Answers           (Civil Services Club Membership Test)

  

1.       National Election watch: National Election Watch (NEW), a nationwide campaign comprising of more than 1200 NGO and other citizen led organizations working on electoral reforms, improving democracy and governance in India.

2.       National Automotive Board:National Automotive Board (NAB), a body that would act as afacilitator between the government and the industry, and promote R&D activities in the sector. NAB will be a specialized body for promoting sustainable development of the Indianauto sector. Besides, it would have a larger role in developing skills for the growing automobile sector.

3.       Social Recruiting: It is the process of sourcing or recruiting candidates through the use of social platforms as promotional and/oradvertising channels by employers and recruiters. As per the evolving discussions among digital users, it can bewidely separated into two different categories.

a. The first is internet sourcing using social media profiles, blogs, and online communities to findand search for passive candidate data and information.

b. The second is social distribution. This involves using social media platforms and networks as ameans to distribute jobs either through HR vendors or through crowd sourcing where jobseekers and other influencers share job openings within their online social networks.The use of social media allows them to improve exponentially their potential talent pool of candidates by encouraging employees to share job opportunities with their relevant contacts, and pass it on and share amongother with no additional effort.

4.       Algorithmic Trading:A trading system that utilizes very advanced mathematical models for making transaction decisions in the financial markets. The strict rules built into the model attempt to determine the optimal time for an order to be placed that will cause the least amount of impact on a stock's price. Large blocks of shares are usually purchased by dividing the large share block into smaller lots and allowing the complex algorithms to decide when the smaller blocks are to be purchased.The use of algorithmic trading is most commonly used by large institutional investors due to the large amount of shares they purchase every day. Complex algorithms allow these investors to obtain the best possible price without significantly affecting the stock's price and increasing purchasing costs.

5.       Disinvestment and Privatization: are two different terms, though both involve the sale ofGovernment's share in the Public Sector Undertakings. The term privatization is used for a stake sell in whichthere is a transfer of 51% or more equity to the private players. In disinvestment, the government sells only apart of the equity which is essentially less than 51% so that ownership and management rights can be hold bythe Government itself.

6.       Green Nylon: The production of nylon — found everywhere from auto parts to women’s stockings — depends on a chemical called adipic acid. It’s one of the most widely used chemicals in the world, but it’s produced from fossil fuel and a lot of pollution results from its refinement process. Over 5 million tons of nylon are produced a year. A team led by Hai Yan Duke University Medical Center was studying genetic changes that cause healthy tissues to grow into tumors.In a happy accident, cancer researchers discovered a molecule necessary for cheaper and greener ways to manufacture nylon. They delved into the adipic acid problem based on similarities between cancer research techniques and biochemical engineering.

7.       Repo Rate &Bank Rate:Repo (Repurchase) rate is the rate at which the RBI lends shot-term money to the banks against securities. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive.  Therefore, we can say that in case, RBI wants to make it more expensive for the banks to borrow money, it increases the repo rate; similarly, if it wants to make it cheaper for banks to borrow money, it reduces the repo rate. Bank rate is the rate at which central bank (RBI) lends money to other banks or financial institutions. If the bank rate goes up, long-term interest rates also tend to move up, and vice-versa. Thus, it can said that in case bank rate  is hiked,  in all likelihood banks will hikes their own lending rates to ensure that they continue to make profit.

8.       Marginal Standing Facility (MSF):MSF is the rate at which banks can borrow overnight from RBI.This was introduced in the monetary policy of RBI for the year 2011-2012.The MSF is pegged 100bps or a % above the repo rate. Banks can borrow funds through MSF when there is a considerable shortfall of liquidity. This measure has been introduced by RBI to regulate short-term asset liability mismatches more effectively.

9.       International Girl Child Day:To recognize girls' rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. On December 19, 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child.

10.   Revised Protocol for President:The President has revised the protocol as follows:

• "Mahamahim" as prefix is replaced with 'RashtrapatiMahoday'

• Honorable before the Title of President /Governor followed by the name with greeting Sri or Shrimati(Honorable President ShriPranab Mukherjee)

• ‘Excellency’ will be used only for interaction of Indian leaders with foreign dignitaries and foreigndignitaries with Indian leaders as is the customary international practice.

11.   5+5 Summit:The 5+5 grouping brings together five EU member states – Malta ,Italy,      France, Spain and Portugal – and five northern African countries, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. Recently 5+5 summit held in Malta.

12.   ICT Development Index: It measures ICT access, use and literacy, and the ICT Price Basket, a country-wise indicator of ICT affordability.It is an index published by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union based on internationally agreed information and communication technologies (ICT) indicators.

Answers to Analytical Questions

Note: Answers have been discussed in broader perspective keeping in mind the approach and factual aspects of the questions.

Ratification of Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing by India

The Nagoya Protocol has been signed by 92 countries. Five countries have also ratified the Protocol. India signed the Nagoya Protocol on 11th May 2011. Recently India hosted the eleventh CoP to the CBD in October 2012 in Hyderabad. This gave us an opportunity to consolidate, scale up and showcase our strengths and initiatives on biodiversity before the world. As the President of CoP-11, it was expected that India would ratify the protocol before CoP-11.

India is one of the identified mega diverse countries rich in biodiversity. With only 2.4 per cent of the earth's land area, India accounts for 7-8 per cent of the recorded species of the world. India is also rich in associated traditional knowledge, which is both coded as in ancient texts of Indian systems of medicines such as Ayurveda, Unani and Sidha, and also non-coded, as it exists in oral undocumented traditions.

The genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge can be used to develop a wide range of products and services for human benefit, such as medicines, agricultural practices, cosmetics etc. Much of the world's biodiversity is found in developing countries, and can thus contribute to their economic and social development, and also create incentives for their conservation and sustainable use, thereby contributing to the creation of a fairer and more equitable economy to support sustainable development.

India is a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which is one of the agreements adopted during the Rio Earth Summit held in 1992. One of the three objectives of the CBD relates to Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), which refers to the way in which genetic resources may be accessed, and benefits resulting from their use shared by users with countries that provide them. The CBD prescribes that access to genetic resources is subject to national legislation. Accordingly, India after extensive consultative process had enacted the Biological Diversity Act in 2002 for giving effect to the provisions of the CBD, including those relating to CBD. However, in the near absence of user country measures, once the resource leaves the country providing the resources, there is no way to ensure compliance of ABS provisions in the country where it is used. Towards this, a protocol on access and benefit sharing has been negotiated under the aegis of CBD, and adopted by the Tenth Conference of Parties (CoP-10) held in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010. India has participated actively and contributed meaningfully in the ABS negotiations which formally started about six years back. The objective of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS is fair and equitable sharing of benefits, arising from the use of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies.

India has been a victim of misappropriation or biopiracy of our genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, which have been patented in other countries (well known examples include neem and haldi). It is expected that the ABS Protocol which is a key missing pillar of the CBD, would address this concern.

Goals of Nagoya Protocol:

The meeting achieved its three inter-linked goals:

• Adoption of a new ten year Strategic Plan to guide international and national efforts to save biodiversity through enhanced action to meet the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity

• A resource mobilization strategy that provides the way forward to a substantial increase to current levels of official development assistance in support of biodiversity

• A new international protocol on access to and sharing of the benefits from the use of the genetic resources of the planet.

                   The outcomes of CBD-11

• India has taken over as president of the COP.

• The countries of the world agreed on to increase funding in support of actions to halt the rate of loss of biodiversity. Developed countries agreed to double funding to support efforts in developing statestowards meeting the internationally-agreed Biodiversity Targets, and the main goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

• Special attention to be given to the Saragasso Sea, the Tonga archipelago and key corals sites off the coast of Brazil.

• The countries have agreed to take new measures to factor biodiversity into environmental impact

assessments linked to infrastructure and other development projects in marine and coastal areas.

Agreements on Funding

• Developed countries agreed to increase funding to support efforts in developing states towards meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

• Using a baseline figure of the average annual national spending on biodiversity between 2006 and 2010, developed countries said they would double biodiversity-related international financial flows by 2015.The COP also set targets to increase the number of countries that have included biodiversity in their national development plans, and prepared national financial plans for biodiversity, by 2015.

• All Parties have agreed to substantially increase domestic expenditures for biodiversity protection over the same period.

• The developing countries at COP 11, including India and several African states, have pledged additional

funds above and beyond their core funding towards the work of the CBD.

• Hyderabad Call for Biodiversity Champions was laucned. The programme will accept pledges from

governments and organizations in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. India has committed $50 million (over Rs. 264 crore) for the so called the ‘Hyderabad Pledge’ as India takes over the two-year presidency of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Marine Biodiversity

• It was decided to classify a diverse list of marine areas, some renowned for containing ‘hidden treasures’ of the plant and animal world, as ecologically or biologically significant.

• To meet the Aichi Biodiversity Target of ensuring that 10 per cent of marine areas are protected by 2020, an additional 8 million square kilometres of marine and coastal areas would need to be recognized as protected - an area just over the size of Australia.

• The countries agreed to for moving forward for development of an international agreement for

biodiversity conservation in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction.

• More research to be done into the potential adverse effects of underwater noise from ships on marine and coastal biodiversity.

• The growing concern on the adverse effects of marine litter was highlighted.

• Growing challenge of climate change impacts on coral reefs was recognized and the it was agreed that it will require significant investment to overcome.

National Biodiversity Plans

Much of the COP 11 negotiations revolved around practical and financial support for countries in implementing national biodiversity plans to meet the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

• Highlighted the need for enhanced technical and scientific cooperation among countries, while

underlining the potential for enhanced cooperation among developing countries.

• A new National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans Forum (NBSAP Forum) was launch at COP11 by UNEP, CBD, The Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). This is an online forum which provides easy-to-access, targeted information such as best practices, guidelines and learning tools for countries.

.Agreed to a number of measures to engage the main economic sectors, such as business and development organizations, to integrate biodiversity objectives in their plans and programmes.

Need for National Investment Board: An Analysis

Public policy should be scripted and executed with people at the core. The current debate surrounding the National Investment Board (NIB) should also be looked at through the prism of creating jobs for people and simultaneously ensuring that the environment does not suffer more than necessary.

Humans, biodiversity and economic reforms have continued to score high decibels in the public discourse since the first Earth Summit. The debate has been mainly on the issue of balance between environment and development, and that is not an easy task. Whenever we have surveyed people, development always scores over environment. Jobs and two square meals a day are of greater importance than living beings dying.

Public policy needs to balance both, because people may not be able to appreciate the need for such balance.

The problem with the current prescriptions in setting up a high-powered NIB is that the potential of hurdles of the environment ministry and tribal affairs ministry will be short-circuited, so that approvals of critically-desirable infrastructure projects can be speeded up without ousting the jurisdiction.

Indeed, we need to cut down the delays associated with project clearances, so that industrial progress can be sustained to create more jobs.

Environmental clearances have been a bane for two reasons: rigid laws and lackadaisical processes. Many of the regulations in our laws are drafted poorly. Consequently, administrators apply the rule book even without thinking of proportionality that is always at a premium in our processes.

The problem with the issue also arises from the often irrational opposition by some civil society elements. Even farming has been an intrusion in nature, and the reason was simple. People needed food, and not just relied on wild fruits, berries and animals to meet their needs. Agriculture was discovered and people started encroaching forests and wastelands to grow crops, causing huge loss of biodiversity.

Nature adjusts to these changes as civilization evolves, and so will the future.

Discovery of the wheel, and now the internet, changed human mobility and communications hugely. The industrial revolution happened following the discovery of the steam engine, and ever since, we have been crossing unimaginable frontiers. Human needs and greed continued to evolve and were often shaped by times and newer discoveries. Therefore, one needs to recognize the dynamics of nature and its interaction with humans.

The NIB may envisage a single-window system for solving problems associated with the projects at the central level but an analysis of the time and cost overruns for the ongoing projects shows 69 projects are facing land acquisition problems and 30 coal projects are grappling with rehabilitation and resettlement problems.

Further, law and order is a factor behind delays in 25 projects in the railways, coal, telecom, petroleum and power sectors. These sectors are facing land acquisition problem, too.

Similarly, 49 projects are facing problems in environmental clearances and include projects from the coal, petroleum, railways and power sectors. Adverse geo-mining conditions have also plagued 21 projects from coal, power and railways and 33 projects are facing contractual issues.

With this, 44 projects have been delayed due to slow progress in non-civil works. And, 71 other projects have been facing various problems, including technology selection, award of contract, delay in civil work, court cases, inadequate infrastructure, bad weather and statutory clearances.

Only 65 railway projects are getting delayed due to fund constraints.

Speedy project clearances and implementation would require solutions at the local and state levels, where the NIB would not be of help as it will comprise representatives only from central ministries.

The government on its part, though, believes the NIB under the Prime Minister would be a major step in expediting investment in the infrastructure sector.

How will a National Investment Board (NIB) deal with issues that are, under the constitution, the responsibility of lower governments? World Bank's report 'Doing Business in India' provides reasons why it is difficult to start and close a business in India.

If we clearly define a role for NIB and set up similar boards in states and districts with clear responsibilities, most of impediments to investment will disappear. There is an urgent need for coordination and action at the national level among the central ministries. For instance, water involves 13 departments; energy at least eight. The Planning Commission must work on capacity-building for all district- and state-level investment boards. The Centre must give financial incentives to each district government for successfully implementing projects. We must give national awards to such boards for doing a better job.

Also, we must look at issues beyond single-window clearance, the proposed NIB's objective. The objective must be successful completion of these projects, for which we must look at forward and backward linkages of the project life cycle.

There is a need for detailed project planning. We normally spend very little time in planning, causing inordinate delays in implementation. Any NIB will not help the cause unless it is preceded by comprehensive project planning.

Again, once the project is in implementation mode, it is important to have a proper monitoring mechanism in place to ensure that all the conditions attached to project approval are followed. Otherwise, the project tends to be stalled by the judicial process. This apart, proper social marketing of the intended benefits and strategies for mitigating attendant challenges must be done ahead of implementation. We have often witnessed that lack of effective communication and the absence of ownership of a socially useful project by the local community, causing avoidable hurdles.

All in all, it's time to overhaul all our regulatory institutions, so that they discharge their mandates effectively. Strengthening these institutions would ensure public confidence in their efficacy.

Financial Sector Legislative Reform Commission (FSLRC)

The establishment of the FSLRC is the result of a realization that the institutional foundation (laws and organizations) of the financial sector in India needs to be looked afresh to assess its soundness for addressing the emerging requirements in a rapidly changing world. Today, India has over 60 Acts and multiple Rules/ Regulations that govern the financial sector. Many of them have been written several decades back. For example, the RBI Act and the Insurance Act are of 1934 and 1938 vintage respectively and the Securities Contract Regulation Act, which governs securities transactions, was legislated in 1956 when derivatives and statutory regulators were unknown in the financial system. A Large number of amendments were, therefore, made in these Acts and regulations at different points of time to address various needs. But these have also resulted in their fragmentation, often adding to the ambiguity and complexity of regulations in the financial sector.

The piecemeal amendments have resulted in unintended outcomes including regulatory gaps, overlaps, inconsistencies and regulatory arbitrage. The fragmented regulatory architecture has also led to loss of scale and scope that could be available from a seamless financial market with all its attendant benefits of minimizing the intermediation cost. For instance, complex financial intermediation by financial conglomerates of today falls under purview of multiple regulators. Various Expert Committees have also pointed out these discrepancies and recommended the need for revisiting the financial sector legislations to rectify them.

It was therefore proposed to set up the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), which would, inter-alia, evolve a common set of principles for governance of financial sector regulatory institutions. The Commission would examine financial sector legislations, including subordinate legislations. The Commission would also examine the case for greater convergence of regulations and streamline regulatory architecture of financial markets.

Terms of Reference of the Commission

1)  Examining the architecture of the legislative and regulatory system governing the Financial sector in India, including:

a)  Review of existing legislation including the RBI Act, the SEBI Act, the IRDA Act, the PFRDA Act, FCRA, SCRA, FEMA etc., which govern the financial sector’

b)  Review of administration of such legislation, including internal structures and external structures (departments and ministries of governing), if required;

c)  Review of inter-play of jurisdictions occupied by various regulators;

d)  Review of jurisdiction of departments within each regulator, and consider need for segregation / combination, and such other streamlining;

e)  Review of issues relating to conflict of interest of regulators in the market;

f)  Review of the manner in which subordinate legislation is drafted and implemented;

g)  Review of eligibility criteria for senior officers in regulatory authorities and issues relating to tenure, continuity, and means of tapping and retaining lessons learnt by each authority;

h)  Examine a combined appellate oversight over all issues concerning users of financial legislation.

2)  Examine if legislation should mandate statement of principles of legislative intent behind every piece of subordinate legislation in order to make the purposive intent of the legislation clear and transparent to users of the law and to the Courts.

3)  Examine if public feedback for draft subordinate legislation should be made mandatory, with exception for emergency measures.

4)  Examine prescription of parameters for invocation of emergency powers where regulatory action may be taken on ex parte basis.

5)  Examine the interplay of exchange controls under FEMA and FDI Policy with other regulatory regimes within the financial sector.

6)  Examine the most appropriate means of oversight over regulators and their autonomy from government.

7)  Examine the need for re-statement of the law and immediate repeal of any out-dated legislation on the basis of judicial decisions and policy shifts in the last two decades of the financial sector post-liberalisation.

8)  Examination of issues of data privacy and protection of consumer of financial services in the Indian market.

9)  Examination of legislation relating to the role of information technology in the delivery of financial services in India, and their effectiveness.

10)  Examination of all recommendations already made by various expert committees set up by the government and by regulators and to implement measures that can be easily accepted.

11)  Examine the role of state governments and legislatures in ensuring a smooth inter-state financial services infrastructure in India.

12)  Examination of any other related issues.

Recommendation:

1)A key attraction of the FSLRC plan is the proposal to set up a financial redressal agency to protect consumer rights.

2)The commission has proposed a single regulator for all financial products other than banking that will replace four existing regulators and also take over regulations relating to bonds and currency markets that are currently under the joint purview of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

3)It has recommended trimming down RBI’s functions, suggesting an independent debt management office take over the responsibility for this.

4) The approach paper lays down a detailed rule-making process to ensure accountability of regulators, but does not spell out the mechanisms to ensure autonomy.

The key malaise of the Indian financial system is lack of autonomy for regulators rather than lack of accountability. India’s record in creating independent financial regulators so far simply does not inspire much confidence. The approach paper has high praise for the two-decade-old track record of capital market regulator Sebi. But Sebi’s recent history is far from glorious and the finance ministry’s rising influence over it is well-documented.

Of India’s financial regulators, RBI enjoys relatively greater autonomy because of three key differentiating factors: greater control over finances, a well-paid team of in-house technocrats, and a convention allowing independence in central banking. Autonomy allowed RBI under former governor Y.V. Reddy to take counter-cyclical measures ahead of the global financial crisis in 2008 despite being under pressure from the Centre not to do so. Reddy’s interventions saved the economy from major damage during the crisis. Although RBI has lost sheen since then, it still remains among the better managed central banks in the developing world.

The onus, therefore, will be on FSLRC to demonstrate that reducing the role of RBI in the economy will lead to considerable benefits, and the independent debt management office it envisages will be able to withstand pulls and pressures of the finance ministry. The same argument holds for its proposal on creating a new unified financial regulator.

The approach paper is a good first step, but given the far-reaching and possibly irreversible effects of FSLRC’s proposals, outlining the expected outcomes transparently will ease the path to implementation.

The approach paper talks about a bond-currency-derivative nexus that can be developed under a unified regulator. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the conventional wisdom on both the necessity and desirability of such a nexus stands challenged. Hence, rather than assume that the gains of such a nexus are self-evident, it will serve FSLRC’s cause to lay down the quantifiable gains as well as the risks that arise from developing such a nexus, and to provide examples of what such a nexus has achieved in the growth of the real sector in comparable developing economies.

One of FSLRC’s most useful recommendations is a rule-making process for framing regulations, which entails that regulators precisely identify the problem they seek to correct, and state the costs and benefits of the intervention they propose to solve the problem. FSRLC can gain enormous credibility and acceptance if it adheres to the same standards that it expects regulators to follow while designing proposals.

                    Salient features of Mental Health Care Bill

Mental Health care bill revolves around these rights given to mentally ill patients:

1. Right to non-discrimination.

2. Right to live with dignity.

3. Right to confidentiality.

4. Right to free treatment.

5. Right to Humane treatment without cruelty.

6. Right to personal contacts & communication.

7. Right to make complaints.

8. Right to information

9. No Punishment for suicide attempt.