India, Bangladesh sign SOP to operationalise coastal shipping pact
The SOP will pave the way to promote coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh and would enhance
bilateral trade between the two countries by bringing down the cost of transportation of EXIM cargo.
The SOP contains provisions which stipulate that India and Bangladesh shall render same treatment to the other
country's vessels as it would have done to its national vessels used in international sea transportation.
The two sides have also agreed upon the use of vessels of River Sea Vessel category for Indo-Bangladesh coastal
shipping.
The present connectivity through sea route with Bangladesh is through ports of Colombo and Singapore. The long
sea route adds significantly to the transportation costs of EXIM trade. There is no significant cargo
movement between sea ports of Bangladesh and India as it is not profitable for the big vessels to operate
between these sea ports. Under such circumstances, there is a need for smaller ships to provide direct
connectivity between the eastern sea ports of India, Chittagong and other ports in Bangladesh. This, besides
improving the connectivity would also provide competitive freight rates.
Advantages of the Agreement:
1) The opening of coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh would enable the movement of cargo to the
North East through coastal shipping upto Chittagong and thereafter by road/inland waterways.
2) The deep draft ports on the eastern coast of India can be 'hub ports' for the onward transportation of cargo to
Bangladesh via the coastal mode through RSV category of vessels.
3) The Indian ports will attract enhanced cargo and also the overall transportation cost to Bangladesh will get
reduced.
4) The Indian ports serving as trans- shipment ports for Bangladesh cargo will derive benefits by way of enhanced
throughput as a result of Indo-Bangladesh coastal trade.
Some important points about G20( Prelims)
What are the objectives of G20?
The following objectives have evolved over the last few years of G20's working:



Ensuring international policy cooperation in a coherent manner that is consistent with the contextual
business cycles.
Strengthening the financial system, improving the international financial architecture and regulation in an
interconnected world to avert and prevent global financial crisis.
Promoting economic growth and sustainable development by addressing the current economic problems, by
suggesting measures and initiating actions.
G20 also aims to foster and adopt internationally recognized standards through the example set by its members in
areas such as the transparency of fiscal policy, global tax network and combating money laundering and the
financing of terrorism.
How is the G20 Leadership decided?
One of the G20 countries is selected to hold the Chair on rotational basis, better known as “G20 Presidency”.
For selecting a Presidency, a system has come into existence since 2010 when South Korea held the chair.
Accordingly, 19 countries have been categorized into the following 5 regional groupings:
Group 1: Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, USA
Group 2: India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey
Group 3: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico
Group 4: France, Germany, Italy, U.K.
Group 5: China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea
How is the Summit Declaration or Communique prepared?
The Leaders’ “Declaration” or “Communique” is the final outcome of G20 Summit. It highlights the progress
made in the G20 work in the past year, the G20 deliverables in the following year and the strategies and action
plans to achieve these deliverables. There are broadly two channels through which work is done: (i) The Finance
Track and (ii) The Sherpa’s Track. Both the tracks rely on technical analysis, advice and recommendations of a
series of expert Working Groups and Committees on specific thematic issues. These working groups/task
forces/committees are generally co-chaired by one advanced and one emerging economy member country of the
G20. The government officials of the Ministries/ Departments that deal with the given thematic subjects in the
respective G20 member countries are nominated by their governments to represent as members in the Working
Groups. Representatives of the non-member countries and International Organizations are also invited in these
working groups and task forces. Specific G20 Ministerial Meetings such as G20 Agriculture Ministers, Labour
Ministers and Trade Ministers are organized on specific themes of importance as identified by the G20 Leaders or
the G20 Presidency. Outcomes of such ministerial meetings feed into the Sherpas Track.
Based on inputs from the Finance Track, and Sherpas Track, a draft Communique is drawn and negotiated by
Sherpas who have been tasked by their Leaders to negotiate the Summits documents on their behalf. In the
Leaders’ Summit, final reports and documents containing recommendations of the various working groups under
the Finance track, Sherpa’s track and Ministerials are submitted to the Leaders, and Leaders adopt the
Communique drafted and finalized by Sherpas based on all these inputs.
Are the decisions of G20 legally binding on countries and institutions?
No. G20 decisions are not legally binding on countries and institutions. However, all the members voluntarily
commit to comply with the decisions. Also, compliances to the commitments made by countries are monitored
through Mutual Assessment Process.
What is "Troika" in G20 context?
"Troika" is a Russian word meaning – a set of three. In the G20 context, the immediate past year's Presidency, the
current year's Presidency, and the next year's Presidency constitute "Troika" that acts as a Steering Committee to
ensure continuity in G20 work. The G20 current presidency in 2015 is held by Turkey. In 2014, Australia held the
G20 Presidency. In the next year in 2016 China will host the G20 Presidency. These three countries constitute
"Troika" at present.
What are the issues being discussed in G20 today?
Turkey has taken over G20 Presidency from Australia on December 1, 2014. Prime Minister of Turkey has
outlined that the three I’s of the Turkish Presidency will be: Inclusiveness, Implementation, and Investment for
Growth. For Inclusiveness at the domestic level, Turkish Presidency will emphasize issues pertaining to the small
and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as a cross-cutting subject. At the international level, challenges facing the
LIDCs will be raised more vocally. 2015 will be the year of implementation, and that Turkey will put a firm
emphasis on investments as a powerful driver of growth and will address the investment gaps of the member
countries via concrete and ambitious investment strategies.
Collective action for inclusive and robust growth is stated to be pursued through (i) enhancing resilience; (ii)
strengthening recovery and lifting potential; and (iii) buttressing sustainability. The thematic areas outlined under
each of these are the following:
Enhancing Resilience




Financial Regulation
International Financial Architecture
International Tax
Anti-corruption
Strengthening recovery and lifting potential




Macro policy coordination
Investment
Employment
Trade
Buttressing sustainability



Development
Energy
Climate Change Finance
What is the “Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth”





G20 Leaders at the Pittsburgh Summit held in September 2009 had committed to work together to ensure
that global growth is strong, sustainable and balanced. To that end, the Framework for Strong. Sustainable
and Balanced Growth was launched. In the framework, the G20 members (i) agree on shared policy
objectives, (ii) assess the implications of national policy frameworks for global growth and (iii) agree on
policy actions to meet the common objectives.
A G20 Framework Working Group is chaired by Canada and India. Since 2009, decisive actions have been
undertaken by G20 to restore and strengthen global growth and to put it on the sustainable path.
Nevertheless, global economic recovery is still fragile and large downside risks to the outlook remain, thus
spurring the need for in-depth analysis of economic policies and well-coordinated actions of the G20's
member economies.
Russian Presidency in 2013 addressed this problem through further development of the Framework for
Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth when the following topics were discussed: (i) Revision of
country-specific medium- and long-term public debt targets and develop strategies to achieve them; (ii)
Enhancement of the Accountability Assessment Process by extending the number of indicators to enable
more comprehensive and precise macroeconomic analysis; (iii) Analysis of the persistent imbalances
among the G20 members in fiscal, monetary, exchange rate and structural policy domains.
An updated report on the persistent imbalances in the G20 economies, as well as an enhanced
Accountability Assessment framework, and a review of the progress on the previous G20 commitments
were presented.
During the Australian Presidency in 2014, Framework Working Group met 4 times in January in Quebec
City Canada, In March in Akara (Turkey), in June in Goa (India) and in September in South Africa. Based
on the deliberations and discussions, assessment of progress in respect of each G20 member has been made
and an updated report on Accountability Assessment has been prepared and presented.
Who is a Sherpa? What is Sherpa's role?
Sherpa is the personal representative of the Leader/Head of State of a G20 member country. The term is derived
from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as guides and porters in the Himalayas. The Sherpas'
track focuses on political, non-financial issues, such as: employment, agriculture, energy, the fight against
corruption and development, among others. The Sherpas carry out important planning, negotiation and
implementation tasks throughout the entire process. They coordinate the agenda, seek consensus at the highest
political levels and help negotiate the Leaders' positions.
Toward the end of the process, along with the Deputy Finance Ministers, the Sherpas prepare the final declaration
statement and other supporting documents for the Leaders. The Sherpas' track delegates technical and policy
analysis to a series of working groups, made up of officials from each member country and international
organizations. The Sherpas are also responsible for holding frequent meetings with other relevant stakeholders,
such as the business community, academic institutions and young people in order to facilitate an inclusive and
representative dialogue.
What is the role of India in G20?
India is a member of the G20. Since introduction of globalization and liberalization policies in 1991, India has
increasingly integrated with the rest of the world and plays an important role in maintaining global economic
balance. At the same time unfavourable developments like global financial crisis and euro zone crisis impact
India's growth prospect significantly. As a member in G20, India's Leaders have voiced their concerns regarding
rebalancing global governance by reforming global financial institutions, checking global macroeconomic
imbalances, checking protectionist measures, widening of G20 agenda to include development issues etc. Various
officials take part in G20 Working Group meetings and voice India's concerns on those issues.
Corporate social Responsibility (CSR)
Ministry of Corporate Affairs has recently notified Section 135 and Schedule VII of the Companies Act as well as the
provisions of the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 (CRS Rules)
Corporate Social Responsibility ( Prelims)
Every company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or
turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more
during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the
Board consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an
independent director.
The Board of every company referred to in sub-section (1), shall ensure that the
company spends, in every financial year, at least two per cent. of the average net profits of
the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of
its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy:
Provided that the company shall give preference to the local area and areas around it
where it operates, for spending the amount earmarked for Corporate Social Responsibility
activities:
What kinds of mechanisms are necessary to maximise the impact of the mandate and to
protect its functioning from the risks emanating from fragmentation, lack of domain
competence and funding uncertainties? (Mains)
First, any mechanism that is put in place must create opportunities for aggregation of expenditure, allowing several
companies to pool their contributions for a common cause. A small number of initiatives being run at very large
scales are more likely to have a macro-level impact than numerous efforts being made in isolation.
Second, these initiatives need to be run by institutions and people with the most appropriate expertise. Some
individual companies may have it, but most, particularly the smaller ones, will not. Delivery expertise in any
domain is more likely to reside in several non-governmental organisations, which have built up this capacity over
years. What corporate participants can do is to bring governance and accountability mechanisms into the picture,
increasing the likelihood that the funds are being used appropriately and effectively.
Third, public-private partnership in this domain must have a financial dimension. Each initiative beyond a certain
size must be given some comfort in the form of contingent budgetary support, so that it does not run the risk of
withering when corporate profitability slumps, as it typically does in the trough phase of the business cycle.
Moving from concept to execution, each problem has some reasonable solutions. The aggregation objective is best
served by giving companies choices of large initiatives to which they can contribute both funds and expertise
The launching of several major missions by the government potentially provides a platform for CSR contributions.
Budget provisions made by the government can be enhanced and reinforced by resources through the CSR mandate. In
fact, this could be built into the mission design as it evolves over the years. Also, specific domain expertise that corporate
contributors bring to the table can be explicitly built into the mission design and execution. In short, this aggregation
approach will allow for substantial corporate participation in the public service and welfare priorities that the government
articulates through missions.
The issue of expertise calls for an arrangement that separates execution from governance. Within a broad mission
framework, specific activities can obviously be identified and, in turn, organisations that provide the best prospects for
efficient execution. As I said earlier, some of these may be the corporate groups themselves, but these skills are most likely
to reside in entities that receive rather than contribute money. A practical arrangement would involve three components.
One would be a "certificate"; proof of an activity having been carried out - say, a Swachh Bharat certificate representing a
cluster of toilets. This certificate could be "bought" by corporate groups as evidence of their fulfillment of their CSR
mandate. A second would be an audit mechanism that actually authenticates and validates the activity represented by the
certificate. This could cover multiple domains and also be funded and run by corporate groups as part of their CSR mandate.
A third would be impact assessment, also across multiple domains and financed the same way.
Finally, on the issue of minimising funding risks, I wrote about the issue of budgeting for missions in my previous column ('A
fiscal framework for missions', November 2, 2015). One key to success is the assurance of funding over the life-cycle of the
mission. Obviously, both corporate profits and tax revenues - and hence, government spending capacity - are subject to the
same cycle, the former being the base for the latter. But, contributions from corporate profits have an added dimension of
risk because individual companies can do badly even in a benign macroeconomic environment.
This problem cannot be fully solved. One way to at least partially offset the risk is to design the initiative in a modular way,
so that some baseline activities - particularly, those relating to maintenance - are always going to be funded, even in lean
periods, while others can be financed subject to the funds situation. A pecking order for allocation of funds needs to be laid
out for each initiative, so that, as long as it has a positive impact, it does not die from lack of funds.
In short, the CSR mandate may be seen as a necessity, but there are mechanisms that can convert it into a virtue.
United Nations Road Safety Collaboration
The United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC)[1] is an informal consultative mechanism whose
members are committed to road safety efforts and in particular to the implementation of the recommendations of
the World report on road traffic injury prevention.[2]
Activities
The major focus of the Collaboration is on raising awareness of the issue around the world, through events such as
the 1st UN Global Road Safety Week in 2007;[8] World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims celebrated
on the 3rd Sunday in November every year[9] and the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety[10] as
well as by providing technical support to countries and guidelines on best practice.[11] Members of the UNRSC
have published guidance on how to set up and monitor programmes around helmet wearing,[12] drinking and
driving,[13] speed management,[14] seat-belt and child restraint usage[15] as well as how to set up and maintain
optimal road safety data systems[16] and road safety management systems.[17]
The Decade of Action for Road Safety
The UNRSC was instrumental in supporting the planning for and adoption of the first ever Decade of Action for
Road safety (2011–2020).[18] The Decade was called for by a UN General Assembly resolution in 2010.[19] WHO
and the UN regional commissions, with assistance from the UNRSC, developed a global Plan of Action for the
Decade[20] as a guiding document to Member States and organizations around the world wishing to contribute to
actions to reduce the carnage of road traffic crashes, deaths and injuries. Members of the UNRSC will work
towards the goal of the Decade which is to save millions of lives[21] by promoting and implementing good practices
in five main areas, viz. road safety management, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safer road users and the
post-crash response.
AMRIT
A pilot project launched at AIIMS Delhi will sell anti-cancer drugs, cardiac stents etc at a fraction of the market
rates. Called AMRIT, it will be run in association with the public sector HLL Lifecare; the pilot was launched by
Union Health Minister.
The drugs range
“Under the AMRIT (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment) programme, we want to give
medicines at an affordable cost. We have identified 202 drugs of cancer and cardio-vascular diseases where the
price is going to be reduced on an average by 60 to 90 per cent, In the same way, 148 cardiac implants will be
given from the centre and sold here and their cost will be reduced by 50 to 60 per cent.”
The Challenge of Pluralism in India
South Asia has been hailed as a region of significant diversity and pluralism for a long time. However, over the last
decades, it has also been a hotbed of multiple forms of intolerance, such as religious, ethnic, linguistic chauvinisms
and intolerance often manifested in sporadic as well as organised forms of violence. The violence in Gujarat in
2002, for instance, has brought home the concerns about the ease with which mobilisation could be done for
genocidal politics.
Role of civil society
Civil society actors played an important role in the making of democratic transformation in the region. They have
resisted tendencies of intolerance, ranging from totalising economic policies to communalism. The prominent
strategy for many CSOs is human rights-based. This includes mobilising people to demand justice within the
constitutional frame of values and institutions, strategic invocation of legal strategies to seek justice through courts,
and conceptualising and articulating their policy within the discourse of rights.
Existing knowledge
Much has been written on symptoms and practices of intolerance, including documentation of the work done by
civil society actors and academic writings on the nature and intensity of violence, riots and progroms, the historical
and sociological reasons for such violent outbursts and deep-seated prejudices.
However, much of this documentation and analysis is premised upon the belief that once the experience is
recorded and presented, the secular state will decisively act and do its constitutional duty. The experience in India
unfortunately does not corrobate this belief. The state is more often than not found to be either ineffective or at
times complicit in the organisation of violence.
There is also a growing sense of recognition and candid acknowledgement by civil society actors of the limitations
of their existing strategies in resisting or containing intolerance and the need to develop innovative new strategies
to reinvigorate the process.
What works, what doesn't?
The existing body of writing does not adequately address the issue of the effectiveness of different strategies (as by
and large the implementation was left to the state). Besides, the rapidly changing socio-economic and cultural
context, wherein significant attitudinal transformation is occuring, necessitates identification of newer ways to
make the 'old' concerns like tolerance and pluralism appealing to the youth.
Tipu sultan (News recently)
Why is a late 18th century Mysore ruler at the centre of a polarising debate?
Last year, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that from now on, the state would officially
celebrate the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan, the “Tiger of Mysore”, on November 10 every year. A controversy
followed, and the historical role of Tipu was debated among those who saw him as a bulwark against colonialism
and a great son of Karnataka, and those who pointed to his destruction of temples and forced conversions of
Hindus and Christians to accuse him of tyranny and fanaticism.
On November 10, a 67-year-old VHP leader was killed after falling off a wall while trying to dodge bricks thrown
by protesters in Kodagu. A day later, a Muslim man succumbed to a bullet injury he suffered apparently while
participating in a pro-Tipu protest. Girish Karnad and Pratap Simha, the BJP MP from Mysuru who has been
leading the protests against the Tipu celebrations, have received death threats online, allegedly from opposing
camps in the quarrel.
So, who was Tipu Sultan and when did he rule? What is he best known for?
Tipu Sultan was the son of Haider Ali, a professional soldier of humble origins who started out as a junior officer
in the army of the Wodeyar king of Mysore, and rose rapidly to ultimately take power in 1761.
Tipu was born in 1750 and, as a 17-year-old, participated in the first Anglo-Mysore War. He subsequently fought
against the Marathas, and in the Second Anglo-Mysore War of 1780-84. Haider died while the war was on, and
Tipu succeeded him in 1782. The war ended with the Treaty of Mangalore, at which Tipu had the upper hand.
In India’s wider national narrative, Tipu is a man of imagination and courage, a brilliant military strategist who, in
a short reign of 17 years, mounted the most serious challenge that the English East India Company faced in India.
He engaged Company forces in four rounds of fighting during 1767-99, and gave Governors-General Cornwallis
and Wellesley sleepless nights before finally being killed on the battlefield defending his capital Srirangapatnam in
the Fourth Anglo-Mysore war. With Tipu gone, Wellesley imposed the humiliating Subsidiary Alliance on the
reinstated Wodeyar king, reducing Mysore to a client state of the Company.
Tipu was a moderniser who reorganised his army along European lines, using new technology, including what is
considered the first war rocket. He devised a comprehensive land revenue system based on a detailed survey and
classification of land, in which the tax was imposed directly on the peasant, and collected through salaried agents
in cash, widening the resource base of the state. He worked to modernise agriculture, giving tax breaks for
developing wasteland, building new irrigation infrastructure and repairing old dams, and promoting agricultural
manufacturing and sericulture. He sent ambassadors to Europe to learn technical knowhow, built a navy to support
sea trade, and commissioned a “state commercial corporation” to set up factories outside Mysore. Mysore started
trade in sandalwood, silk, spices, rice and sulphur, and ultimately came to establish 30 trading outposts across
Tipu’s dominions and even overseas
Why is he then seen unfavourably?
As with nearly every historical figure, perspectives on Tipu differ. Both Haider and Tipu had strong territorial
ambitions, and invaded and annexed territories outside Mysore. Haider annexed Malabar and Kozhikode, and then
conquered Kodagu, Thrissur and Kochi. Tipu went to war with the English and Marathas, raided
Kodagu and Kochi.
Not surprisingly, in these areas, the narrative of his reign is markedly different. In Kodagu, Mangaluru and
Malabar, he is seen as a bloodthirsty tyrant, who burnt down entire towns and villages, razed hundreds of temples
and churches, and forcibly converted Hindus. This narrative is sometimes backed by a historical record that has
Tipu himself boasting about having forced “infidels” to convert to Islam, and destroyed their places of worship.
Depressions ( tamil nadu rain )
Depressions, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones, are areas of low pressure located between 30° and 60°
latitude. Depressions develop when warm air from the sub-tropics meets cold air from the polar regions. There is a
favourite meeting place in the mid-Atlantic for cold polar air and warm sub-tropical air. Depressions usually have
well defined warm and cold fronts, as the warm air is forced to rise above the cold air. Fronts and depressions have
a birth, lifetime and death; and according to the stage at which they are encountered, so does the weather intensity
vary.
A depression appears on a synoptic (weather) chart as a set of closed curved isobars with winds circulating
anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere due to the rotation of the
Earth. The warm and cold fronts associated with depressions bring with them characteristically unsettled weather.
Depressions vary from between 200 and 2,000 miles in diameter; they may be deep when pressure at their centre is
very low and the isobars are tightly packed, or shallow when less well developed.
A depression develops like the propagation of a wave in water. Initially, a uniform boundary or front exists
between cold air pushing southwards and warm air pushing northwards (in the Northern Hemisphere). A waveshaped distortion may appear on the front, and a small low-pressure centre develops at the crest of the wave. In the
immediately surrounding area the pressure begins to fall. A disturbance of this kind is called a wave depression. As
the "wave" develops, a warm sector of air forms bounded by the warm and cold fronts, which begins to tie over the
engulfing cold air. Both the warm and cold fronts originate from the centre of the depression. On the ground,
sudden changes in the wind direction may be experienced when fronts pass by.
Wave depressions can grow off the tail ends of primary cold fronts. The depression so formed is then called a
secondary depression. New centres may also develop from occluded fronts within the primary depression. The
secondary system can then become the main system, and the primary occluded front becomes caught up in the
developing circulation, effectively becoming a third front.
H-1 B visa
Comparison of L1 and H1B Visa
Many employers in the United States routinely need temporary workers that are highly skilled. Therefore, there are
various temporary work visas such as H1B and L1 (L1A and L1B) that allow the employers to hire foreign foreign
workers. While there are many some similarities between H1B and L1 visa categories, there are many differences
between them.
Similarities

Both are temporary work visas.

Both allow dual intent. That is, the temporary worker does not have to show the ties to the home country
and filing for green card will not jeopardize the visa status and that itself will not cause any problems in
getting future status extensions or visa stampings.

Petitions for both of them allow premium processing
Differences
Feature
L1 Visa
H1B Visa
Any U.S. based employer can hire the
foreign worker, provided all other
conditions are met.
Employer
L1 visa petition can be filed only by the parent,
subsidiary, affiliate or branch of the foreign company
where the alien has worked for at least 1 year in
preceding 3 years in the capacity of manager, executive
or special knowledge work. All employers don't have
such choice as not all companies have foreign presence
or are multinational.
Quota/Cap
None
For initial H1B petition, 65,000 with
6,800 reserved for Chile and Singapore
for certain programs.
Additional 20,000 for new graduates
with master's degree from the U.S.
If the cap for a given for a given
financial year has been reached, the
petition can only be filed on the next
April 1 or after that until the cap is
filled again and the employment can
start only from the next October 1 or
after that.
Prevailing
Wage
No requirements. That is because the L1 visa holder is
really on behalf of a foreign qualifying entity.
Must be paid at least the prevailing
wages.
However, significantly lower wages may cause
problems.
Payroll
Spouse
Can be on the payroll of U.S. company or foreign
company and be paid only the allowance in the U.S.
Must be on the payroll of U.S.
company.
L2 visa holders can get EAD and work.
H4 visa holders can not get EAD and
therefore, can not work.
Not required.
Approval of Labor Condition
Application required. Need attestation
from the employer that qualified U.S.
workers are unavailable.
Dept. of Labor
Approval
In theory, L1 worker can not be substituted by a U.S.
worker.
Blanket
Petition
Minimum
Education
Requirement
Maximum
Duration
Available
Not available. Individual petition must
be filed for each proposed H1B worker.
No degree is required. Even if the worker has a degree,
it does not have to be in any specific specialized field.
Worker must have U.S. bachelor's
degree or equivalent and the job must
be in a specialty occupation that
requires such education.
L1A - 7 years
L1B - 5 years
H1B - 6 years
No further extensions.
If the person has spent time previously
on L visa, that duration is counted
towards the maximum allowed
duration.
If the person has spent time previously on H visa, that
duration is counted towards the maximum allowed
duration.
However, in certain situations, it is
possible to extend H1B visa beyond 6
years
Green Card
L1A visa holder can file green card in EB1C category
can avoid filing the PERM labor certificationand
usually get green card within less than one year.
Employers of most L1B visa holders would need PERM
labor certificationapproval to get them green card.
Employers of most H1B visa holders
would need PERM labor
certification[6] approval to get them
green card.
Sloth bear ( News recently due to attack on humans at telengana)
Status and conservation
IUCN estimates that less than 20,000 sloth bears survive in the wilds of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. The
sloth bear is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which provides for legal protection of
sloth bears. International trade of the sloth bear is prohibited as it is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species.[2]
To address the human-bear conflict, people may be educated about the conservation ethics, particularly among
locals. To resolve this conflict, the basic issue of deteriorating habitat, which is the reason for the conflict between
people and bears, improvements through government or community-based reforestation programmes, may be
promoted.[2]
The population of sloth bears grows when they live in high-profile reserves that protect species, such as tigers and
elephants. Directly managed reserves could conserve the sloth bear and hence such reserves must be supported.[30]
The government of India has banned use of sloth bears for entertainment, and a 'Sloth Bear Welfare Project' in the
country has the objective of putting an end to the use of sloth bears for entertainment. However, their number in
such activity is still large. Many organizations are helping in the conservation and preservation of sloth bears in
safe places.
There are three major bear sanctuaries in India for conservation of sloth bears:
1. Daroji bear sanctuary, Karnataka[31]
2. Gudekote bear sanctuary (created recently),in Karnataka
3. Jessore bear sanctuary,Gujarath.
Sinjar Mountain
The Sinjar Mountains are a 100 kilometres (62 mi)-long east –west trending mountain range that rises to an
elevation of 1,463 meters (4,800 ft) and above the surrounding alluvial steppe plains in northwestern Iraq.
Geology
The Sinjar Mountains are a spectacular example of a breached anticlinal structure These mountains consist of an
asymmetrical, doubly plunging anticline, which is called the Sinjar Anticline, with a steep northern limb, gentle
southern limb and a northerly vergence. The northern side of the anticline is normally faulted, which results in the
repetition of the sequence of sedimentary strata exposed in it. The deeply eroded Sinjar Anticline exposes a
number of sedimentary formations ranging from Late Cretaceous to Early Neogene in age. The Late Cretaceous
Shiranish Formation outcrops within the middle of the Sinjar Mountains. The flanks of this mountain range consist
of outward dipping strata of the Sinjar and Aliji formations (Paleocene to Early Eocene); Jaddala Formation
(Middle to Late Eocene); Serikagne Formation (Early Miocene); and Jeribe Formation (Early Miocene). The Sinjar
Mountains are surrounded by exposures of Middle and Late Miocene sedimentary strata.
The mountain is a groundwater recharge area and should have good quality water, although away from the
mountain groundwater quality is poor. Quantities are sufficient for agricultural and stock use.
Comprehensive Convention on International
Terrorism
The Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism is a proposed treaty which intends to criminalize
all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, arms, and
safe havens. The negotiations of this treaty are currently under way has been under negotiation at the United
Nations General Assembly's Ad Hoc Committee established by Resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996 on
Terrorism and the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal). The negotiations are currently
deadlocked.
Deadlock
Currently, the negotiations of the Comprehensive Terrorism Convention are deadlocked because of differences
over the definition of terrorism.
Proposed comprehensive definition of terrorism
The definition of the crime of terrorism which has been on the negotiating table of the Comprehensive Convention
since 2002 reads as follows:
"1. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person, by any means,
unlawfully and intentionally, causes:
(a) Death or serious bodily injury to any person; or
(b) Serious damage to public or private property, including a place of public use, a State or government facility, a
public transportation system, an infrastructure facility or the environment; or
(c) Damage to property, places, facilities, or systems referred to in paragraph1 (b) of this article, resulting or likely
to result in major economic loss,
when the purpose of the conduct, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government
or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act."[3]
This definition is not controversial in itself; the deadlock in the negotiations arises instead from the opposing views
on whether such a definition would be applicable to the armed forces of a state and to Self-determination
movements. The coordinator of the negotiations, supported by most western delegations, proposed the following
exceptions to address those issues:
"1. Nothing in this Convention shall affect other rights, obligations and responsibilities of States, peoples and
individuals under international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
and international humanitarian law.
2. The activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under international
humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by this Convention.
3. The activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as
they are governed by other rules of international law, are not governed by this Convention.
4. Nothing in this article condones or makes lawful otherwise unlawful acts, nor precludes prosecution under other
laws."[4]
The state members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference proposed instead the following exceptions:
"2. The activities of the parties during an armed conflict, including in situations of foreign occupation, as those
terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by
this Convention.
3. The activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as
they are in conformity with international law, are not governed by this Convention."[5]
Problems of Jute Industry in India
The major problems of Indian Jute Industries are mentioned below:
1. High cost of production: Equipments for production are all worn out, outmoded in design. Many mills are
uneconomic. Products are made costlier.
2. Storage of raw Jute: Jute industry suffers from inadequate supply of raw jute.
3. Shortage of Power Supply: Load-shedding creates problem of under-utilization of capacity.
4. Growth of Jute mills in Bangladesh and loss of foreign market: Newly started jute industry in
Bangladesh has captured some of the market of Indian jute goods.
5. Emergence of substitute goods against gunny bags and loss of demand for jute goods both at home
and abroad: Indian jute goods have been losing ground in the world market primarily due to keen
competition from synthetic substitutes and also supplies from Bangladesh and China.
.Prospects: The following measures have been taken for improving the Jute mills.
1. Mandatory use of Jute goods: Mandatory use of Jute bags in food grains and sugar, cement and in
fertilizers.
2. Modernization and Rationalization: Modernization and rationalization of Jute mills have been
undertaken.
3. Nationalization of ‘sick’ Jute mills: The National Jute Manufacture Corporation Limited (NJMC) under
the Ministry of Textiles has taken over the management of sick Jute mills.