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NATIONAL

Union Cabinet approved Stand Up India

Scheme

The Union Cabinet on 6 January 2016 approved

the Stand Up India Scheme to promote

entrepreneurship among Scheduled

Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Women

entrepreneurs.

The Scheme is intended to facilitate at least two

projects per bank branch, on an average one for

each category of entrepreneur. It is expected to

benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers. The expected

date of reaching the target of at least 2.5 lakh

approvals is 36 months from the launch of the

Scheme.

Highlights of the Stand Up India Scheme

• It provides for refinance window through Small

Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

with an initial amount of 10000 crore rupees.

• It will create credit guarantee mechanism through

the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company

(NCGTC).

• It will provide support for borrowers both at the

pre loan stage and during operations.

• Its focus is on handholding support for both

SC/ST and Women borrowers.

• The aim is to leverage institutional credit

structure to reach out under-served sectors of the

population by facilitating bank loans repayable up

to 7 years and between 10 lakh rupees- 100 lakh

rupees for greenfield enterprises in nonfarm sector

set up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers.

• The loan under the scheme would be

appropriately secured and backed by a credit

guarantee through a credit guarantee scheme for

which Department of Financial Services would be

the settler.

• The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company

Ltd (NCGTC) will be the operating agency for the

loan.

• Margin money of the composite loan would be

up to 25 percent.

The Start up India Stand up India initiative was

announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi

in his speech on 15 August 2015.

Union Government launched Ganga Gram

Yojana in Uttar Pradesh

The Union Minister of Water Resources, River

Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti

on 5 January 2016 launched Ganga Gram Yojana

at Village Puth in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh

(UP). Under the scheme, 1600 villages of UP

situated along the banks of river Ganga will be

developed.

Highlights of the Ganga Gram Yojana

• In the first phase of the progamme, 200 villages

have been selected initially.

• In these villages, open drains falling into river

Ganga will be diverted and alternative

arrangements for sewage treatment will be made.

• The villages will have toilets in every house hold.

• It is proposed to incur the expenditure of 1 crore

rupees on every village.

• These villages will be developed under the

Sichewal model. Sichewal is situated in Punjab,

where cooperation of the villagers has been

solicited for the water management and waste

disposal.

First Company of Ganga Task Force deployed

The Ministry also deployed first company of

Ganga Task force Battalion at Garhmukteshwar as

a major initiative towards fast track

implementation of Namami Gange Programme.

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Moreover, three such companies will be soon

deployed at Kanpur, Varanasi and Allahabad.

Union Government signed Financing

Agreement with World Bank to fund

education of minorities

The Union Government on 1 January 2016 signed

a Financing Agreement of 50 million US dollars

with the World Bank for Nai Manzil Scheme-

Education and Skills Training for Minorities.

Highlights of the agreement

• Under this agreement, the credit will be

facilitated by the International Development

Association (IDA), World Bank’s concessionary

lending arm.

• The credit facilitated by IDA will be in the form

of loan which carries a maturity of 25 years,

including a 5-year grace period.

• The loan funds will be used for interventions

under this scheme to improve the employability

and performance of minority youth in the labour

market.

• The total project size is 100 million US dollars,

out of which 50 million US dollars will be

available as IDA credit and the remaining balance

as funding from the Union Budget.

• The closing date of the project is 31 October

2021.

About Nai Manzil Scheme

The scheme was launched on 8 August 2015 in

Patna. This central scheme is designed to address

educational and livelihood needs of minority

communities lagging behind in terms of

educational attainments. It aims to provide

educational intervention by giving the bridge

courses to the trainees and getting them

Certificates for Class XII and X from distance

medium educational system. It seeks to provide

trade basis skill training in four courses at the

same time of formal education, in field of (i)

Manufacturing (ii) Engineering (iii) Services (iv)

Soft skills. It intends to cover people in between

17 to 35 age group from all minority communities

as well as Madrasa students. Minority BPL (below

poverty line) youth in the age group of 17-35 years

will be the main beneficiaries of the scheme.

‘Anubhav’ – showcasing outstanding work

done during service

The Department of Pension & Pensioner’s Welfare

has launched an online software, ‘Anubhav’ for

showcasing outstanding work by retiring employee

and sharing experience of working with the

Government. The software has been launched on

the directions of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra

Modi. It is envisaged that over a period of time,

this will create a wealth of institutional memory

with replicable ideas and suggestions. This tool in

addition, gives opportunity to the retiring

employee to invest his experience, skill and time

for growth of social capital of the country.

First River Information System of India

Country’s first River Information System (RIS)

System was recently inaugurated by Union

Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and

Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari. The first of its kind

in India, the new system will facilitate safe and

accurate navigation on National Waterway – 1 on

the Ganges River. RIS is being implemented under

the overall responsibility of Inland Waterway

Authority of India, a statutory body administered

by the Ministry of Shipping.

River Information Services (RIS) are combination

of modern tracking equipment related hardware

and software designed to optimize traffic and

transport processes in inland navigation. The

system enhances swift electronic data transfer

between mobile vessels and shore (Base stations)

through advance and real-time exchange of

information.

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This would facilitate, Enhancement of inland

navigation safety in ports and rivers, Better use of

the inland waterways, Environmental protection.

President Signs Ordinance to Amend

Enemy Property Act

An ordinance to amend the 47-year-old Enemy

Property Act has been approved by President

Pranab Mukherjee to allow custodians to continue

to hold sway over such properties. These

amendments plug the loopholes of the Enemy

Property Act, 1968.

The amendments include:

Once an enemy property is vested in the

Custodian, it shall continue to be vested in him as

enemy property irrespective of whether the enemy,

enemy subject or enemy firm has ceased to be an

enemy due to reasons such as death and others.

The law of succession does not apply to enemy

property. There cannot be transfer of any property

vested in the Custodian by an enemy or enemy

subject or enemy firm and that the Custodian shall

preserve the enemy property till it is disposed of in

accordance with the provisions of the Act.

A new section has been inserted in the ordinance

to say that “the Custodian, may, after making such

inquiry as he deems necessary, by order, declare

that the property of the enemy or the enemy

subject or the enemy firm described in the order,

vests in him under this Act and issue a certificate

to this effect and such certificate shall be the

evidence of the facts stated therein”.

The Enemy Property Act was enacted in the year

1968. It provided for the continuous vesting of

enemy property in the custodian. The Union

Government through the Custodian of Enemy

Property for India is in possession of enemy

properties spread across many states in the

country.

To ensure that the enemy property continues to

vest in the Custodian, appropriate amendments

were brought in by way of an Ordinance in the

Enemy Property Act, 1968 by the then

Government in 2010.

However, the ordinance lapsed on 6 September

2010. Later on 22 July 2010, it was introduced in

Lok Sabha in form of a Bill but was withdrawn

and another bill with modified provisions was

introduced in the Lok Sabha on 15 November,

2010. This bill was thereafter referred to the

Standing Committee. However, the said bill could

not be passed during the 15th term of the Lok

Sabha and it lapsed.

Enemy properties:

In the wake of the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and 1971,

there was migration of people from India to

Pakistan. Under the Defence of India Rules framed

under the Defence of India Act, the Government of

India took over the properties and companies of

such persons who had taken Pakistani nationality.

These enemy properties were vested by the Union

Government in the Custodian of Enemy Property

for India.

After the 1965 war, India and Pakistan signed the

Tashkent Declaration on 10 January 1966. The

Tashkent Declaration inter alia included a clause,

which said that the two countries would discuss

the return of the property and assets taken over by

either side in connection with the conflict.

However, the Government of Pakistan disposed of

all such properties in their country in the year 1971

itself.

Union Government released Draft for the

Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2015

The Union Government in second week of January

2016 released a Draft Bill, which proposes

reservation benefits for transgender persons. The

Draft Bill, titled The Rights of Transgender

Persons Bill, 2015, was formulated by the Ministry

of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Key highlights of Rights of Transgender

Persons Bill, 2015

• The draft states that transgender persons who by

birth do not belong to Scheduled Castes or

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Scheduled Tribes may be declared as Backward

Class. They will be entitled for reservation under

the existing ceiling of OBC category.

• Transgender persons will not be prevented from

competing for seats which are not reserved for

them.

• The bill will provide for the formulation and

implementation of a comprehensive national

policy for ensuring overall development of the

Transgender Persons.

• Transgender should be declared as the third

gender, and a Transgender Person should have the

option to identify as man, woman or transgender

as well as have the right to choose any of the

options independent of surgery/hormones.

• Only the nomenclature transgender should be

used and nomenclatures like other or others should

not be used.

• Transgender persons will also be issued a proper

certificate for their identity by a state-level

authority duly designated or constituted by

respective the state or UT.

• Transgender students will be able to avail

scholarship, entitlements, fee-waiver, free

textbooks, free hostel accommodation and other

facilities at subsidised rates.

Union Government, World Bank signed

Financing Agreement for Bihar Kosi Basin

Development Project

The Union Government and World Bank on 20

January 2016 signed the Financing Agreement for

World Bank (IDA) assistance of 250 million US

dollars for Bihar Kosi Basin Development Project.

It is a loan for an implementation period of 5

years. Bihar Government will be the implementing

agency.

Highlights of the Bihar Kosi Basin Development

Project

• The objective of the project is to enhance

resilience to floods and increase agricultural

production and productivity in the targeted

districts in the Kosi River Basin.

• It aims to enhance Bihar’s capacity to respond

promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or

emergency.

• The primary beneficiaries will be rural producers

and households in the Kosi River Basin who are

regularly exposed to floods.

• It has five components: (i) Improving Flood Risk

Management; (ii) Enhancing Agricultural

Productivity and Competitiveness; (iii)

Augmenting Connectivity; (iv) Contingent

Emergency Response; and (v) Implementation

Support.

Union Government released results from

Phase-1 of NFHS-4 Survey

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

on 19 January 2016 released the results from the

Phase-1 of the National Family Health Survey

(NFHS-4) 2015-16. Phase-1 of the NFHS-4

included 13 States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa,

Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya,

Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura,

Uttarakhand, West Bengal and 2 Union Territories

(UTs) of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and

Puducherry.

Findings of Phase-1 of NFHS-4 Survey

Maternal & child health:

• Results showed promising improvements in

maternal and child health and nutrition.

• After the last round of National Family Health

Survey in 2005-06, infant mortality has declined in

all first phase States/Union Territories for which

trend data are available.

• All 15 States/Union Territories have rates below

51 deaths per 1000 live births, although there is

considerable variation among the States/UTs.

• Infant mortality rates range from a low of 10 in

Andaman and Nicobar Islands to a high of 51

deaths per 1000 live births in Madhya Pradesh.

• Almost all mothers have received antenatal care

for their most recent pregnancy and increasing

numbers of women are receiving the

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recommended four or more visits by the service

providers.

• More and more women now give birth in health

care facilities and rates have more than doubled in

some States in the last decade.

• More than nine in ten recent births took place in

health care facilities in Andaman and Nicobar

Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka,

Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana,

providing safer environments for mothers and

new-borns.

Fertility rate:

• Overall, women in the First Phase States/UTs are

having fewer children.

• The total fertility rates (TFR) or the average

number of children per woman, range from 1.2 in

Sikkim to 3.4 in Bihar.

• All First Phase States/UTs except Bihar, Madhya

Pradesh and Meghalaya have either achieved or

maintained replacement level of fertility– a major

achievement in the past decade.

Immunization:

• Full immunization coverage among children age

12-23 months varies widely.

• At least 6 out of 10 children have received full

immunization in 12 of the 15 States / UTs.

• In Goa, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Puducherry

more than four-fifths of the children have been

fully immunised.

• Since the last round of National Family Health

Survey, the coverage of full immunization among

children has increased substantially in the States of

Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim, West

Bengal and Meghalaya.

Family planning:

• Married women are less likely to be using

modern family planning in eight of the First Phase

States/UTs.

• There has been any increase in the use of modern

family planning methods only in the States of

Meghalaya, Haryana, and West Bengal.

• The decline is highest in Goa followed by

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

• Despite the declines, about half or more married

women are using modern family planning in eight

of the 15 States/Union Territories.

Nutrition:

• Poor nutrition is less common than reported in

the last round of National Family Health Survey.

• Fewer children under five years of age are now

found to be stunted, showing intake of improved

nutrition.

• In nine States/UTs, less than one-third of

children are found too short for their age.

• While this reveals a distinct improvement since

the previous survey, it is found that in Bihar,

Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya more than 40

percent of children are stunted.

• Wasting is still very high by international

standards in all of the States/UTs.

• Anaemia has also declined, but still remains

widespread. More than half of children are

anaemic in ten of the 15 States/UTs.

• More than half of women are anaemic in eleven

States/UTs. Over-nutrition continues to be a health

issue for adults.

• At least 3 in 10 women are overweight or obese

in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh,

Goa, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.

Drinking water, sanitation & cooking fuel:

• Indian families in the First Phase households are

now more inclined to use improved water and

sanitation facilities.

• Over two-thirds of households in every

State/Union Territory have access to an improved

source of drinking water, and more than 90 percent

of households have access to an improved source

of drinking water in nine of the 15 States/UTs.

• More than 50 percent of households have access

to improved sanitation facilities in all First Phase

States/UTs except Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

• Use of clean cooking fuel, which reduces the risk

of respiratory illness and pollution, varies widely

among the First Phase States/UTs, ranging from

only about 18 percent of households in Bihar to

more than 70 percent of households in Tamil Nadu

and more than 80 percent of households in

Puducherry and Goa.

About National Family Health Survey

• The NFHS-4 is the fourth in a series of national

surveys.

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• The previous surveys were carried out in 1992-93

(NFHS-1), 1998-99 (NFHS-2) and 2005-06

(NFHS-3).

• NFHS-4 is the first of the NFHS series that

collects data in each of India’s 29 States and all 7

Union Territories.

• Also, NFHS-4, for the first time, will provide

estimates of most indicators at the district level for

all 640 districts of the country included in the 2011

Census.

• In NFHS-4, women aged 15-49 years and men

aged 15-54 years are interviewed.

• When the survey is completed throughout the

country, approximately 570000 households would

be covered for information.

Union Government launched 4 Mobile

Health Services to strengthen public health

infrastructure

The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare

J P Nadda on 15 January 2016 launched four

mobile health (m-Health) services to provide

citizen-centric health services. These m-Health

services are Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M-

Cessation and TB Missed Call initiative.

Highlights of Kilkari

• It is an audio-based mobile service that delivers

weekly audio messages to families about

pregnancy, child birth and child care.

• Each pregnant woman and infant’s mother would

receive weekly voice messages relevant to the

stage of pregnancy or age of the infant.

• Those who are registered in Mother and Child

Tracking System (MCTS), a web- enabled name-

based system to monitor and ensure delivery of

full spectrum of services to all pregnant women

and children, will be benefitted from the service.

• The 72 messages would reach the targeted

beneficiaries from the 4th month of pregnancy

until the child is one year old. On an average, the

duration of each message is two minutes.

• Such messages will empower and educate

women and parents to help create a better

environment in maternal and child health. This

service will be provided free to the beneficiaries.

• In the first phase of implementation, such

messages would be sent to the pregnant women

and infants’ mothers in six States in Jharkhand,

Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and HPDs of

Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

• They are being developed in Hindi, English and

Odiya languages in the first phase, to be later

expanded to other languages to cover the entire

country and would benefit over 2 crore pregnant

women and 2 crore infants, annually.

Highlights of Mobile Academy

• It’s a mobile-based application aimed at

providing training services to 9 million ASHAs.

• This will aid in enhancing their inter-personal

skills. Once registered, ASHAs can access the

240-minute course via their mobile phones.

• They can then complete the standardized course

at their convenience. Digital bookmarking

technology enables ASHAs to complete the course

at their own pace.

• ASHAs successfully completing the course by

securing more than minimum prescribed marks

will receive a Certificate of completion from the

Government.

Highlights of M-Cessation

• It will be an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users

to quit tobacco.

• Built on a helpline concept, it will register

beneficiaries on the basis of a missed call.

• The counselling would be done through a two-

way SMS process, the Minister informed.

Highlights of the TB Missed Call initiative

• Under TB Missed Call initiative, a dedicated toll

free number 1800-11–6666 which will provide

round the clock counselling and treatment support

services for TB patients.

• The callers can give a missed call or call for free

to get information related to TB symptoms,

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treatment services available, address and contact

details of the nearest treatment facility etc.

• Initially the service will be available to people in

the States of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and

Delhi.

These m-Health initiatives were announced by the

Union Government on 25 December 2015 on the

occasion of the Good Governance Day which is

celebrated annually to mark the birth anniversary

of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Kerala became first State to achieve 100%

primary education

Kerala became the first state in the country to

achieve 100 percent primary education. To this

effect, a declaration was made by the Vice

President of India Hamid Ansari on 12 January

2016 at a special ceremony organised at

Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The success of

Kerala in achieving total primary education can be

attributed to various initiatives undertaken by the

Kerala Literacy Mission in the last two decades.

Especially, the Athulyam Scheme, which was

implemented in two stages, played a key role in

addressing the educational needs of illiterate

adults.

The second stage of the scheme, namely Mission

676, targeted those between ages 15 and 50 who,

for one reason or the other, dropped out of the

formal education process. Prior to the Athulyam

Scheme, the fourth standard equivalency

programme was started in 2000 in association with

local bodies. As a result, Kannur became the first

district in the country to achieve total primary

education in 2001.

Union Railway Ministry inaugurated

implementation of E-enabled Track

Management System

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu

on 11 January 2016 inaugurated implementation of

E-enabled Track Management System (TMS) and

Mobile Application of TMS on Indian Railway at

Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.

Indian Railways brought in these initiatives to

bring efficiency and effectiveness in management

practices which involve handling of huge volumes

of data statistics as well as dynamic analysis of

various measurement and defects and planning,

deployment of large resources.

Along with these two initiatives, the minister also

inaugurated pilot implementation of Track

Inventory Management System on Northern

Railway to track materials inventory, construction

and track machines organization in entire 225 units

of Northern Railway.

Features of E-enablement of Track

Management System (TMS)

• It is an important milestone in promoting e-

working in civil engineering department of Indian

Railways.

• It is implemented on all the 68 divisions of

Indian Railways. With the implementation of this

system, various activities of Track Inspection,

Monitoring and Maintenance came on IT platform.

• It is the first of its kind Organization Wide Asset

Management IT Application.

• It is designed for decentralization of data

capturing and speedy information dissemination

along with centralized data keeping and analysis.

• It will eliminate more than 100000 manual record

keeping registers and make the area of working

almost paperless.

• It provides alerts in the form of Short Message

Services (SMS) and E-mails to all concerned

officials right from Junior Engineer in field upto

the Railway Board.

• Database and application servers are established

in CRIS Data Center at Delhi.

• Required infrastructure like Netbooks/mini

laptops along with requisite Internet

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connectivity/mobile data cards provided to all

Junior and Senior Engineers.

Features of TMS Mobile Application

• It is developed to use the Track Management

System on mobiles and tablets.

• It is very useful for senior management and for

officials on the move.

• Important information and reports like includes

rail fracture analysis, IMR welds, overdue

Ultrasonic testing, track machine working reports

& Engineering Control’s morning position are

included in this application.

PM’s interaction through PRAGATI

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, recently

chaired his ninth interaction through PRAGATI –

the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-

Active Governance and Timely Implementation.

Taking strong exception at complaints and

grievances from people, related to the customs and

excise sector, the Prime Minister has asked for

strict action against responsible officials.

He has also urged all Secretaries whose

departments have extensive public dealing, to set

up a system for top-level monitoring of grievances

immediately.

In course of his review, the Prime Minister also

reviewed the progress of vital infrastructure

projects in the road, railway, coal, power and

renewable energy sectors, spread over several

states.

PRAGATI is a unique integrating and interactive

platform. The platform is aimed at addressing

common man’s grievances, and simultaneously

monitoring and reviewing important programmes

and projects of the Government of India as well as

projects flagged by State Governments.

Unique features:

The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three

latest technologies: Digital data management,

video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology.

It also offers a unique combination in the direction

of cooperative federalism since it brings on one

stage the Secretaries of Government of India and

the Chief Secretaries of the States.

With this, the Prime Minister is able to discuss the

issues with the concerned Central and State

officials with full information and latest visuals of

the ground level situation. It is also an innovative

project in e-governance and good governance.

It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government

Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States).

Issues to be flagged before the PM are picked up

from the available database regarding Public

Grievances, on-going Programmes and pending

Projects.

The system will ride on, strengthen and re-

engineer the data bases of the CPGRAMS for

grievances, Project Monitoring Group (PMG) and

the Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation. PRAGATI provides an interface

and platform for all these three aspects.

It will also take into consideration various

correspondences to PM’s office by the common

people or from high dignitaries of States and/or

developers of public projects.

It is also a robust system for bringing e-

transparency and e-accountability with real-time

presence and exchange among the key

stakeholders.

The system has been designed in-house by the

PMO team with the help of National Informatics

Center (NIC).

Union Government approved 33 percent

representation of women in CAPFs

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 5 January

2016 approved the 33 percent posts at constable

level to be filled up by women. The step was taken

with a view to enhance representation of women in

Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). According

to an official statement, the 33 percent reservation

of women constable level posts would be in CRPF

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and CISF and 14-15 percent posts would be in

border guarding forces that is BSF, SSB & ITBP.

INS Kadmatt Commissioned

INS Kadmatt, second ship of Project 28 (P28)

class Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvettes,

was recently commissioned into the Indian Navy

by the Chief of Naval Staff at a ceremony held at

Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

INS Kadmatt is named after one of the large

islands amongst the Lakshadweep group of Islands

off the west coast of India. It is one of the most

potent warships to have been constructed in India.

It has been constructed using high grade steel

(DMR 249A) produced in India. The vessel is

indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-

house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design

and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and

Engineers Limited, Kolkata.

It is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve

speeds in excess of 25 knots with an endurance of

3450 Nm. Some of the advanced stealth features

have been incorporated in this ship.

The unique feature of this ship is the high level of

indigenisation incorporated in the production,

accentuating our national objective of ‘Make in

India’. About 90% of the ship is indigenous and

the ship is equipped to fight in Nuclear, Biological

and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.

With the changing power dynamics in the Indian

Ocean Region, INS Kadmatt is expected to

augment the mobility, reach and flexibility of

Indian Navy.

20th National Youth Festival inaugurated

in Naya Raipur

The 20th National Youth Festival was on 12

January 2016 inaugurated by Union Road

Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari at

Rajyostav Sthal in Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh to

mark the National Youth Day. The five day long

annual festival is celebrated by the Union

Government in partnership with a state

government on the occasion of the birth

anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. For the 20th

National Youth Festival, Chhattisgarh was chosen

as the partner state with the theme India Youth for

Skill, Development and Harmony.

Features of 20th National Youth Festival

• It is an annual gathering of students being jointly

organised by Chhattisgarh Sports and Youth

Welfare Department, Union Ministry of Youth

Affairs and Sports, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan

and National Service Scheme.

• The festival will see the participation of over

6000 youths from across the country except West

Bengal.

• It will see contests in 18 different disciplines,

including folk dance, folk song, drama, classical

music, classical dance, extempore etc.

• For the first time in the youth festival, para-

trooping would be displayed by the Indian Army

along with weapons and explosives used during

war.

• It comprises a Youth Parliament where

representatives of student unions and Universities

would discuss key issues of the country

particularly on the theme-India Youth for Skill,

Development and Harmony.

• National Industry Conclave: The conclave, which

is held annually during the festival, saw the

participation of various ministries and companies.

• In the conclave, the participants discussed issues

related to skill development such as public private

participation, reforms in skills for industrial

development and improving livelihood in rural

India through Skill India.

• On this occasion, Tata Group announced that it

would establish 40 skill centres.

• Mascot: Wild Buffalo, the state animal of

Chhattisgarh, in famous dancing pose was chosen

as the mascot of the event.

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• The mascot was named as Sanghi (friend), which

symbolises strength, gives message of physical

fitness to youth of nation and its dancing pose

signifies festive zeal.

New skill initiatives launched for youths on

National Youth Day

The Union Ministry of Tourism has launched the

following new skill initiatives on the occasion of

“National Youth Day” in order to improve the

sectoral service standards, which is one of the pre-

requisites for attracting tourists in larger numbers:

A sensitization programme for the existing

service providers at Varnasi:

The primary objectives of the programme will be

to eventually achieve an improved tourist specific

service ambience and to further the Swachh Bharat

Abhiyaan. It will target Boatmen, Rickshaw

pullers, Pandas, Porters, Shopkeepers & Street

Vendors. The Programme will be implemented by

the Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel

Management.

A programme to groom young persons

interested in home delivery service as an

occupation:

It will target persons who are at least matriculates

and in the age group of 18-28 years. The

Programme will be implemented by the Indian

Institute of Tourism & Travel Management,

Institutes of Hotel Management & Food Craft

Institutes. The programme will prepare the trainees

to deliver food at home with skill, style and

civility.

A programme for training to bring up

“Paryatak Mitra”:

The programme will attempt to inculcate

appropriate tourism traits and knowledge among

the trainees to enable them to act / work as Tourist

Facilitators (Paryatak Mitra). It will target college-

going students including those enrolled with the

NCC& NSS, in the age group of 18-28 years. The

programme will be implemented by the Indian

Institute of Tourism & Travel Management, first at

destinations identified under the PRASAD scheme

of the Ministry of Tourism.

A training programme to bring up tourist

facilitators in the North East:

The primary objective of the programme limited to

the North East, will be to achieve better tourist

satisfaction in terms of availability of skilled

tourist facilitators. It will target 10+2 pass-outs in

the age group of 18-28 years. The programme will

be implemented by the Indian Institute of Tourism

& Travel Management.

ECONOMY

PM Narendra Modi launched Start-up

India initiative

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 January

2016 launched Start-up India initiative to augment

startup ecosystem in the country. The initiative

was launched in New Delhi. On this occasion, the

Prime Minister also unveiled Start-up India, Stand-

up India Action Plan which contained a slew of

financial, policy and regulatory measures aimed at

giving impetus to innovation and entrepreneurship

in the country.

Key features of Start-up India, Stand-up India

Action Plan

• A separate fund will be created with 10000 crore

rupees corpus for development and growth of

innovation driven enterprises. It will be 2500 crore

rupees a year for four years.

• The Atal Innovation Mission was announced

with a focus on strengthening incubation facilities

for startups. Under the mission, among other

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things, pre-incubation training will be offered to

willing entrepreneurs.

• Under the mission, 35 new incubators, 7 new

research parks, 31 innovation centres will be set up

at the premier technology institutes under the

public private partnership mode.

• 500 sector specific incubators, including 5 new

Bio clusters will be established across the country.

• An innovation programme will be launched in 5

lakh schools across the country to nurture

innovation among 10 lakh children.

• Profits of Start-up units will be made tax-free for

3 years and there will be a moratorium on labour

inspections for the first 3 years of operations.

• Capital gains tax to be exempted for venture

capital investments. However, the exemption will

be applicable only when only when the proceeds

are invested in another startup.

• New scheme will be launched to provide

Intellectual Property Rights protection to start-ups

and new firms.

• Liberalised Fast-track mechanism will be

evolved to process startup patent applications

under IPR protection with 80 percent reduction in

registration fee.

• Self-certification based compliance regime will

be followed in relation to labour and

environmental laws.

• A new mobile app to enable start-ups to register

themselves within a day and a portal to apply for

clearances online will be operation from 1 April

2016.

• Easier exits for failed ventures with a provision

for winding them up within 90 days under the

Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill, 2015.

Union Cabinet approved Pradhan Mantri

Fasal Bima Yojana to boost the farming

sector

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on 13 January 2016 approved the

New Crop Insurance Scheme,‘Pradhan Mantri

Fasal Bima Yojana’ to boost the agricultural

sector. The theme of the Scheme is One Nation –

One Scheme. In this, all shortcomings and

weaknesses of all previous schemes were removed

and incorporated with the best features of all

schemes.

Highlights of the scheme are:

• Farmers will pay a uniform premium of only 2

percent for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi

crops.

• In case of annual commercial and horticultural

crops, farmers will pay a premium of only 5

percent. The balance premium, after farmers

paying the premium at very low rate, will be paid

by the Government to provide full insured amount

to the farmers against crop loss on account of

natural calamities.

• There will not be any upper limit on Government

subsidy. Even if balance premium is 90%, it will

be borne by the Government.

• Earlier, there was a provision of capping the

premium rate which resulted in low claims being

paid to farmers. This capping limited the

Government outgo on the premium subsidy. Now,

this capping was removed and farmers will get full

sum insured without any reduction against their

claim.

• The usage of technology will be encouraged to a

great extent. Smart phones will be used to capture

and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the

delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote

sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop

cutting experiments.

Union Cabinet approved creation of a

Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA loans

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Union Cabinet on 6 January 2016 approved

creation of a Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro

Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA)

loans. The Fund is expected to guarantee more

than 1 lakh crore rupees worth of loans to micro

and small units in the first instance.

• The Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA Units

(CGFMU) has been established for guaranteeing

loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra

Yojana with effect from 8 April 2015.

• The Fund’s objective is to reduce the credit risk

to Banks/NBFCs/MFIs/other financial

intermediaries, who are Member Lending

Institutions (MLIs).

• The Trustee of the Fund will be the National

Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC

Ltd.). NCGTC Ltd is a wholly-owned company of

Government of India constituted in 2013 under the

Companies Act, 1956 to manage and operate

various credit guarantee funds.

• The guarantee would be provided on portfolio

basis to a maximum extent of 50 percent of

Amount in Default in the portfolio.

Besides, the cabinet also approved to convert

MUDRA Ltd. into MUDRA Small Industries

Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Bank as a

wholly owned subsidiary of SIDBI.

The MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank will undertake

refinance operations and provide support services

with focus on portal management; data analysis

etc. apart from any other activity entrusted/advised

by Government of India. The Union Budget 2015-

16 provided for MUDRA Bank and a Credit

Guarantee Fund which was to be set up with a

refinance corpus of 20000 crore rupees and a

corpus of 3000 crore rupees respectively. MUDRA

Ltd was set up as a corporate subsidiary of SIDBI

in March 2015. It was set up as a precursor to the

launch of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana

(PMMY) on 8 April 2015. For this, RBI had

allocated 20000 crore rupees.

CRZ amendment raises hackles

The amendment to the Coastal Regulation Zone

(CRZ) notification 2011 permitting the use of

reclaimed land for construction of roads in notified

areas has triggered a wave of concern among

coastal communities, amid fears that it would

trigger further dilution of CRZ norms. Along with

the coastal communities, even the scientists have

raised their voices against these amendments.

Scientists feel that the amendment would spark a

spree of construction activities along the coast,

endangering the marine and coastal ecosystems.

They also allege that the government move is

dictated by powerful lobbies with an eye on

ecologically sensitive coastal areas.

Environmentalists are also worried as the

amendment would permit roads to come up in the

CRZ region comprising ecologically sensitive

areas and classified as a ‘no development zone’.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate

Change (MoEFCC) through an extraordinary

gazette notification on December 30, 2015 issued

amendments the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)

notification 2011. These amendments permits the

use of reclaimed land for roads, mass rapid or

multimodal transit systems, and the construction

and installation of associated public utilities and

infrastructure to operate such systems within the

CRZ area. It says such roads should not be taken

as authorised for permitting development on the

landward side till the existing High Tide Line.

The notification adds that construction of roads

would be permitted only on the recommendation

of the Coastal Zone Management Authority

concerned and the clearance of MoEFCC. It also

mandates compensatory afforestation to replace

the mangroves cut or destroyed for road

construction.

Tax on seed funding to be scrapped

The government has decided to scrap a tax on seed

funding provided to start-ups by Indian angel

investors in the upcoming Union Budget, to help

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domestic financiers bankroll new entrepreneurial

ventures under its Start Up India campaign.

This tax treats infusion of funds by domestic angel

investors as income in the hands of the start-up.

This also makes India the only country in the

world to penalise local angel investors in such a

manner. This tax roughly takes away 30% of the

investment from the start-up’s cash flow. Tax on

seed funding is one of the key reasons that 90% of

Indian start-ups are financed by foreign venture

capital and angel funds.

Since this tax applies only to domestic investors, it

acted as a disincentive to local funding for start-

ups. The tax treatment and difficulties of doing

business in India as start-ups attain scale, make it

attractive for such ventures to relocate out of India

to countries like Singapore; 65% of successful

start-ups that began in India have moved out of the

country. According to estimates by the team of

officials working on the Start Up India

programme, start-ups in the country received

around 9 billion dollars of funding in 2015.

Angel investor is an investor who provides

financial backing for small startups or

entrepreneurs. Angel investors are usually found

among an entrepreneur’s family and friends. The

capital they provide can be a one-time injection of

seed money or ongoing support to carry the

company through difficult times.

Sterlite Grid commissioned first power

project under TBCB incentive regime

Sterlite Grid on 2 January 2016 set a new

benchmark by commissioning the Transmission

Project to Rajasthan Atomic Power Project

(RAPP) ahead of schedule under the Tariff Based

Competitive Bidding (TBCB) incentive regime.

RAPP is the first power transmission line to be

been commissioned ahead of schedule since the

implementation of TBCB scheme.

As per Sterlite Grid, the construction work on

transmission project to RAPP, which was awarded

to the company in 2013, was completed within 12

months from the start of construction. With the

commissioning of the RAPP Transmission Project,

Sterlite Grid so far has commissioned four out of a

portfolio of seven projects and operates ~2900

Circuit Km of projects in eight Indian states.

RAPP Transmission Project

The project includes laying a 200-km, 400-kilovolt

double-circuit transmission line passing through

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It will connect

Kota in Rajasthan to Shujalpur in Madhya Pradesh

to provide the path for the evacuation of electricity

generated at RAPP-7 and 8. The project was

completed at an estimated cost of 275 crore rupees

would directly benefit the states of Madhya

Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The project will act

as an inter-regional link to strengthen transmission

systems associated with RAPP to exchange power

between the northern and western grids.

Tariff Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB)

Under the TBCB norms, developers quoting the

lowest average electricity tariffs from a proposed

project get to set it up, as against the erstwhile

“cost-plus” model, where projects were set up

through pacts with distribution utilities and were

entitled to assured returns. Further, the power

projects awarded under TBCB regime to Power

Grid Corporation for system strengthening would

get transmission charge from the date of

commercial operations, even if it is ahead of

schedule.

DAVA project wins 2015 eASIA Award

The Department of Commerce’s DAVA (Drug

Authentication and Verification Application)

project has won the 2015 eASIA Award under

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Trade Facilitation category as announced by Asia

Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and

Electronic Business (AFACT) in Tehran, Iran. The

award administered by AFACT aims to promote

trade facilitation and electronic business activities

in the Asia-Pacific region.

The DAVA project is an initiative of Government

of India which aims to cover all the drugs

manufactured in India. The project has created an

integrated platform for implementation of the

Track and Trace system both for exports and

domestic markets of Drugs and Pharmaceuticals.

The project will provide simpler means to the

consumer and regulatory agencies for establishing

drug authentication and protect the India’s Brand

image in international trade.

DAVA application, developed under the project,

has value-added features like availability of stocks

for a drug in an area/wholesalers/retailers at a

point of time; whenever required, drugs can easily

be identified and recalled due to traceability of

stocks, prevention of black marketing which

especially arises during epidemics.

Presently, it is in the pilot stage and will be

subsequently made mandatory for all

pharmaceutical exports from India. When fully

implemented, the export of fake or spurious drug

from the country, will not be possible and in case

it happens it would be easily traceable.

Dept of Biotech and BIRAC to Participate

in the Bharat Innovation Fund

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), along

with the Biotechnology Industry Research

Assistance Council (BIRAC), has announced its

participation in the Bharat Innovation Fund. The

DBT will engage with the Bharat Fund, as part of

DBT’s efforts under the Startup India initiative, to

help commercialize technologies from its labs and

facilities. The DBT has announced to invest Rs. 50

crore over the next 3 years to support startups

through this Fund. Productive innovations from

the department of biotechnology can make a huge

impact in people’s lives, as has been seen in the

advances of medicine in recent years.

The Bharat Fund is a public-private-academia

partnership set up by Indian Institute of

Management (IIM) Ahmedabad’s Centre for

Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship

(CIIE). The Fund was launched by the Prime

Minister Shri Narendra Modi in September 2015

during the Startup Konnect event in California.

The Fund will be managed and coordinated by

CIIE at the IIM, Ahmedabad. It will support

innovation and innovative startups in areas of

healthcare and life-sciences, sustainability, and

digital technologies. The Fund will use important

tools such as labs, mentorship, funding, and

networking to support entrepreneurs who take on

hard challenges of an ever-broadening Indian

market. Since its launch in the Startup Konnect

event, the Bharat Fund has received pledges from

several government and corporate entities, such as

the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy

(DIPP), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

(MNRE), Tata Trusts, and others.

CCEA approved Amended Technology

Upgradation Fund Scheme for textiles

industry

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on

30 December 2015 approved the introduction of

Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme

(ATUFS) in place of the existing Revised

Restructured Technology Upgradation Fund

Scheme (RR-TUFS), for technology upgradation

of the textiles industry. The new scheme will give

a boost to Make in India in the textiles sector. It is

expected to attract investment to the tune of one

lakh crore rupees and create over 30 lakh jobs.

Highlights of Amended Technology

Upgradation Fund Scheme

• Employment generation and export by

encouraging apparel and garment industry, which

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will provide employment to women in particular

and increase India’s share in global exports.

• Promotion of Technical Textiles, a sunrise sector,

for export and employment.

• Promoting conversion of existing looms to better

technology looms for improvement in quality and

productivity.

• Encouraging better quality in processing industry

and checking need for import of fabrics by the

garment sector.

• A budget provision of 17822 crore rupees has

been approved, of which 12671 crore rupees will

be utilised for committed liabilities under the

ongoing scheme, and 5151 crore rupees will be

reserved for new cases under ATUFS.

• The implementation of the scheme will be

executed and monitored online under iTUFS,

launched in April 2015.

RBI released report of Deepak Mohanty

Committee on Medium-term Path on

Financial Inclusion

The Reserve Bank of India on 28 December 2015

released the Report of the Committee on Medium-

term Path on Financial Inclusion. The committee

was constituted on 15 July 2015 by the RBI with

the objective of working out a medium-term (five

year) measurable action plan for financial

inclusion. The 14-member committee was headed

by RBI Executive Director Deepak Mohanty.

Salient recommendations of the committee

• Banks have to make special efforts to step up

account opening for females, and the Government

may consider a deposit scheme for the girl child –

Sukanya Shiksha - as a welfare measure.

• Given the predominance of individual account

holdings (94 per cent of total credit accounts), a

unique biometric identifier such as Aadhaar should

be linked to each individual credit account.

• Account lined Aadhaar and the credit

information should be shared with companies to

enhance the stability of the credit system and

improve access.

• To improve ‘last mile’ service delivery and to

translate financial access into enhanced

convenience and usage, a low-cost solution should

be developed by utilisation of the mobile banking

facility for maximum possible G2P payments.

• In order to increase formal credit supply to all

agrarian segments, digitisation of land records is

the way forward. This should be backed by an

Aadhaar-linked mechanism for Credit Eligibility

Certificates to facilitate credit flow to actual

cultivators.

• A scheme of ‘Gold KCC’ (kisan credit card) with

higher flexibility for borrowers with prompt

repayment records, which could be dovetailed with

a government-sponsored personal insurance, and

digitisation of KCC to track expenditure pattern.

• Encourage multiple guarantee agencies to

provide credit guarantees in niche areas for micro

and small enterprises (MSEs), and explore

possibilities for counter guarantee and re-

insurance.

• Introduction of a system of online registration of

BCs, their training and monitoring their activity

including delinquency, and entrusting more

complex financial products such as credit to

trained BCs with good track record.

• Corporates should be encouraged to nurture

SHGs as part of their Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

is advised to develop a multi-lingual mobile

application for customers who use non-smart

phones, especially for users of national unified

USSD platform (NUUP).

• State Level Bankers Committees (SLBCs) are

advised to focus more on inter-institutional issues,

livelihood models, social cash transfer, gender

inclusion, Aadhaar seeding, universal account

opening, and less on credit deposit ratio which is a

by-product.

• As a part of second generation reforms, the

government can replace the current agricultural

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input subsidies on fertilisers, power and irrigation

by a direct income transfer scheme.

The Committee also made several other

recommendations to improve the governance

system, strengthen the credit infrastructure and

augment the government social cash transfer so as

to increase the personal disposable income of the

poor to put the economy on a medium-term

sustainable inclusion path.

SEBI released report of Narayan Murthy-

panel on Alternative Investment Policy

The Securities and Exchange Board of India

(SEBI) on 20 January 2016 released the first report

of the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory

Committee (AIPAC) for comments from the

stakeholders.

The 21-member committee was constituted by the

SEBI in March 2015 under the chairmanship of N

R Narayan Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, to

suggest measures for development of the

alternative investment funds (AIFs) and startup

eco-system in the country.

The recommendations of the committee are

founded on the following principles

• Ease of doing business is important

• Fund managers have the role of “Prudent Men”

• Adopt global best practices, and where

necessary, innovate the “next” (best) practice

• Clarity, consistency, and certainty in tax policies

• Harmonisation and consistency across different

regulators

• AIFs should at least have parity with public

market funds in tax policies

Key suggestions of the committee

• For creating a favourable tax environment the

panel recommended that exempted income of AIFs

should not suffer tax withholding of 10 percent.

• Overseas investors in India-centric fund vehicles

should not be subject to the indirect transfer

provisions of the IT Act when they transfer their

investments in an India-centric vehicle to another

investor.

• Provisions relating to investor diversification,

control or management of portfolio companies, tax

residence, arm’s length remuneration of fund

managers and annual reporting requirements

under the Section 9A of the Income Tax Act,

1961 should be amended.

• Make foreign direct investment in AIFs work

efficiently by clarifying the rules for investment by

non-resident Indian investors in AIFs on a non-

repatriation basis.

• Security Transaction Tax (STT) should be

introduced for private equity and venture capital

investments, including SEBI-registered AIFs and

has parity with the taxation of investments in

listed securities.

• In relation to reforms in the AIF regulatory

regime, the panel suggested for the focus on

regulation of fund managers instead of fund per se.

About Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs)

• Anything alternate to traditional form of

investments gets categorized as alternative

investments.

• Generally, investments in stocks or bonds or

fixed deposits or real estates are considered as

traditional investments and AIF refers to private

equity and hedge funds.

• In India, AIFs are defined in Regulation 2(1)(b)

of SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds)

Regulations, 2012.

• It refers to any privately pooled investment fund,

(whether from Indian or foreign sources), in the

form of a trust or a company or a body corporate

or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).

• AIFs bring significant benefits to the Indian

economy. If the regulatory issues are

streamlined, AIFs can attract large capital

flows to potentially reach a size of as much 2

percent of the GDP.

CCEA approved setting up of over 5000 MW of

Grid-connected Solar PV Power Projects

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

(CCEA) on 20 January 2016 gave its approval for

setting up over 5000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar

PV Power Projects on build, own and operate

basis. The work will be implemented by Solar

Power Developers (SPDs) with Viability Gap

Funding (VGF) under Batch-lV of Phase-ll of the

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

(JNNSM). The total investments expected under

the scheme is about 30000 crore rupees.

This would help in creating additional 5000 MW

capacity of Grid-connected solar PV power

generation projects in four trenches of each 1250

MW capacity during four financial years - 2015-

16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. It will also

help in employment generation of about 30000

people in rural and urban areas with reduction of

about 8.525 Million T of CO2 emissions into

environment every year.

Key highlights of Grid-Connected Solar PV

Power Projects

• Installation of 5000 MW Solar PV plants will

generate about 8300 Million units per year, which

caters power to almost 2.5 Million households.

• The Scheme will be implemented by Solar

Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as per the

guidelines of Ministry of New and Renewable

Energy (MNRE).

• SECI will prepare necessary bidding documents

for inviting the proposals for setting up of projects

on a competitive bidding through e-bidding.

• SECI will enter into Power Purchase Agreement

(PPA) with the selected developers and the Power

Sale Agreement (PSA) with the buying entities.

• Requisite funds for provision of the VGF support

will be made available to MNRE from the

National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF), operated by

Ministry of Finance.

• Out of 5000 MW, some capacity in each tranche,

will be developed with mandatory condition of

solar PV cells and Modules made in India. This

will be called the Domestic Content Requirement

(DCR) category and remaining will be in open

category.

• Projects could be set up in the Solar Parks being

developed under a separate MNRE Scheme and

also at other locations, which could be selected by

the bidders on their own.

• Commissioning period will be 13 months from

the date of signing of PPAs.

• MNRE will provide 100 percent VGF to SECI to

disburse to Solar Power Developers immediately

after commissioning, subject to availability of

funds.

• The State Governments will appoint a State

Level Agency for providing necessary support to

facilitate the required approvals and sanctions in a

time bound manner to achieve commissioning of

the projects within the scheduled timeline.

India saved 1 billion US dollars annually

using Aadhaar: World Bank

The World Bank on 14 January 2016 announced

that India saved 1 billion US dollars annually by

using Aadhaar. It was revealed in the bank’s

publication World Development Report 2016:

Digital Dividends that was released in Washington

DC, the USA. As per the report, transfer of fuel

subsidy to bank accounts using the Aadhaar-based

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) saved about 1

billion per year when applied throughout the

country on account of reduced leakage and

efficient gains. The report further estimated that

the DBT has the potential to save over 11 billion

US dollars per year in government expenditure if

the scheme is expanded to other subsidy

programmes.

Findings of the report with respect to India

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• China has the largest number of internet users,

followed by the United States, with India, Japan,

and Brazil filling out the top five.

• A digital identification system such as India’s

Aadhaar, by overcoming complex information

problems, helps willing governments to promote

the inclusion of disadvantaged groups.

• In India, there are an estimated 1.063 billion

population are offline.

• Nearly 900 million Indians have been issued

digital IDs in the past fi ve years, which they are

using to open bank accounts, monitor attendance

of civil servants, and identify recipients of

government subsidies.

• Digital governance played a role in improving

public sector capability. For example, e-

procurement helped in injecting more competition

into the process by increasing the probability that

the winning bidder comes from outside the

project’s region.

India, U.S. clear 100 transfer pricing cases

India and the U.S. have reached an agreement to

resolve more than 100 pending transfer pricing

cases, one of the biggest deterrents for foreign

investors planning an India foray.

This agreement was finalised under the Mutual

Agreement Procedure (MAP) provision contained

in the India-USA Double Taxation Avoidance

Convention (DTAC).

The agreement seeks to resolve past transfer

pricing disputes between the two countries in the

Information Technology (Software Development)

Services [ITS] and Information Technology

enabled Services [ITeS] segments. Some more are

expected to be resolved soon.

How such agreements help?

Transfer pricing is one of the biggest tax issues is

the world today. Pending cases and issues are also

one of the biggest factors keeping foreign

investors wary of India.

Such agreements will lead to a positive

environment and will bring greater certainty. This

greater certainty will lead to more investments

flowing into India.

It should be noted here that all those companies,

embroiled in transfer pricing issues, are off-

shoring companies. With these resolutions, more

US companies will offshore work into India, have

manufacturing in India, which will mean more

employment here.

What is transfer pricing?

Transfer pricing refers to the setting of the price of

goods or services sold between entities within an

enterprise. For example, if a subsidiary sells good

or services to its parent company, then the price set

for this sale is the transfer price.

Digital dividends not spreading rapidly,

says World Bank

The World Bank recently published its annual

World Development Report (WDR) 2016. The

2016 WDR issue titled “Digital Dividends,” noted

that almost 1.063 billion Indians were offline even

though India ranked among the top five nations in

terms of the total number of Internet users, along

with China, the U.S., Japan and Brazil.

Other important observations made by the

report:

With 60% of the world’s population still offline,

institutional and regulatory barriers to efficiency

are exacerbating the problem of low and unevenly

distributed “digital dividends” from growing

Internet penetration across countries.

With the advent of big data, which includes the

likes of India’s Aadhaar unique identity project,

secret snooping by governments can be for

legitimate law enforcement reasons, but sometimes

violates laws and rights.

57% of Indians believe private information on the

Internet is very secure, but only 18% of French

and 16% of German respondents do.

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With nearly 20% of the world’s population unable

to read and write, the spread of digital

technologies alone is unlikely to spell the end of

the global knowledge divide. Yet, there were

numerous examples worldwide of success stories

where the power of the Internet had been

leveraged to improve, for example, the delivery of

public services.

The Bank’s report has also outlined several cases

of NGOs partnering with the Indian government

and such digital citizen engagement led to success

with projects such as “I Change My City,” “I Paid

A Bribe,” and the “Karnataka BVS.”

The report also notes that India, along with

Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, has the greatest

restrictions on service trade.

The report also asks India to have an appropriate

business environment, which shapes how firms

adopt and use technology.

BEPS guidelines of OECD to be

implemented in India from 1 April 2016

The term BEPS is an acronym of Base Erosion and

Profit Shifting and it was in news in the third week

of January 2016 as India decided to implement

these guidelines. BEPS refers to tax planning

strategies that would exploit the gaps and

mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits

to low or no-tax locations where there is little or

no economic activity, resulting in little or no

overall corporate tax being paid.

These norms were announced by Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

in October 2015 to close tax loopholes that it

estimated cost countries upwards of 100 billion US

dollars a year. With the implementation of these

guidelines, it will become mandatory for Indian

multinationals to make country-by-country

reporting to follow guidelines from the financial

year that begins on 1 April 2016. It will impact all

Indian companies with significant cross-border

operations and with annual consolidated global

revenue of more than 5500 crore rupees. BEPS

will be major significance for developing countries

like India, as they strongly rely on corporate

income tax and in particular from multinational

enterprises (MNEs).

Union Government signed a loan

agreement with World Bank for

Neeranchal National Watershed Project

Union Government on 14 January 2016 signed a

loan agreement with World Bank in New Delhi for

the Neeranchal National Watershed Project. All 28

states which implement the watershed projects will

benefit from this project. However, the nine states,

Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujrat, Jharkhand,

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan

and Telangana will benefit more from the project

as they are implementation of large number of

watershed schemes in their states.

Features of Neeranchal National Watershed

Project

• The project was approved by the Union Cabinet

in October 2015 with a total budget of 2142 crore

rupees in which India would bear 1071 crore

rupees and the rest 50 percent cost will be borne

by the World Bank.

• It will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural

Development over a six-year period (2016-21).

• It will support the Pradhan Mantri Krishi

Sinchayi Yojana in hydrology and water

management, agricultural production systems,

capacity building and monitoring and evaluation.

• Around 12 percent of the area of wasteland will

be targeted through this project to make about 336

lakh hectares of land arable.

• The Minister said that the effective

implementation of the scheme will go a long way

in strengthening the economic conditions of the

farming community.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

IMF implemented 2010 Quota and

Governance Reforms

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 27

January 2016 implemented the long-pending 2010

Quota and Governance Reforms. The reforms

represent a major step towards the increasing role

of dynamic emerging market and developing

countries. The entry into force of these reforms

will reinforce the credibility, effectiveness, and

legitimacy of the IMF.

Highlights of the Reforms

• For the first time, four emerging market

countries- Brazil, China, India, and Russia will be

among the 10 largest members of the IMF.

• Other top 10 members include the United States,

Japan, and the four largest European countries

France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

• India’s voting rights increased to 2.6 percent

from the current 2.3 percent and China’s voting

rights increased to six percent from 3.8.

• The reforms also increased the financial strength

of the IMF by doubling its permanent capital

resources to 659 billion US dollars.

• More than 6 percent of quota shares will shift to

dynamic emerging market and developing

countries and also from over-represented to under-

represented IMF members.

• The quota shares and voting power of the IMF’s

poorest member countries will be protected.

• For the first time, the IMF’s Board will consist

entirely of elected Executive Directors, ending the

category of appointed Executive Directors.

• The scope for appointing a second Alternate

Executive Director in multi-country constituencies

with seven or more members has been increased.

Reason for the delay in implementation of reforms

The 2010 Quota and Governance reforms were

approved by the IMF’s Board of Governors in

December 2010. However, their implementation

got delayed due to the time taken by the US

Congress to approve the changes.

The US Senate approved the changes in December

2015 paving the way for the implementation of the

reforms.

India and Armenia signed a protocol to

amend Double Taxation Avoidance

Convention

India and Armenia on 27 January 2016 signed a

protocol to amend the India-Armenia Double

Taxation Avoidance Convention. It amends the

convention between these countries that has been

in existence since 9 September 2004. It amends the

article on exchange of Information for tax

purposes to bring it in line with the updated

provisions in the Organisation for Economic Co-

operation and Development (OECD) Model. It

will enable the two countries to exchange

information related to financial and banking

transactions under the Double Taxation Avoidance

Convention, and thereby facilitate them in

addressing tax evasion. It is also expected to

further strengthen the efforts of Union

Government in curbing the generation of black

money.

Gujarat’s former IAS officer D K Sikri

appointed CCI chief

Devender Kumar Sikri , a former Gujarat cadre

IAS officer, has been appointed chairman of the

fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of

India (CCI).

Competition Commission of India is a body

responsible for enforcing The Competition Act,

2002 throughout India and to prevent activities

that have an adverse effect on competition in India.

It was established on 14 October 2003. It became

fully functional in May 2009.

CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members

appointed by the Central Government.

The duty of the Commission is to eliminate

practices having adverse effect on competition,

promote and sustain competition, protect the

MENTOR MARCH 2016

interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade

in the markets of India.

The Commission is also required to give opinion

on competition issues on a reference received from

a statutory authority established under any law and

to undertake competition advocacy, create public

awareness and impart training on competition

issues.

The Competition Act, 2002 prohibits anti-

competitive agreements, abuse of dominant

position by enterprises and regulates combinations

(acquisition, acquiring of control and Merger and

acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an

appreciable adverse effect on competition within

India.

INTERNATIONAL

India-Nepal Bus Service resumed after 27

years

India-Nepal Bus Service on 4 January 2016

resumed after a gap of 27 years. The service was

suspended 27 years ago in the wake of the Indo-

Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty. The service runs

between Kanchanpur in Nepal, which is close to

Banbasa border in Champavat district of

Uttarakhand, and Anand Vihar ISBT in Delhi. To

travel in these buses, no special documents are

required as both the countries share open border.

The service is expected to benefit people living

along the border areas as they have family as well

as trade relations with each other.

Union Cabinet approved construction of 69

bridges on trilateral highway in Myanmar

The Union Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, on 30 December 2015 approved

the construction of 69 bridges including approach

roads on the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road

section of the trilateral highway in Myanmar. The

bridges will be constructed at a cost of 371.58

crore rupees.

Key facts related to construction of bridges on

TKK road section:

• The construction of bridges will impart all

weather usability to the TKK road section, which

is also part of the route for the proposed Imphal-

Mandalay bus service.

• It will improve connectivity between India and

Myanmar and facilitate the movement of goods

and traffic.

• The project will be implemented in Engineering

Procuring and Construction (EPC) mode through

Project Management Consultant (PMC).

• It will be closely monitored by the Indian

Embassy in Yangon, PMC and the Ministry of

External Affairs.

• The project is envisaged to be completed by mid-

2019.

• During the visit of the then prime minister

Manmohan Singh to Myanmar in May 2012, it

was agreed, at the request of Government of

Myanmar, to undertake construction of 71 bridges

in the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section

of the Trilateral Highway. The Government of

Myanmar has started work on constructing two

bridges, on its own, as these bridges needed urgent

attention. As a result, construction of the

remaining 69 bridges will be undertaken under

Government of India's assistance.

The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post-facto

approval for the Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) between India and Bangladesh for Mode of

Operation of Border Haats on India-Bangladesh

Border. The MoU was signed in October 2010.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

These are common marketplaces which aim at

promoting the well-being of the people dwelling in

remote areas across the borders of two countries,

by establishing traditional system of marketing the

local produce through local markets in local

currency and/or barter basis. Though not

significant as a percentage of bilateral trade, these

measures help to improve economic well-being of

marginalised sections of society.

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with

Iran

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on

3 January 2016 announced that his country has

broken off diplomatic ties with Iran. The

announcement was made amid a row over the

Saudi execution of a prominent Shia Muslim

cleric. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others were

executed by Saudi Arabia on 2 January 2016 after

being convicted of terror related offences. This

was the largest execution carried out by Saudi

Arabia in three and a half decades. The

announcement was made after demonstrators

stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and set it on

fire resulting into al-Jubeir asking all Iranian

diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia within 48 hours.

Saudi Arabia also recalled its diplomats from

Tehran. Earlier, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah

Ali Khamenei warned that the Sunni Muslim

kingdom would face revenge for the execution.

The execution of Nimr al-Nimr also has come in

for criticism from many Shia-dominated nations

including Bahrain and Pakistan.

Mumbai, Delhi in world’s top-30 ‘super

cities’

Two Indian cities — Delhi and Mumbai — have

made it to a top-30 list of the world’s most

powerful, productive and connected cities.

According to the study conducted by international

real estate consultancy JLL, India’s financial

capital Mumbai has been ranked 22nd while the

national capital Delhi is placed at 24th.

The list is topped by Tokyo, which along with

New York, London and Paris, make the top four

‘super cities’. These four were the destination of

over 50% of all foreign capital invested in the

Global Top 30 cities. Mumbai is also on the top-10

“improvers” list. Top-10 improvers are cities

whose scores in the index of commercial attraction

have improved the most over the past year. The

index of commercial attraction is JLL’s primary

benchmark of the size and strength of a city’s

economy and real estate market.

These Top-30 global cities account for 64% of the

total cross-border investment into the ‘Global300’

— an expanded index of the cities in terms of their

“commercial attraction” or economic and real

estate power and status.

Taiwan elected Tsai Ing-wen as first female

President

Opposition candidate of Democratic Progressive

Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen on 16 January 2016 won

a landslide victory in Taiwan's presidential

election, making her the island's first female

president. Tsai's commanding victory brings to

power DPP, which supports Taiwan's formal

independence from China, a red line for Beijing,

which claims the island as its territory.

14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas held in New

Delhi

MENTOR MARCH 2016

The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was held

on 9 January 2016 in New Delhi. Apart from the

main event in New Delhi, the day was celebrated

by the MEA, across the world, through its

missions/posts abroad. On this occasion, Sushma

Swaraj announced that the government is

considering Aadhaar cards to non-resident Indians

(NRIs) and allowing women workers to Gulf

countries only through the government agencies to

ensure they were not duped by recruiting agents or

firms.

The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas was unique

for two reasons-

1) It was the first limited edition of the PBD. The

government, in 2015, took a decision to limit the

PBD conference as a biannual event and extend

the PBD across the world and throughout the year.

In effect, the next PBD conference will be held in

2017.

2) It was organised for the first time by the

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the

government’s decision to merge Ministry of

Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with it. Earlier it

used to celebrated by the MOIA.

About Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas

• It is being held annually since 2003 to bring the

Indian Diaspora on a single platform and leverage

their resources in nation building activities.

• The day is held annually on 9 January 2015 to

mark the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South

Africa to India.

• Apart from the PBD, regional PBDs were also

held across the world. The most recent, 9th RPBD

was held in November 2015, in Los Angeles, the

USA.

• The 13th PBD was held in Gujarat marked the

100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India

from South Africa.

India-France inked 16 pacts including

chopper venture

India and France on 24 January 2016 inked 16

agreements at the India-France Business Summit

in Chandigarh. The Memorandum of

Understanding (MoUs) covered a wide range of

sectors like urban development, urban transport,

water and waste treatment and solar energy. The

agreements were signed in the presence of Prime

Minister Narendra Modi and French President

Francois Hollande, who began his three-day visit

to India. Hollande is the Chief Guest at the 67th

India’s Republic Day (26 January 2016)

celebrations. He is the fifth French leader to be a

chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations,

maximum number from any country so far.

The 16 agreements include

• MoU between AFD and Maharashtra on

technical cooperation in the field of sustainable

urban development for development of smart city

in Nagpur.

• MoU between AFD and the Union Territory of

Chandigarh on technical cooperation in the field of

sustainable urban development for development of

smart city in Chandigarh.

• MoU between AFD and the Union Territory of

Puducherry on technical cooperation in the field of

sustainable development for development of smart

city in Puducherry.

• Wind Power Development Agreement between

EDF JV with SITAC RE India to jointly explore

opportunities for development of wind based

power project in India.

• MOU between EPI ltd – Dassault Systèmes in

urban sector development.

• MOU between EPI-Egis - urban sector

development.

• MOU between EPI- Schneider Electric - urban

sector development.

• MOU between EPI-Thales - urban sector

development.

• MOU between EPI-EDF - urban sector

development.

• MOU between EPI-Alstom - urban sector

development.

• MOU between EPI-SA CAN - urban sector

development.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

• MOU between EPI-Lumiplan ITS India Pvt Ltd -

urban sector development.

• MOU between EPI-POMA - urban sector

development.

• Agreement between CEA (the French Alternative

Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and

Green Ventures – Solar photo voltaic projects in

the Indian rural areas (Varanasi, U.P.).

• Agreement between CEA (the French Alternative

Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) and

Crompton Greaves - To explore opportunities in

Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) System with storage

function for Indian Airports.

• Mahindra-Airbus cooperation to create the new

private strategic partner for helicopters within the

Make in India initiative.

India-France signed 14 Agreements

including 36 Rafale Aircraft deal

India and France on 25 January 2016 inked 14

Agreements/MoUs in Delhi. The agreements

including MoU on purchase of 36 Rafale Aircrafts

were signed during the State Visit of President

Francois Hollande of France to India.

The 14 agreements/MoUs are

• MoU on purchase of 36 Rafale Aircrafts

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and

Centre National D'études Spatiales (CNES)

Implementation Arrangement on hosting Argos-4

Payload onboard India’s Oceansat-3 satellite

• ISRO and CNES Implementation Arrangement

on a future joint Thermal Infrared earth

observation mission

• Letter of Intent on CNES, France participation in

ISRO’s next Mars Mission

• Shareholding Agreement on JV between Alstom

and Indian Railways for production of 800 electric

locomotives in Madhepura Bihar

• Agreement between Indian Railways and SNCF,

French Railways for joint feasibility study for the

renovation of Ludhiana and Ambala railway

stations

• MOU between Food Safety & Standards

Authority of India and Agence nationale de

sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation (ANSES) in

food safety

• Partnership Agreement on Cooperation in Public

Administration between Ministry of Personnel &

Public Grievances and French

• Declaration of Intent for conducting next round

of Namaste France (Indian festival) in 2016 and

Bonjour India (French festival) 2017

• Cultural Exchange Programme for the period

2016-2018

• Arrangement for establishment of an Indo-

French Ministerial level Joint Committee on

Science & Technology

• MoU for Industry Sponsored PhD Fellowship

between IIT Mumbai and Thales Systemes

Aeroportes

• Cooperation Agreement between IISER, Pune

and ENS de Lyon (France) for joint research,

teaching, exchange of personnel etc.

• Agreement of Cooperation between CNRS, TB,

UBO, UBS, ENSTA Bretagne, ENIB (French

Universities) and IIT Mumbai in the field of

Higher Education & Research.

ENVIRONMENT

India To Implement Stricter Emission

Norms, Leapfrog To BS-VI From 2020

In a bid to curb vehicular pollution, the

government has decided to implement stricter

emission norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI from

April 1, 2020 by skipping BS-V altogether. This

decision was taken recently at an inter-ministerial

meeting chaired by Road Transport and Highways

Minister Nitin Gadkari. At present, BS-IV auto

fuels are being supplied in whole of northern India

covering J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal

Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, parts of Rajasthan

and western UP. The rest of the country has BS-III

grade fuel.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Bharat Stage emission standards, introduced in

2000, are emission standards that have been set up

the Central government to regulate the output of

air pollutants from internal combustion engine

equipment, including motor vehicles. The different

norms are brought into force in accordance with

the timeline and standards set up by the Central

Pollution Control Board which comes under the

Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate

Change. The Bharat Stage norms are based on

European regulations. In 13 major cities, Bharat

Stage IV emission standards were put in place in

April 2010. BS-IV norms were supposed to come

into effect nationwide from April 2017.

Snowflake Corals growth off

Thiruvananthapuram poses threat to

Marine Ecology

Scuba divers working for Friends of Marine Life

(FML) in December 2015 recorded the presence of

several colonies of the fast-growing alien species

Snowflake Coral (Carijoa riisei) off the coast of

Thiruvananthpuram and Kanyakumari. Freinds of

Marine Life (FML) is a local NGO. As per

scientists colonies of the snowflake, an invasive

species, could pose a serious threat to the marine

ecology of the region. The species was found

amid clusters of rocky reef off the coast of

Kovalam at 10 meter depth in

Thiruvananthapuram and Enayam at 18 meter

depth in Kanyakumari. The species was

documented as part of a research project

harnessing the traditional knowledge of the

fishermen community to access the marine

biodiversity of the region. The project was

coordinated by researcher Robert Panipilla.

Snowflake Coral (Carijoa riisei)

• Carijoa riisei, the snowflake coral (branched pipe

coral), is a species of soft coral in the family

Clavulariidae.

• It is native to the tropical western Atlantic Ocean,

the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Its

range extends from South Carolina to Brazil.

• But at present it has spread to other areas of the

world such as Hawaii, where it is regarded as an

invasive species.

• It is a shade-loving species and grows on

underwater hard surfaces away from direct

sunlight. These include caves, overhangs, ledges

and under piers. It is a fouling organism and will

grow on metal, wood, concrete, plastic and rope.

• It thrives in turbid water with moderate to strong

currents or wave action.

• It has the capacity to dominate space and crowd

out other marine organisms.

Union Cabinet approved Raptor MoU for

conservation of migratory birds of prey

The Union Cabinet, presided by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, on 30 December 2015 gave its

approval for signing a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) for conservation of

migratory birds of prey in Africa and Eurasia. The

MoU, also called as Raptor MOU, will help India

gain knowledge in effectively managing the

habitats of the raptors. With the signing of the

MoU, India will become the 54th signatory to the

MoU. The MoU is also in conformity with the

provisions of the existing Wild Life (Protection)

Act, 1972, wherein the birds have been accorded

protection. It will also include concerted trans-

boundary efforts for conservation through

interaction with other range countries by signing

of the MoU with the Convention on Conservation

of Migratory Species (CMS). Pakistan and Nepal

are the other neighbours which are signatories to

the MoU.

What is a Raptor MoU?

• The Memorandum of Understanding on the

Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa

MENTOR MARCH 2016

and Eurasia is an international, legally non-

binding, agreement to protect migratory birds of

prey.

• It was concluded on 22 October 2008 and came

into effect on 1 November 2008.

• It is an agreement under Article IV paragraph 4

of the CMS.

• It seeks willingness of the signatory Range States

for working for conservation of the raptor species

and their habitats.

• An action plan has been formulated which

primarily envisages the conservation action for

Raptor species.

• The MoU extends its coverage to 76 species of

birds of prey out of which 46 species including

vultures, falcons, eagles, owls, hawks, kites,

harriers, and more which are also found in India.

• The CMS or Bonn Convention, under the

auspices of the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP), aims to conserve migratory

species throughout their range.

• India has been a party to the CMS since 1

November 1983.

Environment Ministry Holds First National

Stakeholder Consultation on the

Biodiversity Finance Initiative

The Environment Ministry recently held a two-day

National Stakeholder Consultation Meeting on

Biodiversity Finance Initiative to conserve India’s

biodiversity. This National Stakeholder meeting

was organized to understand the BIOFIN project

and to seek professional inputs from experts of

various fields in strengthening the biodiversity

conservation efforts in the country. The meeting

also assessed the expenditure being made by

different organizations for activities related to

biodiversity conservation.

A global high level panel set up by the Convention

on Biological Diversity has estimated that USD

150-440 billion need to be invested annually in

biodiversity for effective implementation of Aichi

global biodiversity targets. The Ministry has

partnered with the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) in a global project on

Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN).

About BIOFIN project:

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) is a

global partnership that helps government’s cost,

plan and pay for action on biodiversity

conservation and its sustainable use. It was

launched in 2012. The BIOFIN methodology is

being used by 19 countries to analyze, calculate

and develop strategies to generate the funds they

need to meet national biodiversity targets. The

initiative is run by the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) with support

from the Governments of Germany, Switzerland

and the European Union.

New bird species named Himalayan Forest

Thrush found in India

A team of scientists discovered a new bird species

named Himalayan Forest Thrush in northeastern

India and adjacent parts of China. The species was

discovered after noticing that a bird, known as a

brush that lived in the forest, sang differently than

the same bird that lived in the mountains. The new

species has been given scientific name Zoothera

salimalii after famous ornithologist and naturalist

Salim Ali who has made significant contributions

to ornithology in India. The Himalayan forest

thrush is the fourth bird species to be discovered in

India since 1947.

New tree frog genus discovered in forests of

north-eastern India

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Professor Sathyabhama Das Biju, popularly known

as the frogman of India, and his team of

researchers discovered a new genus of tree hole-

breeding frogs in the forests of India's northeast

and China. The team comprised PhD students of

Biju and researchers from National Centre for Cell

Science (Pune), University of Peradeniya (Sri

Lanka), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and

American Museum of Natural History (USA). The

findings were published on 20 January 2016 in a

paper titled Frankixalus, a new rhacophorid genus

of tree hole-breeding frog with oophagous tadpoles

in the international journal PLoS One. The genus

has been named Frankixalus after Professor

Franky Bossuyt of Vrije Universiteit Brussel for

his contribution to amphibian research.

2015 is Earth’s warmest year since 1880:

NOAA

The globally averaged temperature over land and

ocean surfaces for 2015 was the highest among all

years since modern record keeping began in 1880.

It was revealed by the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA) and the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

on 20 January 2016 after an independent analysis.

Key facts related to global climate patterns in 2015

• During 2015, the average temperature across

global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62°F

(0.90°C) above the 20th century average.

• This was the highest among all 136 years in the

1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record

set in 2014 by 0.29°F (0.16°C) and marking the

fourth time a global temperature record has been

set this century.

• 2015 is also the largest margin by which the

annual global temperature record has been broken.

• Ten months had record high temperatures for

their respective months during the year. The five

highest monthly departures from average for any

month on record all occurred during 2015.

• Record warmth was broadly spread around the

world, including Central America, South America,

Europe western Asia, Siberia, regions of eastern

and southern Africa, equatorial Pacific, a large

swath of the western North Atlantic, most of the

Indian Ocean and parts of the Arctic Ocean.

• During 2015, the globally-averaged sea surface

temperature was 1.33°F (0.74°C) above the 20th

century average. This was the highest among all

years in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the

previous record of last year by 0.20°F (0.11°C).

• According to data from NOAA analyzed by the

Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the average annual

Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during

2015 was 9.5 million square miles.

• This was the 11th smallest annual snow cover

extent since records began in 1968 and smallest

since 2008. The first half of 2015 saw generally

below-normal snow cover extent, with above-

average coverage later in the year.

• Recent polar sea ice extent trends continued in

2015. The average annual sea ice extent in the

Arctic was 4.25 million square miles, the sixth

smallest annual value of the 37-year period of

record.

• The annual Antarctic sea ice extent was the third

largest on record, at 4.92 million square miles,

behind 2013 and 2014.

International Solar Alliance headquartered

in India with United Nations as Strategic

Partner

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the

President of France François Hollande, on 25

January 2016 laid the foundation stone of the

International Solar Alliance (ISA) headquarters in

National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in

Gwalpahari, Gurgaon. They also inaugurated the

interim Secretariat of the ISA at the same place.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

India dedicated 5 acre land at NISE to ISA for

hosting its Secretariat and also contributed 175

crore rupees for ISA corpus fund for an initial

period of five years. Thereafter it is expected to

generate its own resources and become self-

financing.

SCIENCE

Union Government unveiled National

Biotechnology Development Strategy 2015-

2020

Union Minister for Science & Technology and

Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan on 30 December

2015 unveiled the National Biotechnology

Development Strategy 2015-2020 in New Delhi.

The Strategy aims to establish India as a world-

class bio-manufacturing hub. The strategy also

intends to launch a major mission, backed with

significant investments, for the creation of new

biotech products, create a strong infrastructure for

R&D and commercialization and empower India’s

human resources scientifically and

technologically.

Intended benefits of the envisaged mission are-

• Provide impetus to utilising the knowledge and

tools to the advantage of Humanity

• Launch a major well directed mission backed

with significant investment for generation of new

Biotech Products

• Empower scientifically and technologically

India’s incomparable Human Resource

• Create a strong Infrastructure for R&D and

Commercialisation

• Establish India as a world class Bio-

manufacturing Hub

The Key elements of the Strategy are-

• Building a Skilled Workforce and Leadership

• Revitalizing the knowledge environment at par

with the growing bio-economy

• Enhance Research opportunities in basic,

disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences

• Encourage use-inspired discovery research

• Focus on biotechnology tools for inclusive

development

• Nurturing innovation, translational capacity and

entrepreneurship

• Ensuring a transparent, efficient and globally

best Regulatory system and communication

strategy

• Biotechnology cooperation- Fostering global and

national alliances

• Strengthen Institutional Capacity with redesigned

governance models

• Create a matrix of measurement of processes as

well as outcome

Expected outcomes of the Strategy are-

• Making India ready to meet the challenge of

achieving 100 billion US dollars by 2025

• Launching Four Major Missions – Healthcare,

Food and Nutrition, Clean Energy and Education

• Creating a Technology Development and

Translation network across the country with global

partnership-5 new clusters, 40 Biotech incubators,

150 TTOs, 20 Bio-connect centres

• Strategic and focussed investment in building the

Human Capital by creating a Life Sciences and

Biotechnology Education Council

IUPAC announced addition of Four

Elements to complete Seventh row of

Periodic Table

The International Union of Pure and Applied

Chemistry (IUPAC) on 30 December 2015

announced discovery and assignment of elements

with atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118. The

decision was taken by the IUPAC as the four

MENTOR MARCH 2016

elements met the discovery of elements of the

IUPAP/IUPAC Transfermium Working Group

(TWG) 1991 Discovery Criteria.

All these four elements are synthetic in nature.

They were discovered by scientists belonging to

the USA, Russian and Japan and complete the 7th

row of the periodic table of the elements. Also,

these four elements are the first to be added to the

table since 2011, when elements 114 (Flerovium,

FI) and 116 (Livermorium, LV) were added.

Naming of elements: After officially recognizing

the elements, the IUPAC also invited suggestions

related to permanent names and symbols from the

scientists who discovered them. New elements can

be named after a mythological concept, a mineral,

a place or country, a property or a scientist.

Element 113

• Temporary working name and symbol are

ununtrium and Uut respectively.

• It was discovered by the scientists belonging to

RIKEN research laboratory in Japan.

Elements 115 & 117

• 115: ununpentium, Uup are the temporary

working name and symbol respectively.

• 117: ununseptium, Uus are the temporary


• In discovering the element 117 Indian scientist

Susanta Lahiri played an important role.

• They were discovered by scientists belonging to

Russia and the USA in collaboration

Element 118

• It has ununoctium and Uuo as the temporary


• It was jointly discovered by scientists belonging

to the Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia and

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,

California, USA.

How they were discovered?

They were discovered by slamming lighter nuclei

into each other and tracking the following decay of

the radioactive superheavy elements. Like other

superheavy elements that populate the end of the

periodic table, they only exist for fractions of a

second before decaying into other elements.

About IUPAC

• It is an association of bodies, National Adhering

Organizations, which represent the chemists of

different member countries.

• It was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry

and academia and headquartered in Zurich,

Switzerland.

• It serves to advance the worldwide aspects of the

chemical sciences and to contribute to the

application of chemistry in the service of mankind.

• Over nearly eight decades, it has succeeded in

fostering worldwide communications in the

chemical sciences and in uniting academic,

industrial and public sector chemistry in a

common language.

2016 could be the year of Virtual Reality

Following years of hype, 2016 looks to be the year

that Virtual Reality (VR) actually becomes real as

firms like HTC, Sony and Samsung propose to

launch equipment this year to make this possible.

The HTC Vive, Sony’s PlayStation VR,

Facebook’s Oculus “Rift” and Samsung’s “Rink”

headset will be seen in the market in the next few

months, BBC reported on Saturday.

Virtual reality is a computer-simulated reality (in a

device) that replicates, via photos, an environment

that simulates a physical presence in places in the

real world or an imagined world, allowing the user

to interact in that world. Virtual reality artificially

creates sensory experiences which can include

sight, hearing, touch and smell. For example, with

a VR device you can climb Mount Everest making

your way gingerly across a shaky bridge while

trying not to look down into an icy chasm - all

while sitting on a couch in your house.

No more ‘droughts’ in India, says IMD

MENTOR MARCH 2016

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has

officially expunged the word “drought” from its

vocabulary, months after it struck a contrarian note

and correctly forecast one of India’s severest

monsoon deficits last year.

According to a circular issued by the department

last Thursday, the move is part of a decision to do

away with or re-define terms that are not

scientifically precise. Beginning this season, for

instance, if India’s monsoon rainfall were to dip

below 10 per cent of the normal and span between

20 and 40 per cent of the country’s area, it would

be called a “deficient” year instead of an “All India

Drought Year” as the IMD’s older manuals would

say. A more severe instance, where the deficit

exceeds 40 per cent and would have been called an

“All India Severe Drought Year,” will now be a

“Large Deficient Year”.

The IMD has never used the term “drought” in its

forecasts and has maintained that declaring

droughts was the prerogative of States. “Some

confusion has been there over some years,” said

B.P. Yadav, spokesperson for the agency, “and we

wanted to be more precise.”

The agency had several definitions of drought:

meteorological, hydrological and agricultural, and

it was quite possible for a State to have a

meteorological drought — 90 per cent shortfall of

the average monsoon rainfall — but not suffer an

agricultural drought —if the shortfall didn’t affect

more than 20 per cent of the State’s area.

“Declaring a drought has never been the IMD’s

mandate and, in fact, not even that of the Central

government,” said Shailesh Nayak, former

Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, to whom the

IMD reports. “That’s because drought is not a

measure of productivity (agricultural).”

Officials said the change in the nomenclature

would not practically influence the way States

viewed droughts.

The spokesperson for the agency said there would

now be a standardised definition for heat waves

and cold waves, and the IMD’s local arms would

no longer use terms such as “could” or “may” to

suggest the possibility of showers.

India to switch to bivalent oral polio

vaccine

With India remaining polio-free for five years

now, the government said that it plans to switch to

bivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV) from its present

trivalent version in “some months” even as

President Pranab Mukherjee launched the

countrywide Pulse Polio programme for 2016 on

the eve of National Immunisation Day.

Trivalent OPV contains live and weakened

versions for all the three types (1, 2 and 3) of wild

polio while the bivalent vaccine will contain type 1

and 3. India has already introduced injectable

inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) into its routine

immunisation programme along with oral polio

vaccine (OPV) from November 2015. In the first

phase, IPV has been introduced in Assam, Gujarat,

Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar

Pradesh.

India has been now validated for maternal and

neonatal tetanus elimination in May 2015 well

before the global target date of December 2015.

World’s largest database for cancer drug

discovery goes 3D

Scientists have revolutionised the world’s largest

database for cancer drug discovery by adding 3D

MENTOR MARCH 2016

structures of faulty proteins and maps of cancer’s

communication networks, paving the way for more

effective treatments. The new version of canSAR

database uses artificial intelligence to identify

nooks and crannies on the surface of faulty

cancer—causing molecules, as a key step in

designing new drugs to block them. The database

has already collated billions of experimental

measurements mapping the actions of one million

drugs and chemicals on human proteins, and has

combined these data with genetic information and

results from clinical trials, researchers said. It

allows scientists to identify communication lines

that can be intercepted within tumour cells,

opening up potential new approaches for cancer

treatment. The growing database now holds the 3D

structures of almost three million cavities on the

surface of nearly 110,000 molecules. “The

canSAR database is an important part of the

overall drive to use Big Data approaches to

understand and treat cancer more effectively,” said

Paul Workman, chief executive of The Institute of

Cancer Research. “CanSAR is a massively

powerful resource that’s used globally by

researchers to gain rapid and easy to use access to

a huge wealth of integrated knowledge in biology,

chemistry and cancer medicine,” he said.

Zika virus

An obscure mosquito-borne virus, Zika, is on the

prowl and has already caused an “unprecedent[ed]

situation” in the world of scientific research. It

stems from a huge surge in babies being born with

microcephaly, a rare, incurable condition in which

their heads are abnormally small. The disease is

currently sweeping through Northeastern Brazil,

with officials reporting at least 2,782 cases in

2015, as against 147 in 2014 and 167 in 2013. At

least 40 infants have died so far.

The virus gets its name from the Zika forest in

Uganda, Africa, where it was first identified in

rhesus monkeys in 1947. It was reported in

humans in 1952 but was unknown in the Americas

until last year. The virus is transmitted by

the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also

responsible for the spread of dengue and

chikungunya. In the last few years, confirmed

cases have been reported from Brazil, Colombia,

the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala,

Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname and

Venezuela.

The Zika virus was considered benign until

recently when scientists, for the first time in

November 2015, linked it to a surge in babies born

with microcephaly — an incurable birth defect,

they are born with abnormally small heads.

According to Brazilian authorities, by the end of

the year, Zika could infect over 1.5 million people.

Further, the disease is spreading fast and experts

believe it could spread to other countries in the

Southern hemisphere. Puerto Rico reported its first

case of Zika. Outbreaks have also occurred in parts

of Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Because the Aedes species mosquitoes that spread

Zika virus are found throughout the world, it is

likely that outbreaks will spread to new countries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) in the United States, and the Canadian

government have issued travel advisories, warning

tourists to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

Further, the Brazilian government is advising

women to delay pregnancies till the outbreak is

under control.

The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint

pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other symptoms

include experiencing muscle pain, headache, pain

behind the eyes, and vomiting. The virus causes a

painful but temporary rash in adults. The illness is

usually mild with symptoms lasting for several

days to a week but 1 in 5 people infected with the

Zika virus become ill

There is no medicine as yet to treat Zika.

According to the CDC, the condition can be

managed and symptoms treated with patients being

MENTOR MARCH 2016

put on bed rest, increasing fluid intake and having

fever medication.

Solar Power Capacity Crosses Milestone of

5,000 MW in India

On the auspicious occasion of Makar

Sankranti/Pongal, the installed capacity of solar

power in India crossed the milestone of 5,000

MW. The cumulative installed capacity has

reached to 5,130 MW with installed capacity of

1385 MW in current FY. The state-wise break-up

of 5,130 MW is given in the Table below. The

state of Rajasthan stands 1st in the country with

1264 MW, followed by Gujarat (1024MW),

Madhya Pradesh (679 MW), Tamil Nadu (419

MW), Maharashtra (379 MW) and Andhra

Pradesh (357 MW).

The Government has set the ambitious target of

generating 100 GW of solar power by the year

2021-22 under the National Solar Mission. It is

envisaged to generate 60 GW ground mounted

grid-connected solar power and 40 GW through

roof-top grid interactive solar power to fulfill the

100 GW of solar power. The Ministry has also

fixed year-wise targets to monitor the solar power

generation in the country. The target for the

current year is 2,000 MW and next year target is

12,000 MW. The Ministry is putting all efforts

through various schemes of Central Government

and State Governments to achieve the targets. It

has been planned that around 18,000 MW tender

should be out by 31st March, 2016.

To achieve above stated objective, the Ministry of

New & Renewable Energy has initiated several

projects like Scheme for Development of Solar

Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects;

Scheme for Development of Solar PV Power

Plants on Canal Banks/ Canal Tops; Scheme for

setting up 300 MW of Grid connected Solar PV

Power Projects by Defense Establishments under

Ministry of Defense and Para Military Forces with

viability Gap Funding; Scheme of setting up 1000

MW of Grid- Connected Solar PV Power Projects

by CPSUs with Viability Gap Funding ; Scheme

for Setting up of 15000 MW of Grid connected to

achieve this target. Solar PV Power Projects by

NTPC/NVVN; Setting up of 2000 MW Grid

connected solar power with Viability Gap Funding

through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

This apart, an ambitious scheme has been launched

by the Ministry for roof-top solar installation.

Various state governments are coming up with

solar power projects under their own policies.

Cabinet approves India joining the

International Energy Agency – Ocean

Energy Systems

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister

Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for

India becoming a member country of the

International Energy Agency - Ocean Energy

Systems (IEA-OES) by signing the Implementing

Agreement (IA). The nodal agency for the

membership would be Earth System Science

Organisation - National Institute of Ocean

Technology (ESSO-NIOT) under the Ministry of

Earth Sciences.

By becoming a member of the IEA-OES, India

will have access to advanced R&D teams and

technologies across the world. India will partner in

developing test protocols along with other

countries. This will help in testing Indian

prototypes as per international requirements and

norms. Joint cooperative programs with institutes

of member countries could be taken up. India's

own research projects with specific targets can be

taken up in conjunction with other countries.

The long coastline of India and severe power

deficit in the country, warrant the study of ocean

renewable energies. Vagaries of the sea makes

MENTOR MARCH 2016

harnessing ocean energy a technological challenge.

In the Indian context designing of scaled up ocean

energy devices (including wave, currents and tidal)

and their techno-commercial viability needs to be

undertaken. Tropical countries have high sea

surface temperatures and hence Ocean Thermal

Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a good option for

countries like India. NIOT, an autonomous

research institute under the Ministry of Earth

Sciences, is working in the area of ocean energy

and desalination.

The IEA is an inter-governmental organization

with a broad role of promoting alternate energy

sources (including renewable energy), rational

energy policies and multinational energy

technology co¬operation and acts as energy policy

advisor to 29 member countries. The OES,

launched in 2001, is an intergovernmental

collaboration between countries, which operates

under framework established by the International

Energy Agency. This initiative is to advance

research, development and demonstration of

technologies to harness energy from all forms of

ocean renewable resources, as well as for other

uses, such as desalination etc. through

international cooperation and information

exchange.

PSLV-C31 successfully launched IRNSS-

1E satellite

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

on 20 January 2016 successfully launched the

Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System

(IRNSS) 1-E satellite. The satellite will provide

navigation, tracking and mapping services to the

Indian sub continent. The satellite is the fifth of the

IRNSS constellation. It was launched from the

Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota

in Andhra Pradesh on-board the PSLV-C31. The

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C31 was

the 32nd consecutively successful mission of the

PSLV. The 'XL' configuration of PSLV was used

for this mission.

Features of IRNSS-1E

• IRNSS-1E, weighing 1425 kg, is the fifth of the

seven satellites constituting the IRNSS.

• IRNSS-1A, 1B and 1C and 1D, the first four

satellites of the constellation, were successfully

launched by PSLV in July 2013, April 2014,

October 2014 and March 2015 respectively.

• IRNSS -1E carries two types of payloads –

navigation payload and ranging payload.

• The navigation payload of IRNSS-1E will

transmit navigation service signals to the users.

This payload will be operating in L5-band and S-

band.

• A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part

of the navigation payload of the satellite.

• The ranging payload of IRNSS-1E consists of a

C-band transponder which facilitates accurate

determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-

1E also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for

laser ranging.

Features of IRNSS

• It consists of seven satellites to provide real-time

data on the position of objects to aid road, air and

maritime traffic apart from providing mapping and

tracking services. It is an independent regional

navigation satellite system designed to provide

position information in the Indian region and 1500

km around the Indian mainland. It would provide

two types of services, namely, Standard

Positioning Services (SPS), which will be

provided to all users, and Restricted Services (RS)

that will be provided to authorised users only. Out

of the seven satellites of the system, three are

geostationary and four are non-geostationary. The

remaining satellites of this constellation, namely,

IRNSS-1F and IRNSS-1G, are expected to be

launched in February 2016 and March 2016

respectively. By using the IRNSS as a platform,

the Government of India is planning to launch its

own Global Navigational Satellite Services, GINS

(Global Indian Navigation Satellite) system. It is

similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS) of

the USA.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

NASA launched SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket

with Jason-3 Ocean-monitoring satellite

The National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) on 17 January 2016

launched the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from

California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in the

USA. The rocket carried the ocean monitoring

satellite Jason-3 on board and successfully inserted

it in the desired orbit. However, the rocket failed a

return landing on a drone platform in the Pacific

Ocean. The Jason-3 satellite will examine the

topography of the ocean floor to help study effects

of climate change or human-induced changes on

the ocean.

It is the fourth mission in U.S.-European series of

satellite missions that measure the height of the

ocean surface. It is also expected to help the USA

in better forecasting of hurricane forecasting and

marine navigation. It will extend the time series of

ocean surface topography measurements (the hills

and valleys of the ocean surface) begun by the

TOPEX/Poseidon satellite mission in 1992 and

continuing through the currently operating Jason-1

and Jason-2 missions. The Jason-1 and

OSTM/Jason-2 missions were launched in 2001

and 2008 respectively. These measurements

provide scientists with critical information about

circulation patterns in the ocean and about both

global and regional changes in sea level and the

climate implications of a warming world. The

primary instrument on Jason-3 is a radar altimeter.

The altimeter will measure sea-level variations

over the global ocean with very high accuracy (as

1.3 inches or 3.3 centimeters, with a goal of

achieving 1 inch or 2.5 centimeters).

China launched Gaofen-4 dual-use

geostationary satellite

China on 29 December 2015 successfully launched

Gaofen-4 Earth observation satellite toward a

geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite

Launch Centre in the south-western province of

Sichuan. The Satellite was launched aboard a Long

March-3B carrier rocket. Launched as a part of the

China High-resolution Earth Observation System

(CHEOS), Gaofen-4 is located at the orbit 36000

kilometres away from the earth and moves

synchronously with the earth.

Highlights of the Gaofen-4

• It can see an oil tanker on the sea with a huge

CMOS camera, reaching the best imaging level

among global high-orbit remote sensing satellites.

• It will be used for disaster prevention and relief,

surveillance of geological disasters and forest

disasters, and meteorologic forecast.

• It will offer optical spatial resolution of better

than 50 metres and infrared sensing capabilities

from geostationary orbit.

• It is designed to operate for eight years at an

altitude of almost 36000 km above the Earth.

The satellite was launched as a part of Gaofen

project that aims to launch seven high-definition

observation satellites before 2020. Gaofen-1, the

first satellite of the project, was launched in April

2013.

Indian-American professor developed

Galacto-Seismic method to hunt Dark

Matter

An international team of scientists led by Indian-

American Sukanya Chakrabarti devised a new

method, galacto-seismology, to detect dwarf

MENTOR MARCH 2016

galaxies dominated by dark matter. The method

also explains ripples on the outer disk of the

galaxy. Sukanya Chakrabarti, an assistant

professor at Rochester Institute of Technology,

New York, presented her findings at a press

conference hosted by the American Astronomical

Society meeting in Kissimmee on 7 January 2016.

Findings were submitted to The Astrophysical

Journal Letters.

The discovered method use waves in the galactic

disk to map the interior structure and mass of

galaxies, much similar to seismologist who uses

seismic waves to gather details about the interior

of the earth. This method will help in the hunt for

the mysterious space phenomenon. In the process,

the team used the spectroscopic observations to

calculate the speed of three Cepheid variables in

the Norma constellation. Cepheid variables are the

stars that are used as yardsticks to calculate the

distance of galaxies.

The team used Cepheid variables to locate the dark

matter dominated dwarf galaxy some 3 lakh light

years away. In contrast, the disk of Milky Way

Galaxy terminates some 48000 light years away

from earth. The study tracks a cluster of Cepheid

variables which are travelling at an average speed

of 450000 miles per hour (MPH), that is, 437000

MPH faster than the stars in stellar disk of the

Milky Way. Later they explained that the radial

velocity is the proof they have been looking for,

and it can be concluded that it is not a part of our

galaxy.

Dark Matter is a hypothetical kind of matter that

can’t be seen with telescopes but make up about

85 percent of the mass of the universe. It is one of

the biggest quirks of modern day physics and has

not been understood completely. The existence

and properties of dark matter are inferred from its

gravitational effects on visible matter, on radiation,

and on the large-scale structure of the universe.

Dark matter has not been detected directly, making

it one of the greatest mysteries in modern

astrophysics.

Japanese astronomers discovered second

largest black hole in Milky Way

Japanese astronomers’ team discovered the second

largest black hole in Milky Way. They mapped

high-velocity compact cloud called CO-0.40-0.22

with a mass 100000 times that of the Sun around

200 light years away from the centre of the Milky

Way. The research related to this was published in

Astrophysical Journal Letters with the title

‘Signature of an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in

the Central Molecular Zone of Our Galaxy’ on 28

December 2015. A team led by Tomoharu Oka, a

professor at Keio University observed this

mysterious cloud with two radio telescopes, the

Nobeyama 45m Radio Telescope in Japan and the

ASTE Telescope in Chile. These both telescopes

are operated by the National Astronomical

Observatory of Japan.

Astronomers already know about two sizes of

black holes — stellar-mass black holes, formed

after the gigantic explosions of very massive stars;

and supermassive black holes (SMBH) often found

at the centres of galaxies. Monster Black Hole is

the largest and brightest ever found with a mass

about 12 billion times that of the sun. So, the

present found on would the second largest.

A black hole is a region in space where the pulling

force of gravity is so strong that light is not able to

escape. The strong gravity occurs because matter

has been pressed into a tiny space. This

compression can take place at the end of a star's

life. Some black holes are a result of dying stars.

Because no light can escape, black holes are

invisible. However, space telescopes with special

instruments can help find black holes. They can

observe the behavior of material and stars that are

very close to black holes.

Sikkim becomes India’s first organic state

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state

by implementing organic practices on around

75,000 hectares of agricultural land. Around

75,000 hectares of agricultural land was gradually

converted to certified organic land by

implementing organic practices and principles as

per guidelines laid down in National Programme

for Organic Production. It was 12 years ago in

2003 when the Pawan Chamling-led government

decided to make Sikkim an organic farming state

through a declaration in the legislative assembly.

Later the entry of chemical inputs for farmland

was restricted and their sale banned. Farmers

therefore had no option but to go organic. Organic

cultivation is free of chemical pesticides and

chemical fertilisers as it tries to strike a

harmonious balance with a complex series of

ecosystems.

SPORTS

Lodha Panel Report Summary

Lodha panel says no BCCI office-bearer should be

a minister or a govt servant, while also disallowing

office-bearers to have more than two consecutive

terms

The apex court-appointed Justice R.M. Lodha

panel, which had earlier suggested suspension of

Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for

two years from participating in the Indian Premier

League (IPL), on Monday submitted the second

part of its report to the Supreme Court registry on

reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in

India (BCCI).

Following are the key recommendations made by

the Lodha panel regarding the functioning of

BCCI:

-- No BCCI office-bearer can be minister or

government servant.

-- No BCCI office-bearer can have more than two

consecutive terms.

-- No BCCI office-bearer can hold office for more

than 3 terms with the rider that there will be a

cooling off after each term.

-- No BCCI office-bearer can hold two posts at the

same same time.

-- Only one association of each state will be full

member and have the right to vote.

-- Relegation of railways, services and universities

as associate members. This makes them lose their

voting rights.

-- Separate governing bodies for IPL and BCCI.

-- Limited autonomy for IPL governing council.

-- Constitution and establishment of a players’

association.

-- Formation of a steering committee headed by

former home secretary G.K. Pillai with Mohinder

Amarnath, Diana Eduljee and Anil Kumble as

members.

-- Ethics officer to decide on conflict of interest.

The report will be considered by the bench headed

by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur at a later stage. The

panel’s report was submitted by advocate Gopal

Shankar Narayan to the Supreme Court registry.

Earlier, the panel had suspended star-studded

Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the most

successful team of IPL, and Rajasthan Royals for

two years from the League in a clean up of cricket

following the 2013 betting scam involving their

top officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra.

Son-in-law of the then BCCI chief N. Srinivasan,

Gurunath Meiyappan, a former team principal of

India Cements Ltd (ICL)-owned franchise CSK

and Kundra, co-owner of Jaipur IPL that runs

Rajasthan Royals (RR), were suspended for life

from any matches conducted by BCCI.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Pranav Dhanawade became first ever to

score 1000 runs in a cricket innings

15-year-old Pranav Dhanawade of Mumbai on 5

January 2016 became first cricketer ever to score

1000 runs in an innings. With this he became the

world’s highest individual scorer in all forms of

cricket. Pranav, batting for KC Gandhi Higher

Secondary School for over two-days, scored

unbeaten 1009 runs in a match against Arya

Gurukul in the Bhandari Cup inter-school

tournament. The event was organised by the

Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

India won the 2015 SAFF championships

India on 3 January 2016 won of the South Asian

Football Federation Cup (SAFF) championships.

In the title clash played at Trivandrum

International Stadium of Kerala, India defeated

defending champions Afghanistan 2-1. Half time

saw both the teams’ goal-less. At the end of a

breathless normal second half, both India and

Afghanistan were 1-1. India has been the most

successful side in the tournaments history by

winning the title in seven of the 11 editions.

Afghans won their first title in 2013.

Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Barry Hawkins

to win sixth Snooker Masters title

Ronnie O'Sullivan on 17 January 2016 won his

sixth Snooker Masters title after defeating Barry

Hawkins 10-1 in the final at the Alexandra Palace

in London. O'Sullivan had previously won the

event in 1995, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2014,

equalling the record set by Stephen Hendry.

Lionel Messi won Ballon d'Or award 2015

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi on 11 January

2016 won the Ballon d'Or trophy for the world’s

best football player for the fifth time overall. In the

2014-15 season, Messi had played 61 games in

which he scored 52 goals, and gave 26 assists.

2015 winners

• FIFA Ballon d'Or: Lionel Messi

• FIFA Women's World Player of the Year: Carli

Lloyd

• FIFA Puskas Award: Wendell Lira

• FIFA World Coach of the Year (Men's): Luis

Enrique

• FIFA World Coach of the Year (Women's): Jill

Ellis

• FIFA FIFPro World XI: Neuer, Silva, Marcelo,

Ramos, Alves, Iniesta, Modric, Pogba, Messi,

Neymar, Ronaldo

• FIFA Fair Play Award: All football organisations

supporting refugees

Stanislas Wawrinka won third consecutive

Chennai Open title

Stanislas Wawrinka on 10 January 2016 won

Chennai Open title. In the summit clash at the

Nungambakkam tennis stadium of Chennai, he

defeated Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 7-5. This is

the fourth Chennai Open title for the Swiss player

MENTOR MARCH 2016

and the third consecutive win, who first won it in

2011. With this win, Wawrinka lifted the cup and

got the award money of 75700 US dollars and got

away with 250 ATP ranking points.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won Brisbane

Tennis trophy

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis on 9 January 2016

won the WTA Brisbane Tennis trophy. In the final

at Brisbane, the top seeded Indo-Swiss pair

defeated German Angelique Kerber and Andrea

Petkovic 7-5, 6-1. They also stitched a 26-match

winning streak together, which has brought them

six titles in a row at the US Open, Guangzhou,

Wuhan, Beijing, WTA Finals and now at Brisbane.

India won Blind T20 Asia Cup

India on 24 January 2016 won the first T20 Asia

cup cricket for Blind. In the final clash played at

Jawaharlal Nehru stadium of Kochi, India defeated

Pakistan by 44 runs. Batting first, India scored 208

runs in 20 over whereas Pakistan was restricted to

164 runs in 18.2 over. So far, Pakistan was

unbeaten in this tournament and had defeated India

by 19 runs in the group stages.

PV Sindhu won Malaysia Masters Grand

Prix Gold Badminton title

India's Ace Shuttler, PV Sindhu on 24 January

2016 won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold

Badminton title. In the final clash at Penang, she

defeated Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour 21-15, 21-9.

This was Sindhu’s second Malaysia Masters Grand

Prix Gold title, having won it in 2013 as well.

Australia won five-match ODI series

against India, 4-1

Australia on 23 January 2016 won the five-match

One Day International (ODI) series against India

4-1. In the fifth and final match played at Sydney

Cricket Ground, Sydney, India defeated Australia

by 6 wickets. This is the first time that any team

has chased more than 300 runs to complete victory

against Australia in their own den. India will retain

their No. 2 ranking in ODIs as well. Man of the

Series: Rohit Sharma (India) for his truckload of

runs in the entire series.

Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis won 2016

Australian Open women's doubles tennis

title

Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis

on 29 January 2016 won the 2016 Australian Open

title of tennis in the women’s doubles category. To

win the title, the top seeded Indo-Swiss pair

defeated seventh seeded Czech duo Andrea

Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (1), 6-3 at the

Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. With

the win over the Czech duo, they extended their

unbeaten run to 36. For Sania-Hingis pair, it was

their maiden Australian Open title and the third

successive Grand Slam doubles title after their

victories in the 2015 Wimbledon and US Open.

MISCELLANEOUS

Eminent Tabla player Shankar Ghosh

passed away

Eminent Tabla player Pandit Shankar Ghosh

passed away on 22 January 2016 in Kolkata

following a prolonged illness. He was 80. He is

survived by his wife Sanjukta Ghosh, a classical

vocalist of Patiala gharana, a son, daughter-in-law

and two grandsons. He was awarded the

prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in the

year 2000.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Rahul Thakkar won an Oscar Award for

technical achievement

Person of Indian Origin Rahul Thakkar on 8

January 2016 was named as one of winners of the

Scientific and Technical Awards given by the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,

famously called Oscar Awards. He shares the

award with Richard Chuang in the category of

groundbreaking design of the DreamWorks

Animation Media Review System. With this he

joined the club of other person of Indian origins

who have won Oscar Awards. These are Bhanu

Athaiya, Satyajit Ray, Resul Pookutty, A.R.

Rahman and Gulzar.

Legendary dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai

passed away

Legendary dancer and Padma Bhushan recipient

Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away on 21 January

2016 in Ahmedabad. She was 97. Besides being a

classical dancer, Sarabhai was a poet, writer and

environmentalist. She also played a leading role in

the social and art scene in Ahmedabad. She was

one of the first classical dancers to turn to

choreography.

UNWTO released World Tourism

Barometer

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on

18 January 2016 released the World Tourism

Barometer, which reviewed trends in tourism at

the regional and global level for 2015 and

enumerated prospects for 2016. As per the

publication, international tourist arrivals grew by

4.4 percent in 2015 to reach a total of 1184 million

in 2015. In numbers, around 50 million more

travelers were recorded in 2015 compared to that

2014.

Highlights of World Tourism Barometer

• 2015 marks the 6th consecutive year of above-

average growth, with international arrivals

increasing by 4 percent or more every year since

the post-crisis year of 2010.

• The tourist arrivals, in 2015, were largely

influenced by exchange rates, oil prices and

natural and manmade crises in many parts of the

world.

• Growth in advanced economy destinations (5

percent growth) exceeded that of emerging

economies (4 percent), boosted by the solid results

of Europe (5 percent).

• By region, Europe, the Americas and Asia and

the Pacific all recorded around 5 percent growth in

2015.

• Arrivals to the Middle East increased by 3

percent, while in Africa points to an estimated 3

percent decrease mostly due to weak results in

North Africa, which accounts for over one third of

arrivals in the region.

• Results from the UNWTO Confidence Index

remain largely positive for 2016, though at a

slightly lower level as compared to the previous

two years.

• Based on the current trend and this outlook,

UNWTO projects international tourist arrivals to

grow by 4 percent worldwide in 2016.

• Among the world’s top source markets, China,

with double-digit growth in expenditure every year

since 2004, continues to lead global outbound

travel.

• Expenditure from the United States , the world’s

second largest source market, and the United

Kingdom, the third largest, was boosted by a

strong currency and rebounding economy.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Anuradha Roy won 2016 DSC Prize for

Sleeping on Jupiter

Indian author Anuradha Roy on 16 January 2016

won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian

Literature for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter at the

Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.

About DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

• The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is a

literary prize awarded annually to writers of any

ethnicity or nationality writing about South Asia

with themes such as culture, politics, history or

people.

• The prize was instituted by DSC Limited, an

Indian infrastructure and construction company.

• It is for an original full-length novel written in

English, or translated into English.

• The winner of the prize receives 2800000 rupees

(about 50000 US dollars).

• In 2015, Jhumpa Lahiri won the prize for her

novel The Lowland. Cyrus Mistry won it for

Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer in 2014.

India and Japan conducted joint Coast

Guard exercise Sahyog-Kaijin 2016

The Coast Guards of India and Japan on 15

January 2016 conducted their 15th joint exercise

off the coast of Chennai.

India’s Coast Guard vessel Samudra Pehredar and

the Japanese vessel Echigo were berthed at

Chennai Port for the bilateral training called

Sahyog-Kaijin 2016.

The highlight of the joint exercise was anti-piracy.

However, search and rescue operations and

interoperability between the two forces was also

given emphasis.

The exercise also involved Indian coast guard

ships like Rajkamal, Vishwast, Rajtarang,

Hovercraft, C-415, C-417, one Dornier and one

Chetak helicopter.

Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand won the

Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for work on

Khap panchayats

An independent Delhi-based writer Ankita Anand

on 14 January 2016 won the European

Commission's prestigious Lorenzo Natali Media

Prize for 2015 in Asia and the Pacific amateur

category.

She earned the award for her sensitive portrayal of

life for young women facing the threat of the

diktat of khap panchayats in Haryana with the title

Stirrings beneath the peepul published in the

journal The Equator Linel.

About The Lorenzo Natali Media Prize

• It is organized by the European Commission’s

Directorate-General for International Cooperation

and Development since 1992.

• It is awarded to journalists for outstanding

reporting on development and poverty eradication.

• The Prize is divided into two distinct categories:

amateur and professional journalism. An

independent jury will identify one winner per

category and per region.

• The Regions are Africa, the Arab world and the

Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America

and the Caribbean and Europe.

• Each winner of the prize will be granted 5000

Euros.

• The Lorenzo Natali Grand Prize of an additional

5000 Euros will be awarded to one of the winners.

Employees Provident Fund Organization

won the National Award on e-Governance

2015-16

MENTOR MARCH 2016

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization won

the National Award on e-Governance 2015-16 for

launching the Universal Account Number (UAN).

The Union Ministry of Personnel, Public

Grievances and Pensions will present the award in

the 19th National Conference on e-governance to

be held in Nagpur on 22 January 2016.The EPFO

bagged the national award in the ‘innovative use of

technology in e-governance’ category and the

retirement body will get a cash prize of 200000

rupees.

What is Universal Account Number (UAN)?

• UAN is an e-initiative of EPFO, launched in July

2014.

• In this initiative, all active employees are

provided a universal number which can be linked

to various provident fund account numbers

provided to them while working in different

organisations

• Statistically, 5.65 crore employees in 457000

organisations were allocated with UAN till

November 2015.

• A single account number can be used through all

of workers’ employments with various

organisations.

• It enables the employees to switch their provident

fund deposits automatically, when they change

their job, just by providing UAN to the new

employer.

• It also allows employees to have access to their

provident fund account to view their balance and

deposits on the portal, without going through the

Employer.

11th World Hindi Day observed on 10

January

The 11th World Hindi Day was celebrated on 10

January 2016. To mark the occasion, Ministry of

External Affairs (MEA) through its missions/posts

abroad and the Department of Official Language

(Rajbhasha) conducted special events to spread the

greatness of the language.

Indo-French military exercise Shakti-2016 started

India and France on 8 January 2016 started their

eight-day counter-terrorism and counter-

insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 in

Rajasthan. This is the third edition in the series of

bilateral exercises under this banner and is being

held in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan's

Bikaner.

Amitabh Kant appointed as CEO of NITI

Aayog

Amitabh Kant was on 7 January 2016 appointed as

the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.

His appointment was approved by the

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

Kant will take over the office of CEO in March

2016, when he retires from service.

Raghuram Rajan conferred Central

Banker of the Year Award

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram

Rajan on 7 January 2016 was felicitated with the

Central Banker of the Year Award (Global and

Asia Pacific) for 2016. The award was given by

the Financial Times Group's monthly publication

The Banker.

India successfully test-fired indigenously

developed MBRL Pinaka II at Pokhran

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Amament Research and Development

Establishment (ARDE) in the last week of

December 2015 successfully test-fired Pinaka II

multi barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) System.

The three-day long user assisted trials were

conducted at Pokhran in Rajasthan.

Key features of Pinaka II MBRL System

• Pinaka is an unguided rocket system and capable

of neutralising large areas with rapid salvos.

• Range of Pinaka II is 20 km more than the

Pinaka I version, which has a 40 km range and has

already been inducted into the forces.

• The system acts as a force-multiplier while

supplementing the artillery guns of the armed

forces.

• It is capable to incorporate several types of

warheads, which make the weapon deadly for the

enemy as it can even destroy solid structures and

bunkers.

• The system proved its mettle during Kargil war

while neutralising the mountain peaks off the

enemy. They are developed at a very low cost vis-

a-vis other such rocket systems in the world

bestowed with shoot and scoot capabilities.

• The Pinaka MBRL System has been

indigenously developed by the ARDE, Pune.

Commemorative Coin of 150 rupees &

Circulation Coin of 10 rupees on Lala

Lajpat Rai released

Ministry of Culture on 28 January 2016 released a

commemorative coin of 150 rupees and a

circulation coin of 10 rupees on Lala Lajpat Rai.

The Commemorative Coin of 150 rupees is made

of Quaternary alloy with diameter of 44 mm and

weight of 35 grams. The Circulation coin of 10

rupees is made of bi-metallic material with

diameter of 27 mm and weight of 7.71 grams.

Indian activist Henri Tiphagne selected for

Amnesty International Human Rights

Award 2016

Indian lawyer and human rights defender Henri

Tiphagne on 26 January 2016 was selected for the

8th Human Rights Award by Amnesty

International Germany. The award is a recognition

of Tiphagne’s exceptional commitment to human

rights. He will be conferred with the award at an

official ceremony on 25 April 2016 at the Maxim

Gorki Theatre in Berlin, Germany.

Henri Tiphagne is the founder of the organization

People’s Watch, one of the most notable human

rights organizations in India. People’s Watch has

been researching and documenting human rights

violations, as well as providing legal

representation to those affected, for over 20 years.

The organization also actively supports human

rights education. In 1997, Tiphagne founded an

institute offering training for teachers as well as

mentoring around school human rights education

programmes.

Transparency International released

Corruption Perceptions Index 2015

Transparency International on 27 January 2016

released the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)

2015. The Index measured the perceived levels of

public sector corruption in 168 countries and

territories across the world.

The CPI 2015 showed that although corruption is

still rife globally, more countries improved their

scores in the edition than declined. The index

further suggested that people working together can

succeed in the battle against corruption.

While Denmark, with rank 1, was adjudged as the

most corruption-free country among the surveyed

countries, India was placed at the 76th place with

38 points. India was at the 85th position among the

175 countries surveyed in the CPI 2014.

Highlights of the Index

• The index was topped by Denmark with a score

of 91. It was followed by Finland and Sweden with

a score of 90 and 89 respectively. While New

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Zealand was at the fourth place, Netherlands and

Norway shared the fifth place with 87 points.

• At the bottom of the list were Angola (163),

South Sudan (163), Sudan (165), Afghanistan

(166) and North Korea and Somalia shared the last

place at 167 with a score of 8 each.

• Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries on the

2015 index scored below 50, on a scale from 0

(perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived

to be very clean).

• Yet in places like Guatemala, Sri Lanka and

Ghana, citizen activists in groups and on their own

worked hard to drive out the corrupt, sending a

strong message that should encourage others to

take decisive action in 2016.

• Top performers share key characteristics: high

levels of press freedom; access to budget

information so the public knows where money

comes from and how it is spent; high levels of

integrity among people in power; and judiciaries

that don’t differentiate between rich and poor, and

that are truly independent from other parts of

government.

• In addition to conflict and war, poor governance,

weak public institutions like police and the

judiciary, and a lack of independence in the media

characterise the lowest ranked countries.

• The big decliners in the past 4 years include

Libya, Australia, Brazil, Spain and Turkey. The

big improvers include Greece, Senegal and UK.

• Brazil was the biggest decliner in the index,

falling 5 points and dropping 7 positions to a rank

of 76. The unfolding Petrobras scandal brought

people into the streets in 2015 and the start of

judicial process may help Brazil stop corruption.

Key trends

• More than 6 billion people live in countries with

a serious corruption problem. The scale of the

issue is huge. 68 per cent of countries worldwide

have a serious corruption problem and half of the

G20 are among them.

• Poor countries lose 1 trillion US dollars a year to

corruption.

• Five of the 10 most corrupt countries also rank

among the 10 least peaceful places in the world.

• In Afghanistan, millions of dollars that should

have gone on reconstruction have been reportedly

wasted or stolen, seriously undermining efforts to

sustain peace.

• Many “clean” countries have dodgy records

overseas. For example, Sweden came third in the

index, yet the Swedish-Finnish firm TeliaSonera –

37 per cent owned by the Swedish state – is facing

allegations that it paid millions of dollars in bribes

to secure business in Uzbekistan, which was at the

153rd in the index.

BRICS economies

Corruption and money laundering are also

problems for the other BRIC countries. South

Africa was the highest ranked country in the

BRICS. It is ranked 61 with a score of 44. Next

among the BRICS were Brazil and India which

shared the 76th position, with a score of 38. While

China ranked 83, Russia was at the 119th place in

the index with score 29.

SAARC Countries

Among the SAARC countries, Bhutan was ranked

highest and Afghanistan was at the bottom. Bhutan

was ranked 27 with a score of 65, whereas

Afghanistan was ranked 166 with a score of 11.

Ranks of the other SAARC countries were India

(76), Sri Lanka (83), Pakistan (117), Nepal (130)

and Bangladesh (139).+

About Corruption Perceptions Index

• It is prepared by Transparency International (TI)

which is a global coalition against corruption and

The CPI 2015 is the 21st edition of the annual

index.

• It is based on expert opinions of public sector

corruption and countries are ranked on the basis of

corruption perception score measured on the scale

of 0 – 100. A score of 0 means highly corrupt

country whereas a score of 100 means very clean

country.

• Transparency International (TI) is based in Berlin

Germany and its Managing Director is Cobus de

Swardt.

• At present, TI is running a campaign called

Unmask the Corrupt, urging European Union,

United States and G20 countries to follow

Denmark’s lead and create public registers that

MENTOR MARCH 2016

would make clear who really controls, or is the

beneficial owner, of every company.

List of important Committees in India

during 2015 and 2016.

Ajay Shankar Committee : To review

functioning of PPP Cell

Prof. NR Madhava Menon Panel : Reported

guidelines for regulating expenditure and

content of advertisement in govt. adds

H Devaraj Commitee : Reported most

deemed university

H R Khan Panel : To evaluate unclaimed

PPF and Post Office Savings

V V Daga Committee : To conduct forensic

audit of NSEL

Sivaramakrishnan committee : Submit

Report to build the capital city for Andhra

Pradesh

Ramanujam committee : To avoid obsolete

laws

Bimal Jalan : To head the Expenditure

Management Commission

Hari Gautam Committee : To review the

status of UGC

Justice SB Sinha (One Member

Commission):To Probe 2006 Meerut Fire

Tragedy

Suresh Prabhu Committee: To review gas

pricing formula

R S Sharma Expert Committee : To review

the Company (Cost Records and Cost Audits)

Rules 2014

Justice MB Shah : On Black Money

Deepak Mohanty Committee : Data and

Information Management in the RBI

Arvind Mayaram Committee : To clear

definition to the FDI and FII

Nachiket Mor Committee : To permit

NBFC's to work as Business correspondence

P J Nayak Committee : Governance of

Boards of Bank in India

Bibek Debroy : for Restructuring the railway

Justice CS Dharmadhikari Committee:

recommended complete ban on dance bars in

hotels and restaurants.

Pratyush Sinha : To assess compensation for

coal blocks.

Jairam Ramesh : On sustainable

development

T.K. Vishwanathan committee: To provide

Bankruptcy code for small and medium

enterprises (SMEs).

K.V. Kamath panel: to examine the financial

architecture for Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprises (MSME) sector.

Gopalakrishna Committee: on Capacity

Building in Banks and non-Banks

G N Bajpai Committee: Guidelines for

national pension system (NPS) schemes in

private sector.

Scientist Raghunath Anant Mashelkar

panel: To recommend best technologies for

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Swachh

Bharat" national sanitation campaign.

T S R Subramanian Committee: To review

five key green laws concerning protection and

conservation of environment, forest, wildlife,

water and air among others.

Tandon Committee:Follow Up Of Bank

Credit

DR Gadgil Committee:Agricultural Finance

Godwala Committee:Rural Finance

ML Dantwala Committee: Regional Rural

Banks

SS Nadkarni Committee:Trading In Public

Sector Banks

Venketaiya Committee:Review Of Rural

Financing System

Bhide Committee:Coordination Between

Commercial Banks And SFC's

AK Bhuchar Committee:Coordination

Between Term Lending Institutions And

Commercial Banks.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

R. Jilani: Inspection System in Banks

Goiporia Committee:Customer Service In

Banks

LC Gupta Committee:Financial Derivatives

James Raj Committee:Functioning Of

Public Sector Banks

Vipin Malik Committee:Consolidated

Accounting By Banks

A Ghosh Committee:Frauds & Malpractices

In Banks

BD Thakar Committee:Job Criteria In Bank

Loans (Approach)

A K Khandelwal:HR Issues of Public Sector

Banks

R.H. Khan:Harmonization of the Role of

Financial Institution in Banks

Rajamannar Committee:Changes In

Banking Laws , Bouncing Of Cheques Etc.

Usha Thorat Panel: Financial Inclusion

Chatalier Committee:Finance To Small

Scale Industry

K Madhav Das Committee:Urban

Cooperative Banks

R S Saria Committee:Agricultural Finance

And Cooperative Society

SS Kohli Committee:Rationalization Of Staff

Strength In Banks

J.V. Shetty:Consortium Lending by Banks

I.T. Vaz: Norms for Working Capital Finance

by Banks

Y.V. Reddy: Financial Aggregate System

Rakesh Mohan:Small Savings: Tax and

Interest Rates

M Damodaran:Customer Service in Banks

Pillai Committee:Pay Scales Of Bank

Officers

Rangrajan Committee:Computerization Of

Banking Industry

Cook Committee (On Behalf Of BIS -

Under Basel Committee ):Capital Adequacy

Of Banks

Pendarkar Committee:Review The System

Of Inspection Of Commercial, RRB And

Urban Cooperative Banks

Dave Committee:Mutual Funds

(Functioning)

MOCK TEST FOR IAS 2016

1. Which of the following currency has been

added to the IMF’s SDR currency basket,

recently?

a) Indian Rupee b) Australian Dollar

c) Renminbi d) Swiss Franc

2. Manufacturing recombinant DNA

molecules involves cutting a gene from its normal

location, inserting it into a circular piece of DNA

from a bacterial cell, and then transferring the

circle of DNA to cells of another species. Which

of the tools below is used to cut the gene from its

normal location?

a)restriction enzyme b) plasmid

c)bacteriophage d) vector

3. Consider the following Statements : -

1. Cryogenic engines use liquid oxygen and liquid

hydrogen at very low temperatures,

2. This technology is needed to put heavier,

Communication Satellites in a geosynchronous

transfer orbit with an apogee of 36,000 km and a

perigee of 200 km.

Which of the above statement is incorrect ?

a) 1 Only b) 2 Only

c) Both 1 and 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2

4. Consider the following Statements :

1. Agni - II is a Surface - to - surface intermediate

range missile that can carry nuclear weapons and

has a range of more than 2000 km.

2. The missile re-entry vehicle is made with

Carbon- Carbon Composits. to withstood very

high temperatures of up to 3,000 degree Celsius.

which of the above statements is/are correct ?

a) 1 only b) 2 only


5. What is the reason behind the naming of

‘Ebola Disease’?

MENTOR MARCH 2016

a) It’s called “Ebola” because first case was

reported near Ebola River in Congo.

b) It’s called “Ebola” because first case was

reported from a woman named Ebola.

c) It’s called “Ebola” because first case was treated

a hospital named Ebola.

d) It’s called “Ebola” because the natural host of

the disease is a vertebrate called Ebola.

6. Which of the following statements are

true regarding rDNA technology:

a) rDNA technology is used to obtain large

number of specific DNA fragments.

b) rDNA technology is used to obtain large

quantities of the protein produced by the

concerned genes.

c) rDNA technology is used to integrate gene of

interest into chromosomes where it expresses itself

d) All of these.

7. What does "pluripotent" mean?

a) Ability of a single cell to develop into an

embryonic or adult stem cell.

b) Ability of a single stem cell to develop into

many different cell types of the body.

c) Ability of a single embryonic stem cell to

develop into an adult stem cell.

d) Ability of a single stem cell to heal different

types of diseases.

8. Which of the following provisions of the

Constitution of India have a bearing on Education?

1. Directive Principles of State Policy

2. Fundamental Rights

3. Preamble

4. Fundamental Duties

Select the correct answer using the code given

below.

a) 1 and 2 only b) 1, 2 and 4 only

c) 1, 3 and 4 d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

9. The Second Schedule contain the

provisions related to which of the following ?

1. The President

2. The Speaker of the legislative Assembly in the

States

3. The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India

4. The Chairman, Union Public Service

Commission


below.

a) 1 and 3 only b) 2 and 4 only

c) 1, 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

10. Which one of the following best describes

the main objective of ‘Seed Village Concept?

a) Encouraging the farmers to use their own farm

seeds and discouraging them to buy the seeds from

others

b) Involving the farmers for training in quality

seed production and thereby to make available

quality seeds to others at appropriate time and

affordable cost

c) Earmarking some villages exclusively for the

production of certified seeds

d) Identifying the entrepreneurs in village and

providing them technology and finance to set up

seed companies

11. Legislation on the India-Bangladesh land

swap agreement is which amendment to the Indian

Constitution to have been passed by the

Parliament?

a) 119th b) 120th

c) 99th d) 100th

12. With reference to the immunization in

India, which of the following statements is/are

correct?

1) Thus far, only 65% children had access to all

vaccines during the first year of their life

2) Haemophilus influenzae type B is one of seven

vaccine-preventable diseases being covered under

Mission Indradhanush

3) Pregnant women too are covered under Mission

Indradhanush

Select the correct answer using codes given below:

a) 1 Only b) 2 and 3 only

c) 1 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3

13. Which one of the following issues the

“World Economic Outlook” report annually?

a) The World Bank

b) Organisation for economic cooperation and

development

c) International Energy Agency

d) International Association for Energy

Economics

14. Consider the following list of countries:

MENTOR MARCH 2016

1) United States of America 2) Afghanistan

3) Myanmar 4) Singapore

5) Nepal 6) Australia

Which of the above list of countries can become

members of the ISA (International Solar

Alliance)?

a) 1, 5 and 6 b) 3, 4 and 6

c) 2 and 4 d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6

15. ‘MADAD’, as an online grievance

monitoring system will ensure accountability,

accessibility and responsiveness. It has been

launched by

a) Ministry of External Affairs

b) Ministry of Women and Child Development

c) Ministry of Tourism

d) Ministry of Labour and Employment

16. With reference to the linguistic

reorganisation of States, consider the following

statements:

1. Dhar Commission recommended the

reorganization of the states mainly on linguistic

basis.

2. JVP Committee accepted language as the basis

for reorganization of the states.

3. Fazal Ali Commission rejected 'one language

one state theory'.

Which of the statements given above is/are

correct?

a) 1 only b) 3 only


17. Which of the following marked the

beginning of bicameralism system in India?

a) Government of India Act, 1858

b) Government of India Act, 1935

c) Morley Minto Reforms

d) Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms

18. With reference to Government of India

Act, 1935 consider the following statements:

1. It provided for the establishment of an All-India

Federation.

2. It provided for the establishment of Reserve

Bank of India.

3. It abolished Dyarchy in the provinces but

provided for the adoption of Dyarchy at the

Centre.

4. It provided for the establishment of a Federal

court.


correct?


c) 1, 2 and 4 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only

19. With reference to writs issued by the

Supreme Court and High Courts in India, consider

the following statements :

1. The writ of Habeas Corpus can be issued against

public authorities only.

2. The writ of Mandamus cannot be issued against

a private individual or body.

3. The writ of Prohibition can be issued only

against judicial and quasi-judicial authorities.

4. The writ of Certiorari is available against

legislative bodies and private individuals.


correct?


c) 2 and 3 only d) 3 and 4 only

20. Consider the following statements:

1. The Constitution (86th) Amendment Act 2002,

inserted Article 21A in the constitution.

2. Under Article 21 A of the Constitution, free and

compulsory education is a fundamental right of all

the children between the age of six to fourteen

years.

3. Article 21 A and Right to Education Act 2009

can be enforced against unaided minority and non-

minority schools.


correct?

a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 only


21. With reference to the 44th Constitution

Amendment Act, 1978, consider the following

statements:

1. It provided that Fundamental Rights under

Article 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during

National Emergency.

2. It deleted the Right to Property from Part III of

the Indian Constitution.

3. It made a provision to bind the President by the

advice of cabinet.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Which of the statements given above is/are correct

?


c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3 only

22. Which of the followings are the

differences between Millennium Development

Goals (MDG) and Sustainable Development Goals

(SDG)?

1. MDG were in effect from 2000 to 2015 while

SDG will remain in effect from 2015 to 2030.

2. MDG consisted of 21 targets, while SDG

consists of 169 targets.

3. There are specific targets in SDGs called

“Urban Goals” which were not included under the

MDGs.


below.



23. Which of the following statements is/ are

true about Arbitration and Conciliation

(Amendment) Bill, 2015?

1. The arbitrators should settle disputes within a

period of one year.

2. The bill empowers arbitration tribunals to grant

all kinds of interim measures that a court would

provide.


below.

a) 1 only b) 2 only


24. Special safeguard mechanism (SSM) as

under WTO relates to

a) Allowing developing countries to raise tariffs

temporarily to deal with import surges or price

falls

b) Support for farmers that is not linked to prices

or production

c) Licensing companies or individuals other than

the patent owner to use the rights of the patent

d) Governments recognizing other countries’

measures as acceptable even if they are different

from their own, so long as an equivalent level of

protection is provided

25. which may be indicated by ‘deflation’ in

the economy?

a. GDP of the country has been growing at a

negative growth rate.

b. Prices of all goods must have declined

c. The Central bank is following an easy monetary

policy.

d. The demand in the economy is weak or supply

is excess.

26. As a country develops, it undergoes

‘structural change’. In the case of India, the

structural change is ‘peculiar’ with regard to its

sectoral composition especially services sector.

What is so ‘peculiar’ about this structural change?

a) Services sector has grown at a slower rate than

any other sector of the economy.

b) Traditionally services sector growth is propelled

by the manufacturing sector but in India

agricultural sector has propelled services sector

growth.

c) The service sector contributes more to the GDP

than agriculture and manufacturing even though

India is not a developed country.

d) Services sector has failed to generate additional

employment despite high levels of growth in India.

27. Who among the following is/are

associated with Buddhist Councils?

1. Ashoka 2. Kanishka

3. Ajatashatru 4. Mahapadma Nanda

Select the correct answer using the codes below.

a) 1, 2 and 3 only b) 1 and 2 only

c) 3 and 4 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

28. Consider the comparison between

Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) and Light

Emitting Diodes (LEDs).

1. CFLs have generally longer life spans than

LEDs.

2. LEDs use less power per unit of light generated

as compared to CFLs.

3. Both CFL and LED contain toxic mercury.



c) 2 only d) 1, 2 and 3

29. The chief characteristic features of the

Neolithic culture are

1. Practice of agriculture

2. Technology of smelting metal ore

3. Domestication of animals

MENTOR MARCH 2016



c) 1 and 3 only d) None of the above

30. If the rupee is devalued against foreign

currencies, it may lead to

1. A higher Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) in the

banking system

2. Increase in the inflow of foreign exchange

3. Greater exports and lesser imports



c) 1 only d) 1, 2 and 3 only

31. How would the Gold monetization

scheme help Indian economy?

1. It will help liquidate unproductive physical asset

gold.

2. It will free up idle gold to Gems and Jewellery

industry use.

3. It will help contain the current account deficit.




32. The Mahalanobis model of economic

growth adopted in post-independent India laid

stress on

a) Development of agriculture as the prime

moving sector of the economy

b) Reliance on heavy industries and import

substitution

c) Developing light industrial base with more

focus on consumer goods whose shortage may

result in inflation

d) Development of informal links of the Indian

economy with global markets

33. REDD stands for

a) Recurring Emission from Deforestation and

Forest Degradation

b) Reducing Environmental Degradation and

Forest Degradation

c) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and

Forest Degradation

d) Reducing Emissions from Degradable Deposits

of Wastes

34. Groundwater mining in coastal areas can

result into

a) increase in the salinity of groundwater.

b) decrease in the toxicity of groundwater.

c) decrease in the salinity of groundwater.

d) increase in the water table.

35. Consider the following statements about

Swine flu:

1. H1N1, the virus that causes swine flu, thrives

more in low temperatures.

2. Symptoms of swine flu are fever, cough, sore

throat, body ache, nausea and diarrhoea.

3. Vaccines are at research stage and currently

there is no vaccine available in market for swine

flu.


below.

a) 2 only b) 2 and 3 only



the Kyoto Protocol.

1. Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 but the first

commitment period started in 2008.

2. Its second commitment period started in 2013

and will last till 2017.

3. By the end of 2015 a new protocol to replace the

Kyoto Protocol will be formulated.


incorrect?


c) 2 only d) 1 and 3 only

37. Consider the following statements

regarding the three inter-related zones of

Biosphere Reserves:

1. The core zone is kept absolutely undisturbed

and provides for legal protection and management

and research for those activities that do not affect

natural processes and wildlife.

2.The buffer zone is not a delimited zone rather it

is a zone of cooperation and is not a delimited

zone where conservation, knowledge and

management skills are applied and uses are

managed in harmony.

3.The transitional zone includes those activities

which reduce its effect on core zone like

restoration, limited recreation, tourism, fishing and

grazing.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are

correct?

MENTOR MARCH 2016



38. Mangrove forests are unique ecosystems.

Which of the following is/are their potential

benefits?

1. They create a breeding habitat for the aquatic

system.

2. They contribute to improved water quality by

filtering and assimilating pollutants.

3. They help in stabilizing the bottom sediments.

4. They protect the shoreline from erosion.

Select the correct answer using code given below:-


c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

39. Agenda 21 is an environmental blueprint

enshrined under Rio Declaration. The Agenda has

four sections. Which among the following is not

part of four sections?

1. Social and Economic Dimensions

2. Conservation and Management of Resource for

Development

3. Strengthening the Role of Major Groups

4. Means of Implementation

Select the correct answer using code given below.

a) 1 only b) 3 only

c) 2 only d) All are correct.

40. Consider the following about the

Convention on the Conservation of Migratory

Species:

1. It is also known as Bonn Convention.

2. It aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian

migratory Species throughout their range

3. It is an intergovernmental treaty, concluded

under the aegis of the United Nations.

4. India is not signatory of convention.


below.

a) 1, 2 and 4 b) 1 and 2 only


41. There is an increased emphasis on ethanol

blending in recent years. Which of the following

are advantages of ethanol blending?

1. It increases octane rating of the fuel

2. It reduces atmospheric pollution emissions

3. It increases energy density of fuel



42. Which of the following statements is/are

correct regarding the recently launched National

Air Quality Index?

1. The index monitors the air quality only in urban

areas across India.

2. The index will be released once in a month in an

easily understandable format of one number, one

colour and one description.

3. The index considers eight pollutants including

Carbon monoxide and ozone.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?


c) 1 and 3 only d) 3 only

43. Bagasse can be used to manufacture

1. Biofuel 2. Paper

3. Fertilizers



c) 1 and 3 only d) All of the above

44. World Development Indicators' report is

published by

a) World Bank

b) United Nations Development Programme

c) United Nations Economic and Social Council

d) World Health Organization


Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

1. It is an agency of the United Nations

2. It serves only developing and Least Developed

Countries (LDCs).

3. It created the Codex Alimentarius Commission

to develop food standards.



c) 1 and 3 only d) 2 only

46. Red Data Book, IUCN, keeps a record of

all the endangered animals and plants. Which of

the following institutions contribute to the red list?

1. BirdLife International

2. World Conservation Monitoring Centre

3. Greenpeace

4. Environmental Defense Fund



c) 1, 3 and 4 only d) 2, 3 and 4 only

MENTOR MARCH 2016

47. Exotic plants of an area refer to

a) Endemic or indigenous vegetation of that area

b) Vegetation that is not native and has come from

outside

c) Naturally growing vegetation which has been

left undisturbed by humans for a long time

d) Vegetation that grows in a specific season after

a long time

48. which of the following treaties have NOT

been ratified by India?

1. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic

Pollutants (POPs)

2. Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

3. Rotterdam Convention



c) 3 only d) All have been ratified.

49. The Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) adopted from 2015 do NOT deal with?

1. Education for all

2. Reduced inequalities among citizens

3. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Select the correct answer using the codes below:


c) 3 only d) all of the above

50. Consider the following about the Clean

Development Mechanism (CDM).

1. It related to the Kyoto Protocol.

2. Only industrialized countries can participate in

it.

3. Certified emission reduction (CER) credits are

associated with CDM.

Select the correct answer using the codes below:



51. Definition of Industrial Sickness to

Companies (Second Amendment) Act, 2002

include

1) accumulated losses in any financial year which

are equal to 50% or more of its average net worth

during five year immediately preceding such

financial year; or

2) Failed to repay its debts within any three

consecutive quarters


a) Only 1 b) Only 2

c) Both 1 & 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2

52. To be qualified as a Navratna, the

company must obtain a score of 60 (out of 100).

The score is based on six parameters which

include

1) Net profit to net worth

2) Earning Per Share

3) Profit Before Depreciation, Interest and Taxes

to capital employed

4) Market capitalization

a) 1,2,3 b) 2,3,4

c) 1,2,4 d) 1,3,4

53. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) is an

Indian financial services banking company

1) The Bank's initial capital consists of Rs 1,000

crores

2) give a slight concession on loan rates to women


a) Only 1 b) Only 2


54. What is Ponzi scheme or pyramid scheme

1) fraudulent investment operation

2) promises higher returns to those who join the

scheme

3) The Securities Laws (Amendment) Second

Ordinance, 2013 has given Sebi greater powers to

crack down on ponzi schemes


a) 1,2 and 3 b) 2 and 3

c) 1and 3 d) only 2


1) An angel investor or angel (also known as a

business angel or informal investor) is an affluent

individual who provides capital for a business

start-up

2) Sebi has restricted investment by such funds

between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 50 crore.


a) Only 1 b) Only 2


56. Which of the following policies aims to

reduce the Current Account Deficit ?

1. Currency Devaluation

2. Reduction in import duties

3. Tightening of fiscal and monetary policy

4. Providing export subsidies

MENTOR MARCH 2016

Select the correct answers from the code given

below.


c) 1, 3 and 4 only d) 2 and 4 only

57. Which of the following is the

characteristic of ‘Round Tripping’?

a) It is a practice whereby a company deliberately

incorporates a business unit in a tax haven to

reinvest in the parent country to avoid paying taxes

in the parent country.

b) It is a practice whereby a company shifts its

entire business in the tax haven.

c) It is a practice whereby a company sends its

employees for a foreign vacation.

d) None of the above.


regarding inflation in India.

1. To reduce inflation RBI Increases repo rate.

2. To reduce inflation government can increase

import duties and can ban exports of certain

products.

3. RBI uses Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as the

key measure of inflation.

Select the correct answer from the code given

below.



59. Which of the following statement(s) is/are

correct regarding IMF?

1. Though IMF provides loans to help countries

overcome economic difficulties and also

concessional loans to help fight poverty in

developing countries, it does not lend for specific

projects.

2. A member's quota in IMF determines the

contribution it has to make to fund's resources,

amount of financing it can access in need and also

its voting power at the IMF.


below.

a) 1 only b) 2 only



theNational Manufacturing Policy (NMP).

1. The policy aims to create 100 million additional

jobs over the next decade.

2. National Investment and Manufacturing Zones

(NIMZs) has been accorded withbenefits like

exemption from capital gains tax, simplified

procedures and easier exit norms.

3. The policy aims to raise the share of

manufacturing to 25 percent of GDP by 2022.

Which of the above statements are correct?

a) Only 1 & 2 b) Only 2 & 3

c) Only 1 & 3 d) All of the above


the Open Market Operations also known as OMO.

1. Open Market Operations include buying and

selling of government securities in the open

market.

2. Open market operations are the principal tools

of monetary policy.

3. Central government has the main responsibility

for implementing Open market operations.

Which of the above statements are correct?

a) Only 1 & 2 b) Only 2 & 3

c) Only 1 & 3 d) All of the above

62. Consider the following regarding

International Development Association (IDA):

1. IDA is an associate institution of World Bank

known as soft loan window of World Bank.

2 The resources of IDA include subscribed capital

by member countries, general replenishments by

developed countries, net income transferred by

IBRD.

Which of these statements is/are correct?

a) Only 1 b) Only 2

c) Both 1 and2 d) Neither 1 nor2

63. With respect to Marginal standing

Facility (MSF) consider the following statements:

1. The marginal standing facility doesn’t affect the

value of rupee in international market as it is used

for overnight transactions which are very short

term.

2. The purpose of marginal standing facility is to

reduce volatility in the overnight lending rates in

the inter-bank market.

3. Marginal standing facility is generally kept

lower than repo rate in India.

Which of the statement/s given above is/are

correct?

a) 1 only b) 2 only

MENTOR MARCH 2016


64. Consider the following statements :

1. Till the formation of WTO, international trade

was governed by GATT through its multi-lateral

trade negotiations.

2. The Doha round ended with the Marrakkech

Agreement signed by 117 countries including

India.

3. GATT is different from WTO in the aspect that

the former had no dispute settlement process.


below.



65. The climate of Antarctica is freezing cold

because of which of the following ?

1. Its distance from the equator .

2. The great height of the plateau .


below :

a) only 1 b) only 2

c) both 1 and 2 d) neither 1 nor 2


comparing cyclone & anticyclone:

1. When a cyclone approaches there is a rise in the

barometric reading, while an anticyclone causes

barometric reading to fall.

2. The isobars are closer in a cyclone when

compared to that in an anticyclone.

3. In northern hemisphere cyclonic circulation is

clockwise, while anti-cyclonic circulation is clock-

wise in southern hemisphere.

Which of the statements given is/are incorrect ?


c) 3 only d) None of the above


the jet streams :

1. They are formed at least at the height of 3 to 4

km.

2. They generally flow perpendicular to the

isobars.

3. Tropical jet streams blow with greater speeds

than the polar jet streams.

4. Jet stream phenomenon is also observed on

other planets.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct

?

a) 1 and 2 b) 1,3,4

c) 1 and 4 d) 2,3,4

68. Which of the following statements is

correct regarding the Coriolis force ?

1. Due to Coriolis force, winds are deflected in

right side in the northern hemisphere.

2. Wind deflection due to coriolis force is

maximum at the equator.

3. Due to coriolis force, wind speed increases near

the equator.


below:

a) 1 only b) 1 and 2

c) 1 and 3 d) 1,2 and 3


true regarding coral reefs?

1) Corals are found mainly in the tropical oceans

and seas because they require high mean annual

temperature.

2) Corals do not live in deeper waters.

3) Corals thrive in fresh water.

4) Ocean currents and waves are favourable for

corals.

a) 1, 2 and 3 b) 1 and 2 only

c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 d) 1, 2 and 4

70. The Tropic of Capricorn passes through

which of the following countries?

1) Brazil 2) Argentina

3) South Africa 4) Indonesia

5) Australia 6) New Zealand

Select the correct answer using the codes given

below.

a) 1, 5 and 6 only b) 2, 3, 5 and 6 only

c) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only d) 1, 3, 4 and 5 only

71. Chose the correct sequence of vegetation,

given below, in Europe when we move from

higher latitude to lower latitude –

1. Taiga type 2. Tundra type

3. Mixed forests 4. Mediterranean type

Correct answer is-

a) 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 b) 2 , 1 , 3 , 4

c) 1 , 2 , 4 , 3 d) 2 , 1 , 4 , 3

MENTOR MARCH 2016

72. The 49o North Parallel of Latitude forms

the boundary between which of the following two

countries?

a) North Korea and South Korea b) Russia and

China

c) Canada and USA d) All the above

73. Which of the following countries known

as Baltic States-

1. Estonia 2. Belarus

3. Latvia 4. Lithuania

Choose the correct option from the following

a) 1 , 2 , 3 b) 2 , 3 , 4

c) 1 , 3 , 4 d) All of the above

74. Consider the following statements.

1. The Zambezi river forms natural boundary

between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

2. The Congo river cuts the equator twice.

3. Both Blue Nile and White Nile, the two main

tributaries of Nile, originates outside the Egypt.




75. Which among the following are the

notable differences between western and eastern

coastal plains of India?

1. Eastern coastal plains are broader and western

coastal plains are narrower.

2. Eastern coastal plains are characterized by

occurrence of deltas and western coastal plains. By

occurrence of estuaries.

3. Eastern coastal plains are wet in comparison to

the western coastal plains.

a) 1 and 3 b) 2 and 3

c) 1 and 2 d) All


correct?

1. The sudden approach of the moisture laden

winds is associated with violent thunder and

lightning is known as Burst of the Monsoon.

2. The Monsoons enters West Bengal and

Bangladesh from south and south-east instead of

south westerly direction.

3. The passage of the cyclonic depressions formed

at the Bay of Bengal is always along the excess of

the monsoon trough of the low pressure.

a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3

c) 1 and 3 d) All the above

77. Peninsular rivers are characterized by:

1. Fixed course of the river

2. Presence of meanders

3. Drainage into the Arabian sea

Select the correct options:



78. Match List I with List II and select the

correct answer using the code given below the

lists.

List I (coal mines) List II (State)

A. Neyveli 1. Odisha

B. Singarauli 2. Telangana

C. Singareni 3. Tamil Nadu

D. Talcher 4. Madhya Pradesh

A B C D

a) 1 2 4 3

b) 1 4 2 3

c) 3 2 4 1

d) 3 4 2 1

79. Consider the following pairs:

Hydel Projects River

1. Baghliar Jhelum

2. Dulhasti Chenab

3. Salal Indus

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?


c) 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3


regarding Peninsular and Himalayan rivers:

1. Himalayan rivers are antecedent and consequent

rivers while Peninsular rivers are super-imposed

and rejuvenated rivers.

2. Himalayan rivers are young and youthful while

peninsular rivers are old rivers with graded profile


a) 1 only b) 2 only

c) Neither 1 nor 2 d) Both 1 and 2

81. Arrange the following Biosphere reserves

of India in the increasing order of their latitude

away from equator.

1. Simlipal 2. Agasthyamalai

3. Nokrek 4. Nilgiri

Select the correct answer using the codes given

below.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

a) 4, 2, 3, 1 b) 2, 4, 1, 3

c) 4, 1, 2, 3 d) 2, 4, 3, 1

82. The region of Gupta rulers is known as

the ‘Golden Age of lndia.’ Which of the following

is true in this regard?

a) There was peace and prosperity

b) There was religious tolerance

c) There was tremendous advancement in the field

of science

d) All of the above

83. Consider the following statements with

respect to Gandhi-Irwin Pact 1931 :

1. As a result of this pact, the Civil Disobedience

movement was suspended by Gandhi.

2. In this pact Gandhi agreed to participate in

Third Round Table conference.

3. Government agreed to give right to make salt in

coastal villages for sale and personal consumption.


correct?



84. With reference to the Ghadar movement,

consider the following statements:

1. The movement was strongly secular.

2. The Ghadar Movement failed to generate an

effective and sustained leadership that was capable

of integrating the various aspects of the movement.

3. Objective of Ghadarites was the establishment

of an Independent Republic of India.


correct?



85. What were the reasons behind the sudden

change in Congress’ posture and launch of Quit

India Movement?

1. Failure of Cripps Mission

2. The manner in which British withdrew from

South- East Asia

3. Famine conditions in Bengal and the

Government’s apathetic attitude to the situation

Select the correct option using the codes given

below.


c) 1 and 3 only d) All of the above


respect to Swadeshi Movement:

1. Tilak’s Ganapati and Shivaji festival helped in

spreading the idea of Swadeshi amongst masses.

2. During Swadeshi movement, National Council

of Education was set up to organise a system of

education on national lines and under national

control.

3. During Swadeshi movement development of

Indian Manufacturing products did not happen

because of widespread protest and unrest all over

the country.


correct?



87. With reference to the Public Safety Bill,

consider the following statements:

1. Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt throw a bomb in

the Central Legislative Assembly against the

passage of the Public Safety Bill.

2. Public Safety Bill was intended to contain the

Communists but nationalists were concerned that

such a provision would reduce the civil liberties of

citizens in general and workers in particular.

3. Swarajists played a significant role in defeating

the Public Safety Bill in the legislature.


below.



88. 'Cunningham Circular' during the Civil

Disobedience Phase was issued in response to:

a) Debar all the government employees from

forming any political organisation.

b) Suspend all the government employees who

participated in Civil disobedience movement.

c) Forbid the students to join any political

activities.

d) Restrict railway workers from forming union.


the script of Indus valley people.

1. Their script was pictographic.

2. It was written from left to right and vice-versa

in alternate lines.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

3. It has been deciphered and provides great

information about the time.


correct?



90. various dynasties, identify the correct

combination.

1. Hazara Rama Temple - Vijayanagara

2. Virupaksha Temple - Pandyas

3. Brihadeshvara Temple - Cholas


below.

a) 1 Only b) 2 and 3

c) 1 and 3 d) All are correct

91. Consider the following statements :

1. Vedas proclaim the sacrificial rites as the means

of prosperity, long life and rebirth of heaven.

2. In general, the Upnishads proclaim salvation by

sacrificial rites.

3. Aranayakas favour mostly penance or

meditation in forests for spiritual upliftment.

Which of the statements given above are correct?



92. Consider following statements regarding

Indus Valley civilization :

1. The site of Harappa is located on the banks of

river Ravi and was first site to be discovered.

2. The site of Mohenjodaro is located on the banks

of river Indus.

3. Mohenjodaro literally means 'place of the dead'

in Sindhi language.

Which of the statements give above is/are correct?


c) 2 and 3 only d) All of the above.

93. Mohammad bin Tughlaq shift his capital

from Delhi to Daulatabad in Deccan. What

was/were the rationale(s) for shifting the Capital?

1. He desire to have a Strategically important,

Centrally located Capital.

2. He was feared of raids of Mongols to Delhi.

3. Deccan was a new conquered territory and

Muslims were in small number.

4. He wanted to have Planned City as his capital

Choose the correct Answer.

a) 1, 3 and 4 b) 2, 3 and 4

c) 1, 2 and 3 d) 1, 2 and 4


1. Ashokan inscriptions were issued as Royal

orders.

2. Near about all the inscriptions are in Prakrit

language and in Brahmi Script, but in the

inscription of North West, Kharoshti scripts and

Aramaic Languages have been used.

3. These inscriptions were set up by the side of

main routes. They focus on the life story, internal

and foreign policy and the extension of the empire

of Ashoka.

4. These inscriptions give information about the

Period between 8th year and 21st year regional

year of Ashoka.


correct?

a) 1, 2, 3, 4 b) 1, 2

c) 3, 4 d) 1, 3

95. Consider following statements about

Bhakti movement in medieval India :

1. Bhakti movement was led by series of popular

saints - Alvars and Nayanars.

2. Nayanars believed in the devotion to Vishnu.

3. Alvars believed in the devotion to Shiva.

4. These saints rejected caste inequalities.

Which of the above statement(s) is/are correct?

a) 1 and 4 b) 1, 2 and 3

c) 1, 3 and 4 d) All are correct


1. The Sangam literature can roughly be divided

into two groups, narrative and deductive.

2. The narrative texts are called Kilkankku or

Eighteen minor works.

3. The deductive works are called Melkannakku or

Eighteen major works.

Which statement is/are correct?

a) 1 and 2 b) 1only

c) 2 only d) 1, 2 and 3


reagarding Gandhara School of Arts:

1. Gandhara school of arts focused more on inner

beauty and facial emotions rather than bodily

features and external beauty.

MENTOR MARCH 2016

2. Gandhara school of arts made extensive use of

local sand-stones.


a) Only 1 b) Only 2



temple styles in India:

1. NAGARA style temples have curvilinear towers

as against DRAVIDIAN temples which have

truncated pyramids.

2. The cruciform ground plan constitute the

fundamental characteristic of a Dravidian temple.


a) Only 1 b) Only 2


99. Consider the following differences

between Bharatnatyam and Kathak and select the

correct difference :

(1) Bharatnatyam involves mudras and hip

movement whereas hip movement is not allowed

in Kathak.

(2) Bharatnatyam is performed throughout in

standing postures whereas Kathak is performed

more in sitting posture.

(3) Bharatnatyam involves bent knee postures

whereas there is no knee bending in Kathak.

Select the correct code:

a) Only 1 b) Only 2

c) Only 1 and 2 d) Only 1 and 3


reference to Wood’s Despatch

1. Institution of a regular system of scholarship to

enable meritorious students to pursue the higher

courses of study.

2. Helping the educational institutions founded by

private efforts to obtain grants from government

funds.

3. Provision of moral and religious education as an

important component of curriculum.

Which of the above were the features of Wood’s

Despatch?

a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3

c) 1 and 3 d) 1, 2 and 3

MENTOR MARCH 2016

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