Contents

CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVES AT PARIS CLIMATE CONFERENCE .................................................... 3

GOVT INITIATIVES ON MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH .................................................................................... 3
RISING POLLUTION IN BIG CITIES AND ISSUES PERTAINING TO CLIMATE CHANGE ................ 4
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 5
GOVTS MEASURES TO CONTROL POLLUTION IN BIG CITIES ............................................................................ 6
INDIA AT HEART OF ASIA SUMMIT .................................................................................................................... 7
PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 7
INDIA-JAPAN TIES ............................................................................................................................................. 8
PMS ADDRESS AT COMBINED COMMANDERS CONFERENCE ......................................................................... 9
JOURNEY OF INDIAN SPACE PROGRAM ....................................................................................................... 10
POLICE OFFICERS MEET AND INTERNAL SECURITY ......................................................................... 11
MAKE IN INDIA PORTAL FOR DEFENCE PROCUREMENT ................................................................. 11
JUVENILE JUSTICE CARE AND PROTECTION BILL ............................................................................. 12
DECOMMISSIONING OF INS GODAVARI ....................................................................................................... 13
INDIA-RUSSIA RELATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 14
CENTRAL GOVTS MAJOR INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE GOOD GOVERNANCE ............................. 15
STARTUP INDIA STANDUP INDIA ..................................................................................................................... 16
FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF SCs AND STs ........................................................................................................... 17
ACHIEVEMENTS AND INITIATIVES OF NITI AAYOG .......................................................................... 18

SC VERDICT ON POWER OF STATES TO REMIT SENTENCES OF CONVICTS UNDER

CENTRAL LAW
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The SC has ruled that states cannot exercise their statutory power to remit sentences of the convicts who have
been tried and convicted under a central law.
The SC said that, if a convict has been tried under a central law or has been prosecuted by any central agency
like CBI or NIA, then the state governments cannot take unilateral decision to remit the sentence unless they
consulted the central govt and obtained its concurrence.
Last year, the SC had issued a stay on the power of the states to exercise remission of sentences when a person
was convicted under a central law. This year, the stay was lifted and the power of the states was upheld.
Article 72 of the Constitution gives the President the power to grant clemency. Similar power is available to
the Governor under Article 161.
Section 432 of Code of Criminal Procedure empowers appropriate government to remit or suspend sentence
of any convict. Conviction by court cannot be changed, only the execution of sentence can be remitted or
suspended.

Section 433 of Cr.P.C similarly empowers appropriate government to commute a sentence.

Many governments have misused the powers under 432 and 433. For example, immediately after winning
elections, sentences of party workers are often remitted/commuted.

CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVES AT PARIS CLIMATE CONFERENCE

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India has given a strong message to the developed countries that lifestyles of a few must not crowd out
opportunities for developing countries and the burden of reducing carbon emissions should not be shifted to
countries like India. India and other developing countries should not be taxed for what the developed countries
have been doing all these years.
China emits about 30% of the worlds GHG and the US about 16%.
Though India is not a major contributor to the climate change, it is willing to put all the efforts that it can, to
mitigate the adverse effects.
Indias per capita energy consumption is 1/3rd of the world average
India has set a target of 175GW of renewable energy by 2022. India is also aiming 1/3rdreduction in emissions
by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. Also, 40% of electricity will be generated from non-fossil fuel sources by
2030.
India has committed to start International Solar Alliance to expand solar energy usage, though India has huge
reserves of coal. This shows the seriousness of Indias commitment to mitigate climate change.
At the Paris conference, more than 175 nations have submitted their Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions to reduce carbon emissions, which collectively can reduce the rise of global temperatures to
below 2.7 degrees Celsius. But the UN has pledged to reduce it below 2 degree Celsius.
India wants the developed nations to make available and accessible the alternative energies and technologies
at affordable costs.

GOVT INITIATIVES ON MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH

We are giving summary of topics from previous months whenever a discussion is not useful for the exam.
Click here and search for 29th August, 2015 Spotlight/News analysis for audio.
Maternal deaths globally are around 3 lakh, out of which 44,000 happen in India annually. Child Mortality
rates are also very high, especially under 5 children. Out of 6.3 million deaths happening globally, around 1
in every 4 happens in India annually.
In 1990 all the UN members adopted the Millennium Development Goals which have quantified targets to
reduce child and maternal mortality rates. The deadline was September 2015. India did not achieve the UN
MDG targets, but has come a long way in reducing a significant number of deaths of children and mothers,
which is commendable. For example, in 1989, India has about 2 lakh child deaths of neo-natal tetanus. Now
it is less than 1 case per 1 lakh live births.
Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojana: To give total and holistic care to pregnant mothers and child free drugs,
iron and folic acid supplements, free transport to and from hospital, safe delivery etc.

Mission Indradhanush: To achieve annual growth rate of about 5% in vaccination coverage; by 2020 India
will achieve 90% child vaccination coverage @ 5 % per annum (for the past 4 years we have had an annual
growth rate of vaccination at the average of only about 1%). The vaccination will be given for 7 vaccination
preventable diseases diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles, and hepatitis B.
Delhi Declaration: Signed recently by health ministers of 22 nations to enhance resources to prevent child
and maternal deaths.
The biggest challenge India still facing is the high fertility rates. India is aiming a fertility rate of2.1.
Other challenges:

Infrastructure shortage in primary health care centers

Lack of training to auxiliary nurses and staff in PHCs
Very few numbers of doctors in the country. We have around 1 qualified MBBS doctor for every 1700

people, which is far below the universal requirement of 1 for every 1000. Currently, only 45,000 MBBS
are graduating every year in the country.
Lack of cold chain storage facilities for drugs

What can be done?

More expenditure on health sector to improve infrastructure and resources

More MBBS seats in private medical colleges
Internship in rural areas for MBBS students
Medical curriculum should give more emphasis to preventive health care rather than to treatment part.

RISING POLLUTION IN BIG CITIES AND ISSUES PERTAINING TO

CLIMATE CHANGE
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The dangers of global warming and climate change have never been as visible as they have been over
the past few years and especially this year in India- the Chennai deluge breaking 100 year record and
the rising smog levels over Delhi to name a few.

The National Capital itself has got an ignominious distinction of being one of the most polluted cities
in the world.

Norway has indicated that it will treat posting its officials in Delhi as hardship posting, for increased
pollution levels -an allowance will be given to the officials posted.

An international school in Delhi has banned outdoor activities for its students due to severe pollution
levels.

Out of 20 most polluted cities as per the WHO, 13 are in India.

India has huge number of commercial vehicles on road that are 20-30 years old. It is easy to get
pollution clearance certificate by paying bribes even for such old vehicles.

The carbon pledges made by 147 countries at the Paris climate conference is not sufficient to prevent
the global temperatures rising by more than 2 degree Celsius by the end of this century 2100.

In this hour of situation, India should keep aside the debate of who should take responsibility for
climate change, and take the lead, initiate steps like afforestation, using clean energy, strict law
enforcement etc. since it has more to loose from climate change.

It is time we considered laws like limiting number of vehicles per family or person, as existing in
countries like Singapore.

Also, burning garbage as part of urban waste treatment should be stopped.

India has set an ambitious target of development of 100 Smart Cities in the next decade. Urban planners
have to keep in mind that people should have access to at least clear air for breathing, pure drinking
water, pedestrian walking tracks etc., let alone smart infrastructure.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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The tradition of science of scientific temper is inherent in humans, but prudent nurturing is needed for
using societal welfare development. The great challenge remains over tapping the astute mind at the
apt opportune moment. Indias huge young population presents a demographic window of opportunity
for streamlined development.
What is innovation?

Innovation is often confused with invention and discovery. Innovation is essentially converting
knowledge into societal well being and creating new opportunities, including an economic component.

Innovation is a culture. We need to focus on inculcating that culture in our people from an early stage.

How do we hunt for innovations which are affordable and appropriate?

The minds on the margin of the economy are not marginal minds. They are in fact the source of
innovative thought processes. In order to have relevant innovations, we need to connect with people
at large. This means, connecting not only with researchers and highly educated, but also with people
who are aware of local living conditions. Even though science is global, the application of technology
from science is local. So we must focus on local needs and local solutions. This new paradigm is called
glocal which is a combination of global and local.

Department of Science and Technology (of Govt of India) has many different programs to hunt for
grass root innovations. One of its organizations called National Innovation Foundation, which
connects with students/farmers/local people and many others, has compiled about 200,000
innovations. Many of these innovations have been patented and commercialized. India is partnering
with other countries and sharing its innovations with those countries which have common problems
and solutions.

The Dept of Science and Technology has about 80 technology-business incubators spread across
the country. They house about 2000 technology start-ups. The Dept is trying to scale it up to 10,000
technology based start-ups in about 4 years.

In the field of health sector, mobile applications are being developed which are providing valuable
diagnostic information leading to integrated and affordable healthcare. It is like lab in jeb. One

potential sector which has lot of scope for innovation is ITI. It needs to be encouraged and talent should
be harnessed.
How do we make research and development a lucrative career and stop brain drain?

There are many opportunities in R&D more so today than ever before. There are big R&D companies
existing in India. For example, in Bangalore GE R&D centre has 5000 scientists and engineers. The
govt of India supports a network of R&D labs across the country which offer R&D career. There is no
scarcity of R&D opportunities. The need of the hour is to sensitize people about R&D career. We need
to motivate our young people to take up creativity.

Many global R&D companies relocate from India and move to other locations like China, since we
lack personnel trained in R&D.

How efficiently have we been handling IPR?

Patents are important especially for start-ups who innovate and commercialize products and processes
for local issues. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has been working hard to streamline
the patent process of innovations like decreasing the time it takes to obtain a patent. The global
benchmark is 2 years to grant a patent from the time it is filed for patent.

GOVTS MEASURES TO CONTROL POLLUTION IN BIG CITIES

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Delhi
Delhi govt has taken some measures with regard to vehicular pollution. One of them is odd-even formula
odd numbered vehicles will run on odd days (1, 3, 531) and even numbered vehicles will run on even
days (2, 4, 6, 830)
This formula was implemented in China, Singapore, Belgium and other countries.
Drawbacks

Mere reducing the number of cars per day is not a solution to tackle vehicular pollution
Vehicular pollution arises mainly due to lack of maintenance of vehicles
Besides, the cheap availability of diesel caused increase in the number of diesel powered vehicles. These
diesel vehicles emit particulate matter. Every day 1400 new diesel cars are being added in Delhi.
Metro service is not available at every place
Alternative transport should be readily available to people when such restrictive transport policies are
made

What can be done?

In cities like Chandigarh and Gangtok, there are certain car-free zones where cars are not allowed. Such
measures can be adopted.
Tax more on diesel cars or ban them.
Pollution control laws are good. But enforcement is poor. Strict punishment should be given to
environment polluters.
When licenses are given for industries, pollution control norms should also be inserted into the clauses of
license, breach of which may lead to cancellation of licenses.

Burning of biomass is another major problem. Govt should bring suitable laws to prevent this.
Sometimes, poor people burn tyres, wood and other biomass in the open for warmth. This causes
particulate matter to be released into the air. This should be checked and alternative sources should be
provided for the poor.
Municipalities are resorting to incineration of waste for converting to energy. But in India, moist organic
content is more in the municipal waste. It is not suitable for generating energy. Hence burning waste is
really a waste.

INDIA AT HEART OF ASIA SUMMIT

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Heart of Asia conference was an initiative taken by Turkey in 2011. The idea was to bring together all
the countries in the region to restore stability and economic growth in Afghanistan. Every year a
conference is being held on the issue. Gradually, participation was extended to EU, UN, SCO, SAARC

and other multilateral organizations.

This year the conference was held in Pakistan and next year India will host the conference.
Indias connectivity with Afghanistan can only be through Pakistan if we take land route. On sea route,
we can reach west Afghanistan via Chhabahar Port and Iran. Of the two, the more practical one is the
land route via Pakistan. But Pakistan has blocked this route for India. Trade and commerce between
Afghanistan and India is at low due to this. Before 1970, Amritsar used to be the trade centre for
Afghanistans fruits and dry fruits, which is not the case today.
India was the first country with which Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership agreement.
India and Afghanistan share a common vision to see themselves as united, autonomous, independent
and internally strong nations. Hence the ties are stronger between the two.
There are reports which suggest that there is a certain presence of ISIS in Afghanistan. This is a
particular dangerous development for Pakistan. In the past few years, there is a growing sectarian
polarisation in Pakistan. In fact, the Sunni Islamists in Pakistan are taking on harder Wahabism. The
ISIS might take advantage in exploiting these differences.
In this context, Indias rapprochement with Pakistan via foreign ministers dialogue is a welcome step.

PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT

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India @ Paris conference
Indias declared Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) are:
1. To reduce by 2030, the emission intensity of the GDP by 32 to 35 per cent from 2005 levels
2. To generate about 40 per cent of electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy
resources by 2030 such as nuclear, solar, wind, biomass and biogas.
India has also announced setting up of International Solar Alliance to boost solar energy in the developing
countries. All the countries within the two tropics (Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn) will become
part of this. Headquarters will be in India.
India stood by its long term demand of Common But Differentiated Responsibility which should form the
basis for any climate change agreement.

Our PM quoted Gandhi and said that there is enough for every bodys need but not greed. He suggested that
the way Gandhi lived is a role model for changing our life styles.
These commitments from India are applauded by all quarters from across the globe and India is taking a
leadership role in climate change negotiations.
Contentious issues
The developed countries, which constitute about 20% of the worlds population, occupy more carbon space
and in their life styles they use aggressive energy resources leading to huge emissions of GHGs, which is the
main cause for global warming. Despite this, they are reluctant to come forward and change their life styles
to low carbon usage.
Also, there is the issue of financing the developing countries to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. The
developed countries are harping on the recently released OECD report which said that there was a considerable
progress in the climate finance to the developing countries from the developed countries. India raised questions
about the report. Moreover, developed countries are wary of technology transfer to developing countries to
adapt to climate change.
The other contentious issue at the climate conference was the target of global temperature rise that should be
capped. The scientific figure which has been given by the IPCC is 2 degree Centigrade by the end of this
century compared to pre industry levels. The island nations and least developed nations wanted it to be capped
at 1.5 degree centigrade. They say, even if all the INDCs of all the countries are achieved, still the global
temperature rise cannot be arrested to below 2 degree Centigrade. Moreover, there are questions about who
will review and assess the INDCs.
If the upper limits of global temperature rise were to be capped at 1.5 degree centigrade, then the developing
countries, which constitute about 80% of the worlds population, would lose their legitimate carbon space.
India, for example, has roughly 30% of population below the poverty line. It cannot have on itself a restrictive
energy utilization regime if it has to bring its poor population out of poverty. There must be climate justice
funding, technology transfer, change in life styles, and differentiation in taking responsibility.

INDIA-JAPAN TIES
Japan will give loan to India to build a high speed bullet train. It will connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Japan is also interested in the overall modernization of Indian railways. It is willing to participate in new
station building, station management, and computerization of the entire railway operations.
Negotiations on civil nuclear deal have been completed. If signed, India will become the first non-NPT country
with which Japan has signed a nuclear deal. Issues like, should/can India conduct another nuclear test like
Pokhran after the deal, are yet to be addressed.
Why should Japan sign nuclear deal with a non-NPT country?
Japan has got about 54 nuclear reactors. Most of the reactors are shut after the recent events of Tsunami,
earthquake and radiation leak from Fukushima. They are shut due to internal protests and for safety reasons.
Now, the PM Shinzo Abe has been attempting to open one or two of them. Besides, the Japanese economy is
slowing down. It needs exports and can transfer nuclear technology. India is the potential country where it can
export.

It is also said that the China factor is one of the main reasons for Japan agreeing to go ahead with civil
nuclear deal with India. It has territorial problems with China, Russia, and South Korea in the East Asia region.
In addition, the Chinese aggressive maritime activities in the South China Sea are alarming. In fact the
Japanese PM has said that economic choices were being made because of security choices.
Japan was more inclined towards US and has not got regional allies within Asia. Strengthening ties with India
is a step in the right direction for Japan to fill this gap. In fact, Japan has described Indian economy as being
high speed, safe and reliable.
However, the Japanese experience in the manufacturing sector in India has not been happy in the fast. For
example, there were bad experiences like lockout for Toshiba in Kerala; rampage by workers in Maruti Suzuki
plant at Manesar. Such incidents wont happen in Japan. So, they are doubtful about how Indian labour would
react to Japanese manufacturing plants in India. Besides, there are legacy issues like land acquisition, which
is a state subject, labour reforms, tax reforms, etc.
Japan is also looking to attract 10000 students from India.

PMS ADDRESS AT COMBINED COMMANDERS CONFERENCE

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Prime Minister addressed the combined commanders conference in Kochi on board INS Vikramaditya (air
craft carrier).
Key takeaways
This is the first time that our Prime Minister is speaking outside Delhi to the combined commanders. The PM
seems trying to fill the gap of interaction between the top govt echelons and the military.
The PM has paid gratitude to the role played by the military in the Indian history. He touched upon issues
from a broad spectrum ranging from national security to terrorism to welfare of armed forces personnel to
East Asia/West Asia/Koreas/ASEAN etc.
With regard to Pakistan, PM highlighted the efforts being made by India to rewrite history in terms of relations
with Pakistan to curb terrorism, encourage friendly relations, speedy resolution of pending cases etc. despite
the fact that Indias Pakistan policy has gone through various highs and lows since the Modi govt took over
last year.
PM said, At a time when the major powers are reducing their forces and relying on technology, we are still
constantly seeking to expand the size of our forces. This is an indirect reference to more expenditure and
expansion being done on man-power rather than moving towards agile, mobile technology driven armed
forces.
In an atmosphere where it is being said that Japans overtures with India are to contain the China factor, PM
Modi has unequivocally cleared the air of such scepticism and highlighted the economic potential of IndiaChina relations. He also said that India is willing to constructively engage China in ensuring border stability
and peace.
India has a serious deficiency in higher defence management. Many retired generals in the past have pointed
out this to the govt. But nothing has happened at the ground level in terms of human resource or defence

inventory expansion. PM Modi, now, has said that, it was a priority area for him to deal with the higher defence
management.

JOURNEY OF INDIAN SPACE PROGRAM

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On 16th December 2015, PSLV C-29 has put into orbit 6 satellites from Singapore. This was a purely
commercial flight.
This is a landmark launch for several reasons:
1. This is the 50th launch of a large rocket from Sriharikota centre.
2. Till now India has put into orbit 57 foreign satellites successfully.
3. This was the 31st consecutive successful launch of PSLV.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is a four stage rocket which can launch payloads up to 1.5 tonnes.
In this particular commercial launch of Singaporean satellites, ISRO has also experimented the re-ignition of
engine in the fourth stage, which was successful.
ISRO has used PSLV for launching Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan and various satellites into Geo-synchronous
Transfer Orbit.
Next steps
There are two versions of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles (GSLV), which is our larger launch
vehicle (GSLV Mk-I and Mk-II). GSLV Mark-II uses indigenously developed cryogenic engine. In GSLV
Mark-III, the cryogenic engine part was not yet tested, but the atmospheric part was tested successfully. In
times to come, India is going to launch satellites from GSLV Mark-III, which will become Indias
indigenously built mainstay rocket.
The GSLV rocket has completed its development stage and now deployment phase will start. Once it is
deployed, the commercial community should gain confidence in its current version (Mark-II) that it will do
well. GSLV Mark-II has been dubbed Naughty Boy for its failures. The next likely mission to be taken
using GSLV Mark-II would be Chandrayaan-II, sometime in 2017 probably. It will have an orbiter, a lander,
and a rover. Chandrayaan-I was an international mission in which India had played the role of captain. It is in
the Chandrayaan-I mission that water molecules on moon were found for the first time.
India and America are jointly making a satellite called NISAR, which is a radar satellite, likely to be launched
in 2020.
Govt is spending close to $1 billion per year on ISRO. The returns from this investment are enormous.
Television channels, ATM services, disaster warning systems, remote sensing systems, commercial launches
for other countries and many such services add immense value to our lives. It took $670 millions for America
to launch a satellite to Mars. India did it at just $67 millions, that too in the very first attempt, which no other
country on the planet could do.
There was a time when America was not willing to share cryogenic technology with India. Now, it is
handshaking with India to jointly launch satellites. Thus, ISRO was put on a big league at a global level. Even
the South East Asian countries like Singapore are coming to ISRO to launch experimental satellites at cheap

costs. Towards the end of next year, the SAARC satellite is going to be launched. The satellite is for secure
communication purpose during the times of disaster and also for ministerial communication among the
SAARC members.
There are also plans to undertake missions to Venus and Sun (Aditya). It is going to be very exciting time for
ISRO. At present India has reached a self sufficient position is space launches. It has to look forward now for
launching astronauts into space.

POLICE OFFICERS MEET AND INTERNAL SECURITY

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A 3-day conference is going to take place in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat by state police chiefs, IGs etc. to discuss
security issues that the country is facing.
Security challenges

Terrorism and insurgency

Collection and sharing of intelligence

Cyber security and social media propaganda

Modernisation of police force

How to combat the growing influence of ISIS in India to de-radicalize the youth who are being influenced by ISIS
propaganda.

How to improve law and order, investigative skills, and issues related to disaster management.

Conferences and discussions can go on forever. But implementation of the steps should be taken immediately
and effectively, especially at a time when the youth are being influenced by ISIS ideology. Community
policing can be an effective counter strategy to combat the ISIS influence. The police should bring the
community together by organising campaigns, seminars, workshops, publishing, and highlighting the pitfalls
of radicalisation.
Out of box thinking at this conference
1. First time this conference is being held outside Delhi.
2. Yoga session being organized by Modi. J

MAKE IN INDIA PORTAL FOR DEFENCE PROCUREMENT

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Make in India has been the mantra of the government ever since it came to power last year. Lot of stress is
laid on domestic manufacturing in the defence sector. To increase this element a website has been launched
www.makeinindiadefence.com.
India was the largest importer of defence goods last year. Almost 70% of our requirements are met through
imports. Indian Navy has 48 ships on order at present. Our defence needs are looked after by PSUs and
Ordnance board. The defence procurement policy is based on offsets which is not much attractive. At present
there is 49% FDI allowed under automatic route in Defence. Beyond that, FIPB approval is needed. Big bang
reforms in FDI have not yet come in the defence sector.
The defence procurement policy should be such that orders should be quicker and procedures for clearance
should be transparent. PSUs should be made autonomous and efficient. Countries like China and Japan grew

in defence sector with the help of foreign investments. Similarly, if the policy is conducive and there are sure
orders, there are potential private players like Mahindra, Reliance, L&T, Adani etc. who are looking for a
partner who can put in 49% share. The previous govt has witnessed mistrust between the private players and
the bureaucracy, which is now reduced.
The small and medium manufacturing sector doesnt have the money to enter defence industry. But they have
got technology. It is expected that the new defence procurement policy, to be announced by January end next
year, will give a percentage of big orders to small and medium enterprises.
Few initiatives already started under Make in India

SAIL has made all the steel required for the Navy

Bharat Electronics has made SONARS for the Navy

Arihant submarine, which is 65-70% indigenous

48 ships on order for Navy

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)

In the next 10-15 years $200 billion is being planned to invest in defence sector.

JUVENILE JUSTICE CARE AND PROTECTION BILL

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Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Bill
Till 1986 Juvenile Act, the age up to which a person is considered a juvenile was 16. But in 2000, the age was
increased to 18 in the light of UN Human Convention Charter. The present amendment brings it down again
to 16.
However, a person between the ages 16-18 if committed a major crime (7 years or more punishment) then he
will be tried as an adult. A District Juvenile Justice Board will be established, consisting of 1 judicial
magistrate and 2 social workers, to examine the case and determine whether to try the accused as juvenile or
as an adult.
India is deviating from the UN Convention on the Rights of Child, aka Beijing Rules, according to which the
age is 18 to be considered as a juvenile.
Arguments against new amendments
1. Up to 18 it is growing age. There is no proof that children will mature quite early by that age.
2. Juvenile crime has actually come down.
3. Just on the basis of one case (Nirbhaya case for e.g.) the law should not be changed. Lots of children will be
implicated with the new amendments.
4. Large number of poor children does not have even age certificates. Such children are vulnerable to being wrongly
booked as adults under the act.
5. Many children addicted to drugs and other things which the society is not considering. This has to be solved first.
Amendments to law will not solve the problem of juvenile crimes.

Arguments for
1. It is true that innocent children will implicated with the new amendments. But how can we presume innocence even
after committing heinous crimes? For example, in dowry related death cases, if death happens within 7 years of

marriage, the partner is presumed to be guilty until proven innocent by himself. The onus of proving innocence is
with the accused himself. It is a way to protect the rights of victims. Similarly, if a victim is died due to crime
committed by a juvenile, how can the system let him go scot-free on the pretext of juvenile innocence? Such
juveniles have to be tried as adults for committing heinous crimes.
2. To say that innocent children will be implicated is wrong from another perspective. The law provides safeguards
for the protection of innocent juveniles. The juvenile justice board headed by a district magistrate has to approve
first for a juvenile to be treated as an adult. Indian system has many examples of such safeguards existing in other
areas also. For example, a mentally deranged person cannot be taken into custody without permission from a
magistrate. Many civilized countries in the world have banned death penalty. But Indian judiciary has invented
rarest of rare case doctrine and struck a balance without completely saying either yes or no to death penalty. There
should always be balance between the rights, values and interests of different parties involved in the case. Hence
lowering the age with required safeguard is OK.
3. Just because the safeguards and other provisions in the law will be misused (for example, misuse of POTA, TADA
acts), one cannot argue that such amendments should not be made.
4. The punishment for juveniles is not life sentence or a death penalty. It is only 3 years.

The need of the hour is a larger budgetary support from government on children to provide better rehabilitation
facilities. There should be a balance between both reform and rehabilitation of the juvenile and punishment to
juvenile.

DECOMMISSIONING OF INS GODAVARI

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INS Godavari is the first indigenous warship. It was commissioned in 1983.
Indigenous construction started with the Leander class frigates in India at the Mazgaon dock starting in 1965.
The first ship INS Nilgiri (2500 tonnes) got commissioned in 1972.
The INS Godavari (3500 tonnes) was an expanded Leander designed entirely by the Indian Design Bureau,
the Navys own Directorate General of Naval Designs. It has the capacity to take two multi-engine helicopters.
It had the weapon systems from the Soviet Union of that day. It carried 4 surface-to-surface missiles and also
surface-to-air missile of the Soviet vintage. It has served 32 long years in the Indian Ocean enduring salinity,
temperature, and corrosion.
Current frigates Shivalik class frigates
Future frigates Project 17A class frigates
India has its own research and development in Navy. The defence PSUs like Bharat Electronics Limited have
played a major role in indigenising the development of certain kind of sensors. Unfortunately, we havent got
own technology to develop surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles. But all the sensors and
communication equipment are getting indigenous today.
INS Arihant, indigenously built nuclear submarine, is under the class of SSBN, which means it has a ballistic
missile carrying capacity. It has unlimited endurance to remain under water without the need to come up for
charging. This underwater capacity gives the strength to create deterrence. This deterrence is necessary for

India, despite preaching for peace and cooperation, because it is surrounded by nuclear powers (Pakistan and
China). At present it is under testing.
India has also taken on lease an Akula class nuclear submarine from Russia in 2012. This is not an SSBN, but
an SSN class submarine, which means nuclear attack submarine. While it can carry torpedoes, cruise missiles
and can remain stealthy under water, it cannot carry ballistic missiles. It is meant to ensure deterrent at a
different level. Plans are also being made to take second Akula class submarines from Russia.
These nuclear submarines are not meant to patrol straits and choke points like Malacca Straits. They will not
go through Strait of Malacca/Strait of Hormuz; they will be patrolling in our areas of interest and provide self
defence even in areas beyond regions of our primary interest. Deterrence is required for self defence. It is the
ballistic missile submarines that create pure deterrence. It is the attack submarines with nuclear propulsion
which are required for carrying out patrols if there is any crisis/conflict.
The BrahMos missiles have been installed on few warships. It can hit a target 300 km away. It is the missile
of the future. Also, recently India has tested Long Range Surface to Air Missiles (LRSAM) in joint venture
with Israelis. We are planning to have these LRSAMs on at least 20 ships.
Till now we have the missile systems, so far as the surface-to-surface missiles are concerned, which could
transit during their cruise phase at about 1 Mark, which meant the speed of the sound (320 m/s). The BrahMos
can go three times this speed in its cruise phase. This means that neutralising such a fast surface-to-surface
missile becomes difficult.
Till now we have only short range and near to medium surface-to-air missiles. The LRSAMs will go at least
3-4 times the existing range of SRSAMs. LRSAMs are being developed in collaboration with Israel.
All the warships of Indian Navy need onboard helicopters. They could be in various forms like antisubmarine warfare, multirole helicopters etc. At present there is a shortage of helicopters for the Indian Navy.
At least 50 multi-role helicopters are needed now.
The Indian Navy got its first multi-role and multi-engine helicopter Sea King Mk 42 in the early 70s.
Subsequently they were upgraded to 42A and we bought large number of 42B helicopters. Unfortunately the
support systems of 42B and their life have long been expired.
India and US started Malabar exercises in 1992. This is the best example of any bilateral exercises happened
in the world. Japan was included in 2007.

INDIA-RUSSIA RELATIONS
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For the last 15 years India-Russia bilateral summit has been taking place every year in the month of December.
PM Modi has described the Indo-Russia relations as special privileged strategic ties.
India and Russia had strong ties during 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. The change in the international geopolitical
scenario from late 80s, with the fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 and break up of USSR in the early 90s, IndoRussian relations started getting affected.
The present visit by PM Modi is being seen as a course correction for India getting closer to the West. Two
main factors that compelled India to look West rise of China and the need of capital and technology. It seems

that Russia has not taken kindly the moves made by India. Russia on its part moved closer to China. Beside,
Russia is going through an economic depression.
Defence relations have been one of the cornerstones of Indo-Russia relations. 70% of our inventory consists
of Russian armaments. But this has been dwindling now. During the Soviet times, Russia used to be a supplier.
Now it is only collaborating BrahMos and other 5th generation fighter air craft.
At the turn of the century, the trade between India and Russia was about $1.5 billion. In 2012, it was about
$11 billion. Target was set to reach $30 billion by 2025. It is very less compared to that with China which is
$70 billion and with USA which is $100 billion. India is trying to negotiate a free trade agreement
with Eurasian Economic Zone (Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan).
Energy sector is another area where big investments were made for example India invested in Sakhalin 1;
Russia collaborated with India for Kudankulam reactors.
India did not vote against Russia in the Ukraine debate in UN.

CENTRAL GOVTS MAJOR INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE GOOD

GOVERNANCE
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What is Good Governance?
Good governance is about the process for making and implementing decisions. Good governance describes
how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources. If we go by the key indicators of
good governance, they are:

Transparency

Responsibility

Accountability

Participative

Equitable

Inclusive

Rule of Law

Efficient and Effective.

Few initiatives of the central govt which are only partially successful were:

Namami Gange

Digital India

Make in India

Few initiatives that are performing well:

Jan Dhan Yojana

Swachh Bharat

PAHAL scheme

Electrification of villages

In terms of transparency there has been a mixed message. For example, self-attested affidavits are being
accepted now, which is a removal of big hassle. Similarly, interviews have been stopped for recruitment to
low level posts in govt. But the same transparency is not available where maximum discretion is exercised.
Few initiatives to promote good governance

PRAGATI (Pro Active Governance and Timely Implementation)

in

Interact with PM

Man ki Bath

National portal on e-governance

The govt has implemented the orders of the SC to the last letter in a transparent manner on resources like coal,
telecom and spectrum.
One particular lost opportunity was, missing of cabinet committees. Earlier there were cabinet committees on
different issues civil supplies, prices, economic affairs etc. Now everything is under CCEA. Effective
controlling of prices was not there. Recently, we have witnessed enormous increase in the prices of pulses. If
there had been a cabinet committee on prices, it would have taken timely proactive measures on
exports/imports.
Also, there was not much priority to the Civil Services Standards, Performance and Accountability bill. There
has been a sort of resistance from the civil servants that the bill would be a tool to harass them.

STARTUP INDIA STANDUP INDIA

Click here and search 28th December 2015, Spotlight/News Analysis for audio
The focus of the government is job creation. It is also the target of our economic growth and activity.
Instead of training and educating people to seek jobs, creating an environment where people can create jobs
is the idea behind the program Start up India and Stand up India. The govt is trying to motivate the young
educated citizen, one who is not traditionally a businessman, to take up entrepreneurship.
As a first step towards motivation, the govt is trying to reduce the plethora regulatory procedures that are
involved in creating start-ups, so that it would be easy for the first generation/new entrepreneurs to start a
business.
In the second step, the innovative ideas of the entrepreneur should be converted into profitable ventures.
For this purpose incubation centres are being set up. These centres will:

Be connected to academic institutions

Help prepare a business plan
Find ways to be profitable from the innovative ideas
Help in recruiting the right persons
Help in developing the right connect
Help in bringing initial seed funding

The govt has taken few measures in this years budget to encourage start-ups:

India Aspiration Fund

Atal Innovation Mission

There is a huge risk of failure in taking up entrepreneurship. Hence, banks are not the right institutions to fund
start-ups, particularly innovation and technology based ones. Banks fund those businesses which have assured
revenues and profits. This generally excludes new ideas and new technologies. However, the incubation
centres can encourage the banks by enhancing the odds of success of new start-ups. Globally, it is the angel
investors and venture capitalists that support initial equity for innovative start-ups.
What can be done to encourage start-ups?

Bankruptcy laws should provide a safe and easy exit to the failed start-ups.
In the long run, for start-ups, funding has to come from markets.
Ease of doing business process of starting and exiting business, investing and taking out profits from the
business.
Some kind of subsidy or tax incentives for start-ups.
Promoting the SMEs in start-ups.
Promoting manufacturing sector in start-ups through Make in India campaign.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF SCs AND STs

Click here and search 29th December 2015, Spotlight/News Analysis for audio

PM Modi has recently inaugurated the National Conference of Dalit Entrepreneurs.

PM Modi, citing B R Ambedkar, architect of the Indian Constitution and an accomplished economist
of higher order, remarked that industrialisation will give maximum benefits to dalits.
In order to promote financial inclusion of dalits, implementation of existing policies in a serious
manner is necessary. There is no need to come up with new policies. For example, for financing SC
entrepreneurs there was National Scheduled Caste Financial and Development Corporation. It can
fund any SC entrepreneur up to 30 lakhs. But getting finance from NSFDC is not encouraging and it
is painful.
Govt has a new procurement policy (for PSUs) which mandates that 20% should be sourced from
SMEs and out of this, 20% has to come from dalit entrepreneurs which means 4% of the total to be
procured from dalit entrepreneurs. Such schemes from govt are providing market for dalit
entrepreneurs.
The MUDRA bank (up to 10 lakhs) and IFCI venture capital fund (up to 15 crores) are providing
encouraging environment for dalits take up entrepreneurship.
Dalit entrepreneurs are facing both social and economic discrimination.
The Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is doing a great work to push for
entrepreneurship from within the dalit community. They undertake workshops to encourage the
existing and new entrepreneurs. The present conference is also a part of this movement.
There is an improvement in the availability of early stage funding; professional entrepreneurial
development programs are being held. What needs to be done apparently is that they should be more
tailored to the needs of dalit entrepreneurs and help them scale up their operations.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND INITIATIVES OF NITI AAYOG

Click here and search 30 December 2015, Spotlight/News Analysis for audio
There is not much information to write. Better listen the audio and search NITI Aayog website for reports. You
must also refer to these links

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-4th-november-2015/
http://iasbaba.com/2015/07/think-and-learn-upsc-mains-day-10/
http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/1-a-constitutional-body-finance-commission-has-always-beenovershadowed-by-planning-commission-do-you-think-finance-commission-will-regain-its-relevanceafter-the-formation-of-niti-aayog-dont-y/

The NITI Aayog has completed one year of its life on December 31 2015. It has replaced the Planning
Commission on January 1 2015.

One of the criticisms against Planning Commission slow, repetitive/cyclic, and the manner it was
going about the task of planning. The states had to come to PC to get their budgets approved for
schemes or plans sponsored by centre.

The NITI Aayog has more of a sectoral specific approach to planning and it brings on board all the
CMs of all the states in planning for each sector. Unlike the PC which looks at the economy from a
holistic perspective at the nation level, the NITI Aayog targets implementation in sector wise in a
phased manner.

The NITI Aayog is trying to interlock and interlink its programs with the goals set by the Prime
Minister and is focussing on bringing the effects of high growth to the common man. It is working on
Digital India, Swachh Bharat, Skill Development, agriculture etc. The PCs working style used to be
a disconnection with the PMs Office.

In the last one year, the NITI Aayog has come up with various reports on wide range of issues. These
reports contain more information than solutions to the problems persisting in the economy. The biggest
lacuna as of now is this. It has no power to implement its recommendations. It is only an advisory body