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INDEX

1. National news 1.1 Now, passport sans police verification

1.2 No, No, No: SC on instant Triple Talaq

1.3 OBC list to be sub-categorized

1.4 Claims on Bt cotton need to be probed, says panel

1.5 Aadhaar can be linked to schemes by December 31: Centre to SC

2. International News 2.1 Trump links India’s Afgan role to trade surplus

2.2 Trump’s South Asia Policy

3. Polity and Governance 3.1 Triple Talaq Issue

3.2 Privacy is a fundamental right, declares SC

3.3 Target section 377

4. Bills and Acts 4.1 Consumer is King if new law gets nod

5. Economy 5.1 Corporate Governance: Focus on SEBI

5.2 Data show new tax regime widely adopted

5.3 Banks must tighten bankruptcy norms

5.4 99% of demonetised notes returned, says RBI report

6. Science and Tech 6.1 ISRO opens up satellite making Industry

6.2 IRNSS-1H set for launch

7. Environment / Geography 7.1 Plans afoot to make Bhubaneswar an ecotourism hotspot

8. Security 8.1 Govt approves plan to deploy more troops on the front line

8.2 Navy to get advanced choppers


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9. India and World 9.1 India to raise visa issue in trade policy meet

9.2 China slams India over road – building in Ladakh

9.3 India, Qatar discuss citizen’s welfare

10. Short News 10.1 T-90 battle tanks to get an upgrade

10.2 Centre clears 100% strategic sale of CEL


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Current Affairs (21 to 31 August, 2017)

1. National News

1.1 Now, passport sans police verification

The physical police verification for getting a passport may soon be dispensed with as the Centre

plans to connect the procedure with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems

Project (CCTNS).

CCTNS has an exhaustive national database of crimes and criminals that will check the

antecedents of applicants at the click of a mouse, was expected to be linked with the passport

service of the External Affairs Ministry.

National database

Police in some states are already using CCTNS for passport credentials. Police will be given

handheld devices to go to an applicant’s address and his or her details will be uploaded on the

network. It will minimise contact of an individual with police and reduce time (for getting

passport).

The police portal will provide 11 searches and 46 reports from the national database for state

police and central investigation agencies. Central investigating and research agencies have also

been provided logins to the digital police database to access crime statistics.

CCTNS has enabled 13,775 out of 15,398 police stations to enter 100 per cent data into the

software. As of now the CCTNS national database has around 7 crore data records pertaining to

past and current criminal cases.

The project will interconnect about 15,398 police stations and 5,000 offices of supervisory police

officers across the country.

1.2 No, No, No: SC on instant Triple Talaq

A historic judgment delivered by a multi-faith Constitution Bench, set aside instant talaq as a

“manifestly arbitrary” practice not protected by Article 25 (freedom of religion) of the

Constitution.

SC held that as a personal law practice, was an integral part of Article 25 (freedom of religion).

Ninety per cent of Muslims in India follow the practice. It was constitutionally protected as a

fundamental right.

SC stated that personal laws like instant talaq were an 'exception' to the Constitution's avowed

aim to protect gender equality.

Instant talaq was no longer a personal law to remain free from the rigours of the fundamental

rights as it comes under the ambit of Article 13 of the Constitution. Article 13 mandates that any

law, framed before or after the Constitution, should not be violative of the fundamental rights.


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1.3 OBC list to be sub-categorized

In a move that could have a far-reaching political and social impact, Union Cabinet approved a

proposal to set up a commission which will examine the issue of sub-categorisation of the Other

Backward Classes (OBC).

The committee has a three-point mandate. One, it has to examine the “extent of inequitable

distribution of benefits of reservation” among various castes and communities that come under

the Central OBC list.

The committee also has to work out the mechanism, criteria and parameters for the actual sub-

categorisation.

The actual reservation will continue to be 27% and within this the committee will have to do the

re-arranging.

The third task is bringing order to the Central list of OBCs by removing any repetitions.

The committee will work on a tight schedule and have to deliver the report in 12 weeks.

Creamy layer cap raised

The Union Cabinet also increased the “creamy layer” ceiling for the Other Backward Classes to

₹8 lakh per annum from the existing ₹6 lakh for Central government jobs.

The committee will have an uphill task. Though the caste census has been completed, the

Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to release it.

The decision of the government to form a commission for the sub-categorisation of OBCs, is a

move that will prioritise the Extremely Backward Classes and adheres to the principles of justice.

1.4 Claims on Bt cotton need to be probed, says panel

Reigniting the debate on GM crops, a Parliamentary panel headed by MP Renuka Chowdhury in

a report released said the government agencies have portrayed “a rosy picture” on Bt Cotton

which is far removed from the truth.

The report of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology claimed that the government

cited only overall cotton output and not the average yield in area.

“India’s cotton yields increased by 69% in the five years (2000-2005) when Bt Cotton was less

than 6% of total cotton area, but by only 10% in the 10 years from 2005-2015 when Bt Cotton

grew to 94% of the total cotton area,” the report noted.

The “duality of the claims about the increase in yield of cotton” needs further examination, the

committee said.

It slammed the government for its “casual” approach to the need for a scientific study of GM

crop impact on health.

The committee noted that 20 years after introduction of GM crops in 1996, only six countries

continue to account for over 90 % of all GM crop area globally including U.S., Brazil, Argentina,

Canada, China and India.

The Ministry of Agriculture conceded to the committee that herbicide-tolerant gene may escape

through pollen into nearby farm and fields, to another GM or non-GM crop.


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Finally, unless bio-safety and socio-economic desirability studies are done through a

participatory, independent and transparent process, the committee has recommended that no

GM crop should be introduced.

1.5 Aadhaar can be linked to schemes by December 31: Centre to SC

The Union government informed the Supreme Court that the deadline for the mandatory linking

of Aadhaar to social welfare schemes for availing their benefits has been extended from

September 30 to December 31, 2017.

A series of notifications issued by various central ministries under

Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act of 2016 required beneficiaries to

enroll for Aadhaar to continue getting the benefits.

SC had referred the petitions for hearing before a five-judge

Bench, keeping in mind the pertinent legal question — whether

privacy is a fundamental right or not — that had to be answered

first.

The five-judge Bench had referred the legal question to a nine-judge Bench to numerically

overcome the MP Sharma and Kharak Singh judgments, which had declared that privacy was not

a fundamental right.

Last week, the nine-judge Bench, led by then CJI J.S. Khehar unanimously upheld privacy to be a

fundamental right intrinsic to life and personal liberty.

The verdict in favour of the common man's right to privacy against the State has a crucial

bearing on the Aadhaar petitions, which had argued that Aadhaar's use of biometric details such

as fingerprints and iris scans violated bodily and informational privacy.

The petitioners, including Magsaysay award–winner Shanta Sinha, have challenged the validity

of more than 17 government schemes requiring an Aadhaar ID for availing benefits such as

midday meals, disability pension, rehabilitation for Bhopal gas tragedy victims, among other

programmes.

The petitions termed the Aadhaar Act of 2016 as unconstitutional. The Act was contrary to the

concept of limited and accountable government, it contended.


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2. International News

2.1 Trump links India’s Afgan role to trade surplus

President Donald Trump, who announced his new Afghan strategy on Monday night, linked a

proposal for India playing a bigger role in the war-torn country to its trade surplus with the

United States.

“We appreciate India’s important contributions to stability in Afghanistan, but India makes

billions of dollars in trade with the United States, and we want them to help us more with

Afghanistan, especially in the area of economic assistance and development,” he said.

Echoing similar demands that he had made on South Korea, Japan and Germany, some of the

closet allies of the U.S. India is the ninth biggest trading partner of the U.S. and India had a trade

surplus of around $26 billion with the U.S. in goods trade alone last year.

By inviting India to be a partner in Afghanistan, Mr. Trump has entirely overruled Pakistan’s

position that India’s involvement to its west is part of the problem.

Nuclear flashpoint

The President, who repeatedly took potshots at his predecessor, Barack Obama, without naming

him, however, appeared to follow the previous administration’s understanding of South Asia as

a nuclear flash point, where there is also a risk of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the

hands of Islamist terrorists.

Defense Secretary James Mattis had recently said America was “not winning” in Afghanistan.

The President said America will fight the war to victory and defined victory in terms similar to his

predecessors — to prevent a terrorist attack originating from the region, and to politically

stabilise Afghanistan.

In an effort to differentiate his policy from his two predecessors, George W. Bush and Mr. Obama, who

oversaw this war earlier, Mr. Trump said: “We are not nation-building again. We are killing terrorists.”

The President called his new policy “Principled Realism.”

2.2 Trump’s South Asia Policy

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to deepen the country’s military engagement in war-

torn Afghanistan signals a significant shift in the position he has held for years.

Mr. Trump had campaigned to end American involvement in foreign conflicts and was

particularly critical of the Afghan war, which he said was “wasting” American money.

His announcement of the decision to send more troops to the country reflects a realisation that

the U.S. does not have many options in dealing with its longest military conflict.

This is also a grim reminder of the precarious security situation in Afghanistan. Sixteen years

since George W. Bush ordered the American invasion of Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban

regime, the insurgents are on the ascendent again.


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More than half the country’s territory, mostly in rural, mountainous areas, is now controlled by

the Taliban, while the Islamic State has set up base in eastern Afghanistan.

In recent years, both the Taliban and the IS have carried out a number of terror attacks in the

country, including at highly fortified military locations, raising questions about the very survival

of the government in Kabul.

This is a worry point for Mr. Trump’s generals, who want to avoid the kind of vacuum left behind

by the Soviet withdrawal in the late 1980s that plunged Afghanistan into a protracted civil war;

the Taliban eventually took over.

U.S Afgan Policy

But it is not going to be easy for Mr. Trump. He is the third consecutive American President to

send troops to Afghanistan.

Mr. Bush and Barack Obama failed to swing the situation sufficiently to ensure a long-lasting

difference in Afghanistan’s battleground.

It is not clear if Mr. Trump can win a war they lost. His strategy can be summed up as Obama-

plus — it builds on the premises of the Obama plan of additional troops and regional diplomacy.

But unlike Mr. Obama, who set a timetable for the withdrawal of troops, Mr. Trump is ready for

an open-ended engagement. He also said the focus of the American mission should narrow

down to fighting terrorists, not rebuilding Afghanistan “in our own image”.

Third, Mr. Trump minced no words while calling Pakistan a country that shelters terrorists. He

also wants India to play a greater role in providing economic and developmental assistance to

Afghanistan.

India has welcomed Mr. Trump’s strategy, as the U.S.’s objectives in building a stable

Afghanistan and ending Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism are exactly in line with India’s own

goals for the region.

It has, however, correctly reminded Mr. Trump that it does not need his request, never mind his

coarse reference to “billions of dollars” made in bilateral trade with the U.S., in order to fulfil its

commitment to Afghanistan’s economic development.

Such open transactionalism will not serve the U.S.’s efforts in winning allies for its new Afghanistan

policy, nor indeed will it further its mission in a country that is not unfairly called the “graveyard of

empires”.


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3. Polity and Governance

3.1 Triple Talaq Issue

By declaring the discriminatory practice of instant triple talaq as unconstitutional, the Supreme

Court has sent out a clear message that personal law can no longer be privileged over

fundamental rights.

Three of the five judges on the Constitution Bench have not accepted the argument that instant

talaq, or talaq-e-biddat, is essential to Islam and, therefore, deserves constitutional protection

under Article 25.

The biggest virtue of the two opinions constituting the majority judgment is that they do not

have to undermine any religious tenet to make their point.

On the contrary, as Justice Kurian Joseph says, the forbidden nature of triple talaq can be

gleaned from the Koran itself.

Justice Rohinton Nariman, writing the main judgment, locates the practice in the fourth degree

of obedience required by Islamic tenets, namely, makruh, or that which is reprobated as

unworthy.

The main ground on which the practice has been struck down is a simple formulation: that “this

form of talaq is manifestly arbitrary in the sense that the marital tie can be broken

capriciously and whimsically by a Muslim man without any attempt at reconciliation so as to

save it.”

In fact, the final summation is so simple that the court did not even have to elaborate on how

triple talaq violates gender equality.

On the contrary, Justice Nariman says that having held the practice to be arbitrary, there is

really no need to go into the element of discrimination.

The court deserves commendation for undoing the gender injustice implicit in the practice so

effortlessly, within constitutional parameters as well as the Islamic canon.

Verdict Impact

The present case was initiated suo motu by the court, but opinion against triple talaq could not

have gathered critical mass and the case against it significantly bolstered if it weren’t for afew

women standing up to the community’s conservative elements and challenging it.

Any other outcome would have been a great injustice to them. Even the judges in the minority

have had to concede that their reasoning is based mainly on the fact that this form of talaq is a

matter of personal law, and therefore entitled to constitutional protection.

“It is not open to a court to accept an egalitarian approach over a practice which constitutes an

integral part of religion,” writes Chief Justice J.S. Khehar in his minority opinion.

Interestingly, even his view segues into a somewhat egalitarian position, restraining Muslim

men from pronouncing triple talaq until Parliament enacts a law to regulate it.


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The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, and all those who supported its regressive opinion

that even an unworthy practice should not be dislodged by judicial verdict, should now accept

the verdict in the interests of a modern social order. And there is no reason to contend that

their faith has been unduly secularised. For, as Justice Joseph concludes, “what is bad in

theology is bad in law as well.”

3.2 Privacy is a fundamental right, declares SC

In a unanimous verdict, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court declared that

privacy is intrinsic to life and liberty and an inherent part of the fundamental rights enshrined

in the Constitution.

The court held that privacy is a natural right that inheres in human beings because they are

human. The state does not bestow natural rights on citizens.

Natural rights like privacy exist equally in all individuals, irrespective of class, strata, gender or

orientation.

Core of human dignity

The Centre had argued against the recognition of privacy as a fundamental right. It had assured

the court that privacy would be protected through parliamentary statutes.

But the court retorted that statutory laws “can be made and also unmade by a simple

parliamentary majority.”

Essential provision

The court held that privacy is not an absolute right. The government can introduce a law which

“intrudes” into privacy for public and legitimate state reasons. But a person can challenge this law in any

of the constitutional courts of the land — the Supreme Court or the State High Courts — for violation of

his fundamental right to privacy.

3.3 Target section 377


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Same-gender sex remains a crime in the country due to a flagrant judicial mistake committed by

the Supreme Court in 2013.

The time has come to undo it. Ever since the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian

Penal Code was upheld in Suresh Kumar Koushal (2013), the correctness of the retrograde

verdict has come under doubt twice.

The latest criticism from the court is strident and explicit. While declaring that the right to

privacy is a fundamental right and an inherent component of human liberty and dignity, the

nine-judge Bench has observed that the rationale behind the Koushal judgment is flawed and

unsustainable.

It has said the rights of LGBT persons are real rights founded on sound constitutional doctrine

and not “so-called rights” as the earlier Bench had described them disdainfully.

The astounding claim made in Koushal that there was no need to challenge Section 377 because

the LGBT community constitutes only a minuscule minority has been completely discredited.

It was unreasonable to advance the view that constitutional protection is available to a group

based on its size.

Yet, in a show of uncharacteristic reticence and contrary to the history of the evolution of

constitutional jurisprudence, the earlier Bench had suggested that the provision can be diluted

only through the legislative route.

This week’s ruling on privacy rights contains a clear enunciation of the constitutional basis for

protection of rights based on sexual orientation.

Validity of Section 377

Transgenders, even though insignificant in numbers, are entitled to human rights, another

Bench had observed in National Legal Services Authority (2014), in a subtle hit at the “minuscule

minority” formulation in Koushal.

At another point, it said Section 377 had been an instrument of harassment and abuse,

something the earlier judgment had refused to accept.

Significantly, it advocated the adoption of the Yogyakarta Principles — norms on gender identity

and sexual orientation adopted by human rights experts in 2006 in Indonesia.

A key principle is that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity must end.

By commending this norm, the court has located sexual orientation not only as a freedom

flowing from the right to privacy, but as demanding of non-discriminatory treatment.

Both these verdicts correctly refrained from ruling on the validity of Section 377, as it was not

the primary question before them.

However, it is quite apparent that a strong body of constitutional jurisprudence is now available

to target Section 377, as and when a five-judge Bench takes up the reconsideration of Koushal.

By the latest verdict, sexual orientation is an aspect of the right to privacy and an inalienable

part of human dignity, freedom, and personal liberty.

Under the 2014 reasoning, it is relatable to both dignity and equality. Read together, they have

laid the foundation for restoring the Delhi High Court judgment of 2010 in Naz Foundation,

which read down Section 377 to decriminalise consensual sex among adults irrespective of

gender.


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4. Bills and Acts

4.1 Consumer is King if new law gets nod

The famous 1992 McDonald’s Coffee Case, where the fast food chain had to cough up $640,000

as compensation to 79-year-old Stella Liebeck for “unreasonably dangerous” and “defectively

manufactured” coffee, could soon repeat itself in India.

The new Consumer Protection Bill 2016 that seeks to replace a 31-year-old archaic law, has

provisions to sue a manufacturer for not “giving adequate instructions of correct usage to

prevent any harm or any warning regarding improper or incorrect usage.”

Two-year wait

The Bill, which has been languishing for the last two years will soon come up for Cabinet

approval.

The Bill replaces the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The new law has provisions for Product

Liability, which was unheard in India.

The Bill was first introduced on August 10, 2015 and referred to the standing committee on

August 26. The panel submitted its report in August 2016, suggesting 80 amendments. This sent

the government back to the drawing board, to rewrite the law.

Under the new draft, even the service providers like airlines can face liability action. “A flyer

can sue an airline seeking not just reimbursement for a missed flight but also compensation for

any important event or meeting he or she missed because the flight was cancelled at last

minute.

The consumer can lodge a complaint from anywhere unlike the existing law under which a

consumer had to register the complaint at the same place from where she purchased the

product.

Further, unlike the 1986 law, the complainant need not be accompanied by a lawyer. At any

point, if the manufacturer and the complainant arrive at compromise through mediation

process, the latter can withdraw the complaint.

The Bill proposes an investigative body, the Central Consumer Protection Authority, on the lines

of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.


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5. Economy

5.1 Corporate Governance: Focus on SEBI

The exit of Vishal Sikka as the chief of multinational IT giant Infosys brings forth the issue of

corporate governance yet again.

Market participants said the capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of

India (SEBI), needed to intervene in such matters to protect the interest of investors, especially

he retail segment.

Regulator should install a three-tier governing system for companies where a supervisory board

is constituted and should lay down the framework for the functioning of the board of directors.

SEBI had constituted a committee on corporate governance under the chairmanship of Uday

Kotak in June this year. The committee is expected to submit its report within four months.

5.2 Data show new tax regime widely adopted

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is one of the biggest tax reforms in India. Though only a few weeks

old, the latest tax is now firmly embedded in the millions of transactions happening all over the

country every day, since the historic first of July, 2017, a watershed in Indian taxation history.

The key to the successful implementation of the GST was through a consultative forum which

worked towards consensus among States with diverse interests in a federal structure.

The goal of GST, which is ‘one nation, one tax, one market,’ a shot-in-the-arm for the country’s

ease-of-doing-business initiatives, is laudable.

Disruptions are inevitable in the short term, but in the long term, GST is likely to achieve

improvements in the system efficiency, simplification and rationalisation of taxes, and the

shift of business activity from the unorganised to the organised segment.

The resultant widening of tax base, along with traceability of transactions, is bound to add to the

exchequer despite reduction in tax burden on the consumption of common goods.

Uniform interface, a first

GSTN or the GST Network, cutting through traditional silos, has established for the first time a

uniform interface for the taxpayer and a common and shared IT (information technology)

infrastructure between the Centre and the States.

A complex exercise involving the integration of the entire indirect tax ecosystem, the tax regime

has brought all the tax administrations (Centre, State and Union Territories) to the same level of

IT maturity with uniform formats and interfaces for taxpayers and external stakeholders.

Commendable and unprecedented handholding has been seen, with the taxman engaging in

conversation with enterprises, chambers of commerce and industry bodies such as the CII, right

through the transition, and more continually through social media responses.

The legacy image of the revenue officer or taxman is gradually shifting from being intimidatingly

adversarial to being a persuasive guide and facilitator.


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Initial data streaming indicated widespread adoption of GST by trade and industry. New

registrations approved in GST crossed a million before the end of the initial month, and about

two lakh applications were in process.

GST has impacted the transport and logistics sector: movement of trucks has increased; time

required to cover distances has come down drastically, and pollution levels have come down

with increased truck speeds.

However, to reap the advantages of GST, concerns of business enterprises and industry sectors would

need to be addressed.

The healthcare industry has sought that services be zero-rated rather than exempt so that

providers can avail of input tax credit;

hybrid vehicle manufacturers ask for 28% without cess;

power distribution projects under various government programmes, earlier quoted inclusive of

taxes as applicable then, are now subject to higher costs, and so these should be brought

aligned to previous rates;

urgent intervention of the GST Council is requested towards huge losses to be suffered by units

located in the exemption areas on account of non-availability of credit of excise duty which is

inbuilt in the manufacturing cost of the opening stock of goods in the GST regime.

Indian industry is hopeful that the Centre will look into the problems flagged by different sectors of

industry and work to quickly resolve the same, ironing out interpretational issues.

5.3 Banks must tighten bankruptcy norms

To expedite stress resolution in the banking system, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy

Governor Viral Acharya said banks must initiate bankruptcy proceedings against loan defaulters

if the lenders are unable to resolve bad loans in three months.

RBI should not be in the business of creating restructuring schemes for banks to resolve a

company.

The Deputy Governor said the recovery of bad debts in India was low compared with other

countries.

Loan recoveries are in the order of 15-25 paise to a rupee. In other parts of the world, where

bankruptcy system is working well, and these things are being done in a timely manner, the

recovery is to the order of 85-90 cents to a dollar.

Counter-cyclical buffer

The central bank also stressed on the need for counter-cyclical buffers — in terms of setting

aside higher capital — during periods of higher growth.

Most banks in the country do not make adequate provisioning — above the regulatory mandate

— which could be used when non-performing assets are increasing.


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The Indian banking sector has been battling a surge in bad loans over the last three years with

gross NPAs climbing to about ₹8 lakh crore.

In percentage terms, gross NPA (GNPA) ratio of the banking system is at 9.6% and the stressed

advances ratio at 12% as of March 31, 2017.

Recently, RBI Governor Urjit Patel had said that it was a matter of concern that 86.5% of the GNPAs

were accounted for by large borrowers, that is borrowers with aggregate exposure of ₹5 crore and

above.

5.4 99% of demonetised notes returned, says RBI report

RBI’s annual report has finally revealed that as much as ₹15.28 lakh crore of the high-value

currency that was demonetised in November returned to the central bank.

Intense scrutiny

The latest RBI data showed that 98.96% of the withdrawn

currency — at the time of demonetisation the value of old

₹500 and ₹1,000 notes in circulation was ₹15.44 lakh

crore — was deposited with the banks.

Separately, the data showed that the share of the newly introduced ₹2,000 banknotes in the

total value of currency in circulation was 50.2% at end-March 2017.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the confiscation of money was never the objective of the

demonetisation exercise. “That people have been compelled to deposit even black money into

banks is itself a good evidence of its success.”

The final deposit figures could still rise since on June 20, 2017, the government allowed District

Central Cooperative Banks to deposit the withdrawn notes that had been accepted by them

from customers between November 10-14.

The central bank also said it was in discussion with the government whether to accept the

demonetised notes held by citizens and financial institutions in Nepal. Data in the annual report

showed that only 89 million pieces of ₹1,000 were not deposited.


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6. Science and Tech

6.1 ISRO opens up satellite making Industry

The Indian Space Research Organisation has opened the door to domestic entities that can give

it up to 18 spacecraft a year starting mid to late 2018.

The Bengaluru-based ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), which has so far produced about 90 Indian

spacecraft, invited single or combined industries to apply for this opportunity.

Three-year contract

ISAC would sign a three-year contract with the finalists, train, handhold and supervise their

teams in making its range of satellites at its facility.

The Indian Space Research Organisation currently makes four categories of spacecraft —

communication, remote sensing, navigation and scientific missions — and in three sizes of 1,000

kg to 4,000 kg.

The first lot of spacecraft from this exercise was expected in about six months from the signing

of the contracts. This is also roughly the normal time taken to assemble a satellite.

The contract mentions milestone payments, assigning of new spacecraft upon delivery; and a

possible renewal of contract after three years.

Benefits for ISRO

How would the exercise benefit ISRO or ISAC which has around 900 engineers versed in different

skills related to spacecraft?


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Right now, the manpower of ISAC/ISRO is not adequate for meeting both the increased load of

making more satellites; and also for the R&D that we need for future satellites. The present bid

to outsource our AIT will help us re-deploy our human resources effectively and focus on R&D.

It would also aid self-reliance by way of an independent Indian satellite industry.

Important missions

Although the goal is to get vendors to realise satellites “end to end”, ISAC would retain

important and scientific missions.

In the $ 339-billion global space industry, satellite manufacturing accounts for 8% or $13.9

billion (data as per the Satellite Industry Association's 2017 report).

This segment is led by established players from the United States and Europe who supply

satellites to their government and commercial users.

ISAC’s EoI is seen as a first step towards the making of an Indian space industry.

6.2 IRNSS-1H set for launch

As the country's eighth regional navigation satellite gets lined up for launch on August 31, two

things are significant about this rather routine, repeat mission.

IRNSS-1H is being sent to space to back up -- and mostly replace -- the functions of India's first

navigation satellite. IRNSS-1A was launched four years back.

Indian Space Research Organisation had to quickly get two back-ups ready when all three

rubidium atomic clocks on 1A failed around mid-2016. ITs Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar had earlier

said 1H has atomic clocks that have been corrected and improved.

Between 2013 and 2016, ISRO put up seven IRNSS satellites to form the Indian Regional

Navigation Satellite System, since called NavIC or Navigation with Indian Constellation.

NavIC is the Indian regional version similar to the US Global Positioning System GPS. It will drive

all position-based activities on ground, sea and air, by giving near accurate location details of

persons or objects. It will be used for military, commercial and common everyday uses

Industry hand

The 1,425-kg IRNSS-1H is also the first spacecraft that ISRO has assembled by involving 70 young

engineers deployed by six industries.

This was their new role for the first time in what ISRO calls AIT or assembly, integration and

testing. Last December ISRO chose a consortium of six small to medium-sized industries to work

with it on a turnkey basis for IRNSS-1H and the next one.

The second one, IRNSS-1I, is planned as a ground spare, to be launched in an emergency, and is

expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2018.

1H is expected to augment and sharpen the NavIC data related to accuracy and time. An ISRO

spokesman said although four navigation satellites are sufficient, giving an error of up to 20

metres day and night, having seven in orbit would give near-perfect position information.


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7. Environment / Geography

7.1 Plans afoot to make Bhubaneswar an ecotourism hotspot

The Odisha government proposes to connect three major forests in and around Bhubaneswar by

bus service in order to make optimum use of their ecotourism potential.

Tourists are likely to be ferried by tourist buses to Nandankanan Biological Park and Chudanga

and Bharatpur forests of the Chandaka division as part of the government’s larger plan to

showcase Bhubaneswar’s ecotourism assets.

Taking a cue from Karnataka, which has been cashing in on the exquisite natural beauty of the

Bannerghatta Biological Park, spread over 731.88 hectares about 22 km from Bengaluru city.

While Nandankanan and Bharatpur are almost within Bhubaneswar, Chudanga is just two km

from the city limits. Sources in the department said they would require minimal investment to

make packaged ecotourism tours.

Apart from the rich captive zoo population, the Nandankanan Biological Park boasts a botanical

garden spread over 173 acres.

Over the years, the forest department had developed several gardens including butterfly,

medicinal, rose, Japanese, bougainvillea and heritage inside the botanical garden.

The return of the Irrawaddy dolphin

The first sighting of the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in the Rambha sector of Chilika lake in

three decades has brought much cheer to nature lovers.

The rare sighting of the endangered mammal earlier this

week is a result of the Chilika Development Authority’s (CDA)

removing illegal prawn enclosures from the vast lake waters

leading to unhindered movement of the dolphins.

Ganjam district

In a massive eviction drive, the CDA cleared almost 4,000 hectare of encroachment from the

Ganjam district portion of the lake alone.

Substantial enclosures detected in the lake at Khordha district jurisdiction were also weeded

out. Satellite imageries found 14,590 hectare of the lagoon under manmade gheries

(enclosures) for illegal prawn cultivation. The CDA is likely to start eviction in Puri district from

next week.

Natural abode

According to the CDA, Chilika is the natural abode of the highly endangered Irrawaddy dolphin

(Orcaella brevirostris).

The total population of these animals in the world is estimated to be less than 7,500. Of these,

the highest — 6,400 — was reported from Bangladesh. The population in Chilika is considered to

be the highest single lagoonal population.


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Chilika had registered a marginal drop in population of Irrawaddy dolphins from 144 in 2015 to

134 this year. Dolphins are usually seen in Satapada sector of the lake.


20


8. Security

8.1 Govt approves plan to deploy more troops on the front line

The number of soldiers available for active combat with the Indian Army is set to dramatically go

up by over 57,000 in the wake of the Union cabinet accepting a slew of military reforms on

Wednesday.

The recommendations were made by a committee headed by Lieutenant General (Retd.) D.B.

Shekatkar for enhancing combat capability and rebalancing defence expenditure of the Armed

Forces to increase the teeth-to-tail ratio.

Committee had given about 99 recommendations. The Government, in consultation with the

Indian Army, has been going through them, and the first batch of 65 recommendations have

been accepted by government.

Defence sources said that all these recommendations are related to the Army and the remaining

34 recommendations pertaining to the Navy, Air Force and Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) are

likely to be taken up soon.

Navy reforms

The first phase of the reforms involves redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000

posts of officers/Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO)/ Other Ranks (OR) and civilians.

The various areas of reform include optimisation of signal establishments, restructuring of repair

echelons including base workshops, redeployment of ordnance depots, better utilisation of

supply and transport echelons and animal transport units, closure of military farms and Army

postal establishments in peace locations, and improving efficiency of the National Cadet Corps

(NCC).

Of these, the order for the closure of 39 military farms was issued in the beginning of August

and would be completed in three months.

The 11 member committee headed by Lt. Gen. Shekatkar was appointed by then Defence

Minister Manohar Parrikar in May last year and the report was submitted to the Defence

Ministry in December 2016.

The statement added that restructuring by the Indian Army is aimed at enhancing combat

capability in a manner that personnel will be used for improving operational preparedness and

civilians will be redeployed in different wings of the Armed Forces for improving efficiency.

The committee had suggested that, if implemented over the next five years, the

recommendations can result in savings of up to ₹25,000 crore in defence expenditure.

8.2 Navy to get advanced choppers

With expanding profile in the Indian Ocean Region, the Indian Navy is looking to add to its fleet

dedicated helicopters for ‘Special Operations’. Some of the Naval Multi-Role Helicopters (NMRH) for

which the tender was issued last week will be in this configuration.


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Strategic Partnership

The Navy had issued the Request for Information (RFI) to global

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) for the procurement

of 123 NMRH and 111 Naval Utility Helicopters (NUH).

The procurement would be under the recently approved

Strategic Partnership (SP) model of the Defence Procurement

Procedure (DPP).

Some of the 33 helicopters would be used for training Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and the

rest would be based on shore as well as on frontline warships, the officer added.

The helicopters would be twin-engine and weigh at least 12.5 tonnes. According to the RFI, the

requirements include the ability to carry 12 fully equipped troops along with 400 Kg of

equipment or eight fully equipped troops and one auto inflatable craft in a stowed

configuration.

In addition to special operations and commando role, the helicopters will also perform other

roles like ferrying troops, maritime interdiction including anti-piracy operations, combat search

and rescue operation, external cargo carriage, limited casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) and

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).

The Navy currently has a few variants of Sea King helicopters in service. But they are of 1970s

vintage and technologically obsolete. Several attempts to replace them have failed in the past.


22


9. India and World

9.1 India to raise visa issue in trade policy meet

The Centre will, during the India-U.S. Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting likely in October, raise

Indian industry’s concerns over the U.S. visa ‘curbs’ and the ‘delay’ in inking a bilateral social

security pact (or totalisation agreement).

In the TPF meeting, the premier forum to resolve bilateral trade and investment issues, the U.S.

is expected to table its worries over India’s ‘restrictions’ on e-commerce as well as the

‘challenges’ faced by American innovative industries due to India’s ‘weak’ Intellectual Property

Rights regime.

In addition, New Delhi would take up the ‘non-tariff barriers’ by the U.S. that are hurting Indian

agriculture, pharmaceuticals and other industrial exports, while Washington is likely to raise its

concerns over India’s ‘excessively high tariffs’ on imports of many manufactured products as

well as the $24.3 billion goods trade deficit that the U.S. had with India in 2016.

9.2 China slams India over road – building in Ladakh

China slammed India for apparently building a new road in the Ladakh sector, but lavished

praise on Pakistan, which it said was a key partner.

“It seems that the Indian side is slapping its own face,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson

Hua Chunying said in response to reports that India was building a road between Marsimik La

and Hot Spring.

The area is not far from the Pangong lake in Ladakh, where there was an unarmed clash

between Indian and Chinese troops earlier this month.

Ms. Hua’s comments come against the backdrop of a crisis in the Doklam plateau near India-

China-Bhutan tri-junction, where Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a standoff over road-

building by China.

“Now, the current road construction in that area by the Indian side is not conducive to peace

and stability . It will not help with settlement of the current situation,” Ms. Hua said, referring to

the Doklam face-off.

“Indian side is closely following China’s road-building recently but India’s action itself has proven

that the Indian side says something and does another,” she added.

9.3 India, Qatar discuss citizen’s welfare

India discussed with Qatar the welfare of its citizens in the wake of its lingering disputes with

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain.

In wide-ranging talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Qatari

counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the two sides also discussed ways to

deepen co-operation in energy, trade and investment.


23


External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said bilateral issues, including welfare of

the more than six lakh workers, were discussed. Official sources said expanding co-operation in

energy, trade and investment were also discussed.

In June, the four nations had announced cutting diplomatic ties and closing all connectivity links

with Qatar, alleging that it supported terrorism. Qatar had rejected the charges.

India had asked countries in the region to resolve the crisis through constructive dialogue and

well-established international principles of mutual respect.

India’s ties with Qatar have intensified in the last few years. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh

Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani visited New Delhi in December during which India had

expressed keenness in investing in hydrocarbon projects in the Gulf nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Qatari counterpart had also discussed enhancing

cooperation in defence and security and agreed on joint action to tackle money laundering and

terrorist financing.


24


10. Short News

10.1 T-90 battle tanks to get an upgrade

The Army is looking to upgrade the T-90 main battle tank to enhance firepower and mobility.

They are going to be equipped with a new missile system and a new more powerful modular

engine.

As the design of the existing INVAR missile has been maximised, both in terms of range and

Depth of Penetration (DoP), it is imperative to upgrade it to next-generation missiles with

enhanced capability.

The third-generation missile should achieve a DoP of 800-850 mm and be capable of hitting

targets up to a range of 8 km against mobile as well as static targets.

10.2 Centre clears 100% strategic sale of CEL

The Centre has approved a 100% strategic sale along with transfer of management control of

Central Electronics Ltd (CEL). Incorporated in 1974, CEL is under the administrative control of

Ministry of Science and Technology.

The CPSE is wholly owned by the government and has a net worth of ₹50.34 crore as on March

2017. “The Government of India (GoI) has ‘in-principle’ decided to disinvest its 100 per cent

equity in Central Electronics Ltd through strategic sale with transfer of management control,”

the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management said a bid document.

The government plans to engage an advisor from a consulting firm, investment banker or a

merchant banker or a financial institution, for providing advisory services and managing the

disinvestment process. It is also looking to appoint a legal firm for advising on the strategic sale.


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