Defence projects worth Rs. 21,000 crore cleared

Also okays a project for production of transport aircraft, which is open only to Indian private sector companies.

The government on Saturday cleared defence procurement proposals worth over Rs 21,000 crore and also okayed a project for the production of transport aircraft, which is open only to Indian private sector companies.

Among the major proposals to receive approval is a Rs 9,000 crore tender to provide five fleet support ships for the Navy, for which the request for proposal (RFP) would be issued to all public and private sector shipyards, Defence Ministry officials said.

Chairing his first meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said, “There are many proposals in the pipeline for the defence forces and, today, we have tried to expedite quite a few of them.”

Thus, a proposal for supply of 32 HAL-built Advanced Light Helicopter, ‘Dhruv’, to the Coast Guard and the Navy at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore was also okayed, officials said.

Under the proposal, HAL will supply 16 helicopters each to the Coast Guard and the Navy and also provide maintenance for the machines to ensure the “highest level of operational maintenance and efficiency”.

DAC also cleared an IAF proposal for issuance of a tender for construction of 56 transport aircraft by private industry players to replace the force’s fleet of Avro aircraft, they said.

As per the proposal, private Indian defence companies such as Tata and Mahindra would be issued tender and they would build the aircraft in partnership with foreign firms.

The meeting also cleared the procurement of five fast patrol vessels (FPV) and offshore patrol vessels (OPV) each for the Coast Guard at the cost of Rs 2,360 crore.

The FPVs and OPVs would be built by the state-owned GRSE and Goa Shipyards Ltd, respectively, officials said.

A proposal to procure search and rescue (SAR) equipment for the three services at a cost of Rs 900 crore, too, received the green light.

CPF2014 PAPER1 BREAKUP

Topic MCQs in CAPF-2013 Weightage
Geography & Environment 22 18%
Polity 20 16%
Aptitude 20 16%
History & Culture 19 15%
Science 15 12%
Economy 10 8%
IR & defense related 10 8%
PIN, Sports, Books 9 7%
Total 125 100%

Outrage in the skies

The tragic and outrageous shooting down of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over Ukrainian airspace on Thursday is a direct consequence of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Even while offering solace to the family of the dead, the international community needs to fix the responsibility for the firing of the missile that brought down the aircraft that was flying 33,000 feet above sea level, with 298 people on board. There have been at least 20 such incidents since the 1940s, when aircraft have been struck down by a missile or military jet. The blame game has already started among the Ukrainian government, the pro-Russian rebel forces fighting the separatist war in the eastern part of the country, and Russia itself. There have been previous instances of Ukraine’s military aircraft getting shot down in the same region. It is surprising that some international carriers have been sticking to this dangerous airspace all these weeks and months and only now have decided to steer clear of the zone. The Ukrainian rebels, the prime suspects, were perhaps targeting another Ukrainian military aircraft expected at that time; they even claimed they were in possession of missiles and had shot down a military aircraft.

This ghastly tragedy could not have come at a worse time for Malaysian Airlines. Hardly four months ago, one of its aircraft went missing while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Even debris has not been found and there is no clue on what happened to it. The fallout of the war in Ukraine, in which Russia has played a controversial role, has now become an even bigger international issue with the shooting down of this aircraft. Some countries have already called for the United Nations to play a more decisive role in ending this conflict and also taking charge of the investigation. There were a couple of other aircraft quite close to the site where the Malaysian aircraft was shot down. An Air Indiaaircraft carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a diversion to avoid this zone. Tragedies such as this only revive the demand for international aviation organisations to take a more active and dynamic role in tracking or monitoring flights in the interests of the safety of passengers. Airlines will have to accept such a monitoring mechanism sooner rather than later. The Ukrainian authorities have already begun a probe and have taken note of some Twitter posts purportedly put out by the separatists who they say are to blame. The immediate need is to order a full-fledged international investigation into this tragedy, as demanded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, perhaps headed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Climbing the beanstalk

Tucked between the tax breaks and FDI declarations in the Narendra Modi government’s inaugural budget sits a nugget of a new programme announcement: Rs 100 crore to develop career centres by upgrading employment exchanges, especially in traditionally underserved communities. I have previously made the case for information institutions where young people could reliably procure information on job opportunities, get customised career guidance and meet inspiring role models. Based on thousands of interviews, I had found that young people from poorer communities, no matter how capable and hardworking, were not able to win higher-paying jobs. Those who have recently become engineers, business managers and civil servants are the children of parents who are themselves highly educated and employed in high positions.

This gives rise to a dynamic of layered development —  different strata moving forward at different speeds. There are households in India that get by at levels below Rs 5,000 per month. There are others that live global middle-class lifestyles, not very different from their counterparts in other and richer societies. And then there are a series of layers in between.

Problems arise because these layers are growing at different rates, with higher and richer layers growing faster than lower and poorer ones, resulting in rising inequality. The bigger problem arises because these layers are growing increasingly apart from one another. There is very little movement of people from lower to higher layers. My examination of more than 20,000 households in four states showed that while many people have escaped poverty, most have become the near-poor. They live just a little distance above the poverty line, only a handful have become secure; none are rich.

Bumping up the scope of self-improvement is essential. Why do poor youth not manage to secure bigger career achievements? Lack of information is critical to the potential going under-utilised. People growing up in poor communities do not know about career opportunities simply because no one from their community has ever achieved any such career. What children in poor communities lack most is knowledge of alternative careers, how to prepare for them. Children in richer communities have it in abundance and take for granted a cousin writing the IAS entrance exam, a family friend who flies Mirages for the air force. These examples illuminate the career road for a young person in a richer community. In a poorer community, this road is mostly dark; a school teacher here, a police constable there are the only examples. A vicious cycle links underachievement with lack of information.

Career centres can fill such information gaps. Informing, guiding and motivating young people from poorer communities will help talented ones climb higher, crossing from lower to higher layers, an achievement previously denied.

While the logic tosupport career centres is strong, how these should be staffed and programmed remains to be discovered. The new centres must have comprehensive information on a variety of career choices and skill-acquisition opportunities of different kinds. They must be staffed by professionals trained in career counselling, people who realise that poverty and potential are unrelated. We need sensitive counsellors providing customised advice.

Rs 100 crore is not a princely sum in a country of India’s size but strategically used, it can help develop working models. The need of the day is policy experimentation. Let us encourage states to compete for the pot by developing an innovative plan for one centre and carrying out this plan successfully for a number of years. Let a dozen such experimental career centres (of different models) be implemented simultaneously, and let us observe the results each year for five years. There should be only one criterion for success: how many individuals were able to climb up layers because of your efforts? How many poor kids did you help gain admission to professional colleges and civil service positions? Different modes of engagement should emerge as a result of announcing a competition for the best few models to be initially funded. Some models may be organised in public-private partnership and with CSR funds, some may be run by NGOs, and some managed by government. Different ways of doing things must be tried out and their results assessed.

The dumbest thing would be for the Central government to pick and nominate locations or to apportion the money among state governments without any action plans. The next dumbest thing would be to prescribe a standardised template. There is too little knowledge available. We must first learn —  relatively cheaply — what works at the local level, before implementing over a broader region.

Modi’s career centres have to be carefully launched, and the potential is vast. Helping people climb layers is timely and necessary. Equality of outcomes is usually an idealist’s dream, but equality of opportunity is the bedrock of political order and social cohesion

South African Gandhian Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, a true Gandhian adopted democratic methods for achieving Human Rights, freedom and emancipation of Blacks from the South African apartheid regime. As a leader, Nelson Mandela can be compared to radical reformers like Mahatma Gandhi, Garibaldi of Italy and Lenin of Soviet Union who waged life-long struggles for freedom and human dignity. He led the struggle against apartheid- the inhuman practice of racial discrimination followed by rulers in South Africa. Mandela’s relentless crusade fructified in getting equal rights for Black people who were denied the basic rights to equality, freedom, human dignity and right to life. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life in the prisons of oppressive white rulers. Eventually, the Pretoria government had to release him in the autumn of 1990. The Indian Government honored Mandela with Nehru Peace Prize in 1980 and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna conferred on him in 1990.  Bharat Ratna was conferred on him, the award so far given to only two foreign nationals and the other one being Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan- Frontier Gandhi, a freedom fighter during Indian Freedom Struggle. The Entire world hailed him as a great leader, who launched constructive revolt for the liberation of the coloured nationals in association with the African National Congress. The world recognized his struggle for freedom and awarded Noble Peace Prize to him. Mandela was a symbol of courage and crusader for human dignity and liberty. Mandela helped for smooth transition of power in South Africa and avoided bloodshed and hatred. The UNO celebrates 18th July as Mandela Day. CHILDHOOD Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela popularly known as Madiba in his homeland was born on 18th July 1918. His father was chief of Tembu Tribe. As a young law student, he became involved in political opposition to the white minority regime. As a boxer, Mandela loved the sport and in his younger years, he was classed as a heavy-weight. The boy would later be given the English name Nelson by his school teacher; Mandela was name of his grandfather. POLITICAL STRUGGLE Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942 and co-founded its more dynamic Youth League in 1944. His father was the chief of the Thembu tribe and counselor of Thembu king. Mandela has had a first-hand experience of the atrocities unleashed by the white rulers on the coloured people. He came to Johannesburg at the age of 22. There, he met an active revolutionary named Walter Sisulu. He started studying Law. Mandela in association with Sisulu and Oliver Tambo started an agitation against the white rule which was crushed by the Pretorian authorities. The 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party led to apartheid system of racial segregation becoming law. Mandela rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental programme of the anti-apartheid cause. Initially committed to non-violent mass struggle and acquitted in the marathon Treason Trial of 1956-1961, Mandela and his colleagues accepted the case for armed action after the shooting of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville in March 1960 and the banning of anti-apartheid groups. In 1961, he became the commander of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. In August of the following year, he was arrested and jailed for five years. In June 1964, he was sentenced again, this time to life imprisonment, for his involvement in planning armed action. He started his prison years in the infamous Robben Island Prison, a maximum security facility on a small island off the coast of Cape Town. In April 1984, he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and in December 1988 he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from where he was eventually released. IMPRISONMENT FOR 27 YEARS During his incarceration Mandela taught himself to speak Afrikaans and learned about Afrikaner history. While in prison, Mandela rejected offers made by his jailers for remission of sentence in exchange for accepting the Bantustan policy by recognising the independence of the Transkei region and agreeing to settle there. Amongst opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a cultural symbol of freedom and equality. Mandela remained in prison until February 1990, when sustained ANC campaigning and international pressure led to his release. On 2 February 1990, South African President F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations. Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990. He and President de Klerk - who did much to dismantle the institutions of apartheid - shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In Mandela's 1994 autobiography, 'Long Walk to Freedom', he did not reveal anything about the alleged complicity of de Klerk in the violence of the 1980s and 90s, or the role of his ex-wife Winnie Mandela in that bloodshed. However, he later discussed those issues in 'Mandela: The Authorised Biography'. While he was in prison and was invited to negotiate with White regime in February 1985, he stated that “only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated”. LIFE AFTER PRISON After his release, Mandela returned to the leadership of the ANC and, between 1990 and 1994, led the party in the multi-party negotiations that resulted in the country's first multi-racial elections. As the first black president of South Africa (1994 - 1999) he presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid. He won praise for his leadership during this time, even from his former white opponents in South Africa. Following his retirement as president in 1999, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social and human-rights organizations. He used his status as a respected elder statesman to give weight to pertinent issues. The fight against Aids was one of Mandela's primary concerns and he used his gravitas to raise awareness about the issue on the global stage. Having backed the 46664 Aids fundraising campaign, which was named after his prison number, he went on to call for more openness in discussing the condition. In 2007, he brought together elder statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates including Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Li Zhaoxing under a non-governmental organization dubbed The Elders. The aim of the organization was to combine the elders' collective wisdom and use it to solve some of the world's problems. Although he spoke out less about issues affecting neighboring country Zimbabwe in his retirement. His last public outing was during the closing ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg. He started Nelson Mandela foundation and served the poorest of the poor and needy. AWARDS In November 2009, Mandela's contributions to world freedom were rewarded with a unique gesture by the United Nations General Assembly. In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly announced that Mandela’s birthday, 18 July, is to be known as ‘Mandela Day’ marking his contribution to world freedom. On 18 July 2012, Mandela's 94th birthday, 12 million schoolchildren across South Africa honored him with a specially composed song to mark the day. Mandela has won international acclaim for his sacrifices for the cause of human rights and freedom. In 1980, he was given the Nehru Peace Prize by India. In 1990, India conferred its highest award the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on him. Nelson Mandela has come to symbolize human struggle against racial discrimination. East Germany honored him with the ‘Star of International Friendship’ and Venezuela conferred the ‘Simon Boliver Award’ on him. He has also been honored with the ‘Sakharov Award’ and the ‘Human Rights Award’. Nelson Mandela was a protestor, prisoner and peacemaker. His death on 5th December 2013 has become a celebration of life of fellow human beings on the Earth. Nelson Mandela changed South Africa and the world. He became a father of a nation, an international icon, and a legend. He showed that heroes may leave but their wisdom remains. His compassion, humility, genuine caring, listening and talk leave an indelible impression on human history. Nelson Mandela admired Gandhi who started his own freedom struggle in South Africa in 1890s but he regarded non-violence as a tactic. By the time he stepped down as the country’s first black President in 1999 in the age of 80, he was, almost without rival, the most admired person on Earth- seen as a secular saint, an embodiment of human greatness and an icon of peace and wisdom. He became the rarest thing in African history, a one term President who chose not to run for again. Like George Washington, he understood that every step he made would be template for others to follow. He could have been President for life, but he knows that democracy, he could not. Two democratic elections have followed his presidency, and if the men who have succeeded him have not been his equal, well, that too is democracy. He was a large man in every way. His legacy is that he expanded human freedom. He was tolerant of everything but intolerance. Nelson Mandela believed in justice throughout his life. The UNO celebrates 18th July as Mandela Day.

Genetic Blueprint of Bread Wheat Genome Unveiled- Last Step Before Full Genome Sequence

The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) to which India is a partner published today in the international journal Science a draft sequence of the bread wheat genome. Ten years back wheat was considered as toughest crop to decode because of the genome being 17000 million bases and each chromosome is represented three times with very high similarity to each other. Technological advances made in recent years and development of specialized wheat lines   in 1950s made it possible to isolate individual chromosomes of wheat for sequencing. The chromosome-based draft sequence provides new insight into the structure, organization, and evolution of the large, complex genome of the world’s most widely grown cereal crop. Country’s three leading institutes, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, and South Campus Delhi University, New Delhi, with financial support from Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, were entrusted with the responsibility of decoding one chromosome, designated as 2A, which is about 900 million bases in size and is about one third the size of the human genome or 2.5 times the size of rice genome. The genetic blueprint is an invaluable resource to plant science researchers and breeders. For the first time, they have at their disposal a set of tools enabling them to rapidly locate specific genes on individual wheat chromosomes throughout the genome, said Dr Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, DBT. This genomics resource has made thousands of markers available to wheat researchers which will facilitate mapping and cloning of genes of agronomic importance in much lesser time and cheaper cost than was available earlier. Dr Swapan Datta, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences) at Indian Council of Agricultural Research said decoding wheat genome will facilitate our understanding of gene function which will enable develop new genetic gains of wheat. Taking forward with molecular breeding and genetic engineering we would be able to develop climate smart wheat (drought/terminal heat tolerance) with higher yield. 22,000 wheat germplasm has been evaluated by NBPGR/ICAR. We would be able to use our germplasm better now with this science- discovery. The draft sequence is a major landmark towards obtaining a complete reference sequence of the hexaploid bread wheat genome, the ultimate goal of the IWGSC. In the same issue of Science, another article presents the first reference sequence for the largest chromosome, 3B. This establishes a proof of concept and a template for sequencing the remaining chromosomes. “With the draft gene sequence for each of the bread wheat chromosomes and the first reference sequence of chromosome 3B, we have achieved a milestone in our roadmap,” said Catherine Feuillet, IWGSC Co-chair. As of today, researchers in the IWGSC estimate that the full genome sequence will be available within three years, said Dr Kuldeep Singh, Project Coordinator in India. With a chromosome-based full sequence in hand, plant breeders will have high quality tools at their disposal to accelerate breeding programs and to identify how genes control complex traits such as yield, grain quality, disease, pest resistance, or abiotic stress tolerance and for mobilizing genes of interest from wild species said Dr B S Dhillon, Vice Chancellor Punjab Agricultural University. They will be able to produce a new generation of wheat varieties with higher yields and improved sustainability to meet the demands of a growing world population in a changing environment. Prof Akhilesh Tyagi, Director, NIPGR stated that the achievement reflects the strength of plant genomics research in India in global context. It is time to launch major efforts, by utilising resources generated, to create varieties which tolerate heat, utilise less water and show resistance to major disease by gene modification and genetic enhancement. Wheat is a major dietary component for many countrues across the world. Grown on more land than any other crop, more than 215 million hectares of wheat are harvested annually to generate a world production of almost 700 million tons, making it the third most produced cereal after maize and rice. It is the leading source of vegetable protein in human food, having higher protein content than either maize or rice. The wheat plant is highly versatile due to its ability to grow in a wide range of environments.  Also, wheat grain can easily be stored and can be converted readily into flour for making numerous varieties of high quality edible food. The goal of the IWGSC is to make a high quality genome sequence of bread wheat publicly available, in order to lay a foundation for basic research that will enable breeders to develop improved varieties. Summary  of the Publication In nature, bread wheat evolved after cross hybridization of three different but closely related species (see figure). This evolutionary feature made it to accumulate largest content of DNA among all the food crops, making wheat genetics more complex than other food crops. Ten years back wheat was considered one of the toughest crops to decode due to its huge genome size of 17000 million base pairs, and presence of three sets of highly similar chromosomes in the genome and a very large proportion of repetitive DNA (ranging from 80-90%). Technological advances in DNA sequencing made in recent years and availability of specialized wheat lines, each having one chromosome arm added in duplicate to the normal chromosomes complement, developed during 1950s in wheat variety ‘Chinese Spring’ made it possible to isolate individual chromosomes for sequencing. The chromosome-based draft sequence provides new insight into the structure, organization, and evolution of the large, complex genome of the world’s most widely grown cereal crop. The decoding of wheat genome has helped in identifying more than 125,000 genes and almost 50 per cent of these assigned these to the individual wheat chromosomes. This has opened gates for understanding the biological function of each of these genes. The current draft sequence has generated thousands of DNA markers which could be used as ‘tag’ for identification of any gene in wheat and its subsequent transfer to any variety through cross hybridization much precisely and rapidly. The blue print assembles only about 60 per cent of the genome and we expect to assemble complete genome in next three years. Completion of the wheat genome reference sequence is essential to accelerate breeding and the rapid identification of genes underlying complex traits such as yield, disease and pest resistance, or abiotic stress tolerance. The genome sequence will aid breeders by enabling new strains to be developed, including new “stacked” trait combinations, and by allowing the development of accelerated and smarter breeding schemes. This in turn will decrease the time from discovery to commercialisation of new varieties for farmers. The genome reference sequence will act as a benchmark point for understanding the differences between varieties that are associated with different traits, and provide breeders and plant scientists with a molecular toolkit for marker-based selection, high throughput screening, and the association of traits with specific genes and proteins. It holds the key to the production of a new generation of wheat varieties that will enable higher yields and improved sustainability of wheat production systems. For each gene in wheat there are three copies, one from each of the three genomes, and in most cases only one copy expresses. How the plant decides which copy of the gene to express is most intriguing question in wheat biology. Availability of chromosome based sequence has open new horizons for researching this issue.

Janani Suraksha Yojana

JananiSurakshaYojana (JSY) is a centrally sponsored scheme which is being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality by promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women. Under the JSY, eligible pregnant women are entitled for cash assistance irrespective of the age of mother and number of children for giving birth in a government or accredited private health facility. The scheme focuses on poor pregnant woman with a special dispensation for states that have low institutional delivery rates, namely, the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan, Orissa, and Jammu and Kashmir. While these states have been named Low Performing States (LPS) under the scheme, the remaining states have been named High Performing states (HPS). The scheme also provides performance based incentives to women health volunteers known as ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) for promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women. Cash Assistance for Institutional Delivery Cash entitlement for different categories of mothers is as follows: In Rupees Category     Rural area     Urban area Mother’s package ASHA’s package* Mother’s package ASHA’s package** LPS 1400  600 1000 400 HPS   700  600   600 400 *ASHA package of Rs. 600 in rural areas include Rs. 300 for ANC component and Rs. 300 for facilitating institutional delivery. **ASHA package of Rs. 400 in urban areas include Rs. 200 for ANC component and Rs. 200 for facilitating institutional delivery. Cash assistance for home delivery BPL pregnant women, who prefer to deliver at home, are entitled to a cash assistance of Rs 500 per delivery regardless of the age of pregnant and number of children. Direct Benefits Transfer under JSY Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode of payments has been rolled out in 43 districts w.e.f. 1.1.2013 and in 78 districts from 1.7.2013. Under this initiative, eligible pregnant women are entitled to get JSY benefit directly into their bank accounts.