Agricultural Development Programmes

S.No.	Agricultural Development Programme	Year of Beginning	Objective/Description
1	Intensive Agriculture Development Program (IADP)	1960	To provide loan , seeds , fertilizer tools to the farmers.
2	Intensive Agriculture Area Program (IAAP)	1964	To develop the special harvest.
3	High Yielding Variety Program (HYVP)	1966	To increase productivity of foodgrains by adopting latest varieties of inputs for crops.
4	Green Revolution	1966	To increase the foodrains , specially food production.
5	Nationalization of 4 banks	1969	To provide loans for agriculture , rural development and other priority sector.
6	Marginal Farmer and Agriculture Labor Agency (MFALA)	1973	For technical and financial assistance to marginal and small farmer and agricultural labor.
7	Small Farmer Development Agency (SFDA)	1974	For technical and financial assistance to small farmers.
8	Farmer Agriculture Service Centres (FASC)	1983	To popularize the use of improved agricultural instruments and tool kits.
9	Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme	1985	For insurance of agricultural crops.
10	Agricultural and Rural Debt Relief Scheme (ARDRS)	1990	To exempt bank loans upto Rs. 10,000 of rural artisans and weaver.
11	Intensive Cotton Development Programme (ICDP)	2000	To enhance the production, per unit area through (a) technology transfer, (b) supply of quality seeds, (c) elevating IPM activities/ and (d) providing adequate and timely supply of inputs to the farmers .
12	Minikit Programme for Rice, Wheat & Coarse Cereals	1974	To increase the productivity by popularising the use of newly released hybrid/high yielding varieties and spread the area coverage under location specific high yielding varieties/hybrids.
13	Accelerated Maize Development Programme (AMDP)	1995	To increase maize production and productivity in the country from 10 million tonnes to 11.44 million tonnes and from 1.5 tonnes/hectare to 1.80 tonnes/hectare respectively upto the terminal year of 9th Plan i.e. 2001-2002 (revised).
14	National Pulses Development Project (NPDP)	1986	To increase the production of pulses in the country to achieve self sufficiency.
15	Oil Palm Development Programme (OPDP)	1992	To promote oil palm cultivation in the country.
16	National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils development Board (NOVOD)	1984	The main functions of the NOVOD Board are very comprehensive and cover the entire gamut of activities associated with the oil seeds and vegetable oil industry including – production, marketing, trade, storage, processing, research and development, financing and advisory role to the formulation of integrated policy and programme of development of oil seeds and vegetable oil.
17	Coconut Development Board	1981	To increase production and productivity of coconut To bring additional area under coconut in potential  non-traditional areas To develop new technologies for product  diversification and by-product utilisation To strengthen mechanism for transfer of technologies To elevate the income level of small and marginal farmers engaged in coconut cultivation. To build up sound information basis for coconut industry and market information To generate ample employment opportunities in the rural sector.
18	Watershed Development Council (WDC)	1983	Central Sector Scheme(HQ Scheme)

Various Development Programmes

S.No.	Development Programmes	Year of Beginning	Objective/Description
1	Housing and Urban Development Corporation	1970	Loans for the development of housing and provision of resources for technical assistance.
2	Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)	1993	To sanction Rs. 1 Crore per year to every member of Parliament for various development works in their respective areas through DM districts.
3	Scheme for Infrastructural Development in Mega Cities (SIDMC)	1993	To provide capital through special institutions for water supply, sewage, , drainage, urban
4	Scheme of Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns	Sixth five year plan	To provide resources and create employment in small and medium towns for for prohibiting the migration of population from rural areas to big cities.
5	District Rural Development Agency (DRDA)	1993	To provide financial assistance for rural development.
6	National Slum Development Programme	1996	Development of Urban Slums.
7	Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)	1980	All-round development of the rural poor through a program of asset endowment for self employment.
8	Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA)	1982	To provide suitable opportunities of self employment to the women belonging to the rural families who are living below the poverty line.

National Health Programmes In India

S.No.	National Health Programmes	Year of Beginning	Objective/Description
1	National Cancer Control Programme	1975	Primary prevention of cancers by health education regarding hazards of tobacco consumption and necessity of genital hygiene for prevention of cervical cancer, etc.
2	National Program of Health Care for the Elderly (NPHCE)	2010	To provide preventive, curative and rehabilitative services to the elderly persons at various level of health care delivery system of the country, etc.
3	National Program for Prevention and Control of Deafness (NPPCD)	----	To prevent the avoidable hearing loss on account of disease or injury, etc.
4	District Mental Health Program (NMHP)	1982	To ensure availability and accessibility of minimum mental health care for all in the foreseeable future, particularly to the most vulnerable and underprivileged sections of population.
5	National Cancer Registry Programme	1982	To provide true information on cancer prevalence and incidence.
6	National Tobacco Control Program	2007	Preventing the initiation of smoking among young people, educating, motivating and assisting smokers to quit smoking, etc.
7	National Leprosy Eradication Program	started in 1955, launched in 1983	To arrest the disease activity in all the known cases of leprosy.
8	Universal Immunization Program (UIP)	1985	To achieve self-sufficiency in vaccine production and the manufacture of cold-chain equipment for storage purpose, etc.
9	National Vector Borne Disease Control Program	----	For the prevention and control of vector borne diseases

Eradication Of Child Labor Programmes

S.No.	Child Labor Programme	Year of Beginning	Objective/Description
1	Child Labor Eradication Programme	1994	To shift child labor from hazardous industried to schools.
2	National Authority for the Elimination of Child Labour (NAECL)	1994	Laying down the policies and programs for the elimination of child labour, especially in the hazardous industries, etc.
3	National Child Labour Project Scheme (NCLP)	1998	Establishment of special schools for child labour who are withdrawn from work.
4	Education Department and District Primary Education Program (DPEP)	1994	To revitalise the primary education system and to achieve the objective of universalisation of primary education for young children.
5	International Programme for Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC)	1991	To contribute to the effective abolition of child labor in India
6	National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)	2007	To protect, promote and defend child rights in the country.
7	National Policy on Child Labour	1987	General development programmes benefiting children wherever possible. Project-based approach in the areas of high concentration of child labourers.

Women Empowerment Programmes

S.No.	Women Empowerment Programmes	Location	Year Of Estb.
1	Support to Training and employment Programme for Women (STEP)	2003-04	To increase the self-reliance and autonomy of women by enhancing their productivity and enabling them to take up income generaion activities.
2	Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK)	1993	To promote or undertake activities for the promotion of or to provide credit as an instrument of socio- economic change and development through the provision of a package of financial and social development services for the development of women.
3	Rashtriya Mahila Kosh	1993	To facilitate credit support or micro-finance to poor women to start income generating activities such as dairy, agriculture, shop-keeping, vending, handicrafts etc.
4	Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) – ‘Sabla’	2010	It aims at empowering Adolescent girls of 11 to 18 years by improving their nutritional and health status, up gradation of home skills, life skills and vocational skills.
5	Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB)	1953	To promote social welfare activities and implementing welfare programmes for women and children through voluntary organizations.
6	Rashtriya Mahila Kosh - (National Credit Fund for Women)	1993	It extends micro-finance services through a client friendly and hassle-free loaning mechanism for livelihood activities, housing, micro-enterprises, family needs, etc to bring about the socio-economic upliftment of poor women.
7	Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)	----	To improve the health and nutrition status of pregnant, lactating women and infants
8	SwayamSiddha	2001	At organizing women into Self-Help Groups to form a strong institutional base.
9	Short Stay Home for Women and Girls (SSH)	1969	To provide temporary shelter to women and girls who are in social and moral danger due to family problems, mental strain, violence at home, social ostracism, exploitation and other causes.
10	Swadhar	1995	To support women to become independent in spirit, in thought, in action and have full control over their lives rather than be the victim of others actions.
11	Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)	1986	To mobilise women in small viable groups and make facililies available through training and access to credit, to plovide training for skill upgradation, etc.
12	Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA)	1982	To improve the socio-economic status of the poor women in the rural areas through creation of groups of women for income-generating activities on a self-sustaining basis. The
13	Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women	1983	Aims at the socio-economic empowerment of women

Employment Generation Programmes

S.No.	Employment Generation Programme	Year of Beginning	Objective/Description
1	Employment Guarantee Scheme of Maharashtra	1972	To assist the economically weaker sections of the rural society.
2	Crash Scheme for Rural Employmement (CSRE)	1972	For rural employment
3	Training Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM)	1979	Program for Trainingrural youth for self employment.
4	Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)	1980	All-round development of the rural poor through a program of asset endowment for self employment.
5	National Rural Employment Program (NREP)	1980	To provide profitable employment opportunities to the rural poor.
6	Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Program (RLEGP)	1983	For providing employment to landless farmers and laborers.
7	Self-employment to the Educated Unemployed Youth (SEEUY)	1983	To provide financial and technical assistance for self-employment.
8	Self-Employment programme for Urban Poor (SEPUP)	1986	To provide self employment to urban poor through provision of subsidy and bank credit.
9	Jawahar Rozgar Yojana	1989	For providing employment to rural unemployed.
10	Nehru Rozgar Yojana	1989	For providing employment to urban unemployed.
11	Scheme of Urban Wage Employment (SUWE)	1990	To provide wages employment after arranging the basic facilities for poor people in the urban areas where population is less than one lakh.
12	Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS)	1993	To provide employment of at least 100 days in a year in village.
13	Swarnajayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)	1997	To provide gainful employment to urban unemployed and under employed poor through self employment or wage employment.
14	Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SYGSY)	1999	For eliminating rural poverty and unemployment and promoting self employment.
15	Jai Prakash Narayan Rojgar Guarantee Yojana (JPNRGY)	Proposed in 2002-03 budget	Employment guarantee in most poor distt.
16	National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme	2006	To provide atleast 100 days wage employment in rural areas.
17	Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana	2001	To provide wage employment and food security in rural areas and also to create durable economic ans social assets.
18	Food for Work Programme	2001	To give food thrugh wage employment in the drought affected areas in eight states. Wages are paid by the state governments partly in cash and partly in foodgrains.
19	Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)	2005	To create a right based framework for wage employment programmes and makes the government legally bound to provide employment to those who seek it.
20	Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)	2008	To generate employment opportunities in rural as well as urban areas through setting up of new self-employment ventures/projects/micro enterprises.

Child Welfare Programmes

S.No.	Child Welfare Programmes	Year of Beginning	Objectives/Description
1	Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)	1975	It is aimed at enhancing the health, nutrition and learning opportunities of infants, young children (O-6 years) and their mothers.
2	Creche Scheme for the children of working mothers	2006	Overall development of children, childhood protection, complete immunisation, awareness generation among parents on malnutrition, health and education.
3	Reproductive and Child Health Programme	1951	To provide quality Integrated and sustainable Primary Health Care services to the women in the reproductive age group and young children and special focus on family planning and Immunisation.
4	Pulse Polio Immunization Programme	1995	To eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against polio virus.
5	Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan	2001	All children in school, Education Guarantee Centre, Alternate School, ' Back-to-School' camp by 2003; all children complete five years of primary schooling by 2007 ; all children complete eight years of elementary schooling by 2010 ; focus on elementary education of satisfactory quality with emphasis on education for life ; bridge all gender and social category gaps at primary stage by 2007 and at elementary education level by 2010 ; universal retention by 2010
6	Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya	2004	To ensure access and quality education to the girls of disadvantaged groups of society by setting up residential schools with boarding facilities at elementary level.
7	Mid-day meal Scheme	1995	Improving the nutritional status of children in classes I – VIII in Government, Local Body and Government aided schools, and EGS and AIE centres.Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities. Providing nutritional support to children of primary stage in drought-affected areas during summer vacation.
8	Integrated programme for Street Children	1993	Provisions for shelter, nutrition, health care, sanitation and hygiene, safe drinking water, education and recreational facilities and protection against abuse and exploitation to destitute and neglected street children.
9	The National Rural Health Mission	2005	Reduction in child and maternal mortality, universal access to public services for food and nutrition , sanitation and hygiene and universal access to public health care services with emphasis on services addressing women's and children's health universal immunization, etc.

Anti Poverty Programmes

S.No.	Anti Poverty Programmes	Year of Beginning	Objective/Description
1	Antodaya Yojana	1977	To make the poorest families of the village economically independent (only in Rajasthan)
2	Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)	1999	Assistance is given to the poor families living below the poverty line in rural areas for taking up self employment.
4	Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)	2001	Providing gainful employment for the rural poor.
6	Employment Assurance Scheme	1993	To provide gainful employment during the lean agricultural season in manual work to all able bodied adults in rural areas who are in need and desirous of work, but can not find it..
7	Pradhanmantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)	2000	Focus on village level development in 5 critical areas, i.e. primary health, primary education, housing, rural roads and drinking water and nutrition with the overall objective of improving the quality of life of people in rural areas.
8	National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)	2006	To provide legal guarantee for 100 days of wage employment to every household in the rural areas of the country each year, To combine the twin goals of providing employment and asset creation in rural areas
9	Swarnajayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJRY)	1997	It seeks to provide employment to the urban unemployed lying below poverty line and educate upto IX standard through encouraging the setting up of self employment ventures or provision of wage employment.
10	Antidaya Anna Yojana	2000	It aims at providing food securities to poor families.
11	National Housing Bank Voluntary Deposit Scheme	1991	To utilize black money for constructing low cost housing for the poor.
12	Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)	1980	All Round development of the rural poor through a program of asset endowment for self employment.
13	Development of Women and Chidren in Rural Areas (DWCRA)	1982	To provide suitable opportunities of self employment to the women belonging to the rural families who are living below the poverty line.
14	National Social Assistance Programme	1995	To assist people living below the poverty line.
15	Jan Shree Bima Yojana	2000	Providing insurance security to people below poverty line.
16	Jai Prakash Narayan Rojgar Guarantee Yojana	Proposed in 2002-03 budget	Employment Guarantee in most poor districts.
17	Shiksha Sahyog Yojana	2001	Education of Children below poverty line.

New plan for census towns: PURA 2.0

In the Census of India, the definition of urban area adopted was as follows: • All statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc.  • A place satisfying the following three criteria simultaneously: a) A minimum population of 5,000; b) At least 75 per cent of male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and  c) A density of population of at least 400 per sq. km. (1,000 per sq. mile). But the definition is unclear: the census calls them towns, but since they have gram panchayats rather than municipal corporations, the government seems to consider them rural. Thus Planning Commission has agreed to provide Rs-1500 Crore in the 12th Five year plan for developing infrastructure in rapidly urbanizing areas known as census towns in the new version of PURA (Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) to bring basic infrastructure to these areas. GOI have schemes for rural infrastructure, and schemes for urban infrastructure, but neither of them applies for these areas — caught in the middle of these two. During the 12th Five Year Plan period public-private partnership scheme will be used to bring water supply, sewerage, drainage, solid waste management and street lighting to such unofficial urban clusters, mostly in the six States — Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala — which have seen the highest growth of census towns. Each project is likely to cost about 150 crore rupees with Rural Development Ministry providing a grant of 40 to 50 crore rupees; 70 to 80 crore rupees will be mobilized by ongoing central schemes, while the private sector is expected to bring in about 20 crore rupees. The Private Company in consulation with the Gram Panchayat will get the lease of 10 years for the physical infrastructure to be developed in such towns to recover the investment. Private sector entities having experience in development and management of community-oriented infrastructure projects shall be selected through an open competitive bidding process based on rigorous qualifications and evaluation criteria. The selected private partners would be required to provide amenities like water supply and sewerage, roads, drainage, solid waste management, street lighting and power distribution and undertake some economic and skill development activity as part of the PURA project. The private partners may also provide add-on revenue-earning facilities such as village linked tourism, integrated rural hub, rural market, agri-common services centre and warehousing etc. in addition to the above mentioned amenities.  The scheme is a revamp of the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's brainchild, PURA, which was initially aimed at providing city amenities to villages. In its latest avatar, PURA 2.0 is focussing on the development of 50 to 60 potential growth centres such as census towns. Initial pilot projects have begun in Kerala, with eight other projects awaiting final approvals from State governments.

BONN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE 2012

The 36th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), the fifteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), the seventeenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and the first session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) takes place concurrently from 14 to 25 May. The negotiations in Bonn were meant to build on a deal struck in December in Durban, South Africa, to create a new global climate pact by 2015 that would make both rich and poor nations rein in emissions caused by the burning of oil and other fossil fuels. More than 180 countries agreed on an agenda for work on a new climate treaty by 2015 at United Nations climate talks. The European Union claims China and other developing countries are backsliding on commitments made in Durban to bring the discussion on emissions cuts from both rich and poor nations into one forum, instead of the current structure, which has two parallel negotiation tracks. Developing countries — backed by climate activists — accuse the U.S., EU and other industrialised nations of trying to evade commitments made in previous negotiations and shift responsibilities for tackling climate change to the developing world. Environmentalist groups and countries that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change warn that time is running out to avert disastrous consequences like increased extreme weather, ocean acidification and glacier melts. Countries have agreed that deep emissions cuts are needed to limit a rise in global average temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius this century above pre-industrial levels, a threshold that scientists say is the minimum required to avert catastrophic effects. However, one of the main contributors to global warming, global carbon dioxide emissions, hit a record high last year, according to the International Energy Agency, which advises industrialised countries. Some countries also look set to miss their emissions cut targets for 2020, putting the world on a dangerous trajectory towards a rise in global average temperature of 3.5 degree Celsius, research showed. The only existing binding treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, was shunned by the U.S. because it doesn't impose any emissions targets on China, thus leaving out the two biggest carbon emitters on the globe. It was set to expire this year but countries agreed in Durban to extend it, though they haven't agreed on how long. Canada, Japan and Russia have refused to make any new commitments under Kyoto, meaning it only covers about 15 per cent of global emissions.

Microfinance: Issues and future in India

Microfinance is one sector about which the perception of common man, policy makers and public media has witnessed peaks and valleys in short span of time. The sector was perceived as Messiah for unbankables due to its unprecedented success in South Asia. Many social scientists and various political and business leaders looked at it as a panacea for poverty stricken vulnerable and marginalized section of the society. There was a strong advocacy to replicate the model across the third world countries.

In India the Microfinance was extended to remote areas with high euphoria, and as a model which was perceived to reduce “poverty through profits”. It was seen as a win-win model for financial institutions as well as for the bulk of population which does not have access to financial institutions. However within a short span of time microfinance institutions were perceived to be blood sucker of the poor. They were soon looked upon not only as anti developmental but also as a neo avtar of moneylender of pre independent era who use to charge exorbitant rate of interests and adhered to coercive methods for the recovery.

If we critically examine this sector the reality of this sector lies some where in between “messiah of poor” and “neo avtar of coercive moneylenders”. To understand the realities of this sector we must understand the basic issues in the model which resulted in its disgrace. The following were the issues with model in India:

1.    In the absence of any regulation various Microfinance Institutions (MFI’s) started charging very high rate of interests from their clients. Although it’s a fact that disbursement of loans in the rural areas involves high administrative cost and greater risk in the absence of collaterals. Thus it is impossible to deliver the credits in rural population on an interest rate at par with their urban counterparts. However, the profit motives of many MFI’s eclipsed the developmental goal of the sector. As a result exorbitant interest rates and opaque policies were rampantly practiced.

2.    MFI’s deviated from the principle of disbursing the loans for the productive purpose leading to debt cycle. The success of Microfinance model rests on the fundamental principle of lending for the productive purposes. In order to expand the clientele base various MFI’s ignored this basic tenet and started lending for non productive purposes as well.

3.    Overleveraging was also one of the major error which MFI’s indulged into. Multiple borrowing   from various sources resulted into indebtedness much above the credit wroth of the clients and finally resulted into bad loans.  

4.    Leakage in the form of “ghost loans” and fraudulent loans by the staff of MFI’s was also one of the major flaws in the model.

5.    In order to collect the loans the MFI’s adhered to coercive practices which at times were extra legal and even illegal. Since this financial model is complexly interwoven into socio-cultural and psychological dimensions as well, the result of these methods was counterproductive. Large number of suicides in Andhara Pradesh was the manifestation of this fiasco.

In order to deal with these issues, on the recommendation of Malegaon committee, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come up with the regulations. In order to regulate the interest rates by MFI’s, RBI has put a cap on the lending rate of MFI’s at 26% per annum and a margin cap of 12 percent over their cost of funds, whichever is lower.

In order to tackle the issue of overleveraging, RBI has now laid down a rule that only two MFI can lend to one borrower and both together cannot provide loans beyond Rs 50,000. The Information Technology is also being used to create an authentic data base of borrowers to prevent overleveraging.

The legislation and regulations by RBI have to a great extent addressed the flaws in the sector. Since the sector along with the financial inclusion is based on social capital as well, it can play a big role poverty elevation, empowerment and sustainable development.

Food Security and Public Distribution System

“Food security refers to a situation that exists when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life,” says an FAO report ‘State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2001’.

It is now well recognized that the availability of food grains is necessary but not a sufficient condition to ensure food security to the poor. It is also necessary that the poor have sufficient means to purchase food. The capacity of the poor to purchase food can be ensured in two ways – by raising the incomes or supplying food grains at subsidized prices. While employment generation programs attempt the first solution, the PDS is the mechanism for the second option.

There are several ways in which food security can be improved. The strategies constitute several policies. India's strategies in this regard comprise economic growth, direct anti-poverty programs, which include wage-employed and self-employed targeted programs, public distribution system (PDS) nutrition-based programs and provision of health facilities.

India has a large program of public food distribution, mainly food grains, through a network of Fair Price Shops (FPS), both in rural and urban areas. The program has evolved with the twin objective of providing incentive prices to the farmer for a sustained supply of food grain and subsidizing its consumption. Until the seventies the focus of food distribution program was urban and the food deficit areas. The welfare focus of the program assumed importance during the eighties and coverage extended in rural areas, first in the south Indian states and later all over India. However, due to the mounting costs of subsidy, targeting was more focused during the nineties, first, with the revamped public distribution system in 1997. The program covered poor households as the target group, generally, and tribal and drought prone areas, universally.  

 The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was introduced in June, 1997. It envisaged that the Below Poverty Line (BPL) population would be identified in every State and every BPL family would be entitled to a certain quantity of food grains at specially subsidized prices. While BPL population were offered food grains at half the economic cost, the APL, who were not to have a fixed entitlement to food grains, were supplied grains at their economic cost. Thus, TPDS intends to target the subsidized provision of food grains to ‘poor in all areas’ unlike RPDS, which laid stress on ‘all in poor areas’.

Issues with Public Distribution System

1.      The most important issue related to the TPDS is identification and definition of poor. The poverty estimates of various institutions and organization differ remarkably. A slight change in the identification criteria of the poverty line can have huge implication on a large number of families. According to the critics the definition of poor in India has severe limitations and the official numbers are abhorrently underestimated by the government agencies under the pressure of ballooning food subsidies.

2.      The second issue after identification and definition of poor is that of proper targeting. In many states the cases of fraudulent BPL ration cards are rampant. As a result the “genuine poor” are unable to get benefits of this system. Several empirical studies, based on PDS purchases, have shown that the poor were not benefiting much from the PDS. In a study on the effectiveness of the PDS in reaching the poor, Parikh (1994) says that 'the cost effectiveness of reaching the poorest 20 per cent households through PDS cereals is very small'. For every rupee spent, less than 22 paisa reach the poor in most states

3.      The large scale diversion and black marketing of PDS food grain is also a pertinent issue that this system is facing.

4.      The quality of the food grain supplied through the PDS is also inferior in quality and low in nutritional value. Thus even in a very few pockets where the leakages are absent the malnutrition among the vulnerable section of society is not arrested.

5.      In the PDS large quantities of grains are procured from one part of the country to the other, stored in warehouses and moved to other parts. There are high storage and transportation losses. Also the existing centralized system is a major hurdle in ensuring availability in various remote pockets.

6.      The availability of cheap rice and wheat at PDS outlets has dissuaded many a rural households from trying food that is grown locally out of the environmental and socio-economic condition in a given area.

Measures for strengthening the Public Distribution System

1.      The proportion of population with food insecurity should be identified with Planning Commission’s poverty ratio. The Planning Commission should make appropriate adjustments in the method of BPL identification that would enable the States to limit the size of the target group in the neighborhood of its own estimates of people with food insecurity

2.      Families, who do not have a secure source of regular income, should be included in the BPL list, irrespective of their income. This would benefit a large majority of the poor, particularly, those with economic insecurity. The Planning Commission in its study conducted between 2002 to 2005 found that many daily-wage earning families have been left out of BPL category because their current income levels were above the Planning Commission’s Poverty Line.

3.      Since the BPL identification survey is critical to the success of TPDS, it is appropriate that this be carried out with the assistance of reputed agencies such as the NSSO and State level research /survey institutions. The database should be then computerized for effective monitoring and regular updating.

4.      A major cause of diversion of food grain is non-availability of food grains, as per allocation, at FCI based depots or State Agency's distribution centers. Hence, in FCI based depot (which is generally present in each district) six months' stock, as per allotment, should remain. At present, it has been instructed that stocks for three months should be kept, but in many districts three months' stocks are not present. If there is sufficient availability of stocks, on one hand food grain will be made available, as per allotment, and on the other hand, diversion will be checked and food security will be strengthened.

5.      The involvement of local bodies in overseeing the functioning of PDS is, generally, nominal/non-existent in most states. A committee should be formed among members of each Municipality/Gram Panchayat, which should be responsible for effective functioning of Fair Price Shops.

6.      Composition of food grains offered, through PDS, in different States should give due weight ages to local preferences, in terms of cereals and their varieties, wherever feasible. Various studies have revealed that variations in such preferences, significantly, affected their decision to buy food grains from the PDS.

7.      A large majority of the BPL cardholders do not lift or lift only part of the ration quota during the harvest and sowing seasons in rural areas, as many of them receive wage payment in kind and also because market prices during harvest season are low. This seasonal pattern varies across states. Thus, it is necessary to accommodate such lifting pattern into the delivery schedule of PDS to minimize leakage and diversion.

Two major reasons for diversion of food grains are, (a) the PDS outlets are run by individuals and, (b) they are unviable. Regarding (a), it is proposed that the retail PDS outlets be handed over to cooperatives or institutions like Mahila Nagrik Banks, Regional Rural Banks, etc. These organizations will not be solely dependent on PDS for their existence, as is the case with individuals and even in many cases ‘Self Help Groups’ and ‘Consumer Federations’. Such organizations would be able to cross-subsidize the PDS operations through other profitable operations

CURRENT AFFAIRS PRACTICE MCQs FOR COMPETITIVE EXAMS

1. Abel Prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829). It is given annually to outstanding mathematicians by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Who won this prize in 2012?
1) Mikhail Gromov
2) John Tate
3) John Thompson
4) Jacques Tits
5) Endre Szemeredi

2. The Inter State Council was set up in 1990 following the recom-mendation of the Sarkaria Com-mission on Centre-State relatio-ns. Who is its present Chairman?
1) Hamid Ansari
2) Manmohan Singh
3) Pranab Mukherjee
4) C.Rangarajan
5) None of these

3. Which state has recently started a programme called 'Anandadhara' for Self Help Groups?
1) Andhra Pradesh
2) Odisha
3) West Bengal
4) Madhya Pradesh
5) Himachal Pradesh

4. Which country's lower house of the Parliament is called State Duma?
1) Japan
2) Italy
3) Russia
4) Maldives
5) Philippines

5. Who was appointed as the Prime Minister of France on May 15, 2012?
1) Jean-Marc Ayrault
2) Francois Hollande
3) Laurent Fabius
4) Nicolas Sarkozy
5) None of these

6. Golden Globe Awards are given for excellence in which of the following fields?
1) Literature
2) Journalism
3) Sports
4) Science
5) Film & Television

7. Who won her first world cup individual recurve gold medal in archery at Antalya, Turkey in May 2012?
1) Dola Banerjee
2) Deepika Kumari
3) Bombayala Devi
4) Purnima Mahato
5) None of these

8. Who was presented Ashok Chakra posthumously on January 26, 2012?
1) Lt.Sushil Khajuria
2) Lt.Navdeep Singh
3) Lt.Col.Kamaldeep Singh
4) Captain Ashutosh Kumar
5) None of these

9. According to the Prime Minister, the research and development spending would be doubled by which of the following years?
1) 2015
2) 2016
3) 2017
4) 2020
5) 2018

10. What is the bilateral trade target between India and Thailand for 2014?
1) 7 billion dollars
2) 14 billion dollars
3) 10 billion dollars
4) 20 billion dollars
5) 12 billion dollars

11. Which of the following is a pilot less target aircraft?
1) Prithvi
2) Akash
3) Pinakini
4) Lakshya
5) None of these

12. Amjad Ali Khan has been prese-nted the Mallikarjun Mansur award, which is named after the legendary Hindustani singer. He is an expert in playing which of the following instruments?
1) Santoor
2) Sitar
3) Sarod
4) Bansuri
5) Mohan Veena

13. What does 'I' denote in the abbreviation FIPB?
1) Innovation
2) Investment
3) India
4) Industrial
5) None of these

14. With regard to the 57th Filmfare Awards for 2011 which of the following pairs is not matched correctly?
1) Best Film - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
2) Best Actress - Priyanka Chopra
3) Best Music - A.R. Rahman
4) Lifetime Achievement - Aruna Irani
5) Best Director - Zoya Akhtar

15. Who was recently honoured with a Knighthood by the British royal establishment?
1) Amartya Sen
2) Lakshmi Nivas Mittal
3) Anil Agarwal
4) Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
5) None of these

16. The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2012 was given to Shehan Karunatilaka for his book 'Chinaman'. To which country does this author belong?
1) Nepal
2) Bhutan
3) Thailand
4) India
5) Sri Lanka

17. Who among the following was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012?
1) Ronen Sen
2) N.Vittal
3) T.V.Rajeshwar
4) Shabana Azmi
5) Dharmendra

18. Where was the largest literary festival in Asia-Pacific held in January 2012?
1) Hyderabad
2) Jaipur
3) Mumbai
4) Kolkata
5) Chandigarh

19. Laurent Lamothe became the Prime Minister of which of the following countries on May 16, 2012?
1) Cuba
2) Jamaica
3) Barbados
4) Haiti
5) Dominican Republic

20. Goolam Vahanavati was reappoi-nted to which of the following posts for two more years with effect from June 8, 2012?
1) Chief Election Commissioner
2) Attorney General
3) Solicitor General
4) Central Vigilance Commissioner
5) None of these

21. Who was given the Phalke Ratna Award in May 2012?
1) Manoj Kumar
2) Shashi Kapoor
3) Rishi Kapoor
4) Amitabh Bachchan
5) None of these

22. Identify the mismatched pair STATE GOVERNOR
1) Goa - B.V.Wanchoo
2) Uttarakhand - Aziz Qureshi
3) Maharashtra - K.Sankara- narayanan
4) Rajasthan - Margaret Alva
5) Gujarat - H.R.Bharadwaj

23. Hillary Clinton visited India in May 2012. She is the United States?
1) Secretary of State
2) Defense Secretary
3) Commerce Secretary
4) Treasury Secretary
5) None of these

24. Edvard Munch's painting 'The Scream' was sold for a record $ 120 million at an auction in May 2012. Munch belonged to which of the following countries?
1) Sweden
2) Denmark
3) Poland
4) Ukraine
5) Norway

25. Who was awarded the Ernst & Young Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the emergence of financial Services in India?
1) Deep Kalra
2) Deepak Parekh
3) Anand Burman
4) Analjit Singh
5) N.Chandrasekaran

26. Jana Gana Mana, India's National Anthem, completed 100 years recently. It was sung for the first time at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress on which of the following dates?
1) January 24, 1912
2) January 26, 1912
3) December 27, 1911
4) December 25, 1911
 5) None of these

27. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in the President of which of the following African countries for the second time on January 16, 2012?
1) Malawi
2) Liberia
3) Uganda
4) Rwanda
5) Sudan

28. Viswanathan Anand won the world chess championship for the fifth time in Moscow in May 2012 by defeating which of the following players?
1) Magnus Carlsen
2) Vladimir Kramnik
3) Boris Gelfand
4) Vassily Ivanchuk
5) None of these

29. Which is the largest bank in the private sector in India in terms of number of branches?
1) HDFC Bank
2) ICICI Bank
3) Axis Bank
4) IndusInd Bank
5) Kotak Mahindra Bank

30. Which organization was set up to boost overall rural development in India?
1) RBI 2) SEBI
3) SIDBI
4) NABARD
5) PFRDA

31. Indian Overseas Bank celebrated Platinum Jubilee (75 years) in 2012. Where is its headquarters located?
1) Bangalore
2) Mumbai
3) Chennai
4) New Delhi
5) Hyderabad

32. Which of the following is a private bank in India?
1) Corporation Bank
2) Canara Bank
3) Syndicate Bank
4) Vijaya Bank
5) South Indian Bank

33. The Head Office of which of the following banks is in Kolkata?
1) Indian Bank
2) Syndicate Bank
3) Bank of India
4) UCO Bank
5) None of these

34. Amar Kant is an eminent author in which of the following languages?
1) Odiya
2) Hindi
3) Kannada
4) Punjabi
5) None of these

35. Which of the following organizations work for the welfare of women?
1) CRY
2) CII
3) SEWA
4) WIPO
5) CCI

36. Who is the author of the book 'A Bend in the River'?
1) Mark Tully
2) Amrita Preetam
3) Mulk Raj Anand
4) V.S.Naipaul
5) None of these

37. Which of the following countries is not a member of SAARC?
1) Nepal
2) Myanmar
3) Bhutan
4) Bangladesh
5) Sri Lanka

38. The Kyoto Protocol is aimed at fighting?
1) Terrorism
2) Global warming
3) Maritime piracy
4) Economic recession
5) None of these

39. David Ferrer is a Lawn Tennis player of which of the following countries?
1) Spain
2) Australia
3) Switzerland
4) Argentina
5) None of these

40. Which agency was set up to boost foreign investments in India?
1) FCCB
2) FEMA
3) FIPB
4) FRBM
5) None of these

ANSWERS:
1) 5 2) 2 3) 3 4) 3 5) 1 6) 5 7) 2 8) 2 9) 3 10) 2
11) 4 12) 3 13) 2 14) 2 15) 4 16) 5 17) 3 18) 2 19) 4 20) 2
21) 4 22) 5 23) 1 24) 5 25) 2 26) 3 27) 2 28) 3 29) 2 30) 4
31) 3 32) 5 33) 4 34) 2 35) 3 36) 4 37) 2 38) 2 39) 1 40) 3

CURRENT AFFAIRS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Which of the following statements about Euro 2012 is not true?
1) The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012, was hosted by Poland and Ukraine.
2) Spain won the title for the second consecutive time with a 4-0 win over Italy in the final match on July 1, 2012.
3) Spain became the first team to win two consecutive Europe-an Championships.
4) The final match was played in Kiev, Poland.
5) Andres Iniesta of Spain was the Player of the Tournament.

2. Which country will host the UEFA Euro 2016 football tournament?
1) Italy
2) Turkey
3) France
4) Norway
5) Sweden

3. The Vyas Samman, instituted by the K.K.Birla Foundation, is given annually for an outstanding literary work in Hindi language published during the past 10 years. Who was selected for this award for 2011 for his collection of poems "Aam Ke Patte"?
1) Amar Kant
2) Govind Mishra
3) Ramdarash Mishra
4) Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari
5) Mannu Bhandari


4. Which of the following awards is given for outstanding achievements in the music industry?
1) Emmy
2) Tony
3) Academy
4) Grammy
5) None of these

5. Hiren Bhattacharya, winner of Sahitya Akademi Award, passed away in July 2012. He was a popular poet in which of the following languages?
1) Assamese
2) Bengali
3) Oriya
4) Hindi
5) Sanskrit

6. Pritzker Prize is considered as the Nobel Prize in architecture. Who is the 2012 winner?
1) Jean Nouvel (France)
2) Wang Shu (China)
3) Richard Rogers (UK)
4) Peter Zumthor (Switzerland)
5) Philip Johnson (USA)

7. M.R.Venkatesh became India's 28th Chess Grand Master in July 2012. He is from which of the following states?
1) Karnataka
2) Kerala
3) Tamil Nadu
4) Andhra Pradesh
5) None of these

8. Leading vaccine firm Serum Institute of India has acquired Bilthoven Biologicals for Rs.550 crore. In which country is Bilthoven Biologicals based?
1) Sweden
2) Norway
3) Denmark
4) Netherlands
5) None of these

9. Which of the following Commit-tees has been constituted to revi-ew the use of cartoons in the Na-tional Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks?
1) Y.H.Malegam
2) Yashpal
3) S.K.Thorat
4) Bimal Jalan
5) S.S.Tarapore

10. Who won the 2012 Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award?
1) Rafael Nadal
2) Lionel Messi
3) Usain Bolt
4) Jonathan Trot
5) Novak Djokovic

11. Chandra Bahadur Dangi is the shortest man in the world, measuring 21.5 inches. He is from wh-ich of the following countries?
1) India
2) Nepal
3) Thailand
4) Myanmar
5) Sri Lanka

12. Which of the following countries won the Africa Cup of Nations football championship in Gabon in February 2012?
1) Zambia
2) Ivory Coast
3) Gabon
4) Ghana
5) Nigeria

13. Which of the following countries retained the FIH Champions Trophy hockey title for women at Rosario, Argentina in 2012?
1) Argentina
2) Great Britain
3) Netherlands
4) Germany
5) Australia

14. Who was named as West Beng-al's brand ambassador by the State's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in February 2012?
1) Aamir Khan
2) Ajay Devgan
3) Shah Rukh Khan
4) Amitabh Bachchan
5) None of these

15. Who was conferred the prestigious National Medal of Arts and Humanities Award by the US Pr-esident Barack Obama recently?
1) Ela Bhatt
2) Amartya Sen
3) Sam Pitroda
4) Anna Hazare
5) None of these

16. Sean Chen is the new Prime Minister of which of the following countries?
1) Vietnam
2) China
3) Taiwan
4) Myanmar
5) Laos

17. Who is the new Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation of India?
1) T.S.Vijayan
2) Thomas Mathew
3) D.K.Mittal
4) Sushobhan Sarkar
5) D.K.Mehrotra

18. According to Assocham, an apex industry body, which state attrac-ted the highest number of live investment proposals worth Rs.16.28 lakh crore at the end of 2011?
1) Gujarat
2) Maharashtra
3) Andhra Pradesh
4) Odisha
5) Karnataka

19. Dr. Navichandra Ramgoolam visited India recently. He is the Prime Minister of which of the following countries?
1) Guyana
2) Mauritius
3) Madagascar
4) Sri Lanka
5) Nepal

20. Which of the following social activists has rejected Karnataka's Basava Puraskar citing the government's inability to take action on the mining scam and resolve the Lokayukta controversy?
1) Arundhati Roy
2) Kiran Bedi
3) Medha Patkar
4) Neelima Misra
5) Mandakini Amte

21. AAY is a scheme launched by the Government of India for the poorest of the poor. What is its full form?
1) Antyodaya Awas Yojana
2) Antyodaya Anna Yojana
3) Annapurna Awas Yojana
4) Area Awas Yojana
5) None of these

22. Lack of access to financial services is called?
1) Financial literacy
2) Financial inclusion
3) Financial exclusion
4) Financial stability
5) Financial instability

23. Which of the following is not a function of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Develop-ment (NABARD)?
1) It facilitates credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture and rural development.
2) It undertakes inspection of State Cooperative Banks (SC-Bs), District Central Coopera-tive Banks (DCCBs) and Reg-ional Rural Banks (RRBs).
3) It provides refinance for fina-ncial institutions in rural areas.
4) It prepares rural credit plans for all the districts in the country.
5) It formulates, implements and monitors the monetary policy.

24. What does the letter 'M' denote in the abbreviation MFI?
1) Multiple
2) Monetary
3) Money
4) Micro
5) Mega

25. The bank rate is set by?
1) The Planning Commission
2) The Government of India
3) The Indian Banks' Association
4) The Ministry of Finance
5) The Reserve Bank of India

26. Which of the following is not a name of the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved Indian Credit Rating Agency?
1) CRISIL
2) ICRA
3) CARE
4) Brickwork Ratings
5) Lintas India Pvt.Ltd.

27. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are the international reserve assets created by which of the following institutions in 1969 to supplement its member countries' official reserves?
1) Asian Development Bank
2) World Trade Organization
3) World Bank
4) International Monetary Fund
5) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

28. India has signed an agreement to revive Kankesanthurai (KKS) port by clearing sunken ships and deepening the harbor. In which country is KKS port situated?
1) Bangladesh
2) Sri Lanka
3) Myanmar
4) Vietnam
5) Thailand

29. The minimum interest rate fixed by individual banks below which they cannot lend funds is called?
1) Repo Rate 2) SLR
3) Base Rate
4) Reverse Repo Rate
5) None of these

30. In which of the following accou-nts the amounts are deposited and are withdrawn as per the requirement of the customers?
1) Fixed deposit accounts
2) Current accounts
3) Savings bank accounts
4) Recurring deposit accounts
5) None of these

31. Where is the Central Drug Research Institute located?
1) Kanpur
2) Jaipur
3) Chennai
4) Lucknow
5) Hyderabad

32. Who is the author of the book Alice in Wonderland?
1) Lewis Carrol
2) Victor Hugo
3) Leo Tolstoy
4) Maxim Gorky
5) None of these

33. Which of the following terms is not used in the game of hockey?
1) Scoop
2) Bully
3) Penalty Corner
4) Centre Pass
5) Deuce

34. The headquarters of the World Bank is located in?
1) New York
2) Geneva
3) Paris
4) Washington
5) Manila

35. Which of the following awards is presented annually by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in the fields of Classical Music, Classical Dance, Theatre and Plastic Arts?
1) Saraswati Samman
2) G.D.Birla Award
3) Kalidas Samman
4) Vyas Samman
5) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award

36. Which of the following is the currency of South Korea?
1) Taka
2) Peso
3) Ngultrum
4) Won
5) Kip

37. Who is known as the "Father of Indian Nuclear Programme"?
1) Satish Dhawan
2) Vikram Sarabhai
3) Homi J. Bhabha
4) C.V.Raman
5) A.P.J.Abdul Kalam

38. Business Correspondents (BCs) are used by banks to achieve?
1) Tax Collection
2) Industrial Development
3) Financial Inclusion
4) Infrastructure Development
5) None of these

39. Which of the following is a foreign bank having branches in India?
1) Catholic Syrian bank
2) Federal Bank
3) Yes Bank
4) UCO Bank
5) Standard Chartered Bank

40. Kalinga Prize is given for contribution in the field of?
1) Literature
2) Politics
3) Sports
4) Films
5) Science


ANSWERS:
1) 4 2) 3 3) 3 4) 4 5) 1  6) 2 7) 3 8) 4 9) 3 10) 5
11) 2 12) 1 13) 1 14) 3 15) 2 16) 3 17) 5 18) 1 19) 2 20) 3
21) 2 22) 3 23) 5 24) 4 25) 5 26) 5 27) 4 28) 2 29) 3 30) 3
31) 4 32) 1 33) 5 34) 4 35) 3 36) 4 37) 3 38) 3 39) 5 40) 5

APPSC PROHIBITION & EXISE SUB INSPECTORS EXAM (GROUP-II LIMITED) PAPER-2 SOLVED PAPER

APPSC AEE EXAM G.S. SOLVED PAPER

Delhi most competitive city in India

India's capital has emerged the most competitive city in the country for the third straight time with the commercial hub of Mumbai retaining the second spot, according to a report by an international think tank released on July 11, 2012.

Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, in that order, make up the top five in rankings of the India City Competitiveness Report-2012, compiled by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC) that conducts studies in this area for use by businesses and governments.

"Faridabad, with its high growth has drastically improved in its ranking and holds the 29th spot. Similarly Guwahati recorded a wide improvement in its position," says the report.

The fifth edition of the India City Competitiveness Report is based on a model that has been established by celebrated management guru, Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrance University Professor, based at Harvard Business School.

Regarding New Delhi, the report says the city has managed to demonstrate a phenomenal growth over a period of time by balancing demand and development in equal measure. The two areas it is found lagging in are administrative and institutional support.

The report also says that Noida, another city with close proximity to New Delhi, is now giving tough competition to the metros, even as Pune and Ahmedabad, which had very high potential slipped a few notches, but remained in top 10 slots.

Among the smaller cities, while Coimbatore, Mysore, Madurai and Guwahati climbed up, Surat, Lucknow, Agra and Allahabad dropped in their rankings.

"Undoubtedly, Indian cities have the required potential to make their mark across the globe. this is clearly evident with igh urbanization rate of these cities and by the trend of their growth," says the report.

"However, it is required that Indian cities work on their strong areas and use it constructively to attract people from different genres. They should build a brand of their own and not follow some other global city."

Porter's model is founded on four pillars -- the factor conditions, demand conditions, context for strategy and rivalry, and the quality of supporting and related industries. These are further divided into 12 sub-pillars to give information on 50 top cities.

When benchmarked globally, Indian cities have much to catch up. Delhi, which takes the top slot in the country, is benchmarked at 46.7 -- which is way below 71.4 for New York, 70.4 for London, 55.2 for Shanghai and 69.3 for Hong Kong.

Here's the ranking of top 10 cities and their score:

Delhi: 69.732
Mumbai: 67.856
Chennai: 62.323
Hyderabad: 61.782
Kolkata: 61.464
Gurgaon: 61.167
Bengaluru: 61.100
Noida: 60.406
Pune: 59.854

Jan Lokpal Bill

The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill drawn up by prominent civil society activists seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body  that would investigate corruption cases, complete the investigation within a year and envisages trial in the case getting over in the next one year. Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde (former Supreme Court Judge and present Lokayukta of Karnataka), Prashant Bhushan (Supreme Court Lawyer) and Arvind Kejriwal (RTI activist), the draft Bill envisages a system where a corrupt person found guilty would go to jail within two years of the complaint being made and his ill-gotten wealth being confiscated. It also seeks power to the Jan Lokpal to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission. Retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other known people like Swami Agnivesh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare and Mallika Sarabhai are also part of the movement, called India Against Corruption. Its website describes the movement as "an expression of collective anger of people of India against corruption. We have all come together to force/request/persuade/pressurize the Government to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill. We feel that if this Bill were enacted it would create an effective deterrence against corruption."Anna Hazare, anti-corruption crusader, began a fast-unto-death today, demanding that this bill, drafted by the civil society, be adopted. The website of the India Against Corruption movement calls the Lokpal Bill of the government an "eyewash" and has on it a critique of that government Bill. It also lists the difference between the Bills drafted by the government and civil society.

A look at the salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill:
1.     An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up
2.     Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be
able to influence their investigations.
3.     Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial
should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.
4.     The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
5.     How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.
6.     So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.
7.     But won't the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won't be possible because its members will be
selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.
8.     What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.
9.     What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
10.    It will be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.

United Nations Convention against Corruption

Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Corruption undermines democratic institutions, slows economic development and contributes to governmental instability. Corruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existing is the soliciting of bribes. Economic development is stunted because foreign direct investment is discouraged and small businesses within the country often find it impossible to overcome the "start-up costs" required because of corruption.

In its resolution 55/61 of December 4, 2000, the UN General Assembly recognized that an effective international legal instrument against corruption, independent of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (resolution 55/25, annex I), was desirable and decided to establish an ad hoc committee for the negotiation of such an instrument in Vienna at the headquarters of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly by resolution 58/4 of October 31, 2003. In accordance with article 68 (1) of resolution 58/4, the United Nations Convention against Corruption entered into force on December 14, 2005. For each new State or regional economic integration organization becoming a party to the Convention, the Convention enters into force on the thirtieth day after the date of deposit by such State or organization of the relevant instrument.

This convention, which came into force in 2005, has 140 countries on its list. India, ratified the convention on May 13, 2011.

India had signed the convention in 2005 but the UPA government, particularly the department of personnel and training (DoPT), had steadfastly refused to ratify it. Over the years, MEA (which is the nodal ministry for international treaties), had been pushing the government to ratify the convention. The official reason was that India has not yet brought its domestic laws in line with the international convention.

Acceding to the convention will make it easier for India to repatriate the billions of dollars in ill-gotten wealth that have been stashed overseas. Under the convention, asset recovery is a fundamental principle, Article 51 provides for the return of assets to countries of origin as a fundamental principle of this convention.

The convention requires signatories to put in place certain preventive measures—like enhanced transparency in funding election campaigns and political parties—which certainly in India is at the root of a lot of government corruption.

The convention criminalises not only basic corruption such as bribery and the embezzlement of public funds but also trading in influence and the concealment and laundering of the proceeds of corruption. According to UN literature, "offences committed in support of corruption, including money-laundering and obstructing justice, are also dealt with. Convention offences also deal with the problematic areas of private sector corruption."

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. The Convention's far-reaching approach and the mandatory character of many of its provisions make it a unique tool for developing a comprehensive response to a global problem.

The UNCAC covers five main areas: prevention, criminalization and law enforcement measures, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical assistance and information exchange.

The UNCAC also covers many different forms of corruption, such as trading in influence, abuse of power, and various acts of corruption in the private sector. A further significant development was the inclusion of a specific chapter of the Convention dealing with the recovery of assets, a major concern for countries that pursue the assets of former leaders and other officials accused or found to have engaged in corruption. The rapidly growing number of States that have become parties to the Convention is further proof of its universal nature and reach.

Prevention
Corruption can be prosecuted after the fact, but first and foremost, it requires prevention. An entire chapter of the Convention is dedicated to prevention, with measures directed at both the public and private sectors. These include model preventive policies, such as the establishment of anti-corruption bodies and enhanced transparency in the financing of election campaigns and political parties. States must endeavour to ensure that their public services are subject to safeguards that promote efficiency, transparency and recruitment based on merit. Once recruited, public servants should be subject to codes of conduct, requirements for financial and other disclosures, and appropriate disciplinary measures. Transparency and accountability in matters of public finance must also be promoted, and specific requirements are established for the prevention of corruption, in the particularly critical areas of the public sector, such as the judiciary and public procurement.

Preventing public corruption also requires an effort from all members of society at large. For these reasons, the Convention calls on countries to promote actively the involvement of non-governmental and community-based organizations, as well as other elements of civil society, and to raise public awareness of corruption and what can be done about it. Article 5 of the Convention enjoins each State Party to establish and promote effective practices aimed at the prevention of corruption.

Criminalization
The Convention requires countries to establish criminal and other offences to cover a wide range of acts of corruption, if these are not already crimes under domestic law. In some cases, States are legally obliged to establish offences; in other cases, in order to take into account differences in domestic law, they are required to consider doing so. The Convention goes beyond previous instruments of this kind, criminalizing not only basic forms of corruption such as bribery and the embezzlement of public funds, but also trading in influence and the concealment and laundering of the proceeds of corruption. Offences committed in support of corruption, including money-laundering and obstructing justice, are also dealt with. Convention offences also deal with the problematic areas of private-sector corruption.

International Cooperation
Countries agreed to cooperate with one another in every aspect of the fight against corruption, including prevention, investigation, and the prosecution of offenders. Countries are bound by the Convention to render specific forms of mutual legal assistance in gathering and transferring evidence for use in court, to extradite offenders. Countries are also required to undertake measures that will support the tracing, freezing, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of corruption.

Asset Recovery
In a major breakthrough, countries agreed on asset-recovery, which is stated explicitly as a fundamental principle of the Convention. This is a particularly important issue for many developing countries where high-level corruption has plundered the national wealth, and where resources are badly needed for reconstruction and the rehabilitation of societies under new governments. Reaching agreement on this chapter has involved intensive negotiations, as the needs of countries seeking the illicit assets had to be reconciled with the legal and procedural safeguards of the countries whose assistance is sought.

Article 51 provides for the return of assets to countries of origin as a fundamental principle of this Convention. Article 43 obliges State parties to extend the widest possible cooperation to each other in the investigation and prosecution of offences defined in the Convention. With regard to asset recovery in particular, the article provides inter alia that "In matters of international cooperation, whenever dual criminality is considered a requirement, it shall be deemed fulfilled irrespective of whether the laws of the requested State Party place the offence within the same category of offence or denominate the offence by the same terminology as the requesting State Party, if the conduct underlying the offence for which assistance is sought is a criminal offence under the laws of both States Parties".

Criminalization and law enforcement
As per the convention, each State Party shall adopt such legislative and other measures as may be necessary to establish as a criminal offence, when committed intentionally, the promise, offering or giving to a foreign public official or an official of a public international organization, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage, for the official himself or herself or another person or entity, in order that the official act or refrain from acting in the exercise of his or her official duties, in order to obtain or retain business or other undue advantage in relation to the conduct of international business.

Bribery in the private sector: Each State Party shall consider adopting such legislative and other measures as may be necessary to establish as criminal offences, when committed intentionally in the course of economic, financial or commercial activities: (a) The promise, offering or giving, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage to any person who directs or works, in any capacity, for a private sector entity, for the person himself or herself or for another person, in order that he or she, in breach of his or her duties, act or refrain from acting; (b) The solicitation or acceptance, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage by any person who directs or works, in any capacity, for a private sector entity, for the person himself or herself or for another person, in order that he or she, in breach of his or her duties, act or refrain from acting.

Protection of witnesses, experts and victims: The Convention also provides for appropriate measures in accordance with a State’s domestic legal system and within its means to provide effective protection from potential retaliation or intimidation for witnesses and experts who give testimony concerning offences established in accordance with this Convention and, as appropriate, for their relatives and other persons close to them.

Each State Party also has to take appropriate measures to provide protection against any unjustified treatment for any person who reports in good faith and on reasonable grounds to the competent authorities any facts concerning offences established in accordance with this Convention.