June 2013 Sports | Current Affairs June 2013

*Brazil destroyed world and European champions Spain 3-0 to win a third straight Confederations Cup title held in Maracana Stadium on 30 June 2013. The turbo-charged samba stars roared to victory with two goals from Fred and a stunning strike from Neymar, dominating a weary Spanish side whose strength was sapped after edging Italy on penalties in Thursday's semi-final. Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said the result as the perfect fillip as he plots a course to an assault on next year's World Cup finals in Brazil.

*Spanish counterpart Vicente del Bosque meanwhile admitted his side had been outclassed. There are no excuses. Brazil were better than us. We must congratulate them, del Bosque said.

*The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) on 29 June 2013 was awarded a chance to host two major events of International Cricket namely World Twenty20 for the first time in 2016 and its fourth 50-over World Cup in 2023 by ICC (International Cricket Council). BCCI also got the chance to host the second edition of ICC World Test Championship scheduled in February-March 2021. The inaugural edition of the Test Championship will be hosted by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) June-July 2017.

*Afghanistan was granted the Associate membership of the ICC, making it the eighth Asian nation and the 38th overall to get the status. Looking at the immense progress shown by Afghanistan, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) had last year sent the nomination request in 2012 and the decision to grant Afghanistan the status was taken by the ICC at its ongoing annual conference, which concluded in London on 29 June 2013.

*Afghanistan now join Hong Kong (1969), Kuwait (2005), Malaysia (1967), Nepal (1996), Singapore (1974), Thailand (2005) and UAE (1990) as ICC Associates from the Asian region. The new Associate membership will help Afghanistan get more funds from the ICC and also give much-needed exposure to the team. The ICC is now likely to pay Afghanistan 850000 US dollars based on the Associate status, instead of 700000 US dollars as the annual fund. From a country torn by war to a rising cricket playing nation, it has been a remarkable journey for Afghanistan, who became an Affiliate member of the ICC in 2001 when they travelled to Pakistan for their first tour.

*India won the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 on 23 June 2013 against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham with a five-run victory. India made a total of 129 runs in 20 overs for seven wickets. It then restricted England to 124 for eight. Ravindra Jadeja was declared as the Man of the Match after he took two wickets and scored unbeaten 33 runs. He was also awarded with the Golden Ball for grabbing maximum number of wickets in the series. Sikhar Dhawan was declared as the Man of the Series. This was the second Champions Trophy title of India. Earlier, it had won the title jointly with Sri Lanka in the year 2002. The ICC Champions Trophy is the One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament which is organised by International Cricket Council (ICC). It is considered important event in cricket, only after the Cricket World Cup. The ICC Champions Trophy was inaugurated in the year 1998 as ICC Knock out Tournament. It was later named as Champions Trophy in 2002. Since the year 2009, the number of teams participating in the ICC Champions Trophy has remained eight. These are the eight highest-ranked ODI teams.

*Manjeet Singh bagged a Silver medal for India at the 3rd China Open boxing tournament on 22 June 2013. In the final of the super heavy weight category (+91kg), the 21-year-old Indian went down to china’s Akepeer Yusuf. Although Manjeet lost in the final, he became the only Indian boxer to reach the final of the third China Open boxing tournament. It was his first international tournament.The boxing tournament was held in Guiyang, China. The Indian men's team returns from the event with one silver and three bronze medals won by Sunil Kumar (52kg), Ajay Kumar (56kg) and Jaideep (75kg). The bronze medal winners had lost in the round of four

*Roger Federer on won his first title of the year on 16 june, the world number three beating Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4 in the ATP final at Halle,Germany.This was the 31-year-old Swiss great's sixth Halle title and the 77th title of his career.

*India topped in the medal tally in the Junior Asian Wrestling Championship by winning 17 medals in the tournament on 16 June 2013. India secured three gold, five silver and nine bronze medals in the championship. The tournament was held from 13 June to 16 June 2013 in Phuket, Thailand. On 16 June 2013 the final day of the tournament, Pradeep Kumar (60 kilogram) and Sumit (96 kilograms), won Gold in the Junior Asian Wrestling Championship in Phuket, Thailand. Vikas (66kilogram) and Pradeep Kumar (74kilogram) captured silver medals after they lost the final bouts at the Saphan Hin Indoor Sports Complex. Mandeep (55 kilogram) secured bronze medal in the championship. With two silvers and one bronze won on the final day of the tournament, India finished at the top of the freestyle team rankings of the championship. The championship was held under new FILA (Federation Internationale Desn Luttes Associees) rules. It is also known as International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles.
Rafael Nadal on 9 June 2013 won his 8th Men's Singles Title of the French Open Tennis Tournament. In the final at Paris, Nadal beat Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. With this, he became the first player to win 8 Singles Titles at the same Grand Slam Tournament. It was his 12th Grand Slam title overall. While in other events, Serena Williams won the Women's Singles title of French Open Tennis tournament. She defated Maria Sharapova by 6-4,6-4.Bob and Mike Bryan won their record 14th major doubles title by defeating Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in the French Open men's doubles final. The Russian duo of Elina Vesnina and caterina Makarova lifted the Women's Doubles title. They defeated top seeded Italian's Sara Irrani and Roberta Vinchi by 7-5, 7-2.

*The Indian players Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy won a silver medal at the World Cup (Stage-II) Archery competition held in Antalya, Turkey on 16 June. They lost against the Italian world champions Sergio Pagni and Marcella Toniolli. This is a second World Cup silver for Railways girl Manjudha, who hails from Jharkhand, while it`s a first-ever silver in the mixed team event in the compound section.Earlier, Rajat Chouhan and Manjudha Soy entered the final of the compound mixed section by defeating Great Britain 151-149, Russia 156-154 and Canada 154-147 en route to the final. India has never won a Gold in the Compound section, and their previous best in this format was in the Ogden World Cup 2011 (Stage-III) when the Women’s team of Manjudha, Gagandeep Kaur and Jhano Hansdah had won a silver.

*Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One championship. He claimed the 29th victory of his record-breaking career. It was the 25-year-old German’s third win this season. The Canadian Grand Prix is an annual auto race held in Canada starting in 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967.

*Indian youngster K. Srikanth on 9 June 2013 won the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton trophy. In the Men's Singles title, 13th seed Srikanth defeated top seed and local favourite Boonsak Ponsana in straight games, 21-16, 21-12, to bag his career's maiden title. While, defending champion Saina Newal bow out in the quarterfinals. Thailand Open Badminton 2013 was held in Bangkok.

*The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 10 June 2013 suspended Raj Kundra, the co-owner of Rajasthan Royals for allegedly betting on IPL matches. He has been suspended from having any involvement in cricket till the police probe in the matter was completed. The decision on Raj Kundra was taken by the emergent working committee of BCCI that met on 10 May 2013. The committee also said that the two-member panel comprising Justice T Jayaram Chouta and Justice R Balasubramanian, who are probing similar charges leveled against Chennai Super Kings team official Gurunath Meiyappan, will investigate the case of Kundra and his franchise. The suspension imposed by the working committee on Raj Kundra will stay until the pendency of enquiry.

*Serena Williams won her second French Open title on 8 June, 11 years after her first triumph, defeating title-holder Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 in the final. It was the 31-year-old American's 16th Grand Slam title win, taking her to within two of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova who are tied for fourth on the all-time list. For Sharapova it was a 10th straight loss to her American nemesis dating back to 2004 when she defeated her in the Wimbledon final and the WTA Championships when she was just 17.At 31 years, 247 days she is the oldest women in the Open Era to win the French Open title, taking over from Chris Evert who set the previous mark in 1986.It was Serena Williams 16th Grand Slam singles title She is the second oldest women in the Open Era to win the French Open title

*Top-ranked American twins Bob and Mike Bryan on 8 June 2013 won their record 14th major doubles title by defeating Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in the French Open men's doubles final. In the tiebreaker, the Bryan brothers rallied from 4-2 down to clinch the victory. The Bryans had won their only other French Open in 2003. They lost in the final in 2005, 2006 and 2012. Llodra and Mahut were hoping to become the first Frenchmen to win the doubles since Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte in 1984.

*Indian Skipper MS Dhoni received the ICC ODI Championship Shield and a cheque of 175000 US dollars for leading the number One ODI team on the annual 1 April cut-off date. Indian team claimed the number-one spot from England after winning the series 3-2 in January 2013. India won eight out of 13 ODIs while losing five in the 12-month period between 1 April 2012 and 1 April 2013.This is the first time since the current ranking system was introduced in 2002 that India finished as the No1 ranked One-Day International (ODI) side. David Morgan, former President of the International Cricket Council (ICC), presented the Shield to Dhoni.

June 2013 Bilateral Affairs | Current Affairs June 2013

*The Secretary of State of the United States, John Kerry completed his India visit on 25 June 2013. He was on three-day visit to India from 23 June 2013 to 25 June 2013. He reached New Delhi along with his delegates on 23 June 2013. This was his first visit to India as a Secretary of State of the United States.

*During the visit, he had detailed discussions over topics such as strategic pillars of relationship between India and US, which included global issues, economics, security, technology and political issues. During his visit, various bilateral and multilateral accords were signed. Dialogues on higher education, space cooperation, health cooperation, international security as well as economic collaboration were held.

*India and Turkey have agreed to enhance their cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy. This was decided at a meeting held between the Turkish Energy Minister Mr. Taner Yildiz and Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy at Ankara on 27 June.

*Dr. Abdullah is visiting Turkey along with a high level delegation to explore greater opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between Indian and Turkey. Dr. Abdullah briefed his counterpart on the energy situation in India and India’s plans to add over 30 GW of renewable energy to its energy mix in the next 5 years.

*He also dwelt on the success of the wind programme as well as the significant cost reductions in solar energy through the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM). The Turkish leader said that Ankara hopes to diversify its energy mix by introducing a large component of renewables. It has considerable potential in wind, hydro, solar and geothermal energy.

*It imports over 90% of its oil, gas and fossil fuel requirement. Mr Yildiz recognized India’s considerable achievements and strengths in renewable energy and noted that India had made large strides in this field. He expressed the Turkish government’s desire to set up large generating as well as manufacturing capacities in renewable energy sources, particularly wind and solar.

*Dr. Abdullah offered India’s support and expertise to Turkey in setting up projects in wind, solar and hydropower. He also offered training slots in India to Turkish scientists, engineers and technicians through the ITEC programme. The Indian Minister expressed his country’s desire for a serious and meaningful cooperation with Turkey, especially in renewable energy and offered all possible assistance.

*Salman Khurshid, the Union External Affairs Minister was on a two-day visit to Iraq from 19 to 20 June 2013. This is the first visit of any Minister from Indian to Iraq after 23 years in the war-raved country. The two nations discussed issues of bilateral and mutual interests including import of oil for energy security along with the avenues of partnership. During his visit, Khurshid met with the Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki and his counterpart Hoshyar Zebari. Former Prime Minister of India, Inder Kumar Gujral visited Iraq in 1990 during his tenure as an External Affairs Minister of Indian Union. He visited Iraq to check the procedures of evacuation of Indians in the wake of Gulf war.
Indo-Russian INDRA 2013 military exercise is scheduled to take place in October 2013 at Mahajan field firing range of Rajasthan in India. The joint Military exercise will involve over 250 servicemen from the Eastern Military District and the same number of troops will be involved from the Indian armed forces. Around 250 Russian servicemen from the Eastern Military District are already set to join Russo-Indian joint ground and naval drills at Indra-2013.There will be a practice of joint planning and execution of anti-terrorist missions and leading intelligence activities by the serviceman. In year 2012, The Indo-Russian Joint Military Exercise Indra 2012 was held from August 7-16, at Burduny training range in the Siberian republic of Buryatia in Russia. The two countries have already conducted six Indra-series joint drills since 2003.

*India on 8 June 2013 offered 150 million Dollars credit to Myanmar for establishing a Special Economic Zone at Sittwe in Myanmar's Buyer's Credit Scheme under National Export Insurance Account. The offer was made at a meeting the Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma had with the Myanmar President U Thein Sein recently in Nay Pyi Taw. Cooperation in Energy sector also came up for discussion during the meeting. India appreciated the Myanmar Government’s decision to allow United Bank of India to set up a representative office in Myanmar. Bank of India and State Bank of India would also be permitted to operate in that Country. India has made significant progress in improving road connectivity with Myanmar which will create new opportunities for India's north eastern region. India also offered to help in revival of 300 apparel factories in Myanmar. It also offered 5 million Us dollars Line of Credit for revival of these factories. The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) will provide technical assistance in formulation of revival plans for these factories. India will be setting up India-Myanmar Apparel Sector JVs in Thilawa SEZ in collaboration with other international brands. India will also set up a textiles trade show - Textiles Expo in Yangon for traditional textiles with Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC) as lead council.

*India and Britain have signed a pact to provide a framework for strategic and technical cooperation between the two countries on evidence informed healthcare policy and practice. The MoU was signed by Department of Health Research (DHR) Secretary V M Katoch and UK-based National Institute for Health and Care (NICE) Excellence chief executive Andrew Dillon in London on 14 June. The MoU followed the signature of an overarching health agreement between UK and India at the World Health Assembly, Geneva, last month by the health ministers of the two countries. The pact aims at bringing modern health technology to people by encouraging innovations in diagnostics, treatment methods and disease prevention. The aim is to translate the innovations into products and processes by facilitating synergy with other departments. The MoU creates provisions for exchange of institutional expertise and experience in clinical practice guidelines pathways and quality standards.

*Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation at Canberra, Australia. The MOU was signed by Mr. Ashok Chawla, Chairperson, CCI and Mr. Rod Sims, Chairman, ACCC on 3rd June,2013. The signing took place in the presence of the State Minister of Corporate Affairs Sachin Pilot.

*The MOU provides for sharing information on significant developments in competition policy and enforcement developments in the respective jurisdictions. It is recognized that it may be in common interest of both the parties to work together in technical cooperation activities as well as cooperate in appropriate cases, consistent with the respective enforcement interests, legal constraints, and available resources. It is planned to evaluate the effectiveness of the cooperation under the Memorandum on a regular basis to ensure that the expectations and needs are being met. MOU is expected to further strengthen existing cooperation between CCI and ACCC.

*The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has an Official Working Visit to Japan on 27-30 May 2013 for the Annual Summit of the Prime Ministers at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe. The two Prime Ministers held extensive talks on bilateral, regional and global issues on 29 May 2013 in Tokyo. Applauding the commemorative events held to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2012, the two Prime Ministers reaffirmed that India and Japan, as the two largest democracies in Asia sharing such universal values as freedom, democracy and rule of law, enjoy very close and wide-ranging relations.

*The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the steady growth of political exchanges, dialogue and policy coordination at all levels. They positively evaluated Ministerial-level annual dialogues and exchanges, particularly the Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue and the Ministerial Level Economic Dialogue. The two Prime Ministers also noted the successful outcomes achieved during the"2 plus 2” dialogue, the Foreign Secretary level Dialogue, the Foreign Office Consultations, the Defence Policy Dialogue, the Trilateral Dialogue between India, Japan and the United States, as well as other key interactions on various areas including cyber, counter-terrorism and economic partnership.

*The two Prime Ministers welcomed the launch of the bilateral Maritime Affairs Dialogue, the first meeting of which was held on 29 January 2013 in Delhi. They welcomed the expanding defence relations between the two countries based on the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation between India and Japan. The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction that the first bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)was held in June 2012 off the coast of Japan and decided to conduct such exercises on a regular basis with increased frequency. They decided to establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) to explore modality for the cooperation on the US-2 amphibian aircraft. Prime Minister Singh expressed his appreciation to the Government and people of Japan for their continued and unwavering support to India’s development. Prime Minister Abe reaffirmed that Japan would continue its Official Development Assistance at a substantial level to encourage India’s efforts towards social and economic development, including in the area of infrastructure and human resource development. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Exchange of Notes for yen loan totalling 71billion yen for the "Mumbai Metro Line-III project”, as well as the yen loan of the fiscal year 2012 totalling 353.106 billion yen for eight projects.

*Prime Minister Singh appreciated the pledge by Prime Minister Abe for the Campus Development Project of Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (Phase 2) for 17.7 billion yen and the "Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Programme” for 13 billion yen. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Agreement between India and Japan on Social Security in November 2012 and directed their relevant authorities in the governments to work towards its early entry into force. They expressed hope that this agreement would contribute to further accelerating bilateral activities of private sectors.

*The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction with the progress in cooperation of creative industries and welcomed the successful launch of the Indian Design Mark developed by the India Design Council and the Japan Institute of Design Promotion. The two Prime Ministers noted with satisfaction the progress in implementation of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). They expressed satisfaction that in Phase-I the procurement of civil works was at an advanced stage and that the Engineering Service Consultants for Phase-II were already in position. The two Prime Ministers also expressed satisfaction with the signing of the first tranche of the Main Loan Agreement for Phase-II totalling approximately 136 billion yen.

*The two Prime Ministers welcomed the progress made in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) as a visionary India-Japan Strategic Partnership project which would enable India to access innovative, cutting edge technologies. The two leaders shared the view that all instruments of funding of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) including the Special Term for Economic Partnership (STEP) may be explored. They appreciated the formation of the DMIC Project Implementation Trust in India as well as the listing of possible projects for Japan’s public and private financing as Japan’s USD 4.5 billion facility decided during the DMIC Task Force meeting at Tokyo in October 2012.

*The two Prime Ministers reviewed the rapid progress made in absorbing next generation technologies through the Smart Community Projects and directed the relevant authorities to vigorously accelerate implementation of the seawater desalination project at Dahej, Gujarat, the Model Solar Project in Neemrana, Rajasthan, and the gas-fired independent power producer (IPP) project in Maharashtra. The two Prime Ministers also stressed on the early realization of other Smart Community Projects and directed that all necessary measures be taken to provide solutions for provision of gas at reasonable rates and for electricity and environmental regulations so that each project moves ahead speedily as a symbol of India-Japan strategic partnership.

*Prime Minister Abe welcomed the relaxations of capital and financial regulations by India which could bring sustainable and stable economic growth in India by enhancing private sector investments and domestic production. Recognizing the importance of development in the Chennai-Bengaluru areas, the two Prime Ministers underlined their commitment to reinforce their cooperation. Noting the importance of increasing Japanese investment and business in India for economic growth of both countries, the two Prime Ministers expressed their expectation to advance cooperation between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan in the framework of India’s "National Manufacturing Policy” in such areas as industrial human resource development and business environment improvement. The two Prime Ministers highly appreciated the achievements of the Visionary Leaders for Manufacturing (VLFM) programme as a valuable Japanese contribution to the development of the manufacturing sector in India and welcomed the development of this programme as the new project ‘Champions of Societal Manufacturing’(CSM).

*Prime Minister Singh noted Japan’s interest in supporting the introduction of high speed railway system in India. Prime Minister Singh appreciated Japan’s high level of expertise in designing and implementing High Speed Railway (Shinkansen) systems. He conveyed that India will plan such projects based on its infrastructure priorities, commercial viability and financial resources in India. The two Prime Ministers decided that the two sides will co-finance a joint feasibility study of High Speed Railway system on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route.

*At the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid an Official Visit to Thailand from 30-31 May 2013. He was accompanied by the Minister of External Affairs, a high level official and media delegation. The Prime Minister of India presented a sapling of the sacred Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya as a special gift to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej as a symbol of the shared cultural heritage between India and Thailand. The official talks between Thailand and India were held on 30 May 2013 in a warm, cordial and friendly atmosphere, reflecting the excellent bilateral relations and friendship that exist between the two countries.

The following agreements were signed during the visit: -

1. Extradition Treaty.
2. MoU on the Establishment of the Thailand-India Exchange Programme.
3. MOU between Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency and Survey of India for cooperation in the field of Mapping and Geospatial Technology Applications.
4. MOU between Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, Thailand and National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization, India for cooperation in the field of Mapping and Geospatial Technology Applications.
5. MOU between Financial Intelligence Unit, India and Anti Money Laundering Organization, Thailand on Cooperation in the exchange of Financial Intelligence related to Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing.
6. MOU on Establishment of Hindi Chair at Thammasat University.

*The Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi on 30th May, announced that the 7th Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas to be held at Sydney, Australia from 10-12th November, 2013. He said that Sydney is the most important commercial city in Australia, and has a large Indian community. It is the best location on the Eastern sea board of Australia in terms of connectivity with New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The theme of this event is ‘Connecting for a Shared Future – The Indian Diaspora, India and The Pacific’. The session of the Regional PBD will include there on bilateral business opportunities, skill development and technology, education and culture. It will also provide a forum for sharing of Ideas and experiences among the Indian Diaspora in the region.

*The Regional PBD conventions are organized by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs with the collaboration of the host Government, the Indian Mission, prominent Overseas Indians and Organizations catering to the needs of the Indian Diaspora. It is a flagship event of the Ministry, which provides a platform to persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), in the process of their engagement with the Government and people of India, for charting mutually beneficial partnerships. These conventions have also been useful for PIOs and NRIs to synergize and network among themselves.

*India and Germany signed an umbrella agreement on financial and technical cooperation in fields of energy, environment and management of natural resources on 6th June. This agreement displays the commitment of both nations towards strengthening the long-standing partnership between the two in field of development co-operation. Earlier, India and Germany had negotiated about 723 million Euros worth projects in 2012 as part of a pact on development cooperation between them. The umbrella agreement was signed by German Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Cord Meier-Klodt and Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs Rajesh Khullar. 

June 2013 International Affairs | Current Affairs June 2013

*The United States Senate on 27 June passed a landmark immigration bill that will adversely affect India in at least two ways. It will deal a body blow to Indian IT services firms using the guest worker visa (H1B program) to win contracts in the US as it legislates higher fees and salaries, robbing Indian companies of their competitive edge. The bill will also pave way for fast-track permanent residency (Green Card) for foreign students who graduate in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) subjects, which may be good news for those seeking to buy their way into American residency through the education route, but will leach elite Indian talent.

*Compounding this, separately, Washington is also gradually setting up other barriers against transfer of capital and knowledge, undermining the long-held argument in New Delhi that brain drain has its benefits for India. The Senate bill actually increases the H1-B visa cap from the current 85,000 to 1,95,000 but to placate opponents of the guest worker program, the bill has provisions to penalize companies that are primarily dependent on these visas, which happen to be the Indian IT majors such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS etc.

*The US lawmakers have primarily attempted to shield the American economy and its job creation by shutting the doors on from low-cost competition from them, while opening the doors to some 11 million illegal immigrants - mostly of Hispanic stock - who constitute a huge vote block.

*Negotiators at a United Nations-backed forum in Marrakesh on 27 June adopted a landmark copyright treaty to enhance access to books for millions of people who are blind or visually impaired. The treaty, approved after more than a week of intense debate among negotiators meeting under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is the culmination of years of work on improving access for the blind, visually impaired, and print-disabled persons to published works in formats such as Braille, large print text and audio books.

*“This treaty is a victory for the blind, visually impaired and print disabled, but also for the multilateral system,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 31.4 crore blind and visually impaired persons in the world, 90 per cent of whom live in developing countries.

*The treaty, called the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled, requires parties to adopt national law provisions that permit the reproduction, distribution and making available published works in accessible formats without having to seek permission from copyright holders in each case. The treaty also ensures authors and publishers that the system will not expose their published works to misuse or distribution to anyone other than the intended beneficiaries.

*On June 25, President Obama laid out his three-part plan to address climate change during a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Scientific measurements accumulated and reviewed over decades tell us our plant is changing in ways that will have profound impacts on all of human kind, he said. “The 12 warmest years in recorded history have all come in the last 15 years,” Obama said.

*“Last year temperatures in some areas of the ocean reached record highs, and ice in the Arctic shrank to its smallest size on record, faster than most models had predicted it would. These are facts. Now, we know that no single weather event is caused solely by climate change. Droughts and fires and floods, they go back to ancient times, but we also know that in a world that is warmer than it used to be. All weather events are affected by a warming planet.”

*During his speech, Obama also noted that 97 percent of scientists—including some that have previously disputed climate change data—have now acknowledged the planet is warming and human activity is contributing to it. “The question now is whether we will have the courage to act before it is too late,” he continued. “How we answer will have a profound impact of the world we leave behind. “The first part of the three-part plan includes actions directed at cutting carbon pollution in America. The second component of the president’s action plan aims to prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change, while the third calls for our nation to leads global efforts to address climate change.

*Thirty ninth G8 Summit was held at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland from 17-18 June 2013. The two-day summit was presided over by the David Cameron, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom.

*The two-day summit was attended by the leaders from G8 Nations namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the USA and UK. Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, and Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council also were a part of the meet.

*The Lough Erne Declaration from the G8 Summit 2013 sets out agreed principles for the future. The declaration focused on private enterprises which would drive growth, help in reduction of poverty and creation of jobs and prosperity for people around the world. It also sets out that governments have a special responsibility to make proper rules and promote good governance.

*In addition, fair taxes, increased transparency and open trade are vital drivers of this. The UK assumed the one-year Presidency of the G8 in January 2013 and thus David Cameron, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom was the presiding leader of the 39th Summit.

*Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female Prime Minister, on 26 June, had to step down from position as she last intra-party election to her long-standing rival Kevin Rudd. She was voted down to give Rudd the party premiership ahead of the forthcoming general election.

*The meeting, summoned at just a few hours’ notice, was the climax to months of in-fighting as Labour MPs faced up to the near-certainty of their party’s defeat in an election which Ms Gillard had declared would be held in September, Gillard, 51, who hails Wales and migrated to Australia had been at the centre of a long-running “gender war” in which she endured persistent mockery. She said that she would retire from politics and would not contest in the coming elections, which was the condition for the loser of the intra-party poll. She believed that she had suffered from the continuing sexist furore surrounding her leadership. “It has not been an easy environment to work in,” she said.

*Croatia has become the 28th member of the European Union, with crowds joining celebrations in the capital Zagreb. The membership became effective at midnight of 30 June, with President Ivo Josipovic describing the event as historic. It comes almost two decades after Croatia's brutal war of independence. But Analysts say enthusiasm for the EU in the country has been dampened by the euro zone crisis, and Croatia's own economic problems.

*Italy has ratified Istanbul Convention which aims to combat violence against women. The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) was opened for signature on May 11, 2011, in Istanbul, Turkey. The convention aims at prevention of violence, victim protection and “to end with the impunity of perpetrators”. It has been signed by 29 countries and on 12 March 2012 Turkey became the first country to ratify the Convention, followed by three countries in 2013 (Albania, Montenegro, Portugal).

*World Bank will provide $255 million (Rs 1,499.6 crore) loan to India for National AIDS Control Project to promote safe behavior among high risk groups. The closing date of NACP IV is September 30, 2017, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on 17 June. An agreement for loan of USD 255 million (equivalent) from World Bank for the 'National AIDS Control Project (NACP-IV)' was signed in New Delhi on 17 June, between India and the World Bank, it said. The Ministry said: "The objective of the project is to increase safe behaviors among high risk groups in order to contribute to India's national goal of reversal of the HIV epidemic by 2017."The project aims at scaling-up targeted prevention interventions, behavior change communications and institutional strengthening at the national, state and district levels.

*The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO decided on 20 June, to inscribe Mount Fuji on the U.N. agency’s prestigious World Heritage list. The 3,776-meter volcano straddling Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures was approved by the 21-member panel of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization during its 37th session in Cambodia’s capital. Japan’s highest and most celebrated peak was designated a “cultural” rather than “natural” site and registered under the title “Mt. Fuji: Object of Worship, Wellspring of Art.”It is Japan’s 17th site to make the list and the first since the historic Hiraizumi area in Iwate Prefecture and the Ogasawara Islands in the Pacific won approval in 2011.Fuji spans roughly 70,000 hectares, including Sengen Shrine at its foot, five major lakes, the Shiraito Falls and the Miho-no-Matsubara pine grove.

*Mali’s government has signed a peace deal with Tuareg rebels on 19 June, to help pave the way for elections next month. The planned elections on 28 July, will be the first in Mali since the military staged a coup in 2012, accusing the government of failing to end the conflict in the north. The deal was reached after nearly two weeks of talks brokered by Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore in the Burkina capital, Ouagadougou. The accord calls for an immediate ceasefire and for government troops to return to the last rebel-held northern town of Kidal. The rebels captured Kidal after a French-led offensive forced militant Islamists out of the town in January. The Tuaregs have been fighting for autonomy in the north since Mali gained independence from France in 1960. They say they are marginalized by the government in the capital, Bamako.

*Foreign ministers of the Friends of Syria group, who are meeting in Qatar on 22 June, have agreed to provide urgent support to rebels who are fighting President Bashar al-Assad. Qatar's PM Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani said "providing arms may be the only means of achieving peace". The group also condemned the Syrian government for its use of Iranian and Hezbollah fighters. More than 90,000 people have died in more than two years of conflict. The Syrian government says it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists". The Friends of Syria group includes the US, Britain, France and Germany as well as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. Hezbollah is a proxy for Iran... Hezbollah in addition to that is a terrorist organization. That is a very, very dangerous development “said, John Kerry US Secretary of State. Support would be channeled through the Western-backed rebel military command.The group also called on the immediate withdrawal of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters from Syria.The meeting in Qatar's capital, Doha, comes a week after the US announced it would provide Syrian rebels with "direct military aid". That decision followed what the US said was evidence of small-scale chemical weapon attacks by the government. The Friends of Syria group was set up in response to moves by Russia and China to block UN resolutions on Syria.
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United Nations observance each June 17. Its purpose is to highlight ways to prevent desertification and recover from drought. Each annual celebration has a different theme. This year’s slogan, "Don’t let our future dry up" calls for everyone to take action to promote preparedness and resilience to water scarcity, desertification and drought. The World Day to Combat Desertification has been observed since 1995 to promote public awareness relating to international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought. The goal of the 2013 World Day to Combat Desertification is to create awareness about the risks of drought and water scarcity in the dry lands and beyond, calling attention to the importance of sustaining healthy soils as part of post Rio+20 agenda, as well as the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought to promote public awareness of the issue, and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa.

*Moderate cleric Hassan Rohani won Iran’s presidential election on 15 June, the interior ministry said, scoring a surprising landslide victory over conservative hardliners without the need for a second round run-off. Rohani’s resounding election mandate could provide latitude for a diplomatic thaw with the West and more social freedoms at home after eight years of belligerence and repression under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was legally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. Rohani will take up the presidency, the highest elected office in Iran’s hybrid clerical-republican system, in August. Though an establishment figure, Rohani is a former chief nuclear negotiator known for his nuanced, conciliatory approach. He has pledged to promote a policy of “constructive interaction with the world”, but no surrender to Western demands for a nuclear suspension, and enact a domestic “civil rights charter”. Rohani could act as a bridge-builder between hardliners around Khamenei who reject any accommodation with the West and reformers marginalized for the last four years who argue that the Islamic Republic needs to be more pragmatic in its relations with the world and modernize at home in order to survive. His wide margin of victory revealed a widespread reservoir of reform sentiment with many voters, undaunted by restrictions on candidate choice and campaign rallies, seizing the chance to rebuke the unelected power elite over Iran’s economic miseries, international isolation and crackdowns on secular lifestyles. In an apparent move to convey political continuity to both domestic and foreign audiences, Khamenei congratulated both the people of Iran for the high turnout in the polls and Rohani for his electoral success.

*Greece faced a new political crisis on 12 June2013 , as the government was hit with a storm of public protest and a looming general strike over its shock decision to shut down state broadcaster ERT. The broadcaster's television and radio stations were abruptly pulled off air from 12 June and its nearly 2,700 staff suspended as part of the conservative-led coalition government’s deeply unpopular austerity drive. The administration quickly presented legislation creating a new broadcaster called New Hellenic Radio, Internet and Television (NERIT) to replace the 60-year-old ERT. Greece is caught in a six-year recession which austerity critics say has been exacerbated by successive pay and pension cuts imposed at the behest of its EU-IMF creditors.

*A bridge opened on 14 June, between Bulgaria and Romania, the second on the 500-km stretch of the Danube River that forms the border between the Balkan neighbors, is touted as a key to boosting growth in one of Europe’s poorest regions. It is part of the Pan-European corridor IV, linking Dresden in Germany with the Aegean port city of Thessaloniki and Istanbul further east. The cable—stayed, steel and concrete bridge has two traffic lanes in each direction, a railway line, two pedestrian paths and a bicycle track. The only other bridge between the two countries was completed in 1954.

*World Day against Child Labour was celebrated on 12 June 2013. The theme this year was, “No to Child Labour in Domestic Work”. According to International Labour Organization, ILO, throughout the world, there are around 215 million children who work, many of them, full-time. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates 10.5 million children around the world are working as domestic workers in hazardous, sometimes slave-like conditions. The ILO report finds 6.5 million of the 10.5 million child domestic laborers are aged between five and 14 years. More than 70 percent are girls. The United Nation’s action plan has proposed that the ILO and its member states continue to pursue the goal of effective abolition of child labour by committing themselves to eliminate all its worst forms by 2016. The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them.

*Dubai in the first week of June 2013 inaugurated the tallest twisted tower of the world called Cayan Tower at the cost of 272 million US dollar. Earlier it was called the Infinity Tower. It was inaugurated in Dubai Marina. With this, Dubai created yet another record of engineering marvels as well as skyscrapers. Cayan Tower is 310 metre or 1017 foot tall residential tower. It is 75 storey building which is twisted at 90 degrees from the top most position to the bottom most position.The developer of this tower is Cayan Real Estate Investment and Development Company.Construction of this tower started in 2006, but then it was delayed.The Cayan Tower has been designed by the masterminds of Burj Khalifa - Chicago-based Skidmore Owings and Merrill. Burj Khalifa is the tallest tower of the world with a height of 2717 foot. It broke all architectural and engineering records when it was inaugurated in January 2010. The Guinness World Records in May 2012 declared Princess Tower (the 1356 foot tower) of Dubai as the tallest residential building of the world. Also, in 2012, the tallest hotel of the world- JW Marriott Marquis Dubai was inaugurated.

*John William Ashe, the ambassador to the United Nations for Antigua and Barbuda in the month of June 2013 selected as the President of UN General Assembly for its 68th session. With his appointment, John Ashe stressed the importance of reflecting on new and emerging development challenges, with attention to two main goals: overcoming poverty and ensuring sustainable development. Also the New and revised partnerships are of vital importance in integrating economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly is going to open in September 2013.

*Norway will soon become the only country in Europe to extend its military conscription to women in peacetime, after Parliament reached agreement on the issue on 14 June. All the parties represented in Parliament, with the exception of the small Christian Democrat party, agreed to back a proposal by the centre-left government for a “gender neutral” military conscription. Norway’s mandatory one-year military service will be extended to women, probably as of 2015, according to the Defence Ministry’s proposal. A number of other European countries have gone in the opposite direction in recent years, moving away from conscription towards professional armies. Norway’s Parliament is expected to adopt the bill by a broad majority, but a date has yet to be set for the vote. It is not due to a lack of conscripts: only 8,000 to 10,000 Norwegians are called up each year, among the some 60,000 who are theoretically eligible. Norwegian women have been allowed to do military service on a volunteer basis since 1976. Even before the adoption of a “gender neutral” military service, the Defence Ministry had set a target of 20 per cent women in the armed forces by 2020.Outside of Europe; some countries such as Israel require both men and women to complete their military service.

*The United States of America on 14 June 2013 announced to supply military aid directly to the Syrian rebels. The President Barack Obama made the decision, after his administration concluded that the Syrian forces under Bashar al-Assad were using Chemical Weapons. For the first time, US have made such an announcement. The US intelligence has suggested that about 150 people have been killed by due to the small number of chemical attacks in Syria. The decision to give direct military support to the Syrian rebels came up after President Obama’s discussions with the European leaders over the Syrian conflict. The decision to arm the Syrian rebels by US Government has been opposed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. On the other hand, Syria has claimed the US claim as fabricated information over chemical weapons for justifying its aid to the rebels of Syria.

*The Government of Pakistan on 14 June 2013 decided to declare Panja Sahib as a holy city. The government will initiate steps for sorting out the issues related to the welfare of the Sikhs, who live at the pilgrimage site. It is believed that Panja Sahib is the house of a rock that has the handprint of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion. This is a popular Sikh pilgrimage across the world. Panja Sahib is located near Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

*The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on 13 June, that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes, a decision with the potential to profoundly affect the emerging and lucrative medical and biotechnology industries. The court’s unanimous judgment reverses three decades of patent awards by government officials. It throws out patents held by Myriad Genetics Inc. on an increasingly popular breast cancer test brought into the public eye recently by actor Angelina Jolie’s disclosure that she had a double mastectomy because of one of the genes involved in this case. Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the court’s decision, said that Myriad’s assertion that the DNA it isolated from the body for its proprietary breast and ovarian cancer tests were patentable had to be dismissed because it violates patent rules. The court has said that laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas are not patentable. The company has used its patent to come up with its BRAC Analysis test, which looks for mutations on the breast cancer predisposition gene, or BRCA. Those mutations are associated with much greater risks of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad sells the only BRCA gene test. Opponents of its patents say the company can use the patents to keep other researchers from working with the BRCA gene to develop other tests. Ms. Jolie revealed last month that she carries a defective BRCA1 gene and her doctor said the test that turned up the faulty gene link led Ms. Jolie to have both of her healthy breasts removed. Companies have billions of dollars of investment and years of research on the line in this case. Their advocates argue that without the ability to recoup their investment through the profits that patents bring, breakthrough scientific discoveries to combat all kinds of medical maladies wouldn’t happen. The court did rule that synthetically created DNA, known as cDNA, can be patented “because it is not naturally occurring”, said Mr. Justice Thomas.

*A German official source said on 13 June that the country plans to create an €8 billion ($10.6 billion) emergency fund to pay for damage caused by recent flooding. The Elbe, the Danube and other rivers overflowed their banks following persistent heavy rain, causing extensive damage over the past two weeks in southern and northeastern Germany. Fitch Ratings earlier this week estimated that the cost of damage in Germany would total about €12 billion.

*India will surpass China to become world's most populous nation around 2028, with its population crossing the 1.45 billion mark, according to latest report by the United Nations. The report named “World Population Prospects” says the world's population will hit 7.2 billion mark next month and is projected to reach 10.9 billion by 2100, with the growth mainly occurring in developing countries, with more than half in Africa. But, with the number of future global dwellers linked to fertility, the number at the end of the century could be as high 16.6 billion or even fall to 6.8 billion, it adds.

*The report says India is expected to become the world's most populous country, overtaking present China’s position around 2028, when both countries will have populations of 1.45 billion each. After that, India's population will continue to grow and that of China is expected to start dwindle.

*India ranks 141st out of 162 in this year’s (2013) Global Peace Index (GPI). Iceland tops the list and Afganistan ranks at bottom. The major indicators that bring down India’s ranking are militarization, domestic and international conflicts, and corruption. According to the 2013 GPI, key drivers in making the world a less peaceful place are: rise in the number of homicides and countries increasing their military expenditure as a percentage of GDP.110 countries have seen their score deteriorate while only 48 became more peaceful, The GPI is the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The list was launched first in May 2007, then continued yearly. It is claimed to be the first study to rank countries around the world according to their peacefulness. It gauges ongoing domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and militarization in 162 countries by taking into account 22 separate indicators. IEP is an international think tank dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.

*The notion of “historic” links between India and Britain may have acquired a whole new meaning following claims that Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge and the second line to the British throne, has Indian lineage. A British genetics expert has claimed that Prince William’s “great-great-great-great-great grandmother”, Eliza Kewark, who was until now thought to be an Armenian may have been “half-Indian”. It is said to be based on a DNA test of saliva samples taken from his relatives.

*Nawaz Sharif, elected Pakistan’s Prime Minister to an unprecedented third term, took office on 5 May. Speaking to Parliament after he was elected, Mr. Sharif (63) says, “I will do my best to change the fate of the people and Pakistan”. He had received 244 votes in the 342-seat Parliament and was sworn in by President Asif Ali Zardari. Mr. Sharif emphasized that fixing the economy was his top priority. He listed the problems facing Pakistan, including nonperforming assets, unemployment, disillusioned youth, extremism, lawlessness, and widespread corruption. Over the last five years of the previous administration, power outages — some as long as 20 hours — have plagued the country.

*Malnutrition is responsible for nearly 45 % of deaths in children under-five, according to new research report published as part of the Lancet Series on maternal and child nutrition. The research shows that malnutrition is responsible for the death of around 3.1 million children under five annually. Results estimate that stunting (retard growth of body) affected at least 165 million children worldwide in 2011 while at least 52 million children were affected by wasting (low weight for height), and another 100 million children were underweight.

*Over 90 per cent of these children were in Asia or Africa, with Africa the only major world region where the number of children with stunting increased. A study based on a survey of the height and weight of more than one lakh children across six States in India last year had found that as many as 42 per cent of under-fives were severely or moderately underweight and that 59 per cent of them suffered from moderate to severe stunting. The findings — contained in the Hunger and Malnutrition Report by the Naandi Foundation— were described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a “national shame.”

*Under nutrition affects development of a child, with consequences ranging from poorer school performance to increased susceptibility to infectious disease. The authors, led by Professor Robert Black of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA, performed a comprehensive new analysis of the different causes of maternal and childhood malnutrition to arrive at these conclusions.

*Studies were done on breastfeeding practices and deficiencies of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, zinc, iron and calcium. They also analyzed the consequences of malnutrition, including stunting, wasting and underweight (low weight for age), all of which result in increased risk of death and illness for both pregnant women and children. Deficiencies of vitamin A and zinc result in deaths; deficiencies of iodine and iron, together with stunting, can contribute to children not reaching their developmental potential. The Lancet reports that under nutrition reduces a nation’s economic advancement by at least eight per cent because of direct productivity losses, losses via poorer cognition and losses via reduced schooling.

*The U.N.’s food agency has said obesity and poor nutrition weigh heavily on the global economy and told governments that investing in food health would bring big economic as well as social returns. Lost productivity and spiraling health care bills linked to obesity cost the world economy around $1.4 trillion a year, said the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Improving nutrition would boost earnings, “with a benefit-to-cost ratio of almost 13 to 1”, it said, adding that some 1.4 billion people in the world are now overweight and a third of them are obese. The FAO underlined that while there had been some progress in reducing hunger rates around the world, the problem of improving nutrition was still treated as a low priority by many countries.

*In its yearly report, the Rome-based agency found 12.5 per cent of the world’s population — or 868 million people — are still undernourished, while 26 per cent of children are stunted by malnutrition. A rapid rise in obesity is being seen in the associated costs in low- and middle-income countries, it said, pointing out that the highest obesity rates in the world were now in Mexico.FAO said rising urbanization, sedentary lifestyles and the increased availability of packaged foods meant policy-makers faced significant challenges in bettering nutrition and reversing obesity. The costs of under nutrition are estimated at two-three percent of global GDP, equivalent to $1.4 to $2.1 trillion per year, the FAO said. The agency urged global leaders to enhance nutrition — in part through agricultural policies — and promote behavioral change through education.

*The United States on 6 June, exempted India and eight other countries from having to adhere to its sanctions on importing oil from Iran, noting that these nations had significantly reduced their dependence on Iranian oil in the last six months. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said India, China, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Taiwan had qualified for being granted an exemption from rules under America’s Iran Sanctions Act, based on additional significant reductions in the volume of their crude oil purchases from the middle-eastern nation and for having reduced such purchases to zero and maintained it. Reiterating the U.S.’s stand against the Iranian nuclear programme, Mr. Kerry said the international community stood shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. in maintaining pressure on Iran till it fully addressed prevailing concerns “Today’s determination is another example of the international community’s strong and steady commitment to convince Iran to meet its international obligations,” he said.

*China has, for the first time, attempted to spell out its strategy — and plans — to secure its interests in the Indian Ocean in its first “blue book” on the region, released in Kunming on 8 June. The blue book makes a case for China to deepen its economic engagements with the Indian Ocean Region’s (IOR) littoral states, but stresses that Beijing’s interests will be driven by commercial — rather than military — objectives. However, it warns that the Indian Ocean could end up “as an ocean of conflict and trouble” if countries like India, the U.S. and China failed to engage with one another more constructively as their interests begin to overlap. In a frank assessment of China’s role in the IOR so far, the book laments that Beijing has trailed behind New Delhi and Washington in securing its interests. The 350-page book’s introduction says candidly that China “has no Indian Ocean strategy,” while India has put forward its own “Look East” policy and the U.S. has put in place its “pivot” or “rebalancing” in Asia. The book calls for China to be more proactive in securing its economic interests in the region. Official Chinese think tanks release “blue books,” which are policy documents that put forward recommendations to the government, on a range of subjects every year. The authors of the book, published by the official Social Sciences Academic Press, say it does not represent the government’s official position. The book was launched only two days after China opened its first South Asia Exposition, a trade push led by Yunnan and backed by the central government. The book includes chapters on India’s “Look East” policy, the expansion of India’s interest eastward in an interlinked “Indo-Pacific.” and lessons for China on “the decline of U.S. and U.K. hegemony” in the region.

*World leaders on 8 June 2013 in London, signed a global agreement to fight malnutrition in children and made commitments of up to USD 4.15 billion to tackle the global menace. The participants, who signed a Global Nutrition for Growth Compact, committed their countries and organizations to reduce the number of children under five who are stunted by an additional 20 million in developing countries like India by 2020. Stunting affects around 165 million children worldwide and nearly 50 per cent of children in India. The World Health Assembly recently agreed a new global target of a 40 per cent reduction in the number of stunted children by 2025. Hosted by Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, the central London summit saw the participation of two presidents and four prime ministers from Africa, philanthropist Bill Gates, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Unilever chief executive Paul Polman, the Guardian reported.

*Top secret documents obtained by The Guardian claimed that US National Security Agency (NSA) has obtained direct access to the systems of Facebook, Google, Apple and other US internet giants. All this was done under the secret program of US to search the data potentially linked with terrorism, espionage or nuclear proliferation. The US agency tapped into the central servers of different internet giants under the six-year old programme, code-named PRISM. Under this program, the FBI and NSA searched for the emails, videos, photographs, search history, the content of emails, file transfers, live chats and other documents. Existence of the program PRISM was confirmed by James Clapper, US Director of National Intelligence. As per Clapper, the information accessed under the programme is among the most valuable intelligence information collected by the agency and has been helpful in protecting US from a wide range of threats. The IT companies which were directly into surveillance of the US Agency were Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Face book, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple and all these companies denied the knowledge of surveillance despite the of the claims that the programme was assisted by them.

*Over 60 countries signed the Arms Trade Treaty on 3 June 2013. The Arms Trade Treaty intended to regulate the multibillion-dollar global arms trade. Signing the treaty will start the first crucial international campaign in order to curtail the illicit trade in weapons.

*The US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that US was the largest dealer of arms in the world and that it will sign the treaty soon, but the strength of the treaty was dependent on support by major arms importers and exporters.

*The Arms Trade Treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly on 2 April 2013. Signing of the treaty is first step of its ratification and it will take only be effective after ratification by 50 countries.

*The co-sponsors of the Arms Trade Treaty United Kingdom, Finland, Japan, Argentina, Australia, Kenya and Costa Rica announced at a conference on 3 June 2013 that on first day that the treaty was signed by a good number of countries.

*Bangladesh approved the draft law meant for the development of Hindu religious properties as well as for protection of these properties from land grab and encroachment on June 3rd. The Cabinet gave its final approval to the draft law.

*The Government decided to prepare a list of the Hindu charitable endowments also known as Devottar property. A management board will also be constituted once this law will be passed by the Parliament.

*A Hindu law expert Advocate Rana Dashgupta explained that since the British era, there is a law meant for protection as well as management of the Muslim Wakf sites. But no such laws have been designed for the Hindu sites. Over the past 10 years, thousands of land pieces of Hindu religious properties were encroached. Therefore, there have been increasing demands of the Hindus for curtailing the incidents of grabbing or encroachment of Devottar property. 

June 2013 National Affairs | Current Affairs June 2013

*Union health ministry’s ambitious schemes of providing free generic drugs at government health care centers have been launched on 17th June 2013, after being put on hold last year due to financial constraints. The initiatives, called 'Free Drug Service' and 'Free Diagnostics Service' under the National Health Mission, are aimed at sprucing up health care facilities in the country. The Health Ministry has written to the states to take advantage of this scheme under which they can access funds from the central government by following certain guidelines laid down by it. The guidelines include appropriate systems for procurement, logistics, and quality assurance, among others.

*The scheme was one of the government's keystone projects of the 12th Five Year Plan. “Almost 33% people suffer from poverty due to their medical expenditures," an official said. The directions for accessing the funds make it mandatory for a state to have a clearly notified policy of providing free essential drugs and diagnostics to all patients coming to public sector facilities at least up to district hospital level. The state should have a robust procurement, logistics and supply chain system that is backed by Information technology.

*The state should have adopted Standard Treatment Guidelines and provide for prescription audits to ensure rational use of drugs and it should name the initiative as 'National Health Mission-Free Drug Service' or 'National Health Mission-Free Diagnostic Service' or its translation in Hindi or regional language. The free generic drugs scheme was proposed after a 2011 report of the High Level Expert Group which stated that 76% of the out-of-pocket expenditure on health is on drugs.

*The Union government on 26 June 13 has banned three major medicines—the widely prescribed anti-diabetes drug pioglitazone, painkiller analgin and anti-depressant deanxit. The decision to ban the drug was taken in wake of health risks associated with them. It was taken after strong stand by the government on suspending marketing of all drugs prohibited for sale in other countries like the US, the UK, EU and Australia. Pioglitazone is widely believed to cause heart failure and increases the risk of bladder cancer, analgin has been discarded the world over on grounds of patient safety.

*Deanxit is made up of harmful combination, which has been long banned even in Denmark, its country of origin. Analgin is known to cause a steep decrease in the count of white blood cells, which can lead to a potentially fatal state. The drug was thus taken off the shelves in many countries including Sweden, Japan, France, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Earlier in year 2010-11 Drug Controller General had banned various drugs which include painkiller Nimesulide, anti-diabetes medicine Rosiglitazone and antibiotic Gaifloxacin.

*The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 28 June, approved the proposal of the Department of Health Research under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the setting up of 10 regional labs, 30 State level labs and 120 medical college level labs under the scheme for establishing a network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities. The scheme is estimated to cost Rs. 646.83 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan. The expenditure on the establishment of the labs at the State level and at medical colleges would be shared between the Central Government and State Governments in the ratio of 75:25 (90:10 in North-Eastern, Hill States, including Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir). Expenditure on the regional labs would be fully borne by the Central Government.

*This major initiative taken by the Government for establishment of a 3-tier network of laboratories across the country will greatly help in building capacity for handling viral diseases in terms of early and timely diagnosis, development of tools to predict viral disease outbreaks beforehand, continuous monitoring and surveillance of existing as well as new viral strains and handling viruses with a potential to be used as agents of bio-terrorism.

*The initiative shall also help in smooth data flow from across sites of epidemics, creation of efficient knowledge management network for policy interventions such as quick deployment of resources and measures like introduction of preventive strategies, new vaccines, etc. Currently only national apex institutes like NCDC, New Delhi and NIV, Pune are mandated to undertake investigations. This leads to creating a heavy burden and affect their real referral role. The resultant delay in diagnosis/detection and inadequate/incomplete data during outbreaks significantly impacts on response time for interventions. All the laboratories will work under the overall guidance of apex institutions like NIV and NCDC through appropriate linkages and networking. The States/UTs which do not currently have any government medical colleges will be linked with the nearby State's laboratories.

*In recognition of the contributions by Late Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of economic planning and statistical development, the Government of India has designated 29th June every year, coinciding with his birth anniversary, as the “Statistics Day” in the category of Special Day to be celebrated at the national level. The objective of this Day is to create public awareness, specially the younger generation for drawing inspirations from Late Prof. Mahalanobis about the role of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been celebrating the Statistics Day every year since 2007. The theme for the Statistics Day 2013 is “Labour and Employment Statistics”.

*The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh dedicated the newly constructed railway line between Banihal (Jammu region)-Qazigund (Kashmir valley) section to the nation by flagging off the first DEMU train from Banihal through the Pir Panjal tunnel- the longest transportation tunnel of India, from Banihal Railway station in Jammu & Kashmir on 26 June 2013.

*Ircon International Ltd., a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, has been the principal executing agency for Northern Railway to execute the work of Dharam-Qazigund Section of USBRL Project which includes Banihal-Qazigund section and Pir Panjal Tunnel.The Kashmir Valley railway (Qazigund-Baramulla section) is a 119 km long modern railway line that became completely operational in October 2009.

*So far it is an island railway, not yet connected to the Indian Railway network. It connects Baramula in the western part of Kashmir to Qazigund at the other end of the Valley, via Srinagar. With this challenging project which is dedicated to the nation, the extension of this railway line beyond the Pir Panjal Mountains in to the Jammu region has been achieved with trains running on the new railway section of Qazigund-Banihal. The 17.7 km long rail link paves way for the future railway connectivity of Kashmir region with the national railway network.This section mostly consists of a 11.2 km long, Tunnel T-80 which pierces through the Pir Panjal range, providing a direct rail connection between the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region.

*Government has set up an investment target of Rs. 1.15 lakh crore for Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in infrastructure sector in the next six months. The proposals include Mumbai elevated rail corridor of Rs. 30,000 crore and two international airports in Bhubneswar and Imphal and power and Transmission projects.

*A steering group is also being set up to monitor the award and implementation of infrastructure projects. The decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with key infrastructure Ministers in New Delhi on 29 June 2013. The meeting was convened to finalize the infrastructure targets for the current financial year.

*According to an official release, Government has also decided to put in place new policies for ramping up coal production in the country. The Prime Minister also set the target to build eight Greenfield Airports in PPP mode this year. An Inter-Ministerial Group will be formed to work out a creative financing-cum-implementation mechanism in two months for clearing the large backlog of sanctioned projects of over two lakh crores rupees in a time-bound manner.

*The flagship projects of railways, including the two Loco Manufacturing Projects, Elevated Rail Corridor, the Dedicated Freight Corridor and station redevelopment will be closely monitored for awarding the contract in the next six months. The Power Ministry has been asked to work with Planning Commission and Finance Ministry to resolve remaining issues in the power sector and improve generation and transmission capacity. The award of road projects should get expedited with focused attention on Expressways. The two new PPP ports at Sagar in West Bengal and Durgarajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh approved by Cabinet will be awarded.

*The Union Cabinet on 28 June 2013, gave its approval to the proposal of signing of a headquarters agreement between the Ministry of External Affairs and Nalanda University. This agreement would confer on the University and members of its academic staff privileges and immunities considered necessary to provide an overall framework for the efficient functioning and operation of the University, and allow it to obtain talent from across the globe.

*The Agreement will come into force immediately upon signing and notification. The signing of the headquarters agreement will facilitate hiring of the best academicians from across the world, well before the commencement of the first academic session. Recruitment of the University’s faculty cannot take place without fixing their terms and conditions, for which the conclusion of the headquarters agreement is essential.

*The University will serve as an international centre of excellence in higher learning. It would integrate modern, scientific and technological knowledge and skills with basic human values and promote universal friendship, peace and prosperity through the spiritual awakening of the individual and society. At the 4th East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Thailand in October, 2009, member States issued a Joint Press Statement which supported the establishment of Nalanda University as a non-State, non-profit, secular and self-governing international institution with a continental focus, that would bring together the brightest and most dedicated students from all countries of Asia.

*UNESCO has recognized an ancient Jain manuscript ‘Shantinatha Charitra’ as one of the rarest documents in the world and has registered it in its Register as Heritage Documentary. ‘Shantinatha Charitra’ is a text in Sanskrit written in Devanagari script. It describes the life and times of Shantinatha, the 16th Jain Tirthankara. This work was composed and written in the late fourteenth century 1396 C.E. (1453 Vikram Samvat). This unique manuscript contains as many as 10 images of scenes from the life of Shantinatha in the style of Jain paintings from Gujarat. UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme is an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, the ravages of time and climatic conditions, and willful and deliberate destruction.

*The Ministry of Women and Child Development has constituted a Committee to finalize modalities for media campaign against indecent portray of women in mass media. The Committee will be headed by Additional Secretary, M/o WCD, Smt. K. Ratna Prabha. The terms of reference of the Committee are as follows:- 1)Finalize modalities of a media campaign, through print and electronic media, to instill a sense of respect for women in all spheres of life. 2) Suggest innovative campaign/ strategy to project women in a more positive, proactive and empowered manner, which can have maximum impact on the society and bring about an attitudinal/ behavioral change of people towards women. 3)Draw up national campaign to sensitize families regarding the values of girls, through depicting women achievers, abhor civil practices like female foeticide, dowry, child marriages, etc. 4)Identify areas of corporation between M/o WCD and M/O I&B on all such issues that demand sustained public interest campaigns in print, electronic as well as social media.

*Unemployment rate in India has increased. It is 2% in rural areas and 3% in urban India. The unemployment rate per 1,000 population is at 27, while it was 25 two years ago. As on January 1, 2010, the number of unemployed was 9.8 million. By January 1, 2012, it has increased to 10.8 million.--In rural areas, the unemployment rate for both male and female is almost at the same level, 2%. But, in, urban areas, women are more unemployed than men. The rate is 5% for women and 2% for men. These are some findings of the 68th Round Survey by the National Sample Survey Office ( NSSO), ministry of statistics and programme implementation, which was released on 23 June 2013.

*India has witnessed a work force (activity status determined on the basis of reference period of one year) growth of 13.9 million in just two years, between 2010 and 2012.As per the NSS 66 th round survey, as on January 2010, the workforce at the all-India level, was about 459 million (rural men - 231.9, rural women - 104.5; urban men - 99.8 million and urban women - 22.8 million) . As on January 2012 (present survey), it has increased to 472.9 millions (rural men - 234.6, rural women - 101.8 million; urban men -- 109.2 million and urban women - 27.3 million).

*The current workforce at the all-India level is 47.2 crore. More than half the population (52%) is self-employed, while 18% work as regular wage/salaried employees and 30% as casual laborers. More people are self-employed (56%) and work as casual laborers (35%) in rural India. In Urban India, it is the waged/salaried (43%) who constitute a majority. They are followed by the self-employed (42%) and casual laborers (15%).

*Nearly half the population (49%) is engaged in agriculture, while 24% are working in secondary sector and 27% in tertiary sector.

*In India, women are more self-employed than men.The share of self-employment in total workforce is 55 % for rural men, 59 % for rural women, while it is 42 % for urban men and 43 % for urban women. Men work more as casual labourers.

*when it comes to agriculture, it is again the women who dominate. In the rural areas, 59% men work in agriculture, but the figures are 75% for women. The involvement of women in the agriculture sector is more even in the urban areas. It is 11% as against the 6% for men.

*When it comes wages, obviously, the urbanites are paid more than their rural counterparts. Men are paid more than women. At the national level, average wages earned by regular wage/salaried employees is Rs 396 per day (Rs 299 in rural areas and Rs 450 in urban areas).

*In the rural areas, wages earned per day by a regular wage/salaried employee is Rs 322 (men) and Rs 202 (women). In the urban areas, this is Rs 470 for men and Rs 366 for women.

*The Union Cabinet on 20 June 2013, decided to restructure the existing centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)/ Additional Central Assistance (ACA) schemes in the Twelfth Five Year Plan into 66 schemes, including Flagship programmes. This includes 17 Flagship programmes with significant outlays for major interventions required in health, education, irrigation, urban development, infrastructure, including rural infrastructure, skill development, etc. To suit the requirements of the States, the Cabinet has also approved that a scheme may have state specific guidelines which may be recommended by an Inter-Ministerial Committee constituted for this purpose. Besides, the financial assistance to the States in these schemes would be provided through the Consolidated Funds of the states. Further, to bring in desired flexibility, the Cabinet has approved that 10% of the outlay of the Schemes be kept as flexi-funds. For each new CSS/ACA/Flagship scheme, at least 25 per cent of funds may be contributed by the General Category States and 10 percent of funds by the Special Category States including J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Earlier, the National Development Council (NDC), while approving the 12th plan in its meeting in December 2012 had also recommended building flexibility in the schemes to suit the requirements of the State Governments.

*Despite a sharp slowdown in the economy which led to an increase in unemployment, India's consumption story remained intact, the latest data on households' consumer expenditure in 2011-12 conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) revealed on 23 June. In fact, the average rural monthly per capital expenditure went up by 35.7% in the two year period between 2009-10 and 2011-12. Of the total expenditure, rural households spent less than half on food items, suggesting rise in wages. The average monthly per capita expenditure during 2011-12 stood at around 1,430 for rural India, a 35.7% increase compared to the 2009-10 survey and 2,630 for urban India, a 32% jump. The average urban monthly per capita expenditure was 84% higher than rural areas. The share of expenditure on food declined substantially from 53.6% to 48.6% in rural areas and from 40.7% to 38.5% in the urban areas. The faster rise in share of non-food expenditure in rural areas suggest a rise in wages. The rural wages went up from 231.59 a day in 2009-10 to 299 a day in 2011-12, a 29% increase. This could again be explained by the rural urban migration, as semi-skilled or unskilled workers in the urban areas would send home higher wages back home, an analyst said."As MGNREGA has led to increase in wages, people in rural areas are spending more on non food items", said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings. Urban wages went up to 450 a day from 354.95, according to the 68th round of the NSSO survey. The monthly per capita expenditure on food totaled 756 against 1,121 in the urban areas. Within food, the share of protein based items went up in the consumption basket. The share of milk and milk products went up from 8.6% in 2009-10 to 9.1%. Among non-food items, the share of durable goods in the consumption basket of rural areas went up from 4.8% to 6.1%.

*People in Andhra Pradesh are spending more money on various kinds of intoxicants than citizens of most other states in the country, according to a report by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation on the average amount spent by an Indian on household consumer items. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), which falls under the ministry, released key indicators of consumer expenditure generated from the data collected for the period from July 2011-June 2012 on 21 June. The report revealed that the average monthly amount spent on intoxicants like tobacco, paan, alcohol, gutka etc stood at Rs 88.98 per person in rural Andhra Pradesh and Rs 61.61 per person in urban areas. The national average expenditures per person in the rural and urban areas are comparatively much lower at Rs 45.93 and Rs 42.3 respectively. With regard to AP, Tamil Nadu's urban per capita expenditure on intoxicants is only Rs 40.14, while that of Karnataka is Rs 48.68. The spending in the state is also comparatively much higher than in Maharashtra and Odisha as well. Social scientists say the differences are very significant and are a major cause for concern."AP is one of the highest liquor consuming states as the political culture here encourages it. The revenue targets being set for the excise department have increased. If targets have to be met, more people have to spend more on liquor," social scientist C Ramchandraiah said. The excise department revenue in the last financial year had crossed the Rs 10,000 crore mark, earning the state more than 10% of its total revenue. The excise revenue has grown more than ten-fold in the last decade.

*The Union Council of Ministers was expanded with the induction of four new Cabinet Ministers and four Ministers of State on 17th June. Mallikarjun Kharge was given the charge of Railways Ministry. The newly appointed ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at Rastrapati Bhawan .

List of newly appointed Cabinet Ministers and their departments

Kavuri Sambasiva Rao	Textiles Ministry
Sisram Ola	Labour and Employment Ministry
Oscar Fernandes	Road Transport and Highways Ministry
Girija Vyas	Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

List of newly appointed State Ministers and their departments 

Manikrao Gavit	Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment
Santosh Chowdhury	Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare
Jesudasu Seelam	Minister of State for Finance and
E.M.S. Natchiappan	Minister of State for Commerce and Industry

*The Geographical Indication (GI) certificate for unique Toda embroidery of hilly Nilgiris District in Tamilnadu has been handed over to a representative of the tribal community. The GI accorded in March would insulate the embroidery from being duplicated besides ensuring uniform pricing for the products. Nearly 400 Toda tribals are actively involved in the embroidery business and produce a wide range of products like shawl, table mat, wall hangings, bags and shopping bags and the certificate allowed the products to display the specific geographical location or origin. GI is a name on goods to indicate their specific geographical location or origin. Geographical Indications of Goods are defined as that aspect of industrial property which refer to the geographical indication referring to a country or to a place situated therein as being the country or place of origin of that product.

*According to latest UN Report, the current world population of 7.2 billion will increase by 1 million over the next 12 years and reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Report points out that growth will be mainly in developing countries, with more than half in Africa. The report, World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision, notes that the population of developed regions will remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion from now until 2050.The report notes that India is expected to become the world’s largest country, passing China around 2028, when both countries will have populations of 1.45 billion. After that, India’s population will continue to grow and China’s is expected to start decreasing. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s population is expected to surpass that of the United States before 2050.The 49 least developed countries are projected to double in size in 2050.According to report while there has been a rapid fall in the average number of children per woman in large developing countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Brazil and South Africa, rapid growth is expected to continue over the next few decades in countries with high levels of fertility such as Nigeria, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Uganda etc. Europe’s population is projected to decline by 14 per cent, the report states. It warned that the continent is already facing challenges in providing care and support for a rapidly aging population. Overall, life expectancy is projected to increase in developed and developing countries in future years. At the global level, it is projected to reach 76 years in the period 2045-2050 and 82 years in 2095-2100. By the end of the century, people in developed countries could live on average around 89 years, compared to about 81 years in developing regions.

*Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology has been upgraded to a state university and will now be known as Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University. Inaugurated on 14 June, it is the first technical institute for woman in the country. Formerly under Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, it shares its Kashmere Gate campus with Ambedkar University, and like it, will be a non-affiliating university."I hope this will outshine all the technical institutes in Delhi," said chief minister Shiela Dikshit who inaugurated it. The upgrade takes the number of state universities in Delhi to five. Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology was established in 1998 as the first engineering college for women in Delhi. The university is launching M Tech programmes in five courses for the 2013 round of admissions. This includes information security management, VLSI design, mobile and pervasive computing, robotics and automation and electronics and communication - the last being a weekend programme.

*Fifteen MLAs of the Congress and the Telugu Desam were disqualified on 8 June, from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for openly defying the whips issued by their respective parties during voting on the no confidence motion in March this year. Announcing his verdict in Hyderabad, Speaker Nadendla Manohar said these MLAs – nine of Congress and six TDP -- stood disqualified from the 13th Legislative Assembly for violating their party whips.

*The Telangana Rashtra Samiti had moved a motion of no confidence against the Kiran Reddy government and was supported by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress on March 15 2013. The Congress had asked its members to vote against the no-trust motion while the TDP instructed its MLAs to remain neutral. But 18 MLA of both these parties stepped out of line, following which disqualification petitions were moved against them.

*In his judgment, the Speaker said he was of the opinion that respondents had exercised their vote on the no confidence motion on the floor contrary to the whip issued, attracting provisions of the X Schedule to the Constitution read with the AP Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on the ground of Defection) Rules 1986.

*The Indian Railways is all set for a long-term engagement with Japan with the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) granting a Rs.6,700-crore contract for construction of 640-km twin-track line between Rewari and Palanpur of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor to an Indo-Japanese consortium. L&T-Sojitz, a joint venture comprising L&T of India and Sojitz Corporation of Japan, has won the contract through an international bidding process. The contract is likely to be completed in four years, a press release said on 8 june.

*The project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japanese government arm for providing technical and financial aid to developing countries, which is also DMRC’s lending agency. Earlier in January, DFCCIL had awarded the Rs.3,300-crore contract for 343-km-long Khurja-Kanpur section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, funded by the World Bank. The length covered under the new contract is more than 40 per cent of the entire western corridor. Land for almost the entire stretch has already been acquired. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, which will cover a length of about 1,500 km from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Mumbai), is being funded by the JICA, which has pledged a special terms for economic partnership loan of 677 billion yen for the entire Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. As per the loan conditionalities, the lead partner for any contract has to be from Japan.

*India got its 8th Telecom Centre of Excellence in New Delhi on 5 June 2013, with RailTel Corrporation signing an MoU with IIT Roorkee for establishing RailTel IIT Roorkee Centre of Excellence in Telecom (RICET). The MoU was signed in the presence of Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications & Information Technology and Law & Justice. RailTel shall fund the TCOE through 100% budgetary support over 5 year period for doing Research & Development in the field of ‘ICT & Broadband Applications’.

*RailTel Corporation, which is a Mini Ratna (Category I) PSU of the Ministry of Railways, is one of the largest telecom infrastructure providers in the country having country wide optic fiber network along Railway right of way. Already 7 TCOEs are working in the country established by all major Telecom operators in partnership with premier institutions like IITs & IIMs. Over 28 innovations and products have been developed in various fields of telecommunication by existing TCOEs which are available for commercial roll out. With the establishment of the 8th TCOE, north India also got its first TCOE in the region. RICET will work upon R&D in the field of development of applications, services and technology in the domain of broadband & ICT for providing affordable services to the citizens with high network availability.

*The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation stone of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University on June 6 , 2013 at Bhopal. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that language has an important role between the Government and people. Success of social welfare and development programme depends on language. Therefore, we should encourage Hindi and other regional languages. Hindi has always played an important role in the national integration. It is symbol of India’s social and cultural unity. The President said that decade of 2010-20 has been declared as the decade of innovation. He said that recently, he had opened Innovation Clubs in two Central Universities in Uttar Pradesh and Assam and attended innovation exhibitions organized in these universities. He called upon the University to take the initiative to build a strong innovation culture. A newsletter ‘Atal Samvad’ was released on the occasion and its first copy was presented to the President.

*5 June  is World Environment Day. 5th June was declared as the “World Environment Day” on the recommendations made by UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through the celebration of World Environment Day spreads awareness and gets citizens’ support for environment protection across the globe. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day (WED) is -Think. Eat. Save- Reduce our Foodprint. The campaign calls for minimizing waste of food at all stages of the food chain, from farm to fork. This is to raise awareness about the environmental consequences of our food choices and find ways to reduce our environmental “foodprint”, as food production has profound impact on environmental resources.

*Agriculture is responsible for 70% of fresh water consumption, 80% of deforestation, and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is the cause of land-use change, biodiversity loss, and responsible for large-scale soil, water and air pollution. The campaign is also to remind each one of us that despite producing enough food for everyone, 90 crore people still go hungry world over. On this day we take a pledge to make a difference, individually as well as collectively, to reduce food loss or wastage and move towards a world where everyone has enough to eat and no one is malnourished or undernourished.

*Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister for Environment & Forests presided over the function to celebrate World Environment Day organized by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in New Delhi on 5 June. As the part of the celebrations, Five publications namely, Animal Discoveries- 2012, Plant Discoveries 2012, Coastal Zones of India, National Wetland Atlas: High Altitude Lakes of India and National Wetland Atlas and Wetlands of International Importance under Ramsar Convention were released by the dignitaries for spreading awareness and sensitizing the citizens.

*On the occasion, Smt. Natarajan, presented this year’s “Young Environmentalist of the Year Award - 2013”to Ms. Arundhati Srivastava, from New Delhi.

*In a major step towards improving the quality and safety of ambulances on Indian roads, National Ambulance Code AIS:125 (Automotive Industry Standard) recommended by Central Motor Vehicles Rules-Technical Standing Committee (CMVR-TSC) has been approved by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways on 7 June. This ‘Code’ puts in place minimum standards and guidelines regarding the constructional and functional requirements of road ambulances in India. Drafted in line with the global best practices in the field of ambulance design, the code has been suitably adapted to factor in the special requirements of the Indian sub-continent, including traffic conditions, need for economy and industry maturity.

*The National Ambulance Code classifies road ambulances into four types (A, B, C & D) that is First Responder, Patient Transport, Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support, respectively. The category of First Responder, which also includes two wheeled ambulances, has been specially introduced for the first time in India to cater to the need for providing prompt medical care in congested by-lanes and high traffic areas.

*Special care has been given to Care Ergonomics, Patient Safety, Oxygen System Design, Infection Control, Crash Rescue, etc. in the Code. Once implemented, this Code will ensure uniformity and standardization in ambulance design and a minimum level of patient care as per the ambulance designation when appropriately staffed and equipped. So far no guidelines were available for hospitals and other procuring agencies for floating tenders and for industry outlining required specifications. The Government would now consider bringing the Ambulance Code within the mandatory framework of Central Motor Vehicles Rules.

*The Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on 7th June 2013 has launched a new skill development scheme called Roshni for rural youth from 24 most critical left-wing extremism affected districts in the country. Briefing the media, Ramesh said that the initiative aims at skilling and placement of fifty thousand youth from these districts. Six districts each from Jharkhand and Odisha, five from Chhattisgarh, two from Bihar and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have been chosen for the scheme, which will be implemented at a cost of Rs 100 crore over the next three years.

*The Minister said, the projects shall be funded jointly by the central and state governments in the ratio of 75:25 and the national level agencies shall be designated to act as monitoring and coordinating agencies for Roshni. Ramesh said that at least 50 percent of the candidates covered under the scheme shall be women and special efforts will be made to proactively cover Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups on a priority basis.
He said, beneficiaries aged between 18-35 years with requisite aptitude depending upon the trade or job requirements are to be selected as per the Participatory Identification of Poor. Training will be imparted through public-private and public-public partnerships. Educational institutions, corporate entities, entities that train and place for improved public service delivery, commercial and not for profit training providers will be roped in for implementing this scheme.

*The Central Information Commission (CIC) brought political parties under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act on 3rd June. The CIC recognized the need for bringing the parties under public scrutiny in view of benefits like allocation of land at throwaway prices and tax exemption enjoyed by them. The CIC decision may usher in an era of transparency in the functioning of the parties. A full bench decision of the apex transparency panel rejected the contention of major political parties like the Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM, BSP and the NCP that they could not be described as public bodies.

*The Union Cabinet of India approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill 2013 to set up a regulator for the real estate sector in the country on 4th June. This was done with the objective of protecting home buyers from dishonest builders. The bill seeks to make it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all the statutory clearances from relevant authorities. It also has provisions under which all relevant clearances for real estate projects would have to be submitted to the regulator and also displayed on a website before starting construction work. A real estate regulator will be set up in every state. It will ensure that private developers get all their projects registered with it before sale and only after obtaining all necessary clearances.

*The commercial real estate is not covered under the purview of the proposed bill. However, it will apply to residential buildings. The bill has a provision for mandatory public disclosure of all project details such as lay out plan, land status and credentials of promoters etc. An adjudicating officer in the state will be appointed by the authority for fast tracking settlement of disputes. There will be Real Estate Appellate Tribunal as per the bill. It will hear appeals from orders, decisions or directions of regulator and adjudicating officer.