S.R Hashim Report on methodology for identification of poor in urban areas

With the objective of putting in place a uniform criterion to identify the BPL households in urban areas so that objectivity and transparency is ensured in delivery of benefits to the target groups, the Planning Commission constituted an Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Professor S.R. Hashim.

The terms of reference of the Expert Group are as follows:

a) To recommend appropriate detailed methodology with simple, transparent and objectively measurable indicators, to identify Below Poverty Line (BPL) Households in urban areas for providing assistance under various schemes targeted at the urban poor;
b) To recommend periodicity for the conduct of BPL Survey in Urban Areas or the mechanisms to review such a BPL list;
c)To recommend institutional mechanisms for the conduct of BPL survey, survey questionnaire, processing of data, training, validation and approval of urban BPL list at various levels;
d) To recommend suitable institutional mechanisms to address the grievances of public on exclusion/inclusion in the urban BPL List;
e) Any other suggestions/recommendations to make the exercise of Urban BPL survey simple, transparent and acceptable.

The methodology recommended is as follows:

the Expert Group decided that poverty in Urban areas could be best captured by identifying three categories of vulnerabilities, i.e., residential vulnerability, occupational vulnerability and social vulnerability that the urban poor is subjected to. It was agreed to evolve a methodology to identify urban poor based on the various dimensions of these three areas of vulnerabilities to be qualified by a number of indicators which would also give an idea of the depth/intensity of the vulnerability.

Based on the above broad approach, the Expert Group recommends a three stage identification process (i) Automatic Exclusion ; (ii) Automatic Inclusion ; and (iii) Scoring Index.

Stage 1: Automatic Exclusion: If the number of dwelling rooms exclusively in possession of the household is 4 and above, that household will be excluded. Secondly, the household possessing any one of the assets, i.e., ‘4 wheeler motorized vehicle’, ‘AC Set’ and ‘computer or laptop with internet’ will also be excluded. Besides the households possessing any three of the following four assets, i.e., refrigerator, telephone (landline), washing machine, two wheeler motorized vehicle will also be excluded.

Stage 2: Automatic Inclusion: households facing various kinds of deprivations and vulnerabilities viz. residential, social and occupational vulnerabilities would be automatically included in the BPL List.

a) Under residential vulnerability, If the household is ‘houseless’ or the household has a house with roof and wall made of plastic/polythene or the household having only one room or less with the material of wall being grass, thatch, bamboo, mud, un-burnt brick or wood and the material of roof being grass, thatch, bamboo, wood or mud, then that will be automatically included.
b) Under occupational vulnerability, the household having no income from any source; any household member (including children) engaged in a vulnerable occupation like beggar/rag picker, domestic worker (who are actually paid wages) and sweeper/sanitation worker /mali); and all earning adult members in a household are daily wagers or irregular wagers, then that household should be automatically included.
c) Under social vulnerability, if there is no member of the household aged 18 years and above (Child-headed household) or there is no able-bodied person aged between 18 and 60 years in the household or all earning adult members in a household are either disabled, chronically ill or aged more than 65 years, then that household should be automatically included.

Stage 3: Scoring Index: In the third and final stage, the remaining households will be assigned scores from 0 to 12 based on various indicators of residential, social and occupational vulnerabilities. Those households with scores from 1 to12 are to be considered eligible for inclusion in the BPL List in the increasing order of the intensity of their deprivations meaning thereby that those with higher scores are more deprived.

National Mission for Green India

The National Mission for a Green India, as one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), recognizes that climate change phenomena will seriously affect and alter the distribution, type and quality of natural resources of the country and the associated livelihoods of the people. The Mission (henceforth referred to as GIM) acknowledges the influences that the forestry sector has on environmental amelioration through climate mitigation, food security, water security,biodiversity conservation and livelihood security of forest dependent communities.

The objectives of the mission are three-fold:

• Double the area to be taken up for afforestation/eco-restoration in India in the next 10 years, taking the total area to be afforested or eco-restored to 20 million ha.(i.e., 10 million ha of additional forest/non forest area to be treated by the Mission, in addition to the 10 million ha which is likely to be treated by Forest Department and other agencies through other interventions).
• Increase the GHG removals by India's forests to 6.35% of India's annual total GHG emissions by the year 2020 (an increase of 1.5% over what it would be in the absence of the Mission). This would require an increase in above and below ground biomass in 10 million ha of forests/ecosystems, resulting in increased carbon sequestration of 43 million tons CO2-e annually .
• Enhance the resilience of forests/ecosystems being treated under the Mission enhance infiltration, groundwater recharge, stream and spring flows, biodiversity value, provisioning of services (fuel wood, fodder, timber, NTFPs, etc.) to help local communities adapt to climatic variability.

The Mission targets can be classified as:

• 2.0 m ha of moderately dense forests show increased cover and density.
• 4.0 m ha of degraded forests are regenerated/afforested and sustainably managed.
• 0.10 m ha of mangroves restored/established.
• 0.10 m ha of wetlands show enhanced conservation status.
• 0.20 m ha of urban/peri urban forest lands and institutional lands are under tree cover.
• 1.50 m ha of degraded agricultural lands and fallows are brought under agro-forestry.•  0.10 m ha of corridor areas, critical to wildlife migration are secure.
• Improved fuel wood use efficiency devices adopted in about 10 million households (along with alternative energy devices).
• Biomass/NTFP based community livelihoods are enhanced that lead to reduced vulnerability.

Some key highlights of the Mission strategy are listed below:

1. Holistic view to “greening” (broader than plantations):

The scope of greening will not be limited to just trees and plantations. Emphasis will be placed on restoration of ecosystems and habitat diversity e.g. grassland and pastures (more so in arid/semi-arid regions), mangroves, wetlands and other critical ecosystems. It will not only strive to restore degraded forests, but would also contribute in protection/enhancement of forests with relatively dense forest cover.

2. Integrated cross-sectoral approach to implementation:

The Mission would foster an integrated approach that treats forests and non forest public lands as well as private lands simultaneously, in project units/ sub-landscapes/sub-watersheds. Drivers of degradation e.g. firewood needs and livestock grazing will be addressed using inter sectoral convergence (e.g. livestock, forest, agriculture, rural development, energy etc.)

3. Key role for local communities and decentralized governance:

Local communities will be required to play a key role in project governance and implementation. Gram Sabha and its various committees/groups including JFMCs, CFM groups, Van Panchayats, etc. would be strengthened as institutions of decentralized forest governance. Likewise, the Mission would support revamping/strengthening of the Forest Development Agencies. The Mission would support secured community tenure, capacity building for adaptive forest management and livelihood support activities e.g. community based NTFP enterprises.

4. Vulnerability' and 'Potential' as criteria for intervention:

An overarching criterion for selection of project areas/sub-landscapes/sub-watersheds under the Mission would include vulnerability to climatic change projections and potential of areas for enhancing carbon sinks.

5. Robust and effective monitoring framework:
A comprehensive monitoring framework at four different levels is proposed. In addition to on-ground self- monitoring by multiple agencies, the Mission would support use of modern technology like Remote Sensing with GPS mapping of plot boundaries for monitoring at output/ outcome level. A few identified sites within the project area will be selected for intensive monitoring using additional parameters like ground cover, soil condition, erosion and infiltration, run-off, ground water levels to develop water budgets as well as biomass monitoring indicators. The Mission would also commission a comprehensive research needs assessment in support of Mission aim and objectives. The Mission would set up a cell within Mission Directorate to coordinate REDD Plus activities in the country.

Jawaid Akhtar Elected Chairperson of International Coffee Council

Jawaid Akhtar, the Chairman of Coffee Board of India, was elected as the Chairperson of the International Coffee Council at the meetings of the International Coffee Organization which took place on 9 September 2013 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The 111th session of the Council and the meetings took place from 9 September 2013- 12 September 2013. 

At the same time, Conradin Rasi of Switzerland was elected as the Vice-Chairperson of the International Coffee Council. The Council also appointed Juan Esteban Orduz of Colombia as the Chairperson of the Consultative Forum.

About the International Coffee Organization (ICO)

• The International Coffee Organization was established in 1963 in London. 
• It was initiated with the United Nations (UN) to increase cooperation among the nations which produce, distribute and consume coffee. 
• The International Coffee Organization was formed as a result of the five-year International Coffee Agreement signed in 1962 at the UN in New York.
• Till the year 2011, it comprised of 39 members, which included 33 exporting nations, 5 importing countries and one importing community, i.e., the European Union. 
• The highest body of the ICO is International Coffee Council. It meets two times a year and the Private Sector Consultative Board of ICO includes 16 representatives from coffee production and consumption industries. 
• The members of ICO represent 97 percent of the world coffee production and more than 80 percent of the world consumption.

MPLADS guidelines revised

According to the revised guidelines Government has allowed the Members of Parliament to grant funds under Member of Parliament Local Area Development scheme, MPLADS to purchase furniture for schools and create infrastructure for cooperative societies with certain conditions. Earlier, MPs were allowed to recommend purchase of furniture for new school buildings and registered trusts and societies under the scheme.
Thus an MP can recommend for purchase of movable items such as furniture, equipment, etc, for primary and secondary schools belonging to Central or State or UT governments and local bodies and government- aided schools.
But the cooperative society should be in existence for the preceding 3 years and, in the opinion of the district authority, based on an objective assessment of performance and records, etc., should be well-reputed and dedicated to community / public good.
Further the structure constructed with MPLADS funds will be the property of the State / UT Government.  The recommending MP or any of his family members should not be an office-bearer or member or having patronage of the cooperative society. Mutual funding by MPs will not be allowed.
What is Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS)?

It was introduced by the Narasimha Rao government to help MPs execute small works of a local nature to meet the urgent needs of their constituencies. It began with an initial annual grant of Rs 50 lakh per MP. The amount was increased to Rs 1 crore in 1994-95 and to Rs 2 crore in 1998-99. The allocation has increased to Rs 5 crore per MP in view of cost escalation.
Under the scheme, each MP has the choice to suggest to the District Collector for, works to the tune of Rs.5 Crores per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency.
The Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament can recommend works in one or more districts in the State from where he/she has been elected.
The Nominated Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may select any one or more Districts from any one State in the Country for implementation of their choice of work under the scheme.

STATEWISE ESTIMATES OF VALUE OF OUTPUT FROM AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED ACTIVITIES 2013

Standing Committee Report on Implementation of the MGNREGA

The Standing Committee on Rural Development Chaired by  Sumitra Mahajan submitted its report on the  implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural  Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
The MGNREGA was enacted in 2005 to guarantee 100 days of employment per year to rural households.
The Committee highlighted several achievements of the MGNREGA in the seven years of its implementation; especially (a) ensuring livelihoods for people in rural areas, (b) large scale participation of women, SCs/STs and other traditionally marginalised sections of society, (c) increasing the wage rate in rural areas, (d) strengthening the rural economy through the creation of assets, (e) facilitating sustainable development and (f) strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) like the gram sabha by involving them in planning and monitoring of the scheme.
However, the Committee found several issues with the implementation of the scheme including (a) fabrication of job cards, (b) delay in payment of wages, (c) non payment of unemployment allowances, (d) a large number of incomplete works, (e) poor quality of assets created, (f) several instances of malpractices and corruption, and (g) insufficient involvement of PRIs.
The Committee made the following recommendations, based on its findings:
• Offences such as missing entries in the job cards and unlawful possession of job cards with elected PRI representatives and MGNREGA functionaries should be made a punishable offence under the Act.
• Since studies have shown that the income of female workers raises the standard of living of their households to a greater extent than their male counterparts, the participation of women must be increased through raising awareness and forming self help groups.
• Special works must be identified, meeting the specific needs of disabled people. Special job cards must be issued and personnel must be employed to ensure the participation of persons with disabilities.
• The Department of Rural Development must analyse poor utilisation of funds and take steps to improve utilisation of funds. In addition, it should initiate action against officers found guilty of misappropriating funds under MGNREGA.
• Since states are at various stages of socio-economic development, they may have varied requirements for development and therefore, state governments should be allowed to undertake works that are pertinent to their context. There should be more emphasis on skilled and semi-skilled work under MGNREGA, possibly through greater coordination with the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. The Committee recommends convergence with other schemes such as the National Literacy Mission and Mid Day Meal Scheme.
• Dated receipts for demanded work should be issued so that workers can claim unemployment allowance. Funds for unemployment allowance should be met by the central government.
• Frequency of monitoring by National Level Monitors should increase and appropriate measures should be taken based on their recommendations. Additionally, social audits must mandatorily be held every 6 months. A nodal officer should be designated to ensure this. Vigilance cells must be established at the state and district level and vigilance and monitoring committees must be established at the local level.
• Training and capacity building of elected representatives and other functionaries of PRIs must be done regularly

Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat

The concept of Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat (PMLA) has been evolved by the National Commission for Women (NCW) to supplement the efforts of the District Legal Service Authority for redressal and speedy disposal of matters pending in various courts related to marriage and family affairs. 

Objectives of Parivarik Mahila Lok Adalat:

• To provide speedy and cost free dispensation of justice to women.
• To generate awareness among the public regarding conciliatory mode of dispute settlement.
•  To gear up the process of organizing the Lok Adalats and to encourage the public to settle their disputes outside the formal set-up.
• To empower public especially women to participate in justice delivery mechanism.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, an Act of Parliament (December 2005). The Commission's Mandate is to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Child is defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group.
The proposed Commission have a Chairperson and six other Members, including two women members, a Member Secretary and other supporting staff. The Chairperson is a person of eminence in the field of child development. The members are the experts in the field of child health, education, child care and development, juvenile justice, children with disabilities, elimination of child labour, child psychology or sociology and laws relating to children.
The Functions of the Commissions are:
• Examine and review the safeguards provided by Constitution or any law for the protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation• Present to the Central Government, annually reports upon the working of those safeguards.• Examine all factors that inhibit the enjoyment of rights of most vulnerable children and  children in need of special care and protection• Study treaties and other international instruments and undertake periodical review of existing policies, programmes and other activities on child rights and make recommendation for their effective implementation in the best interest of children.• Undertake and promote research in the field of child rights• Spread child rights literacy among various sections of the society and promote awareness• inspect any juvenile custodial home, or any other place of residence or institution meant for children for the purpose of treatment, reformation or protection and take up with these authorities for remedial action• inquire into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to,a) deprivation of child’s rights;b) non-implementation of laws for protection and  development of children;c) non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or and to provide relief to such children, take up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities;• Such other functions as it may consider necessary for the promotion of child rights.

Damodaran panel report

A committee headed by former Sebi chairman M Damodaran has recommended scrapping of 'retrospective taxation' as a chief measure to make India an attractive destination to do business.
The committee, which had leaders of corporates and state-owned companies and officials of various ministries among its members, also recommended a system of advance ruling for all organisations tasked with framing regulations, encouraging arbitration to resolve contractual disputes and setting up of an overarching body to enable policy and process coordination of medium and small scale enterprises (MSMEs).
The 76 page-long recommendations titled 'Reforming the Regulatory Environment for doing Business in India' is currently under the study of the ministry of corporate affairs.
The report singled out retrospective taxation as a big obstacle to attracting investment. "Retrospective taxation has the undesirable effect of creating major uncertainties...constituting a significant disincentive for persons wishing to do business in India," the committee remarked. Last year, following the Supreme Court's verdict that British telecom major Vodafone was not liable to pay taxes to the Indian government on overseas transfer of Indian assets, the government had amended the tax laws with retrospective effect, bringing Vodafone's deal under its net. The amendment had caused a huge uproar in the international investor community. The Damodaran committee in its report noted that even though the legal powers of the government extend to giving retrospective effect to taxation proposals, it might not pass the test of certainty and continuity.
The ministry of corporate affairs had set up the committee to suggest ways to improve India's dismally low ranking on the World Bank's index ranking countries on the 10 parameters measuring ease of doing business. In the report, India had been ranked at 132 out of 183 countries, lower than its neighbours Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Further the committee has lashed out at the orientation of debates to the backgrounds and personalities of regulators. It also slammed the practice of conducting interview-based selections of regulators by a panel. According to the committee such sterile debates didn’t help in understanding the organisation’s regulatory philosophy, which significantly influenced the content and scope of regulations. The committee recommended a transparent mechanism to appoint a watchdog. It recommended a system in which the head of a regulatory organisation and his board-level colleagues appeared before an appropriate parliamentary committee once every six months to report on various developments and discuss the broad plan of action for the next six months. The committee said the practice of inviting applications from interested candidates and asking them to appear for interviews by a panel comprising persons unfamiliar with the regulatory organisation led to loss of public confidence, not only in the process but also in the organisation.
It added the genuine functional autonomy of regulators would have to be reinforced with financial autonomy by putting in place a system in which regulatory organisations weren’t dependent on government departments for financial support.
The panel also suggested each regulatory organisation undertake self-evaluation once in three years and put the conclusions in the public domain. It recommended each government organisation or department responsible for framing regulations undertake a two-stage process of consultation, through which a revised draft was put up after the first round of stakeholder consultations. Typically, just one draft is put in the public domain for inviting suggestions.

Minorities Development in India

India is a democratic country where people of all community live in peace and harmony. All major religions of the world are found in India. As such, Hindus are the majority community and the minority community includes Muslims,  Sikhs,  Christians,  Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) as notified under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

Minorities are playing a very vital role in India’s political and social upliftment, contributing significantly in the development of our country. Governments from time to time have formulated programmes and schemes for socio-economic upliftment of minorities.

For this purpose Government of India created the Ministry of Minority Affairs, which aims at empowering the minority communities and creating an enabling environment for strengthening the multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious character of our nation. It also aims at improving the socio-economic conditions of the minority communities through affirmative action and inclusive development, so that every citizen has equal opportunity to participate actively in building a vibrant nation.

To facilitate an equitable share for minority communities in education, employment, economic activities and to ensure their upliftment, Prime Minister's New 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities was announced in June, 2006. It provides programme specific interventions with definite goals which are to be achieved in a time bound manner. The objectives of the programme are: (a) Enhancing opportunities for education; (b) Ensuring an equitable share for minorities in economic activities and employment through existing and new schemes, enhanced credit support for self-employment and recruitment to State and Central Government jobs; (c) Improving the conditions of living of minorities by ensuring an appropriate share for them in infrastructure development schemes; and (d) Prevention and control of communal disharmony and violence.

An important aim of the programme has been to ensure that the benefits of various government schemes for the underprivileged reach the disadvantaged sections of the minority communities. In order to ensure that the benefits of these schemes flow equitably to the minorities, the programme envisages location of a certain proportion of development projects in minority concentration areas. The schemes included in the New 15-Point Programme are as under;

• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme by providing services through Anganwadi Centres {Ministry of Women & Child Development}.
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme (KGBV) {Ministry of Human Resources Development}
• Aajeevika{Ministry of Rural Development}
• Swarnajayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY) {Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation}
• Upgradation of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) {Ministry of Labour & Employment}
• Bank credit under priority sector lending {Department of Financial Services}
• Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) {Ministry of Rural Development}

Also acting on the Sachar Committee report, the Government has initiated several measures as:

• Universalization of access to quality education at secondary stage called Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
• One model college each would be set up in 374 educationally backward districts (EBDs) of the country. Of 374 EBDs, 67 are among identified minority concentration districts.
• Preference to be given by the University Grants Commission for provision of girls' hostels in universities and colleges in the areas where there is concentration of minorities especially Muslims.
• Area Intensive & Madarsa Modernisation Programme has been revised and bifurcated into two schemes. (a) Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madarsas (SPQEM). It was attractive provision for better teachers' salary, increased assistance for books, teaching aids and computers and introduction of vocational subjects, etc and the other scheme which provides financial assistance for Infrastructure Development of Private aided/unaided Minority Institutes (IDMI).
• Academies for professional development of Urdu medium teachers have been set up at three Central Universities namely, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Jamia Milia Islamia University (JMIU), New Delhi and Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MAANU), Hyderabad.

Also, the Government has launched the Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) in 2008-09. The programme aims at improving the socio-economic and basic amenity facilities for improving the quality of life of the people and reducing imbalances in the Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs). Identified 'development deficits' are addressed through a district specific plan for provision of better infrastructure for school and secondary education, sanitation, pucca housing, drinking water and electricity supply, besides beneficiary oriented schemes for creating income generating activities. Absolutely critical infrastructure linkages like connecting roads, basic health infrastructure, ICDS centers, skill development and marketing facilities required for improving living conditions and income generating activities and catalyzing the growth process are eligible for inclusion in the plan.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs is also providing several scholarships to the minority communities to empower them educationally and socially across the country. These include: (a) The Pre-matric scholarship scheme. (b) Post-matric scholarship scheme. (c) The Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme. (d) The Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF). (e) The Free Coaching and Allied Scheme. (f) Leadership Development of Minority Women scheme. (g) Grant In Aid Scheme to State Channelising agencies of National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation.

In this way the Government of India is making every effort for upliftment of minorities so that they can stand with others side by side in all spheres of life and live a dignified life.

SAARC Development Goals - India Country Report 2013

Forthcoming Competitive Exams

September● R.R.B. Muzzafarpur Junior Clerk-cum-Typist Exam. (September 22)
● Chhattisgarh Food and Civil Supply Inspector Recruitment Exam (September 22)
● Uttar Pradesh Lower Private Secretary Exam., 2010 (September 22)
● S.S.C. Combined Graduate Level Exam., 2013 (IInd Stage) (September 28-29)
● Uttar Pradesh Judicial Services Civil Judge (Junior Division) Mains Exam., 2013 (September 28, 29 & 30)
● Chhattisgarh P.S.C. Granthpal Recruitment Exam. (September 29)
● Rajasthan Agriculture Observator Recruitment Exam. (September)
● Himachal Pradesh State Eligibility Test (SET), 2013 (September-October)
● IBPS Regional Rural Banks Office Assistants and Officers (Scale-I, II and III) Common Written Exam. (September-October) 

October● Uttar Pradesh Samiksha Adhikari/Asstt. Samiksha Adhikari (Pre.) Exam., 2013 (October 6)
● Madhya Pradesh Bhoj (Open) University B.Ed. Entrance Exam. (October 6)
● Madhya Pradesh P.S.C. State Services (Mains) Exam., 2012 (October 1-25)
● Central Armed Police Force (Assistant Commandant) Exam., 2013 (October 20) 
● IBPS Probationary Officers/Management Trainees Common Written Examination (October) 

November
● SSC Combined Higher Secondary Level (10+2) Examination, 2013 (November 10 and 24) 
● State Level National Talent Search Exam., 2014 (Class X) (November 17)
● National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Exam., 2014 (Class VIII) (November 17)
● IBPS Bank Clerical Cadre Common Written Exam. (November/December)
December● Uttar Pradesh Combined Lower Subordinate Services (Gen.) (Pre.) Exam (December 8)
● S.S.C. Junior Translator in (CSOLs) Exam., 2013 (December 15)

2014

February ● Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Entrance Exam., 2014 (Class VI) (February 8) (Closing Date : 31 October, 2013)

India's First Marine Eco-Sensitive Zone declared in Gulf of Kutch

The Ministry of Environment and Forest on 9 September 2013 declared India's first marine eco-sensitive zone around Marine National Park in Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat. This decision prohibits any industrial activity in the area. It will apply stringent environmental regulations in the region for developmental works in 36 villages and 31 rivers flowing into the Arabian Sea.
The ministry declared 313 sq km around the park as an eco-sensitive zone through a notification. Of this, 208 sq km is land while the remaining is on the seaside.

The notification says that land use for recreational, commercial or industrial development will not be permitted in the area except for residential purpose. Mining, including fresh water mining, and release of polluted water and waste will also be prohibited. The ministry even disallowed fishing by trawlers.

The ministry has also directed the government to prepare a zonal ecology conservation master after consulting the inhabitants of these 36 villages. The plan should restore denuded areas as well as existing water bodies. The plan should also have provision for management of catchment areas, watershed management, groundwater and soil conservation.

The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 Passed By Rajya Sabha

The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 6 September 2013. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 14 December 2012 by the Minister of Tribal Affairs, V. Kishore Chandra Deo. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 24 August 2013.

Objective of the Bill:

The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in the states of Kerala and Chhattisgarh.

Major highlights of the Bill:

• Article 342 of the Constitution of India states that the President may notify the Scheduled Tribes in a state after consultation with the Governor of the state.  The President issued the 1950 Order, in accordance with this Article. 
• According to the Article 342 of the Constitution of India, Scheduled Tribes means such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of India Constitution.
• The Bill amended the Schedule of the 1950 Order to include certain groups as Scheduled Tribes.  The Marati community is being re-included in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Kerala.  
• Scheduled Tribe status is being granted to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups namely Abujh Maria and Hill Korwa in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh.

Current Affairs Practice Questions - August 2013

• The first Britisher to perform a space walk, who retired from NASA in the second week of August 2013- Colin Michael Foale

• Name of the largest blast furnace of India which was operationalised by SAIL on 10 August 2013- Durga

• Female tennis player to win The Rogers Cup 2013 and capture her 54th WTA singles title- Serena Williams

• Technology used by the researchers to find that autism affected the brains of males and females in a different way- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Name the captain of the 18-member hockey squad of India in the Asia Cup hockey tournament 2013- Sardar Singh
• Date on which International Lefthanders Day is celebrated across the world- 13 August

• Name of the First Twitter Hotel opened in Spain by the Melia brand of hotels- Social Wave House
• Name of the oldest Penguin who on 12 August 2013 turned 36 years old- King Penguin Missy

• Body which proposed first season of the Indian Badminton League (IBL)- Badminton Association of India (BAI)

• Name of the host country of 7th Asian Junior Wushu Championships- Philippines

• Name the fossil of the oldest known ancestor of modern rats recently unearthed in China- Rugosodon eurasiaticus

• Name of one of the most endangered bird species of the world that made a comeback in the US- Puerto Rican parrot

• Place at which The Travel & Tourism Fair (TTF) 2013, the biggest travel trade show of India started- Ahmadabad, Gujarat 
• The former Prime Minister of Nepal who died on 15 August 2013 after battling with lung cancer- Marich Man Singh Shrestha

• Name the person who was termed as the Beast of Ukraine. He was the serial killer who recently died in prison- Anatoly Onoprienko

• Name of the US actress who passed away on 25 August 2013 at the age of 87 years and holds the record of most Tony awards win- Julie Harris

• India’s under-23 cricket team won the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup in Singapore on 25 August 2013, after defeating- Pakistan

• Indian tennis player who lifted the women’s doubles trophy at the WTA New Haven Open along with her partner Jie Zheng of China- Sania Mirza

• Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology 2013 awarded to- Vinod Prakash Sharma

• Name the tribal community of Sri Lanka that was felicitated on 9 August 2013 by Mahinda Rajapaksa on the occasion of the World Indigenous Peoples Day- Veddas

• The eminent Indian classical singer and music director known as the vocalist of Jayadeva’s Gita Govind, who passed away in Bhubaneswar- Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi
• Nelson Mandela on 27 August 2013 was honoured with the first Lifetime Campaigner for Peace and Freedom of- the Mahathir award for Global Peace
• Prem Bhatia Award for Best Political Reporting of the Year (2013) was won by- Shalini Singh, a Deputy Editor of The Hindu  
• Indian women's Recurve team defeated this team  to win gold medal in the World Cup Archery Stage- 4 at Wroclaw, Poland- South Korean Team

• Person who coined the term BRIC in 2001. He is the Chief Economist of Goldman Sachs: Jim O’ Neil 
• The soccer team to win UEFA Super Cup 2013 on 30 August 2013:Bayern Munich
• The person to be recommended as next ONGC chief by the Public Enterprises Selection Board: Dinesh K Sarraf

• The Joint Air force exercise to be held by China and Pakistan: Shaheen-2
• The 21st round of Boundary talks between Bhutan and China held in the city: Thimphu

• 5th India-China Strategic Dialogue held in the City: New Delhi

• The person to be sworn in as the new President of Iran: Hassan Rouhani 

Deepak Sandhu Became the First Woman Chief Information Commissioner

Deepak Sandhu became the first woman Chief Information Commissioner on 5 September 2013. She was administered the oath of the office by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Deepak Sandhu took over the office from Satyananda Mishra. Mishra served the 5 year term in the office.

The Central Information Commission (CIC):

• The Central Information Commission was established under the Right to Information Act, 2005. 
• CIC was established under the Government of India for acting on complaints of the people.

India to host 33rd Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators

India will be hosting the 33rd Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA), 2013 in New Delhi from 22 to 27 September. The conference will be inaugurated by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. This is a prominent event for the correctional officers to share ideas and learn from others’ experiences and give direction to innovative ideas in correctional administration and welfare. Apart from delegates from 23 member countries, the delegates from States/UTs dealing with correctional administrations will also attend the conference.  The theme of the conference for the year 2013 is Correction-Transformation-Re-integration. The conference is aimed to assist the reintegration of the released inmates back to the society.

Raghuram Rajan takes over as RBI Governor

Rajan took over the charge as the 23rd Governor of Reserve Bank of India on 4th September as a successor of outgoing Governor of RBI, Dr. Subbarao. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India on 4 August 2013 approved the appointment of Raghuram Rajan (50) as the new Governor of Reserve Bank of India for next three years. Raghuram Govind Rajan was born on 3rd February 1963. He has served as the Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He is the second-youngest person to become the Governor of the RBI. He is credited as a person, who predicted the economic crisis of 2008. He is an alumnus of IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad. He received his Doctorate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana restructured as the National Urban Livelihoods Mission

With a view to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed and underemployed through encouraging the setting up of self-employment ventures or provision of wage employment, a new urban poverty alleviation programme, namely, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) was launched by the Government of India on 01.12.1997.
This scheme subsumed the earlier three urban poverty alleviation programmes, namely Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP), Nehru RozgarYojana (NRY) and Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (PMIUPEP).
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal for restructuring of the centrally sponsored Scheme of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) in the 12th Plan and as the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) with an allocation of approximately Rs. 6,405 crore.
The Mission of NULM is to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in an appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots level institutions of the poor. The mission would also aim at providing shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner. In addition, the Mission would also address livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors also by facilitating access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills to the urban street vendors for accessing emerging market opportunities.
NULM will rest on the foundation of community mobilization and women empowerment. NULM envisages universal mobilisation of urban poor households into thrift and credit-based Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations/collectives. These groups will serve as a" support system for the poor, to meet their financial and social need.
Under the Mission, City Livelihood Centres (CLCs) will be established in Mission cities to provide a platform whereby the urban poor can market their services and access information on self-employment, skill training and other benefits.
NULM will target the urban poor who are occupationally vulnerable for Employment through Skills Training & Placement (EST&P). The Mission will focus on providing assistance for development / upgrading of the skills of the urban poor so as to enhance their capacity for self-employment and salaried employment. It intends to provide training to the urban poor as per the skill demand from the market, so that they can set up self-employment ventures or secure salaried employment.
Through the Self-Employment Programme (SEP), NULM will provide financial assistance to individuals and groups of urban poor to set up gainful self-employment / micro-enterprise ventures.
The Support to Urban Street Vendors (USV) component will cover a socio-economic survey of street vendors, development of pro-vending urban planning and vendors` markets, credit enablement of vendors, skill development and micro-enterprise development and convergence under various schemes of the Government.
NULM would aim at providing shelter for the urban homeless equipped with essential services. The shelters should be permanent all-weather 24 x 7 shelters for the urban homeless. For every one lakh urban population, provisions will be made for permanent community shelters for a minimum of one hundred persons. Depending upon local conditions each shelter could cater to between 50 and 100 persons.
A mission mode approach in the form of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) is considered necessary to organize urban poor in Self Help Groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by ensuring easy access to credit. This will result in the empowerment and dignity of life of the urban poor. The approval of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) represents a strategic shift in the Government`s commitment to urban poverty alleviation.
The NULM will be implemented in two phases: Phase I (2013-2017) and Phase II (2017-2022). In Phase I, NULM will target all cities with a population of one lakh or more and district headquarter towns with a population of less than one lakh as per Census of India 2011. However, other towns may be allowed in exceptional cases on the request of the States.
Funding will be shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25. For North Eastern and Special Category States (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), this ratio will be 90:10.

Setting up of Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) approved

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for setting up of the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) as an independent charitable society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 to facilitate and upscale civil society action in partnership with Government for transforming livelihoods and lives of rural households, with an emphasis on women, particularly in the Central Indian Tribal Region.
It will provide financial grants to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to meet their human resource and institutional costs for upscaling of proven interventions; invest in institutional strengthening of smaller CSOs and capacity building of professional resources working at the grassroots.
Projects supported by BRLF would be able to reach 10 lakh poor families by the end of the fifth year. BRLF would also have supported the capacity building of 1,000 CSO professionals and institutional strengthening of a significant number of smaller CSOs within the above time frame.
Even though BRLF will have an India wide mandate, the initial focus of the organization will be on the Central Indian Tribal Region, centered on blocks having significant tribal population across 170 districts in the States of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Rs 500 crore will be released for creating the corpus fund of the new Society, in two tranches. The society will be constituted as a partnership between Government on the one hand and private sector philanthropies, private and public sector undertakings (under Corporate Social Responsibility) on the other hand.

Ahimsa Messenger Programme launched

Smt. Sonia Gandhi has launched the 'Ahimsa Messenger' Programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
The Ahimsa Messenger is directly related to the safety and empowerment of women. They will spread awareness and knowledge about for their legal rights and their economic and social growth, their safety and dignity in the society. The Ahimsa ‘doots’ (messengers) will be trained to empower them.
A unique feature of this programme is that adolescent boys have also been made an integral part of this programme.
At the initial phase of the programme some women from the Anganwadis will be trained to become Ahimsa messengers. Ahimsa Messengers would also serve as link workers in case of any violence and also facilitate the women to approach the concerned authorities in case of incidences of violence for suitable redressal and follow up on the case.
the Ahimsa messengers will lead to a significant change in the society by making women aware about their rights and helping to change the mindset of the society.

Global warming spurs spread of crop pests

The study carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford, shows a strong relationship between increased global temperatures over the past 50 years and expansion in the range of crop pests. The study revealed that Crop pests are spreading to colder parts of the world as climate change warms the world. It used published observations of the distribution of 612 crop pests collected over the past 50 years.

It said that the pests are moving onwards at a rate of nearly 3 km a year. If crop pests continue to march polewards as the Earth warms the combined effects of a growing world population and the increased loss of crops to pests will pose a serious threat to global food security.

Currently 10-16% of global crop production is lost to pests. Crop pests include fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes. The diversity of crop pests continues to expand and new strains are continually evolving. Losses of major crops to fungi, and fungi-like microorganisms, amount to enough to feed nearly nine percent of today's global population. The study suggests that these figures will increase further if global temperatures continue to rise as predicted.

The spread of pests is caused by both human activities and natural processes but is thought to be primarily the result of international freight transportation. The study suggests that the warming climate is allowing pests to become established in previously unsuitable regions. For example, warming generally stimulates insect herbivory at higher latitudes as seen in outbreaks of the Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) that has destroyed large areas of pine forest in the US Pacific Northwest. In addition, the rice blast fungus which is present in over 80 countries, and has a dramatic effect both on the agricultural economy and ecosystem health, has now moved to wheat. Considered a new disease, wheat blast is sharply reducing wheat yields in Brazil.

Thus Renewed efforts are required to monitor the spread of crop pests and to control their movement from region to region.