substantial chunk of the imports and is a huge drain on the Current
Account and therefore government appeal to the people to moderate the
demand for gold which leads to large imports of gold. Government left
with no choice but to make it a little more expensive to import
gold. This matter is under Governments consideration.
- 66 -
Mr. Chidambaram noted

that CAD representing the
difference between exports
and
imports
after
considering cash remittances
and payment had risen to
$38.7 billion or 4.6 per cent
of the GDP (gross domestic
product) during the first half
of the current fiscal. Of this,
a major contribution was by
way
of
gold
imports,
amounting to $20.25 billion.
Citing
figures,
the
Finance Minister went on to point out that as against the marginal
accretion of $0.4 billion to the countrys forex reserves during AprilSeptember, the increase would have been many times more only if gold
imports had been half the actual level. Suppose gold imports had been
one half of the actual level, that would have meant that our foreign
exchange reserves would have increased by $10.5 billion, he said
Mr. Chidambaram argued that the country cannot afford to
spend so much on importing gold. Nobody says gold within the
country should not be used for whatever purpose. There is
enough gold within the country. But import of gold is huge
strain on the current account.
During 2011-12, gold imports amounted to a foreign exchange
spending of $56.2 billion and to curb the rising demand for the precious
metal, the then Finance Minister, in his Budget for the current fiscal,
had double the basic Customs duty on standard gold bars to 4 per cent
from 2 per cent and on non-standard gold to 10 per cent. Even as
certain other measures had to be moderated, the hike in duty did lead
to some decline in imports.
Gold imports during the first six months of 2012-13 in value
terms stood pegged at $20.2 billion, marking a decline of about 30.3 per
cent over the like period a year ago. Thus, the decline can partly be
attributed to increase in customs duty on gold imports by government
in January and March, 2012.
He also said that, the gap in export and import, was partly made
up by an increase in services exports of 4.2 per cent and, consequently,
surplus in services which amounted to $29.6 billion and remittances of
$32.9 billion. What was particularly positive a worrying situation was
- 67 -
that the widening CAD was financed without drawing on country's

foreign exchange reserves, mainly because of adequate inflows of FDI
($12.8 billion) and FII ($1.7 billion). The net result is that, India have
not drawn on the foreign exchange reserves and, in fact, there is a
marginal accretion of $0.4 billion to the reserves.
RBI panel for tough measures on gold:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its bid to curb investments in
gold bars and jewellery, has come out with a draft report suggesting
revision in gold loan rules and introduction of new gold-backed
products, which would bring down Indias gold import bills. The
working group constituted for studying gold and goal loans by
Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), under the
chairmanship of KUB Rao, Advisor, Department of Economics
and Policy Research has recommended that banks and NBFCs put
the pledged gold to productive use and has also recommended tough
guidelines for gold loan companies. Some key recommendations include
having banks design innovative financial instruments to provide real
returns to investors; conversion of both rural and urban demand for
gold into investment in gold-backed financial instruments through
dematerialisation of gold, and introduction of tax incentives on
instruments that could impound idle gold.
To prevent the mushrooming of gold loan firms, the panel has
recommended that activities of gold loan NBFCs be monitored
continuously and the interconnectedness of gold loan NBFCs with the
formal financial system be reduced gradually. It has also suggested
measures to review the current guidelines pertaining to gold loan
NBFCs raising resources through NCDs. It has also mooted the idea of
thoroughly reviewing operational practices followed by gold loans
NBFCs. The Working Group was assigned with the task of studying
whether large gold imports of India are a threat to external stability. It
was asked, among other things, to study the recent trends in gold loans
extended by large gold loan NBFCs and see whether there are any
systemic stability issues. The report, however, has outlined that there
was no systemic implications in the financial system because of gold
loan NBFCs. Also the report outlines that there is no risk to gold loan
companies because of various factors such as volatility in prices of the
gold, sources of funds, capital adequacy and asset quality.
- 68 -
14TH FINANCE COMMISSION

The government announced the constitution of the 14th Finance
Commission under the chairmanship of former RBI Governor Y. V.
Reddy. The five-member panel is to submit its report by October 31,
2014. Apart from its recommendations on the sharing of tax proceeds
between the Centre and the States which will apply for a five-year
period beginning April 1, 2015, the Commission has been asked to
suggest steps for pricing of public utilities such as electricity and water
in an independent manner and also look into issues like disinvestment,
GST compensation, sale of non-priority PSUs and subsidies.
Finance Minister Chidambaram

said that, among other things, the
Commission would look into the
need for insulating the pricing of
public
utility
services
like
drinking water, irrigation, power
and public transport from policy
fluctuations through statutory
provisions. Apart from Dr. Reddy
in the chair, other members of the
Commission are former Finance
Secretary Sushma Nath, NIPFP
Director
M.
Govinda
Rao,
Planning Commission Member
Abhijit Sen and Former Acting
- 69 -
Chairman of National Statistical Commission Sudipto Mundle.

The Commission, the Finance Minister said, would review the
state of finances, deficit and debt levels of the Centre and States,
keeping in view, in particular, the fiscal consolidation roadmap
recommended by the 13th Finance Commission.
Besides, the 14 Finance Commission would suggest measures for
maintaining a stable and sustainable fiscal environment consistent
with equitable growth.
About Finance Commission:The Finance Commission of India came into existence in 1951.
It was established under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution by
the President of India. It was formed to define the financial relations
between the centre and the state. The Finance Commission Act of 1951
states the terms of qualification, appointment and disqualification, the
term, eligibility and powers of the Finance Commission. As per the
Constitution, the commission is appointed every five years and consists
of a chairman and four other members. Since the institution of the first
finance commission, stark changes have occurred in the Indian
economy causing changes in the macroeconomic scenario. This has led
to major changes in the Finance Commissions recommendations over
the years.
Article 280 of the Indian Constitution states that:
The President will constitute a Finance Commission within two
years from the commencement of the Constitution and thereafter
and at the end of every fifth year or earlier, as the deemed
necessary by him/her, which shall include a Chairman and four
other members.
Parliament may by law determine the requisite qualifications for
appointment as members of the Commission and the procedure of
selection.
The Commission is constituted to make recommendations to the
President about the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes
between the Union and States and also the allocation of the same
amongst the States themselves. It is also under the ambit of the
Finance Commission to define the financial relations between the
Union and the States. They also deal with devolution of non-plan
revenue resources.
Functions of the Finance Commission can be explicitly stated as:
Distribution of net proceeds of taxes between Centre and the
States, to be divided as per their respective contributions to the
taxes.
- 70 -
Determine factors governing Grants-in Aid to the states and the

magnitude of the same.
Work with the State Finance Commissions and suggest measures
to augment the Consolidated Fund of the States so as to provide
additional resources to Panchayats and Municipalities in the
state.
Qualifications of the members
The Chairman of the Finance Commission is selected among
people who have had the experience of public affairs. The other four
other members are selected from people who:
Are, or have been, or are qualified, as judges of High Court, or
Have knowledge of Government finances or accounts, or
Have had experience in administration and financial expertise; or
Have special knowledge of economics
#
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
FINANCE COMMISSIONS SO FAR

Year
Chairman
Duration
1951 K C Neogy
1952-1957
1956 K Santhanam
1957-1962
1960 A K Chanda
1962-1966
1964 P V Rajamannarr
1966-1969
1968 Mahaveer Tyagi
1969-1974
1972 K Brahmananda Reddy 1974-1979
1977 J M Shellet
1979-1984
1983 Y B Chavan
1984-1989
1987 N K P Salve
1989-1996
1992 K C Pant
1995-2000
1998 A M Khusro
2000-2005
2003 C Rangarajan
2005-2010
2007 Vijay Kelkar
2010-2015
2012 Y Venugopal Reddy
2015-2020
- 71 -
NEW NORMS FOR INDEPENDENT PSU DIRECTORS

The government has come up with a set of guidelines for
independent directors on boards of public sector units, defining their
roles and responsibilities aimed at improving corporate governance in
state-owned companies. Earlier, the department of public enterprises
(DPE) had not defined these norms for non-official directors appointed
on boards of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs).
This is the first time that role and responsibilities of independent
directors for CPSEs have been defined. This is an improvement in
respect to corporate governance and to advise independent directors to
play their role more effectively.
Under the norms, non-official directors should have a candid view
of the faults or shortcomings of company's plans and accordingly
suggest measures for improvement, he added. However, these
guidelines would be reviewed in light of experiences gained and
brought in line with the relevant provisions once the companies law
comes into effect.
The norms state that independent directors should satisfy
themselves on the integrity of financial information and financial
controls, besides ensuring that the risk management systems of the
company are robust and defensible. DPE has asked other
ministries/departments to inform CPSEs, under their administrative
control, about the norms.
Under these guidelines, independent directors are expected to
arbitrate in the interest of the company as a whole, in situations of
conflict between management and shareholder's interest. The DPE had
given the task of defining role and responsibilities of independent
directors to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India after
obtaining comments from relevant stakeholders. The fulfilment of the
responsibilities in an efficient manner by an independent director
would lead to good corporate governance in a PSU which will further
help in protecting stakeholders' confidence. Defining the duties of
NoDs, the norms state they should not use confidential information
acquired as NoDs for their personal advantage or for any other entity.
They also mentioned that independent directors should report
concerns about unethical behaviours, actual or suspected fraud or
violation of the company's code of ethics policy. Besides, NoDs should
not disclose confidential information including commercial secrets,
unpublished price sensitive information unless such disclosure is
expressly approved by the board or required by law.
- 72 -
SBIS PRE-PAID MOBILE WALLET

State Bank of India (SBI) has launched State Bank MobiCash
Easy, a mobile wallet which offers facilities such as fund transfer, bill
payment, balance inquiry, mini statement, mobile top-ups and DTH
recharge to name a few. It is a pre-paid account accessible over mobile
phones, enabling consumers to send remittances to any bank account,
transfer funds to other wallets issued by SBI. At present, money
withdrawal is not allowed, and the customer is not required to fulfil the
KYC (know your customer) norm.
The service, initially launched in Mumbai and Delhi, is available
over Wallet Application and plain text SMS. SBI has tied up with a
private service provider Oxigen for round-the-clock money transfer and
other services. Targeted at migrant labourers who send money back
home from SBI branches, the youth and those seeking to pay bills,
SBIs mobile wallet is easy to use and SBIs customers and noncustomers can use this facility.
The user needs to top up the wallet by depositing cash at any
Oxigen retail outlet and this facility is completely risk-free. To start
with Oxygen CSPs and retail outlets will be the cash in points and the
location of this point can be obtained by sending an SMS
<Find*Pincode> to 9870888888. The registration process is simple, and
can be done over mobile phone.
State Bank MobiCash Easy will contribute significantly in
increasing mobile payments which are at present in a nascent stage.
This service will also address the requirement of financial inclusion as
it enables us to extend financial services to un-banked masses through
the ubiquitous mobile phones. SBI customers have an additional option
of topping up the wallet using SBIs mobile banking service.
Till March, the charge of topping up is waived and for
remittances the customer need to pay a minimum of Rs.5 to a
maximum of Rs.20. Up to Rs.5,000 remittance is allowed at a time. But
customers with KYC have higher limits.
- 73 -
- 74 -

January 2013 Current Affairs - Part I

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JAN 2013 CURRENT AFFAIRS

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