Aug 2013

Delude 

•  to make someone believe something that is not true.
• धोखा देना
• Mislead,Myth,Lie,Bad faith

Hector

•  to talk and behave towards someone in a loud and unpleasantly forceful way,especially in order to get them to act or think as you want them to.
• धमकाना
• Drone on ,Croak,Grunt

Embargo

• an order to temporarily stop something, especially trading or giving information
• व्यापार-प्रतिरोध लगाना

Contentious

• involving or likely to cause controversy
• विवादपूर्ण
• combative,disputative

Binge

• an occasion when an activity is done in an extreme way, especially eating,drinking, or spending money
• रंगरलियाँ मनाना
• orgy , splurge ,gorge , glut

Ultra Vires

• beyond the legal power or authority of the person performing an action
• अधिकारातीत

Vociferously

• express opinion loudly and repeatedly
• शोर सहित

Extirpate

• eradicate , remove

Sabbatical

• interval from normal work,leave

Seemly

• appropriate , proper , suitable

Surly

• bad-tempered, rude

Shrew

• bad-tempered woman

Sadistic 

• inclined to cruelty , tendency to derive pleasure from cruelty

Sagacious

• wise , sound judgement

Facile

• effortless ,done with great ease

Mirth

• gladness, happiness

Hegemony

• predominant influence

Quack

• untrained person who pretends to be physician

Abashed

• ashamed , uneasy

Nitaqat

• The Nitaqat  is a new policy being placed by the Saudi government in order to reduce the unemployment rate among Saudi citizens.
• This policy makes it mandatory for Saudi Companies to reserve 10 percent of jobs for Saudi nationals.

Need

• Saudi Arabia’s economy depends heavily on the existence of a large proportion of expatriates working for various establishments in the private and public sector.
• As per estimates, the unemployment rate among Saudi nationals has reached 12%. More than 6.5 million non-Saudis are working in the private sector of the Kingdom compared to 7,00,000 Saudis.

History

Initially in 1994, the Saudi government had started a system called ‘Saudization’ with the same purpose of reducing unemployment of its citizens. The programme required the appointment of Saudi citizens of the total workforce of all the establishments existing in the Kingdom. However, due to several reasons, the system could not be implemented.

Working

• Nitaqat’ which means ‘Ranges’, divides the Saudi labor market into 41 activities and each activity into 5 sizes (Giant, Large, Medium, Small and Very Small) to have in total 205 categories.
• It classifies establishments into following ranges:
  • Excellent : establishments which have highest localization ratio in their workforce
  • Green: establishments which have high localization ratio
  • Yellow : low localization ratio
  • Red : lowest localization ratio

  Effects of classification on different ranges:

  • Those establishments which will be in Excellent and Green ranges will have advantages and rewards while those in Yellow and Red will be on the receiving end.

•  Advantages to Excellent or Green ranges:
  • Eligibility to issue work visas for the development of new business
  • Ability to contract with non-Saudi workers from the establishments of the Red and the Yellow ranges in the Saudi market.
• Disadvantages to Red and Yellow ranges:
  • ​Forced to expedite the localization of the jobs. Otherwise, the establishments located in these ranges – Red and Yellow ranges – will be denied from obtaining new or alternative visas, lose control over the non-Saudi workers in the establishment as they will have the freedom of contract with a new employer and will not be allowed to obtain new work visas to appoint new-non-Saudis workers or to set up a new subsidiary or branch.

Recent addition in Nitaqat law:

Expatriate worker should work only under his sponsor and the worker is not meant to perform any job other than the one mentioned on his job card have raised much panic among the expatriate workers.

What are India’s concerns over this policy?

• At present over 2 million Indian nationals are working in Saudi Arabia. Implementation of this law will lead to job losses and reduced job opportunities for Indians too.

 

Farmer’s Club

Farmer Club

 

 

 

Definition : 

 

• Grassroot level informal forums of farmers
• Such Clubs are organized by rural branches of banks with the support and financial assistance of NABARD for the mutual benefit of the banks concerned and the village farming community/rural people.
• All Institutional Agencies (Commercial Banks, Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks) and all grassroot level organisations (NGOs, PRIs, State Agricultural Universities, KVKs, ATMA, Post Offices etc.) are eligible to form Farmers’ Clubs.

 

History :

 

• The Farmers’ Clubs programme which was earlier known as “Vikas Volunteer Vahini (VVV) Programme” was launched by NABARD in 1982.
• The programme was directed towards development in rural areas through credit, technology transfer, awareness and capacity building.
• The “VVV Programme” was renamed as “Farmers’ Club Programme” in 2005 by revisiting its earlier mission.

 

Need : 

 

• Around 60% of country’s population depends on agriculture which contributes 18% to India’s GDP. The Tenth Five Year Plan and National Agriculture Policy documents envisage a growth level of 4% in Agriculture. However the growth of the sector has not been satisfactory with less than 2% growth in the last 50 years.
• To meet the targeted growth it is imperative improve productivity and reduce costs by improving efficiency.
• The emerging needs in agriculture sector now are adoption of location specific skill and knowledge based technologies, promote greater value addition to agriculture produce, forge new partnerships between public institutions, technology users and the corporate sector, harness IT more effectively to realize financial sustainability and compete in the international market.

 

Functions : 

 

• Coordinate with banks to ensure credit flow among its members and forge better bank borrower relationship,
• Organise minimum one meeting per month
• Interface with subject matter specialists in the various fields of agriculture and allied activities etc
• Liaison with Corporate input suppliers to purchase bulk inputs on behalf of members.
• Market rural produce and products

 

Financial Aid from NABARD 

 

• NABARD’s policy support for Farmers’ Club Programme lays stress on linking technologies with farmers’ club members and also facilitating market access.
• NABARD also provides financial assistance of Rs.10,000/- per club per annum for a period of 3 years to all agencies irrespective of whether they are institutional or other agencies and also the region concerned.

 

MSME Sector

Classification of MSME 

MSME sector are classified into 2 classes with the following criteria:

1. Manufacturing or production enterprises

Enterprises	Investment in plant & machinery
Micro Enterprises	< Rs.25 lacs
Small Enterprises	> Rs.25 lacs and < Rs.5 crores
Medium Enterprises	> Rs.5 crores and < Rs.10 crores

2. Service enterprises

Enterprises	Investment in equipments
Micro Enterprises	< Rs.10 lacs
Small Enterprises	> Rs.10 lacs and < Rs.2 Crores
Medium Enterprises	> Rs.2 Crores and < Rs.5 Crores

Contribution of MSME sector to Indian Economy

• Around 40% of total exports.
• Over 8% to gross domestic product (GDP).
• Contributes around 45% of India’s manufacturing output.
• Provides employment to about 60 million persons through 26 million enterprises.

Inter-Ministerial committee to boost MSME exports in May 2013 

WHY ?  

• Revival of exports which were affected by global economic slowdown ( exports decline to USD 300 billion as against projected USD 360 billion)
• Overcoming the widening trade deficit gap as it resulted into increase in current account deficit (CAD crossed 6.7% of GDP in Q3 of fiscal year 2012-13).
• Suggest Long and short-term measures to enhance exports.

Committee Members : 

• Chairman: R S Gujral (Finance Secretary).

Desertification

Desertification 

It is a type of land degradation  in which a relatively dry land becomes increasingly arid , typically losing  its bodies of water as well as  vegetation and wildlife.

Causes : 

Number of factors which work individually or in combination causing desertification. The immediate cause is the removal of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors such as:

• Drought
• Climatic shifts
• Tillage for agriculture
• Overgrazing
• Deforestation for fuel or construction materials

Role of vegetation, livestock and wildlife in preventing desertification

• Vegetation plays a vital role in determining the biological composition of the soil. As per studies, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover.
• Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan.
• Movement and migration of large herds of livestock and wildlife has an integral role in the preservation of vegetation and soil fertilization, and that the removal of livestock and wildlife (largely by human influence) has been the main driver of increasing desertification.

India’s over one-fourth land hit by desertification : Environment Min

• Report submitted by Env Min to UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
  Report : 

1. India which has a total geographic area of 328 million hectares is grappling with Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) on 7,91,475 sq km of the territory covering almost all states and union territories of the country.
2. The total area undergoing the process of land degradation in the country is estimated at 105.48 million hectares, which forms 32.07% of India’s total land.
3. Major challenges remain in the area of land use planning, management of waste and degraded land, and efficient use of water resources.

• A number of measures have been taken through different channels like Integrated Watershed Management Programme, National Rural Drinking Water Programme, MNREGA, National Rural Livelihood Mission, Green India Mission to address the problem.

Edward Snowden

1. Edward Snowden, an employee of defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton at the National Security Agency, arrives in Hong Kong from Hawaii. He carries four laptop computers that enable him to gain access to some of the U.S. government’s most highly-classified secrets.
2. The Guardian publishes its first exclusive based on Snowden’s leak, revealing a secret court order showing that the U.S. government had forced the telecom giant Verizon to hand over the phone records of millions of Americans.
3. A second story reveals the existence of the previously undisclosed programme Prism, which internal NSA documents claim gives the agency “direct access” to data held by Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants. The tech companies deny that they have set up “back door access” to their systems for the U.S. government.
4. Another of Snowden’s leaks reveals the existence of an internal NSA tool — Boundless Informant — that allows it to record and analyse where its data comes from, and raises questions about its repeated assurances to Congress that it cannot keep track of all the surveillance it performs on American communications.
5. Whistleblower Edward Snowden has recalled his application for asylum in Russia even as he remains marooned at a Moscow airport without travel papers for more than a week.Responding to Mr Snowdens’ asylum request filed , Mr Putin said the fugitive American could stay in Russia if he stopped “harming our American partners” by exposing U.S. global secret surveillance.
6. 3 Latin American nations chose courageously to offer asylum to Edward Snowden the whistleblower. Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
7. Venezuela is one of the top options, with its President Nicolas Maduro saying last week that his country was “almost certain” to grant Mr. Snowden asylum if he filed a formal request.
8. With the U.S. cancelling Mr. Snowden’s passport in june 2013, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said his government would not supply him authorised travel documents to exit Moscow airport.
9. NSA leaker Edward Snowden has applied for asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and other countries, according to WikiLeaks, which has been advising him. Many European countries on the list including Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland said he would have to make his request on their soil.
10. WikiLeaks said requests had also been made to Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, India, Italy, Ireland and Nicaragua — all of which either gave no response, or rejected the request or said he will have to be in the country for the request to be considered.
11. Edward Snowden is charged by its courts for espionage and leaking classified information.
12. India says ‘no’ to Snowden’s plea.
13. U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden has applied for “temporary asylum” in Russia
14. US whistleblower Edward Snowden has very sensitive “blueprints” detailing how the National Security Agency (NSA) operates that would allow someone who read them to evade or even duplicate NSA surveillance,Glenn Greenwald, a journalist with The Guardian said.
15. National Security Agency whistleblowers Edward Snowden left the transit zone of a Moscow airport and entered Russia after authorities granted him asylum for one year.

Ireland

 

Protection  of Life During pregnancy Bill 2013 :

1. Savita Halappanavar suffered a fatal miscarriage in October 2012 after being denied the abortion she requested.
2. Members of the Irish Parliament’s lower house, the Dáil Éireann, passed the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, 2013, which allows medical practitioners to terminate a pregnancy if it poses a “substantial” or “immediate” risk to the mother’s life.
3. Nevertheless, the law is still some distance away from embracing a ‘pro-choice’ approach: an amendment introduced by women TDs that would have permitted the termination of pregnancies arising from rape or incest failed to win support in the Dáil.
4. Roman Catholic Church is staunchly opposed to abortion.
5. Latin America’s record on this count has been abysmal. Six countries in the region still endorse a blanket ban on abortion
6. Ireland adopted a long-awaited law to allow abortion under limited circumstances after President Michael D. Higgins gave his assent to the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill passed by Parliament recently.

News : 1 Aug 2013

1. The juicy Nagpur orange, the famous tribal Warli art, Dharmavaram saris and Kerala’s Kaipad rice have been cleared for inclusion in Geographical Indications (GI) registry in the country. The logo for Leather Toys of Indore (already a GI product) was also approved.
2. The U.K. government took step to take £3,000 bond for issuing visas to people of certain countries, including India.
3. The Ministry of Steel under Government of India has become the first Central Ministry to be awarded ISO 9001:2008, Quality Management System certification. ISO 9001 is quality management system which codifies quality standards in every area of organization’s functioning.
4. Bhutan, especially its 12 per cent poor, will heave a sigh of relief after India decided to restore the subsidy on cooking gas and kerosene a month after it was discontinued
5. Over 617 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries that are home to several critically endangered species like the Great Indian Bustard and the Snow Leopard get a mere Rs 75 crore or Rs 1 lakh each per month, on an average, while the 43 reserves for the big cat get a whopping Rs 165 crore.
6. The Bihar government has amended the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949, allowing for a non-Hindu to head the temple committee.As per Section 3 (3) of the Act, the district magistrate (DM) is the ex-officio chairman of the temple committee and has to be a Hindu. If the DM is a non-Hindu, the Act requires the government “to nominate a Hindu as Chairman of the committee for the period during which the DM is a non-Hindu.”
7. Easing FDI norms :
   Insurance sector, it was decided to raise the sectoral FDI cap from 26 per cent to 49 per cent under automatic route under which companies investing do not require prior government approval. A bill to raise FDI cap in the sector is pending in the Rajya Sabha.
   Allow 49 per cent FDI in single brand retail under the automatic route and beyond, through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route.
   In case of PSU oil refineries, commodity bourses, power exchanges, stock exchanges and clearing corporations, FDI would be allowed up to 49 per cent under automatic route as against the current routing of the investment through FIPB.
   In basic and cellular services, FDI was raised to 100 per cent from the current 74 per cent. Of this, up to 49 per cent would be allowed under automatic route and the remaining through FIPB approval.
   FDI of up to 100 per cent was allowed in courier services under automatic route. Earlier, similar amount of investment was allowed through FIPB route.
8. Ireland adopted a long-awaited law to allow abortion under limited circumstances after President Michael D. Higgins gave his assent to the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill passed by Parliament recently.
9. National Security Agency whistleblowers Edward Snowden left the transit zone of a Moscow airport and entered Russia after authorities granted him asylum for one year.
10. NSA’s XKeyscore surveillance programme has servers in India

Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill

Introduction :

Surrogacy in commercial form is legal in India with the landmark Supreme Court judgment and later, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Guidelines 2005 which prescribed conduct and use of ART procedures or treatment by fertility clinics. Subsequent to this the ART (Regulation) Bill 2010 was formulated by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, which is still awaiting enforcement. The ART Bill legalised commercial surrogacy by providing for payment as “monetary compensation” to the surrogate mother by the intending couple.

 

Critics :

1. There is no maximum age limit prescribed under the Bill for the couples or individual in order to be eligible to make use of ART though the minimum age limit is prescribed as 21 years.
2. There is no screening of the socio-economic/family background of the couples. Neither are there any eligibility criteria for an individual to be a fit parent to have child via surrogacy. There is no appointed government body to monitor the issue.
3. The ART Bill prohibits sex-selective surrogacy in consonance with the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act

Bhutan

Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay

 

India and Bhutan

1. Bhutan, especially its 12 per cent poor, will heave a sigh of relief after India decided to restore the subsidy on cooking gas and kerosene a month after it was discontinued.