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Page 1

NATIONAL EVENTS
Complexities in UP Lokayukta appointment
In a dramatic twist 24 hours before Justice (retired) Virendra Singh is scheduled to swear in for an
eight-year term as the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta, the controversy over his candidature refused to die
down.
The petition, filed by Lucknow resident and journalist Sachchidanand Gupta through advocate
Kamini Jaiswal, alleged that the Akhilesh Yadav government placed incorrect facts to compel the
Supreme Court on December 16 to exercise its rare, extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the
Constitution to appoint Justice Singh, considered close to Samajvadi Party leader Mulayam Singh
Yadavs family, as the anti-corruption ombudsman.
The name of Justice (retd.) Virendra Singh was objected to by the Chief Justice of the Allahabad
High Court after which his name was dropped, and the Chief Minister had assured him that the name
would not be pursued further.
UP latest state to join scheme for power discoms
The Centres UDAY scheme for reforming debt-laden state electricity distribution companies or
discoms is gaining traction, with Uttar Pradesh becoming the twelfth State to become part of the
scheme.
The State cabinet approved bringing the virtually bankrupt state-electricity utility, burdened with
outstanding arrears of about Rs 32,000 crore, under the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (Uday).
With the State coming on board, nearly 40% of the total debt stress of State distribution companies
or discoms is now part of the restructuring program that aims to reduce their interest burden and
aggregate technical and commercial or AT&C losses, while lowering the cost of power.
As part of the scheme, States are required to take over 75 per cent of discoms debt as on 30th
September, 2015, and shift it to their own balance sheet in two years without triggering their fiscal
deficit thresholds.
States are also required to bring their AT&C losses down to 15% from the present level by 2018-19.
Government wants 90% transactions to be paperless
The Prime Ministers office has set an ambitious target to shift at least 90% of all government transactions that involve payments or receipts from citizens and businesses to electronic or paperless
mode by the end of 2016, replacing the use of cash, demand drafts, cheques and challans in
government offices.
To move towards that goal, all government departments and ministries have been asked to provide
electronic options for all payments and receipts by March 31, 2016.
Government has set December 2016 deadline for moving at least 90% of all government payments
and receipts online.
The Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and mobile number (JAM) trinity for pushing financial inclusion is a
priority, so departments need to adopt modes of electronic payments & receipts for internal and
external transactions.
The government is working on transferring benefits to the poor directly to their bank accounts under
a few social sector schemes like MGNREGA using Aadhar- enabled payments or direct credits into

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their bank accounts, but cash and cheque transactions dominate most of its payouts and receipts from
citizens, businessmen as well as other government departments.
As many as 46 departments have already been integrated with a generic portal for e- payments that
DEITY is launching.
SC Upheld the release of juvenile
Putting the onus on lawmakers, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by the Delhi
Commission for Women (DCW) against the release of the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya gangrape case.
Court said We cannot interpret the law [the Juvenile Justice Act] to curtail his [the juvenile
convicts] freedom without legislative sanction. We share your concern, but we cannot go beyond
the statute.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police, acting on the fact that the convicts release was not stayed by the
Supreme Court, released him to an NGO on December 20.
He is now being kept at an undisclosed location, reportedly near his village in U.P.
Gita to be made available in Rajasthan schools
After introducing major changes in the syllabus of primary and secondary schools in Rajasthan, the
Bhagawad Gita would now be made available in the libraries of Government Higher Secondary
schools.
Speaking at a function in Ajmer on Gita Jayanti annual celebration marking the birth of the
Bhagawad Gita education minister said the Gita was the foundation of human life.
Emphasising that every individual must read the Gita, he said copies of the Gita would be made
available in the 13,500 government higher secondary schools.
Rajya Sabha clears Juvenile Justice Bill
The Rajya Sabha cleared the Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill, 2015, lowering the age of a legally
defined juvenile from 18 to 16 in the case of heinous crimes.
With the Rajya Sabha passing the new Juvenile Justice (Care andProtection of Children)Bill, 2015, a
look at juvenile justice laws enacted by Parliament in the past 55 years shows that lawmakers have
always leaned in favour of reformation and social re-integration of child offenders rather than
populatingIndian jails with them
It may not be able to do anything about the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya case but can deter many
other boys from doing so.
No juvenile would be sent to jail directly. If juveniles are sentenced to jail, they will be sent to a
borstal until they are 21 years old, after which there will be a review
The Bill is founded on the recognition of the rights of the victims,which, it says, is equally important
as the rights of juveniles.
Starting with the Children Act of 1960, Parliament had always entirely focussed on the using justice
and corrective machinery to reform and rehabilitate juvenile offenders rather than reducing it to a
crime and punishment mechanism. The 1960 Act provides for the care, protection,maintenance,
welfare,training, education and re-habilitation of neglected or delinquent children.

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Plane crash kills 10 BSF personnel
A chartered aircraft of the Border Security Force crashed near the Delhi airport on Tuesday morning,
minutes after the take-of, killing all 10 BSF personnel on board.
Those dead included pilots, technicians and engineers, who were being flown to Ranchi for the repair
and servicing of a Mi-17 V5 chopper stationed there.
The ill-fated aircraft was a part the BSFs fleet of fixed wing aircraft that also includes Embraer and
Avro airplanes, which are stationed at BSFs Air Wing hangar at IGI Airport.
The accident is being probed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of the Civil Aviation
Ministry.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has also ordered a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the incident.
PWDVA Act needs effective implementation
Effective implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA, 2005)
has been a matter of concern for womens organisations in India as they claim to observe glaring
gaps in the implementation of PWDVA.
Some of the highlighted problems included lack of awareness about PWDVA among the general
public, an insufficient number of protection officers and service providers, absence of coordination,
monitoring and evaluation of the Act, a meagre budget allocation, failure on the part of the judiciary
and police and paucity of basic services and infrastructure. These loopholes were prominently
reflected in the State-wise implementation of the Act.
Each State has a different budget allocated to PWDVA. While on one hand Karnataka has been
allocated Rs. 800 lakh in 2015-16, on the other hand Delhi had been allocated Rs. 45 lakh for the
implementation of this Act in 201314. According to the Economic Survey of Ministry of Finance
2014, the enactment of PWDVA remains weak as 19 States have no planned schemes
Cases pertaining to domestic violence are often registered under general FIR, and not specifically
under the Act. Also, a large number of unrecorded cases are also there. And most importantly there is
an inadequacy in terms of Protection Oicers and Service Providers appointed
Telcos not to be fined for call drops till Jan. 6
With its recent notification providing for imposition of fine on dropped calls coming under legal
scrutiny, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) gave an undertaking to the Delhi High
Court that it would not take coercive steps against telecom companies till January 6 for their
failure to comply with the new regulations.
Telecom operators have sought quashing of the TRAI notification, asking the service providers to
pay to subscribers Re.1 per call drop experienced on their network, subject to a ceiling of three calls
a day from the New Years Day.
The petitioners in the case include COAI, Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India
(AUSPI) and 21 telecom operators, including Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Reliance.
Madras court created history conducted proceedings with Skype
The Madras High Court Bench created history, once again conducted the court proceedings over
Skype from Chennai for the first time in a case related to 89 inmates of an unauthorised private
childrens Home for girls run by Mose Ministries in Tiruchi.

Page 4

The urgent hearing by the Division Bench was necessitated following a request made by the SGP
who informed the court that all 89 inmates of the Home, overtaken by a committee led by Tiruchi
Collector on court orders.
They staged a road blockade against the judges refusal to permit them to attend Christmas service in
the church usually visited by them.
Court said that it is the duty of Pastor to ensure that the inmates of the Childrens Home respect the
rule of law.
He must also inform the inmates that any group of people who stage road rokos and demonstrations
at public places without prior permission would normally get arrested and prosecuted.
Crop insurance and AgriMarket mobile App for farmers
In a bid to let farmers harvest the best of mobile technology, the Agriculture Ministry on Wednesday
launched two mobile apps for farmers.
the mobile apps Crop Insurance would help the farmers not only to find out complete details
about insurance cover available in their area but also to calculate the insurance premium for notified
crops, coverage amount and loan amount in case of a loaned farmer.
The other app AgriMarket could be used by the farmers to get the prices of crops in the market
(mandi) within 50 km radius of the device and other mandis in the country.
Thermal power plants have to cut particulate matter emissions
Beginning 2017, thermal power plants across India will have to cut particulate matter emissions by
as much as 40 per cent and reduce their water consumption by nearly a third,according to rules
notified by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and ClimateChange
Indias thermal power plants,which are significantly dependent on coal, and have been described as
among the most serious sources of pollution.
The nations of the world concluded in Paris, that all countries including large, developing
economies such as India and China have to move away from their complete reliance on fossil fuels.
Coal, however, would remain the mainstay of Indias growth engine. The government recently
planned to scale down its dependence on coal from the current 61 per cent to 57 per cent by 2030
The norms, which have been notified by the Environment Ministry, rule that coal plants should
restrict particulate matter emissions to no more than 30mg/cubic metre, sulphur and nitrous oxides to
100 mg and mercury to 0.03 mg respectively
Delhi government released plan for odd-even formula
Revealing the blue- print of the odd-even formula, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal put the onus on
Delhiites to make the plan a success.
Cars of many dignitaries, two-wheelers, CNG-run vehicles, emergency vehicles, cars driven by
women drivers (with no men passengers and with only children below 12 years of age) and those
driven, or occupied, by differently abled persons are exempt from the rule, which is set to roll out on
January 1, 2016.

Page 5

As per the formula, vehicles with registration number ending with an odd number will be allowed on
odd-number days and those with even numbers will be allowed on even- number ones.
Violation of the rule will invite a penalty of Rs. 2,000, which will be enforced by personnel of the
Delhi Police and the Transport Department with help from 10,000 NCC and NSS volunteers, who
would dissuade motorists from breaking the rule.
The plan would remain in force from January 1 to 15, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., except on Sundays.
Police report on Dadri lynching
The charge sheet in the Dadri lynching case has ruled out criminal con- spiracy in the murder of
Mohammad Akhlaq.
The accused were booked under Section 323, 304, 506, 307, 427 and 458 of the Indian Penal Code
and also under Section 302 (murder).
The National Commission for Minorities in its report to the Union Home Ministry in October clearly
stated that the attack on Akhlaqs house and his subsequent killing over beef were pre-meditated.
Jury for Parsi community in Telangana
With Telangana setting up a 15-member Zoroastrian jury to aid the settlement of marriage and
divorce, the Parsis in the State can decide on such matters within the community.
Telangana becomes the second State after Maharashtra to set up the Zoroastrian jury.
Of the 15 members now selected from within the community just five, acceptable to both the parties,
will chair the jury.
Also, the husband and wife who want a divorce will get to recommend two jury members each to
suit their comfort. The fifth member of the jury will remain neutral in the matter.
The Parsi community in the twin cities is small with just 1200-1400 members.While an average of
six marriages happen each year in the community, at least one divorce takes place within a span of a
year-and-a- half.
Very soon Kudankulam Unit II will be commissioned
Following the signing of 16 significant agreements between India and Russia, including on nuclear
cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Unit II of the Kudankulam atomic plant in Tamil
Nadu, being built by Russia, will be commissioned within weeks and negotiations are at an advanced
staged for Unit III and IV.
Affirming that their cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is a corner- stone of the
RussiaIndia strategic partnership, the two leaders appreciated the progress made in the
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project and agreed to expedite the implementation of ongoing and
upcoming projects there.
The two sides expressed commitment to realizing the target of $ 30 billion in 10 years set at the last
Annual Summit, up from $ 10 billion.
In a surprise visit PM meets Nawaz Sharif in Lahore
With two unannounced stops, in Kabul and Lahore on Christmas day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rewrote the recent history of geopolitics in the region.

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While his travel to Kabul on the way back from Moscow was widely anticipated, his stopover in
Pakistan, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 11 years, caught everyone, including senior
officials, by surprise.
It is learnt that officials were taken by surprise by Mr. Modis decision, including Indias High
Commissioner to Pakistan T.C.A. Raghavan.
At the beginning of their talks, the Foreign Secretaries briefed the leaders on the talks between the
NSAs in Bangkok, which gave a full view of the discourse on terror, as they agreed that the Foreign
Secretaries should meet at the earliest.
Tamil Nadu Parties wants to keep jallikattu running
With the Assembly polls just months away, parties are seeing the revival of jallikattu as an
opportunity to tap into a vote bank as the sport is imbibed in the culture of the farming community,
especially the intermediate castes in southern districts.
While the DMK first announced a fasting at Alanganallur (since deferred) to seek the lifting of ban
on jallikattu, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa sent her party MPs to meet Union Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar on the issue and later sought the Prime Ministers intervention.
The popular notion is that the sport enjoys a huge support among the Thevars, a community with
over 20 per cent of vote share in many constituencies in southern districts.
For hundreds of bull rearers, the event is their last hope to protect the native breeds, and for
thousands of youths who enthusiastically participate, the sport is an opportunity to test and exhibit
their valour.
President says Vedic text gave message for world peace
Vedas are sources of Indian heritage and culture and UNESCO has recognised Vedas as oral
heritage.
Vedic seers had codified 14 vidyas into 4 Vedas, 6 vedangas, puranas, nanya, mimamsa and
Dharmashastra.
These Vedic texts enshrine the message of world peace, prosperity and sustainable development.
Veda Patasalas acquire great importance in dissemi- nation of Vedic education, knowledge and
culture.

Page 7

INTERNATIONAL
Agreement in UN Security Council regarding Syria
For the first time since the nearly five-year-old Syrian civil war began, world powers agreed on at the
United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to embrace a plan for a ceasefire and a peace process that
holds the distant prospect of ending the conflict.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council reflected a months-long effort by
American and Russian officials, who have long been at odds over the future of Syria, to find common national interests to stop the killing, even if they cannot yet agree on Syrias ultimate future.
The resolution makes no mention of whether Syrias President, Bashar Al-Assad, would be able to
run in new elections, which it says must be held within 18 months of the beginning of political talks.
That process will begin sometime in January at the earliest, Mr. Kerry and his Russian counterpart,
Sergey V. Lavrov, conceded.
The remaining gap between the Russian and American sides became obvious at the very end of a
news conference that involved Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov.
Mr. Kerry noted that 80 per cent of Russian air strikes were hitting opposition groups fighting Mr.
Assad, not the forces of the Islamic State extremist group.
Mr. Lavrov shot back that for two-and-a-half months, Russia had asked the U.S. to coordinate
military operations.
China raises concern over US bombers in South China Sea
Two U.S. B-52 bombers flew close to islands in the flashpoint South China Sea this month in a
serious military provocation.
China insists it has sovereignty over virtually all of the resource-rich sea, conflicting with the various
claims of several neighbouring nations, and U.S. activity in the area has provoked Beijings ire
several times in recent months.
During the mission by the two B-52 bombers, one of the aircraft unintentionally flew within two
nautical miles of an artificially constructed is- land.
The United States has previously argued for its right to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea
and is critical of China building artificial islands there.
Fractured mandate in Spain
The conservative governing party won the most votes on Sunday, but lost its majority in
parliamentary elections that underlined the fragmentation of Spanish politics and left the countrys
future leadership unclear.
The elections are likely to force Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party to start
complicated negotiations in order to remain in office, at the helm of either a minority or coalition
government.
The vote even leaves the door open for a major post-election turnaround like that in neighbouring
Portugal, where the premiership changed hands within weeks after national elections in October.
Rajoys Popular Party won 123 of the 350 parliamentary seats, down from 186 seats in the last
elections, in 2011, according to the results with nearly all of the votes counted.
The Socialists won 90 seats, compared with 110 four years ago, when they were ousted from office
after an economic crisis hit Spain.

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The emerging parties Podemos and Citizens will enter Parliament for the first time after winning 69
and 40 seats.
American president not in favour of Donald Trump proposal
President Barack Obama said in a radio interview airing on Monday that Donald Trump is exploiting
the resentment and anxieties of working-class men to boost his campaign.
Mr. Obama also argued that some of the scorn directed at him personally stems from the fact that he
is the first African-American to hold the White House.
The comments were Mr. Obamas most pointed response to Mr. Trump since the Republican
candidate suggested that Muslims be barred from entering the United States after the mass shooting
in San Bernardino, California.
He dismissed the notion that the militant group is an existential threat to the Unit- ed States even as
he conceded that he had received legitimate criticism for failing to adequately explain his strategy
for confronting it.
Zhengzhou emerges a major hub along the New Silk Road
A winning combination of rail connectivity and e-commerce is making Zhengzhou the hub of brisk
trans-border trade between China and Europe.
Zhengzhou and Hamburg are emerging as the major centres of the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB),
a transEurasia connectivity project. The China-led initiative will connect Asia with Europe along a
land corridor interlinked by rail, roads, industrial parks and smart cities.
At the heart of the network is the Zhengzhou Hub Development and Construction Company (ZIH)
a state-owned enterprise that steers transcontinental transportation of goods by rail, road, sea and air.
Zhengzhous advantageous location has also made it a natural gateway further to the East
Two joint military aircraft projects might be revived after Modis visit to
Russia
Prime Minister Narendra Modis Russia visit has heightened anticipation about two joint military
aircraft projects from the last decade coming unstuck.
The FGFA (fifth generation fighter aircraft) and the MTA (multi-role transport aircraft) were
conceived for co-development in mid-2000 in government-to-government (G2G) deals and have
moved at nano pace.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), the Bengaluru-based company under the Ministry of Defence, is
the design and manufacturing partner for both the aircraft.
The equally shared $ 600-million MTA or Il-214 plan was initiated in 2007 and a joint company was
set up. It was to design, manufacture in both countries and deliver transport planes to the defence
forces of the two countries. About 45 of them to replace the IAFs aged AN-32 fleet.

Page 9

PMs Russian visit will look after various national and Global issues
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow on his first bilateral visit to Russia during which
both countries are set to seal a raft of deals in key sectors such as defence, nuclear energy and
hydrocarbons to boost their robust and close partnership.
Stepping up economic engagement and further expanding ties in strategic areas are likely to be the
centrepiece of the 16th India-Russia annual summit talks between Modi and Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders are set to deliberate on various global issues such as the situation in Syria and
tackling the threat of terrorism as well.
Russia has been Indias biggest supplier of arms though New Delhi has started buying more military
hardware from the U.S. in the last few years.
Last week, Indias Defence Ministrys top acquisition council had cleared the purchase of Russian S400 Triumf air defence missile systems at an estimated cost of Rs. 40,000 crore and there may be an
announcement of the deal besides a few others.
In the nuclear energy sector, India is expected to offer a site in Andhra Pradesh to set up units five
and six of Kudankulam nuclear power plant.
The new plants will be in sync with broad principles of Make in India initiative and a decision in
this regard is likely to be finalised.
Russian raids in Syria may include war crimes
Amnesty International said Russian air raids have killed hundreds of civilians in Syria, many in
targeted strikes that could constitute war crimes, since beginning nearly three months ago.
Some attacks appear to have directly attacked civilians or civilian objects by striking residential areas
with no evident military target and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to
civilians, said Amnesty.
Such attacks may amount to war crimes, Amnesty also said that it is crucial that suspected violations
are independently and impartially investigated.
Syria is ready to take part in talks about future in Geneva
Syria is ready to take part in peace talks in Geneva and hopes that the dialogue will help it form a
national unity government, Syrian Foreign Minister said during a visit to Beijing.
The U.N. Security Council last Friday unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international
road map for a Syrian peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has
claimed more than a quarter of a million lives.
The U.N. plans to convene peace talks in Geneva towards the end of January.

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Pope wants united front against terror
The Francis urged the world in his Christmas message to unite to end atrocities by Islamist militants
that he said were causing immense suffering in many countries.
Security was tight at the Vatican as Pope Francis, marking the third Christmas since his election in
2013, read his traditional Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) address from the
central balcony of St. Peters Basilica.
Tens of thousands of people had to have their bags checked as they entered the Vatican area and then
go through airport-style screen- ing if they wanted to enter St. Peter's Square.
After calling for an end to the civil wars in Syria and Libya, the Pope said: May the attention of the
international community be unanimously directed to ending the atrocities which in those countries,
as well as in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and subSaharan Africa
Asian Infrastructure Investment bank is formally established
The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), viewed by some as a rival to the
World Bank and Asian Development Bank, was formally established on Friday, according to a
statement issued by Beijing.
It will be operational once its board of directors and executive council have met for the first time at
an opening ceremony scheduled for January 16-18, the ministry of finance said in a statement on its
official website.
Beijing will be by far the largest AIIB shareholder at about 30 percent, according to the legal
framework signed by 50 founding member countries in late June.
With authorised capital of $100 billion, it expects to ofer its first batch of project loans by mid-2016,
according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Page 11
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INDIA AND THE WORLD

IIT-K alumni will get Science honor in USA
U.S. President Barack Obama will present the National Medal of Science to Rakesh K. Jain, an
Indian American professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the tumour biology laboratory
at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Prof. Jain, who holds a B.Tech. degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of
Technology Kanpur.
Prof. Jain is regarded as a pioneer in the area of tumour micro-environment and widely recognized
for his seminal discoveries in tumour biology, drug delivery, in vivo imaging and bioengineering.
His work includes uncovering the barriers to the delivery and efficacy of molecular and nanomedicines in tumours, developing new strategies to overcome these barriers; and then translating
these strategies from bench to bedside.
India and Russia deepens strategic ties
In a major boost to strategic ties, India and Russia on Thursday decided to expand cooperation across
various sectors as they signed 16 pacts, including deals on joint manufacture of 226 military
helicopters and construction of 12 atomic plants with involvement of local companies in India.
Mr. Putin conveyed Russias strong support to Indias bid for permanent membership of the UN
Security Council.
The 16 agreements included one to manufacture the Kamov 226 helicopter in India, which, is the
first project for a major defence platform under the flagship Make-in-India programme.
Progress has also been made on building 12 Russian reactors at two sites in India.
Indian government supports changes in Nepalese constitution
In the first sign of a breakthrough in understanding between India and Nepal, the government
welcomed steps by the Nepali Cabinet to amend the new Constitution.
However, the amendment proposals are yet to be welcomed by protesting Madhesi groups, with the
main UMDF calling them a disappointment, raising questions whether the move would lead to
the end of the three-month- old blockade at the India-Ne- pal border that has caused a humanitarian
crisis.
Terming Indias welcome of the solution package as a neg- ative development, Mr Maha- to told The
Hindu that India should have consulted the Madhesi leaders before issu- ing the statement praising
the statement.
India- Russia relations
A slew of defence acquisitions worth an estimated $10 billion and nuclear and space cooperation
agreements to be signed during the annual summit with President Putin.
The larger goal will be to tilt the impression that the relation has been strained in a year when India
grew closer to the United States and Russia made overtures to Pakistan for the first time.

Page 12

PM Modi will discuss several big ticket defence deals which would allow Russia to reclaim its
position as the top military supplier to India, a spot that the U.S. has held for a few years
The big announcement during Mr. Modis visit would be the purchase of five S-400 Triumf air
defence systems by India, expected to cost about USD 5-6 billion. India is also likely to announce
the purchase of four additional improved Talwar class stealth frigates from Russia
Tata is also in an advanced stage of talks with Sukhoi to set up a Joint Venture to manufacture
spares for Sukhoi fighters in India
India and Russia will sign a major deal to fast track two more nuclear energy reactors for the fifth
and sixth phases of Kudankulam energy complex in Tamil Nadu while India could ofer new sites in
neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as well.
Indian-origin doctor is Ohios first Poet Laureate
A 36-year-old Indian-American doctor has been named the first Poet Laureate by the U.S. State of
Ohio for showcasing a variety of styles in his poetry.
Amit Majmudar, a diagnostic nuclear radiologist, was named to the two-year honorary position by
governor John Kasich who created the honour.
PM talks tough on terrorism in Pakistan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Friday that Afghanis- tan would succeed only when
terrorism no longer flowed across the border and when nurseries and sanctuaries of terrorism were
shut.
Declaring that India was in Afghanistan to contribute and not to compete and to lay the foundations
of the future and not light the flame of conflict.
He was addressing the Afghan Parliament after inaugurating its building built by India at a cost of
$90 million in the presence of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
PM also said efforts were under way to improve Afghanistans connectivity by land and sea,
including through Chahbahar in Iran.
Logistic Support agreement between India and U.S. Closer
Three major military pacts which could elevate Indo-U.S. relations to a new strategic level are being
pursued afresh under the Narendra Modi regime after being shelved under the UPA government due
to political compulsions.
Of these, both sides are one step short of reaching an understanding on the Logistic Support
Agreement (LSA), which gives U.S. forces access to Indian bases for logistics support and vice
versa.
The three foundational agreements guide U.S. high technology sales to other countries.
In addition to the LSA, these include Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of
Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation
(BECA).
On the other two agreements the CISMOA and BECA, however, India has deeper concerns as it
involves giving the U.S. access to Indias encrypted systems. Indian armed forces have expressed
reservations in this regard.

Page 13

ECONOMY
WTO meet a failure for developing countries
India expressed its thorough disappointment over non-reaffirmation to conclude 14-year-old Doha
Round pacts, even as the five-day WTO meeting managed to win a commitment to allow developing
nations to use special safeguards to protect farmers against import surges.
After hectic negotiations for five consecutive days exceeding the scheduled closing by almost 24
hours the WTO Trade Ministers concluded their talks without any commitment on rich countries
being asked to check their domestic subsidies.
Besides, rich nations refused to budge on their long- standing position of putting the onus on
developing countries with regard to duties.
India is disappointed that notwithstanding a large group India, China, G33, African Union all
insisting that Doha has to be re-affirmed, the reaffirmation has been divided.
The five-page declaration at the Nairobi meeting, which also marked the 20th anniversary since the
establishment of the WTO, underlined the crucial importance of the multilateral rules-based trading
system and reaffirmed the principles and objectives set out in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing
the WTO.
India joins select club to build LNG ships
Cochin Shipyard has received certification to build LNG-transporting ships for any client worldwide, making it the first shipyard in In- dia to get the nod, joining the league of South Korea, Japan
and China.
The French company providing the certification, Gaz- transport et Technigaz (GTT), is a leader in
design engineering and provides membrane-type containment systems for the transportation and
storage of LNG, according to a statement from the Ministry of Shipping.
The most critical part of an LNG ship is its cryogenic containment and handling system as the LNG
is carried at a temperature of -163 degrees.
This requires fool- proof cryogenic containment and safe handling and transfer systems. Cochin
Shipyard is now authorised to use the membrane type technologies of GTT for any liquid gas
carriers, more particularly the LNG carriers.
Crude oil breaks ten year record
Brent crude prices fell to their lowest in more than 11 years, hounded by a relentless rise in global
supply that looks set to outpace demand again next year.
Oil production is running close to record highs and, with fresh barrels poised to enter the market
from the likes of Iran, the U.S. and Libya, the price of crude is set for its largest monthly percentage
decline in seven years.
While consumers have enjoyed lower fuel prices, producers have hacked back spending and cut
thousands of jobs, while exporting nations have suffered tumbling revenue.
Brent futures fell by about two per cent to as low as $36.05 a barrel on Monday, their weakest since
July 2004, and were down 45 cents at $36.43.

Page 14

Insolvency and Bankruptcy bill tabled in lower house
The Centre on Mon- day tabled the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, 2015 in the Lok Sabha. The
Bill, if passed, should enhance the ease of doing business in the country.
A recent survey report by global consultancy Alvarez and Marsal found that the average duration for
insolvency resolution in India is 4.3 years, which is significantly higher than the prevailing norm of
2.6 years in South Asia and 1.7 years in the OECD high-income countries.
The World Banks Ease of Doing Business Report also confirms the long duration of insolvency
resolution in India.
The Bill proposes adhere to strict deadlines to decide whether to liquidate a sick company or not,
wherein the decision to liquidate a company will have to be reached within 180 days.
The Bill proposes the setting up of an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to regulate
insolvency professionals and agencies.
It also proposes the setting up of a fund dubbed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Fund of India.
As of now, there is no single law that deals with insolvency and bankruptcy in India.
National security clearance policy
As part of its ease of-doing business policy, the Union government has lifted restrictions and given
security clearance for 1,671 projects, almost double the number (815) in 2014.
The U.S. has received the green signal for the highest number of 18 projects, followed by Hong
Kong (11), France (nine), China (eight), Germany (six), the U.K (four) and Japan (three).
Bangladesh has been given clearance for two projects.
National security clearance policy has 15 parameters on which inputs from security agencies are
sought. Once it has got an application from an investor, the Ministry decides on the status of security
clearance within four to six weeks, against 16 weeks earlier.
The objective of national security clearance policy is to evaluate potential threats, visible or
embedded in proposals received by the Ministry and to provide a national risk assessment from the
point of view of threats relating to economic security, protection of critical infrastructure, nations
unity and territorial integrity. The aim is to ensure an objective balance between the requirements of
national security and the imperatives of rapid economic growth
WTO talks Indias interests
The Nairobi Package, contains Ministerial Decisions on public stockholding for food security
purposes, a SpecialSafeguard Mechanism (SSM)for developing countries, a commitment to abolish
ex-port subsidies for farm ex-ports particularly from the developed countries. SSM is a tool that will
allow develop-ing countries to temporarily hike duties to counter import surges and price falls of
farm items.
As the future of the ongoingDoha Round negotiations of the WTO appeared in doubt,India sought
and succeeded in obtaining a re-affirmative Ministerial Decision on Pub-lic Stockholding for Food
Security Purposes honouring both the Bali Ministerial andGeneral Council Decisions,
To ensure that the issue ofSSM remains on the agenda of future discussion in the WTO,India
negotiated a MinisterialDecision, which recognises that developing countries will have the right to
have re-course to an SSM as envisaged in the mandate
All countries agreed to the elimination of agricultural ex-port subsidies subject to the preservation of
Special and Differential Treatment(S&DT) for developing countries such as a longer phase-out
period for transportation and marketing export subsidies for exporting agricultural products.

Page 15

Developed countries have committed to removing ex-port subsidies immediately,except for a few
agricultural products, and developing countries will do so by 2018.
On the issue of the future of the 14-year-old Doha Round negotiations, India took the stand that the
DevelopmentAgenda of the Round (to boost the trade prospects of developing and poor nations)must
continue after the Nairobi Conference and no new issues must be introduced in-to the WTO agenda
until theDevelopment Agenda has been completed.
Though India's position had the support of many countries from the develop-ing and the poor world,
a few developed countries, including the U.S., opposed the continuation of the Doha Round.
Current account gap widens in Q2
The countrys current account deficit (CAD) widen-ed to 1.6 per cent of the GDP during the JulySeptember quarter from 1.2 per cent re-corded in the previous quarter, mainly due to sharp contraction in exports.
Balance of payments fell during the July-September quarter, which was $0.9 billion, as compared to
a surplus of $11.4 billion in the previous quarter, according to data re-leased by the Reserve Bank
ofIndia (RBI).
contraction(year-on-year) in CAD was primarily on account of lower trade deficit ($37.4 billion) as
compared with $39.7 billion inQ2 of last year though it was higher than the level in the preceding
quarter.
Data shows, net foreign direct investment moderated inQ2 of 2015-16, after a sharp pick up in Q1.
There has been net outflow of portfolio in-vestment to the tune of $6.5billion as against net inflow
of$9.8 billion in Q2 of last year;outflow was more evident in the equity segment
Non-resident Indian (NRI)deposits, increased by 4 percent, year-on-year, in Q2 of2015-16.
NBFCs sector-specific expertise drives sustained increase in market share
Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) have steadily eaten into retail banks share of credit in
the Indian market over the last decade especially in specific sectors such as home loans and
commercial vehicle loans
While NBFCs saw their share of overall credit grow from 10 per cent in 2004-05 to 13 per cent in
2014-15, the proportion of home loans and commercial vehicle loans in particular has grown by a
much larger margin.
In home loans, HFCs (housing finance companies) share has gone up from 26 per cent to 38 per
cent between FY09 and FY15. In the last 3 years, NBFCs share in CV (commercial vehicle)
financing has gone up from 42 per cent to 46 per cent
One of the major reasons behind this growth in market share is because NBFCs have a closer
connection with their customer, are more rooted to the ground and the market, which is different
asset by asset and across geographies. In fact, this close connection to individual markets and
customers and the deep knowledge NBFCs bring at the ground level is key to their survival,
Financial stability report points towards bad health of the Banks
The Reserve Bank of India expressed concern over high corporate leverage as bad loans from the
countrys top corporations increased sharply between March and September, 2015.

Page 16

A significant increase in the gross non-performing asset ratios of large borrowers among public
sector banks, from 6.1 per cent in March 2015 to 8.1 per cent in September 2015, has led to an
increase in the GNPA ratio of the banking system, according to the report.
As a result, standard assets among large borrowers declined from 86.2 per cent of total gross
advances as of March 2015 to 84.5 per cent as of September 2015.
Credit to top 100 large borrowers, in terms of funded amount outstanding, constituted 27.6 per cent
of the credit to all large borrowers and 17.8 per cent of the credit of all commercial banks.
The share of gross NPAs of these 100 borrowers in total gross NPAs of all commercial banks
increased sharply from 0.7 per cent in March 2015 to 3.1 per cent in September 2015.
Loans to the industrial sector account for a major share of their overall credit portfolio as well as
stressed loans, according to the report.
The gross non-performing advances of commercial banks, as percentage of gross advances, increased
to 5.1 per cent from 4.6 per cent between March and September 2015, the RBI data showed The
restructured standard advances as percentage of gross advances declined to 6.2 per cent from 6.4 per
cent while the stressed advances ratio increased to 11.3 per cent from 11.1 per cent during the same
period.
Against the popular belief more money spent on Rural development
Contrary to the general impression that social sectors are suffering under the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi-led NDA government, latest official data show a nearly 10 per cent increase in real
expenditure on agriculture and rural development in the first six months of this year over the
corresponding period last year.
No belt-tightening is visible in the health sector with expenditure rising. The increases are substantial
both in absolute terms as well as a percentage of GDP.
Actual plan spending by the Rural Development Ministry touched Rs 48,204 crore in April
September 2015, up from Rs 45,050 crore in the corresponding period last year. Spending by the
Ministry of Urban Development has surged to Rs 7,031 crore from Rs 5,532 crore.
The Health Ministrys planned spending is up to Rs 15,020 crore from Rs 14,250 crore. Spending on
education too is up by Rs 6,700 crore though its share in the overall GDP declined marginally.
The quality of spending has improved too with the shift in expenditure away from current to capital
investments.
Data for both Centre and States shows aggregate capital expenditure is up by 0.5 percentage point of
GDP. In real terms, this translates in to a 25 per cent jump. Of this, the Centre contributed 60 per
cent and the rest came from the States. There is a corresponding reduction of 0.3 percentage points in
revenue expenditures as a percent of GDP.

Page 17

Mines and Minerals Act amendment to come
The government plans to amend a law which is holding up mergers and acquisitions worth thousands
of crore in the distressed commodities and mining sector.
The deals are stuck in a no-go zone as the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) or
MMDR Act of 2015, which aims to ensure transparent auctions of minerals, doesnt allow transfer of
captive mines allotted to end-user plants in the past.
The plan to amend the MMDR Act comes on the back of opinion from the law ministry that there is
no alternative method to allow such acquisitions of captive mineral assets in the present law.
The transfer of mineral concessions shall be allowed only for concessions which are granted through
auctions according to the relevant sub-section of the MMDR Act of 2015.
Before this change, transfer of mining leases was allowed under the mineral concession rules of 1960
after getting an approval from the state government.
The clause has turned into a deal-breaker as a cement or steel plant with captive limestone or iron ore
mines loses its utility without the assured mineral resources.
The limestone mines in Lafarge have over 100 million tonnes of reserves. Birla Corp may buy the
plant, but would have to source limestone from elsewhere, much farther, while Lafarge will keep
holding the mining lease. No deals will get done in this situation.
Railway Minister wants exemption of railway employees from NPS
Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has urged Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to consider a longpending demand of Railways employees to exempt them from the National Pension Scheme just like
the defence forces.
Railway unions had been drawing a parallel with the nature of duties performed by the armed forces,
which are exempt from the NPS at present.
The Minister recently also said that he was in discussion with the Finance Ministry seeking
additional help to meet the unbearable burden of the Seventh Pay Commissions recommendations.
Every central government employee appointed on or after January 1, 2004, has to face a deduction
from his or her salary (10 per cent equal contribution from the employee and the employer) toward
the NPS, which is a defined contribution scheme, instead of the defined benefit scheme that
prevailed earlier.
Textile firms facing due to zero effluent discharge rule
The textile industry has flagged concerns about an Environment Ministry move to mandate virtually
all textile firms to reduce their effluent discharge to zero.
The argument is that such a stipulation goes beyond what the developed world follows and would
make Indian firms even more uncompetitive at a time when export orders are shrinking.
The textile industry is Indias largest employer after agriculture, accounting for 14 per cent of Indias
exports, but has recently lost ground to Bangladesh and Vietnam in the global market as the
preferred supplier for readymade garments.
Textile units having waste water discharge greater than 25 kilo litres a day shall establish Zero
Liquid Discharge effluent treatment plant.
It also requires all textile units set up in clusters such as Tirupur in Tamil Nadu to set up common
effluent treatment plants to ensure zero liquid discharge, irre- spective of their waste water quantity.

Page 18

Jobless data is lowest in more than three years
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week,
nearing a 42-year low as labor market conditions continued to tighten in a boost to the economy.
Initial claims for State unemployment benefits dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2,67,000 for
the week ended December 19, not far from levels last seen in late 1973.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims dipping to 2,70,000 in the latest week. Claims
have been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a buoyant labour market, for 42 consecutive
weeks.
That is the longest stretch since the early 1970s.
The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid
declined 47,000 to 2.20 million in the week ended December 12. The four-week moving average of
the so-called continuing claims rose 10,000 to 2.21 million.
Gold prices on declining for three years consecutively
Set for the third straight year of downtrend, gold has lost further sheen in 2015 with a fall of over
Rs.1,000 per ten grams in its prices as investors looked for other asset classes and the government
sought to monetise the holdings lying idle with the households and institutions.
The silver has been no better with a dip of about 8 per cent in its prices.
The gold prices have dipped by about 5 per cent this year. Extreme volatility in the rupee value and
the uncertainty around the long-pending rate hike in the U.S. added to the roller-coaster ride for gold
throughout 2015, while the headwinds from a slowdown in China added to the worries.
Subdued domestic demand along with fears over slowdown in global consumption further
dampened the sentiments, while improving outlook for equity markets led to the investors looking
for asset classes with better return prospects.
Measures to curb gold imports for most part of the year and the governments ambitious gold
monetisation scheme to encourage households and institutions including temples also had their own
impacts.
After beginning the year at around Rs.26,700 per ten gram, the gold prices have fallen to Rs.25,500level so far in 2015 with just four more days of trading to go.

Page 19
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SCIENCE AND TECH

Electronic FIR in Maharastra
From January 1, all police stations in Maharashtra will start registering First Information Reports
(FIRs) online and the complainant will get a copy of the complaint on WhatsApp, along with a SMS
confirming the filing.
Every police station will be online and paperless. For that, every police station must register FIR
electronically, as per the guidelines of the Central government. While none of the states have done it.
On the other issue of dance bar, M.H. government is totally against restarting of dance bars and is
seeking the opinion of Advocate-General on bringing a new law to ban them.
Indias Reliance and Russian AlmazAntey will develop air defence radar
and missiles
Reliance Defence Limited and AlmazAntey, Russias leading developer and manufacturer of air
defence missile systems, have decided to work jointly on the entire range of air defence missile and
radar systems required for the Indian defence forces.
The two sides identified the air defence missile systems, including the TOR-1M missile programme,
radars and auto-mated control systems, as areas of partnership under the Make in India as well as
the offset policies of the Indian Ministry of Defence.
Reliance Defence is the fastest emerging private sector enterprise that is aiming for development,
manufacture and supply of defence aerospace, land and naval platforms and equipment.
New policy for supply of fossil fuel will come soon
Government will soon come out with a coal linkage policy to ensure supply of fossil fuel and a new
tariff policy aimed at boosting regulatory mechanism for discoms and attracting investments.
The central government in 2006 had approved the Tariff Policy under the provisions of Electricity
Act, 2003. The Power Ministry has to get the approval from the Cabinet for a new electricity tariff
policy.
The policy will reflect a concern to environment and encourage renewable energy. Besides, it will
strengthen the regulatory mechanism so that discoms become more efficient and conscious towards
their duties to consumers

Page 20

SPORTS
Suspended FIFA president and UEFA chief banned for unethical practices
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA boss Michel Platini were both banned from football for eight
years on Monday for ethics violations, leaving the global game leaderless as it struggles with a swirl
of corruption cases.
Blatter was fined 50,000 Swiss francs and Platini, who boycotted the ethics committee hearing as
unfair, 80,000.
The pair had been suspended in October while an investigation was carried out into a 2 million Swiss
franc ($2.02 million) payment that footballs global governing body made to Platini in 2011, with
Blatters approval.
The decision means that Blatters 17 years at the helm of world football will end in disgrace.
Yuvraj and Nehra picked for T20s in Australia
In order to make the best utilisation of the time in the run-up to the World T20 championship in
March, the National selectors have chosen to experiment by picking a few youngsters and recalling
some experienced players for Indias five ODIs and three T20s in Australia in January.
Following the selection committee meeting, the selectors drafted Punjab left-arm pacer Brainder
Singh Sran and Himachal Pradesh all-rounder Rishi Dhawan into the ODI side, and uncapped
medium-fast bowler Hardik Pandya into the T20 squad.
Vijender Singh won his third straight knock out
Vijender Singh notched up his third successive professional knockout triumph thrashing Samet
Hyuseinov in less than two rounds.
Barely 35 seconds into the second round of what was to be his maiden six-round contest, Vijender
cornered Hyuseinov with a combination, forcing the referee into stopping the bout to give the Indian
a win via Technical Knockout.
ITF World champions- Sania & Hingis
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis was on Tuesday named as womens doubles World champions by
the InternationalTennis Federation (ITF) in recognition of their stupendous success in season 2015.
Hingis is an ITF World champion 15 years after last being named World champion in singles in
2000.
They won their last 22 matches from the start of the US Open through wins in Asia at Guangzhou,
Wuhan, Beijing and theWTA Finals, ending the year with a 55-7 record.
Olympian cyclist dead
Olympian cyclist Suprabhat Chakrabarty (86) passed away morning following a heart attack. He
leaves behind his wife, son and daughter.

Page 21

Five-time National champion Chakrabarty, fondly known as Khaja in cycling circles, was a key
member of the National squad that took part in the first edition of the Asian Games in 1951 in Delhi,
1952 Olympics in Helsinki and World Peace Race the same year.

Page 22

Important Editorials from Various

Newspapers
Justice that is rehabilitative (The HIndu)
Amature society will not give in to popular clamour and overturn sound legal principles and social norms
that underpin its justice system. The popular outrage over the release of a juvenile convict in the December
2012 Delhi gang rape case after a three-year term in a Special Home is understandable, but it is just plainly
wrong to demand that his detention should continue. It is a misplaced view that juveniles who fell only a few
months short of adulthood in the eye of law and were convicted for heinous crimes such as murder and rape
should be tried as adults. Nor is it legally tenable to argue that an unreformed convict should not be
released back into society on completion of the maximum permissible stint in a home for juveniles in
conflict with law. In fact, child-convicts growing into adulthood while being kept in a reformatory
institution are ripe for rehabilitation. It will be a greater crime to force them to spend further time in special
homes or put them in prison along with adult criminals. It is futile now to seek to establish that the former
juvenile released now was the most brutal among the group that committed the gang rape. To say this is not
to lose ones sympathy for the grieving parents of the young rape victim who subsequently died. None can
afford to forget the crime that brought forth an unprecedented outpouring of anger and made the whole
country introspect about the way it treats its women.
The Delhi High Court has taken the correct view by refusing to stay the convicts release. It has taken note
of the provisions for post-release rehabilitation, especially through an individual care plan for his
reintegration with society. The Juvenile Justice Board should also receive quarterly follow-up reports for
two years from the child welfare officer, probation officer or the NGO concerned. Claims that the stay in the
Special Home had had no effect on him and that he had been radicalised during his confinement in the
Special Home appear to be desperate arguments by an unconvinced society to stall his release. Children fall
foul of the law mainly because of neglect, abuse and poverty. There are no innate human propensities that
magically transform cherubic children into unregenerate criminals beyond redemption. The whole object of
juvenile law in India is to preserve the scope for rehabilitation and prevent recidivism. There is a pending
Bill in Parliament that seeks to carve out a separate category of child offenders in the age group of 16 to 18
involved in heinous crimes and transfer them to regular criminal courts. It would be a retrograde step to
enact this provision, even though other clauses in the Bill contain many progressive aspects for children in
need of care and protection. It is the wider society that will really benefit from rehabilitative justice for child
offenders and their transition to responsible adulthood.
Riddles in the Syria road map (The HIndu)

After nearly five years of war that killed more than 2,50,000 people and displaced millions, the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) has finally come to an agreement on an international road map for a peace
process in Syria. Resolution 2254, adopted unanimously by the Security Council last week, calls for a
ceasefire between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels within a month and the
establishment of a credible, inclusive and non-sectarian government in Damascus within six months. It has
also set an 18-month deadline for free and fair elections and a new Constitution that would decide the future
of Syria.

Page 23

Syria is the first conflict where both the United States and Russia are militarily involved since the end of the
Cold War. Both countries have different approaches towards the Assad regime. If the U.S. was among the
first group of nations that imposed sanctions on the government and called for the removal of Mr. Assad,
Russia remained a strong pillar of support for Damascus. But over the years, Washingtons Syria policy has
evolved from one of idealistic intransigence to that of pragmatic flexibility, narrowing the gap with the
Russian position.
In the early stages of the Syrian conflict, the Barack Obama administration miscalculated the strength of the
regime. Its expectation was that the Assad government was on the verge of collapse either to be toppled
by rebels or to be imploded. This analysis was the main reason behind Washingtons refusal to accept
Russian plans for transition in Syria. Former Finnish President and 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti
Ahtisaari, who had held back-room negotiations with the major powers on Syria, recently said Moscow had
proposed a three-point agenda in early 2012 that included Mr. Assads resignation. But Britain, France and
the U.S. rejected the proposal. What followed was a humanitarian catastrophe. Mr. Assad stayed on, while
the Islamic State (IS) rose from the ruins of a protracted civil war, endangering millions of people.
During the course of the war, Mr. Obama came under enormous pressure from Washingtons allies in West
Asia, mainly Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to bomb Damascus to take Mr. Assad out of power. The allies
knew that only the U.S. could do it as the Russians are directly backing Mr. Assad. But Mr. Obama has
never been convinced that removing Mr. Assad forcibly from power would produce any positive outcome.
He was rather wary of the possibility of a post-Assad Syria plunging into chaos, like Iraq and Libya did after
their dictators were toppled, which would help the IS consolidate its position further. Americas efforts to
build a rebel group that could fight both the regime and the jihadists also faltered, being overrun by the
Islamist militants. Besides, the refugee crisis in the West forced the U.S. and its European allies to accelerate
efforts to find a solution to the conflict. Left with only limited options, the U.S. toned down its approach
towards Mr. Assad. The administration still wants him to go, but it will not say when and how he should go.
As for the Russians, Syria is a strategic asset in West Asia. Russias only naval base outside the former
Soviet region is in the Syrian coastal city of Tartus. Russia also sees Syria as an outpost of its power from
where it could influence West Asian politics. From the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Russias primary
goal was to safeguard its interests, and helping the Assad regime stay was a means to do that. Russia has
actually played a pivotal role in the conflict so far. It persuaded Mr. Assad to destroy his chemical weapons
stockpile, a move that provided Mr. Obama a face-saving excuse for not bombing Damascus in 2013. It also
sent fighter bombers to Syria in September, marking the first major intervention outside the Soviet region
since the 1979-89 Afghan war, to attack Mr. Assads rebels when the regime was losing battles. Russias
stakes are high. But Russian President Vladimir Putins bet is not on Mr. Assad, but on the state Baathists
have built in Syria. That is why Mr. Putin said the only solution to the Syrian crisis is restoring the
statehood.
Moscow seems to have realised that with Mr. Assad at the helm, after all the bloodshed the war has
triggered, it is practically impossible to reach sustainable peace in Syria. But it does not just abandon Mr.
Assad either which is not, historically, a Russian approach towards its allies. Moscow wants a structural
transition that would not only offer a face-saving exit to Mr. Assad but also leave the Syrian state intact.
That is exactly what the UN resolution is calling for. For example, look at how the most contentious issue
the future of Mr. Assad has been addressed in the resolution. There is not a single reference to Mr. Assad
in the 1,656-word text. It does not call for his resignation, nor does it say whether he is eligible to contest
polls. This is closer to the Russian position that it is up to the Syrians to decide Mr. Assads fate. But the
resolution categorically states that all Syrians, including members of the diaspora the refugees and the
displaced should be eligible to vote in the elections which will be administered by the UN. The American
calculation is that if the diaspora votes, that would lower Mr. Assads odds of winning.
Page 24

While the UN resolution is indeed a welcome step towards peace, its implementation remains a difficult
task. Even if the resolution is implemented in its letter and spirit, it will not encompass the whole of Syria.
The talks will happen between the regime, which controls the Mediterranean strip of Syria, and the rebels in
the south and west. Large swathes of the country are under the control of the IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, alQaedas Syrian affiliate, where the war will go on. So a single unified Syrian state remains a distant dream.
But what is more worrisome is that even the practical side of the UN proposal is complicated and
challenging. The first step of the plan is to get both the government and the rebels to sign a ceasefire. Russia
and Iran will have to put pressure on the Assad regime while the Saudis and the Turks should use their
leverage on the rebels. The problem is that Saudi Arabia and Iran are rivals in West Asian geopolitics and
share a deep mistrust on core strategic issues. The relations between Moscow and Ankara reached rock
bottom after the latter shot down a Russian warplane over the Syrian border last month.
More important, there is still no clarity about who is a moderate rebel and who is a terrorist among the
Syrian opposition. Before the UN meet, Saudi Arabia and Turkey had asked Jordan to prepare a list of
terrorists and non-terror rebels. There is a consensus that the IS should be excluded and a near-consensus on
Jabhat al-Nusra. But there is no consensus on at least two controversial armed groups the Saudisponsored Jaysh al-Islam, a coalition of 12 Islamist and Salafist groups, and the Turkish- and Qatari-backed
Ahrar al-Sham. Mr. Assads regional enemies want both these groups as part of the opposition table, while
Damascus, Moscow and Tehran call them terrorists. Ahrar al-Sham, a group of more than 25,000 fighters, is
particularly viewed with suspicion by many. The group has military ties with al-Nusra and it is also accused
of widespread human rights violations. They also want Sharia to be established in any post-Assad set-up in
Syria, which is a direct challenge to what world leaders want to rebuild Syria into an inclusive
democratic state. Both these groups were part of the rebel summit held in Riyadh last month meaning, the
Saudis will not blacklist them as terrorists. It is yet to be seen how Damascus would respond if these groups
are made part of the rebel negotiation team.
Rebooted with U.S. help (The HIndu)

There have been many explanations as to why Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a new round of talks
with Pakistan, abandoning the several conditions that had stalled the bilateral engagement. But no account of
the turnaround has adequately accounted for what has been happening between the U.S. and Pakistan over
the last two months and how it may have influenced the Indian repositioning. Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan army chief Raheel Sharif visited the U.S. in October and November respectively.
A joint statement by President Barack Obama and PM Sharif, a background briefing provided to Indian
journalists by a senior U.S. administration official and, most recently, a House Committee on Foreign
Affairs hearing of U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson on December
16, give one a sense of how the U.S. sees Pakistan, and the implications for India.
Until the recent turnaround, India followed the pre-election rhetoric of the current government leaders that
India would unilaterally set the terms of engagement with Pakistan. While the media took note of Mr.
Dovals earlier positions when he became the NSA in Pakistan with a sense of unease and in India with
characteristic jingoism there was no official attempt to undo it. On the contrary, fresh statements by
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in the context of dealing with terrorism, that India would remove a
thorn with another thorn; by Minister of State Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore that the Indian cross-border
operation in Myanmar in June was a message to Pakistan; by Mr. Doval that India would convince Pakistan
in the language it understands only added to the mystery of Indias Pakistan policy. Incidentally,
talking to Pakistan in the language that it understands was a favourite one-liner of Mr. Modi throughout
the 2014 election campaign.

Page 25

The U.S.-Pakistan joint statement had referred to terrorism as a subject of mutual concern, lending credence
to Pakistans position that India has been fomenting trouble in Balochistan. The official who spoke to Indian
reporters explained that since both countries were accusing each other of terrorism, the best way to resolve
the issue was by talking to each other. Except this point about terrorism being a mutual concern, most
other points of the background briefing were stated by Mr. Olson in the open hearing of the committee,
forcefully defending the U.S. engagement with Pakistan, including the plan to sell more F-16 fighter jets to
it.
All members of the committee were vocal in questioning the administrations approach, indicating a success
of Indian diplomacy in reaching out to U.S. lawmakers. Many of them wanted specific assurance regarding
the trial of the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack and action against the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). We
continue to press Pakistan about the need not just to ban the LeT but take action against it, particularly
against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, said Mr. Olson, but he went on to remind lawmakers that
U.S. disengagement with Pakistan in the 1990s had blinded it to developments in the region that would
culminate in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Our national interest is to not allow Pakistan to disengage from us.
The U.S. also feels that Pakistan is better poised than ever before to deal with its internal challenges, and
emphasises the fact that this is the first democratic government that succeeded a democratic government, has
brought the economy back on track and has stabilised governance. The U.S. is also convinced that
Pakistans attitude towards terrorism has changed after the Peshawar terror episode that targeted
schoolchildren and the only remaining question is their ability and the requirement to do more against
LeT and the Haqqani network.
The U.S. is clear that it is invested in stabilising Pakistan, and Mr. Olson detailed at some length the
numerous initiatives it has taken to promote education, health care and governance there. A major thrust of
our assistance programme is regional connectivity The new thaw in India-Pak. relations could lead to
more trade in the region, he said, after terming External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs visit to
Islamabad as a significant upturn in relations.
Now, regional connectivity is a promise that the Modi government had held out, as enunciated by Foreign
Secretary S. Jaishankar on July 20, 2015, at his IISS-Fullerton Lecture in Singapore. To begin with, the
approach to Indias neighbours has undergone a big shift, symbolised by the invitation extended to their
leaders when the government was first sworn in. Since then, we have seen the themes of greater
connectivity, stronger cooperation and broader contacts dominate Indias engagement with them. But
things soon went downhill, first with Pakistan as a result of the inexplicable new redlines, and then recently
with Nepal, burying the neighbourhood first outlook.
If India had continued its stand-off with Pakistan, it would have fallen foul of the U.S. strategy for South
Asia, centring around stability in Afghanistan, securing the Pakistani nuclear arsenal from terrorists and
stabilising Pakistan by integrating it with the regional economy. No explanation of Indias turnaround on
Pakistan would be complete without accounting for this.
An opportunity missed at Nairobi (The HIndu)

The Nairobi Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation concluded last week after negotiations
stretched into an unscheduled fifth day as delegates from the rich nations, emerging market economies and
the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) sought to hammer out an agreement acceptable to all. The final
declaration, while helping salvage the primacy of the WTO as the arbiter of international trade rules, left the
LDCs and the emerging nations, especially India, trying to count their gains as the U.S. and EU celebrated
the outcome that quietly cast aside the Doha Development Agenda. That member-countries may be prepared
Page 26

to make sacrifices was apparent from the outset after Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, in his opening
remarks, cited 2015 as a year in which nations demonstrated unparalleled cooperation in agreeing on
collective approaches to the pressing problems facing humanity. His references to the successful
International Conference on Financing for Development, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, and the historic Paris agreement to combat climate change, heightened delegates anxiety to
conclude a deal. The fact that the WTO body was meeting for the first time in Africa also meant that both
developed countries and emerging market economies like India were wary of being seen as deal-breakers.
And the surge in bilateral, regional and plurilateral trade agreements, including the most recent Trans-Pacific
Partnership, cast its shadow too. The result is a modest one, with the key takeaways being the decisions to
end all farm export subsidies and liberalise global trade in information technology products.
From Indias point of view, the Nairobi declaration was disappointing on multiple fronts. From its relative
pre-eminence among emerging market economies with the principled position on sticking to the Doha
agenda, India has returned with very few, if any, of its demands met. There is no concrete agreement on a
special safeguards mechanism to protect farmers in the developing countries against sudden import surges,
and no short deadline for a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security purposes. And the
lack of an unambiguous reaffirmation of the Doha Development Agenda means new issues of interest to
developed countries, including competition policy, government procurement and investment are now open
for negotiations. The lessons are clear. While negotiators from the developed countries came fully prepared
to defend their strategic aims, Indias leadership faltered for want of a clear-cut strategy. For the future, the
government needs to broaden its preparation: by holding wide-ranging meetings on WTO-related issues with
all stakeholders in a bipartisan manner, renewing and strengthening its ties with the developing and LDC
economies to protect the development agenda, and finally bolstering its pool of trade negotiators by picking
the best and brightest trade experts and lawyers.
Liveable Cities Mission is what we need (The HIndu)

Indias ambitious Smart Cities Mission will earmark an investment of $15 billion (close to Rs 99,457 crore).
It involves making nearly 100 cities smart, and the rejuvenation of 500 more. It is not a small project.
The Centre has seemingly given the project top priority (the deadline for nominating cities for this project
with clear guidelines for implementation was December 15) and has envisaged sweeping changes in 11
infrastructure elements of urban life: water and power supply, sanitation, public transport, housing, IT
connectivity and digitisation, good governance, sustainable environment, citizens safety, health, and
education.
The government has listed some allied themes that are equally, if not more, important. Creating walkable
localities, for instance. Or making governance citizen-friendly and cost-effective. There is one other
significant item on the smart city agenda, based on its economic activity: giving a city an identity using its
cuisine, education, arts and craft, culture, sports goods, and so on.
There is no standard definition of a smart city, so India will have to evolve its own. It is important to specify
what we really want out of this mass-scale programme. If there is one aim that the Smart Cities Mission
should have, it should be to improve the quality of life of the average urban citizen. Before we go ahead with
long-term implementation, perhaps we need to revisit the name of the project and redefine a few goals.
If the ultimate aim of Smart Cities Mission is to make peoples lives better, we should start by making our
cities liveable. Calling it The Liveable Cities Mission makes it more grounded, and allows the government
to broaden the definition to make cities more inclusive. It is not just infrastructural change; it is behavioural
and needs to be more incentivised.
Page 27

Like in the case of a smart city, there is no standard definition of a liveable city. The annual rankings of the
worlds most liveable cities by at least two organisations across the world feature more or less the same
cities: Melbourne (Australia), Vienna (Austria), Calgary (Canada), Sydney (Australia), Auckland (New
Zealand), Vancouver (Canada), Helsinki (Finland), Zurich (Switzerland), Perth (Australia), Toronto
(Canada), and Adelaide (Australia).
Heres what they have in common, according to studies published in The Economist and Forbes and the
London-based Monocle magazine: every single city scores high on quality of living. Categories including
crime, health care (private and public), culture and environment, corruption, social and religious restrictions,
level of censorship, sporting availability, food and drink, consumer goods and services, private and public
education, road networks, public transport, quality of water, good quality housing, quality of international
links, quality of telecommunications, facilities for tourists, pollution (air and noise), and so on.
Indias Smart Cities Mission does not place these interests on top; instead it puts physical infrastructure as
the issue to tackle the quickest. For instance, while there is emphasis on public transport and safety of
women, there is no word on policing. The worlds most liveable cities are also some of the safest.
Take a parallel in India Delhi. Indias capital saw a 31 per cent rise in rape incidents in 2014, and an
overall crime rate rise of nearly 100 per cent. The number of crimes against women rose from 1,571 in 2013
to 2,069 in 2014. It could be argued that the police began registering more cases in the year 2013-14, but the
underlying social and cultural factors for this alarming growth rate have been glossed over. Mumbai is
relatively safe, but crimes against women are on the rise in the city, data show.
Compare some other parameters: the number of museums, open spaces, cultural districts, moral policing,
accessibility and education for the physically and mentally disabled, public health care, work-life balance,
traffic congestion, recreational spaces for families. Then, there is a big question of how liveable the city is
for children. Do they get easy access to schools and playgrounds? Are there enough non-school learning
avenues for children? In almost all these parameters, Indian cities lag behind their western (or Australian)
counterparts by a large margin.
Less than 30 per cent of Adelaides area has residential or commercial buildings; the rest is trees and open
spaces. Several Scandinavian countries actively incentivise bicycle ridership. Paris has a state-sponsored
rent-a-bicycle facility where you can pick up a bike from any location, ride for half an hour and deposit at
the next bike station. Its free, except for a one-time, refundable deposit of 150.
In short, therefore, the question to ask is: if you were a professional or a government officer, what would
make you come and live in Indian cities? It is no secret that multinational firms and foreign governments go
out of their way to tempt professionals to shift to India, including offering what was contemptuously
referred to as hardship allowance (it is now masked under other heads after much outrage).
There is another challenge. As India continues to improve its agricultural yields by mechanisation, the
dependence on manual labour in villages will reduce, and the logical place for the agrarian economy
dependents to migrate is the city. The challenge for cities, as a consequence, would be to not only create
employment opportunities for these labourers but also equip them with skills to earn those jobs.
Cess proceeds in a black hole (The HIndu)

The National Democratic Alliance government has just introduced a cess of 0.5 per cent on all taxable
services for the Swachh Bharat campaign. In February 2016, it will introduce a 2 per cent cess on airfares
Page 28

for all domestic flyers except those flying to remote locations, and international travellers. This cess is meant
to fund losses that airlines may incur in connecting to hinterland locations. The Central government loves
cesses, partly because it doesnt have to share the proceeds with State governments. It has been levying them
for several important causes including primary education, secondary education, road development, the
welfare of construction workers and beedi workers, clean energy, research and development and
universalisation of telecom coverage, among several others. But good intentions often pave the road to hell,
as is evident from the fact that over Rs.1.4 lakh crore of cess proceeds lie unutilised and inadequately
accounted for in the governments books. Take, for example, the case of the Secondary and Higher
Education Cess paid by all income tax payers that has yielded over Rs.64,000 crore between 2006 and 2015.
Not a rupee of that has been spent, while hundreds of students now fork out more for higher education since
the government has discontinued the non-National Eligibility Test fellowship. That the government has
failed to even set up a fund to pool the proceeds shows the lack of planning that precludes and follows the
levy of a cess. So is the case with the proposed airfare cess. The government is yet to identify routes that the
cess would subsidise, or spruce up the many defunct civil airports.
The point of a cess is that the money it generates can only be used for the designated purpose so it can be an
effective policy tool in theory. But if the money isnt spent for the designated purpose, as the audit report of
the Comptroller and Auditor General of India tabled in Parliament has shown, it just stagnates and distorts
the economy further: the additional tax brings down real incomes without any accompanying gain in socioeconomic indicators as targeted. Then there is the question of whether a given cess is needed at all. Most
reasons cited for levying a cess, such as purposes of education, are important enough for direct budgetary
allocations as happens in the developed world. So the government can simply raise the tax rate rather
than impose multiple cess levies. But with the Fourteenth Finance Commission increasing States share of
the common pool of resources, cesses are tempting for the Centre to shore up its own finances. If it wants to
keep complicating the taxation system for good intentions, the government should start disclosing a
deployment plan to achieve the intended outcomes from cess collections before imposing the next such levy
on citizens.
Continental shifts, fault lines
(The HIndu)
For years, the United States had been a status quo power in West Asia. It wanted oil for its economy and
promised security and stability in return to the regional monarchs and despots. Though there were irregular
ruptures in this set-up, like the Iranian revolution and the post-revolutionary chaos in the region, both
Washington and its allies generally benefited from this. This spell of stability was breached by the disastrous
American war in Iraq in 2003. The invasion not only destroyed the Baathist state of Saddam Hussein but
also unsettled the fragile modus vivendi between sects, ethnicities and religions within the Iraqi society,
unleashing forces that were beyond manageable proportions for the U.S. Though the Arab Spring protests
later started as a spontaneous social reaction to dictatorships, those were encroached upon by regional and
global heavyweights and transformed into an interest pusher, a process which weakened the regions
social balancing further, and even cracked it in some societies. What followed was total disaster.
The U.S. is now repositioning itself in West Asia, abetted by a number of factors. First, the Obama
administration appears to be convinced that Washingtons interventionism has failed miserably in the region.
This was Obamas Kennan moment. George Kennan, one of the most influential realists of the 20th
century, had warned the Bush administration in late 2002 against invading Iraq. Today, if we went into
Iraq, as the President would like us to do, you know where you begin. You never know where you are going
to end, he had said. Mr. Bush, of course, didnt listen to the critics. Iraq has now been effectively divided.
Libya, where a reluctant President Obama led from behind a war that toppled Muammar Qaddafi, is now
ruled by two governments which are at war with several militias, including the Islamic State.
Page 29

Second, the U.S.s dependency on the region for oil has been substantially reduced by the shale oil boom,
opening a window of opportunity for the administration to rethink its West Asia strategy.
Third, the Obama administration thinks the U.S. is overweighted in the Middle East and underweighted in
Asia, where Chinas influence is steadily growing. From the early days of his presidency, one of the policy
priorities of Mr. Obama was to pivot the U.S. power towards Asia. That the U.S. is rebalancing towards
China doesnt mean that it would completely retreat from West Asia. America would remain a dominant
power in the region as its still committed to Israels security. U.S. weapons companies have deep ties with
the Gulf monarchs. And it just cant extricate itself from the mess its interventions have created. But instead
of the Bush-type interventions, President Obama, whom Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker calls a
consequentialist, prefers offshore-balancing its interests in the region fighting terror through targeted
air strikes, focussing on diplomacy and nuclear non-proliferation, promoting state- and institution-building,
balancing American ties between regional rivals, etc. This strategic shift is having two-dimensional
consequences on regional politics. It is prompting Americas regional allies to drift away from the traditional
alliances, and it is leaving a vacuum which is drawing other powers into the region. The year 2015 saw both
these factors at play.
The Salman regime responded to the American reluctance by steadily enhancing Riyadhs role in the Syrian
civil war. The Saudis stepped up military and economic aid to the rebels, which intensified the civil war and
directly or indirectly helped the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaedas Syrian affiliate. Another area
of contention was the Iran nuclear deal. If the U.S. wanted to neutralise one of its long-standing rivalries in
West Asia through diplomatic means, and thereby extend cooperation in counterterrorism, the Saudis were
wary of the natural consequence of the American move a more powerful Iran. Riyadhs Yemen invasion
could be seen against this background. The Saudis bombed Yemen in March, when the nuclear negotiation
was in the final stages. The Saudis claimed that the Iranians were backing the Houthi militias of Yemen
(largely made up by Shias) and it was interfering on behalf of Yemens legitimate government. But in
actuality, the Saudis had two goals: one, to strengthen the narrative that Iran is a major supporter of Shia
militia groups in the region at a time when international negotiations were on; and two, to prevent the
consolidation of an Iranian-backed militia in its backyard. Nine months after the war, Riyadh failed to
achieve either of the goals, but the war has destabilised the region further.
The year has also seen the rise of Kurds as a counterbalance to the Islamic State on the ground. As President
Obama has decided not to send ground troops to Syria and Iraq, it wanted reliant allies on the ground to fight
the jihadists . The Iraqi Kurdistan has historically been an American ally. On the Syrian side, the Peoples
Protection Units (YPG) militias of the semi-autonomous Syrian Kurdistan were effectively resisting the
Islamic State. But the American dilemma was that YPG is closely associated with the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) on the Turkish side, which is described as a terrorist group by both Ankara and Washington.
Still, the U.S. provided air cover to the YPG in the battles in Kobane and Tal Abyad where the Kurds
defeated the Islamic State.
Turkey was upset with this outcome. For decades, it tried to suppress the Kurdish rebellion and isolate the
Kurdish national question. Often described as a people without a state, the Kurds are scattered across several
countries such as Iraq, Syria and Turkey. If Kurds rise as a unified force from the war against Islamic State,
that would set back Ankaras interests. This explains why Turkey started bombing the PKK this year even as
it claims to be a part of the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition. The Turkish militarism is actually
complicating the Syrian crisis.
Syria is an important ally of Russia. Moscows interests lies in defending the Assad regime. Still, its to be
noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin sent fighter jets to Syria to attack Mr. Assads enemies only in
September this year, the fourth year of the Syrian civil war. One explanation of the timing is that the regime
Page 30
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was under enormous strain from attacks by multiple enemies and Moscow stepped in to prevent an eventual
collapse of the Syrian state. But its equally important that by the time Mr. Putin intervened in Syria, it was
evident that the U.S. would not attack the regime directly.
Nobody knows how West Asia will look like once the dust settles. But what can be seen from the present
conflicts is that the forces of instability are still at play and the present phase is likely to continue in the
coming years. Some foreign policy analysts compare the ongoing crisis with the Thirty Years War of 17th
century Europe which ended with the Peace of Westphalia, that established a new system of political order
in central Europe. Its too early to make any such predictions about the West Asian crisis. But its not hard
to understand that there are no easy solutions to the present turmoil which is intertwined with history,
religion, ethnicity and power politics.
All eyes are now on whether there would be a ceasefire between the Syrian regime and the rebels next year.
If achieved, it would indeed be a breakthrough. But the larger questions on the Islamic State, the Kurdish
problem, the Saudi-Iranian cold war, the Russian presence, Israels continuing occupation of Palestine and
the possibility of instability spreading to other parts of the Arab world, particularly Lebanon and Jordan, will
continue to roil 2016 and many more years unless and until the region makes a break with its own violent
history.
Make amends (Indian express)

Nepals government agreed on Monday to amend its new constitution, in the hope of meeting the demands
of protesters in the countrys plains who have blockaded its border with India for more than three months,
setting off violence that has claimed over 50 lives. The proposals appear to meet the two core demands of
Nepals Madhesi parties granting population-based proportional representation in government and
changes in constituency delimitation. New Delhi has endorsed the proposals, calling them positive steps
towards ending a crisis that has crippled the countrys economy and left its people reeling under shortages in
the midst of the harsh winter. The Indian ministry of external affairs urged all Nepali political forces to
now demonstrate the necessary maturity and flexibility to find a satisfactory solution, a message that
appeared to be directed at the Madhesi parties. However, the Madhesi parties have rejected the
governments offer, saying the amendments are vaguely worded and dont go far enough towards meeting
their demands.
For Delhi, the looming impasse offers a real opportunity to undo the bitterness created by policies many in
Nepal correctly or otherwise see as partisan Indian interference. Linked by ethnicity and kinship to
Bihar, the Madhesis enjoyed considerable support from the Indian government when their agitation began in
September. It seemed that the BJP saw backing them as a means to enhancing its electoral prospects in
Bihar; India was accused of colluding with the protesters to aid the blockade, which inflicted great hardships
on the hills. That same influence should now be used to ensure the Madhesi parties work with the
government to resolve the situation, rather than perpetuate the stand-off. This would provide the Nepal
government an incentive to continue with accommodation, and discourage maximalist posturing by Madhesi
leaders and parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi can draw lessons from history on the strategic consequences of failing to act
with great wisdom. In 1989, then PM Rajiv Gandhi blockaded Nepal after its government decided to build a
second highway to China and purchase munitions from Beijing. His blockade devastated Nepal, and brought
Page 31

down its monarchy. The blockade, though, also had unintended consequences: It entrenched public
suspicion of India and Nepals leaders, aware of the fate of Birendra, became even more energetic in their
pursuit of access to China. The growth of the economy in Chinas Xinjiang and Beijings success in pushing
railway lines into the region make a deepening of Nepals eastern relationship inexorable. Delhis best
interests lie in creative diplomacy that leverages Indias strengths not crude displays of its coercive
resources.
New old friends (Indian express)

Prime Minister Narendra Modis meeting with President Vladimir Putin, the 16th in the series of annual
summits between India and Russia, is arguably of greater geopolitical significance than any before it.
Though the public takeaways from this summit have to do with defence and economic cooperation, the most
important conversations will have taken place behind closed doors. The region is unsettled as never before,
holding out threats to both countries.
The rise of the Islamic State has empowered jihadists who threaten Russia, leading it to intervene in Syria;
India, for its part, knows that the grim forces that have risen in West Asia could imperil its energy security
and remittance revenues. The resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, too, has caused great concern in
both Moscow and New Delhi, raising as it does the prospect of a new jihadist-ruled space in the centre of
Asia. India and Russia dont see eye-to-eye on all these issues. In Afghanistan, for example, Russia has been
seeking an alliance with the Taliban and Pakistan to hold back the Islamic State; India sees both as the
source of the problem. The two leaders will have walked away with a clearer understanding of their
positions after Thursdays one-on-one meeting, but building a common platform will need focused work.
Part of the problem has been that Delhis single-minded pursuit of its strategic relationship with the United
States has led Moscow to reappraise the value of the bilateral relationship. Delhi has responded with a slew
of military deals, notably the co-manufacture of Kamov 226 helicopters and the purchase of the S-400
Triumf air-defence system. Agreements are due to be finalised for work on new reactors at the
Kundankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. The two countries have also committed to raising
bilateral trade from $10 billion a year to $30 billion inside a decade. Energy-hungry India is, in particular,
seeking greater access to Russias hydrocarbon resources.
It will take more than defence or power deals, though, to give the India-Russia relationship the depth and
significance it ought to have. Though Indias relationship with the US is of enormous strategic significance,
so too is its relationship with key powers like Russia. The central fact of American power is Washingtons
growing unwillingness to risk the lives of its soldiers in distant wars, the consequence of a public that has
tired of international commitments. Long considered a marginal actor, Russia has shown that it can, and
will, step up to the plate in Asia. In future, India will need a variety of regional and big-power partners to
pursue its interests in a complex world. Russia will, without doubt, be among the most important of them.
India, US and a year of togetherness (Indian express)

One year ago this week, my family and I were excitedly packing for the 12,000-kilometre journey to the
country my parents called home, to begin my assignment as ambassador to India. Meanwhile, New Delhi

Page 32

and Washington were preparing for President Barack Obamas visit to India as chief guest on Republic Day
a first for a US president.
Setting an ambitious vision for what our countries could accomplish over the next year, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Obama pledged to dramatically enhance cooperation across the spectrum of human
endeavour. Im proud to report our efforts in 2015 yielded extraordinary results, and that we have even
greater ambitions for 2016.
This year, the United States and India took important steps to operationalise a historic strategic convergence.
During the Republic Day visit, we crafted a common vision for the Indo-Pacific region based on our shared
commitment to the rules-based international systems that have safeguarded peace and prosperity for seven
decades. Our leaders are speaking regularly three times in the last six weeks often using a new secure
line between South Block and the West Wing. By establishing a permanent US-India-Japan ministerial
mechanism, we have institutionalised a conversation among the three pillars of the Indo-Pacific community
of democracies.
This month, Manohar Parrikar became the first Indian defence minister to visit the US Pacific Command. In
June, Ashton Carter was the first US defence secretary to visit an Indian military command. Our deepening
partnership was evident during Malabar, our most complex naval exercise ever in the Indian Ocean, and we
were pleased to welcome Japan as a regular participant. Under the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative,
we launched joint working groups on aircraft carrier and jet engine technology. Our special operations
forces will train together in January, and we look forward to India joining the 2016 Red Flag aerial exercise.
Our historic collaboration after the Nepal earthquake demonstrated how our growing military
interoperability contributes to our readiness for joint humanitarian and disaster-response missions.
This year, US and Indian researchers addressed some of the worlds most vexing public health and
development challenges. In March, joint research helped launch the worlds most inexpensive rotavirus
vaccine, potentially saving millions of lives. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention signed 16
new agreements to partner with Indian health institutions to combat infectious disease threats. We also
launched new efforts to fight TB, engaged in joint cancer research, and battled acute encephalitis together.
And across Africa, our development experts are partnering to increase agricultural productivity and reduce
malnutrition.
We need only to look back a few years to see the dramatic progress we have made. In 2005, two-way trade
was around $30 billion. Today, it stands at $104bn, and our sights are set on increasing this figure to
$500bn. In just the last three months, bilateral trade increased by well over $5bn, including a $2.6bn
agreement for GE to provide Indias railway network with next-generation locomotives, many of which will
be made in India. In 2005, there were approximately 200 US companies operating in India, today there are
over 500.
At this years inaugural Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, we discussed ways to deepen and broaden our
economic ties to help create opportunities for the people of both our countries. In 2005, there were around
30,000 Indian students studying in the US. This year, the number is more than 1,32,000. Ten years ago,
close to 4,00,000 Indians visited the US. This past year, we processed over 1 million visa applications the
highest on record. In sum, our commercial and people-to-people ties are strong and growing.
Page 33

In January, Obama and Modi acknowledged the profound threat climate change poses to humanity, and
committed to work together and with others to conclude an ambitious climate agreement. We launched the
Fulbright-India climate fellowship, expanded our Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) research,
and established a new fund to hasten the commercialisation of innovative, off-grid clean-energy solutions. In
multilateral fora, we successfully addressed climate change in the UN Sustainable Development Goals
process, and agreed to work to adopt an amendment to the Montreal Protocol in 2016 to phase down the
production and consumption of super greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons. These efforts
facilitated the conclusion of this months Paris Agreement to combat climate change. It is an ambitious,
transparent and accountable global framework providing a strong and irreversible market signal that the
world is locking in a low-carbon future. While the journey to keeping the rise in global temperatures well
below 2 degrees Celsius remains long and challenging, India and the US have never been in a better position
to lead global efforts to address this imperative.
After this year of great consequence, the US-India relationship is poised to become a 21st-century alliance
for global prosperity. Our partnership can protect the commons, empower the youth of our countries and the
world, help maintain global peace, and further prosperity and development. While we may still have some
differences as close partners often do never before in history have two such diverse and culturally
distinct powers been united by a shared vision for the global good. In the coming year, I look forward with
great excitement to even more ambitious developments in our nations walk with destiny.
A Question For Parliament (Indian express)

At the end of every session of Parliament, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha and speaker of the Lok Sabha
make observations about the functioning and work done during the session. Statistics about working hours,
bills passed, discussions undertaken and time lost are made available to MPs and the media. However, these
numbers are about the output of the session rather than the outcome of parliamentary functioning. The
institution of Parliament is about more than time-keeping or going through the motions of passing a bill. The
end of the session is a good time to analyse the numbers, the story behind the numbers, and its implications.
In the winter session, both Houses met for 20 days. However the Rajya Sabha only had 19 days available for
functioning. This is because the proceedings of the first day were adjourned as a mark of respect to the
memory of a sitting member of the Upper House who had passed away that morning. Adjourning
proceedings on the demise of
a sitting MP is a tradition that is followed by both Houses. The earlier convention of the Rajya Sabha was
that the House would be adjourned to enable fellow MPs to participate in the funeral if a sitting member had
died in Delhi.
During the session, the Lok Sabha was able to work for 98 per cent of the scheduled time. The Rajya Sabha
lagged behind, utilising only 51 per cent of the time available to it for conducting business. Even this was
possible only because the House spent the first three days debating commitment to Indias Constitution.
This debate later rang hollow as the proceedings of the Upper House were disrupted for the major part of the
session.

Page 34

For the Lok Sabha, the majority of its productive time was spent discussing non-legislative business. This
included discussions on issues related to price rise, drought and floods. However, discussions on these issues
are a matter of routine in Parliament. The issue of price rise has been discussed almost every year for the last
decade sometimes multiple times during the year. The same is the case with the debate on natural
calamities. Our representatives need to hold the government accountable on these issues rather than just
going through the motions of debate.
This session also saw the passage of eight bills by both Houses. Thirteen were passed by the Lok Sabha after
discussions lasting approximately 28 hours. The Rajya Sabha went on a bill-passing spree in the last three
days of the session, passing six of seven non-financial bills without any debate.
This session also saw 71 per cent of the bills being introduced and passed in the same session the highest
in the last decade. Five bills were passed in the session without being referred to a parliamentary committee
for scrutiny. While this makes the legislative output look better, it dilutes the lawmaking process.
The depth of scrutiny of bills by the legislature impacts the quality of laws. Earlier this year, the apex court
struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
The amendment bill that inserted this section was passed in 2008 by Parliament without any debate. The
frequency with which newly passed laws come up for amendment (Companies Act, land acquisition act, etc)
and ordinances are promulgated also points towards a weakening of the legislative process.
Accountability of government functioning, which is partly done through question hour, also took a hit
during the session. Question Hour was completely disrupted in the Rajya Sabha working for only 14 per
cent of the scheduled time. In the Lok Sabha, the situation was a lot better, with 87 per cent of the time
allotted for Question Hour being utilised amidst disruptions. What it meant was that 14 ministries did not
have to answer any oral questions, which
included ministries like commerce, defence and mines.
With disruptions becoming a way of life in our parliamentary system, this session raises important
questions. Political parties need to answer whether they will continue to prioritise their political interests
over the national interest. Parliament needs to come up with answers about ways of dealing with disruptions
and ensuring its working is not subverted by political disagreements.
Time for North Block to think big (Business Standard)

India is yet to embark forcefully on a high-growth trajectory. The favourable results on the balance of
payments front are to a large extent a result of the drastic fall in oil and other commodity prices. Exports are
rapidly declining. A major reform initiative like the GST is stuck in the upper house. Despite all-out efforts
to improve dramatically our poor ranking in Doing Business indicators, we have just moved a few notches.
The NDA is losing political steam, as reflected in its dismal performance in the Bihar elections. Hence the
2016-17 Budget needs to be much more reform-intensive than the previous two budgets. Outlined here are
some urgent reforms related to trade, investment, and the business environment.

Page 35

Our first priority should be to reduce the massive trade transaction costs that are plaguing the Indian
economy. Paper work and signatures required to undertake trade defy all logic. We immediately need to
fully implement the Ministry of Finance 2004 Report of the Working Group on Trade Facilitation (WGTF)
that I chaired. Piecemeal actions taken so far will not do. What are the main problems identified in the
WGTF report? First, we have a complex set of documents required for export clearance from 29 different
government agencies, requiring 257 signatures. Hence, several days are lost before goods reach ports and
airports. Second, after this paper chase, the exporter/importer has to wait for days to ship cargo from airports
and ports. Typical cargo dwell time at airports is about two days, against an international norm of about 12
hours. For containerised sea freight, the cargo dwell time for imports is over a week, compared with the
global norm of a few hours.
Read our full coverage on Union Budget

The WGTF focused only on the second problem. The first problem can be addressed by adopting a singlewindow inspection, as illustrated by the Singapore TradeNet. UN/CEFACT has also developed a unified set
of documentation, based on analysis of single windows in countries that have successfully implemented the
scheme. We need to immediately fully implement national single windows involving all clearing agencies in
all ports, airports, and land borders.
Delays in payment of duty, time taken by importers to file declarations and getting clearance from other
ministries are the main contributing factors to high cargo dwell time. Unlike our competitors, we do not
allow a line of credit, use of credit cards or a deferred payment system. If this is taken care of immediately,
cargo dwell time could be reduced by about two days.
Then, there are delays associated with clearance requirements from other ministries to safeguard health,
safety, security, and environment concerns. In most countries, this is taken care of by reliance on a sound
risk management system, to which we are now committed. The collaboration of the Centre and the states can
also help reduce delays. After paying customs duties, an importer has to pay a tax on transfers between
states, which causes further delay. This needs to be abolished under the GST.
The real problem, however, is that there are too many agencies involved, with no real accountability. Given
our software capabilities, we should have established a paperless system with no human interface, through
full implementation of the electronic data interface (EDI) system. Although customs is covering over 90 per
cent of the total declarations through EDI, other agencies are lagging considerably. We cannot avoid face-toface contacts and a paper trail, unless other agencies are in line with the customs. Placing one authority in
charge of trade facilitation is urgently required.
We have no line ministry whose primary function is trade or logistics facilitation. Areas of concern are the
administrative responsibility of several ministries and agencies - ministries of commerce and industry,
finance, shipping and ports, surface transport, railways, and civil aviation. Allied agencies at the border that
govern regulations related to technical standards include ministries of agriculture, food, health, environment,
among others. This means genuine industry efforts to lobby for reforms get diluted, given the multiplicity of
agencies with no accountability. This also results in poor coordination and lack of administrative urgency in
implementing reforms. No wonder our cargo dwell time is still in weeks as against hours in all successful

Page 36

trading nations. Also, our exporters and importers still have to get signatures from numerous agencies,
which add immensely to transaction costs.
To set things right we need to create and announce in the Budget a National Trade Facilitation Council
(NTFC) headed by the PM that should set a target for cargo dwell time in all ports and airports for exports
and imports in hours, within a defined timeframe. The NTFC should break cargo dwell time down for each
of the components - manifest filing, declaration, assessment, duty payment and examination - for all ports
and airports. The time taken for each stage should be explained. A target should be set for the next semiannual meeting, which should be monitored by the prime minister himself. The agencies responsible for not
meeting the target should be held accountable and punished. Only then will cargo dwell time be sharply
reduced. Similar targets should be set for administrative processing of trade documents by numerous
agencies, leading ultimately to a couple of clearances.
Related to trade facilitation reforms, are other reforms that will make Indian industry better connected to
Global Value Chains for rapid expansion of exports, FDI, and employment. These reforms are:
The various freight corridors need to be made operational quickly. State governments need to be made
stakeholders in the process of freight corridor development, not just in terms of infrastructure development,
but also in terms of policy reforms. Crossing of state borders by trucks remains a cumbersome procedure
mostly due to poor quality of inspection and poor procedures put in place by state governments who are
responsible for the enforcement of a number of central acts and rules that freight movement in India is
subject to. States need to become partners in the development of efficient corridors that link India's
hinterland to key air and sea international gates.
Improve Doing Business Indicators with focus on removing the massive transaction costs to allow a level
playing field for job-creating MSMEs and help them attract FDI, since they are short of both investment
funds and technological know-how.
Diversify professional services beyond IT and ITES to labour-intensive accounting, engineering,
architecture, design, product development, legal, and medical services. Promote skill development in labourintensive services. The changing landscape of IT and ITES requires far greater emphasis on a diverse range
of expertise and domain knowledge than mere programming that call centres ask for. The government and
the private sector together would have to convert India's large output of natural science, arts, and commerce
graduates into employable resources in the diversified professional services sector.
Simplify the tariff structure, encourage easy import of inputs/intermediates, and reduce tariffs on them. A
regulatory environment that is attractive to FDI in manufacturing with emphasis on national single windows,
and timely decision making. A taxation system that ensures that no domestic taxes are exported (i.e. zerorating of exports) and, most importantly, speedy introduction of GST, which eventually should lead to a low
uniform duty across the country with minimal exemptions.
Implementing the bulk of these reforms should not generate much opposition in Parliament, but will go a
long way in promoting rapid export expansion, a larger inflow of FDI, and job creation - all leading to a
high, sustainable growth that is inclusive.
We just need the political will. Time is running out.
Page 37

MCQs
National
Ques- Which among the following is correct regarding Lokpal?
a) He can either be retired chief justice of India or retired Judge of SC
b) Lokpal can hold office till the age of 70 or for 5 years whichever is earlier
c) PM comes with in the jurisdiction of Lokpal.
A) a, b
B) b, c
C) c, a
D) All
Ans D
QUES- a) The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015, allows for juveniles 16 years or
older to be tried as adults for heinous offenses like rape and murder.
b) India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which mandates that all children
under the age of 18 years be treated equal.
Which of the above statements correct?
A. a only
B. b only
C. Both a and b
D. Neither a nor b
ANS C
Ques- Which of the following is correct regarding special leave petition?
a. Under Special Leave the Supreme Court and High courts may, in its discretion, grant special leave to
appeal from any judgment.
b. It will not apply to any judgment, determination, sentence or order passed or made by any court or
tribunal constituted by or under any law relating to the Armed Forces.
A. a only
B. b only
C. Both
D. None
Ans B

Page 38

Ques- The dharma and Rita depict a central Idea of ancient vedic civilization of India. In this context,
consider the following statements :
1.
2.
Dharma was a conception of obligations and of the discharge of ones duties to oneself and to others.
Rita was the fundamental moral law governing the functioning of the universe and all it contained.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
1 only.
2 only.
Both 1 and 2.
Neither 1 nor 2.
Ans C
International
Ques- Which of the following is correctly matched?
a. Chahabar :
b. Gwadar
:
c. Hambantota :
A.
B.
C.
D.
Iran
Pakistan
Srilanka
a, b
b, c
c, a
All
Ans D
Ques- Which of the following is correct regarding Nairobi ministerial meet of WTO?
a) An unanimous reaffirmation of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) has occurred.
b) WTO has recognised the SSM, a long-standing demand of developing nations, allows countries to
temporarily raise tariffs to deal with surging imports and subsequent price falls.
A) a only
B) b only
C) Both
D) None
Economy
Ques- Which among the following is not part of JAM trinity?
A) Bank account
B) Aadhar Card
C) Monetary support
D) Mobile Number
Page 39

Ans C
Ques- Which of the following is part of proposed Insolvency and bankruptcy bill?
a) decision to liquidate a company will have to be reached within 180 days.
b) setting up of an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to regulate insolvency professionals and
agencies.
A) a only
B) b only
C) Both
D) None
Ans C
Ques- Which among the following is correct regarding financial stability report?
a. It is published by finance ministry
b. It is published twice in a year
c. Dec 2015 report titled as Indian economy resilient but no room for complacency
A. a, b
B. b only
C. b, c
D. All
Anc B
Ques- Which of the following statements are correct regarding Mines and minerals amendment act, 2015?
a) The Bill creates a new category of mining license i.e. the prospecting license-cum-mining lease, which is
a two stage-concession for the purpose of undertaking prospecting operations, followed by mining
operations.
b) For all minerals other than coal, lignite and atomic minerals, mining leases shall be granted for a period of
50 years.
A) a only
B) b only
C) Both
D) None
Ans C

Page 40

India and World

Ques- Which of the following is not between India and Nepal?
A) Raxual
B) Birgunj
C) Lipu lekh
D) Nathu la
Ans D
Ques- Which of the following is correct regarding AIIB?
a. It has 57 members till now
b. It has authorised capital of $50 billion
c. US and Japan are members of AIIB
A.
B.
C.
D.
a, b
b, c
c, a
All
Ans A
Science and Tech

Ques- Which of the following is not correctly matched?
A) Tarapur
:
Maharastra
B) Kaiga
:
Karnataka
C) Kundankulam :
Andhra Pradesh
D) All are correctly matched
Ans D

Page 41
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