Maldives

Feb 2014 :

Religious Conservatism :

• The Maldives, a string of 1,192 islands, has made several moves to cement the supremacy of Sunni Islam since Yameen was sworn in as president in November 2013.
• The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has set its top priorities for 2014, which include blocking all religions except Islam in the nation, ensuring that all laws and regulations adhere to Islamic principles and developing and strengthening the Islamic Fiqh Academy to issue fatwas. 
• The ministry has also signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian Muslim Scholars Association to receive a grant of MVR1.6 million, or $104,166, for the “mutual goal” of developing and improving the study of the Quran and religion.
• The Ministry of Education has meanwhile introduced Arabic as a subject in schools.

Before 2014 :

• Just before it hosted the SAARC summit in 2012, the Maldives allowed China to open an embassy. 
• Maldives requested China for a soft loan of Rs. 250 crore for an IT infrastructure project.
• The Sri Lankan subsidiary of Chinese telecom equipment-maker Huawei Technologies has signed an agreement with the National Centre of Information Technologies, Maldives, to develop the IT infrastructure under the ‘Smart Maldives Project.’
• EC declares presidential elections to be held on september 2013.
• India stiffens medical visa facility for Maldivians
•  India is also angry over detention and deportation of Indian travelers and confiscation of the passports of Indian workers there by their employers.
• Nasheed, who defeated former autocratic President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the 2008 election but was ousted in an alleged coup in February 2012, had promised to bring true democracy for the nation’s progress.

MNREGA

• MNREGA will help implement direct benefit transfers.
• MNREGA has brought momentum in the financial inclusion of our rural population. More than four crore accounts have been opened in banks while more than that have been opened in post offices. These accounts will assist us in reaching the incentives of the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme to the rural population

India-Japan

India-Japan

Jan 2014 

Japan PM Shinzo Abe  visited India during 25-27 Jan 2014 and was chief guest during republic day parade.

• The two countries signed eight pacts, of which half were connected with Japanese aid, thus indicating that soft loans and outright grants will continue to remain an integral component of Tokyo’s strategy of reaching out to New Delhi. 
• Mr. Abe held out the promise of more aid, of which 70 per cent will go for implementing phase-III of the Delhi Metro project.
• On the defence side, the two countries decided to make joint naval exercises a permanent feature and India, despite the experience of 2007, invited Japan to join the Indo-U.S Malabar series. Seven years ago, the presence of Japan and Australia in the Malabar series fuelled protests at home and from China leading to the dropping of the duo from subsequent chapters.
• The Prime Ministers reviewed the progress made in selling hi-tech US-2 amphibious aircraft to India, with government sources saying final plans envisaged a transfer of a substantial number of such planes. This is the first time Japan is offering to sell a plane which has military uses as well.
• Within two months, we have received from Japan, first that rare, and symbolically greatest, gesture, the visit of Their Imperial Majesties, then the Defence Minister’s, and now, the Premier’s.
• Japan invited to develop India's NE particularly in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is disputed almost in its entirety by China
• Japan also lowered non-tariff barriers to import of shrimps that will help Indian

Indian Economic Agencies

Regional Rural Bank

• Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) were established under Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (the RRB Act) to create an alternative channel to the 'cooperative credit structure and to ensure sufficient institutional credit for the rural and agriculture sector. RRBs are jointly owned by the Government of India, the concerned State government and sponsor banks.

NABARD

• NABARD is set up as an apex Development Bank (Est. in 12 July 1982) with a mandate for facilitating credit flow for promotion and development of agriculture, small-scale industries, cottage and village industries, handicrafts and other rural crafts. 
• It also has the mandate to support all other allied economic activities in rural areas, promote integrated and sustainable rural development and secure prosperity of rural areas. In discharging its role as a facilitator for rural prosperity NABARD is entrusted with
• Providing refinance to lending institutions in rural areas 
• Bringing about or promoting institutional development and 
• Evaluating, monitoring and inspecting the client banks.

India-China Defense Cooperation Agreement

There is no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China. There are areas along the border where India and China have differing perceptions of the LAC. Due to both sides undertaking patrolling upto their respective perceptions of the LAC, transgressions do occur.  Government regularly takes up any transgression with the Chinese side through established mechanisms.

Both countries signed a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement on 23^rd October, 2013, seeking to facilitate ways and means to implement border defence cooperation; measures to facilitate contacts and to enhance understanding and cooperation between the border

China

• 12th Plan stresses hydropower from Yarlung Zangbo(Brahmaputra).

• China has, so far, only begun construction on one major hydropower dam on the main stream of the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra or Yarlung Zangbo as it is known in China – a 510 MW project in Zangmu in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)
• A 640 MW dam will be built in Dagu, which lies 18 km upstream of Zangmu. Another 320 MW dam will be built at Jiacha, also on the middle reaches of the
  Brahmaputura downstream of Zangmu. A third dam will be built at Jiexu, 11 km upstream of Zangmu.
• Chinese Culture : Peking Opera and ballet
• Chinese maritime surveillance vessels have repeatedly entered Japanese-claimed waters around the islands since last September, when Japan’s government

Land Swap Deal

LAND SWAP DEAL

Bill—the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement is again pending to be introduced in  parliament legislation.Such roadblocks hamper gaining trust of neighbors .India often suffers a “perception problem” in the eyes of its neighbors, which often view India with suspicion because of its size, economy and military might. That in turn encourages them to turn to

News-Sep 2013

• India has decided not to give in to U.S. pressure to agree to discussions on phasing out refrigerant gases under the Montreal Protocol.
  
  
  
  • To do so, the Indian government has agreed to set up a Indo-U.S. working group on climate change, which will discuss the issue of refrigerant gases, besides other areas of collaboration and discussions. The joint working group will be headed by Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on the Indian side, while Todd Stern, Special Envoy on Climate Change, will lead the U.S. team.
  
  
  • Since 2009, India has stood firm that the HFCs — used for refrigeration — should be dealt with like all other greenhouse gases under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. They have contested that the Montreal Protocol is only meant to address ozone-depleting substances and argued that the developed world is keen on pushing costly and not fully tested proprietary technologies to fast growing economies through this route.
  
  
  • But the Indian position was weakened when New Delhi signed the recent G20 communiqué that welcomed bringing mitigation of HFC emissions under the Montreal Protocol. 

India-International

• After Kazakhstan’s promise of 2,000 tonnes of the mineral, Uzbekistan has now offered to provide a similar quantity for fuelling nuclear plants in India.

Russia-India Ties

• Russia has lifted the ban on import of non-basmati rice and oilseeds from India

Patents in Medicines

• An expert committee on compulsory licensing has recommended that the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) issue a compulsory licence for the manufacture of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s anti-cancer drug Dasatinib to two companies


• It will be India’s second compulsory licence and a significant blow to the New York-based drug maker. A compulsory licence would allow the government to produce a generic version of the patented medicine and sell it at a cheaper price.


• In March 2012, India issued its first compulsory licence to Natco Pharma Ltd for the manufacture of Bayer AG’s Nexavar, another anti-cancer drug.


• Under the Indian patents Act, a compulsory licence for manufacture of a patented pharmaceutical product can be issued if the drug is considered unaffordable by the government.


• The World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement allows a country to issue a compulsory licence without the consent of the innovator if it is in public interest.


• In January 2013, the health ministry approached DIPP for issuance of compulsory licences for three anti-cancer drugs —Roche Holding AG’s breast cancer treatment Herceptin (Trastuzumab); and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s leukaemia medicine Sprycel (Dasatinib) and chemotherapy drug Ixempra (Ixabepilone). India’s patent office comes under the purview of DIPP.


• DIPP forwarded this request to the committee on compulsory licensing, which has reached a decision on all three drugs. A single 50ml vial of 40mg Trastuzumab costs Rs.1.24 lakh, a 45mg vial of Ixempra costs Rs.66,430.60 and 60 tablets of 20mg each of Dasatinib are priced at Rs.1.17 lakh.

Patents in India : Under protection or over protection

• The Indian Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment in April, turned down a request by the pharmaceutical company Novartis to retain the patent on a cancer drug because it judged the drug to be an extension of existing medications, not a groundbreaking advancement.


• In fact, a U.S. court invalidated a Pfizer patent covering a blood pressure medication (Norvasc) on grounds very similar to the Novartis decision, i.e. mere physical advantages cited for the salt form such as increased stability and solubility were not good enough to merit patent protection.


• Between 2005 and 2011, more than 4,000 patents for pharmaceutical inventions were issued by the Patent Office. Of these, more than 85 per cent were awarded to multinational drug companies.

National Facts

• While India as a whole has 31 per cent of its population under the age of 14, the corresponding number for U.P. is 35.69 per cent and an astounding 40.1 per cent for Bihar.Today’s children, who come overwhelmingly from U.P. and Bihar, will form the workforce of the future.


• The office of the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner released ‘single year age data’ for the 2011 Census ,which refers to the number of people at each year of age in the population. The data shows that India’s working age population (15-64 years) is now 63.4% of the total, as against just short of 60% in 2001. The numbers also show that the ‘dependency ratio’ — the ratio of children (0-14) and the elderly (65-100) to those in the working age — has shrunk further to 0.55.


• Tripura surged ahead of Kerala to achieve top position in literacy chart in India. The state fell short to become fully literate state, but as of date stands at 94.65 percent.


• India has also the highest number of female millionaires in the world as the country boasts of over 1,250 UHNW women with a combined fortune of $95 billion.Notwithstanding the continuing economic gloom, India has recorded the largest increase in its Ultra-High Net worth Individual (HNIW) club among the BRICS nations in the last one year, with a total of 7,850 super rich people in the country


• Only 15 states have so far set up their own respective State Disaster Response Force following direction from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) earlier 2013.

India-Afghanistan Realtions

• Union approved revised cost for completion of Salma Dam Project (3X14 MW) in Afghanistan by M/s WAPCOS Ltd.( a central PSU under the Ministry of Water Resources. ) towards civil, hydro-mechanical, electro-mechanical and other components of the dam till completion of the dam in December 2014. 

Pakistan

• Pakistan regretted North Korea’s decision to conduct an underground nuclear test.
• Pakistan on Friday successfully tested the nuclear-capable Hatf-II ballistic missile with a range of 180 km(short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile)
• Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline work to start on March 11 and agreements for opening two more border crossings at Gabd and Pasni and for setting up an oil refinery in Gwadar will also be signed 
• There is impasse b/w the government and the opposition over who will be the

Kisenganga Project

What is the issue?

Pakistan had pleaded before the Court of Arbitration at The Hague that India’s construction of Project over Kishenganga was a violation of Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) signed in 1960.

What is the Project?

India is constructing Rs. 3600 crore, 330 MW, run-of-the-river, hydro-electric project on Kishenganga River (known as Neelam in Pak) which is a tributary river to Jhelum. The

General Figures

• India lost $123 million in black money during 2001-2010 , a US based organisation said.But China lost $2.74 trillion in the same period.
• India 2012 :
  Repo rate unchanged at 8 percent.Reverse repo stays at 7 percent.Cash reserve ratio stays at 4.25 percent.
• 3rd quarter Monetary policy of RBI : Repo rate : 7.75 % and CRR = 4%
• For 2011-12 : 

United Kingdom

• Immigration rules that would benefit high-skilled foreign workers and “exceptionally bright’’ students came into force : (however the existing limit on not allowing more than 20,700 foreign workers to come to Britain over the next two years would remain)
• Intra-company transferees (ICT) who are paid more than £152,100 will no longer need to take an English test if they want to extend their leave in the U.K
• Foreign MBA students graduating from British universities would be allowed to stay on for up to a year after graduating as part of the expanded graduate entrepreneur scheme.
• the changes would allow PhD students to stay on after their studies for up to a year and work, without having to switch courses.
• no limit on the number who can obtain a Tier 2 visa to stay and work, providing they can get a graduate-level job paying £20,300 [a year] or more
• Austerity Measure to reduce deficit ::
• Bedroom tax : Families living in government-subsidised homes will lose some of their housing benefits if they have a spare room.
  
  
  India and UK
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed b/w India and UK to strengthen their cooperation in Earth Sciences and environmental research by sharing information on meteorology, hydrology and climate variability. 
• The MoU was inked b/w the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) Govt. of India and UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
• Since 2008, the two countries have committed close to £150 million for joint research programmes.

Indian Defence

Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs)

• Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) are miniaturized missiles with small seekers, actuators and on-board computers and will be integrated with tactical missiles having a range of 100-200 km. 
• PGMs could prevent collateral damage while attacking multiple targets in a war scenario with sub-metre accuracy.
•  PGMs could be integrated with a surface-to-surface missile or an air-to-surface missile.

Wankel

• India has developed its own propulsion engine for future UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The 55-hp engine named “Wankel” is developed by three national research agencies – National Aerospace Labs, Aeronautical Development Establishment, and the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment
• Wankel will be used to power the home-grown UAVs Nishant, Lakshya and Rustom-1 and 2 versions used to observe and survey border areas.

NAVY

• K-15(underwater ballistic missile or Sagarika) (Distance : 700 km): 
• set to join Arihant (India is only the fifth country to have such a missile -- the other four are the United States, Russia, France and China.)
• Arihant(India’s nuclear-powered submarine) : 
• which is powered by an 80-MWt reactor that uses enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator.
• INS Saryu :
•  maritime surveillance around Andaman and Nicobar islands.Built at Goa Shipyard Limited, the 105-meter vessel is the first of the four new class naval off shore patrol vessels (NOPVs)
• Scorpène class submarines are a class of diesel-electric attack submarine jointly developed by the French DCN and the Spanish company Navantia and now by DCNS. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion (AIP).India has S50-55 submarines.Test Depth > 300 m.
• Dhanush : 
• Naval version of Prithvi missile
• Nuclear capable
• Ballistic missile
• Range: 350km
• Brahmos :
• 290- km range
• supersonic cruise missile
• capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg
• eveloped by Indo-Russian joint venture. 
• It is a two-stage missile, the first one solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant
• Already inducted into Army and Navy.Airforce version is in final stage
• INS Nireekshak: 
• Indian Navy’s deep sea diving support vessel. 
• With an on-board submersible capsule called ‘Bell’, assisted in the conduct of the exercise providing safety back-up. 
• INDIAEX-2012 is unique since it will demonstrate the rescuing of trapped submariners from deep under the sea. naval exercise with US.
• P-8I
• A derivative of Boeing 737-800 long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
• It may take the place of the Navy’s Russian Tupolev Tu-142M maritime surveillance turboprop.
• It is Indian variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Navy.
• Cater for surveillance in Indian Ocean 

AIR FORCE

• Astra, India’s air-to-air missile.Weighs 168 kg and is 3.8-metres long.Will be fired from aircraft such as Sukhoi-30 MI, MiG-29 and the Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas 
• Air to Air
• Beyond Virtual Range (BVR)
• Single stage solid fuelled
• Capable of engaging and destroying highly maneuverable supersonic aerial targets
• Prithvi-II missile : 
• Surface to surface ballistic missile 
• Indigenously developed by DRDO
• Variants: Prithvi-I for the Army; Prithvi-II for the Indian Air Force; and the Dhanush for the Navy
• Single-stage, Liquid-propelled
• Advanced inertial navigation, control and guidance system 
• Payload capacity: 500-1,000 kg 
• Range: 350 km

ARMY

• Sub-sonic, medium range cruise missile Nirbhay
• developed by Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO lab.
• All-weather low-cost medium-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy.
• Range of 1,000 km
• It will carry a ring laser gyroscope for high-accuracy navigation and a radio altimeter for the height determination.
• Capable of carrying nuclear warhead
• Capable of flying at different altitudes ranging from 500 m to 4 km above the ground.
• Navy,Army and Airfoce can use it
• Nirbhay will supplement the Brahmos cruise missile by carrying warheads beyond the 300-km range
• Agni IV :
• Nuclear capable ballistic missile
• Range: 4000kms 
• Equipped with Avionics, 5th generation on Board Computer 
• Fitted with Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and Micro Navigation System (MINGS) for advanced accuracy.

General Knowledge

• National Defence Academy : Pune
• 
  

Mauritius

India and Mauritius

• India wants Mauritius to amend DTAA but the differences over capital gains tax, especially the definition of ‘enterprise’ and the treatment of ‘shell companies’ are acting as hindrances. 
• Article 13 on ‘capital gains’ of the India-Mauritius DTAA provides for taxation of capital gains only in the country of residence of the investor. India proposed to amend the pact to provide the source-based taxation of such capital gains (in this case India) to prevent the misuse of the treaty by shell companies set up by third countries’ corporate entities
• The Mauritius government issues Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) to companies investing from that country into India and those companies could take the benefit of the agreement — by not paying capital gains tax in India. But, India alleges shell companies or post-box companies in Mauritius have burgeoned because of leniency in issuing these TRCs.

Myanmar

• Mining project in Monywa is a joint venture between a military-controlled holding company and China’s Wanbao Mining Copper Ltd., a subsidiary of NORINCO, a Chinese weapons manufacturer.Protestors wanted it to be halted.

India and Myanmar

• India and Myanmar organized the 18^th National Level Meeting in New Delhi.
  India reiterated its commitment to bolster the cooperation b/w the two nations to eliminate the link b/w the drug trade, arms smuggling and extremism/terrorism.
• Both countries expressed satisfaction over opening of a third Border Liaison Office (BLO) b/w Changlang, India and Pangsau, Myanmar.