 MHRD is soon going to create a National Testing Agency to take away the burden of

multiple examinations on the CBSE.

 Karnataka: triangular strips of sacred cloth, mostly saffron, flutter atop temple
chariots during rathotsavas, or car festivals. Each flag has a sacred symbol, such as
the Shivalinga, and costs about ₹500 to make. Some temple trusts auction the flags,
called ‘mukti dhwajas’, at their annual car festivals.
 Guru Tipperudraswamy temple festival in Nayakanahatti village in
Challakere taluk,
 political aspirants to outbid each other with outrageous amounts just to own a
temple flag. The reason: people believe that the flag is the harbinger of power
and wealth, as the owner receives the blessings of the local deity.
 other shrine that has become famous for its flag auctions is the Teru
Malleshwara temple.
 on the bank of the Vedavati river in Hiriyur, it is a protected monument.
 As per norms, the Centre does not directly communicate with the High Courts after
the collegium has recommended a name for elevation.
 Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the number two judge in the Supreme Court, has
written to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra questioning an enquiry initiated
by Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari against a judge
recommended twice by the Supreme Court collegium for elevation to the High
Court.
 Union Law Ministry had “no business” to write to the High Court Chief Justice
directly and bypass the collegium led by Chief Justice Misra.
 Maheshwari should not have unilaterally commenced the enquiry solely on the
basis of the government’s letter, thus casting serious aspersions on the
collegium.
 DERC on Wednesday announced a new tariff schedule for 2018-19 and said it will
have an overall lowering effect on electricity bills for various categories of
consumers in the Capital.
 Delhi government gives 50% subsidy to consumers using up to 400 units of
electricity per month.
 government on Wednesday issued a preliminary information memorandum (PIM)
while inviting an expression of interest (EoI) from parties to sell 76% of its stake in
the national carrier Air India, which owns 100% shareholding in low-cost airline
Air India Express Ltd and 50% in Air India SATs, which provides airport ground
handling services.
  An open comparative bidding process will determine the new buyer and the
disinvestment process is expected to be completed by December 2018.
 government has stipulated a net worth criteria of ₹5000 crore for parties to bid
for Air India.
 Ernst and Young has been appointed as the transaction adviser.
 204-page PIM document put up on the Ministry of Civil Aviation website also
clarified that Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) and Air India Air
Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) will not be part of the Proposed Transaction
and will be hived off (along with any receivables or payables related to these
subsidiaries) through demerger or other appropriate mechanisms which may
be determined by Ministry of Civil Aviation in consultation with E&Y, the
transaction advisers before the closing of the proposed transaction.
 Punjab : Salaries and Allowances of Deputy Ministers, Punjab (Amendment) Bill,
2018, the East Punjab Ministers’ Salaries, (Amendment) Bill, 2018, the Salary and
Allowances of Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly (Amendment) Bill,
2018, through which the Chief Minister, other Ministers and the Leader of the
Opposition would pay their income tax themselves from March 2018.
 Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and
Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution)
(Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, for the prohibition of ‘hookah’ bars in Punjab.
 Punjab Social Security Bill, 2018, to provide for social services in form of
pension to senior citizens, old-aged, widows, destitute women, physically
challenged persons, health and accident insurance, scholarship for education of
children belonging to deprived sections.
 Asian Development Bank’s assistance of ₹820 crore for water supply in Rajasthan
 proposed introduction of the public-private partnership (PPP) model by the
BJP in the water sector.
 Agitation against it by AAP has been aptly titled ‘Matka Phodo Jal Swaraj
Inquilab’.
 Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday passed a stringent Bill to curb organised
crime and deal strictly with those trying to foment terror with the Legislative
Council giving its nod to the measure.
 Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Bill (UPCOCB) was passed on
Tuesday by the State Assembly, where it had to be reintroduced as it could not
be passed in the Upper House, where the ruling BJP is in minority, and was
referred to the select committee. After its passage in the Assembly, it was
 brought afresh in the Council, where it was passed.
 on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act seeks to curb
organised crime. The UPCOC Bill, 2017, also seeks to act sternly against those
using explosives or firearms or any other violent means or damaging life and
property or involved in anti-national or destructive activities.
 Centre is likely to move the Supreme Court for a clarification of its February 16
judgment in the Cauvery dispute even as the six-week time limit to frame a ‘scheme’
for sharing and allocation of the river water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala
and Puducherry is coming to an end.
 what the judgment means by “framing a scheme” under Section 6A of the Inter
State Water Disputes Act.
 judgment does not specify the formation of a Cauvery Management Board
unlike the Cauvery Tribunal award in February 2007.
 Tamil Nadu has been insisting on the formation of the Board, while Karnataka,
which is going to polls on May 12, has proposed a two-layer scheme of a
six-member Cauvery Decision Implementation Committee (CDIC) headed by
the Union Water Resources Minister and an 11-member monitoring agency led
by the Union Water Resources Secretary.
 purpose of Section 6A is to act in the manner in which the award determines
the allocation and decides the dispute with regard to allocation or sharing of
water. Keeping that in view, we direct that a scheme shall be framed by the
Central Government within a span of six weeks so that the authorities under
the scheme can see to it that the present decision, which has modified the
award passed by the Tribunal, is smoothly made functional and the rights of
the States as determined by us are appositely carried out,” the Supreme Court
judgment reads
 Supreme Court had given Karnataka 14.75 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet)
of Cauvery water from Tamil Nadu’s share, reasoning that Karnataka has
historically suffered “limited access and use” of the river water.
 Of this, 4.75 tmcft was ordered to be diverted to the people of Bengaluru for
their domestic and drinking purposes. The 14.75 tmcft gained by Karnataka
would be reduced from the 192 tmcft Cauvery water supplied by Karnataka
from its Billigundlu site to Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu. This means that
Karnataka would now supply 177.25 tmcft.
 Karnataka: An error in the online post graduate medical and dental seat allotment
process for the all-India quota seats has left thousands of aspirants in the lurch.
  announcement on the official website of the medical counselling committee
(MCC) under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare
 andhra Pradesh: Taking the fight for the Special Category Status to the next level,
students and youth of various associations on Wednesday formed the State-level
Students and Youth Join Action Committee. Representatives of more than 25
associations vowed to fight for the cause.
 boondi-making kitchen outside the Lord Venkateswara temple in tirumala: fire
broke out
 Nedumbassery airport in kochi
 Telangana: passed legislation permitting establishment of private universities to
provide qualitative, research oriented, industry relevant and world class higher
education
 Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan (SPH)’s leader Sambhaji Bhide ‘Guruji’ involved in
bhima koregaon riots
 Mutha river in pune
 Rajasthan’s Srigangangar district will be made the hub of food processing and
required logistics units would be set up here
 There will be a meeting between MHRD and CBSE officials to put in place a
stronger system to preserve examination sanctity, after Class 10 maths and Class
12 economics question papers were leaked, and the CBSE had to announce
re-examination in the two subjects.
 option being discussed is to have electronically coded papers, the key to which
will be given only one hour before the exam to the centres and they will print it
in the presence of observers
 As of now, he added, question papers are stored in bank lockers and released to
the centres just before the examination.
 Kapur Commission findings on the conspiracy to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi,
 Two towers, about three times the height of the Qutab Minar, are likely to be
erected at as-yet-undecided locations in the country for disseminating Indian
Standard Time.
 National Physical Laboratory, an organisation charged with ensuring that
Indian time stays accurate, has signed an agreement with IFR Information
Dissemination Services (IFR) Ltd., which will set up the towers and employ
long wave radio (LWR) technology to purvey this time to a range of users, from
phone companies to railway stations. Customers will need a microchip that can
 be embedded into everything, from wall-clocks to servers.
 Long range radiowaves from the towers can be reliably transmitted even
during major disasters. Other than time, information such as a tsunami
warning or weather warnings can also be sent
 IFR is affiliated to the Germany-based EFR GmbH, which is in the business of
providing similar services in Germany.
 company now requires a plethora of permissions from other government
departments to host these towers, each with a range of 1,000 km, and an
investment of about ₹600 crore, which it will raise privately.
 NPL would help IFR keep their caesium clocks (located in the tower) calibrated
but wouldn’t be involved in setting up the infrastructure related to time
dissemination. Last year, the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research-body had tied up with the Indian Space Research Organisation to
provide time-related services for its satellites.
 advantage of LWR is that the waves travel close to the ground and so can reach
out to far-flung locations, even to submarines
 National Testing Agency, cleared by the Union Cabinet last year, would be
operationalised soon to prevent a repeat of the leak of question papers in public
examinations.
 Union Cabinet on Wednesday removed the provision for a bridge course for Ayush
practitioners to practise modern medicine, as part of amendments to the National
Medical Commission (NMC) Bill.
 has now been left to the State governments to take necessary measures for
addressing and promoting primary healthcare in rural areas.
 other amendments to Bill. The final MBBS examination will be held as a
common examination across the country and it would serve as an exit test
called the National Exit Test (NEXT).
 comes in the backdrop of its consideration in the Lok Sabha early this year and
subsequently being referred to the Department Related Parliamentary
Standing Committee (DRPSC).
 Another amendment looks at fee regulation in private medical institutions and
deemed universities and states that “the maximum limit of 40% seats for which
fee would be regulated in private medical institutions and deemed universities
has been increased to 50% seats.”
 The nominees of States and UTs in the NMC have been increased to six from
three. The NMC will consist of 25 members of whom at least 21 will be doctors.
 Supreme Court on Wednesday “kept in abeyance” the Delhi High Court’s interim
order of March 9 directing the Election Commission of India to consider giving the
T.T.V. Dhinakaran group [of the AIADMK] an election symbol, preferably the
‘Pressure Cooker’.
 High Court had also asked the poll body to permit Mr. Dhinakaran to give a
political name for his faction. The Dhinakaran faction is now known as ‘Amma
Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam’ (AMMK).
 Dipak Misra further requested the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court to
constitute a Division Bench to hear the petition filed by Mr. Dhinakaran
claiming that his faction is the real AIADMK and the party symbol of ‘Two
Leaves’ should go to him rather than the rival faction headed by Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O.
Panneerselvam.
 PAN card has no ‘third gender’ option unlike the Aadhaar card
 Tamil Nadu government, demand for constituting the Cauvery Management Board
(CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC)
 Uttarakhand government has asked the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM)
to quickly resume restoration work along the banks of Saraswati river near
Kedarnath,
 to make all arrangements before the start of the Chardham yatra season next
month to ensure the safety of pilgrims.
 Promila Gupta is set to take over as the Director General Health Services (officer
in-charge) in the Union Health Ministry
 Some time in the 1990s the Colombian anthropologist Arturo Escobar produced a
text titled Encountering Development.
 was searing account of the attack on the native peoples of his continent by the
power elites who had commandeered it.
 In the village of Keezhattur in Kerala’s Kannur district, a section of farmers is
holding out against the announced, but yet to be implemented, acquisition of
their farm land. This is to enable a bypass for the national highway that
already exists.
 have come together under the banner Vayalkillikal which translates to ‘birds of
the field’, flagging the assault on nature that it represents.
 samara pandal, a temporary shelter from the heat, erected at the site by the
farmers agitating against the takeover was burned down
 Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), which is not only aggressively
 abetting the land acquisition but also attempting to break the opposition to it
 observed at Nandigram, West Bengal in 2007 when the government of
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had tried to acquire farm land to be handed over to
an Indonesian chemical firm.
 Is it absolutely necessary to build a bypass through the paddy fields of
Keezhattur? By at least one account it is not. The Kerala Sasthra Sahitya
Parishad, which as its name suggests is a body devoted to bringing scientific
reasoning to bear on public issues, has presented to the Kerala government an
alternative
 involves building an elevated expressway that would leave the paddy fields
of Keezhattur undamaged.
 a north-south highway across Kerala already exists. For a State that is not
particularly wide, the coverage of this existing road should be deemed good
enough given the environmental damage that a new one would entail.
 (NHAI) responsible for highway construction in the country ought to be
sensitive to both the geographies of the different regions and the aspirations of
the people who populate them.
 little sense to insist on roads of the same specification in Kerala with its fragile
ecology of laterite formations and scattered population and the less densely
populated alluvial plains of northern India. We should aim at the highest
attainable quality of road across the country but cut according to the lay of the
land.
 destruction of not just cropland but an entire ecosystem that encompasses the
Western Ghats, the hillocks and food-producing wetlands.
 paddy fields of Keezhattur are the commonwealth of the people of India to be
preserved as a source of food, for which by the way a road is not a substitute.
 data from the National Crime Records Bureau on which the Supreme Court based
its recent judgment that sought to protect public servants and private citizens from
arbitrary arrests under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989, show that the rape of Dalit women has doubled in the last 10
years
 most Dalits do not register cases for fear of retaliation by higher castes. Even if
a case reaches court, the most likely outcome is acquittal due to caste biases at
every stage.
 Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit in KashinathMahajan, adopting ‘purposive
interpretation’ and invoking Ambedkar on societal fraternity, have diluted the
 stringent provision of denial of anticipatory bail in the SC/ST Act.
 The mischief that Parliament wanted to address too was ignored by the court.
 In the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Prevention of Atrocities Act,
Parliament had clearly noted that when Dalits assert their rights, vested
interests try to terrorise them.
 keeping in view the special nature of crimes against Dalits, anticipatory bail
had been excluded. A cursory glance of crimes made punishable under the
SC/ST Act would explain why. Moreover, constitutionality of this exclusion had
been upheld by a five-judge bench of the apex court in Kartar Singh, which
Justice Goel noted in passing.
 decline in the conviction rate for crimes against Dalits has created an
impression that this may be driven by false filing of cases. But data from NCRB
do not seem to support this contention. In fact, the share of false cases under
the SC/ST Act has declined over time (2009-2015). The conviction rate too has
in fact improved — from 23.8% in 2013 to 28.8% in 2014.
 low conviction rates show poor investigation and incompetence of prosecution
 Witnesses routinely turn hostile in such cases. We have low conviction rates in
terror crimes as well, but will the court similarly dilute stringent provisions of
terror laws?
 If there is concern about the ‘presumption of innocence’ of the accused, the
protection of anticipatory bail should be extended to the accused in all cases
and under all statutes.
 court is absolutely right that an adverse entry by non-SC officers in itself as to
the character or integrity of the Dalit employee or routine denial of sanction of
prosecution in good faith may not amount to a crime under the SC/ST Act.
 Supreme Court had clearly said that anticipatory bail provision for the first
time was introduced in 1973 and it is merely a limited statutory right and not
part of right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
 Justice Goel’s judgment has given too much space to the arguments in favour of
those accused of offences against Dalits. He has quoted judgments from the
Gujarat High Court at length. Gujarat, incidentally, has a low conviction rate
under the SC/ST Act.
 Only three small paragraphs (27, 28, 29) have been devoted to arguments in
favour of the provision. Even the government arguments were not considered
worthy of more than one paragraph
 Section 22 of the SC/ST Act already protects public servants from prosecution if
 they acted in ‘good faith’. But now even a First Information Report is not to be
registered without preliminary inquiry. Moreover, even after the registration of
FIR, the accused cannot be arrested without written approval of the appointing
authority. No FIR can be registered against anybody without permission of the
senior superintendent of police.
 Honour killings: High Courts of Punjab and Haryana and Madras have laid down
guidelines to the police on creating special cells and 24-hour helplines to provide
assistance and protection to young couples.
 Supreme Court has now gone a step further and asked the police to establish
safe-houses for couples under threat. The direction asking police officers to try
and persuade khaps to desist from making illegal decisions may appear soft.
 court has also empowered the police to prohibit such gatherings and effect
preventive arrests.
 How far it is feasible to videograph the proceedings of such assemblies remains
to be seen, but it may be a deterrent against any brazen flouting of the law.
 verdict is also notable for dealing with some points made often in defence of
khap panchayats, rejecting outright the claims that they were only engaged in
raising awareness about permissible marriages, including inter-caste and
inter-faith ones, and against sapinda and sagotra marriages.
 court has rightly laid down that deciding what is permitted and what is not is
the job of civil courts. While these guidelines, if they are adhered to, may have
some salutary effect on society, the government should not remain content with
asking the States to implement these norms
 should expedite its own efforts to bring in a comprehensive law to curb killings
in the name of honour and to prohibit interference in the matrimonial choices
of individuals.
 deserting of the Indian market by foreign investors comes at a time when the
Centre is looking at tapping the bond market aggressively to finance its
election-year spending.
 yield on the benchmark 10-year bond has risen by almost 100 basis points since
late-July amid lacklustre investor demand.
 rise in yields is due to a variety of reasons that have pushed both foreign and
domestic investors to re-price Indian sovereign bonds.
 government is expected to step up borrowing ahead of elections; in fact, the
fiscal deficit targets for the current as well as the coming fiscal year were
revised upwards in the Budget. This has fuelled market fears about a rise in
 inflation.
 public sector banks, typically the biggest lenders to the government, have
turned wary of lending. As the losses on their bond portfolios mount, they have
turned net sellers of sovereign bonds in 2018.
 prospect of higher interest rates in the West, which has made Indian bonds
look a lot less lucrative in the eyes of foreign investors. The weakening rupee,
probably a reflection of higher domestic inflation and fund outflows in search of
yields, has added to selling pressure.
 Indian sovereign bonds have witnessed a relief rally since news broke on
March 26 that the Centre will trim its market borrowing during the first half of
the coming fiscal year.
 Centre’s borrowing target for April-September was cut to ₹2.88 lakh crore,
which is about 48% of the total budgeted borrowing for the year, in contrast to
₹3.72 lakh crore in the first half of this year.
 first-half borrowing was more than 60% of the annual borrowing target in each
of the last two years.
 government also announced a cut of ₹50,000 crore in the total amount of
market borrowings for the year, opting instead to dip into the National Small
Savings Fund to meet its funding needs. Cutting down on market borrowing is
a decision linked to the market’s ‘decision’ to punish the government for
profligacy.
 bond rout should thus serve as a timely warning as it looks to ramp up
spending ahead of elections. Lastly, with the vacuum created by the state-run
banks, it may be time for the Reserve Bank of India to re-examine the rule
limiting the role of foreign investors in the bond market.
 At about 77%, Vietnam has one of the highest female labour force participation
rates in Asia.
 In spite of a per capita GDP that is similar to India’s, the difference in quality
of life between the two countries is stark on a number of indicators over the
past few years, although it may be narrowing, both because India’s quality of
life is improving and because Vietnam has been fast shedding many of its
Communist-era commitments
 according to the latest available figures of the World Bank and of various
demographic and health surveys, the Vietnam government spent 3.8% of its
GDP on health compared to India’s 1.4%, and 5.7% on education compared to
India’s 3.8%. In Vietnam, 78% of the population has access to basic sanitation
 compared to 44% in India, 46% are covered by safety net programmes
compared to 11% in India, and 12% of the population is below the poverty line
of $3.20 purchasing power parity per day compared to 60% in India. The infant
mortality rate in Vietnam is 17 per 1,000 live births (India’s is 35).
 Vietnamese women have a clear edge over Indian women: a female life
expectancy of 85 years (India’s is 70 years); a maternal mortality ratio of 54
(India’s is 174); of women of reproductive age being anaemic (24% compared to
India’s 51%); of seats in Parliament occupied by women (27% compared to
India’s 12%); of females above 15 being literate (91% compared to India’s 59%);
of women having experienced domestic violence in the last year (9% compared
to India’s 24%); of women believing that men have a right to beat their wives
for one of five (usually petty) reasons (28% compared to India’s 47%).
 Women might get a better deal in Vietnam than they do in India, but not in one
crucial aspect: at 111, the sex ratio at birth, or SRB (the number of males born
for every 100 females), is eerily similar in both countries. For perspective, in
countries that do not actively prevent the birth of female babies, the SRB
hovers between 106 to 108. If it crosses this range, it strongly suggests that
there is sex determination followed by sex-selective abortion taking place. The
SRB has crossed this range in many parts of Asia and the Caucasus ever since
sex determination technology became easily available, so Vietnam and India
are not alone.
 The Caucasus or Caucasia is a region located at the border of Europe and Asia,
situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea and occupied by Russia,
Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
 As the high levels of female education and labour force participation in
Vietnam show, both education and jobs can coexist with a continued obsession
for sons.
 But culture is not immutable. This obsession for male children can be diluted
with more practical policies to increase the substitutability of sons and
daughters as well as the ability to manage with neither.
 This is best evidenced in the recent and rapid return in South Korea of the SRB
from a peak of 116.5 in 1990 to a more ‘normal’ 107 today. Broader access to old
age security, better prosecution of violators of laws against sex determination
and sex-selective abortions, better enforced equal inheritance laws, and
‘cultural’ inducements such as allowing parents to choose either maternal or
paternal surnames for their children seem to have all contributed not only to
 improving the status of daughters but also to lowering the value of sons. In
turn, these measures have made women and families more indifferent to the
sex of their children.
 2018 Economic Survey identifies renewable energy as a champion sector under the
Make in India 2.0 programme. India currently meets almost 90% of its annual
requirement of solar panels through imports (mainly China), impeding the growth
of a nascent domestic solar manufacturing sector
 implementing trade remedies that have anti-competition implications has
become commonplace, with clean energy becoming its newest victim.
 Two large solar energy markets, India and the United States, have either
imposed or are contemplating the imposition of safeguards duty on solar panels.
Trade remedies are attractive because they create tangible short-term benefits
such as job creation, reduction in trade deficit, and higher local tax collection.
 also result in higher tariffs and make solar power less attractive for the already
financially strained and RE-sceptical utilities.
 Analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) suggests
that had a safeguard duty of 70% been implemented at the time of the Bhadla
bid (₹ 2.44/kWh), the lowest bid would have been pegged at ₹3.46/kWh. The
more than 40% spike in solar electricity prices would be accompanied by
diplomatic tensions that follow the implementation of such measures,
encouraging other major economies to retaliate with their own protectionist
measures.
 vital that India remains compliant with the global trade regime. Previous
measures (for example, the domestic content requirement or DCR scheme) to
assuage the concerns of the domestic solar manufacturers were challenged and
overturned at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The DCR scheme did not
impose any restrictions on imported sources and only sought to secure an
assured market for domestically manufactured panels
 Other countries opposed the scheme as it discriminated against foreign solar
cell suppliers. A draft policy (2017) aimed at promoting domestic solar
manufacturing through a proposed 12,000 MW DCR component may evoke
similar opposition at the WTO.
 CEEW analysis suggests that backing this programme could generate only
31,200 jobs as against one million full-time job opportunities had India
followed through in achieving its solar and wind energy targets of 160 GW.
Prioritising domestic goals without complying with international trade rules
 affects the much-needed stakeholder confidence required to achieve India’s
clean energy target.
 India’s solar sector is currently caught in inter-ministerial cross-fire. The
severity of the issue is evident in the power given to both the Ministry of
Finance (MoF) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) to
implement trade remedies (safeguard duties and anti-dumping duties or ADD,
respectively)
 Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been grappling with
issues posed by the MoF regarding the re-classification of solar panels as
electrical motors (the current classification is photosensitive semiconductor
devices), imposing additional duties and cesses on importers.
 inter-ministerial committee headed by the MNRE must be constituted to
coordinate moves among the MoF, the MoCI, the Ministry of Power, and the
Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions.
 developers and manufacturers need to voice their needs clearly and respond to
policy implications in an unequivocal manner. The industry needs one unified
voice representing the key concerns of each stakeholder-category, without
ignoring the broader interests of the sector.
 government could tilt its green manufacturing mix in favour of nascent
industries of the future such as energy storage, electric vehicles, and IT
solutions for grid integration. To get ahead in that race, India will need a
comprehensive strategy on issues such as effective sourcing of critical minerals,
investment in R&D, access to patient venture capital, and fiscal benefits for the
industries of the future.
 Central government is not pursuing plans for a separate policy on electric vehicles
(EVs) although it did think of introducing one. It has now left it to the automotive
industry to determine the scale and pace of a transition from fossil fuels to electric
motors.
 Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari said recently that the move
towards EVs would anyway be accelerated by the higher efficiencies and lower
cost of EVs compared to those with internal combustion engines.
 There is no target for a shift to electric vehicles by the year 2030, the Ministry
of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises clarified on March 8.
 government is, however, incentivising purchase of electric vehicles through the
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India
(FAME) programme, since April 1, 2015, under which end users and consumers
 pay a reduced price.
 expected that the promotion of EVs through policy initiatives will continue
beyond that date. Mahindra and Mahindra, Mahindra Reva Electric, Maruti
Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar and Tata Motors are participating in the demand
incentive scheme.
 Converting a significant part of the transport fleet, led by public transport, to
electric or hybrid vehicles is predicted to sharply cut dependence on imported
oil, and reduce carbon emissions. A 2017 report issued jointly by NITI Aayog
and the Rocky Mountain Institute in the U.S. projects that, for an oil price
benchmark of $52 a barrel, shared, electric, and connected mobility options
would help the country save $60 billion (₹3.9 lakh crore) in 2030, besides
eliminating cumulative emissions of 1 gigatonne of carbon dioxide.
 major challenge in scaling up electric mobility is the availability of charging
infrastructure across the country. As part of a FAME pilot project, 25 charging
stations were created in Bengaluru by one automaker. Since 2015, the
Department of Heavy Industry has sanctioned 435 charging stations.
Infrastructure is needed to produce, maintain and recycle a large number of
batteries as the population of EVs rises
 current economics of EVs favour larger vehicles in the longer term, given the
high capital expenditure involved. But it has good cost-benefit outcomes even
now for two-wheelers and rickshaws.
 Soviet Cosmonaut, Colonel Yuri Gagarin, the world’s first spaceman, was killed
during a test flight [March 27], 1968 nearly seven years after his historic orbit of
the earth aboard Vostok-1.
 Drunken monkey: refers to a hypothesis regarding why human beings tend to be
attracted towards the consumption of alcoholic products, even to the level of
addiction. It states that the primate ancestors of modern human beings depended
on various fermenting fruits, which contained ethanol, as a major source of food to
help them in their daily survival.
 eventually led to behavioural modifications that were inherited by human
beings who descended from these primates to develop an intense liking towards
alcohol. The hypothesis was first proposed by American biologist Robert Dudley
and elaborated later in his book, The Drunken Monkey (2014).
 Major Opposition parties have united in provisional support of two Bills drafted by
farmers’ organisations, demanding comprehensive farm loan waivers and proposing
legal backing to enforce minimum support prices (MSP).
  All India Kisan Sangharsh Committee, which drafted the Bills in partnership
with 193 farmers’ organisations.
 proposed Farmers’ Freedom from Indebtedness Bill, 2018 provides for a
one-time settlement of all farmers’ loans, both from banks and private
moneylenders. It also gives farmers the right to access institutional credit and
proposes that quasi-judicial distress and disaster relief commissions be set up
at State and national levels to deal with regional or crop-specific distress
situations.
 proposed Farmers’ Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support
Prices for Agricultural Commodities Bill, 2018, wants the MSP to guarantee a
50% profit margin over the comprehensive cost of production a legal right for
every farmer, and bar the option of any price below MSP being offered in the
market.
 Green House [Lok Sabha]
 Red House [Rajya Sabha]
 low women representation (11.7%) in the Rajya Sabha, pointing out that the Upper
House had passed the Women’s Reservation Bill in 2010.
 Urgent measures are required to improve the collegium system of appointment of
judges, including the setting up of an independent secretariat, the Supreme Court
highlighted

 “corrective measures” needed to be taken against “post-appointment conduct or

inadequate performance or failure to uphold righteous conduct” by sitting

judges.
 improvements contemplated by the five-judge NJAC Bench, in December 2015,
in the collegium system had not “seen the light of the day”. The court ordered
that the Centre should ensure that the new memorandum of procedure brought
about the improvements recommended by the NJAC Bench.
 Law Ministry website shows that seven High Courts have been making do with
Acting Chief Justices for months on end.
 Acting Chief Justices were meant only as a temporary measure before a
permanent Chief Justice is appointed.
 High Court Chief Justices are appointed for a few days before they retire,
serving no purpose to the cause of justice delivery. The court stressed the need
for a “full-time”and independent body of experts to help in the appointment
process.
  full-time body consistent with independence of judiciary appears to be
immediate need for the system. Absence thereof contributes to denial of justice
 regional parties’ conclave to counter the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
 2019 general elections should be fought on a 1:1 formula. Each State should be
contested by the political party that is strong there and others should extend
support,
 Memorandum of Procedure for Appointment of Judges makes it imperative for the
government to comply if the collegium reiterates its recommendation.
 direct communication made by the Law Ministry to the High Court without
consulting the Chief Justice of India was violative of several judgments of the
Supreme Court, which hold that “the opinion of the Chief Justice of India should
have the greatest weight.”
 Third Judges Case judgment specifies that the selection of a judge to the high
courts and the Supreme Court is a “participatory consultative process” which
reduces the “Executive element in the appointment process to the minimum
and any political influence is eliminated.”
 Govt told a Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the
principle of creamy layer could not be applied to the presidential order on quota for
SC/ST groups.
 petition to exclude the affluent members, or the “creamy layer”, of these
communities from accessing reservation benefits.
 filed by Samta Andolan Samiti, representing the poor and downtrodden strata
of the SC/ST community in Rajasthan, contended that the rich among the
SC/ST communities were “snatching away” quota benefits while the deserving
and impoverished among them continue to “bite the dust”.
 lack of percolation of reservation benefits down to the poor and really backward
among SC/ST communities that has led to social unrest, Naxalite movements
and perennial poverty, the petition said.
 This is the first time that the Supreme Court has been petitioned to introduce
the “creamy layer” concept to the SC/ST communities.
 In 1992, a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case
or the Mandal case, as it was popularly known, upheld caste-based reservation
for OBCs as valid. The apex court had also directed that the creamy layer of
OBCs (those earning over a specified income) should not avail reservation
facilities.
 The Mandal judgment, however, confined the exclusion of the creamy layer
 only to the OBCs and not to the SC/STs.
 The Samta Andolan Samiti petition referred to the 2006 Constitution Bench
judgment of the Supreme Court in the M. Nagaraj case, which observed that
the “means test [a scrutiny of the value and assets of an individual claiming
reservation] should be taken into consideration to exclude the creamy layer
from the protected group earmarked for reservation”.
 controversial Kishen Ganga hydroelectric power project work in Bandipora.
 Bandipora district is one of the 22 districts in Jammu and Kashmir state in
northern India
 India and Pakistan will go ahead with talks on the Indus Waters Treaty
 114th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) will take place in
India on March 29 and 30 in New Delhi to hold technical deliberations on
various issues
 India’s Indus Water Commissioner, technical experts and a representative of
the Ministry will meet a six-member delegation from Pakistan
 last meeting was held in Islamabad in March 2017, a significant move at the
time as it came after the “surgical strikes” by India across the Line of Control,
and the government’s announcement that it would reconsider its position on
the 1960 treaty with Pakistan after terrorist attacks in Uri. While the
government kept its treaty commitments to meet, it has been exploring ways to
utilise its share of the Indus waters more efficiently and to the maximum
permissible.
 three dams would be built in Uttarakhand to further that effort.
 water will be given to Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana
 India and Japan will discuss cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in the first high-level
meeting since the Quadrilateral and iron out growing worries over bilateral trade
 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Japanese Foreign Minister
Taro Kono in Tokyo
 two sides are meeting for the ninth India-Japan Strategic Dialogue, instituted
in 2007 as an annual dialogue held alternately in Delhi and Tokyo.
 infrastructure, business, security and people to people exchanges. We will also
discuss situations surrounding the Indo-Pacific region and global agenda,
 next steps in the Quadrilateral engagement between
India-Japan-US-Australia, a project initiated by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in
2007, which was revived in 2017, with a meeting of officials of all four
countries.
  next meeting is expected this year, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s visit to Japan for the annual summit
 Swaraj and Mr. Kono are expected to discuss actions required to keep a “free
and open Indo-Pacific” as well as developing joint connectivity projects in Asia
and Africa.
 have stepped up relations with a “fresh impetus” in ties after PM Modi’s visit in
2014. Japan was today one of the largest investors in India, with a growing
presence in infrastructure projects.
 China on Wednesday pledged to continue sharing of data on Brahmaputra and
Sutlej waters, marking another confidence-building step post-Doklam.
 11th meeting of the India-China Expert Level Mechanism on Trans-border
Rivers in Hangzhou on March 26.
 both sides “agreed to continue with such cooperation on humanitarian grounds
and on the basis of bilateral relations ...”
 reviewed the report on how the data was being utilised.
 government on Wednesday extended by three months the deadline for linking of
Aadhaar with welfare schemes in which benefits are transferred to citizens from
the Consolidated Fund of India. The deadline now stands extended to June 30
 office memorandum of the Ministry of Electronics and IT.
 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged to denuclearise and meet U.S.
officials, China said on Wednesday after a historic meeting with President Xi
Jinping, who promised China would uphold friendship with its isolated neighbour.
 visit was Mr. Kim’s first known trip outside North Korea since he assumed
power in 2011 and is believed by analysts to serve as preparation for upcoming
summits with South Korea and the U.S.
 late President Kim Il-sung and late General Secretary Kim Jong-il
 grandfather Kim Il-sung and father Kim Jong-il, both promised not to pursue
nuclear weapons but secretly maintained programmes to develop them,
culminating in the North's first nuclear test in 2006 under Kim Jong-Il.
 


 The Sri Lankan government has decided to postpone International Workers’ Day
events from May 1 to May 7 this year, to avoid an overlap with the Buddhist festival
of Vesak.
 taken after considering a request made by the Maha Sangha, a venerated and
influential body of the Buddhist clergy. Known as ‘Buddha Purnima’ or
‘Buddha Jayanti’, Vesak Day commemorates the birth, enlightenment and
 death of the Buddha.
 The Sinhalese majority marks the festival with elaborate, week-long
celebrations across the island, putting up lanterns in public spaces and
decorating Buddha statues in pandals. As per the Sinhalese calendar, Vesak
week often falls in May, but this year it begins on April 29 and 30.
 President has requested political parties and trade unions to join the Workers’
Day celebration on May 7, but trade unionists see little reason to postpone the
May Day rallies.

 “May 1 is significant internationally, and commemorates the crucial gains

made by working class struggles.

 Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday reduced the
responsibilities of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as a power struggle
worsened within their uneasy coalition.
 Tensions between the coalition partners have also escalated over Mr. Sirisena’s
attempts to extend his presidential term by one more year till 2021, a move
that was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
 Satellite imagery suggests that North Korea has begun preliminary testing of an
experimental light water reactor and possibly brought another reactor online at its
Yongbyon Nuclear Research Center.
 According to an analysis in Jane’s Intelligence Review published earlier this
month, a testing programme is now under way, which means the reactor could
become operational with “little warning later in 2018 or in 2019”.
 Myanmar’s Parliament on Wednesday picked Win Myint, a close ally of Aung San
Suu Kyi, as the new President, a move unlikely to affect the balance of power.
 (SEBI) has tightened the corporate governance norms for listed companies by
accepting most of the recommendations of the Kotak Committee while also
strengthening the regulations for derivatives and algorithmic trading.
 decided to reduce the maximum number of directorships to seven from 10 in a
phased manner while expanding the eligibility criteria for directors.
 enhanced the roles of the audit committee along with those of the nomination
and remuneration committee and the risk management committee at
companies.
 accepted 40 recommendations of the committee while another 15 have been
accepted with modifications
 While eight of the panel’s recommendations had been referred to the Centre
 and other regulators, 18 had not been accepted
 new norms relating to the number of independent directors, appointment of at
least one independent woman director and time limit for holding annual
general meetings would be rolled out in a phased manner with the bigger firms
being mandated in the initial phase.
 Listed companies would also be required to make enhanced disclosures related
to related party transactions and subsidiaries.
 For equity derivatives, the regulator has decided to move towards physical
settlement for all stock derivatives in a phased manner to “facilitate greater
alignment of cash and derivative market.”
 also amended the eligibility criteria for stocks to be included in the derivatives
segment since the last such amendment was done six years ago.
 framework for ascertaining the exposure limits for investors based on their
income tax returns has been approved to ensure that investors do not take
undue risks and also miss-selling of products is curbed.
 For exposure beyond the computed exposure, the intermediary would be
required to undertake rigorous due diligence and take appropriate
documentation from the investor,
 announced steps to strengthen the guidelines for algorithmic trading, including
stock exchanges providing tick-by-tick data feed free-of-cost to trading
members, tweaking the penalty framework to minimise orders that are way off
the mark and enhancing certain disclosure requirements for stock exchanges.
 Exchanges have also been directed to offer shared co-location services that
would reduce the cost for trading members.
 For mutual funds (MFs), the regulator has reduced the cap for expenses
charged for each scheme. The maximum limit has been reduced from 20 basis
points of the daily net asset value of the schemes to 5 basis points, which would
benefit the investors in the form of marginally higher net asset value (NAV) of
the scheme.
 amended the enforcement framework for non-compliance of the listing
regulations. This would allow exchanges to freeze the shareholding of the
promoter and promoter group for non-compliance.
 decided to initiate a public consultation process for a framework for listed
companies that are in the midst of insolvency resolution process.
 IDBI Bank said that fraudulent loans worth ₹772 crore were issued from five of its
branches in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. These loans, meant for fish farming
 business, were sanctioned during fiscal years 2009-2013.
 According to RBI norms, banks have to make 100% provisioning for the loan
exposure if a fraud is reported.
 India’s fiscal deficit soared to ₹7.15 lakh crore at the end of February, exceeding the
revised target of ₹5.94 lakh crore for the entire 2017-18 fiscal. As per data released
by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), fiscal deficit for April-February was
120% of the revised estimates on account of increased expenditure and subdued
revenue receipts.
 The monthly account till February-end revealed that the government had
collected ₹12.83 lakh crore revenue, which is 79.09% of revised estimates.
 more than ₹10.35 lakh crore is collected from taxes, while more than ₹1.42 lakh
crore and ₹1.05 lakh crore accrued on account of non-tax revenue and non-debt
capital receipts, respectively.
 Non-debt capital receipts consist of recovery of loans of ₹13,301 crore. Besides,
₹92,493 crore has been mopped up through PSU disinvestment till
February-end. In the revised estimates of 2017-18, the government had raised
the disinvestment target to ₹1 lakh crore.
 In 11 months till February, more than ₹5.29 lakh crore has been transferred to
state governments as devolution of share of taxes by the Centre, which is
₹66,039 crore higher than the corresponding period of last year 2016-17.
 India will get delivery of the first ever shipment of LNG from the U.S. on March 30
 comes about six months after India received the first ever shipment of crude oil
from the U.S. in October.
 gas contract is between GAIL — for 3.5 million tonnes per annum of natural
gas — and Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass liquefaction facility in Louisiana. It
will arrive at GAIL’s Dabhol terminal in Maharashtra
 signed a contract for 20 years and it is very economically profitable for India,
 India must index its vehicle taxation to emissions and treat hybrid and electric
vehicles (EVs) as children of the same parent
 Currently, GST is levied on vehicles based on their length, ground clearance
and engine capacity
 What they need to graduate to is taxation should be indexed to pollution or
emissions from each vehicle.”
 will be the most equitable way of doing it
 India’s $30-billion auto market is expected to rank behind only China and the
U.S. in sales by 2020.
  Toyota, however, is pitching for a bigger role for hybrid technology in India.
 Centre has given incentives to electric vehicles in the form of 12% GST
compared with 43% on hybrid vehicles
 Microsoft said that it was betting big on ‘democratising’ artificial intelligence and
making it ‘available to all’ to help improve lives and transform businesses.
 company’s ‘AI for All’ conference in Bengaluru
 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Commerce
Ministry’s proposal to remove any prohibition on the export of edible oils, except
mustard oil.
 Mustard oil will continue to be exported only in consumer packs [of] up to 5 kg
and with a minimum export price of $900 per tonne
 CCEA has also approved empowering the (inter-Ministerial) committee… to
review the export/import policy on all varieties of edible oils and consider
measures such as quantitative restrictions, depending on domestic production
and demand, domestic and international prices and international trade
volumes
 Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of European Medicines Agency