6th Economic Census Report

As per the the 6th Economic Census Report 2013, Arunachal Pradesh has the maximum percentage of hired workers amongst all states, including in segments like education and health.

• Percentage of female hired workers in Arunachal Pradesh: 30.3%
• Growth rate in the number of establishments over the 5th Economic Census is 34.09% and that of total employment is 17.73%
• Growth rate of total number of persons employed over 5th Economic Census 2005 has been recorded at all India level at 34.73% but at Arunachal Pradesh level it is 17.73%,.
• Total number of establishments in the Arunachal Pradesh is 36,602 with the 19,288 of them in rural and 17,314 in urban areas. The number of establishments in urban areas has increased at 83.22%, which is more than 3 times the population growth. This development is owing to the fact that in between the 5th and 6th Economic Census 10 districts or SDO headquarters having concentration of establishment has been notified as urban areas.
• But in rural areas, the increase of 8.08% is found to be 3 times less than the population growth.
• The average number of workers per establishments was found to be higher than the national average in spite of the having the lowest population density and scarce workers.

The 6th Economic census was organized by the Department of Economics and Statistics in association with the district administration in 2013. The activities covered in the 6th Economic Census have a share of about 86% in total GDP of the country.

India has second-highest number of child marriages: UN

India had the highest number of unregistered children under age five between 2000 and 2012 and the second-highest number of child marriages, according to a UN report which said the country still needs to improve immunisation coverage and stop gender-based sex selection.

The report 'Improving Childrens Lives, Transforming the Future 25 years of child rights in South Asia' by the United Nations' children agency UNICEF analyzes the progress made over the last quarter century on key issues that directly affect the lives of children in the region.  At 71 million, India had the largest number of children under the age of five whose births were not registered between 2000-2012.  The report said that birth registration levels in South Asia have increased since 2000, but progress has been slow.  India, along with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives, has been recording"significant improvements" in birth registration but about 100 million children in the region are still not registered at birth.  India has the greatest disparity between the poorest and richest households, with children in the poorest households being three times less likely to be registered than those in the richest.  Religion also appears to play a role as Muslims have the lowest level of birth registration in India (39 per cent) followed by Hindus (40 per cent) while the Jains have the highest (87 per cent). The highest rate of child marriage is in Bangladesh (where two out of every three girls marry before age 18), followed by India, Nepal and Afghanistan. Almost half of all girls in South Asia marry before the age of 18.  One in five girls are married before the age of 15. These are the highest rates in the world.  "These figures confirm that child marriage is rooted in gender norms and in expectations about the value and roles of girls," the report added. In India, 43 per cent of women aged 20-24 were first married by the age of 18 between 2005-2013.  Girls with no education are 5.5 times more likely to marry or enter into union as those with at least 10 years of education.  On gender-biased sex selection, the report said the practice is more prevalent in the west and northwest part of the country.  The child sex ratio, which is the number of girls per 1,000 boys, among children aged 0-4 in India was 924. On immunisation coverage, it said some countries in South Asia, particularly Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, have made significant improvements since 1990 but coverage is still far too low in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

Govt sets up panel to review environment laws

The Government has constituted a high-level committee to review various environment laws in order to bring them in line with current requirements.

The committee has been set up in the backdrop of government taking serious measures to fasten the environment clearance process for achieving economic growth without compromising green issues.  CABINET SECRETARY T S R SUBRAMANIAN TO HEAD THE PANEL  The four-member panel, headed by former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian, has been asked to review five key green laws concerning protection and conservation of environment, forest, wildlife, water and air among others.  The Environment Ministry has asked the panel to submit its report in two months.  "Based on experience gained in the implementation of aforesaid Acts, it has been decided to constitute a high-level committee to review these Acts and suggest appropriate amendments to bring them in line with their objectives," said a Ministry order.  PANEL TO REVIEW GREEN LAWS ENACTED BETWEEN 1971 & 1986 The panel will review the important green laws enacted between 1971 and 1986.  These laws include Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.  According to the Terms of Reference, the committee will assess the status of implementation of each of the Acts vis-a-vis the objectives.  It will also examine and take into account various court orders and judicial pronouncements relating to these Acts.  "The panel has been asked to recommend specific amendments needed so as to bring them in line with current requirements. It has also been asked to draft proposed amendments in each of the aforesaid Acts to give effect to the proposed recommendations," the order said.  The members of the committee include former Environment Ministry secretary Viswanath Anand, Justice (Retd) A K Srivastav and senior advocate of Supreme Court K N Bhat.

Oxford Award for Chancellor of MS University

Dr Mrunalinidevi Puar, Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao University at Vadodara, has been conferred with the "Best Manager" award by the Oxford Summit of Leaders (Science and Education) in UK, according to University Registrar Amit Dholakia.

Dr Mrunalinidevi Puar is known for her research in availability of zinc in Indian food and was also awarded PhD by a Hyderabad based university, he said.  In a letter, Irina Bright, event manager EBA said, "Socrates Committee of Europe Business Assembly (EBA Oxford, UK) has selected you (Puar) for this award based on the criteria that includes the university in the field of quality educational services rendering, implementation of up-to-date technologies and social focus."  Dr Puar will get this award at the summit of leaders and International Socrates Award ceremony to be held in Oxford UK on October 14. Participants from 50 countries will attend it.  The MS University was eastblished as Baroda College in 1881 and it was converted into a university in 1949 after merger of erstwhile princely state of Baroda.  Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, father of the Indian constitution and Maharshi Aurbindo Ghosh were known personalities associated with this college.  Union Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani has assured the Gujarat government to convert it into a central university as this university has signed number of MoUs with its counterparts in UK, USA, Canada and France.

India’s Arctic observatory to aid climate change studies

India’s observatory in Arctic Ocean, which is exactly placed in the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between Norway and the North Pole, is collecting a lot of data which is useful for scientific community. It is India’s first under water moored observatory in this area. 

The IndARC observatory has been termed as a major milestone in India’s scientific endeavours in the Arctic region. This observatory has been designed and developed by the Earth System Science Organisation-National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT) Chennai and ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR). It was deployed from the Norwegian Polar Institute’s research vessel R.V. Lance in Kongsfjorden Fjord of the Arctic roughly halfway between North Pole and Norway on 23 July 2014.

The observatory is anchored at a depth of 192 m and has an array of 10 state-of-the-art oceanographic sensors strategically positioned at various depths in the water. 

The Kongsfjorden is considered a natural laboratory for studying the Arctic climate variability. Scientists predict that melting of the Arctic glaciers will trigger changes in weather patterns and ocean currents that could affect other parts of the world. Data collected by IndARC would be used for climate modelling studies to understand the influence of the Arctic processes on the Indian monsoon system.

China to be focus at IFFI 2014

China will be the focus country for the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014,scheduled to be held in Goa between November 20 and 30.

Developed nations back India’s stand at WTO

India said on 12th September it has won the support of major developed countries, including the U.K. and Germany, as also the European Commission, for its stand at theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO)demanding that the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) be kept pending unless its apprehensions on the issue of food security are addressed.

Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram presented India’s perspective at the Eleventh Meeting of the Finance Ministers’ of Asia Europe (ASEM) in the Italian city of Milan on 11th September. Following protracted negotiations, the ASEM agreed to not only drop a reference to non-implementation of the TFA but also include the need for implementation of all of the WTO’s Bali Ministerial decisions in its draft communiqué 

He also garnered the support of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Russia for India’s standpoint. India is not opposed to the TFA as it increases the ease of doing business but wants its adoption postponed till there is “satisfactory” progress on finding a permanent protection for its minimum support prices to farmers against the WTO’s agriculture subsidy caps that are benchmarked to food prices of the 1980s. At the WTO’s General Council meeting in Geneva on July 31, India stalled the ratification of the TFA owing to these concerns.

India got a reference to BRICS and disappointment with poor progress on the IMF quota reforms also included in the ASEM communiqué. The communiqué talks about enhanced cooperation between countries of Asia and Europe to create sustainable and profitable growth.

The reasons for India’s opposing to WTO’s agreement

• According to the WTO rule, public stockholdings must not exceed 10% of the value of food grains produced and calculated at the base price of 1986-88. India says that one cannot calculate current food subsidy limits by 1986-88 prices.
• For most of the developing countries including India, public stockholding for food security is a livelihood issue, a matter which should not be even debated at WTO.
• Developed countries lose nothing if they allow higher public stockholding by developing countries after putting in place a mechanism with reasonable limits to ensure developing countries do not dump their excess cereals at rock bottom prices in the international market.
• Food security is the foundation upon which the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger stand. Forcing developing countries and Least Developed Countries to agree to anything which may compromise their right to food security will not only compromise basic human dignity but also go against the UN declaration to which all countries are a signatory.
• The government support to farmers in developed countries are way ahead of what developing countries can even afford to provide. For example, while India provides about $12 billion farm subsidy to its 500 million farmers, the US provides around $120 billion to its 2 million farmers. The figures could be contested, but not the trends.
• There is wide realisation in India at the state and central government level about the rising burden of subsidies and there is a serious move to make it more targeted through the use of technology as in the case of the Direct Benefits Transfer programme. To expect it to happen at the pace developed countries wish means one does not understand the complexities of a country like India.

SBI celebrated 150 years of its operations in Sri Lanka

State Bank of India (SBI) on 13 September 2014 celebrated 150 years of its operations in Sri Lanka. 
SBI Managing Director Krishna Kumar reaffirmed the bank's commitment to partner in Sri Lanka’s efforts in developing its economy. 
India has committed large resources for the progress of Sri Lanka. Indian assistance to Sri Lanka is in tune of 1.6 billion US dollars and one fourth of this is in form of direct grant assistance while the rest is soft long-term loans for development projects.

About State Bank of India, Colombo
State Bank of India, Colombo is operational since 1864. It was earlier a branch of Bank of Hindustan, which was taken over by Bank of Madras in 1867. In 1921, Bank of Madras was merged with the Imperial Bank of India. Subsequently in 1955, Imperial Bank of India became State Bank of India.

The branch was mainly opened to handle the business of export of coffee and the Government business. The branch is the oldest bank in the country.  
The branch is located in a heritage building in the Fort area of Colombo, which is the financial hub of Sri Lanka. 
The branch is fully equipped with modern technology and with modern communication facilities such as SWIFT etc. All the Branches are networked with each other. 
It's catering mainly to the Corporate and Retail clients and the product range from all types of deposit accounts, financing working capital, term loans, vehicle loans, housing loans and trade finance.

WHO honoured Bangladesh and Timor-Leste for Excellence in Public Health

The World Health Organisation (WHO) honoured Bangladesh and Timor-Leste with South East Asia Regional Award for Excellence in Public Health. The newly instituted awards were presented to Saima Hossain of Bangladesh and National Malaria Control Programme of Timor-Leste in Dhaka on 10 September 2014.

Saima Hossain was conferred the Award in the individual category for leadership in advancing the cause of Autism in South East Asia and worldwide. She is a chairperson of National Advisory Committee on Neuro development and Autism in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of Bangladesh.

The National Malaria Control Programme of Timor-Leste was conferred the Award in the region category for its aggressive anti-malaria effort which has drastically reduced malaria cases in Timor-Leste.

Solar power technology Electrodialysis unveiled in India to desalinate water

A new solar power technology Electrodialysis unveiled in India in second week of September 2014 that can turn undrinkable salty water into clean and filtered drinking water. 
The technology was unveiled by the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The same technology can also be used for disaster relief and for military use in remote locations.

About Electrodialysis
•    Electrodialysis works by passing a stream of water between two electrodes with opposite charges.
•    The electrodes pull the ions out of the water as the salt dissolved in water consists of positive and negative ions. It leaves fresher water at the center of the flow. 
•    A series of membranes separate the freshwater stream from salty ones.
•    Unlike reverse-osmosis technology, the use of membranes in Electrodialysis is exposed to lower pressures and can be cleared of salt by simply reversing the electrical polarity.

Reasons behind the need for desalinating drinking water 
•    Approximately 60 percent of India contains salty water. Much of that area is not served by an electric grid that could help run conventional reverse-osmosis desalination plants.
•    Though moderately salty water is not directly toxic, but it can have long-term effects on health. Its unpleasant taste can make people turn to other dirtier water sources.
•    Many homes in India currently use home-based filtration systems to treat water. But, the village-scale system will be more effective as it will become easy for people to access filtered water.
•    By blending village-scale Electrodialysis systems with a simple set of solar panels, enough water can be supplied to meet the needs of a village comprising 2000 to 5000 people.

Report titled Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014 released by UNEP and WMO

A report titled Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014 was released on 10 September 2014. The report has been prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report revealed that the ozone layer is well on track to recovery in the next few decades.

Highlights of the Report
• Actions taken under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1986 are enabling the return of the ozone layer to benchmark 1980 levels.
• The Montreal Protocol and associated agreements have led to decreases in the atmospheric abundance of gases, such as CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and halons, once used in products such as refrigerators, spray cans, insulation foam and fire suppression.
• Total column ozone declined over most of the globe during the 1980s and early 1990s. Since 2000, it has remained relatively unchanged, but there are recent indications of its future recovery.
• The Antarctic ozone hole continues to occur each spring and it is expected to continue occurring for the better part of this century given that ozone depleting substances persist in the atmosphere, even though their emissions have ceased.
• The Arctic stratosphere in winter or spring 2011 was particularly cold that led to large ozone depletion as expected under these conditions.
• The Montreal Protocol has made large contributions toward reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. 
• In 1987, ozone-depleting substances contributed about 10 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year. The Montreal Protocol has now reduced these emissions by more than 90 percent. 
• The decrease in ozone-depleting substances is about five times larger than the annual emissions reduction target for the first commitment period (2008-2012) of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) currently contribute about 0.5 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year. These emissions are growing at a rate of about 7 percent per year. Though HFCS do not harm the ozone layer but many of them are potent greenhouse gases.
• The annual Antarctic ozone hole has caused significant changes in Southern Hemisphere surface climate in the summer due to cooling of the lower stratosphere there is associated impacts on surface temperature, precipitation, and the oceans.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, where the ozone depletion is smaller, there is no strong link between stratospheric ozone depletion and tropospheric climate.
• The concentrations of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide are the three main long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which will tend to increase global ozone levels.

Narendra Ambwani elected as chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)

Narendra Ambwani on 12 September 2014 elected as Chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). 
He succeeded Partha Rakshit. Narendra Ambwani is the Director of Agro Tech Foods Ltd. 
He has been a member of the board of governors for seven years and provided active support to self-regulation in the advertising market. 
Moreover, Benoy Roy Chawdhuri was elected as Vice-Chairman and Shashidhar Sinha was appointed Honorary Treasurer. 

About Advertising Standards Council of India 

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) was established in 1985. ASCI has been committed to the cause of Self-Regulation in Advertising, ensuring the protection of the interests of consumers. 
ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected with Advertising -- Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters and the Press) and others like PR Agencies and Market Research Companies.The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) is the agency of ASCI.

Achievements of ASCI

In a noteworthy achievement, ASCI issued guidelines on skin lightening & fairness products which ensured that these advertisements do not depict people with dark skin as somehow inferior to those who are fairer. 
Also recently, the Government took notice of ASCI’s efforts to curb teleshopping ads that violate ASCI Code and ensured a strict compliance of the advertising code in the Cable Television Networks Act (CTN).

U.C. Nahta has appointed member of Competition Commission of India (CCI)

The government has appointed U.C. Nahta as member of Competition Commission of India (CCI) for five years. He was a Director in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' (PMJDY) Related practice Questions

1. 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' (PMJDY) launched by Prime Minister of India on 28 August 2014. The theme of the scheme is ....
1) Bringing more people under financial inclusion
2) Providing cash subsidy to farmers
3) Creating awareness about the value of money encouraging people to buy gold
4) Providing cash to people to participate in Mutual Funds market
5) None of above

2. What is the tag line of 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana'?
1) Hamara Khatha Hamara Swabhiman
2) Khatha Kholo, Paisa Bachao
3) Mera Khatha Bhagya Vidhata
4) Hamara Khatha Bhagya Vidhata
5) Sab ka Khata Sab ka Vikas

3. 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' (PMJDY) is the dream project of the central Government provides ......
1) At least one bank account to every house hold
2) Bank account with locker facility to keep the valuables of people
3) One bank account to every house hold and ask the bank to enroll the minor names to open the account in future
4) None of above
5) All of above

4. How many crore people cover under Jan Dhan Yojana by January 26, 2015?
1) 1.5 crore
2) 4.5 crore
3) 7.5 crore
4) 90 lakh
5) 10.50 crore

5. How many no frill accounts opened under PMJDY on the day of launch?
1) 2.5 crore
2) 4.5 crore
3) 1.5 crore
4) 3.5 crore
5) None

6. Under PMJDY, every account holder will get a .......
1) RuPay debit card
2) Visa International debit card
3) Master Card debit card
4) EVM debit card
5) All of above

7. Issuing of KCC as RuPay Kisan Card also proposed under PMJDY. KCC stands for ......
1) Kisan Core Card
2) Kisan Call Card
3) Kisan Combo Card
4) Kisan Credit Card
5) None

8. The account holder under Jan Dhan Yojana, get how much life insurance cover, if the account open before 26 January, 2015?
1) Rs.5,000
2) Rs.10,000
3) Rs.80,000
4) Rs.70,000
5) Rs.30,000

9. After six months of satisfactory operations, the account holder would be eligible ...... overdraft facility under PMJDY.
1) Rs.5,000
2) Rs.15,000
3) Rs.25,000
4) Rs.35,000
5) None

10. While speaking on the occasion of launching of Jan Dhan Yojana, PM said .......
1) To eradicate poverty we have to get rid of financial untouchability.
2) Financial stability break the vicious cycle of poverty.
3) Once bank accounts open, the people connected with the economic system.
4) None of the above
5) All of above

11. Account given under Jan Dhan Yojana, also cover accidental insurance of up to ........
1) Rs.1 lakh
2) Rs.2 lakhs
3) Rs.5 lakhs
4) Rs.3 lakhs
5) None

12. In order to make the programme PMJDY successful, at least 50000 Business Correspondents, more than 7000 branches and more than how many new ATMs will be established?
1) 10000
2) 200000
3) 45000
4) 20000
5) 75000

13. The earlier schemes of financial inclusion focussed on villages. The present PMJDY focus on .......
1) Employees
2) House wives
3) Rural youth
4) Urban slum dwellers
5) House holds

14. Under Phase I under PMJDY Universal access to banking, cover all house holds with at least one Basic Banking Account with RuPay debit card, providing insurance cover, linking DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) Scheme provided. Phase I runs between .......
1) 15 August, 2014 to 14 August, 2015
2) 15 August, 2014 to 31 March, 2015
3) 15 August, 2014 to 31 August, 2015
4) 1 August, 2014 to 1 August, 2015
5) None

15. The Phase II of PMJDY (15th August, 2015 to 14th August, 2018) covers .......
1) Providing micro-insurance.
2) Unorganised sector Pension schemes like Swavalambana through the Business Correspondents.
3) All basic savings accounts opened will be shifted to PMJDY accounts.
4) Facility to buy immovable property through PMJDY accounts.
5) 1 & 2 only


ANSWERS:
1-1, 2-3, 3-1, 4-3, 5-3, 6-1, 7-4, 8-5, 9-1, 10-5
11-1,  12-4, 13-5, 14-1, 15-5, 

CURRENT AFFAIRS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Women Empowerment Programmes

Sr.NO	Name of the Programme	Shortly known as	Established on
1	Support to Training and Employment Programme For women	STEPW	2003-04
2	Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls	RGSEAG	2010
3	Rashitriya Mahila Kosh – National Credit Fund for women		1993
4	Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana	IGMSY
5	Swayam Siddha		2001
6	Swadhar		1995
7	Support to Training And Employment Programme for Women	STEP	1986
8	Development of women and children in rural areas	DWCRA	1982
9	Dhan Laxmi		2008
10	Ujjwala		2007
11	Gender Budgeting Scheme	GBS	2004
12	National Mission For Empowerment of Women	NMEW	2010

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Unit 5 of RAPS became second longest running nuclear reactor of World

Unit 5 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station on 6 September 2014 became the second longest running reactor in the world.
The Unit 5 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) is a 220 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). The power station is in uninterrupted operation from 2 August 2012 and it has been operating at full power with a capacity factor of 105 per cent. 
The unit 5 has been in operation for 765 days continuously. It has since then generated around 4258 million units of electricity.

World’s first
Unit 7 of Canada's Pickering nuclear plant holds the world record of running the largest operating plant that ran continuously for 894 days. There are only 10 reactors in the world that have crossed 500 days of uninterrupted operation. 

About the plant
The plant was commissioned in February 2010. It has been running at the capacity of 98.5 per cent and until now generated 8663 million units of electricity.
RAPS Unit 1 was commissioned in August 1965 with a gross capacity of 100 MW.
RAPS have 6 units of which five are in operation. 
Work on units 7 and 8 are expected to be in operation by 2017-2018.