National Integration Council

• IT IS AN EXTRA CONSTITUTIONAL BODY.
• SET UP IN 1986.

 BASIC OBJECTIVE::

• Looking after welfare measures of minorities.
• It includes union ministers , chief ministers , representives of national , regional parties , labour,women public figures &media personalities...
• The issues addressed by the council are communal harmony,increased violence by secessionist forces...

Writ issued by Higher Judiciary of India

HABEAS CORPUS― 

Issued against wrongful detention and this can’t issued in the case of criminal offence

MANDAMUS ― 

It issued to lower court,tribunal or official to perform his duties through which fundamental right of a person enforced

PROHIBITION―

It forbids a lower court to perform an act which out side its jurisdiction this writ issued higher courts 

QUO WARRANTO―

It restrains a person from acting a public office which he is not entitled(question of his qualification) 

CERTIOARY―

It is same like mandamus but it differs from prohibition in that it is issued after the act is performed.

NORMS FOR WORKPLACE

In the slew of gender reforms carried out in the wake of the Nirbhaya case, the Supreme Court’s Vishaka guidelines of 1997 were notified in April 2013 as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act. This is what it mandates: 

Every employer must have an ‘internal complaints committee’ to deal with allegations of sexual harassment .

This offence is defined as any unwelcome behaviour with a female employee involving ‘physical contact and advances’ or ‘a demand or request for sexual favours’ or making ‘sexually coloured remarks’ or ‘showing pornography’ .

The committee, headed by a senior female employee and including one member from an NGO or a women’s group, will hold an inquiry into every written complaint, exercising the powers of a civil court

During the inquiry, the aggrieved woman may be transferred or granted leave 

If it concludes that the allegation has been proved, the committee shall recommend that it be treated as a misconduct with consequences including deduction of salary from the offender to be paid as compensation to the victim

Any employer found to have not set up the statutory complaint is liable to be fined and if he is a repeat offender, his licence is liable to be withdrawn or registration cancelled.

Bharat Ratna : If Sachin then Why not other Legends ?

 As We the People of India know about amendment made in eligibility criteria of Bharat Ratna in 1966 and then again in 2011. Now the criteria for Bharat Ratna is "for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as recognition of public service of the highest order and for performance of highest order in any field of human endeavour." First question , why this amendment ? Is it not govt. honoring one single man by ignoring people like Dhirubhai (Dispute may be there about eligibility, I have written his name just keeping his popularity in view, not supporting for him), Prof. Satish Dhawan , Vikram Sarabhai , Homi Bhabha etc ?

Now Question is , What kind of Public Service has Sachin done ? First , He has played for a  BCCI. Second , BCCI is itself a private body. Third, There is No mass benefit from his game as compare to industrialisation , Science & Technology. Fourth , Whatever he has done ....... all is either for for BCCI or for himself. Are all these public Service , National Service or Money Making Service for himself & BCCI ???

On the other hand , People like Dhirubhai Ambani (Dispute may be there about eligibility, I have written his name just keeping his popularity in view, I am not supporting for him) who had done wondrous in capital formation, great in industrialisation , gorgeous recognition to India in economic platform , worldwide appreciation, contribution to economic growth & creation of huge employment for our youths. Anyone can see easily the contribution made by personalities like him in economic arena of country.

Further , We think , Contribution of Prof. Satish Dhawan , Dr. Vikram Sarabhai , Dr. Homi Bhabha etc. in the field of science & technology , do not need any kind of explanation.

To award Bharat Ratna to Sachin just before 2014 Lok Sabha Election is just a Vote Bank Game of Bharat Ratna & Sachin. We all know Sachin has a crowd & crowd's popularity but Eminent personalities like Dhirubhai, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Dr. Satish Dhawan etc, Dr. Homi Bhabha lack it. But, ignorance can not stand on Scrutiny of Justice with  Bharat Ratna & these Ratnas.

Keeping all those in view , We think , Deerubhai Ambani (Dispute may be there about eligibility, I have written his name just keeping his popularity in view, I am not supporting for him), Dr. Satish Dhawan, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai , Dr. Homi Bhabha like personalities are more deserving as compare to Sachin. Popularity in crowd & Crowd's mandate can NOT be reason for awarding Bharat Ratna to anyone. Because Crowd is always Mad.

Our Indian Leadership & Government must understand that Leader & Governance should have People's mandate to run the governance & administration in all field , Not the Crowd's.

Rajani Kant Indra

Faculty of Law, Lucknow University, Lucknow

(Nov. 22, 2013)

Politicization of Bharat Ratna

"India has shown full immaturity to recognize her intellects ever since her Independence. Indian political parties, irrespective of any particular political party & ideology , all have used opportunities , whenever is possible , only for either their own people or only for their own political benefits & mileage. Bharat Ratna , having eminence honor & fam , is the highest honor of the Nation. But to award it , there is no written , impartial & rational procedure. This provides political party in power to use Bharat Ratna only for political advantages rather than to recognize the National Personalities in the spirit of the Bharat Ratna. This is very much visible from history of Bharat Ratna itself. Here I am NOT raising the question over awarded personalities. But the way in which it has been awarded and the time when it has been awarded or announced are very significant for politics. And , all these has compelled me to think about it.

Bharat Ratna , instituted in 1954 and amended in 1966 & 2011 , is awarded by His Excellency The President of India on the recommendation of Honorable Prime Minister. But there is no clarification regarding the criteria on which Honorable Prime Minister recommends the Name. This provides a way to utilize Bharat Ratna by political parties for their own purpose & political mileage.

First & Foremost noticeable point is - How can Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru be awarded Bharat Ratna during his own Prime Ministership in 1955 ? Second , Neharu's daughter & third Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi , She also got Bharat Ratna during her own Prime Ministership in 1971? Is it Fair ? Is it logical ? Is it stand of the Scrutiny of Natural Justices? How a PM can recommend his / her own name for Bharat Ratna or any award ? But this unfortunate has happened in India !!!

Third , The Greatest Scholar , The Greatest Indian , Economist , Jurist , Social Reformer , Historian , Social Scientist , Anthropologist , Economist , Educationist , Democrat , Human Right Activist & Expert , Constitutionalist and over all one of the The Greatest Human Being Baba Saheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedakar was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1990. Why so late ? Are Govt. of India , Congress & other political parties has any rational reason behind this ? He is regarded as Father of World's Finest Constitution , Symbol of Knowledge , Equality & Humanity and Father of Modern India . But Why India was too late to recognize HIM as Bharat Ratna ? Why ?

Fourth , Shri Rajiv Gandhi was awarded just after his death in 1991. Why too fast ? Is not because of politics & congress being in corridors of power ?

Fifth , There is any need to talk about the nationalism of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. But he was awarded in 1993 (but taken back due to legality about his death), why is India so late to recognize him as Bharat Ratna ? Why ?

Sixth , The Nobel laureate Prof. ( Dr. ) Amartya Sen was recognized in India only after Nobel Award in 1998. Then , Govt. of India awarded him Bharat Ratna in 1999. This shows , The ignorance of talents in Indian Soil. Why Govt. of India fails to recognize its own talent ? And , Amartya Sen was recognized by the world first but not by India, Why ? Was India waiting for seal & warrant of Nobel Committee ? There is any logic for all these ?

Seventh , Manyawar Kanshiram Ji , The Person who spent his whole life to ignite Dalits & other marginalised section of society regarding their rights. He is still ignored ? Have Govt. of India & Political Parties any justification regarding this ignorance ? Is people , in corridors of power , waiting that when any Dalit will hold PM post then He will award & recognize Manayawar Kanshiram Ji as Nationalist , Human Right Activist & Expert , Social Reformer and Heritage of Mother India ? What is the justification for this blunder ? Is there any answer for this ?

There must not be any dispute regarding the recognition of personalities irrespective of political party & ideology or anything other. Talent & Intellects must be recognize without any discrimination. At the same point of time, Talent & Intellects must not be politicized also. All the talents and intellects are the Asset & Heritage of Mother India.

Eighth , In games , Major Dhyanchand & his legacy is like The Sun in our solar system of games. We do not want to say anything more about his legacy & greatness. We want to know - why was he ignored , ever since  the amendment made in Bharat Ratna eligibility criteria ?

Nineth , Every cricketer & cricket fan knows about Kapil Dev. He is the man who won World Cup for India in 1983 for the first time. That is the biggest achievement for the cricket of India. Sunil Gavaskar & Shri Milikha Singh are also in same category . But why these people are ignored ?

Tenth , Apart from these , there are several other legend who has contributed a lot to India. But people do not know even their name. Why Govt. of India not searching , hunting and recognizing their contribution to nation ? For example , Shri C N R Rao , an eminent Scientist , Why govt. recognize him so late ? Why Govt. has forgot about Satish Dhawan , Vikram Sarabhai , Homi Bhabha and so on ? Why ? Is popularity in mind of people is the criteria for Bharat Ratna ? If yes , then why not Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor?

Eleventh, As for as Sachin Tendulakar is concern , He has given a lot to Indian Cricket. There is no doubt about his contribution. He may deserves Bharat Ratna. During the time of his 100th century , many expert has recommended his name for Bharat Ratna. But, even after amendment in eligibility criteria , Why was Tendulakar not awarded Bharat Ratna at that time ? Why was Sachin awarded Bharat Ratna just before of 14th Lok Sabha Election ? Is it not a political game on the name of this Cricket Hero ? And , if Sachin then why NOT Dhyachand at same time ? What I think - because now days hockey , being National Game , is in dim light. And , most importantly the name Dhyanchand has no fan in general & vote bank in particular in present time.

People , Experts & Govt. of India must think , debate & then rationalize the nomination process for Bharat Ratna. Their is a need for impartial , fair , unbiased, justice spirited & knowledgeable committee like Nobel Committee to search, hunt and to recommend the name for Bharat ratna every year with help of a well established procedure made by Honorable Executive and authorized by Honorable Parliament. There must not be any political game with Bharat Ratna as done in several cases in general and recently Sachin Tendulakar case in particular as announced just before 14th Lok Sabha Election. Because Pride, Name, Constitutional & Democratic Spirit of India is much more important than any particular personality & political party in each & every situation & circumstance."

Rajani Kant Indra

Faculty of Law, Lucknow University, Lucknow

(Nov. 17, 2013)

War of Autonomy by CBI with Father Institutions

“CBI must understand its status as one among several organizations of Govt. of India. And , They are mandated to work well within the amplitude provided by Honorable Executive & authorized by Honorable Parliament. Policy & Legislation can Neither be governed by the  demand , wish & aspiration of CBI nor even any other Constitutional Institutions including Judiciary except Constitutional Spirit , Executive & Parliament. CBI & others must understand their jurisdiction & know that Policy & Legislation are the exclusive matter of Executive & Parliament only.

  

CBI can only Suggest some points to Honorable Executive for better functioning of CBI. But , even in Dream , CBI can NOT think to demand or force anything upon Executive & Parliament by any means including writ in SC.

But CBI has taken the route of SC to fight against Honorable Executive & Parliament which is nothing but challenging the power & authority of Honorable Executive and Honorable Parliament in democratic set up of governance which is totally unfair.

  

Further , Most unfortunate is the acceptance of case by SC. How can Court dictate & order to Honorable Executive & Parliament regarding matter of policy & legislation. At most SC can suggest something but should not make order to interfere in the exclusive domain of Honorable Executive & Parliament. If all these are going on ..... Then , Is it not against the Doctrine of Separation of Power ? But , India is a country where anything can happen !

  

CBI is just a tiny organization which is created by executive & authorized by elected members ie The Parliament. Its own very existence , is its self lies on Honorable Executive & Parliament , which can be altered or even repealed at any point of time by Honorable Executive & Parliament. Then How can CBI think to fight against its lords ?

  

CBI must understand that CBI can NOT dictate Term & Condition for its own functioning. CBI can NOT say that give me this & that …. only then CBI will act & function. CBI has NO right , even in dream, to behave like this. They must work with full efficiency well within the mandated jurisdiction & with available resources only. Rest is the matter of Honorable Executive & Parliament which has people’s mandates.

  

Further , Most unfortunate aspect is the mindset of people of India , who are enjoying the weaken status of the most important pillar of Democracy as Honorable Executive & Parliament. But , People of India must understand that Democracy is all about people’s will which is represented by our Honorable Parliamentarians. Challenging the power & authority of these Honorable Parliamentarians means challenging the power & authority of We the People of India. How can a tiny organization challenge the power & authority of  We the People of India ?  But it is happening in India  , not only in case of CBI but also has happened at the time of CAG hyper activism. Which is Unwarranted , Unnecessary , Unconstitutional & Unfortunate for Democratic set up of India.

  

As for as the Status of Director CBI is concern , Who is the CBI or anyone else to decide the Status , Power , Function & Jurisdiction of Director CBI ? All these are exclusive matter of Honorable Executive & Parliament. No other Institution or Organization can Dictate , Order or Demand anything from Honorable Executive & Parliament.

  

Today , Director CBI is demanding autonomy like Secretary of Ministries & trying to surpass the Secretary DoPT. Tomorrow , Army Chief will say that what is the need of Defence Secretary ? Army Chief should be ex-officio Secretary of Defence. IB chief & other will say that there is NO need of Home Secretary & we should be made ex-officio Home Secretary and so on. Is it fair ? No , Not , Never.

Frankly speaking , It seems that ….. Today’s War of autonomy for CBI is not for CBI but Mr. Ranjit Sinha is fighting for himself for his ego satisfaction after a unwanted , unconstitutional & irrational comment by SC. Mr. Sinha can NOT open mouth against SC. So for ego satisfaction , he is fighting against his father Institutions which is unwarranted & unacceptable. Earlier Mr. Sinha , also , demanded a fixed tenure for CBI director. Who is he to demand all these things ? Is he authorized for this ? No , Not , Never . He can only suggest some step for better functioning but can NOT demand anything. His demand will open a path for other organization to demand more & more power & will try to undermine power , authority & dignity of the Honorable Executive & Parliament either directly or by writ in SC. Is it fair for a democracy ? No , Not , Never.

It is a system which is functioning well. There are some misuse of CBI in recent decade but this does not mean that System is bad. This means that some people within the system are bad. For that , System needs some overhauling but only by the wisdom of executive and authorization of Parliament , Not by the demand , wish & aspiration of CBI.

Whatever is Happening as in case of CBI ….. that is the Symbol of Weak Executive , Weak Parliament & Weak Judiciary ….. Which is Unhealthy for Democracy , Unwarranted on the part of CBI , Breach of Jurisdiction by CBI & Others  & Un-constitutional in the Spirit of Constitution itself . Today , If Smt Indira Gandhi was alive and was remain in corridors of Power then No one can dare to think , forget about to open the Mouth like Mr. Sinha , about all these things , even in dream , to challenge the power & authority of Executive & Parliament.

 Now , We have nothing except only to hope a better out come of all these issues.

Rajani Kant Indra

Faculty of Law, Lucknow University, Lucknow

(Nov. 14, 2013)

Right to know your candidate: A Fundamental Right

One more supreme step towards purity of elections. The true and meaningful democracy develops through the quality of the legislators people elect. Right to Know about of your candidate and his antecedence is a fundamental right.

The Supreme Court got an occasion to consider the issue, in a writ petition filed by ‘Resurgence India’, an NGO working for social awakening. The Court has issued guidelines empowering the Returning Officers to reject a nomination paper if the candidate fails to fill the blank even after the reminders by the Returning Officer. While conferring such power, it has cautioned that such power must be exercised very sparingly and should not be at the cost of justice.

The court held that the information about the candidate to be selected is a must and the Right to Know of the candidate is a integral part of Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India.

While disposing of writ petition , the court issued the following guidelines :

Ø  The voter has the elementary right to know full particulars of a candidate who is to represent him in the Parliament/Assemblies and such right to get information is universally recognized. Thus, it is held that right to know about the candidate is a natural right flowing from the concept of democracy and is an integral part of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

Ø  The ultimate purpose of filing of affidavit along with the nomination paper is to effectuate the fundamental right of the citizens under Article19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The citizens are supposed to have the necessary information at the time of filing of nomination paper and for that purpose, the Returning Officer can very well compel a candidate to furnish the relevant information.

Ø  Filing of affidavit with blank particulars will render the affidavit nugatory.

Ø  It is the duty of the Returning Officer to check whether the information required is fully furnished at the time of filing of affidavit with the nomination paper since such information is very vital for giving effect to the ‘right to know’ of the citizens. If a candidate fails to fill the blanks even after the reminder by the Returning Officer, the nomination paper is fit to be rejected. We do comprehend that the power of Returning Officer to reject the nomination paper must be exercised very sparingly but the bar should not be laid so high that the justice itself is prejudiced.

Ø  To the extent that Para 73 of People’s Union for Civil Liberties case (supra) will not come in the way of the Returning Officer to reject the nomination paper when affidavit is filed with blank particulars.

Ø  The candidate must take the minimum effort to explicitly remark as ‘NIL’ or ‘Not Applicable’ or ‘Not known’ in the columns and not to leave the particulars blank.

Ø  Filing of affidavit with blanks will be directly hit by Section125A(i) of the RP Act However, as the nomination paper itself is rejected by the Returning Officer, we find no reason why the candidate must be again penalized for the same act by prosecuting him/her.

Much of electoral reforms in India seen today is through the intervention and directions of the Supreme Court of India. Through the judgment, the court has brought the electoral reforms to the next level.

STEM CELLS : Future of many Disease

WHAT ARE STEM CELLS?

Undivided biological cells that can develop into cells of other types. There are two types of stem cells — embryonic and adult .

WHAT IS BLOOD STEM CELL TRANSPLANT?

The introduction of blood healthy stem cells into the body to replace damaged or diseased cells. These cells are harvested from the umbilical cord, bone marrow or blood of the donor and injected into the recepient.

The procedure is used to treat blood disorders like leukemia and lymphoma, heart diseases, Parkinson’s and muscular dystrophy Some blood diseases can be cured with stem cell transplants. While 30% of patients find a match in their family, the rest need unrelated donors.

WHAT IS PERIPHERAL BLOOD STEM CELL DONATION?

The donor is injected with certain medication for five days prior to donation. The medication helps growth of stem cells. On the day of donation, blood stem cells are collected in a four-hour procedure. Stem cells are isolated and removed .

IS IT SAFE?

More than 30,000 blood stem cell donations have been carried out across the world without any side effects .

WHAT IS A BLOOD STEM CELL REGISTRY?

It maintains donor profiles and their genetic information. There are two registries — Datri in Chennai with 43,000 profiles, and Marrow Donor Registry of India with 10,000 .

WHO CAN BECOME A DONOR?

Any healthy person between the ages of 18 and 40. A sterile cotton swab is rubbed against the inner cheek and genetic data is obtained, and stored in the database

DOES INDIA HAVE ENOUGH DONORS?

No. India has less than 60,000 donors, while Europe and US have around 30 million .

WHY DOES INDIA NEED MORE DONORS?

These are just a few reasons:

• ·        1:10,000 is the probability of finding a suitable blood match
• ·        40 adults diagnosed with fatal blood disorders daily 10,000 babies born with Thalassemia every year.

The State of World Population 2013 Report

‘ 20k teen births reported in developing world every day ’

    Over 7.3 million girls every year, or about 20,000 every day, below the age of 18 give birth in developing countries. 

9/10 of these births occur within marriage or a union. India is home to almost a third of the 36 million plus women in developing countries between 20 and 24 years of age who reported having had a birth before turning 18. South Asia accounts for 17.4 million.

    These sobering figures emerge from the The State of World Population 2013 report titled “Motherhood in childhood: facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy”, released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

    The report stated that nearly 200 adolescent girls die every day from early pregnancy. It added that very young adolescents in low- and middle-income countries run double the risk of maternal death compared to older women, including older teens. It is estimated that 3.2 million unsafe abortions happen among adolescents each year.

    Adolescent birth rates are highest where child marriage is most prevalent, and child marriages are more frequent where poverty is extreme. “While child marriages are declining among girls under 15, over 50 million girls could still be at risk of being married before 15 in this decade. In Bangladesh, Chad and Niger, more than one in three girls is married before her 15th birthday,” said the report.

    The good news is that data gathered in 54 countries through two separate surveys — one conducted between 1990 and 2008 and the other between 1997 and 2011 — showed a slight decline in the percentage of women in the 20-24 age group who reported a birth before age 18, from 23% to about 20%. The six countries that saw increases in adolescent pregnancies were in sub-Saharan Africa.

    There is also a marginal decline in the percentage of women reporting having a baby before 14 years, from 4% to 3%. However,one girl in 10 has a child before the age of 15 in Bangladesh, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique and Niger, countries where child marriage is common. Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region where births to girls under age 15 rose.

    Adolescents comprise 18% of the world’s population, or an estimated 1.2 billion — the largest adolescent cohort in human history, about 88% of them in developing countries. About half (49%) of adolescent girls live in just six countries: China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the US.

    Adolescent pregnancies are as much a concern in high and middle income countries. According to the World Bank, the lifetime opportunity cost related to adolescent pregnancy — measured by the mother’s foregone annual income over her lifetime — ranges from 1% of annual GDP in the US to 30% in Uganda.

    Brazil would add more than $3.5 billion to its GDP if teenage girls delayed pregnancy until their early 20s, while India’s would be $7.7 billion higher. This computes only the economic cost through lost productivity in the labour market. It does not take into account costs incurred to women’s health, possible implications for the child’s future productivity and so on.

    “Too often, society blames only the girl for getting pregnant,” said UNFPA executive director, Babatunde Osotimehin. “The reality is that adolescent pregnancy is often not the result of a deliberate choice, but rather the absence of choices, and of circumstances beyond a girl’s control. It is a consequence of little or no access to school, employment, quality information & healthcare.”

National Project on Aquifer Management : Aerial Geophysical Techniques

Water scarcity is endemic in our country. With groundwater irrigation accounting for over 60% of the total area irrigated, it’s important to save this precious resource. Recognizing this, the ministry of water resources has, for the first time, started a Rs 41 crore pilot project to map aquifers. Expected to be completed by May 2014, it will use specialized choppers to find clean, drinking water. The mapping began recently in Dausa near Jaipur and will cover five more areas.

    This pilot project is part of a mega one — the National Project on Aquifer Management — to map aquifers all over India and will cover 21 million sq km. It has been taken up during the 12th and 13th Five Year Plans. The project is in conjunction with the Central Ground Water Board and National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, and is funded by World Bank.

    While the country has enough water, its distribution is uneven. In order to assess ground water, we need a three-dimensional geometry of aquifers so that we know how much to extract. Eventually, the community and state governments will manage these . Aquifers, incidentally, are ground water deposits and can be found at a depth of 200-500m.

    The six areas covered under the pilot project have been selected on the basis of soil types and topography. Dausa, for example, has hard rock with alluvium. The other places include Chandrabhaga in Nagpur (Deccan basaltic traps), Tumkur in Karnataka (granite), Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu (coastal area), Ramgadh in Jaisalmer (desert environment) and Patna (alluvial soil). The matrix that evolves from this pilot project will be used in the rest of the country.

    For the first time, Aerial Geophysical Techniques are being used to cover a wide area and even inaccessible ones. Using a Danish technology called Skytem, a specialized Eurochopper is hooked below with a 30-m long probe which has a huge frame of 300 sq m. The chopper flies low — 3,500 km high — and slowly at a speed of 60-80 km/hr so that the frame doesn’t swing too much, said Ahmed.

    Through the loop, which is made of fibre optics, electromagnetic currents are sent to the ground and the magnetic field thus generated is measured. This allows us to see the distribution of water—how much there is and at what depth .

    It is important to have a chopper which can carry half-a-ton weight under it. It’s especially useful in dry and coastal areas.

    This technique, incidentally, has been used to map half of Denmark , Australia, Malaysia, Antarctica, South Africa and America.

World Food Day & World Food Prize

World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organisations concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme.

The World Food Day theme for 2013 is "Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition" while for 2012 was " Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world "

The World Food Prize laureates are formally honoured at the World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony annually on or near the World Food Day (16 October). The winners receive 250,000 United States dollar.

The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world. Since 1987, the Prize has been awarded annually to recognize contributions in any field involved in the world food supply — food and agriculture science and technology, manufacturing, marketing, nutrition, economics, poverty alleviation, political leadership, and the social sciences.

Dr Mary-Dell Chilton ( USA ) , Dr Robert Fraley ( USA ) & Dr Marc Van Montagu ( Belgium ) , has Developed science of modern plant biotechnology supporting improved sustainability and global food security , has been awarded World Food Prize 2013 .

Indicators of Development presented by Raghuram Rajan Committee

Recently , The Finance Ministry has tabled the report of the Raghuram Rajan Committee that was formed to suggest ways to identify indicators of the relative “Backwardness of the States” for equitable allocation of Central funds. The Rajan Committee has come up with a Multi-Dimensional Index that will help measure backwardness and aid the Centre in allocating funds to states.

Finance Minister P.Chidamabaram said that, “ the demand for funds and special attention of different States will be more than adequately met by the twin recommendations on the basic allocation of 0.3 per cent of overall funds to each State and the categorisation of States as “ Least Developed ” States.”

The report places Goa on top with regard to Development, followed by Kerala. Punjab is a distant third.

The committee, which is likely to become the basis of allocation of funds in the future, shows a paradigm shift in how Economic Development is measured. Apparently, it rejects evaluation on the basis economic growth indicators only.

 It also states why developed states like Gujarat are performing poorly on human development indicators (HDI), including infant mortality rate and malnutrition. Due to a better HDI, Kerala has been ranked the second best-developed state. Though Tamil Nadu is far behind Kerala, it is third among the “relatively developed” states.

The index proposed by the committee includes 10 sub-components: Monthly per capita consumption expenditure, education, health, household amenities, poverty rate, female literacy, per cent of SC/ST population, urbanisation rate, financial inclusion and connectivity.

For devolution of funds to the states, the committee has proposed a formula which takes into account population and area of the states.

At present, there are 11 special category states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand.

The Raghuram Rajan Committee’s report on criteria for determining backwardness of states has placed Karnataka among the relatively developed states. It ranks 10th in terms of development. The state will now lose its share in allocations from the Centre.

According to a finance commission formula, the state gets 4.39 per cent of the Centre’s total allocation. Now, it will get only 3.73 per cent.

Gujarat has been categorized as “less developed state,” just below Tripura.

According to the committee, which was constituted following political pressure from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Odisha is the least developed state , followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Proposed Telangana State

THREE FACTS ABOUT TELANGANA:

Ø Telangana will be India's 29th State, The last time India had seen formation of new states was in 2000.

Ø Telangana is set to comprise 10 of the Andhra Pradesh’s 23 districts – Hyderabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal. Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states.

Ø Telangana will have 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 assembly seats.

Current Account Deficit

What is current account deficit (CAD)?

The inflow of money into the country and outflows from it are summarized in what is called the balance of payments (BoP). You could think of it as a balance sheet vis-à-vis the rest of the world. The BoP is broken down into two major components — the current account and the capital account.

    The current account includes all inflows and outflows of a routine nature. Thus, exports of goods and services, remittances received from Indians abroad, foreign tourists bringing money into India and similar other items form part of the inflows or the credit side of the current account. Conversely, imports, remittances by expatriates to their home countries, Indians travelling abroad form part of the outflows or debit. When outflows exceed inflows, you have a current account deficit. Of course, if inflows exceeded outflows, it would be a surplus.

    The capital account deals with longer-term flows, like borrowings, investments, assistance by India to other countries or to India by others, and so on. The broad principle is that any inflow or outflow that tends to necessitate future transactions (like loans being returned) will be part of the capital account. Here again, the difference between outflows and inflows would be the capital account surplus — if inflows exceed outflows — or deficit. If the capital surplus is not enough to cover CAD, the country will have to take money out of its forex reserves to bridge the difference, thereby reducing its reserves. If the capital account surplus is larger than CAD, the difference gets added to the reserves.

Why is CAD so important?

In effect, it is a measure of how much an economy is dependent on capital flows from abroad to help it meet its current needs. Obviously, if this dependency is high, it is a sign of a problem. To see how high the dependency is, economists look not at the absolute level of CAD, but its level in relation to the size of the economy, since a tiny economy with, say, a CAD of $200 billion is clearly in a bigger hole than a large economy with the same absolute level. Hence, what is looked at is the CAD as a percentage of GDP. In India’s case, this is now at about 4.8%, a significant rise from about 1.3% in 2007-08. What this means is that India’s demand for foreign currency, particularly dollars, has gone up dramatically in the last few years (mainly on account of oil and gold imports) while supply hasn’t quite kept pace (thanks to weak exports).

    The widening CAD could have been funded by a heavy inflow of foreign investments — direct (FDI) and/or institutional (FII), but that hasn’t happened either. Policy paralysis, political uncertainty, sliding industrial output and a weakening economy (as evident from a quarter-on-quarter drop in growth figures) has turned off foreign investors, who  now find they can get better returns on their capital elsewhere in the world.

    This demand-supply mismatch of dollars is at the core of the US currency becoming more expensive.

How are US bonds connected to all this?

    US treasury bonds are essentially instruments floated by the US Federal Reserve (the American equivalent of the RBI) to borrow money. All other things being equal, the status of the US as the world’s largest economy and the dollar as a global reserve currency means that investors see putting their money in US bonds as arguably the most risk-free option.

However, when US treasury bonds offer very low rates of interest, this advantage can be offset by others offering significantly higher rates. In such a situation, portfolio investors, who roam the world looking for the best possible returns, are more likely to invest elsewhere. Emerging markets, including India, are often the biggest gainers in such situations.

When the US economy is doing well, the flows can reverse. This is what is happening as the US economy shows visible signs of recovering after a prolonged crisis (starting late-2008).

What is the QE and why is its tapering seen as a problem?

Following the 2008 crisis, the US Fed resorted to bond-buying as a means of boosting the economy. When the Fed buys up bonds, it is effectively releasing more money into the markets and hence reducing interest rates (since interest rate is essentially the cost of demand for money, so when supply rises to meet demand, interest rate comes down — just as, say, the price of onion will fall when supply in the market rises). This was dubbed a ‘quantitative easing’ measure, hence the QE. This made borrowing in the US cheaper and hence incentivized borrowers to invest (in housing or in their businesses). In June this year, Fed chief Ben Bernanke signaled that the QE process might be tapered off. That would imply interest rates in the US climbing again. That, as we saw earlier, could lead to investors flocking to the US and pulling out of emerging markets, including India.