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Page 1

NATIONAL EVENTS
Maharastra ATS caught three before joining IS
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) detained three Hyderabad-based young men in Nagpur
for allegedly trying to leave the country with the intention of joining the terrorist outfit, Islamic State
(IS).
Three were held after the Telangana police informed that they would try to board a flight to Srinagar
from Nagpur.
Of the three, two are engineering students and were among the four caught in August, 2014 in Kolkata,
while attempting to cross into Bangladesh to join the IS.
In total 25 men are believed to have joined IS from India, at-least six of them have died till now.
PMs visit will start a series of engagements with Pakistan
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Lahore and talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif put a seal
on a series of engagements that will begin with a meeting between Foreign Secretaries S. Jaishankar
and Aizaz Chaudhury likely around January 15-17 in Islamabad.
While many of the discussions on the meeting that will start the new comprehensive dialogue have
been going back and forth between Islamabad and New Delhi for two weeks now, the Prime Ministers
gave the green signal for the talks to be held at the earliest.
During their meeting, the Foreign Secretaries will take up the issues of the comprehensive dialogue
under their purview, like peace and security and Jam- mu and Kashmir.
They will also work out a schedule for the Home Secretaries, Commerce Secretaries, Culture and
Tourism Secretaries to meet to discuss others including Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage, Tulbul Navigation
Project, counter-terrorism, narcotics control and humanitarian issues and religious tourism.
They will also discuss the possible dates for talks between National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and
Gen. (retd.) Janjua who will focus on terrorism.
The NSA talks will likely be held in Delhi, as that was the venue when they were can- celled in August
2015.
In addition, pending talks between the Director-General of Military Operations may be scheduled.
Relation between mind and juvenile legislation
Rajya Sabha cleared the Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill that allows juveniles between ages 16 and
18 years who are charged with heinous offences to be tried as adults.
Neuroscience was conspicuously absent from this debate. Globally, juvenile justice policies are
increasingly informed by developments in brain science that probe questions of culpability and
blameworthiness of adolescent offenders.
As per Indias Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2000, the age of understanding
is fixed at 18 years. And so, legally, any individual beyond that age could be held fully responsible for
his actions.
However, neuro-scientific developments in the past decade prove that brain development continues till
the person is well into his twenties.
According to available neuro-scientific data, the frontal lobe, especially the prefrontal cortex, is among
the last parts of the brain to fully mature.

Page 2

The frontal lobes are responsible for impulse control, in charge of decision-making, judgment and
emotions and therefore crucial when fixing culpability in the case of juvenile delinquency.
Further, we now know conclusively that teenagers tend to be impulsive and prone to mood swings
because the limbic system which processes emotions is still developing.
The parts of the brain that are crucial for processing information about specific events, and making
careful decisions based on them such as applying the brakes on high-risk behaviour are severely
compromised.
n the other hand, the same stress pushes the amygdala, the emotional hub of the brain that is involved
in fear, anxiety and aggression, in the opposite direction by making its neurons grow bigger and
stronger.
This may be relevant in light of reports that a significant proportion of juveniles committing crimes in
India come from economically and socially deprived backgrounds.
Juveniles in conflict with the law are more capable of change given the fact that their brains are still
learning.
Honest efforts made towards rehabilitation including visits by a mental health professional threefour times a month, will have a significant positive impact on them.
Odd- even scheme in Delhi from Jan 1
The stage is set for the enforcement of odd-even scheme, despite mixed reviews about its two-hour
trial run.
As many as 200 teams of Civil Defence volunteers will be deployed at as many locations, while 45
teams of the Delhi Transport Corporation 29 teams of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and 15 teams
of the DIMTS have been formed to ensure minimal inconvenience and effective enforcement of the
scheme.
Violating the schemes provisions, as has been announced earlier, will lead to a Rs.2,000 on-the-spot
fine.
Restrictions based on the odd-even rule will also apply at parking lots across the city.
Air quality in the Capital saw a slight improvement during the day, but by evening, levels of harmful
particulate matter were higher than that recorded on a day before.
As of evening, the Delhi government said there had not been much difference in the air quality.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Fore-Casting and Research (SAFAR) of the
Union Ministry of Earth Science, the level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) fell sharply from 8 a.m.
to 2 p.m. about 10 per cent. However, it rose again during the afternoon.
Though it is too premature to comment on the policys effectiveness, the best case scenario for the 15day experiment would be a 15 per cent fall in air pollution.
The transport sector contributes about 40 per cent to the total man-made emissions and about 10 per
cent to dust.
After planning commission, National development council to be scrapped now
After the Planning Commission, the Narendra Modi-led government is set to bring down the curtains
on another Nehruvian legacy: the National Development Council (NDC).
After getting the Cabinets approval, Mr. Modi will take up the resolution with the Chief Ministers at
a meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog.
This will be on the lines of a discussion Mr. Modi had with the Chief Ministers at the first meeting of
this council about a year ago for replacing the Planning Commission with the NITI Aayog.

Page 3

World Bank help for Nai-Manzil scheme
The Union government and the World Bank signed a $50-million credit agreement for a project aimed
at helping young people from minority communities complete their education and improve their
employment opportunities.
The Nai Manzil Scheme is designed as an integrated education and training programme that provides
youth from minority communities skills needed for different tasks in a rapidly changing world.
Interventions under this project will support the Nai Manzil Scheme in improving the employability
and performance of minority youth in the labour market.
Around 20 per cent of those between 17 and 35 years of age from minority groups such as Muslims,
Parsees, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, and Sikhs are out of the labour force, according to the World
Bank.
SC appointed Justice Lodha committee for reforms in BCCI is ready with

report
Giving final touches to the Supreme Court-appointed committees report on reforms in the BCCI and
the Indian cricket administration, the former Chief Justice of India, R.M. Lodha, said the theme of the
report remains the purity of the game.
Justice Lodha, the chairperson of the three- member committee, said the report would be first filed in
the Supreme Court Registry on January 4.
The report may change the destiny of the game and its administration for the better.
The report culminates the panels exhaustive investigations into how the game is run in the country
and what could be done to ensure that transparency and accountability is the rule and not the exception
in the administration of cricket in India.
LPG refill payment will be online by the end of 2016
Describing 2016 as the year of the LPG consumer, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas said that
one of the initiatives aimed at making their lives simpler will be online payment facility for LPG refill
by the end of the year.
Government also came up with 1906 helpline for LPG leaks, At the moment, each oil marketing
company has a separate helpline for gas leaks.
With 1906, consumers will have a single, short number that they can dial to receive prompt help.
Every year, around 5 lakh women die because of indoor pollution caused by the use of wood or gobar
as fuel.
In addition, thousands of people fall ill, adding to their medical expenditure.
The government is pushing for supplying cleaner fuel like LPG to as many households as possible.
While the aim is to have an LPG connection in every household, the target he set is that 70 per cent
would be covered by the end of 2018.
New Plan for StartUps in India
PM in his Mann ki Baat program announced a new programme for start ups Start Up India.
Mr. Modi decided to frame a new nomenclature to refer to the diferently abled people as divyang.
PM also lauded a mason in Madhya Pradesh for donating free labour for building more than 100 toilets
in his district.

Page 4

Prime Minister continues to be the most digitally engaged world leader, sparking four times the
number of conversations around his Facebook page than U.S. President Barack Obama.
Home Minister says that IS failed in India due to strong family values
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that global terror outfit Islamic State has failed in its attempts
to establish roots in India due to strong family values in the society which act as deterrent to
radicalisation.
Life values of the country teach tolerance to the people. The values also teach not to discriminate of
the basis of caste, religion and sect.
Highlighting the importance of education Home Minister said that education is a solution to
unemployment.
He also said Only knowledge of letters is not sufficient. We should have commitment to our values.
We should have tolerance; then only problems like these plaguing the world and the country can be
sorted out.
No LPG subsidy for those who have more than 10 lakhs income
The government has decided that the benefit of the LPG subsidy will not be available for LPG
consumers if the consumer or his/her spouse had a taxable income of more than Rs. 10,00,000/- during
the previous financial year.
t present, all households are entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2 kg at the subsidised rate of Rs. 419.26. The
market price is Rs. 608 a cylinder.
There are 16.35 crore LPG consumers in the country, according to the government, of whom 14.78
crore receive the subsidy directly in their bank accounts.
Such a decision will likely affect at least 60 lakh people, if one were to go only by the number of
people who filed their returns in the governments e-filing portal.
The government had also launched a scheme for people to give up their subsidies so that the less
privileged would benefit. So far, 57.50 lakh LPG consumers have opted out.
Different sources of pollution
Delhi is gearing up for the odd-even scheme to check vehicular pollution, but road dust, burning of
biomass and municipal solid waste, and industrial stacks contribute a far greater share of the city's air
pollution, according to a study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur.
The draft report found that particulate matter (PM) pollution from road dust, from various sources, was
the highest in both categories: PM10 and PM2.5. Road dust contributed 56% of all PM10 pollution
while it was 38% for PM2.5.
According to the same report, vehicular pollution from trucks, cars and two vehicles made up 9%-20%
of the particulate matter pollution depending on whether it was summer or winter.
Other key contributors to pollution are burning of bio-mass (17%-26%), municipal solid waste (6%7%) and secondary particulate matter that could range from 25%-30%, according to the report.
Andhra Pradesh government and Microsoft signed MOU
Seeking to improve use of Information Communication Technology, drive digital inclusion and
provide better citizen services, Andhra Pradesh government signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with Microsoft India.

Page 5

According to the MoU, Microsoft India will provide technical knowledge to the A.P. government and
support in building three proof- of-concept (PoC) solutions by applying Microsoft Azure Machine
Learning and Advanced Visualization method in the fields of education, agriculture and eCitizen
services.
The PoC solutions will be built and deployed to address specific problems within each of the fields to
achieve better outcomes for the State.
e company will also deliver an exclusive workshop to the governments key administrative officers on
improving productivity by using Microsoft technologies.
UNESCO establish ties with Ramakrishna Mission in areas of non-violence,

peace
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UN- ESCO) has established an
official relationship with the Ramakrishna Mission in the areas of inter-cultural dialogue, social
cohesion and for promoting peace and non-violence, according to the latest governing body report of
the Mission.
The bonding between the Paris-based world body and the over 100-year old Ramakrishna Mission
started in 2002 with the former funding certain projects.
In 2012, the UNESCO set up a chair on Inclusive Adapted Physical Education and Yoga at the
Coimbatore campus of the Vivekananda University.
Founded in 1945, the UN- ESCOs mission is to contribute to building of peace, eradication of poverty,
sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture,
communication and information.
The organisation found common cause with the Ramakrishna Mission in many respects.
Liquor-Free kerala policy upheld by Supreme Court
Upholding the controversial Liquor-Free Kerala policy restricting the serving of liquor to five-star
hotels in the State, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the State governments be given a free
hand to curtail or ban public consumption of alcohol to protect public health and nutrition.
The policy led to the closure of over 400 bars and restricted liquor availability to nearly 20 five-star
hotels.
The consumption of tobacco as well as liquor is now undeniably deleterious to the health of
humankind. Vulnerable persons, either because of age or proclivity towards intoxication or as a feature
of peer pressure, more often than not succumb to this temptation.
Banning public consumption of alcohol, cannot but be seen as a positive step towards bringing down
the consumption of alcohol, or as preparatory to prohibition
Foreign funds plan share in Indias National Investment and Infrastructure

Fund
Sovereign and pension funds from Russia, Singapore, the U.K. and the UAE are among those to
express interest in the Rs. 40,000-crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund
The government will invest Rs. 20,000 crore in the Fund that will build greenfield and brownfield
projects and revive stalled projects. The remaining Rs. 20,000 crore is expected to come from private
investors. The governments share in the corpus will not exceed 49 per cent.

Page 6

The Governing Council of the Fund has decided to complete by January-end the selection process of
the Chief Executive of the investment management company responsible for taking investment
decisions of its corpus
Election Commission to automatic delete voters after death
Election Commission of India announced that it will launch a nationwide programme to link the server
of Registrar of Birth and Death of each district with its server for automatic deletion of the voter
from the electoral rolls on issuance of the death certificate.
The beginning of the programme would be made in Punjab to tackle the malice of duplicate and invalid
voters, the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said.
Work for NATGRID will start again
The Union government is set to make an aggressive effort to accomplish one of the most ambitious
intelligence projects in recent memory, which failed to take of during United Progressive Alliance rule.
Conceived in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is a
centralised agency which stores sensitive personal information on citizens from almost two dozen
agencies to be made available for counter-terror investigations.
The government will appoint a senior serving government official, in all likelihood one with an
intelligence back-ground, to head NATGRID, with a mandate to operationalise it as a federal counterterrorism centre.
The grid was to provide an intelligence database that would have networked 21 sets of data sources to
provide quick and secure access of information to about 10 intelligence and law-enforcement agencies
including the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and R&AW.
For proper welfare benefits country needs to grow faster: FM
Union Finance Minister said that India needed to grow by an additional 1-1.5 per cent for the
government to bear the burden of wage increase and welfare benefits.
He said that India is growing at a good pace of 7.5 per cent at a time when the global economy is
experiencing a slowdown, which is appreciable in itself; but we need to increase our growth by
another 1-1.5 per cent.
the Centre would have to bear a burden of Rs. 1.02 lakh crore on account of the implementation of the
Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, besides the burden from the one rank one pension for
veterans.
Jnanpith award for 2015 went to Raghuveer Chaudhary
Eminent Gujarati novelist, poet and critic Raghuveer Chaudhary has been chosen for the prestigious
Jnanpith Award for 2015.
Mr. Chaudhary is the recipient of the 51st Jnanpith Award.
Instituted in 1961, the award by the Bharatiya Jnanpith recognises Indian literatteurs who write in one
of the 22 Indian languages listed in Schedule Eight of the Constitution.
Born in 1938 in Gandhinagar, the writer is a Gandhian and his works are largely influenced by literary
figures such as Govardhanram Tripathi, Kaka Kalelkar, Suresh Joshi, Ramdarash Mishra and G.N.
Dickey.

Page 7

INTERNATIONAL
TURKEY and CHINA to jointly manufacture missile defence system
As tensions in West Asia and Ukraine rose in recent years, Turkey moved to jointly manufacture a
sophisticated missile defence system. The $3.4 billion plan would have given Turkeys military more
firepower and laid the foundation to start exporting missiles.
But Turkey abruptly abandoned the plan just weeks ago in the face of strong opposition from its allies
in NATO.
Their main opposition is based upon the loss of military secrets to China.
As one of its highest economic and foreign policy goals, China has laid out an extensive vision for
close relations with Turkey and dozens of countries that were loosely connected along the Silk Road
more than 1,000 years ago by land and sea- borne trade.
But Beijings effort to revive ancient trade routes, a plan known as the Belt and Road Initiative, is
causing geopolitical strains, with countries increasingly worried about becoming too dependent on
China.
First meet of Non- political Tamil Peoples council in Srilanka
Even as the much-awaited meeting between Tamil National Alliance (TNA)s chief R. Sampanthan
and the Northern Provinces Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran took place on Christmas day, the Tamil
Peoples Council (TPC), which is headed by the latter, has decided to go ahead with its meeting in
Jaffna.
The TPC, which had its inaugural meeting a week ago, is expected to come out with its future course
of action.
The meeting between Mr. Sampanthan and Mr. Wigneswaran would not have any bearing on the
recently formed body, of the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), a constituent
of the TNA.
This was the first occasion in recent times that the Northern Provinces Chief Minister had a one-onone meeting with the TNA chief.
End of Chinas contentious one child policy
China officially ended its controversial one child policy, allowing couples to have a second child amid
deepening demographic crisis of shrinking workforce and ageing population in the worlds secondlargest economy.
Chinese lawmakers passed a historic decision allowing all couples to have two children from January
1, ending its over three-and-half decades old policy that prevented over 400 million births in the
country.
World War II sex slave issue between Japan and South Korea to be resolved
South Korea and Japan reached an agreement on Monday on their dispute over wartime sex slaves that
has soured relations for decades, as Tokyos leader hailed a new era in ties with Seoul.
Japan offered a heartfelt apology and a one-billion yen ($8.3 million) payment to Korean women
forced into Japanese military brothels during World War-II.

Page 8

The fate of the 46 surviving South Korean comfort women is a hugely emotional issue in South
Korea.
As part of the agreement Seoul will try to relocate a statue symbolising comfort women which currently
stands in front of the Japanese embassy through consultations with relevant NGOs.
Strategically important Ramadi area taken away from IS
Iraqi forces said on Monday they had seized a strategic government complex in the western city of
Ramadi from the Islamic State (IS) after a fierce weeklong battle, put- ting them on the verge of a
crucial victory following a brutal seven- month occupation of the city by the extremist group.
The loss of Ramadi, the capital and most populous city of the western Iraqi province of Anbar, would
be the most significant in a string of recent defeats for the Islamic State, which has occupied a large
stretch of Iraq and Syria since the middle of last year.
The seizure of the government complex the last major redoubt of Islamic State fighters in Ramadi
was a strategic and symbolic victory after days of fighting.
Iran moves closer to nuclear deal Implementation Day
Iran had entered the final days of completing its commitments under a landmark international deal to
curb its atomic programme after it shipped low-enriched uranium to Russia.
Irans atomic energy agency said 11 tons of uranium materials were sent to Russia on Monday, a move
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said was significant progress under the July 14 nuclear agreement
between Iran and six major powers.
The exchange was one of three major measures Iran had to take to fulfil its end of the nuclear deal
Implementation Day when almost a decade of nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be lifted seems
to be near
Chinas counter to U.S. strategy
In the year gone by, China, the worlds second-largest economy, had answers to everything thrown at
it by the U.S. the known global hegemon.
If the Americans focused on their Asia pivot a doctrinal shift, geared toward the containment of
China through the concentration of forces in the western Pacific the Chinese did not waste any time
in building a credible Pacific-centred nuclear and conventional deterrents in 2015.
This has included reinforcement of its nuclear second-strike capability by mounting JL-2 missiles, with
a range of 7,350 km, on its JIN class submarines.
Russia was a major partner in building the Chinese military deterrent. Beijing concluded with Moscow
a decisive S-400 air defence deal.
The contract nullifies threats by fighter jets or ballistic missiles by the U.S. or Japan if batteries of the
S-400 missiles are deployed on the mainland or Chinas artificial islands, built atop coral clusters, in
the South China Sea.
After protracted negotiations, the Russians are also supplying Su-35 fighter jets to China. The
acquisition of 24 Su-35 planes would greatly extend Chinas reach over the South China Sea.
The bonding between China and Russia is being reinforced through an extensive energy relationship.
With smog resulting from coal-fired power plants choking Beijing and its surrounding industrial belt,
China is trying to beat the clock by turning to clean energy in the form of natural gas, nuclear, and
renewable energy.
A similar undertaking is expected shortly though the western Altai route, thus making Moscow
Beijings core energy security partner.

Page 9

Both China and Russia are working together on undermining the hegemony of the U.S. dollar. The
two have already accelerated trading in the Chinese yuan and the Russian ruble. The currency swap
tool has significantly eased pain inflicted upon Moscow through sanctions imposed after the crisis in
Ukraine.
Trading in local currencies, exemplified by the two partners, is now being reinforced in an institutional
manner by two powerful non-western financial entities The New Development Bank (NDB) of the
Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping and the China-led Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB).
A $40-billion Silk Road Fund, the AIIB, the NDB of the BRICS, and Chinas own state-run policy
banks will provide the liquidity so that, instead of depending on the West, new growth engines are
established along the New Silk Road.
China has been conscious that its Belt and Road initiative can more easily fly if it has the cooperation
not only of Russia, which will take care of the western flank, but also of its eastern, South Asian flank,
through a simultaneous engagement of India and Pakistan as well.
Judgment in the Bangladeshs blogger killing case
A speedy trial tribunal in Dhaka sentenced two to death and one to life imprisonment for killing blogger
Ahmed Rajib Haider, three years after his brutal murder in 2013.
The killing of Rajib, an architect by profession, was the first in a series of killings in Bangladesh.
The verdict pronounced various prison sentences for five others, including banned Ansarullah Bangla
Teams chief Mufti Jashim Uddin Rahmani, who has been named the instigator in the murder.
Ahmed Rajib Haidar, also an activist at the Shahbagh Ganojagoran Moncha, was hacked to death on
February 15, 2013 near his home in Dhakas Mirpur. He was the first of five bloggers killed.
After a good year another hitch in relations between U.S. and Iran
Irans President Has- san Rouhani has denounced possible new U.S. sanctions on his country which
could jeopardise a hard-won nuclear deal due to be finally implemented within weeks.
In the five months since the nuclear deal was struck, Iran has conducted two missile tests, one of which
state media reported at the time, on October 11. Iran also recently aired television footage of an
underground missile base.
The actions angered the United States and a United Nations panel found earlier this month that the
tests breached previous resolutions aimed at stopping the Islamic republic from developing missiles
capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
But the threat of new sanctions the nuclear deal is due to lift past measures that froze Iran out of the
global financial system and crippled its oil exports brought already worsening relations to a head.

Page 10
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INDIA AND THE WORLD

Hike in visa fee to be taken up with US
India will soon schedule discussions with the U.S. to raise its concerns over the Obama
administrations recent decision to hike visa fees.
India will also consider retaliatory measures and even explore the possibility of dragging the U.S. to
the World Trade Organisations dispute settlement body, but only if talks fail to amicably resolve the
issue.
Issues related to the tightening of the visa and immigration regime and the fear-mongering about a
large number of American jobs allegedly going to foreigners have been part of the rhetoric before
elections in the U.S.
Industry bodies FICCI and Nasscom had termed Americas decision to double the fees for certain
categories of H1B and L1 visas to $4,000 and $4,500 respectively as discriminatory because it
will mainly impact Indian IT firms.
H1B and L1 visas are temporary work visas for skilled professionals.
India is the largest user of H1B visas (67.4 per cent of the total 161,369 H1B visas issued in FY14
went to Indians) and is also among the largest users of L1 visas (Indians received 28.2 per cent of the
71,513 L1 visas issued in FY14).
Indias trusted partner once again becomes key defence partner
After being in the dark for several years on Indias geopolitical canvas, Russia is making an emphatic
comeback as Indias trusted and strategic partner and is on course to reclaiming the position as top
supplier of defence hardware.
Strangely, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seen as pro-America, who is making it happen.
While both sides concluded 16 agreements across sectors, the most visible indica- tors of the renewed
vigour in the partnership are in the defence sector.
Russia still accounts for 70 per cent of Indian arsenal, but has in recent years been overtaken by Israel
and the U.S. as the biggest hardware suppliers on an annual basis.
Russia, however, still is the largest supplier due to spares and support for hardware in the inventory
and the committed liabilities for programmes under way.
It is no coincidence that the countrys first major project under the governments ambitious Make in
India will be the production of Kamov-226T utility helicopters in India.
Under the agreement, 200 Ka-226T helicopters will be built in India for which Russian helicopters
will partner with Indias Reliance group to execute the program.
Nuclear summit in 2016 to be next destination for India and Pakistan PM

meet
U.S. President Barack Obama has invited both Prime Ministers for the Nuclear Security Summit in
2016.
Though no formal announcements have been made, it is almost certain that Mr. Modi and Mr. Sharif
will be attending it.
Nuclear security remains a lingering concern for the U.S policy for South Asia particularly.

Page 11

Leading banks from Iran will open branches in India
Irans leading banks will soon open branches in India to energise commercial ties between New Delhi
and Tehran.
The decision was amongst a slew of commercial measures taken by the India-Iran Joint Commission
that met for the first time since Iran and the P-5+1 grouping struck a deal to end sanctions on Iran.
A major beneficiary of normalisation of banking channels between two sides will be India which has
just begun settling more than $6.5 billion energy-related pending payment, with Iran.
Two countries also dis- cussed measures to boost logistic services, including allowing freight
forwarding companies (numbering around 5,500 in India) to take advantage of the rupee payment
mechanism and the insurance cover that are currently available only to exporters and importers.
India and Iran have decided to hold preliminary discussions for a preferential trade agreement (PTA).
The PTA is meant to ensure that both the countries will cut or eliminate duties on certain mutually
agreed products to increase bilateral trade. A Joint Working Group will hold meetings to look at the
feasibility of the PTA.

Page 12

ECONOMY
Kaushik Basu indicates some changes in Indias growth forecast
Kaushik Basu, the Chief Economist of the World Bank, indicated that Indias growth forecast may
witness some changes in the banks January review.
The Central Statistics office (CSO) has released data indicating growth in the vicinity of 7.5 per cent
for 2015-16, which is less than what was projected in the last Economic Survey.
In this years Economic Survey, the Finance Ministry had projected GDP growth of 8.1-8.5 per cent.
As of October, the World Banks forecast for India was retained at 7.5 per cent for the current financial
year.
Prof. Basu, who also was the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India till 2012, said the
governments failure to get the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill passed may have an impact on
the GDP growth projection of the World Bank.
This is the first time India is leading major global economies in terms of growth forecast. India is
dominating for a couple of reasons.
China is growing below 7 per cent, Brazil and Russia are in recession. The general mood is positive
for India which is helping the investment climate.
Government pauses software patenting norms
The Indian Patent office has put in abeyance new guidelines on examination of computer-related
inventions (CRIs) such as software programmes.
After the guidelines amending relevant provisions were out in August, several associations strongly
opposed the move saying the norms are detrimental to the domestic IT sector.
According to the Section 3(k) of the Indian Patents Act, a mathematical or business method or a
computer programme per se or algorithms are not inventions.
Experts said the guidelines issued in August could place the Indian software industry at the mercy of
multinational corporations.
In India, over 95 per cent of these irregular patents have been granted to foreign entities.
Indias current account deficit to be close to 1.5 percent of GDP
Indias current account deficit (CAD) remains in check and is expected to be lesser than $25 billion
this fiscal.
India is a large beneficiary of lower crude oil prices, and FDI inflows remain on a relatively strong
footing and help to offset the portfolio out- flows seen in recent months.
Indias CAD narrowed to 1.6 per cent of GDP at $8.2 billion in the second quarter ended September.
It is, however, higher than 1.2 per cent for the April-June quarter of this fiscal.
Kelkar panel called for new ppp policy and amendment to anti-corruption
law
An expert panel led by former Finance Secretary, Vijay Kelkar, has called for swift amendments to
the anti-corruption law and an endorsement from the Parliament for a new policy for public private

Page 13

partnerships or PPPs that balances risk-sharing between private and public partners, in order to spur
infrastructure building.
The report, said rebooting PPPs is an urgent priority to take advantage of the historical conjunction of
the countrys infrastructure needs and the availability of long-term funding, adding it is critical for
India to make the leap from a low-income country to a high-income one in two to three decades, else
it risks falling into a middle income trap.
Report has also asked to discourage the Swiss Challenge the for auctioning infrastructure projects,
under which any bidder can ofer to improve upon a project proposal submitted by another player.
This model has been adopted by the government since July to redevelop 400 railway stations.
The panel called for urgent changes to the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988 as well as
governments vigilance and conduct rules in order to distinguish genuine errors in decision-making
by public servants from acts of corruption, the panel has emphasised the need to guard officers against
witch hunt while taking immediate measures to punish malafide actions.
Indian post will start services as payment bank from March 2017
India Post, which was among the eleven applicants to have received approval from RBI for payment
banks in August, will start its service by March 2017.
About 40 international financial conglomerates including World Bank, Barclays and ICICI have shown
interest to partner with the Postal Department for the payment bank.
The Department has 1,55,015 post offices across the country, of which 1,39,144 are in rural areas.
It plans to float a wholly- owned subsidiary to open payment bank.
Banks should focus on first generation entreprenuers
Citing Dr. B. R. Ambedkars belief in industrialisation as a means for uplifting the backward classes
from a vicious circle of poverty, Mr. Modi said that the NDA government is committed to facilitating
skills and finance for Dalit youth to become job creators instead of job seekers.
Nearly 80 lakh people have been granted loans worth Rs.50,000 crore without any collateral under the
PMs Mudra scheme in its first eight months. Mudra is an acronym for Micro Units Development and
Refinance Agency.
Most of these beneficiaries are Dalits, other backward castes, scheduled tribes and some women
running small businesses. They create two, three jobs each and together such enterprises employ 14
crore people but were not able to access bank credit,
2015: Reforms, a retreat and resurgence for banks
The government launched a host of reforms, christened as Indradanush, aimed to improve governance
in public sector banks like separating the post of Chairman and Managing Directors, proposed the
formation of Bank Board Bureau for top level appointments and announced Rs.70,000 crore capital
infusion in public sector bank over four years.
Two new full service banks, IDFC Bank and Bandhan Bank started operation during the second half
of the year. These banks received in-principle licences from RBI in 2014 which is the first universal
bank licence granted in more than a decade
The banking regulator allowed banks to acquire 51 per cent or more stake in companies defaulting
even after restructuring of their loans. The norm, known as Strategic debt restructuring, was aimed to
ensure promoters have skin the game. The move is expected to improve repayment culture of the
borrowers.

Page 14

The central bank entered into a historical agreement with the government in March this year over how
to tackle price rise which has pinched the consumers for many years. According to the framework,
RBI has the explicit mandate to have an inflation target, for which it is accountable.
The RBI on December 17, 2015 issued guidelines for the computation of the benchmark lending rate
using the marginal cost of funds method. Banks will have to implement the new Marginal Cost of
Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) with effect from April 1, 2016.
The latest norms hold the potential of improving the efficiency of monetary policy transmission for
new borrowings, and will impact new borrowers immediately. They will benefit in a declining interest
rate scenario and take a dent when interest rates are rising; existing borrowers with floating-rate
liabilities will bear the impact at a lag of up to one year
Global north-south corridor
In a bid to boost trade with former Soviet Union countries, Iran and Russia, the commerce ministry
has pitched for popularisation of International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as an
alternative route through Tehran that significantly reduces costs and travel time.
The move comes at a time when the government has adopted a market diversification strategy to help
Indian exporters reduce their dependence on traditional markets in the West where there is currently
not much demand and instead gain more access in growing markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America
not tapped as much previously.
The INSTC is a multi-modal route (ship, road and rail) from Mumbai to the Iranian port of Bander
Abbas then via Tehran to Baku (Azerbaijan) and further to Astrakhan, Moscow and St Petersburg in
Russia. Alternatively, there is also a road route from Iran to former Soviet Union countries such as
Azerbaijan.
Patent rules to b amended
The Centre plans to amend patent rules to speed up patent filing and approvals to give a boost to the
governments ambitious slogans of Make in India and Startup India,
the Union Government is also planning to outsource the job of patent agents to about 1,000 professors
in various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country.
The Centre is also in the process of bringing out a new national policy for Intellectual Property Rights
(IPR), which will be one of the finest in the world. The new IPR policy will be placed before the
cabinet for approval in a months time. The government had created a think tank to provide
recommendations and draft the IPR Policy.
Christine Lagarde says world will not see good growth in 2016
IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, said the prospect of rising interest rates in the U.S. and an
economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic
vulnerability worldwide.
In addition, growth in global trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is
posing problems for economies based on these, while the financial sector in many countries still has
weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets, Ms. Lagarde added.
The U.S. Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade earlier this month
and made clear that was a tentative beginning to a gradual tightening cycle.
There are potential spill- over effects with the prospect of increasing interest rates there already
having contributed to higher financing costs for some borrowers, including in emerging and
developing markets.

Page 15

Union government turns its focus on falling exports
With merchandise exports falling for an unprecedented 12th consecutive month in November, the
government is working on a slew of measures to prop up export-oriented institutions, including Special
Economic Zones (SEZ) in the forthcoming Union Budget.
The Centre has called for a meeting (likely on January eight) of representatives of all the State
governments for the first time to expedite the notification of a separate foreign trade policy for each
state and to push through infrastructure creation measures that can support exports.
The Union Budget is likely to have a package for SEZs to ensure they are the focal point of the Make
In India initiative.
In addition, to encourage domestic manufacturing, the Budget would address the inverted duty
structure (where the duty on inputs/raw materials / components is greater than that on the finished
product) on several items, including on electronic hardware.
The inverted duty structure leads to higher imports of finished products.
The Budget may also ease guidelines for the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of
Exports (ASIDE) scheme to enable the commerce ministry to take up more projects.
Interest subvention (of three per cent) is also likely to be extended to large manufacturers in some
segments like engineering and merchant exporters in sectors such as carpets and agriculture.
Increase in the budget for implementation of grid-connected solar rooftop

systems
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved an increase in the budget for implementation
of grid-connected solar rooftop systems to Rs.5,000 crore from Rs.600 crore up to the financial year
2019-2020.
This will support installation of 4,200 MW solar rooftop systems in the country in next five years.
The capital subsidy of 30 per cent will be provided for general category States and Union Territories
and 70 per cent for special category States, including Uttarak- hand, Himachal Pradesh, Jam- mu &
Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and those in the North-East.
There will be no subsidy for commercial and industrial establishments in the private sector since they
are eligible for other benefits such as accelerated depreciation, custom duty concessions, excise duty
exemptions and tax holiday.
The capacity of 4,200 MWp will come up through the residential, government, social and institutional
sector, according to the statement, adding industrial and commercial sector will be encouraged for
installations without subsidy.
Core sector registers sharpest decline in a decade
Registering the steepest fall in over a decade, the core sector output in November 2015 shockingly
shrank 1.3 per cent compared to the same month a year ago, indicating a possible hiccup in the nascent
economic recovery and a downturn in industrial production.
The industrial output in October 2015 had recorded a five-year high of 9.8 per cent year-on-year
growth on account of a favorable base even as October 2014 registered a negative growth 2.7 per cent.
Significantly, ever since the release of the ongoing series of core sector data in April 2005, the overall
core sector has been in negative growth territory only on four other occasions in July 2005 (-0.3 per
cent), October 2013 (-0.1 per cent), March 2015 (-0.1 per cent), April 2015 (-0.4 per cent).

Page 16

The output of eight core industries that comprise nearly 38 per cent of the weight of items included
in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted in November owing to a fall in production of
crude oil (-3.3 per cent), steel (-8.4 per cent), cement (-1.8 per cent) and natural gas (-3.9 per cent).
Coal production increased by 3.5 per cent while refinery production went up by 2.5 per cent and
fertiliser output rose by 13.5 per cent. Electricity production remained flat in November 2015.
The core industries coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and
electricity had recorded an 8.5 per cent growth in November 2014.
SEBI proposes new norms for Real Estate Investment Trusts
To provide new avenues for raising funds, capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI), proposed fresh norms for the public issue of Real Estate Investment Trusts
(REITs), including cap of 75 per cent allocation to institutional buyers.
SEBI said the proposed norms for the public issuance of REITs relate to appointment of merchant
bankers, disclosures in the offer documents and filing of draft papers, keeping them in the public
domain for at least 21 days.
For an issue made through the book building process or otherwise, the allocation in the public issue
should be maximum 75 per cent to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and at least 25 per cent to
other investors.
Investment manager can allocate up to 60 per cent of the portion available for allocation to QIBs to
anchor investors, subject to certain conditions.
An anchor investor should make an application for at least Rs 10 crore in the public issue and allocation
to such investors should be on a discretionary basis and subject to the minimum of two investors for
allocation up to Rs.250 crore and five such investors for over Rs.250 crore.
In order to better manage public borrowing govt changes its debt strategy
With an aim to better manage public borrowing, government plans to switch Rs 50,000 crore high cost
debt each in year ending March 2017 and 2018 into instruments of longer term maturity.
The objective of the debt management strategy (DMS) is to secure the governments funding at all
times at low cost over the medium /longterm while avoiding excessive risk.
The MTDS is developed for the period 201516 to 201718 based on the outstanding government
market borrowing as on endMarch 2015.
The borrowing cost in the domestic market is expected to be lower in fiscal year 2015-16 due to
reversal in the interest rate cycle.
With an objective to smoothen redemptions, switching of short tenor bonds maturing at proximate
years with long-tenor bonds will be undertaken and is expected to reduce rollover risks.
Central bank has asked for more brick and mortar branches in villages
Indias central bank has asked the lenders to open more brick and mortar branches in villages with no
banking facilities and with a population of more than 5,000.
The banking regulator has asked banks to submit a roadmap on how many branches they will be
opening by 31 March 2017. Banks have to submit the roadmap by end of January 2016.
It has been observed that coverage of banking services in unbanked villages is skewed towards the BC
model and the ratio of branches to BC is very low.
For increasing banking penetration and financial inclusion, brick and mortar branches are an integral
component.

Page 17

This will also enable banks to provide quality financial services and timely support to BC outlets that
would help in sustaining and strengthening the services provided through BCs and also ensure close
supervision of BC operations.
Unprecedented fall in exports worries government
Merchandise exports this fiscal are projected to fall around (-) 16 per cent over the previous financial
year, This will be the second worst export performance since independence.
Only in 1952-53, exports had fared worse when it shrank (-) 18.7 per cent. In the 68 years since
independence, the countrys exports have been in the negative growth territory only on 14 other
occasions.
Shipments during April-November this fiscal had shrunk (-) 18.46 per cent to $174.3 billion from
$213.8 billion during the same period in 2014-15.
Last four months of this financial year that will help reduce the contraction to (-) 16 per cent for 201516.
In value terms, exports with a (-) 16 per cent contraction will end this fiscal at around $260 billion,
the lowest since the shipments broke the $300 billion-mark for the first time in 2011-12 with
$305.96 billion.
However in addition to factors including the weak demand overseas, the fall in commodity prices and
the currency volatility, the exports sector was hurt by the delay on the part of the government to release
the interest subvention amount as well as the high transaction costs.
The government, meanwhile, is working on a slew of measures to prop up export-oriented firms
including Special Economic Zones in the coming Union Budget.
Separately, the Centre has called a meeting (likely on January eight) of all the State governments for
the first time to expedite the notification of a separate foreign trade policy for each state and to push
through infrastructure creation measures that can support exports.
Blueprint for start ups in India to be ready by Jan 2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the blueprint of Start Up India programme which may
include a Startups and Entrepreneur- ship Law to make it easier for setting up new ventures and closing
unviable ones, besides clearing regulatory issues that hamper access to finance.
The government is also seeking to define a new category of business Innovative Start-ups to
distinguish them from micro, small, medium and large enterprises that are built on conventional
business models.
There would port structure be a special for such sup- innovative start-ups, technology including
funding from the government.
In such start-ups, the government, through the domestic venture capital funds, could take a 25 per cent
stake.
Government will leave the due diligence, mentoring and refining of business ideas to the professional
venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds.
As these start-ups gain in scale after two or three years, other investors, including PE and VC funds
could buy back the government venture funds stake.
This would help create a revolving fund to finance such ventures with transformative potential, as the
government can deploy the proceeds from exiting these start-ups to fund other ideas.

Page 18

Rupee is among best performing currencies in 2015
Rupee turned out to be one of the best performers in 2015 among all Asian and BRICS currencies,
excluding yen.
The currencys depreciation of about five per cent against the dollar was less than the losses of most
of its other Asian peers. The Indian rupee fared better in 2014, when it weakened by only two per cent.
However, the rupee fared much better despite a pullout by foreign funds from the emerging markets,
including India, as an interest rate hike was expected from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The currency was stable when the U.S. raised the benchmark interest rate and has actually strengthened
against the dollar since then.
Its Asian counterparts like the Indonesian rupiah weakened by 11.30 per cent and the Thai baht
depreciated 9.5 per cent against the dollar.
Only the Chinese currency fared marginally better, losing only 4.6 per cent.
Among the BRICS nations also the Indian currency fared well. The Brazilian real depreciated 49 per
cent against the dollar while the South African rand declined 34.75 per cent.

Page 19
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SCIENCE AND TECH

IRNSS, GSAT-II and others on agenda of ISRO for 2016
The year 2016 is set to see the national Space programme slowly shift gears towards large satellites,
a heavy-lift launcher and improved Earth observation capabilities.
The Space agency will complete on priority the seven-satellite regional navigation loop, IRNSS, in the
first three months.
On the target later in the year is GSAT-11, which would be the heaviest Indian satellite at four to five
tonnes and packing many more trans- ponders than normal; the biggest so far was about 3.1 tonnes.
Also planned to be tested is a matching launcher to lift spacecraft like it to space: the GSLV-Mark III
heavy-lifter with a limited version satellite.
After a gap of about three years, a host of functional Earth observation (EO or re- mote-sensing)
satellites is lined up.
They include new ones with improved views of Earth as well as those to replace older ones that are in
orbit.
A new EO version called Scatsat is planned, besides continuity missions Re- sourcesat-2A, Oceansat3 series; and Insat-3DR a replacement Met sat.
The old Cartosat-1 series satellites would be replaced.
Chhattisgarh using high zinc rice for better nutritional content
In a bid to mitigate malnutrition in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh, the seeds of high zinc enriched
variety of rice were distributed to farmers here for commercial production.
Chief Minister Raman Singh launched the seeds of new species of paddy, Chhattisgarh Zinc Rice-1
to farmers at the National Farmers Fair which began in Jora village on the outskirts of the capital.
This variety of seeds are also very high yielding.
Various schemes run by agriculture department in co- ordination with Indira Gandhi Agriculture
University have also accelerated growth of agro-sector.
Euro V & VI norms
At present, BS-IV auto fuels are being supplied in over 30 cities, and the rest of the country has BSIII fuels.
Earlier, the government planned the implementation of BS V and BS VI emission norms nationwide
by 2020 and 2024 respectively. However, the government decided to advance the dates.
However, the auto industry opposed the advancement of dates. Though no objections to the
implementation of BS V norms but had opposed the deadline for BS VI norms which were earlier
proposed to be implemented from 2023
Seaweed capsules may do away with insulin injections
Seaweed capsules may lead to an injection-free life for diabetic patients, say researchers who have
developed a novel method to overcome major challenges in pancreatic islet transplantation.
Pancreatic islet transplantation is an effective treatment to dramatically reduce daily insulin doses or
even eliminate dependence on external insulin.

Page 20

A group of researchers developed a novel cryopreservation method that not only helps to protect
pancreatic islets from ice damage but also facilitates real-time assessments of cell viability. Moreover,
this method may reduce transplant rejection and, in turn, decrease use of immunosuppressant drugs,
which can be harmful to patient health.
The novel technique employs a droplet microfluidic device to encapsulate pancreatic islets in hydrogel
made of alginate, a natural polymer extracted from seaweed. These capsules have a unique
microstructure: a porous network and considerable amount of non-freezable water.
Hydrogel capsules with large amounts of non-freezable bound water protect the cells from the ice
damage and reduce the need for cryoprotectants special substances that minimise or prevent
freezing damage and can be toxic in high concentrations
Islet encapsulation reduces the risk of rejection of transplanted cells by the recipient. The hydrogel
capsule allows small molecules to pass through the membrane easily but prevents direct contact
between implanted islets and host cells.
Encapsulation also may prevent an attack on transplants by the autoimmune response that destroy the
patients own islets in the first place.
Barak-8 missile to be tested
The Navy will carry out the maiden test of the long-range Barak-8 surface-to-air missile from INS
Kolkata.
The Barak-8 missile is being developed jointly by India and Israel. While two tests have been
successfully conducted from Israeli ships, this is the first time that the test would be held onboard an
Indian one.
The missile has been designed to defend against a variety of short-to-long-range airborne threats,
including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, drones and projectiles.
A unique fish species is endangered in Telangana
Discriminate fishing may spell doom for Krishna Mystus ( Hemibagrus maydelli ), the king of riverine
fishes in the Krishna.
The species which is called as Ponduga locally, was much in demand since it had a high market value
The giant fish grows about two metres long and weighs about 70 kg, the biggest freshwater fish, and
fetches Rs. 350 a kg. The researchers came to a conclusion after three years of observation along 300
km river stretch in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana state that the fish is found very rarely.
Rare butterfly sighted at Arippa forests
Nature lovers from the Thiruvananthapuram-based Warblers and Waders chanced upon a very rare
Banded Royal-Rachana jalindra (Horsfield) butterfly at the Arippa Ammayambalampacha forests on
the borders of Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram districts.
The Banded Royal was last sighted in these forests 10 years ago.
The colour of the spotted Banded Royals wing was pure white below and a brown band on the upper
side both on the fore and the hind wings. The hind wings were a bit worn out.
The natural habitat of these butterflies is thick forests below 5,000 feet. They usually settled on the
undersides of leaves, are not is not very active flyers, and rarely come to flowers or damp patches.
The one spotted at Arippa was found settling on a leaf along the trekking path. During the camp, 60
species of butterflies were recorded.

Page 21

Barak NG test fired from Indian warship
One of Indias most ambitious and costly efforts to develop a surface-to-air missile system, in
collaboration with Israel, achieved a significant milestone over the last two days with its successful
firings from an Indian naval warship.
The long-range surface-to- air missile (LRSAM) land version is medium-range SAM or MRSAM
is the product of a joint development project of India and Israel.
It is said to be a very advanced SAM that can track and shoot down incoming missiles and other flying
objects with high-level accuracy.
While the LRSAM is for the Navy, the Air Force has an order for the MRSAM and the Army variant
has been recently approved.
Also called Barak NG (next generation), the LRSAM can intercept aerial targets up to a range of 80
km.
It is being codeveloped by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from India
and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of Israel, and will be manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
(BDL).
Smart-phone based 3-D printer will become a reality
Researchers in Taiwan have developed a next generation smartphone-based 3D printer that may cost
just over $100.
The printer employs a photopolymer that uses visible light emitted from a smartphone to cure the resin
instead of the traditional method of using ultraviolet (UV) light or lasers.
The machine starts by placing a coated vat of the speciality resin on top of a smartphone, which cures
the resin onto a metal print-bed as the photopolymer material is released.
The machine uses a z-axis platform to shape the design, and the phone to cure the material as it builds
the object in layers, Digital Trends reported.
This custom app makes it easy to load and print 3D models because the printer and the print
management tool are housed within the same device.
Prof. Jeng hopes to add a scanning feature in the future that would allow users to scan a 3D object by
inserting the phone into the 3D printer and printing up the model with minimal effort.

Page 22

SPORTS
Haryana Hammers and Mumbai Garuda in pro wrestling league final
Haryana Hammers overcame Punjab Royals 4-3 in the semifinal of the Pro Wrestling League at the
Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
In Sundays final, Haryana meets Mumbai Garuda.
Punjab Royals led 2-0 but Haryana Hammers stayed in the hunt through well-contested bouts by
Andriitesey Valeri and Tatyana Kit, both winning by fall.
Even though Jargalsaikhan Chuluunbat of Mongolia regained the lead for Punjab Oksana Herhel
swung the contest in Haryanas favour.
Mumbai Garuda win pro wrestling league
Revanta Mumbai Ga-ruda kept its blemishless record intact by taming a spirited Haryana Hammers 72 to win the Pro Wrestling League title at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The league augurs well for Indian wrestling. Though most of wins went to overseas wrestlers, still in
long run it will improve wrestling in India.
First Indian in Harvard soccer team
Sixteen-year-old Vardhin Manoj, a U.S. citizen by birth, has been offered a place in Harvard University
soccer team and has agreed to join the team as soon as he finishes school.
The 11th grade student of La Costa Canyon High School, California, is the first player from India to
be offered a place in the Harvard University soccer team purely on the basis of football talent.
How would a banned drug help cricketers
How much does consumption of banned substances help in cricket? The issue is under sharp focus
after Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah was recently suspended provisionally by the International
Cricket Council (ICC) for failing a dope test.
He has tested positive for a diuretic. This is a chemical substance that leads to excessive flow of urine
from the body. In cricket, diuretics do not help in enhancing performances.
Diuretic are often used to reduce weight. In sports like boxing for example, a boxer may need to shed
weight to compete in a particular category. So he could take a diuretic to reduce weight by losing fluids
in the body to compete. In cricket, there is no such use for it.
Diuretics are employed to treat hyper tension and high blood pressure. But then, diuretics have a big
role to play as a masking agent for other drugs including steroids and any medicines.
Anabolic steroid is a different beast altogether. They help in an athlete getting explosive power. In
cricket, they can lift a fast bowlers performances.
A stimulant can delay fatigue, increase concentration. It is principally used by batsmen in cricket.
Caffeine and ephedrine are some of the popular stimulants. On the other hand, steroids enhance muscle
building, provide additional power.
Amphetamine, which is one of the stimulants. It increases awareness levels, focus, quickness and gives
a sportsperson a feeling of euphoria where he does not feel pain or stress. Its also taken as a party pill
or by some students before examinations

Page 23

Important Articles from Various

Newspapers
The map of neighbourly outreach (The Hindu)
The dramatic diplomacy that unfolded across Afghanistan-Pakistan-India on Christmas day may be the first
clear admission from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that dealing with Pakistan is not a simple task. And that
his governments ill-thought-out jingoism of its early months in power needs to be tempered with a mature
and realistic approach if he has to focus on and achieve the grand slogans ranging from Swachh Bharat to
Make in India.
Diplomatic engagements with Pakistan nosedived to embarrassing childishness. In August 2014, Foreign
Secretary-level talks were called off after the Pakistani High Commissioner, Abdul Basit, met Kashmiri
separatists; the same excuse was given a year later to call off National Security Adviser (NSA)-level talks in
New Delhi. The Modi governments strategy gave a new lease of life to Hurriyat factions, while adversely
affecting the situation in the Kashmir Valley and along the IB and the LoC.Militant infiltration and the
occasional provocation from across the border have long been the routine, but the tough posture adopted in
the wake of the April-May general election in India coincided with, if not resulted in, a dramatic rise in crossborder firings. Dozens of civilians and many paramilitary personnel were killed or injured, and normal life
along the border was disrupted.
Against the new mature phase of Mr. Modis diplomacy, it was, in hindsight, not a great surprise that he flew
into Lahore from Kabul, on December 25, where the vagaries of violence are interspersed with buried egos of
empires and signposts of Indias strategic interests. If Afghanistan wasnt the real reason that prompted Mr.
Modi about the need to calibrate his Pakistan policy, then he has to only walk a few yards from his office to
an unnamed government bungalow close by, where the widow and children of former Afghan President
Mohammad Najibullah have been staying for over a quarter century. It was from the remnants of the Afghan
mujahideen who fought Najibullahs forces that the Kashmir insurgency of the past three decades acquired
sophistication, weapons and manpower, after New Delhi messed up its Kashmir policy.
Rhetoric about large-scale annihilations and macho responses to a dysfunctional democracy sound impressive
in the heat of an election campaign but for a government, the challenge is to find ways to deal with the
delinquent next door. Mr. Modi seems to have now picked up the gauntlet.
It is the realisation of the complexity of dealing with Pakistan that forced successive Prime Ministers to risk
so much to engage with the neighbour, often without much success. Atal Bihari Vajpayee took the gamble of
riding a bus across the contentious border, only to be faced with the Kargil incursion a few weeks later. It may
be a mere coincidence that Nawaz Sharif was the one who hosted Mr. Vajpayee in Lahore then, and now Mr.
Modi, despite his perilous survival in a military-dominated state.
Both Mr. Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh worked with a significant number of Pakistan experts, within the
Prime Ministers Office and Ministry of External Affairs and on the track II circuit, to steer their policies.
Pakistan is a state like none other. As you sit back taking in the success of diplomatic outreach, militants can
sneak across the border to occupy strategic heights; as you prepare for a major push to improving bilateral
trade, you may find a few men rowing across the sea to launch a deadly terrorist attack on your commercial
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capital. Pakistan is a state in deep crisis, fighting its many demons, and with statecraft deeply embedded in
misguided military chauvinism. However, those, and other factors, cannot be the only issues to dictate Indias
engagement with Pakistan.
The engagement should be primarily informed by the fact that Indias economic growth, including its ability
to keep government expenses under check, enjoy global market trust and attract investment, is all critically
hinged on a peaceful South Asia. No other reason is needed to appreciate why India will have to keep talking
to Pakistan.
Dealing with Pakistan is like playing football on a rainy day and on a muddy ground. The team needs to have
the skill, the ability to anticipate the unexpected, the response without losing ones nerve, and the stamina to
keep playing despite the downpour. No one who has watched the Modi government closely will grant all that
to his narrow, centralised, decision-making structure where very few seem to have any influence on foreign
policy. If the Lahore drop-in was the first key step in Mr. Modis new balanced Pakistan policy, then it must
immediately be followed by a broadbasing of intellectual inputs that inform his decisions.
The fact is that India still does not have a consistent diplomatic posture against Pakistan, which has been
perilously close to being a full-blown, dysfunctional nation state over the past several years. Mr. Modis
diplomatic moves since he took office in 2014 capture the bigger trouble with Indias international positioning.
It still does not have a grand strategy regarding its diplomatic and military ambitions on the global stage,
including how to deal with Pakistan, that carries political approval across the spectrum.
If states have only permanent interests, then India is yet to define them. Until then, New Delhi will swing
between chaotic state responses to terrorist attacks and that of dramatic bilateral summits.
Hunger brews in Bengals tea estates (The Hindu)

North Bengals tea estates are witnessing an unfolding human tragedy as more deaths of tea garden workers
were reported this month from the region. With the industry as a whole struggling from soft prices and a drop
in output as climate change affects rainfall and weather conditions across the countrys tea-growing regions,
several estates are reportedly being unofficially shut, leaving thousands of hapless workers in the lurch. And
even at gardens that are operating, living conditions for the predominantly female workforce are said to be
precarious, with access to housing, sanitation, healthcare and drinking water far from adequate. A delegation
of the State Assemblys Standing Committee on Labour that visited four tea estates cited malnutrition as an
apparent cause for the recent deaths of workers and said the State government was not doing enough to resolve
the crisis. Separately, an international fact-finding mission headed by the Global Network for the Right to
Food and Nutrition that visited tea gardens in West Bengal and Assam earlier this month painted a grim picture
of extremely low wages driving thousands of families to hunger and malnutrition. With a majority of the
labour landless, tribal migrants who have little to no other skills to help them find gainful work, the closures
and unpaid wages in many estates are spurring a surge in the incidence of starvation. While West Bengals
Labour Minister this month told legislators the government was providing jobs under the MGNREGA,
medical vans and midday meals to workers at the closed tea gardens, and challenged opposition members to
prove the deaths were due to starvation and not natural causes, there is a tacit admission that there is a crisis
requiring the States intervention. The Ministers comment that none of the death certificates show starvation
as the cause of death is tragically ironic since acute hunger and dehydration leave a person too weak to work
or even stir out seeking food or water as alms. The victim ultimately dies of organ failure or an opportunistic
infection that the body cant fight.

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The bleak situation of these workers starkly highlights the absence of a social security net for rural workers,
and specifically labour in the plantation sector. Unless governments both at the Centre and the State develop
adequate mechanisms to safeguard the basic needs of non-unionised workers in vulnerable sectors such as the
plantations, all efforts at labour law reform will be quite vacuous and bereft of any meaning to the key factor
of economic productivity: the worker. Rising above partisan political considerations, the West Bengal
government needs to act urgently to address the crisis and, if warranted, take strong legal action against the
managements of tea estates that have landed their workers on the brink of starvation and death. A longer-term
rehabilitation and re-skilling package is also required to help labour at the defunct estates find alternative
work, and measures must be taken, separately, to rejuvenate this key employment-providing sector.
Letting startups scale up (The Hindu)

Prime Minister Narendra Modis announcement that the government will unveil, in January, a comprehensive
plan to help make India the world leader in startups is noteworthy. A part of the plan is to link all the IIMs
and IITs, central universities and National Institutes of Technology via live connectivity. The move is
expected to assist aspiring entrepreneurs plug into a network of incubators, mentors and angel investors and
provide them the ambience to try out their business ideas in the real world. The startup policy is expected to,
among other things, make it easier to start and exit a business, allow flexible hiring for new firms in their first
three to five years, and provide incentives for financiers, especially domestic funds, as 90 per cent of startup
financing currently comes from foreign venture capital funds. The governments hopes of making India a
serious contender to Silicon Valley may seem aspirational, but are also driven by the realisation that India
needs many more new enterprises to create 10 million jobs for the youth entering the workforce each year.
Apps and services apart, India needs startups in manufacturing, industrial design, agro-based food processing
and renewable energy among some of the key sectors. Many Indian startups have made a mark this year with
valuations in billions of dollars. The home-grown Flipkarts and Snapdeals have resiliently taken on the global
e-tailing giant Amazon, so far. But many of these Indian success stories, more than 65 per cent of startups,
have left the country to operate from places like Singapore.
This exodus is not because India doesnt foster innovation per se . Google CEO Sundar Pichai, in fact,
remarked that the constraints people work with in India inspire more creativity and make their ideas more
useful for the world. Indian entrepreneurs from the small-scale factory owners in the 1970s and 1980s to
the Bombay Club barons who resisted liberalisation in the 1990s have a history of successfully adapting
their business plans to adversarial regulatory regimes. That startups blossomed in the past few years was not
related to the UPA governments policy or lack thereof. They came up despite the government. Certainly,
targeted interventions for startups would help. The mandatory use of Aadhaar for registering a new micro,
small or medium enterprise could, for instance, be done away with. Similarly, angel investments by domestic
financiers should not be treated as taxable income in the hands of a startup. Clearances and patents should be
expedited, and crowd-funding allowed. Most importantly, the labyrinth of regulations and compliances that
even startups that attain scale end up being subjected to making business sense for them to leave India
has to be addressed. It is here that the new policy must deliver. As Mr. Pichai said, the ease of doing business
has improved, but it needs to get a whole lot better for India to meet its true potential.
Working through the bankruptcy maze (The Hindu)

Indias financial distress resolution mechanism is broken. Companies that fall into hard times spend six or
eight years trying to resolve the situation. Banks are saddled with massive amounts of non-performing loans
that are a drain on their resources and also affect their willingness to lend to new and deserving projects.
Ultimately, the honest and successful companies and individuals that borrow from the banks pay for these

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inefficiencies in terms of higher interest rates. In light of this, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, 2015, which
has now been referred to a joint committee of Parliament, is a significant step in the right direction.
Over the past 20 years, there have been a number of attempts to reform Indias insolvency regime. While the
Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial
Institutions Act, 1993, and the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of
Security Interest Act, 2002 were laws aimed at helping speed up the bankruptcy resolution process, corporate
debt restructuring is a Reserve Bank of India-sponsored scheme that has tried to sidestep the courts to resolve
financial distress. None of them have been fully effective. While one can find a number of micro reasons for
their failure, the one overarching reason (at least in the case of laws) is the lack of legal infrastructure to
effectively implement the laws. Our courts are overburdened, understaffed and lack basic physical
infrastructure. Some of the Debt Recovery Tribunals are known to be operating out of car showrooms. India
is a classic case of strong laws diluted by weak implementation.
So how will a new law resolve this situation? The current Bill acknowledges the creaking legal infrastructure
and tries to overcome it by privatising the insolvency resolution process. The Bill proposes a new breed of
insolvency professionals who will be responsible for managing the process. The courts will be required to rule
on a limited number of issues. On paper, this is an effective way to overcome the lack of legal infrastructure.
Having said that, this solution will work only if the private sector infrastructure develops and the courts confine
themselves to their limited role. While one can encourage the former with the right incentives, the latter is a
question that only time can answer.
The other important aspect of the Bill is the strict, time-bound process that is specified. The Bill mandates that
the decision between restructuring and liquidation should be made by the bankruptcy professional within six
months of a firm being referred to the bankruptcy process. Under certain limited circumstances, there can be
one extension of three months after which the firm will have to be liquidated to settle its claims. The spirit of
this time-bound process should be applauded, as the defining inefficiency in Indias bankruptcy regime is the
inordinate delay. Having said that, the implementation of the process depends crucially on the abovementioned infrastructure being in place and the courts sticking to the time limits.
Knowing that they can recover their money by liquidating their collateral, secured lenders may sometimes
prefer liquidation over restructuring even if the latter results in higher value for the firms equity holders. An
alternative structure, one that is followed in the U.S., is to give unsecured lenders, who have lower priority
than secured lenders, some say in the bankruptcy process. Given their lower priority, unsecured lenders may
have greater interest in picking the alternative that maximises recovery. The current Bill chose not to do this
in the interest of simplicity. While that is a reasonable argument, it may have some adverse consequences for
the development of a market for unsecured loans. This may be a small technical point that only an academic
will worry about, but the importance of a market for unsecured debt to spread economic opportunity in a
knowledge-based economy such as India cannot be overemphasised. But that is a topic for another day.
Despite the limitations highlighted in this article, the Bankruptcy Bill, as introduced in the Lok Sabha in the
winter session, is a significant step in the right direction and should be enthusiastically welcomed.
Short-sighted hike in U.S. visa fee (The Hindu)

The Barack Obama administrations decision to raise the visa fee for skilled professionals seeking temporary
work in the U.S. is set to hit Indian companies in the IT sector. Nasscom, the trade association, puts the
expected losses at about $400 million a year. The development comes in the run-up to the 2016 presidential
elections when fear-mongering about American jobs going to foreigners inevitably becomes part of the
political rhetoric. The $1.8-trillion tax and spending bill, which authorises the doubling of the fee for certain
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categories of H1B and L1 visas to $4,000 and $4,500, respectively, and was signed into law by Mr. Obama,
has raised concerns in India. Just as capital-surplus countries pitch for easier entry for their capital, India
with over 65 per cent of its 1.25 billion people below the age of 35 makes the case for free labour movement.
Although India has the options to take retaliatory steps or move the World Trade Organisations dispute
settlement panel, the best course would be to amicably resolve the issue at the diplomatic level. To successfully
challenge the increase before a WTO panel, India will have to prove the discriminatory nature of the fee hike
on Indian firms vis--vis their competitors from other countries. That is challenging since some Indian IT
majors such as Infosys have said the American move will not impact the sector much. Taking tit-for-tat steps
would mean killing the goal of boosting bilateral trade from $100 billion today to $500 billion in the next few
years.
American and Indian policymakers need to focus on the larger picture. Just as a labour-surplus India, a nation
with high poverty levels (with almost 300 million people, close to the entire population of the U.S., living on
$1 a day), will need to gradually ease restrictions on capital inflows, a capital-rich U.S. with a looming labour
shortage (due to the growing retiree population) will have to look at removing curbs on labour mobility sooner
than later. U.S. authorities and lawmakers must also realise that their own corporations trust Indian IT service
providers not just for their quoted rates but for their ability to get the job done. More importantly, as a Nasscom
report of September 2015 points out, India-based IT companies providing services to American businesses
and other customers invested over $2 billion between 2011 and 2013, and paid $22.5 billion in taxes to the
U.S. Treasury in those years; in fact, they supported more than 411,000 direct and indirect jobs in the U.S.,
including 300,000 held by U.S. citizens and permanent residents. In this period, over 120,000 Americans
benefited from philanthropic activities by Indian IT companies, which focussed on educating more Americans
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills. Such contributions apart, the U.S. must
absorb the larger point it often makes to others: a globalising world seeks greater interdependence, and not
higher walls.
Good sense on LPG subsidy (The Hindu)

The National Democratic Alliance governments decision to limit the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy
to those earning Rs.10 lakh or less per year is one of those rare moves that will be cheered by economists and
the poor alike. The decision makes eminent sense why should the well-to-do be subsidised? Politically, the
decision will win the government a lot of points with the poor, who will hopefully be the beneficiaries of the
savings made by limiting the scope of the subsidy. The more the government saves, the more it can spend on
expanding the reach of LPG connections among those who currently do not have one. And given that the
effect of removing this subsidy will, at current prices, mean an increase in the LPG bill of a household
consuming 12 cylinders a year by just a little more than Rs.2,200, or about Rs.188 a month, it is not going to
receive brickbats from that section of society either. The message is clear: if you are not going to give up your
LPG subsidy on a voluntary basis, then it will soon be compulsorily taken away from you. The governments
Give It Up campaign has encouraged 57.5 lakh beneficiaries of the LPG subsidy to opt out. But that clearly is
not enough, considering there are 16.35 crore LPG consumers in the country. However, the government is still
opting to trust the people, with the declaration of income above Rs.10 lakh being a voluntary move at the
moment. The assumption is that once the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas gets its hands on the full list
of people declaring an income of above Rs.10 lakh a year from the Income Tax Department at the end of this
financial year, this leeway will also be removed. (Technically, the subsidy is being removed for those who
earn more than Rs.10 lakh, or whose spouse does.)
And it should, given the economic merits as well of such a move. At the moment, the governments revised
estimates show that it spent as much as Rs.2.66 lakh crore on subsidies in 2014-15. With such a large subsidy
bill, it is imperative to fix the two major problems plaguing most subsidy schemes in India: leakages and misClick Here to Buy 1 Year Subscription - "Only PDF"
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targeting. Leakages refer to the phenomenon where the subsidy does not reach the intended recipient due to
corruption, pilferage or a variety of other causes. This has been quite successfully addressed via the
governments decision to transfer the subsidy payments directly to the recipients bank accounts, something
made easier with the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. The decision to limit the LPG subsidy by income
groups is an attempt to address the mis-targeting problem. By doing this, the government is trying to ensure
that the subsidy is only going to go to those who need it. The hope is that rather than using the resultant saving
simply to shore up the budget deficit, the Centre will use it to ensure that LPG connections are provided for
those who still depend on firewood and kerosene stoves.
Caution on Free Basics (The Hindu)

Free and altruism are words that generally have a positive ring to them. But its clear that social media
behemoth Facebooks Free Basics programme, which it pitches as an altruistic endeavour to provide the havenots a bridge to the Internet for free, fails to evoke such a feel. Not without reason, though. For starters, as
critics have repeatedly pointed out, there is a huge difference between being a gateway to the Internet and
being a gatekeeper to the Internet, and Free Basics worryingly has all the makings of the latter. So, it does
have the potential to trap subscribers in the metaphorical walled garden, what with the immensely popular
Facebook thrown into the free mix of offerings. That the whole package is offered free hardly surprises anyone
with even a little knowledge of how business models in the digital world work. Free, by the way, is a business
model that delivers returns in an unconventional way. There might be many variations of it but basically it is
about accumulating millions and millions of new users by offering products free, in the hope that the build-up
could be milked for revenue in the years to come. Thats the same tactic many start-ups use to show traction
while pitching to big moneyed venture capitalists.
And where do you find an unrestricted Internet economy with millions yet untapped? Yes, India. There can
be very little doubt that the haves-have-nots digital divide in India is stark, and needs to be bridged as soon as
possible. Credit is due to Facebook for identifying this need and bringing a sense of urgency to addressing it.
Credit is also due for the way its young founder Mark Zuckerberg has fought doggedly for the ideas
acceptance. It is close to a year now since he launched Internet.org, the earlier avatar of Free Basics, in India.
And during this period, there has never been a dull moment in the exchanges between the critics of Free Basics
and Facebook. As it stands, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the regulator, has asked Facebooks
Free Basics partner in India, Reliance Communications, to put the service on hold. The social media giant,
showing little sign of backing off, has done all that it can (tweaked its dimensions, launched a comprehensive
advertising campaign, and got its charismatic founder to pen articles) to get political and social acceptance to
the idea. Its both impressive and unsettling at the same time when one thinks about how a corporate, valued
at over $300 billion, can spend so much money and effort on a controversial project that is not even avowedly
a pure business venture. The problem has reached the doorsteps of policymakers. They have to not only decide
the fate of services such as Free Basics but also find ways to deliver digital equality fast. For, Free Basics
cant be an excuse for the failures of the state in delivering universal access.
Revive NATGRID with safeguards (The Hindu)

The Central governments decision to revive NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid) is a welcome move in
the fight against terrorism, but it calls for caution and nuanced planning in the way it would be structured.
According to the existing plan, NATGRID will become a secure centralised database to stream sensitive
information from 21 sets of data sources such as banks, credit cards, visa, immigration and train and air travel
details, as well as from various intelligence agencies. The database would be accessible to authorised persons
from 11 agencies on a case-to-case basis, and only for professional investigations into suspected cases of
terrorism. NATGRID was among the ambitious slew of intelligence reforms undertaken in the wake of the
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Mumbai attacks of November 2008. Like NATGRID, most of these proposed reforms in the security
establishment have not fully materialised, yet again serving as a reminder that Indias memory is
embarrassingly short.
In a data-driven, digitised world, it would be foolhardy to ignore the power of big data and its potential to
provide real time tip-offs and predictive intelligence to deal with the terrorist threat. Over the last two decades
or so, during which the post-Cold War chaos resulted in many violent non-state actors setting up shop, the
very digital tools that terrorists use have also become great weapons to fight the ideologies of violence. Social
media and other platforms have become recruitment sites and propaganda machines for terrorist groups, and
formal banking channels are used as much as informal ones to transact terror funding. In those same oceans
of information are trends and information that could avert terrorist strikes. However, appreciation of the power
of digital databases to tackle terror must be accompanied by deep concern about their possible misuse. The
Snowden files are just one pointer to the widespread misuse in recent years of surveillance capabilities to
compromise individual privacy and even violate national sovereignty. Increasingly, there is also academic
evidence to show that states are applying excessive force and surveillance to tackle terrorism. The
NATGRIDs efforts must be placed against these realities before the government rushes into reviving it. When
so much sensitive information about individuals is available on a single source, the potential for its misuse
would dramatically go up. The poor track record of the Indian security and intelligence agencies on individual
privacy and liberty must be kept in mind as the National Democratic Alliance government tries to nurture
NATGRID, which has failed to take off despite the aggressive push by the previous United Progressive
Alliance government. The overdue initiative to revive NATGRID must therefore be accompanied by action
on the even longer-pending need to have effective oversight of intelligence agencies by Parliament or an
eminent group.
Onion lessons (Indian express)

The Centres decision to remove minimum export price (MEP) restrictions on onions is welcome, though the
corrective comes late for a step that should not have been taken in the first place. Since early-November, with
the new kharif/ late-kharif crops arrival, prices of the bulb have more than halved to Rs 950-1,000 per quintal
in the wholesale mandis of Maharashtra. The Centre waited as long as December 11 to slash the MEP from $
700 to $ 400 per tonne and, then, to zero on December 23. For farmers, who have already sold their onions,
this is hardly any relief. Their plight is quite similar to what potato growers experienced in 2014-15. In
potatoes, too, the MEP of $ 450 per tonne clamped on June 26, 2014, was removed only on February 19, 2015,
when prices in mandis from Jalandhar to Farukhabad had already crashed to Rs 300-400 per quintal. They
havent really recovered since; even today, when the main rabi crop is still to be harvested, prices are ruling
at Rs 500-600 per quintal.
The Centre is always quick in imposing or hiking MEPs at the slightest indication of domestic prices firming
up. That alacrity, however, is rarely seen when it comes to removal or reduction, which obviously works
against growers: The latest decision on onions probably wouldnt have happened but for farmers in
Maharashtras Nashik region staging rasta rokos and not allowing auctions in market yards. But it also raises
questions about the very effectiveness of export curbs. High prices these scaled the Rs 5,500 per quintal
level in the third week of August induced farmers to expand onion acreage this time. The resultant bumper
crop would, in the natural course, have brought down prices. What the ban on exports an MEP of $ 700
per tonne or Rs 4,500 per quintal practically amounts to that has done is to reduce realisations to the point
where farmers are discouraged to plant onions. This could well impact prices in the coming year. The MEPs,
if anything, have only caused collateral damage through the loss of valuable export markets.

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The time has come to review the utility of not just MEPs, but also other restrictions on movement, storage and
marketing of agricultural produce. The last one year or more has unfortunately seen the Essential Commodities
Act being invoked, especially in pulses and onions, to the extent of equating even normal trading and stocking
operations with hoarding. Such measures are counterproductive, not least because they inhibit the supply
response from farmers. That, ultimately, isnt good for consumers, who are better served by producers than
governments.
View From The Right: Bharat Asserts (Indian express)

An editorial in the Organiser, a magazine associated with the RSS, says the year 2015 saw the emergence of
[an] assertive Bharat. The year that started with US President Barack Obama visiting Bharat as chief guest
for the Republic Day function, is ending with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Afghanistan via Russia,
it says. The editorial notes that while the year saw tumultuous events at the global level, no one can deny that
Bharat has learnt to assert its position and no major global decision can be arrived at unless Bharat is on
board.
The process, according to the magazine, started with the nuclear tests of 1998 under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
government. The UPA government due to constraints and [its] priorities could not sustain that momentum
[Now] the gap between our potential and performance is getting bridged through a stable, decisive
government. The editorial contends that Bharat succinctly articulated and asserted its position at the Paris
climate change negotiations and trade talks at Nairobi. Indias foreign policy was always constrained by
domestic factors, economic and energy needs and military dependence, but the imaginative leadership of
Modi has shown that those very constraints can be addressed through [an] assertive global role.
India & Radical Islam
The cover story in the Organiser is on the growing radicalisation of Muslim youth across the globe. It notes
that the only silver lining Bharat has witnessed is the high number of protests from within the Muslim
community against the IS, and asks, can Muslims of Bharat with roots in a culture of assimilation provide
answers to this menace? It notes that this year has been very frustrating for a moderate, progressive,
pluralistic, inclusivist Bharateeya Muslim. Contending that Bharat used to express pride in the fact that not
one Muslim from this country joined the multi-national al-Qaeda terrorist group, it recalls recent instances
that question this assumption. We, perhaps, prematurely celebrated a lack of radicalisation in Bharateeya
Islam, the article says. The writer wants the reasons behind the ideological attraction that some of our youth
are feeling towards radicalisation to be studied so that the silent drift can be stemmed. The article adds we
cannot understand this frightening phenomenon unless we appreciate that while the very word Islam means
peace and total submission to god, in Islam, roots of radicalisation go very deep. Ideological extremism has
been a part of Islamic history almost from its very inception, the article claims.
Interpreting Sonia
An article in the Organiser attacks Congress president Sonia Gandhi for invoking her mother-in-law, Indira
Gandhi, when she was served a court summons. Sonias statement is a proclamation that she would face the
legal crisis through political means, the article says. The writer says the Janata government in 1977 appointed
several commissions to probe the atrocities committed during the Emergency.
Prime Minister Morarji Desai knew that Indira would create sympathy for herself if action [against her] was
taken, the article says. Hence, he turned his back on these inquiries. However, Chaudhary Charan Singh,
an intemperate and rustic politician, filed an FIR in a trivial matter and ordered [the] arrest of Indira. At that
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time, Indira was contemplating retirement from politics. Charan Singhs recklessness ensured that Indira
could not be kept even for a day behind the bars and Janata government faced ignominy. Sonias statement
needs to be taken seriously since she would do everything to generate public sympathy for herself, the article
concludes.
Field lessons (Indian express)

A Reserve Bank of India-constituted committee has called for phasing out interest subsidy on short-term
agricultural loans and for ploughing back the sums saved into an affordable universal crop insurance scheme
for farmers. The recommendation makes sense for at least two reasons. First, for most farmers, it isnt the cost
but the availability of credit that is the real problem.
National Sample Survey data shows banks and cooperative societies account for only 57.7 per cent of
outstanding loans of farming households, with the rest mainly representing borrowings from private
moneylenders and traders, often at annual interest of 24 per cent or more. The dependence on informal credit
sources is, moreover, progressively higher with a reduction in landholding size. Second, farming is
increasingly being done by tenant cultivators/ sharecroppers. Since these are largely based on informal lease
arrangements, the tillers in this case, too, are cut off from the formal credit system, which means it matters
little whether crop loans from banks are being extended at 9 per cent or 4 per cent.
There is a strong case, then, to focus more on augmenting credit availability from the banking system, more
so to cover small and marginal farmers as well as landless cultivators against tenancy/ lease certificates.
Farmers, unlike salaried employees or most businessmen, receive no regular monthly income. They typically
have lumpy revenue streams from the sale of one or two crops a year. Borrowings that includes crop loans
are what sustains their consumption round the year. In such a scenario, access to timely credit at reasonable
cost is what counts. When the formal banking system is unable to deliver that, the farmer is forced to go to the
moneylender, leading to the familiar story of indebtedness.
There is no evidence that the Centres interest subvention scheme, in place since 2006-07, has reduced farmer
indebtedness. The latter, if anything, has only gone up, especially in the last two years, with back-to-back
monsoon failures and crash in crop prices impacting farm incomes. The starkest manifestation of it is in
Maharashtras Marathwada region, which alone saw over 1,100 farmer suicides in 2015, capping what has
been an annus horribilis for Indian agriculture.
That links up with the committees second recommendation to institute a universal crop insurance scheme
starting with small and marginal farmers with a monetary ceiling of around Rs 2 lakh. The Rs 13,000 crore
that the Centre is spending annually on interest subvention for crop loans can be redirected towards subsidy
on insurance premium. If farmers have insurance protection against crop loss and price slumps with prompt
claims settlement enabled by satellite imagery, handheld GPS devices, drones and other technology-based
solutions for assessing damage and access to formal credit channels, they are less likely to be driven to
despair and suicide.
Shift action on labour reforms to states (Business Standard)

Like many of his colleagues in the government, Bandaru Dattatreya, minister of state (independent charge)
for labour and employment, would like to forget the year gone by. For, 2015 was a disappointment, much of
it spent on showdown with labour unions over the government's proposal on labour reforms. The only tangible
progress was in providing a labour identification number (LIN) to employers as well as a universal account
number (UAN) to employees. More than 950,000 establishments were given LIN and 45 million employees
Page 32

(under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) were issued UAN, which would facilitate portability of
provident fund accounts. Besides, the ministry introduced two Bills in the Lok Sabha - the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Bill and the Payment of Bonus Bill, which sought to enhance the pay eligibility
limit of an employee for bonus to Rs 21,000 a month from Rs 10,000, and enhance the monthly bonus
calculation ceiling to Rs 7,000 a month from the existing Rs 3,500 a month.
In comparison, 2014 was much better, the highlight of which was the Apprentices Act amendment, laying the
foundation to increase skilled labour, ease rules for employers to recruit apprentices and allow them to
undertake demand-driven courses. The amendments also dropped a provision in the existing law for the arrest
of employers for not adhering to the provisions and allowing companies to add new trades including
information technology-enabled services in the scheme of apprenticeship without the Centre's approval.
Will Dattatreya be able to break the 2015 jinx in the new year? Going by the hardening stand of labour unions
- they have already announced their plan to go on a nationwide strike early in 2016 - it looks a formidable
challenge indeed. But just in case the government finds a solution to end the stalemate, the minister can
legitimately claim a big role in increasing the percentage of India's labour force in the manufacturing sector.
At the moment, it is just around 11 per cent compared to China's 40 per cent.
No one can, however, accuse the labour ministry of not trying to usher in big-ticket labour reforms. In fact,
the government has drawn up plans to launch the biggest overhaul of labour laws in decades, including the
integration of as many as 44 existing central laws into four labour codes - Industrial Relations, Wages, Social
Security and Safety Codes to ease hire-and-fire rules (employers with up to 300 workers would not require
government permission for retrenchment, lay-off and closure), make it tougher for workers to form unions
and also increase by three times the severance package to protect employee interest. Besides, the Small
Factories Bill proposes to keep units employing less than 40 workers out of the purview of 14 labour laws and
the draft code on wages promises a mandatory national minimum wage under which skilled workers in
developed states stand to earn a minimum of Rs 20,000 a month.
Will the Modi government have the political courage to bring in such sweeping changes in labour laws in
2016? Going by the fate of quite a few other Bills, a short answer to that question is "unlikely". Dattatreya
would thus do well to create the ground for introduction of such Bills through constant engagement with trade
unions and political parties. He may raise two points during his discussions. One, have employees been
protected because of the Industrial Disputes Act? The answer is an obvious no. Since 1991, many industries
have shut shop but in many cases, no labour retrenchment has taken place. This was made possible by effecting
closures in other ways. For example, employers themselves have been found to provoke violence or strikes
and make sure they shut down. Two, the net effect of such rigid labour laws has been simple: According to
the International Labour Organization, the proportion of people employed in informal employment in nonagriculture is over 80 per cent, which is much higher than that of China (over 30 per cent). This means that a
vast majority of the workers employed in India are actually not covered by any labour rights.
The best option for the Modi government is this: As changing the relevant central laws might be daunting,
New Delhi should just nudge other states to emulate the model set by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In any
case, the best innovation of this government has been to shift the action to states and these two states ushered
in sweeping labour reforms by using Article 254 (2) of the Constitution that allows them to diverge their laws
from national norms.

Page 33

Life science developments to look out for in 2016 (Business Standard)

These are exciting times for the life sciences sector as it builds on its understanding of the disease at the
cellular and genetic level to usher in new and differentiated therapies into the market. Furthermore, biomedical
advances are likely to transform global health with early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention for chronic
and killer diseases like autoimmune diseases and cancer.
The top five scientific developments to be tracked in 2016 are:
Immuno-oncology: It is one of the most promising fields of science being explored by scientists to develop
pathbreaking solutions for unmet medical needs. The year 2015 saw some spectacular advances in this area,
with a market opportunity of $40 billion by 2025, (source: Leerink Partners). PD-1 (programmed death-1) and
PDL-1 (programmed death ligand-1) targeting antibodies and Chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CART), have
demonstrated how technology can be leveraged for developing path-breaking therapies in immuno-oncology.
The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) recently approved a drug that relies on a geneticallyengineered version of the herpes virus to kill cancer cells and stimulate immune response against malignant
tumours in skin cancer patients. Several other immune-stimulating viral therapies are also being evaluated, for
example, a genetically-modified polio virus to fight brain cancer and a re-engineered common cold virus for
treating a form of bladder cancer.
3D bioprinting & stem cell therapy: Stem cell therapy is providing new hope in not only curing a number of
debilitating diseases but also building organs under laboratory conditions for patients. Scientists believe that
stem cell therapy is key to managing cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, Parkinson's disease etc in the near future.
Recently, Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia gave its first go-ahead to human studies for a
revolutionary stem cell therapy aimed at halting/reversing the progression of Parkinson's disease, which
affects up to 10 million people worldwide.
Scientists in Australia have also achieved a medical breakthrough of getting stem cells to form different cell
types found in the kidney.
More significantly, a Bengaluru-based tissue engineering start-up has made India's first artificial human liver
tissue with the help of 3D printing technology, using 10 million liver cells. This is a milestone that showcases
the tremendous potential of 3D printing technology in organ development. It has the potential to save many
lives.
Biomarkers & companion diagnostics: Today, biomarkers are providing a wealth of biological data, which are
helping predict drug failures before expensive clinical trials as well as allowing scientists to identify patient
pools that would respond favourably to a particular drug. We already have cancer drugs for patients with
specific genetic mutations. It has also led to the emergence of companion diagnostics, which screen patients
for biomarkers that gauge the safety and efficacy of a particular treatment. Recently, the USFDA approved
the first companion diagnostic to detect a protein associated with non-small cell lung cancer while approving
Merck's Keytruda drug for the disease. The companion diagnostic will enable doctors to determine whether
patients have high enough levels of the PD-L1 biomarker for Keytruda to be effective. Now, more
sophisticated companion diagnostics are being developed to assess a patient for multiple biomarkers related
to multiple drugs.
Genomic sequencing: Genomics has created a new breed of life scientists and researchers, who look at disease
in a very different way. A number of initiatives like the US-based medical geneticist Robert Green's MedSeq
Page 34

project, are looking at ways in which the profusion of genomics data and other clinical information can be
integrated with day-to-day medical practice in order to assist the medical fraternity in determining a specific
line of treatment for their patients.
Already, genomic sequencing is being combined with molecular diagnostics, imaging and data analytics to
decipher the cellular structure of malignant tumours and tailoring treatment regimens.
Biosimilars: The development of biosimilars will provide affordable access to complex biologics in 2016. The
first-ever USFDA approval for a biosimilar was granted to Filgrastim in 2015. Encouraging developments in
highly regulated markets point to the evolution of abbreviated clinical pathways that will allow speedier entry
of biosimilars. With $48 billion worth of patents on a number of blockbuster biologics slated to expire soon,
the global biosimilars market is poised for rapid growth.
India is well poised to play a significant role in the biosimilars area where companies like Biocon, Dr Reddy's,
Intas, Zydus Cadila and others are engaged in developing high quality biosimilars to provide affordable access
to these complex biologics.
Indian patients have had access to some of the biosimilars like Insulins, Analogs, Filgrastim etc. since early
2000s and more recently complex antibodies like Trastuzumab, Rituximab, Adalimumab etc. have also been
introduced. This early experience with developing biosimilars will pave the way for Indian players to capitalise
on this unfolding global opportunity.
We are living in extraordinary times, where technology is revolutionising life sciences. Cancer is no longer a
death sentence but a manageable chronic disease. We are witnessing the development of innovative therapies
that are addressing the unmet patient needs for life-enhancing therapies. Clearly, it is time to look out for a
new paradigm in global health care where the blind can see, the deaf can hear and the paralysed can walk.

Page 35
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Ques- Consider the following statements and mark the correct option?
a) IRNSS is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region
extending up to 1500 km from its boundary.
b) It has seven satellites out of which three are geostationary and four are geosynchronous satellites.
A) a only
B) b only
C) Both
D) None
Ans C
Ques- Which of the following pollutant is not the part of Air Quality Index?
A) NO2
B) SO2
C) CO2
D) PM 10
Ans C
Ques- Which of the following is not part of Integrated missile development program?
Prithvi
Prahaar
Agni
Naag
Ans B
Ques- Photochemical smog is a resultant of the reaction among which of the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.
NO2, 03 and peroxyacetyl nitrate in the presence of sunlight

CO, 02 and peroxyacetyl nitrate in the presence of sunlight
CO, CO2 and N02 at low temperature
High concentration of N02, O3 and CO in the evening
Ans A

Page 36

Economy
Ques- Which of the following is/areimpactof falling oil prices in International market?
a) Reduction in current account deficit
b) Reduction in trade deficit
c) Reduction in export
A) a, b
B) b, c
C) b only
D) All
Ans D
Ques- Which among the following is largest part of union govt revenue?
A. Income tax
B. custom
C. Excise duty
D. Non tax revenue
Ans A
Ques- What is the problem called "swiss challenge"?
A) It is a form of public procurement in some jurisdictions which requires a public authority which has
received an unsolicited bid for a public project.
B) It is a problem related to black money
C) It is a problem related to KYC of customers
D) None of the above
Ans A
Ques- Which of the following terms correctly defines stagflation?
A) Increasing Growth rate accompanied by inflation
B) Declining growth rate accompanied by decrease in prices
C) Declining growth rate accompanied by increase in prices.
D) None of the above
Ans C

Page 37

Ques- What is/are the facility/facilities the beneficiaries can get from the services of Business
Correspondent (Bank Saathi) in branchless areas?
It enables the beneficiaries to draw their subsidies and social security benefits in their villages.
It enables the beneficiaries in the rural areas to make deposits and withdrawals.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Ans C
National
Ques- Which of the following is not correctly matched?
A) Ramakrishna Mission
B) Arya samaj
C) Brahmo Samaj
D) Tattwabodini Sabha
:
:
:
:
Swami Vivekananda
Dayanand Saraswati
Rabindranath Tagore
Debendranath Tagore
Ans C
Ques- Which of the following correctly represents Net Neutrality?
A) Use of Internet non discriminatorily by government taking each user as equal.
B) Facebooks free basics is a campaign for increasing net neutrality.
C) Both
D) None
Ans D
Ques- Jnanipith award for 2015 went to which among the following authors?
Bhalchandra Nemade
Kedarnath Singh
Raghuveer Chaudhari
None of the above
Ans C

Page 38

Ques- Who among the following is ex-officio member of NITI Aayog?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Union Finance Minister

Union Home Minister
Mister of Human resource development
Union Agriculture Minister
A.
B.
C.
D.
a, b
b, c and d
a, d
a, b and d
Ans D
Ques- Nai- Manzilscheme is related to which of the following?
Ans A
A bridge course to bridge the academic and skill development gaps of the deeni Madrasa passouts
with their mainstream counterparts.
The Scheme aims at upgrading Skills and Training in preservation of traditional Ancestral
Arts/Crafts of minorities.
The Scheme aims to preserve rich heritage of minority communities in context of Indian culture.
None of the above
Ques- Which one of the following is NOT a Central Paramilitary Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs
?
A. Central Industrial Security Force
B. Central Reserve Police Force
C. Ladakh Scouts
D. Border Security Force
Ans C
International
Ques- Which among the following statements are correct regarding Nuclear security summit?
a) The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) is a world summit, aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism around
the globe.
b) It is an yearly summit
c) Next summit is in washington D.C.
A) a, b
B) b, c
C) c only
D) a, c
Ans D

Page 39

Ques- Euro V and VI norms are related to which of the following?
A) Prudence in Banking
B) Increasing FDI
C) Clean fuel
D) None
Ans C
Ques- Which of the following is not correctly matched?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Russia
China
South Africa
Argentina
:
:
:
:
Ruble
Renminbi
Real
peso
Ans C

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