Sports This week: Sep 28th - Oct 5th

China won more medals in Asian games
Asian Games were conducted from September 19th to October 4th, at Incheon in South Africa. The final medal tally was led by China, followed by South Korea and Japan. 14 World and 27 Asian records were broken during the Games. Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino was announced as the most valuable player (MVP) of the Games

The 2018 Asian Games will be the 18th staging of the regional, multi-sport event to be hosted by Indonesia, with the capital city of Jakarta will be the main host

Originally Hanoi, Vietnam was chosen as the host. However, they withdrew due to the financial constraints

In Asian Games India stood at 8th place
China has got 151 gold, 108 silver and 83 bronze taking total tally to 342.
India has got 11 gold, 9 silver and 37 bronze taking total talley to 57.

Other important points
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, that manages dairy cooperative Amul, announced its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Olympic Association on 11 July 2014. This MoU has made Amul the official sponsor of the Indian contingent at the 2014 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland

India defeated Pakistan and won first hockey gold in 16 years

Mary Kom became first Indian woman to win gold medal in boxing

Varsha Gautam, Aiswarya Nedunchezhiyan became first Indian women to win a sailing medal

Indian men kabaddi team won seventh consecutive gold 

Chennai won in Champions league
Chennai Super King won second champions league t20 title defeating Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. Suresh Raina has got the man of the match award. He made brilliant century and helped Chennai super kings to get the victory.

The Champions League Twenty20, also referred to as the CLT20, is an annual international Twenty20 cricket competition played between the top domestic teams from major cricketing nations. The competition was launched in 2008 with the first edition held in October 2009. It is jointly owned by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, and is chaired by N. Srinivasan, who is also the chairman of the ICC. Sundar Raman is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the CLT20 as well as the IPL.

Science and technology This week: Sep 28th - Oct 5th

First transplanted womb baby born
In a world's first, a woman has successfully given birth to a baby from a transplanted womb.

The donated womb came from the woman's own mother, making it the first baby in the world born to a woman using the same womb from which she was herself born. The 36-year-old Swedish woman delivered a healthy baby boy weighing 1775g in September, 2014. The unidentified woman, who has a genetic condition that means she was born without a womb, was one of nine Swedish women who received a uterus transplant from a live donor in 2013.

The transplanted womb was donated by her 61-year-old mother who had gone through the menopause seven years before the surgery.

New snake discovered in Odisha
A group of amateur herpetologists from Odisha on 28th September claimed to have discovered a non-venomous snake in the State. After months of research, these researchers have established clarity around the snake species, which were discovered in Ganjam district. The new snake species was rescued by Snake Helpline and subsequently studied in depth by a group of amateur herpetologists and scholars from Odisha.

The scientific name of this new snake has been conferred as Lycodon Odishi,” Subhendu Mallik . The common name of the snake has been given as Subhendu’s Wolf Snake by the team who studied the snake. “The Lycodon Odishi is a nocturnal and non-venomous species of snake and feeds mostly on skinks and geckos.

Global wildlife populations down by half since 1970: WWF
Over half of the world's animals have disappeared since 1970. A shocking report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has found that 52% of the world's animals have vanished in 40 years.

Between 1970 and 2010, populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish around the globe dropped 52%, says the 2014 Living Planet Report. Examples of wildlife that are suffering serious population collapse include elephants in Africa which could become extinct within our lifetime.

Marine turtles have seen an 80% drop in numbers. In addition to the precipitous decline in wildlife populations the report's data point to other warning signs about the overall health of the planet. The amount of carbon in our atmosphere has risen to levels not seen in more than a million years, triggering climate change that is already destabilizing ecosystems. High concentrations of reactive nitrogen are degrading lands, rivers and oceans. Stress on already scarce water supplies is increasing. And more than 60% of the essential services provided by nature, from our forests to our seas, are in decline.

The Living Planet Report measured trends in three major areas - populations of more than 10,000 vertebrate species, human ecological footprint - a measure of consumption of goods, greenhouse gas emissions and existing biocapacity - the amount of natural resources for producing food, freshwater, and sequestering carbon.

While high-income countries show a 10% increase in biodiversity, the rest of the world is seeing dramatic declines. Middle-income countries show 18% declines, and low-income countries show 58% declines.

India set to enter global nuclear club
India has completed all the requirements for membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the US told the Indian side during the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama.

This brings India much closer to becoming part of the global nuclear system, and essential if India has to access nuclear and dual-use technologies in fields as diverse as pharmaceuticals and space. India has been negotiating for membership to NSG, MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and Australia Group for the past few years.

The two sides will wrestle through a couple of big issues. On the US side, the administrative arrangements on the civil nuclear deal with India involves the thorny aspect of their insistence that they have the right to track nuclear fuel through the entire nuclear process. India will not agree. But a resolution on this is imperative because on this hinges the fate of two other nuclear agreements - with Japan and Australia.

On the Indian side, the effort will be to convince the US that the liability law is not a constraint. The Indian government is in the process of drawing up a detailed list of components, specifying the amount of liability and its timespan. Its supposed to define precisely the scope of the liability law, but so far even Indian companies are not impressed.

What is Nuclear Suppliers Group?
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials

The NSG was founded in response to the Indian nuclear test in May 1974 and first met in November 1975. The test demonstrated that certain non-weapons specific nuclear technology could be readily turned to weapons development. Nations already signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) saw the need to further limit the export of nuclear equipment, materials or technology. Another benefit was that non-NPT and non-Zangger Committee nations, then specifically France, could be brought in.

A series of meetings in London from 1975 to 1978 resulted in agreements on the guidelines for export, these were published as INFCIRC/254 (essentially the Zangger "Trigger List") by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Listed items could only be exported to non-nuclear states if certain International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards were agreed to or if exceptional circumstances relating to safety existed.

The name of the "London Club" was due to the series of meetings in London. It has also been referred to as the London Group, or the London Suppliers Group.

The NSG did not meet again until 1991. The "Trigger List" remained unchanged until 1991, although the Zangger list was regularly updated. The revelations about the Iraqi weapons program following the first Gulf War led to a tightening of the export of so-called dual-use equipment. At the first meeting since 1978, held at the Hague in March 1991, the twenty-six participating governments agreed to the changes, which were published as the "Dual-use List" in 1992, and also to the extension of the original list to more closely match the up-to-date Zangger list. A regular series of plenary meetings was also arranged as was the regular updating of the two key lists

Ebola virus can become airborne: UN
There is a ‘nightmare’ chance that the Ebola virus could become airborne if the epidemic is not brought under control fast enough, the chief of the UN’s Ebola mission has warned. Anthony Banbury, the Secretary General’s Special Representative, said that aid workers are racing against time to bring the epidemic under control, in case the Ebola virus mutates and becomes even harder to deal with.

The number of people infected with Ebola is doubling every 20 to 30 days, and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has forecast that there could be as many as 1.4m cases of Ebola by January, in the worst case scenario. More than 3,300 people have been killed by the disease this year.

However, he added that the UN now has the “political will” and most of the materials it needs to bring the epidemic under control.

The UN team will need to spend the first 30 days getting emergency infrastructure and training in place, ensuring that aid workers and medical supplies are ready to be deployed wherever there is a new Ebola outbreak. They aim to control the disease as far as possible within those communities.

About Ebola:
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a disease caused by one of five different Ebola viruses. Four of the strains can cause severe illness in humans and animals. The fifth, Reston virus, has caused illness in some animals, but not in humans.

The first human outbreaks occurred in 1976, one in northern Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in Central Africa: and the other, in southern Sudan (now South Sudan). The virus is named after the Ebola River, where the virus was first recognized in 1976,according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ebola is extremely infectious but not extremely contagious. It is infectious, because an infinitesimally small amount can cause illness. Laboratory experiments on nonhuman primates suggest that even a single virus may be enough to trigger a fatal infection.

Instead, Ebola could be considered moderately contagious, because the virus is not transmitted through the air. The most contagious diseases, such as measles or influenza, virus particles are airborne.

Humans can be infected by other humans if they come in contact with body fluids from an infected person or contaminated objects from infected persons. Humans can also be exposed to the virus, for example, by butchering infected animals.

While the exact reservoir of Ebola viruses is still unknown, researchers believe the most likely natural hosts are fruit bats.

Symptoms of Ebola typically include: weakness, fever, aches, diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain. Additional experiences include rash, red eyes, chest pain, throat soreness, difficulty breathing or swallowing and bleeding (including internal).

Typically, symptoms appear 8-10 days after exposure to the virus, but the incubation period can span two to 21 days. Unprotected health care workers are susceptible to infection because of their close contact with patients during treatment.

Ebola is not transmissible if someone is asymptomatic or once someone has recovered from it. However, the virus has been found in semen for up to three months.

Deadly human Ebola outbreaks have been confirmed in the following countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, South Sudan, Ivory Coast, Uganda, and Republic of the Congo (ROC), Guinea and Liberia.

According to the World Health Organization, "there is no specific treatment or vaccine," and the fatality rate can be up to 90%. Patients are given supportive care, which includes providing fluids and electrolytes and food.

There are five subspecies of the Ebola virus: Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV), Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV), Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), Taï Forest ebolavirus (TAFV) and Reston ebolavirus (RESTV)

China tests new long-range missile
China has test fired a new variant of its 10,000 km range missile, sharpening its nuclear deterrent in the wake of the ‘Pivot to Asia’ doctrine of the United States, which aims to bolter force levels around China’s periphery. The long range missile, Dongfeng-31B was launched on September 25, ahead of China’s national day

China has already tested Dongfeng-31A, which also has a 10,000 km reach, capable of targeting Europe and the West Coast of the United States.

But the latest version may carry additional nuclear punch because it may be capable of mounting multiple warheads, unlike its earlier variant which can strike with only three warheads.

Economy This week: Sep 28th - Oct 5th

Government cancels 9 SEZ projects
The government has cancelled approvals of nine special economic zones, including that of Hindalco Industries, Essar and Adani as no “satisfactory” progress was made to execute the projects. The decision was taken in the meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher on September 18. It said the developers have to refund the duty benefits availed by them.

Hindalco Industries had proposed to set up an aluminium product SEZ in Orissa. The formal approval to the developer was granted in July 2007. The developer was granted extension from time to time and the last extension granted expired on December 31, 2013.

Essar Jamnagar SEZ Ltd, which had proposed to set up a multi-product zone in Gujarat, got formal approval in August 2006. It was expired in August 2009. The developer did not make any request for further extension of approval.

Similarly, Adani Townships & Real Estate Company Ltd had proposed an IT/ITeS zone in Gujarat. The BoA granted formal approval in June 2007, which expired in June 2010.

The developer had reported that they could not proceed with the SEZ project due to adverse demand scenario from IT sector and accordingly they are not interested in perusing the project.

What is SEZ?
The term special economic zone (SEZ) is commonly used as a generic term to refer to any modern economic zone. In these zones business and trades laws that differ from the rest of the country. Broadly, SEZs are located within a country's national borders. The aims of the zones include: increased trade, increased investment, job creation and effective administration. To encourage businesses to set up in the zone liberal policies are introduced. There policies typically regard investing, taxation, trading, quotas, customs and labour regulations. Additionally, companies may be offered tax holidays.

India was one of the first in Asia to recognize the effectiveness of the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) model in promoting exports, with Asia's first EPZ set up in Kandla in 1965. With a view to overcome the shortcomings experienced on account of the multiplicity of controls and clearances; absence of world-class infrastructure, and an unstable fiscal regime and with a view to attract larger foreign investments in India, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy was announced in April 2000.

Singareni to open country’s biggest underground coal mine
India's second-largest coal producer Singareni Collieries will open the country's biggest underground mine next month with a capacity of 2.8 million tonnes per year, which should help the firm edge past its output target for this fiscal year.

Singareni's output is just about 10 percent of what Coal India, the world's largest miner, digs out. But its small size and focus on one state, Telangana, has helped it beat its production targets for years, unlike Coal India that has its mines across the country.

The company expects to produce a total of 55 million tonnes in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2015, and 56 million the year after that. Its target for the current fiscal year was 54.5 million.

Coal India fell short of its production target of 183.9 million tonnes for April-August by 8 million tonnes. The company fears it may not be able to meet its commitment of supplying 408 million tonnes to power firms this fiscal year. The inability of Coal India - accounting for 80 percent of the country's coal output - to raise production fast enough has made India the world's third-largest coal importer despite sitting on the fifth-largest reserves.

RBI maintained status quo
Continuing the effort to fight “persisting inflation” and inflationary pressures, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan, on 30th September, maintained the policy rates at the current levels.

The central bank kept the short-term policy indicative rate (Repo rate) unchanged at 8 per cent while keeping the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 4 per cent. The repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to banks. The CRR is the portion of total deposits of customers, which commercial banks have to hold as reserves either in cash or as deposits with the central bank.

Turning to the medium-term objective — inflation target of 6 per cent by January 2016 — Dr. Rajan said the balance of risks was still to the upside, though somewhat lower than in the last policy statement. This continued to warrant policy preparedness to contain pressures if the risks materialised.

Dr. Rajan said that in pursuance of the Urjit R. Patel Committee’s recommendation to move away from sector-specific refinance, the access to the Export Credit Refinance (ECR) was is being brought down to 15 per cent from 32 per cent of the eligible export credit, thus continuing to give banks room for manoeuvre. This will be in effect from October 10.

He also said that with liquidity conditions easing, the recourse to ECR had fallen off substantially to about 10 per cent of the outstanding export credit eligible for refinance.

About Monetary policy:
Monetary policy is the macroeconomic policy laid down by the central bank. It involves management of money supply and interest rate and is the demand side economic policy used by the government of a country to achieve macroeconomic objectives like inflation, consumption, growth and liquidity.

In India, monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of India is aimed at managing the quantity of money in order to meet the requirements of different sectors of the economy and to increase the pace of economic growth.

The RBI implements the monetary policy through open market operations, bank rate policy, reserve system, credit control policy, moral persuasion and through many other instruments. Using any of these instruments will lead to changes in the interest rate, or the money supply in the economy. Monetary policy can be expansionary and contractionary in nature. Increasing money supply and reducing interest rates indicate an expansionary policy. The reverse of this is a contractionary monetary policy.

For instance, liquidity is important for an economy to spur growth. To maintain liquidity, the RBI is dependent on the monetary policy. By purchasing bonds through open market operations, the RBI introduces money in the system and reduces the interest rate.

KYC norms for bank account opening further simplified
Guidelines on ‘know your customer’ (KYC) have been further simplified with immediate effect with a view to easing difficulties faced by common persons while opening bank accounts and during periodic updating, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

As per the simplified KYC guidelines, banks will not insist on physical presence of the customer at the time of periodic updating and they will not seek fresh proof of identity and address at the time of periodic updating in case of no change in status for 'low risk' customers.

Banks will allow self-certification and accept a certified copy of the document by mail/post, etc. Further, they will not seek fresh documents if an existing KYC compliant customer of a bank desires to open another account in the bank.

The RBI, in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy statement, said there is a need for banks to complete KYC for all customers including long standing ‘low risk’ customers.

Banks should complete documentation, while minimising the effort on the part of the customer to what is strictly needed.

In the event that customers are unable to comply within a reasonable time period, ‘partial freezing’ may be introduced in respect of KYC non-compliant customers, that is, credits would be allowed in such accounts while debits would not be allowed, with an option to the account holder to close the account and take back the money in the account.

Fiscal deficit for five months at 75% of Budget estimate
The fiscal deficit for the first five months of 2014-15 is 75 per cent of the Government’s Budget estimate. This trend is similar to what was seen in the corresponding period of last fiscal. According to the latest data of the Controller General of Accounts, fiscal deficit during the April-August period reached Rs 3.97 lakh crore, nearly 75 per cent of the budget estimate of Rs 5.31 lakh crore.

Fiscal deficit is the difference between the Government’s earnings and expenditure.

The Government has set a target to mobilise over Rs 63,000 crore through disinvestment for Central PSUs and its residual stake sale in private companies. But experts point out that the Government has not moved forward and the first nine months of the fiscal has ended.

Govt sets up task force on public debt management
The government on 30th September set up four different task forces to lay a road map for up gradation of existing agencies in the financial sector and establishment of new ones, including the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA). The action is based on recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission.

The task forces are on Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal, Resolution Corporation, PDMA, and Financial Data Management Centre. These will be headed by N K Sodhi, former chief justice of Karnataka and Kerala high courts; M Damodaran, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India;

D Swarup, former chairman of Pension Fund Regulation Development Authority; and Subir Gokarn, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India.

FSLRC, set up in March 2011 for rewriting financial-sector laws to bring them in harmony with the current requirements, had submitted its report to the government on March 22, 2013.

It had recommended a non-sectoral, principle-based, legislative architecture for the financial sector by restructuring or upgrading existing regulatory agencies and creating new ones wherever needed for better governance and accountability.

It suggested creation of PDMA to perform the function of debt management for the government. It would help the government raise debt and support its cash management function. The nine-member task force will review international best practices in public debt management and develop an administrative plan that includes a design of the required physical infrastructure, among other things.

The task force on FSAT will review global best practices of procedural rules and internal processes of courts and tribunals. It will review the present rules of procedure for the Securities Appellate Tribunal.

FDMC task force will review the present practices of management of regulatory data in the country. The one on RC would develop an organisation design for the corporation that would implement the Indian Financial Code. All the four task forces have been given one year to submit their report.

5.5% Growth rate in FY: UN study
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) expects a stronger growth momentum of 5.5 per cent for India in 2014-15 on account of economic expansion, likely uptick in exports and a stable government at the Centre.

The Indian economy had registered a growth of 4.9 per cent in fiscal year ending 2014, up from 4.5 per cent in the previous fiscal, but far below the 9.5 per cent pace three years before the global financial crisis of 2008.

The economy is expected to enjoy stronger growth momentum of 5.5 per cent in the fiscal year 2014, underpinned by solid expansion in the industrial and services sectors. Higher growth in the developed countries and the weaker local currency would support exports," said the UN ESCAP report on Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific-2014 released.

On Asia Pacific, the report said developing countries in the region are forecast to grow at an average of 5.8 per cent in 2014, up from 5.6 per cent last year.

About UN ESCAP:
The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP or ESCAP), located in Bangkok, Thailand, is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in 1947 (then as the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East - ECAFE) to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. The name was changed to the current in 1974. It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative direction of United Nations headquarters. ESCAP has 53 member States and nine Associate members, and reports to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). As well as countries in Asia and the Pacific, it includes France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

RBI eases norms for short sale in g-secs
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 30th September said it will gradually lower the ceiling on bonds that can be held-to-maturity (HTM) starting in January, while further easing currency hedging rules for importers in moves to boost trading in markets.

In order to enhance liquidity and develop the government securities (G-sec) market, the RBI brought down the ceiling on statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) securities under the HTM (held-to-maturity) category from 24 per cent of NDTL to 22 per cent in a phased manner. It asked banks to bring the SLR down to 23.5 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning January 10, 2015, 23.0 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning April 4, 2015, 22.5 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning July 11, 2015 and 22.0 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning September 19, 2015.

In addition, RBI liberalised guidelines on short sale in G-Secs by increasing the limit on short sale for liquid securities to 0.75 per cent (from 0.50 per cent) of outstanding stock or Rs. 600 crore, whichever is lower. RBI also permitted banks and primary dealers (PDs) to take short positions in G-Secs in the over-the-counter (OTC) market (within the total short sale limit), subject to appropriate audit/ internal controls.

The RBI also announced it would extend the period that foreign investors can settle their over-the-counter government bonds to two days of their trade from one, a measure that traders speculated could be aimed to facilitate the settlement of debt in the Euroclear platform. India is considering joining Euro clear, the world's largest securities settlement system.

What are G-secs?
The Government securities comprise dated securities issued by the Government of India and state governments as also, treasury bills issued by the Government of India.Reserve Bank of India manages and services these securities through its public debt offices located in various places as an agent of the Government.

Why G-secs:
Provident funds, by their very nature, need to invest in risk free securities that also provide them a reasonable return. Government securities, also called the gilt edged securities or G-secs, are not only free from default risk but also provide reasonable returns and, therefore, offer the most suitable investment opportunity to provident funds.

India to grow 5.6% this fiscal: Fitch
India’s growth is expected to accelerate to 5.6 per cent in the current financial year and further to 6.5 per cent in 2015-16, buoyed by strong investments and political certainty, rating agency Fitch said on 1st October. Fitch expects gross domestic product (GDP) growth to pick up to 5.6 per cent in FY15 (ending in March) and 6.5 per cent in both FY16 and FY17, the agency said, in its global economic outlook report.

The Reserve Bank of India has projected a 5.5 per cent GDP growth for the current financial year and 6.3 per cent for 2015-16. Fitch further said the expected pick-up is supported by the 5.7 per cent GDP growth in April-June quarter of FY15.

India had clocked a sub-five per cent growth in the previous two financial years. It grew 4.5 per cent in in 2012-13 and 4.7 per cent in 2013-14. Fitch said lifting GDP growth to substantially higher levels would require large productivity gains through implementation of reforms related to governance, product and labour markets, as well as reduction of infrastructure bottlenecks.

Jan Dhan: banks asked to set up Rs. 75-cr corpus for media campaign
Public sector banks have been asked to pick up the tab on media campaign expenses incurred for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

The Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Finance Ministry has advised the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to create a corpus of Rs. 75 crore to meet all the media campaign expenses for the scheme, sources in the banking industry said. IBA has, in turn, approached its member banks seeking an initial aggregate contribution of Rs. 30 crore for the expenses already incurred and also expected to be spent shortly.

While public sector banks would have little option but to cough up money towards this corpus, indications are that private and foreign banks are keen to escape

The DFS has also urged NABARD, Life Insurance Corporation, General Insurance Corporation and pension regulator PFRDA to contribute ( Rs. 15 crore) towards the corpus.

The PMJDY — which was launched on August 28 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — targets to bring financial inclusion to atleast 7.5 crore unbanked families by January 26 next year.

The effort will be to ensure that atleast one person from every household in the country has a bank account in his/her name by January 26. Meanwhile, IBA’s managing committee has now decided to focus the media campaign on ground level activities.

To ensure success of the campaign and to create a pull effect, the DFS had planned a nationwide campaign during the PMJDY programme period. After calling for presentation from agencies empanelled with different banks, DFS had selected RK Swamy BBDO for carrying out the campaign in the initial stages for a period of one month covering pre-launch, launch and post-launch period.

The cost of this campaign carried out worked out to Rs. 20 crore, details available with DFS showed. The DFS now wants the media campaign to be carried out during the rest of the programme also.

Panel formed on pension system
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has set up an 18-member advisory committee to help frame regulations for developing pensions system in the country. The move comes eight months after the PFRDA law got notified on February 1 this year, giving the regulator the much-needed statutory backing.

As many as 12-13 draft regulations are currently under the process of receiving public feedback and these are then expected to go through the newly set up PAC before being taken up by the PFRDA Board for final approval

The draft regulations that had been already exposed to the public include pension funds management, points-of-presence regulations, aggregator regulations, customer grievance regulations and exit regulations.

Besides the 18 members, the PAC will have the PFRDA Chairman and PFRDA members as ex-officio chairperson and ex-officio members respectively. The banking sector is fully on board with representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (at the level of chief general manager) besides the Chief Executive of Indian Banks’ Association.

The panel also has representatives from the Clearing Corporation of India, National Stock Exchange, Labour Ministry, SBI Pension Funds, ICICI Prudential Pension Funds and NSDL e-governance Infrastructure.

Bilateral Relations This week: Sep 28th - Oct 5th

At UN, PM took firm climate stand
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given country’s views on the necessary actions to be taken to face the challenges of climate change during his UN general assembly speech on 27th of September.

In a remark which may disappoint rich nations, specifically the US, Canada and the European Union (EU) countries, Modi insisted on the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" (CBDR) and made it clear that this should "form the basis of continued action" in future.

It's a clear signal that India will not dilute its well-stated position when the country representatives would assemble in Lima, Peru in December for climate change negotiations in the run up to the global deal in Paris next year.

India's apprehension of the rich nations' likely stand during future climate negotiation in the run up to the 2015 Paris deal is not based on mere assumption. The developing countries have been hearing the rich nations' demand for flexibility in the key CBDR principle for the last couple of years.

It was become quite obvious recently when EU commissioner for climate action, Connie Hedegaard, met India's environment minister Prakash Javadekar and raised this point once again. She appealed him and others to prepare themselves for adjusting to new realities as far as CBDR were concerned.

Modi speech at Maidson Square
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a packed Madison Square, New York on 28th September. The important points that he discussed are….

India, it took only Rs 7 per km to reach Mars

India has given importance to skill development. For that he said that a separate Ministry for skill development was created

He also talked on cleanliness of river Ganga

He assured that lifelong visas for PIO card holders

Modi discussions with investor in US
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 29th September discussed with CEOs of large American companies to invest in India in key sectors including infrastructure. 11 CEO’s were present, including PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Citigroup chief Michael Corbat, Modi said India was open minded and wanted the change, which is “not one-sided”. Listening to concerns raised by the business leaders, Modi assured them that his Government will address their issues and try to make the environment in India more business-friendly.

India-US 10 years defence pact
India and US have in principle agreed to extend their defence agreement for another 10 years which will take forward the cooperation between the two countries in the crucial area.

The framework agreement, which will expire next year, was signed in 2005 by then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his US counterpart Donald Rumsfeld. Earlier, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed issues relating to defence cooperation and combating terrorism.

The pact had laid strong foundations leading to mutually beneficial defence cooperation between the two countries through security dialogue, service-level exchanges, defence exercises and defence trade and technology collaboration.

In the meeting, both sides had decided to take steps for extension of the pact besides agreeing to enhance cooperation in joint production and development of defence equipment.

The US has been pushing defence deals with India worth over Rs. 20,000 crore, including the sale of Apache attack choppers, Chinook heavylift helicopters and the Javelin anti—tank guided missiles.

It has already sold equipment worth Rs. 60,000 crore in the last 10 years to India but none of these weapon sales programme is about joint production or co—development and does not include transfer of technology.

India has raised the FDI cap in defence sector recently from 26 per cent to 49 per cent with an aim of boosting indigenous defence production. India imports almost 70 per cent of its defence needs from foreign sources.

Other important points

The Prime Minister of India invited American companies to participate in Indian defence manufacturing sector.

The Indo-US nuclear deal concluded between the previous Manmohan Singh government and the Bush Administration has been stalled because of issues relating to libality laws. India and US decided to take this agreement to next level.

Sharing concerns over the threat of terrorism in South Asia and emerging challenges in West Asia, where Islamist group ISIS has been on the rampage, Modi said the two countries agreed to intensify cooperation in counter terrorism and intelligence sharing. Obama said India was emerging as a major power for peace and security in the region.

Back ground:
123 Agreement: Section 123 of the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954, titled "Cooperation With Other Nations", establishes an agreement for cooperation as a prerequisite for nuclear deals between the US and any other nation. Such an agreement is called a 123 Agreement. To date, the U.S. has entered into roughly twenty-five 123 Agreements with various countries.

The 123 Agreement signed between the United States of America and the Republic of India is known as the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement or Indo-US nuclear deal. The framework for this agreement was a July 18, 2005, joint statement by then Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and then U.S. President George W. Bush, under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India. This U.S.-India deal took more than three years to come to fruition as it had to go through several complex stages, including amendment of U.S. domestic law, especially the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, a civil-military nuclear Separation Plan in India, an India-IAEA safeguards (inspections) agreement and the grant of an exemption for India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an export-control cartel that had been formed mainly in response to India's first nuclear test in 1974. In its final shape, the deal places under permanent safeguards those nuclear facilities that India has identified as "civil" and permits broad civil nuclear cooperation, while excluding the transfer of "sensitive" equipment and technologies, including civil enrichment and reprocessing items even under IAEA safeguards. On August 18, 2008 the IAEA Board of Governors approved, and on February 2, 2009, India signed an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA. Once India brings this agreement into force, inspections began in a phased manner on the 35 civilian nuclear installations India has identified in its Separation Plan. The deal is seen as a watershed in U.S.-India relations and introduces a new aspect to international nonproliferation efforts. On August 1, 2008, the IAEA approved the safeguards agreement with India, after which the United States approached the Nuclear Suppliers Group] (NSG) to grant a waiver to India to commence civilian nuclear trade. The 48-nation NSG granted the waiver to India on September 6, 2008 allowing it to access, civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other countries. The implementation of this waiver made India the only known country with nuclear weapons which is not a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but is still allowed to carry out nuclear commerce with the rest of the world.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill to approve the deal on September 28, 2008. Two days later, India and France inked a similar nuclear pact making France the first country to have such an agreement with India. On October 1, 2008 the U.S. Senate also approved the civilian nuclear agreement allowing India to purchase nuclear fuel and technology from -- and sell them to -- the United States. U.S. President, George W. Bush, signed the legislation on the Indo-US nuclear deal, approved by the U.S. Congress, into law, now called the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act, on October 8, 2008. The agreement was signed by then Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his counterpart then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on October 10

India-US to set up inter-agency
Furthering Indo-US cooperation on terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama on 30th September agreed to make "joint and concerted efforts" to dismantle safe havens for terror and criminal networks like LeT, JeM, D-company, al Qaeda and Haqqani network.

In their first Summit meeting spread over two hours at the White House, the two leaders also agreed that the two countries will take steps to disrupt financial and tactical support to these terror outfits.

They also said that the "joint and concerted efforts" on dismantling safe havens for terrorist groups and criminal networks do not mean that India and the US were not going to launch operations but carry out any UN-mandated task.

An inter-agency contact group will be set up to address the issues of liability, administrative and technical issues. From the Indian side, agencies like DAE, MEA and Finance Ministry will be involved.

The US will also cooperate as knowledge partner for India's planned National Defence University as well as technology partner in the Indian Navy. The US will also participate in expansion of India's infrastructure projects. The US will also be the lead partner in developing Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakapatnam as 'Smart Cities'. The two countries will also cooperate in the Mars Mission.

They also agreed on cooperation between their central banks on regulation of their financial institutions and cross-border banking arrangements. The US will also participate in India's endeavour in the renewable energy sector with one billion dollars being pledged by the EXIM bank.

The two sides also agreed to set up Water and Sanitation Alliance (WASH).Modi and Obama pledged to push the bilateral relationship to "new levels".

All agreements between India and US

To intensify cooperation in maritime security; important as China's maritime ambitions expand

Both leaders express concern about rising tensions over maritime territorial disputes

Obama promises to enhance India's voice and vote in international financial institutions

USAID to support the national urban development mission and Clean India campaign

Both sides discuss role US can play in modernising India's railway network

Modi and Obama to hold public-private discussions in early 2015 on new areas of cooperation, including advanced manufacturing

To strengthen US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy

To ease travel between the two countries, India to introduce visa-on-arrival for US citizens in 2015

Obama to support Modi achieve his goal of preparing young Indians for 21st century jobs

Leaders commit to partner on the Digital India initiative

To launch new phase of programme to develop affordable vaccines for dengue, malaria and tuberculosis

New pact likely soon to support the Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar mission, to be launched in 2021

IISc signs pact with UK research centre
The UK’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on key challenges such as water security, impact of air pollution, soil health and sustainability.

The two organizations are expected to identify opportunities for development of collaborative research, exchange of research scientists, and joint staff and studentships

An initial project is for CEH scientists to work with an IISc team to monitor soil moisture at the IISc catchment near Mysore. The CEH will supply cosmic ray soil moisture measuring device Cosmos and train IISc staff and students on its use

India-China stand-off ends: MEA
The 20-day “stand-off” between Indian and Chinese troops in Eastern Ladakh has ended. The External Affairs Ministry announced on 30th September that both sides “carried out disengagement and redeployment of border troops” on September 26 and 27. The statement said that status quo — as on September 1 — had been re-established. The border commanders met on 30th September at the Spanggur Gap to confirm that the stand-off had been terminated.

On September 10, China’s People’s Liberation Army reportedly moved around 500 soldiers to Chumar village on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, 300 km south-east of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir. Chinese nomads called Rebos pitched tents 500 metres into India in Demchok.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to India in September.

India Promises Nepal Grant
India on 29th September pledged to provide a grant assistance of Rs 41.83 million for the construction of a cooperative promotion centre in Nepal. A MoU was signed between officials of the Embassy of India and the District Cooperative Union of Lalitpur, bordering Kathmandu. The District Cooperative Union Lalitpur was established in 1972 with the aim to promote, support and coordinate its member cooperatives. It has been carrying out promotional activities to develop and strengthen cooperatives and its member farmers.

India, Bhutan ink power project pact
In a major boost to the 600-Mw Kholongchu hydroelectric project in Bhutan, being developed by Shimla-based power public sector unit (PSU) SJVN Ltd, a shareholders agreement was signed in Bhutan, officials said on 1st October. The pact was signed between R P Singh, chairman and managing director, SJVN, and Dasho Chhewang Rinzin, managing director of Druk Green Power Corporation.

This is the first hydroelectric project being developed by a joint venture between PSUs of both the countries, to be implemented in Bhutan, under the BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) model. In April, the two parties signed an agreement to execute the project. Singh said it is a run-of- the-river scheme located on the Kholongchu River in Bhutan.

On completion, it will generate 2,568 million units of energy. The project is estimated to cost Rs 3,868.87 crore, to be shared equally by the two partners, he added. It will provide 12 per cent of the saleable energy to Bhutan free of cost as royalty energy during the first 12 years of commercial operations.

The project will be financed under a debt equity ratio of 70:30. For the 70 per cent saleable energy generated, long-term power purchase agreements will be entered into with the beneficiaries and the balance power will be sold through market mechanism.

India-Myanmar container shipping service launched
The Look East Policy of the Central Government got a boost with the launch of India-Myanmar container shipping service at Chennai port. The service, run by the State-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), was launched by Shipping Secretary Vishwapati Trivedi.

The Government is looking at starting a similar service to countries such as Thailand and Vietnam as part of the Look East policy, he said at the launch function at the DP World Chennai container terminal. The dedicated service was started with a commercial consideration but also as a friendly consideration to strengthen bilateral relationship between the two countries. The service rotation will be Chennai, Krishnapatnam, Yangoon, Colombo and Chennai.

Anti-dumping duty on phenol from US, Chinese Taipei
India has imposed anti-dumping duty on phenol imported from the US and Chinese Taipei to safeguard the interest of domestic manufacturers. The duty, ranging from $47.29-$196.24 a tonne, has been levied for five years, a circular of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said.

Giving reasons for imposing anti-dumping duty, the CBEC said Phenol has been exported to India from the United States and Taipei below their normal value, thus resulting in the dumping of the product. It further said that the domestic industry has suffered material injury because of dumping of imports. Phenol is a basic organic chemical used in manufacturing of antiseptics, industrial paints and cosmetics.

India This week: Sep 28th - Oct 5th

Panner Selvam is the new CM of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O Panneerselvam is the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Panneerselvam was unanimously elected leader of the AIADMK Legislature party. Governor K Rosaiah invited him to form the Ministry.

Panneerselvam, Treasurer of AIADMK, met the Governor on 28th September and submitted a letter and the resolution passed by the AIADMK legislators electing him leader of the party.

Panneerselvam has become the Chief Minister for the second time. He is MLA from Bodinayakanur, he was in 2001 chosen by the AIADMK supremo to fill her shoes in a similar situation when she had to step down following her conviction in the Tansi land deal case for which she was awarded a two-year jail term. She subsequently returned after she was acquitted on appeal.

Uttar Pradesh bans veterinary use of Diclofenac
Uttar Pradesh has banned medicines containing Diclofenac for veterinary purposes in a bid to check the drop in the population of vultures as a result of consuming livestock that had been administered the drug. The Drug Controller General of India has cancelled the licence for use of Diclofenac for animals.

India may miss MDG: Report
According to reports India, which accounts for the largest number of maternal deaths in the world, is unlikely to achieve the fifth Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality to 109 per 1,00,000 live births by 2015.

Though India has been reporting a steady decline in the maternal mortality rate (MMR), the latest figure of 178 per 1,00,000 live births in 2010-12 is an indication that the United Nations’ goal will be missed, say two reports — “Dead women talking: a civil society report on maternal deaths in India” drafted by CommonHealth and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan and “India infrastructure report — the road to universal health coverage,” released by the Infrastructure Development Finance Company.

In their report, CommonHealth and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, a coalition for maternal-neonatal health and safe abortion, have cited gaps in the implementation of interventions by the government through the National Rural Health Mission. Their report says a significant percentage of women who died were from socially and economically disadvantaged sections.

The public health system, it says, failed women belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minority religious groups, those living in geographically remote areas and migrants because of the way services such as antenatal and post-partum care are structured and delivered at present.

Noting that almost all of these deaths were preventable, the report pins the blame on the health system for failure to provide maternal health care, even emergency care.

Himachal Roadways launches high-tech bus tracking system
The Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) on 30th September launched sophisticated software to track and regulate state-run buses in the state, for passenger safety. The cost of the software was Rs 6.5 crore. With the help of this in case a bus is over-speeding or over-loaded, a text message will be sent to the conductor and action will be taken against the erring driver.

EC guidelines to political parties
Election Commission guidelines making it virtually mandatory for political parties to deposit their funds in banks and not to exceed ceiling limits in financial assistance for candidates to ensure transparency and accountability came into effect

The Election Commission order of August 29 in this regard under Article 324 of the Constitution (superintendence, direction and control of elections) was part of a set of comprehensive guidelines on transparency and accountability in party funds and election expenditure. The poll body had said that guidelines will come into effect from October 1.

Under the guidelines, the treasurer of a political party is now required to ensure maintenance of accounts at all state and lower levels and consolidated accounts at the central party headquarters.

The accounts maintained by the treasurer shall conform to the guidance note on accounting and auditing of political parties issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The annual accounts shall be audited and certified by certified chartered accountants as required under the Income Tax Act.

Under the guidelines, a party should ensure that no payment in excess of Rs 20,000 is made to any person or company in cash, except in a village or in town not served by a bank. Also it will not apply to payments made to any employee or party functionary towards salary, pension or reimbursement of expenses or where cash payment is required under any statute.

Referring to the Representation of the People Act provision regarding ceiling for election expenditure of a candidate, the EC guidelines make it clear that such assistance from a political party shall not exceed the prescribed ceiling.

While the recognized political parties shall file all reports, namely the contribution reports in Form 24A, the audited annual accounts as certified by the chartered accountants and the election expenditure statements with the Commission. The unrecognized parties shall file them with the chief electoral officer of the states.

The EC said in order to bring uniformity, all political parties shall submit to the Commission or to any authority mentioned by it a copy of the annual accounts with auditor’s report for each financial year before October 31 of each year.

The Income Tax provisions do not allow any deduction on the contributions made in cash by any person or company to a political party. Accordingly, the Commission guidelines say, the political party shall maintain names and address of all such individuals, companies or entities making donation to it excepting petty sums donated by public during rallies.

Further, any amount or donation received in cash shall be duly accounted in the account books deposited in the party's bank account within a week of its receipt.

NIIT, Microsoft join hands to attract women talent in IT sector
NIIT will partner with Microsoft India for ‘Women in Tech’ initiative, which would offer specialized courses to girl students and women, to attract and retain women talent in the IT industry.

Under the partnership announced on 1st October, NIIT will roll out eight new specialized courses across its 500 centres to train and certify women in latest Microsoft technologies. Each course would range from Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 and would be offered via NIIT cloud campus, said Vijay Thadani, CEO, NIIT.

The courses would be on mobile apps, cloud computing, big data, software testing, etc. Post this, the company would also organize job fairs in top 10 cities for women.

Indian institutes dismal performance
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has made its debut in Times Higher Education's ranking of the world's best universities, taking India's representation in top 300 to two. IISc shares its number-one position among Indian institutions with Panjab University, which first appeared on the list last year.

Apart from this no Indian institution figures among top 200 globally. And, IISc's position, along with Panjab University's, is between 276th and 300th. This also means the latter's ranking has slipped from last year, when it was between 226th and 250th.

The total number of institutions ranked worldwide is 400. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings uses 13 separate performance indicators to examine a university's strengths against its core missions: Teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The top-200 list now features 28 countries, compared with 26 last year - Italy and Russia joined this year. Participation in the rankings is voluntary and free of charge.

There are 11 countries with one representative each in the top 200. There is an equal number keeping India Company with no presence in top 200 - Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Iceland, Iran, Macau, Poland, Portugal and Thailand.

Last year, four Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) - Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur and Roorkee - figured in the 351-400 ranking band. IIT Bombay has joined the list in this band this year (it wasn't ranked last year). IIT Roorkee has retained its place this year, too. Till the time of going to press, it was not known whether the other three IITs had made it to the rankings or some other Indian institutes had joined the list for top 400.

Government allows e-rickshaws on Delhi roads
E-rickshaws can now officially ply on city roads as the government on 1st October recognized them as special category three-wheeled vehicles with a maximum speed of 25 kilometres per hour. The Delhi High Court had put a ban on plying of e-rickshaws due to safety issues.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on 29th September notified that e-rickshaw means a special purpose battery operated vehicle having three wheels and intended to provide last mile connectivity for transport of passengers.

The government said that such a vehicle is constructed or adapted to carry not more than four passengers, excluding the driver, and not more than 40 kg luggage in total. The netpower of its motor is not more than 2,000 watts and the maximum speed of the vehicle is not more than 25 km per hour.

Toilet a must for contesting local body elections in Gujarat
The Gujarat government on 1st October amended the 1993 Gujarat Panchayat Act, making it mandatory for those contesting district, taluka and gram panchayat elections to have toilets at their respective homes.

Gujarat government has also given six months time to construct toilets at the homes of those who are currently members of local bodies but do not have toilets at their homes. Such members of the local body will also have to obtain certificate from their gram panchayat and furnish the same to Taluka Development Officer (TDO).

Swachchh bharat launched
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2nd October launched clean India campaign, in the name of Swachchh Bharat The programme launched at Rajpath by taking a broom himself and sweeping the road. Modi also announced starting a campaign on cleanliness through social media, using his website MyGov.in and other such platforms, including a new website dedicated to the clean India campaign.

Modi highlighted the cleanliness thrust of the Father of the Nation and said India must realise his unfulfilled dream of a clean country, by 2019, the year of Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

The PM’s campaign is strong reminiscent of a similar campaign for cleanliness launched by Singapore in 1968. Started by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the Keep Singapore Clean Campaign was one of the first campaigns launched by the government. The objective was to make Singapore the cleanest city in the region, in order to boost tourism and the attraction of foreign investment.

Sanitation in India, fact file

Less than a third of India's 1.2 billion people have access to sanitation and more than 186,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, according to the charity WaterAid.

A United Nations report in May said half of India's population still practise open defecation - putting them at risk of cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid. The resulting diseases and deaths cause major economic losses, and a World Bank report in 2006 estimated that India was losing 6.4 percent of GDP annually because of poor access to sanitation.

According to WaterAid research, about 16 million Indians a year gain access to a basic toilet. This will need to increase to more than 100 million a year if the whole population is to have a toilet by 2019.

Industry chamber CII has announced it would mobilise its members to build 10,000 toilets across the country by 2015-16.

Earlier a number of companies including Tata Consultancy Services and Bharti Foundation, an arm of Bharti Enterprises had pledged a total of Rs 300 crore each to build toilets in schools. Vedanta, which has oil and gas wells, mines and power stations, said it was already constructing 30,000 toilets in rural Rajasthan and had plans to build 10,000 more.

The government has also set up a Swachchh Bharat Kosh, encouraging companies to donate funds from their CSR budget to improve sanitation facilities in the country.

Aid workers said that while increased investment in infrastructure was important, there must also be a change in attitudes.

The rural development ministry will provide Rs 20 lakh to each village per year for the next five years under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, taking the total annual allocation under the scheme to 6.5 lakh villages to Rs 13,000 crore per annum. This will be part of the Rs 1,34,000 crore earmarked by the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project that aims to construct 11.11 crore toilets in rural India by 2019.

SBA will replace the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan of the previous UPA government that had targeted sanitation for all by 2022.

Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan the government has increased the unit cost of individual household latrines by Rs 2,000 per unit to Rs 12,000 so as to provide for water availability, including for storing, hand-washing and cleaning of toilets.

Besides, it has de-linked it from the rural employment guarantee scheme — the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act — and transferred the responsibility of construction of school and Anganwadi toilets to department of school education and the women and child development ministry.

The overall project cost, for both rural and urban India, has been estimated at Rs 1,96,009 crore that will help in construction of 12 crore toilets across the country. Out of this, Rs 62,000 crore will be spent in urban India for construction of toilets.

The mission will culminate on October 2, 2019, which will mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

According to a calculation done by TERI in 1998, the garbage generated till 2011 would cover 2,20,000 football fields piled 9 meters (27 feet) high with garbage.

Increasing amount of garbage generation is to be expected as population and GDP grow. But here's the thing: nearly one third of the garbage is not collected at all - it is just left to rot away in streets and alleys. So, in one year, about 14 million tons of garbage is left to rot in urban India's streets.

The 70% that is collected is taken and dumped either in landfills or just any space available outside the main habitation. Only about 18% of the collected garbage is treated to recycle or make fuel. In other words, about 27 million tons of garbage is collected and dumped out of the city.

The campaign needs a plan for collection, segregation, proper dumping and treatment across the country. An estimate of the urban development ministry in 2009 had put the cost for doing this at about Rs.48,582 crore.

The other dimension of sanitation is sewage or wastewater disposal. CPCB estimates that in 2009, 38 billion liters of sewage was generated per day from 498 tier I cities. Installed capacity to treat this giant river of wastewater is 12 billion litres or less than one-third of the requirement. This means the remaining 26 billion liters is getting dumped into our streams and rivers daily, making many of them terminally sick.

live refinery in Rajasthan
Rajasthan on 3rd October started the country’s first olive refinery. Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje inaugurated the refinery set up with a cost of Rs. 3.75 crore in Lunkaransar area in the district and said it was an achievement for Rajasthan to become the first state in the country to set up such refinery.

The olive oil produced in the refinery will be marked under the brand name of ‘Raj Olive Oil’ and will be available in markets after some time.

282 hectare areas of land in districts like Bikaner, Nagaur, Jhunjhunu and others have been covered with olive plantation and the government wants to increase the area to 5,000 hectare in coming years so that the refinery can get more fruits for getting the oil in increased quantity.

Olive is a small tree belonging to the oleaceae family and is found in coastal areas of eastern Mediterranean (Italy and Spain), northern Iraq and northern Iran south of the Caspian Sea.

Govt jobs barred for tobacco users in Rajasthan
Tobacco users, including smokers and tobacco chewers, will not be eligible for government jobs in Rajasthan. A beginning towards this has been made by the Department of Commercial Taxes by declaring tobacco chewers ineligible for writing the Tax Assistant’s competitive test scheduled for December 7. The aspirants will have to submit an affidavit stating they do not smoke or chew tobacco in any form including gutka.

Also barred for appearing in the test for 182 posts of Tax Assistants are those who have more than two children as on or after June 1, 2002 as per the two-child norm policy, and those candidates have a second wife or a second husband without separating from the first one legally.

In addition to submitting a marriage registration certificate at the time of filling the form to apply for the test, the candidates will also have to give an affidavit saying that there was no exchange of dowry at the time or his/her marriage.

Rajasthan government has imposed 65 per cent VAT (value added taxes) on tobacco products, which is among the highest in the country and has resulted in a decline in smoking and tobacco consumption in the State.

World This week: Sep 28th - Oct 5th

Democracy stir turns violent in Hong Kong
Thousands of people have remained on the streets of Hong Kong for another day of pro-democracy protests, defying tear gas and ignoring appeals to leave. Overnight, riot police advanced on crowds who ignored official warnings that the demonstrations were illegal. Protesters are angry at Chinese government plans to vet candidates in Hong Kong's 2017 elections.

Back ground:
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997 following a 1984 agreement between China and Britain. China agreed to govern Hong Kong under the principle of "one country, two systems", where the city would enjoy "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years.

As a result, Hong Kong has its own legal system, and rights including freedom of assembly and free speech are protected. Its leader, the chief executive, is currently elected by a 1,200-member election committee. A majority of the representatives are viewed as pro-Beijing.

Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, says that "the ultimate aim" is to elect the chief executive "by universal suffrage". The Chinese government has promised direct elections for chief executive by 2017. But in August 2014 China's top legislative committee ruled that voters will only have a choice from a list of two or three candidates selected by a nominating committee.

This committee would be formed "in accordance with" Hong Kong's largely pro-Beijing election committee. Any candidate would have to secure the support of more than 50% of the nominating committee before being able to run in the election. Democracy activists believe China will use the committee to screen out candidates it disapproves of.

Occupy Central, led by academic Benny Tai, organised the unofficial referendum on political reform which was held from 20 to 29 June 2014. Voters were asked to choose from three proposals for the 2017 election, all of which involved allowing citizens to choose who to nominate as a candidate for the top job. A total of 792,808 voters cast ballots. Activists claimed the high turnout - about one in five registered voters - showed they had strong backing from the public.

Shortly after the vote, tens of thousands of protesters took part in what observers say was Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy rally in a decade. The demonstration took place on 1 July, which marked the day Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997

Pro-Beijing groups, such as Silent Majority for Hong Kong and Caring Hong Kong Power have emerged, criticising pro-democracy activists for "endangering" the city. They argue that continued civil disobedience and opposition to Beijing would only damage the city's reputation and economy, as well as its relationship with China.

Taiwan shoots down China’s merger plan
Taiwan has rejected Chinese president Xi Jinping's call for merger with mainland China. "Regarding mainland China's comments related to 'one country, two systems,' our government has no way of accepting them," Taiwan government's mainland affairs council said.

The council, which is apparently encouraged by the US, said more than 70% of Taiwanese people consider the Chinese Communist Party leader's idea "unfit" for their democratic, self-ruled island, it said. The US is a major supplier of arms, including missiles, to Taiwan.

Taiwan split from Mainland China amid civil war in 1949, and went on to practise a democratic system. But China continues to regard it as one of its provinces, and makes it difficult for any country to have a diplomatic mission in Taipei.

Transfer of power in Afghanistan
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was sworn in 29th September as Afghanistan's new president, replacing Hamid Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power since the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban. After a six-month election season that ended with marathon negotiations that gave the newly created position of chief executive to his challenger Abdullah Abdullah. Karzai had been Afghanistan's only leader since 2001.

US officials have said they expect Ghani Ahmadzai to sign a security agreement with the US shortly after his inauguration to allow about 10,000 American troops to stay in the country after the international combat mission ends on December 31.

About Ashraf Ghani

Previously an academic in the US, and worked for the World Bank

Served as finance minister from 2002-2004 under President Hamid Karzai

He fell out with President Karzai in 2004 and became Chancellor of Kabul University, where he was seen as an effective reformer

He has been a vocal critic of the way international aid money has been wasted in Afghanistan

A380 files world’s longest route
The world’s largest passenger aircraft on 29th September flew non-stop on the world’s longest route with Qantas, the Australian airlines, launching the A380 between Sydney and Dallas. The plane will fly for almost 16 hours. Of the increased services to the US planned by Qantas, about half are operated by the A380 and the other half by B747s with A380-style interiors.

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner, and the airports at which it operates have upgraded facilities to accommodate it. It was initially named Airbus A3XX and designed to challenge Boeing's monopoly in the large-aircraft market. The A380 made its first flight on 27 April 2005 and entered commercial service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines.

Afghan and US security pact
Afghanistan and the United States signed a security pact on 30th September to allow U.S. forces to remain in the country past the end of year. The deal, will allow about 10,000 American troops to stay in the country after the international combat mission ends on December 31.

Newly appointed Afghan national security adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar and U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham signed the actual document. A second agreement allowing NATO troops to stay in the country was also signed during the same ceremony.

NATO’s follow-up mission, which will take over on January 1, will be made up of 9,800 U.S. troops and about 3,000 soldiers from Germany, Italy and other member nations. The new mission — named Resolute Support — will focus on training and assisting Afghan forces as they take on the Taliban, in parallel with U.S. counter-terrorism operations.

California bans plastic bags
California became the first U.S. state on 30th September to ban single-use plastic bags, as Governor Jerry Brown signed the measure into law. Under the legislation, single-use bags will disappear from grocery stores and pharmacies from July 1, 2015, and then from convenience and liquor stores from July 1, 2016.

Japan’s bullet train turns 50
Japan’s bullet train has completed 50 years of its launching. The bullet train was introduced between Tokyo and Osaka 50 years ago. The Shinkansen, as it’s called in Japan, gave a boost to train travel in Europe and Asia at a time when the rise of the automobile and the airplane threated to eclipse it. It was inaugurated on October 1st, 2014. The first bullet train, travelled from Tokyo to Osaka in four hours, which are 513 km away to each other.

Japan started building a high-speed line during World War II, but construction was halted in 1943 as funds ran out. The idea was revived in the 1950s, but many questioned undertaking such a costly project, particularly with the expansion of air travel and highways. Criticism turned to pride when construction, financed partly by an $80 million World Bank loan, was completed in time for the Tokyo Olympics in October 1964.

The first Shinkansen had a maximum speed of 210 kilometres per hour. The fastest trains previously, in Europe, could reach 160 kph. At present bullet trains, in Japan and elsewhere, have reached and in some cases exceeded 300 kph. By average speed, China has the fastest train in the world, averaging 284 kph on a route between Shijiazhuang and Zhengshou Dong, according to a biennial World Speed Survey by Railway Gazette.

In Europe, Asia too:
The Shinkansen renewed interest in high-speed rail elsewhere, notably in Europe. France and Spain are among the leaders in Europe, and Turkey last year became the ninth country to operate a train at an average speed of 200 kph, according to Railway Gazette. South Korea and Taiwan also operate high—speed systems in Asia. The United States is an exception, though there are proposals to build lines in California and Texas. The fastest train in the U.S., Amtrak’s Acela Express, averages 169 kph on a short stretch between Baltimore and Wilmington, Delaware, the speed survey says.

Shanghai launched a German-built maglev train in 2004 on a 30-kilometre route between the city and the airport. It can hit 430 kph. A Japanese maglev train in development has topped 500 kph in tests. If built, it could reduce the travel time between Tokyo and Osaka to just over one hour. With speed, though, some of the romance is lost. A faster Shinkansen has eliminated its dining car. “The problem is that Japan is such a small country,” said Araki, the retired engineer. “If you go too fast, you’ll get there in no time. No time to enjoy an onboard meal.”

Bullet train in India:
The Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor is an approved high-speed rail corridor in India connecting the cities of Mumbai and Ahmadabad. If built it will be India's first high speed rail line. The project is estimated to cost between Rs 35,000 to Rs 60,000 crore

U.S.-Indonesia debt-for-nature swap
The United States has struck a deal to reduce Indonesia’s debts in exchange for Jakarta pledging about $12 million for programmes to protect endangered species and their habitats on Sumatra island, conservationists said on 3rd October. The agreement, which was inked this week, will provide additional funds for environmental groups to improve programmes aimed at protecting the Sumatran low-land rainforests as well as efforts to increase populations of threatened animals.

The forests of Sumatra, a huge island in western Indonesia, are one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet and are home to critically endangered Sumatran rhinos and tigers.

Sweden to recognize state of Palestine
Sweden's new centre-left government will recognize the state of Palestine in a move that will make it the first major European country to take the step, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on 3rd October. The UN general assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in 2012 but the European Union and most EU countries, have yet to give official recognition.

For the Palestinians, Sweden's move will be a welcome boost for its ambitions. With its reputation as an honest broker in international affairs and with an influential voice in EU foreign policy, the decision may well make other countries sit up and pay attention at a time when the Palestinians are threatening unilateral moves towards statehood.

The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem. While Gaza's boundaries are clearly defined, the precise territory of what would constitute Palestine in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will only be determined via negotiations with Israel on a two-state solution, negotiations which are currently suspended.

North, South Korea agree on dialogue
South Korea — South and North Korea agreed on 4th October to resume high-level talks this year, raising hopes for a thaw in the long-tense relations on the divided Korean Peninsula. A statement from South Korea did not specify what would be discussed. But South Korea had proposed in August that senior officials meet to discuss a new round of reunions of family members separated by the Korean War six decades ago, a program that has proceeded in fits and starts for years as inter-Korean relations have fluctuated.

The North had rejected the August overture, insisting that Seoul first stop activists in the South from sending balloons into North Korea bearing antigovernment propaganda.

But a breakthrough appeared to come on 4th October, when top South Korean policy makers met with a North Korean delegation visiting Incheon for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games, a surprise visit that South Korea announced just an hour before the officials’ arrival. The delegation included three of the most trusted aides of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

The North Korean delegation’s visit and the agreement to resume talks were all the more unexpected, given the North’s recent vitriol toward the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye. On Thursday, the North called Ms. Park “a rabid dog” after she vowed that pressing the North to end human rights abuses would be a key goal of her government.

The two Koreas have technically been at war since the Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce rather than a peace treaty, and their relationship has been particularly sour during the past few years. But signs of a possible thaw have emerged in recent months.

Independence Referendum for Catalonia
Spanish region Catalonia on 27 September 2014 announced to hold independence referendum on 9 November 2014. The President of Catalonia Artur Mas signed a decree calling for a Scottish style referendum on independence. Earlier on 19 September 2014, Catalonian lawmakers voted by a margin of 106 to 28 in favor of authorizing the referendum. However, Spain quickly denounced the move and called the plan unconstitutional. It repeatedly insists that any regional vote on independence would be illegal, pointing out that the country's 1978 constitution means major questions must be put to all Spaniards and that only they can call a referendum.