Earthquake Prone Areas for ias mains

Earth System Science Organization- India Meteorological Department (ESSO-IMD) Earthquake - prone areas of the county have been identified on the basis of scientific inputs relating to seismicity, earthquakes occurred in the past and tectonic setup of the region. Based on these inputs, Bureau of Indian Standards [IS 1893 (Part I):2002], has grouped the country into four seismic zones, viz. Zone-II, -III, -IV and –V. Of these, Zone V is seismically the most active region, while zone II is the least. Broadly, Zone - V comprises entire northeastern India, parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, part of North Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Zone - IV covers remaining parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, Sikkim, Northern Parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, parts of Gujarat and small portions of Maharashtra near the west coast and Rajasthan. Zone – III comprises Kerala, Goa, Lakshadweep islands, remaining parts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, Parts of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka. Zone - II covers remaining parts of country.                Earth System Science Organization- India Meteorological Department (ESSO-IMD)   has installed a number of Seismic and Global Positioning System (GPS) stations across major faults to monitor the seismicity and crustal movement of the Indian subcontinent. ESSO-IMD operates a national network of seismographs to monitor the earthquake activity in the country on 24 X 7 bases. Making use of earthquake records, the magnitude and other source parameters are estimated in an automated mode.           Under the Koyna Deep Borehole programme, studies have been initiated to carry out scientific investigations for deep borehole drilling in the Koyna-Warna region. The investigations include, Seismological, Geophysical (seismic, gravity, magnetic), LIDAR, geomorphology and structural geological studies, apart from a few exploratory boreholes.             ESSO of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has established a National Centre for Seismology (NCS) as an independent organization by separating of seismology activities from IMD. The broad objectives of the Center are as follows:  ·         Provide earthquake (M:3.0 and above) related information to all user agencies in shortest possible time. ·         Provide earthquake hazard and risk related products of specific region, required by various agencies for institutionalizing various preventive measures for design and construction of earthquake resistant structures, land use planning and for enacting building bye-laws towards minimizing damage to property and loss of lives due to earthquakes. ·         Carry out research in pure and applied seismology and earthquake precursory phenomena, earthquake processes and modeling.

Trade Relations with Pakistan

India and Pakistan have no formal bilateral trade agreement. India granted the MFN status to Pakistan in the year 1996. Pakistan is yet to reciprocate. The Composite Dialogue between India and Pakistan, which started in 1998, was continued through 4 rounds of talks by Commerce Secretaries of both countries on “Commercial & Economic Cooperation” during the period 2004-2007. Bilateral dialogue between the two countries resumed after the two Prime Ministers met on the sidelines of SAARC Summit in Thimphu in April 2010. Bilateral trade dialogue with Pakistan was re-initiated with the 5th round of India-Pakistan Commerce Secretary level talks on Commercial and Economic Co-operation in April 2011. This was followed by further rounds of talks held in November 2011 at Delhi and September, 2012 at Islamabad. Three Ministerial level dialogues were also held in September 2011, February 2012 and April 2012. The Commerce Ministers of India and Pakistan met on 18th January 2014 on the sidelines of the 5th SAARC Business Leaders Conclave held at New Delhi. Both Ministers reaffirmed the commitment of their Governments to expeditiously establish normal trading relations and in this context to provide Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA), on a reciprocal basis. Both sides decided to intensify and accelerate the process of trade normalization, liberalization and facilitation and to implement the agreed measures. Pakistan has moved from ‘Positive List’ regime to a ‘Negative List’ regime comprising of 1209 tariff lines of import of goods not allowed from India. Both countries have Preferential Trading arrangement under South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) process. Benefits under the SAFTA process are partially blocked by Pakistan through ‘Negative List’. In the recent meeting between Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan on 27th May 2014, it was stated that the two countries could move immediately towards full trade normalisation on the basis of the September 2012 roadmap worked out between the Commerce Secretaries of both countries.

strengthening of Indian Patent Office

The Plan Scheme for Modernization and Strengthening of Intellectual Property Offices was implemented in the 11th Five Year Plan. This plan scheme has been continued in the 12th Five Year Plan also. The Plan scheme has led to substantial improvement in the infrastructure of the Intellectual Property Office, upgradation of IT facilities and human resource augmentation. Measures taken during 11th Plan, inter-alia, include construction of an International Search Authority (ISA) / International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) building in Delhi for enabling the patent office to function as an ISA/IPEA and construction of the Trade Marks Registry Complex at Ahmedabad. Steps were taken to improve efficiency through comprehensive e-filing facility for patents and trademarks, digitization of all IP records and by obtaining access to global patent and non-patent database. Measures to bring transparency in the functioning and improve quality of examination inter-alia included introduction of dynamic utilities for patents and trademarks, issue of examination guidelines for traditional knowledge and bio-technology, setting up of specialized technology groups for examination of patent applications and providing real time status of IP application with entire file wrappers and e-registers. The Indian Patent Office has started functioning as an ISA/IPEA from 15th October, 2013. The Madrid Protocol for International Registration for Trade Marks became effective in India from 8th July, 2013. With respect to Human Resources, a total of 414 posts were created in the 11th Plan. Of this 256 posts have been filled up. As compared to 2006-07 when 14119 patent applications were examined and 7539 patents were granted, in 2013-14, 18306 patent applications were examined and 4225 patents were granted. The grant of patent, which is governed by the Patents Act, 1970 (as amended) and the Patents Rules, 2003 (as amended), is a quasi-judicial process involving a number of steps such as publication of applications, examination and pre-grant oppositions etc. The patents are granted only to those inventions, which satisfy the criteria of patentability prescribed under the said Act. Hence, the patent grant depends on many factors and is not related to modernization and strengthening of the IP Office.

Trade with Neighbouring Countries

India enjoys trade surplus with all members of SAARC comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.  Trade between India and China currently stand at USD $ 65.87 in 2013-14.  China is currently the largest trading partner in bilateral trade.  Myanmar (an ASEAN country) also enjoys a high level of bilateral trade through border trade arrangement at Moreh (Manipur). Joint Trade and Investment Agreement between India and ASEAN group of countries is expected to also boost bilateral trade with South East Asian countries. Unctad Report on FDI As per UNCTAD World Investment Report, 2014, India received FDI of US $ 28 billion in 2013 compared to US $ 24 billion in 2012. Further as per UNCTAD World Investment Report, 2014 India’s rank from the point of view of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) among top prospective host economics is 4th as against 3rd as per the UNCTAD World Investment Report, 2013. The UNCTAD Report mentions that although foreign investment continues to flow into single brand retail, no new projects have been recorded in multi brand retail. Roadmap to Boost Investment Between Japan and India India and Japan have taken several steps to boost investment between the two countries. As part of India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership, the two sides have launched a Special Economic Partnership Initiative (SEPI) which includes the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project. India and Japan have also signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in February, 2011. The CEPA is a comprehensive agreement which contains, inter-alia, agreement on investment also. In the Joint Statement issued on the occasion of the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister to India in December, 2011, the two Prime Ministers stressed the importance of infrastructure development in the areas between Chennai and Bengaluru, where an increasing number of Japanese companies including SMEs have made direct investments to establish their manufacturing base or other forms of business presence. During the visit of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan to India on September 11, 2013, a Joint Statement was signed by the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. Both sides committed to an Action Plan to promote two way investments between India and Japan. Action on various initiatives including the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor project and the Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor project is progressing ahead. Promotion of Services Sector Exports Government of India has taken a number of measures to boost export of services. The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2009-14 of Government of India aims at accelerating the growth of export of services so as to create a powerful and unique ‘Served from India’ (SFIS) brand. As per para 3.12 of the Foreign Trade Policy (2009-14), which is available on the website of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) atwww.dgft.gov.in, incentive is available to providers of specified services in the form of duty credit scrip equivalent to 10% of free foreign exchange earned. With effect from 18.04.2013, the entitlement is on the basis of the net foreign exchange earned. In addition, financial assistance is provided by Department of Commerce to Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), Telecom Exports Promotion Council (TEPC) and Electronics & Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC EPC) under Market Access Initiative (MAI) and Market Development Assistance (MDA) schemes for promotion of exports. In order to move further in this direction, Services Conclave was organized by Department of Commerce in November, 2013 to discuss issues and bottlenecks hindering export of services from India. Government has decided to make this event an annual feature.

Priority Sectors in North East

As per the details provided by Planning  Commission, the prioritized sectors and strategies devised for development of North Eastern States during the 12th Plan Period are as follows :- 1.      Faster development of Connectivity (Road, Rail, Air, Inland Waterways)             (i) Roads: Ensuring expeditious completion of ongoing and strategically important major road connectivity projects like: East West Corridor, all stretches of SARDP-NE connecting State Capitals and Districts, Trans Arunachal Highways, major bridges, etc.             (ii) Railways: Broad Gauge (line conversion) like Guwahati-Dibrughar-Tinsukia, Rangia - Murkongselek Bridge (rail cum road) across Brahmaputra at Bogibeel, Lumding - Silchar and Kumarghat – Agartala – Sabroom and New lines: Agartala - Akhura, Tetelia-Byrnihat-Shillong, Harmuti – Itanagar, Silchar-Jiribam-Imphal(Tupul).             (iii) Airways: Expeditious implementation of Airport Development works at Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Agartala, Shillong, Imphal and Dimapur. In addition development of new airports at - Itanagar, Pakyong.             (iv) Inland Water Transport: Emphasis on development in the Brahmaputra and Barak National Waterway. 2.         Special focus on Power Sector: To bring down AT&C losses of State Power Companies/Corporations, expeditious forest and environment clearance for identified major Hydro-power projects in NER, time bound implementation of transmission line projects for evacuation of generated power like Comprehensive scheme for strengthening of transmission and distribution in NER and Transmission system for evacuation of power from Palatana Gas Based Power Plant etc. 3.         Pursuing Look East Policy: Focus on strong relationship with Bangladesh to ensure effective connectivity, connecting North Eastern Region to South East Asia through Tri-lateral highway, focus on development of Land Customs Stations (LCSs) for strengthening border trade and business communication, expeditious implementation of Multi Modal transport using Kaladan River as alternate connectivity to North East. 4.         Development of Agriculture / horticulture / allied sector by focusing on increase in productivity, irrigation, farm-based economic activities, post-harvest management, marketing infrastructure etc. 5.         Encouraging private investment by creating an enabling environment for investors and rational use of local resources. 6.         Special focus on water management / flood moderation to address the recurring flood and erosion problem. 7.         Focus on education / skill development / health by improving quality of education, Investment in Teachers’ Training, reforms in vocational education, development and operationalization of Public – Private Partnership (PPP) models in education and creating more medical colleges, nursing colleges and other health & technical institutes for professionals. 8.         Focus on Asset management like maintenance of roads and bridges and other social infrastructure.               Special development packages/programmes have been granted for the area like Bodoland Territorial Council Package of Rs. 500 crores, Additional BTC Package of Rs. 250 crores, Special Economic Packages for Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) of Rs 350 crores and Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council (DHATC) of Rs. 200 crores, Special Plan Assistance (SPA) for creation of priority infrastructure under States’ Annual Plans.             There have been significant achievements in terms of increased connectivity in the Region. Three major Railway projects completed in 2013-14 are (1) Rangiya-Rangapara-Murkongselek (Gauge Conversion), (ii) Harmati – Naharlagun (New Line) and (iii) Dhudnoi – Mehndipathar.             Measures taken to achieve targets are: – (1) Special emphasis on monitoring of the infrastructure projects for time-bound completion, (2) Priority funding for the identified projects have been tied up (3) Fast tracking of environmental and forest clearance.

GSLV Project ,SAARC Satellite ,Pricing of Satellite Transponders

GSLV Project

The GSLV project has successfully launched GSLV-D5 flight with indigenous Cryogenic engine and stage on 5th January 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota and is currently preparing for the next flight GSLV namely, GSLV-D6. The GSLV-F02, GSLV-D3 and GSLV-F06 flights could not accomplish the mission objectives. Subsequently, failure analysis committees were formed to (a) carry out in-depth analysis of the flight performance and identify causes for the failure, and (b) recommend corrective measures and future course of action on the GSLV Vehicle. The failure analysis committees have submitted their recommendations. Based on the suggestions made by the failure analysis committees, ISRO has implemented the modifications and improvements in GSLV, which include independent inspection and quality checks for all critical components and sub-assemblies, change of bearing housing material, revision of tolerances and seal clearances of Fuel Booster Turbo Pump of Cryogenic Engine, redesign of the Cryogenic Stage Lower Shroud, revision of connector mounting scheme and wire tunnel configuration. SAARC Satellite India has successfully launched five foreign satellites onboard PSLV-C23 on June 30th, 2014 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. These foreign satellites are – (i) SPOT-7 (France), (ii) AISAT (Germany), (iii) NLS 7.1/CAN-X4 (Canada), (iv) NLS 7.2/CAN-X5 (Canada) and (v) VELOX-1 (Singapore). As on date, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched 40 satellites from 19 foreign countries, on commercial basis, under contract between respective foreign customer and Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO. The amount generated through the launch of these satellites is € 50.47 million and US $ 17.17 million. The future projects envisages development of advanced launch vehicle systems, thematic earth observational satellites with improved resolution, high-power, high-throughput communication satellite, microwave multi-spectral remote sensing satellites, weather and climate studies, constellation of satellites for regional navigation, development of critical technologies for human spaceflight and satellites for space science and planetary exploration purposes. The Prime Minister of India in his address at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on 30th June 2014 has asked the Indian Space community to develop a SAARC satellite that provides a full range of applications and services to all our neighbours. ISRO, through the Government of India, in consultation with the SAARC countries, needs to formulate a proposal for SAARC Satellite development programme to address the space applications and services needs of the SAARC countries. Pricing of Satellite Transponders Based on the review and approval of INSAT Co-ordination Committee (ICC) and Space Commission, a revised policy guideline for allocation and pricing of transponders has been evolved and is being processed for Government approval. It envisages a rational classification structure for users such as Strategic, Government including Societal, not-for-profit PSUs and Commercial to form a basis for allocation and pricing of transponders. At present, there are 12 INSAT/GSAT satellites in orbit, out of which 10 are communication satellites and 2 are meteorological satellites. In INSAT/GSAT satellite system there are 41 Government users and 59 non-Government users are utilizing the capacity in C band, Extended C Band and Ku band to the extent of 152 transponders (36 MHz equivalent each). At present, a uniform pricing policy is implemented for all categories of users. However, a multi-pricing policy for transponders is under the consideration of the Government as INSAT systems transponders are utilized for non-profit purposes viz. Governmental, societal, strategic as well as for commercial purposes.

Modi’s WTO opportunity

Despite the recent Brics bonhomie and the agreement on the Brics bank, the New Development Bank, and the Contingency Reserve Agreement (CRA), surely no one in the government believes that India can get favourable loans from the Bank or, God forbid, a large standby line from the CRA if there is an escalation in tensions with China? Or even if they remain at current levels of stapled visas.

Few would remember, but something similar happened when the Vajpayee government conducted its nuclear test on May 11, 1998, and the World Bank was forced to put off all loans. Within a year or so, however, the Bank was back giving loans to India; power loans were pushed through as anti-poverty—the poor benefit the most from more power availability in the state, it was argued—programmes. That’s the power of multilateralism; something which, by its very nature can never be available from a Brics-type forum which is driven by the interests of just four countries, not all of whom see eye to eye on most things.

Which is why, despite the attempt to forge better bilateral or regional ties—Brics is not even a region, it is a disparate group, the term for which was coined by a Goldman Sachs economist—India has to be at the helm of multilateral forum. The last thing India wants is to be branded a pariah in global trade talks, yet that is precisely what is in danger of happening with India debating whether or not to ratify the WTO proposal on trade facilitation—a Cabinet meeting is to take a call on this today.

Though trade facilitation measures such as reducing delays at ports, for instance, will benefit Indian importers and exporters immensely, the view emanating from the government is the same as it was in the UPA days—talk of continuity of policy in the great democracy called India!—that India will not sacrifice its food security rights at any cost. In the words of former commerce minister Anand Sharma, at Bali last year, “For India, food security is non-negotiable, need of public stock-holding of foodgrains to ensure food security must be respected. Dated WTO rules need to be corrected.”

And there is little doubt the rules are outdated and need correcting. Right now, the total amount that a country can spend on food subsidies is 10% of the value of agricultural production—any more than that, and WTO countries argue, it distorts global trade.The argument made by India, which could be in breach of this once the Food Security Act is fully rolled out, is that the per unit subsidy is calculated as the difference between the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and an External Reference Price (ERP)—this ERP, however, remains frozen at 1986-88 prices, after which global food prices have soared. So, even if India’s food subsidies are reasonable, given the dramatically low ERP, it will appear as if India is over-subsidising.

There cannot be any doubt that the method of fixing subsidies is outdated and that it is not being fixed as the developed countries at WTO are not really concerned about it since it affects only developing countries. If India has taken upon itself the need to stand up for every wrong—in which case, it needs to look at Russia a bit more closely—its actions are completely understandable. If, however, the guiding principle is to see where India’s interests lie, the approach will be quite different. More important, what the WTO wants India to do is precisely what the Modi government itself wants to do—which is restructuring the Food Corporation of India and the food security system. It is just that it is falling into the UPA trap—food security, in its crudest form, has been made so much of an article of faith, the government is being forced to carry the UPA’s torch.

First, even with the current formulation of ERP, India would not fall foul of WTO rules if it was giving out cash subsidies to the poor instead of stocking grain with FCI and then distributing this to them. If India has 360 million poor, according to the new Rangarajan formula, giving them a R20 per kg subsidy for 5 kg of wheat or rice per month—this is how much the Food Security Act promises to give each family—would mean a total subsidy of R43,000 crore per year versus roughly R2 lakh crore going by the per year estimates by the then Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) chairman Ashok Gulati for the first 3 years of the rollout of the Food Security Act.

Where the problem arises, from the WTO point of view of distorting global trade, is when FCI procures grain and then sells it at a discount—and, invariably, that grain finds its way into global markets. But if FCI didn’t procure so much grain—on average, it has 2-3times the amount of grain it needs—it would not need to dispose it off at a discount. The discount gets amplified by FCI’s inefficiency, so the more inefficient FCI is, the greater the discount that needs to be given—that is, it is not as much a discount to market prices as it is a discount to FCI’s high carrying costs. So, even at current ERP formulations, if the NDA was to, as promised in its manifesto, agree to limit FCI’s purchases to just the offtake from the PDS, that would ensure India didn’t fall foul of the WTO law.

While cash transfers can take care of the consumer-end of the issue, a deeper issue the government has to look at is whether the FCI model is really working. Right now, MSP-based procurement is really restricted to just wheat and rice, in a handful of states, and to just the better-off farmers who sell to FCI. If the idea is, as it must be, to provide subsidies to as many farmers as possible, the only way to do this is to provide acreage-based income support—R5,000 per acre per year, for instance. With farmers not hooked on to wheat and rice, this will also increase production of fruits and vegetables, critical to take care of India’s increasingly perennial fruits/vegetables inflation.

Given how the WTO proposals, unfair as they may appear, are in sync with the policies India needs to be adopting on agriculture, it is difficult to see why such heavy weather is being made of this, and why there is a likelihood India is willing to risk being seen as a pariah in global trade talks. The only possible rationale is the UPA’s rhetoric is so strong, even a Modi finds it difficult to escape it. If true, that is indeed a pity.