MoU between India and Hungary

1. India-Hungary joint commission on economic co-operation on Tuesday signed an agreement between the two countries in the field of traditional medicine.

Russia-India Ties

• Russia has lifted the ban on import of non-basmati rice and oilseeds from India

Russia-Iran Ties

• Russia has taken a “principled” decision to sell Iran an improved version of the S-300 air defence missiles and to build a second nuclear reactor at Bushehr,
• President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to prepare the two proposals for his meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, in Sep 2013 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Russia-China Ties

• Since March 2013, Xi Jinping has traveled overseas three times. His first visit after taking office was to Russia. On the same trip, he took in three African countries and attended the BRICS Summit in South Africa.
• In June 2013 , Xi visited three Latin American countries and held a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in California. For this forthcoming G20 and SCO trip, Xi will again meet with Putin in St. Petersburg and Bishkek.
• The third trip (for G20 and SCO summit in Russia) will also be Xi’s second visit to Russia in six months, itself rare enough in the neighborhood diplomacy of top Chinese leaders in recent years and not especially common for leaders of other countries either.
• Russia is a diplomatic priority for Beijing. Some Chinese scholars see close links between China and Russia as a counterweight to the U.S.-Japan alliance, offsetting the pressure of the United States and Japan on the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands issue. For Russia, ties with China can also balance U.S. policy.
• It is worth noting that coinciding with Xi’s first visit to Russia, Beijing and Moscow signed the largest weapons procurement contract in the past decade, in which China is to buy 24 Su-35 fighters and four Lada-class submarines (although some reports have denied this deal actually going through). Since then, China and Russia have held a “routine” military exercise, again showing the growing sophistication of military cooperation between the two countries.

News : 1-7 Sep 2013

• Google said the next version of Android will be called ‘KitKat’ in keeping with its penchant for giving tasty names to its software for powering mobile devices.
• India’s advanced multi-band communication satellite GSAT-7, launched from French Guiana by European space consortium Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket on August 30, has been successfully placed in the geosynchronous orbit with an altitude of about 36,000 km above earth surface.
• After Ymail and Flicker revamp, Yahoo Inc. now unveils new logo.Yahoo’s $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr, an Internet blogging service.
• A rhino gave birth to a male calf in the Assam State Zoo here . This is the first calf born under the ex-situ conservation programme of the Asian rhino.
• India and the UK have formed a green energy forum to enhance and acclerate activities in clean energy.
• The Forward Markets Commission (FMC), chief regulator of forwards and futures commodity markets in India, will, henceforth, be overseen by the Ministry of Finance instead of the Department of Consumer Affairs under the Ministry of Food.The FMC is a statutory body set up under the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1952. Till March 2009, it had regulated Rs. 52 trillion worth of commodity trade.
• Reserve Bank of India  allowed them to carry Indian currency of up to Rs.10,000 per person from 7,500.
• Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday downgraded subordinated debt ratings of 11 Indian banks, including SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
• The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday allowed banks to swap funds mobilised through foreign currency deposits to attract overseas funds.More.
• Raghuram Rajan takes over as RBI Governor.
• British telecom giant BT has called off its dial-up Internet access service as the vast majority of its 6.8 million broadband customers have switched to much faster connections.
• The Cabinet approved the India-Abu Dhabi bilateral air services agreement enabling their airlines to fly 50,000 seats each week, up from the current level of 13,700.
• Nokia sell its main handset division to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euro($7.2 billion).
• Danish pharmaceutical major Novo Nordisk  said it would soon launch its insulin injection Tresiba (insulin degludec) in India.
• Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report on the “Alleged Irregularities in the Conduct of Studies Using Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine by PATH in India.In the trials, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), with the support of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), approval from the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) [all three private international parties], donations from Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) and Glaxo SmithKline (GSK), in partnership with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and along with the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, through the national vaccination programme, delivered and administered HPV vaccines to 10-14-year-old girls in Khammam (A.P.) and Vadodara (Gujarat) districts.
• Pakistan RTI draft promises to hold defence department accountable
• U.S. President Barack Obama has sought congressional approval for limited military intervention in Syria to win more support for his plan to punish the Bashar al-Assad regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons.US is having support of France.
• U.S. President Barack Obama has sought congressional approval for limited military intervention in Syria to win more support for his plan to punish the Bashar al-Assad regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons.
• Bhutan has assured India that the security of the two countries is entwined and during its Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay’s first overseas visit after wining the elections, reiterated Thimphu’s desire to continue with the cooperation
• As its current account deficit widens and the value of the rupee dwindles, India plans to increase crude oil imports from Iran so as to save $8.5 billion in foreign exchange.It will save foreign reserve as India would be paying in Rupees.
• Sir David Frost, the journalist and broadcaster died.Frost, who was knighted in 1993, helped to establish London Weekend Television and TV-am.
• Uzhavan Express (Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways and runs between Chennai Egmore and Thanjavur Jn) that was flagged off from here on September 1, qualifies to be called a ‘green express’ as bio-toilets have been fitted into 34 of its 36 coaches.The first bio-toilet-fitted train, Gwalior-Varanasi Bundelkhand Express, has been running since January 2011.
• The Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is in for more trouble as the Comptroller and Auditor-General has questioned the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry over the recent gas price increase and wanted to know the steps taken to ensure that the operator (RIL-BP) delivers gas at $4.2 mbtu as per the approved production plan.
• Reprieve for RTI as bill to insulate parties is deferred.The government has decided to refer the RTI [Amendment] Bill, 2013, to the standing committee of Parliament because the order passed by the Central Information Commission bringing political parties within the purview of ‘public authority’ under the RTI Act needs elaborate study.The Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 13, seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2 of the RTI Act regarding public authority. It states, “Authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”The Bill has a new Section 31 in the principal Act which says the amendment will apply “notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or commission..,” and will prevail over “any other law for the time being in force.”
• Deepak Sandhu, who has been an information commissioner for the last four years, on Thursday became the first woman Chief Information Commissioner of the country.
• Negating a Supreme Court order, Parliament on Friday passed a bill that maintains the right of those in jail to contest polls.SC accepted to review the ruling to banned person from contesting election if in custodyThe Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013 was rushed through in the Lok Sabha and passed .The Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on August 27. The Amendment Bill seeks to add a proviso to sub-section (2) of section 62 of the RP Act to state that a person cannot cease to be a voter while in detention as his or her right is only temporarily suspended.One of the amendments states that as the name of the jailed person continues to be on the electoral rolls, he or she also continues to be an elector and can file nomination for an election.
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would address the United Nations General assembly on September 28, according to the latest provisional list of speakers released by the U.N.
•  The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group made progress in the creation of a $100-billion Currency Reserve Fund (CRF) by announcing individual contribution.China will contribute $41 billion, while Brazil, Russia and India will chip in with $18 billion each. South Africa, the smallest economy, will commit only $5 billion to the CRF.
• President Pranab Mukherjee confers the the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony to Zubin Mehta, western classical music conductor of Indian-Parsi origin
• The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, 2011, was passed in the Rajya Sabha and now passed by Lok Sabha.
• The Rajya Sabha  passed a Constitution 120 th amendment Bill to create a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) which will replace the collegium system of appointing judges to higher courts.

Land Swap Deal

English: Map of the British Indian Empire from Imperial Gazetteer of India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Bill—the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement is again pending to be introduced in  parliament legislation.Such roadblocks hamper gaining trust of neighbors .India often suffers a “perception problem” in the eyes of its neighbors, which often view India with suspicion because of its size, economy and military might. That in turn encourages them to turn to China.

 

Bill contents :

 

1. The bill in question called for India to exchange 111 of its enclaves in Bangladesh in return for 51 Bangladesh enclaves in India.
2. Under the agreement India would give up claims for just over 17,000 acres of land which will be transferred to Bangladesh. In turn Bangladesh would cede around 7,000 acres, which would then join Indian territory.
3. A land swap agreement would also give citizenship rights to close to 52,000 people: 37,000 on the Bangladesh side and close to 15,000 on the Indian side. These stateless people, often victimized, would finally get rights and privileges as citizens, to the benefit of India’s human rights record.

 

Benefits

 

• A healthy relationship with Bangladesh would have other economic benefits. India could seek from Bangladesh as a goodwill gesture transit rights to its northeast, bringing development to a struggling region.
• A deal could also revive the moribund South Asia Growth Quadrangle (SAGQ is a practical solution to the region’s socio-economic problems), comprising India’s north east, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. And a deal would give a pre-election boost to a Bangladesh government that has generally been favorable to India.
• This deal could particularly benefit the North East and Assam. Resolving the land issues would enable borders in these areas to be secured.

 

Hurdles

 

• Any policy initiated by New Delhi towards Bangladesh needs to take the sensibilities of Assam into account. In addition to the historical immigration issue, there is Assam’s proximity to Bangladesh and the region’s own troubled history with India’s neighbor, extending back to the 1970s.
• There is a need to engage the people of Assam on a more direct level to talk about the benefits of the swap and any possible ramifications. Assam has a vibrant civil society, which should be engaged on this issue. In short, it is time for some public diplomacy.

 

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.

 

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.

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.