The Directorate of Enforcement, with its Headquarters at New Delhi is headed by the Director of Enforcement. There are five
Regional offices at Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi headed by Special Directors of Enforcement.
The main functions of the Directorate are as under
1. Investigate contraventions of the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999(FEMA) which came into force with
effect from 1.6.2000. Contraventions of FEMA are dealt with by way of adjudication by designated authorities of ED and
penalties upto three times the sum involved can be imposed.
2. Investigate offence of money laundering under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002(PMLA) which
came into force with effect from 1.7.2005 and to take actions of attachment and confiscation of property if the same is
determined to be proceeds of crime derived from a Scheduled Offence under PMLA, and to prosecute the persons involved in
the offence of money laundering. There are 156 offences under 28 statutes which are Scheduled Offences under PMLA.
3. Adjudicate Show Cause Notices issued under the repealed Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA) upto 31.5.2002 for
the alleged contraventions of the Act which may result in imposition of penalties. Pursue prosecutions launched under FERA in
the concerned courts.
4. Sponsor cases of preventive detention under Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act,
1974(COFEPOSA) in regard to contraventions of FEMA.
5. Render cooperation to foreign countries in matters relating to money laundering and restitution of assets under the
provisions of PMLA and to seek cooperation in such matters.
The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) is a 1999 Indian law "to consolidate and amend the law relating to foreign
exchange with the objective of facilitating external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and
maintenance of foreign exchange market in India". It was passed in the winter session of Parliament in 1999, replacing the
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). This act seeks to make offenses related to foreign exchange civil offenses. It extends to
the whole of India, replacing FERA, which had become incompatible with the pro-liberalisation policies of the Government of
India. It enabled a new foreign exchange management regime consistent with the emerging framework of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO). It is another matter that the enactment of FEMA also brought with it the Prevention of Money Laundering
Act of 2002, which came into effect from 1 July 2005.
CENTRAL SALES TAX ACT, 1956
1. In the interest of the national economy of India, certain amendments were undertaken in the Constitution by the Constitution
(Sixth Amendment) Act, whereby;
a. Taxes on sales or purchases of goods in the course of inter-State trade or commerce were brought expressly within the
purview of the legislative jurisdiction of Parliament;
b. Restrictions could be imposed on the powers of State legislatures with respect to the levy of taxes on the sale or purchase of
goods within the State where the goods are of special importance in inter-State trade or commerce.
2. The amendments at the same time authorized Parliament to formulate principles for determining when a sale or purchase
takes place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce or in the course of export or import or outside a State in order that
the legislative spheres of Parliament and the State legislatures become clearly demarcated. In the course of goods of special
importance in inter-State trade or commerce, a law of Parliament is to lay down the restrictions and conditions subject to which
any State law may regulate the tax on sales or purchases of such goods in the State. Accordingly after taking into account the
recommendations of the Taxation Enquiry Commission and in consultation with the State Governments, the Central Sales Tax
Act, 1956 was enacted which came into force on 05.01.1957. Originally, the rate of CST was 1%, which was increased to 2%, 3%
and w.e.f. 1st July, 1975 to 4%. The Act provides for concessional rate of tax against furnishing of Forms as prescribed. Only
dealers registered under the Act can furnish these Forms. In the absence of these Forms, the penal rate of Central Sales Tax
would be leviable. The Act provides for declaration of certain goods to be of special importance in inter-State trade or
commerce and lay down restrictions on the taxation of such items both in inter-State and intra-state trade on such items. The
Act is administered by States and entire revenue accruing under this Act is retained by the State in which the sale originates. The
Act excludes taxation of imports and exports.
3. Recognizing the incompatibility of Value Added Tax with Central Sales Tax, an amendment to the Central Sales Tax Act to
provide for reduction of the rate of Central Sales Tax for inter-State sales between registered dealers from 4% to 3% w.e.f. 1st
April, 2007 has been effected vide the Taxation Laws (Amendment) act, 2007. Vide the said amendment; facility of inter-State
purchases by Government Departments at concessional CST rate, against Form-D has been withdrawn. Henceforth, the rate of
CST on inter-State sale to Government shall be applicable VAT/ State sales tax rate. Central Sales Tax rate has been further
reduced from 3% to 2% with effect from 1st June, 2008.
Money Market in India
The Indian money market is "a market for short-term and Long term funds with maturity ranging from overnight to one year and
includes financial instruments that are deemed to be close substitutes of money." It is diversified and has evolved through many
stages, from the conventional platform of treasury bills and call money to commercial paper, certificates of deposit, repos, FRAs
and IRS more recently.
The Indian money market consists of diverse sub-markets, each dealing in a particular type of short-term credit. The money
market fulfils the borrowing and investment requirements of providers and users of short-term funds, and balances the demand
for and supply of short-term funds by providing an equilibrium mechanism. It also serves as a focal point for the Central Bank's
intervention in the market
LAW OF DIMINISHING MARGINAL UTILITY
In economics, the marginal utility of a good or service is the gain (or loss) from an increase (or decrease) in the consumption of
that good or service. Economists sometimes speak of a law of diminishing marginal utility, meaning that the first unit of
consumption of a good or service yields more utility than the second and subsequent units, with a continuing reduction for
greater amounts. The marginal decision rule states that a good or service should be consumed at a quantity at which the
marginal utility is equal to the marginal cost.
The concept of marginal utility played a crucial role in the marginal revolution of the late 19th century, and led to the
replacement of the labour theory of value by neoclassical value theory in which the relative prices of goods and services are
simultaneously determined by marginal rates of substitution in consumption and marginal rates of transformation in production,
which are equal in economic equilibrium
Lorenz ratio
In economics, the Lorenz curve is a graphical representation of the cumulative distribution function of the empirical probability
distribution of wealth; it is a graph showing the proportion of the distribution assumed by the bottom y% of the values (although
this is not rigorously true for a finite population — see below). It is often used to represent income distribution, where it shows
for the bottom x% of households, what percentage y% of the total income they have. The percentage of households is plotted
on the x-axis, the percentage of income on the y-axis. It can also be used to show distribution of assets. In such use, many
economists consider it to be a measure of social inequality. It was developed by Max O. Lorenz in 1905 for representing
inequality of the wealth distribution.
The concept is useful in describing inequality among the size of individuals in ecology, and in studies of biodiversity, where
cumulative proportion of species is plotted against cumulative proportion of individuals. It is also useful in business modelling:
e.g., in consumer finance, to measure the actual delinquency Y% of the X% of people with worst predicted risk scores
TENDULKAR COMMITTEE
Suresh Tendulkar headed committee named as Suresh Tendulkar Committee to look into the people living under poverty line in
India. He also served as member of the Reserve Bank of India’s central board of directors. Prof. Tendulkar was known for his
extensive work on "Credit and Privatisation policies" and "Indian development issues and policies", including liberalisation and
globalisation. He was also a part-time member of the National Statistical Commission (2000–01), the first "Disinvestment
Commission" (1996–99), and the Fifth "Central Pay Commission" (1994–97).
Prof. Tendulkar's pioneering contribution was his extensive work on poverty and estimation of people below poverty line (BPL).
A committee was formed by government of India in 2009, with Tendulkar as Chairman to 'report on methodology of estimation
of poverty'. In 2009, this committee came out with a new method to calculate poverty. According to this method, the number of
the poor in India in 2004–05 rose from 27.5 per cent of the total population to 37.2 per cent. This report has also helped
strengthen the case for donating to the needy and giving in past, poverty was estimated by looking at a limited view of money
required for stipulated minimum calorie intake by individuals. But the Tendulkar committee moved to a wider definition,
including spending on food as well as education, health, light (electricity), clothing and footwear.
He was a, visiting fellow, was professor of economics at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India. To his credit he
authored several books like ‘Reintegrating India with the World Economy’ and ‘Understanding Reforms’.
Hard currency, safe-haven currency or strong currency refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable
and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's hard status might include the long-term stability of its purchasing
power, the associated country's political and fiscal condition and outlook, and the policy posture of the issuing central bank.
Conversely, a soft currency indicates a currency which is expected to fluctuate erratically or depreciate against other currencies.
Such softness is typically the result of political or fiscal instability within the associated country.
2010 Human Development Report
The 2010 Human Development Report—The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development —showed through a
detailed new analysis of long-term Human Development Index (HDI) trends that most developing countries made dramatic yet
often underestimated progress in health, education and basic living standards in recent decades, with many of the poorest
countries posting the greatest gains.
Yet patterns of achievement vary greatly, with some countries losing ground since 1970, the 2010 Human Development Report
shows. Introducing three new indices, the 20th anniversary edition of the Report documented wide inequalities within and
among countries, deep disparities between women and men on a wide range of development indicators, and the prevalence of
extreme multidimensional poverty in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The new report also included a change in the
methodology used to calculate the indexes using better statistical methods, as well as new parameters for judging the growth
and development.
The first Human Development Report introduced its pioneering HDI and analysed previous decades of development indicators,
concluding that “there is no automatic link between economic growth and human progress.” The 2010 Report’s rigorous review
of longer-term trends—looking back at HDI indicators for most countries from 1970—showed there is no consistent correlation
between national economic performance and achievement in the non-income HDI areas of health and education.
Overall, as shown in the Report’s analysis of all countries for which complete HDI data are available for the past 40 years, life
expectancy climbed from 59 years in 1970 to 70 in 2010, school enrolment rose from just 55 per cent of all primary and
secondary school-age children to 70 per cent, and per capita GDP doubled to more than US$10,000. People in all regions shared
in this progress, though to varying degrees. Life expectancy, for example, rose by 18 years in the Arab states between 1970 and
2010, compared to eight years in sub-Saharan Africa. The 135 countries studied include 92 per cent of the world’s population.
Net National Product (NNP) is the total market value of all final goods and services produced by residents in a country or other
polity during a given time period (gross national product or GNP) minus depreciation. The net domestic product (NDP) is the
equivalent application of NNP within macroeconomics, and NDP is equal to gross domestic product (GDP) minus depreciation:
NDP = GDP - depreciation.
Depreciation (also known as consumption of fixed capital) measures the amount of GNP that must be spent on new capital
goods to maintain the existing physical capital stock.
NNP is the amount of goods in a given year which can be consumed without reducing future consumption. Setting part of NNP
aside for investment permits capital stock growth and greater future consumption.
NNP also equals total compensation of employees + net indirect tax paid on current production + operating surplus.
Gross National Product (GNP) is the market value of all the products and services produced in one year by labour and property
supplied by the residents of a country. Unlike Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which defines production based on the
geographical location of production, GNP allocates production based on ownership.
GNP does not distinguish between qualitative improvements in the state of the technical arts (e.g., increasing computer
processing speeds), and quantitative increases in goods (e.g., number of computers produced), and considers both to be forms
of "economic growth".
Basically, GNP is the total value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a particular year, plus income earned
by its citizens (including income of those located abroad), minus income of non-residents located in that country. GNP measures
the value of goods and services that the country's citizens produced regardless of their location. GNP is one measure of the
economic condition of a country, under the assumption that a higher GNP leads to a higher quality of living, all other things
being equal.
Amartya Kumar Sen, CH (born 3 November 1933) is an Indian philosopher and economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel
Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in
the problems of society's poorest members. Sen is best known for his work on the causes of famine, which led to the
development of practical solutions for preventing or limiting the effects of real or perceived shortages of food. He helped to
create the United Nations Human Development Index. In 2012, he became the first non-U.S. citizen recipient of the National
Humanities Medal.
Raghuram Govind Rajan (born 3 February 1963) is an Indian economist who serves as the Chief Economic Adviser to the
Government of India. He also serves as Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School of
Business at the University of Chicago. Rajan is also a visiting professor for the World Bank, Federal Reserve Board, and Swedish
Parliamentary Commission. He formerly served as the president of the American Finance Association and was the chief
economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rajan's previous work with the Indian government includes his helmsman
ship of a Planning Commission-appointed committee on financial reforms, and as honorary economic adviser to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh.
National Investment Fund
On 27 January 2005, the Government had decided to constitute a 'National Investment Fund' (NIF) into which the realization
from sale of minority shareholding of the Government in profitable CPSEs would be channelized. The Fund would be maintained
outside the Consolidated Fund of India. The income from the Fund would be used for the following broad investment
objectives:(a) Investment in social sector projects which promote education, health care and employment;
(b) Capital investment in selected profitable and revivable Public Sector Enterprises that yield adequate returns in order
to enlarge their capital base to finance expansion/ diversification
Salient features of NIF:
(i)
The proceeds from disinvestment of CPSEs will be channelised into the National Investment Fund which is to
be maintained outside the Consolidated Fund of India
(ii)
The corpus of the National Investment Fund will be of a permanent nature
(iii)
The Fund will be professionally managed to provide sustainable returns to the Government, without depleting
the corpus. Selected Public Sector Mutual Funds will be entrusted with the management of the corpus of the Fund
(iv)
75% of the annual income of the Fund will be used to finance selected social sector schemes, which promote
education, health and employment. The residual 25% of the annual income of the Fund will be used to meet the capital
investment requirements of profitable and revivable CPSEs that yield adequate returns, in order to enlarge their capital base to
finance expansion/ diversification
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global
financial system. It was established after the 2009 G-20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability
Forum. The Board includes all G-20 major economies, FSF members, and the European Commission. It is based in Basel,
Switzerland
FSDC
Financial Stability and Development Council is apex-level body constituted by government of India. The idea to create such a
super regulatory body was first mooted by Raghuram Rajan Committee in 1998.The recent global economic meltdown has put
pressure on governments and institutions across globe to regulate the economic assets. This council is seen as an India's
initiative to be better conditioned to prevent such incidents in future. The new body envisages to strengthen and institutionalise
the mechanism of maintaining financial stability, financial sector development, inter-regulatory coordination along with
monitoring macro-prudential regulation of economy.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI is the index of all common stocks traded on the Stock Market Division—
previously, Korea Stock Exchange—of the Korea Exchange. It's the representative stock market index of South Korea, like the
Dow Jones Industrial Average or S&P 500 in the U.S.
TSEC WEIGHTED INDEX
The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation TSEC, Chinese: is a financial institution, located in Taipei 101, in Taipei, Taiwan. The
TSEC was established in 1961 and began operating as a stock exchange on 9 February 1962. It is regulated by the Financial
Supervisory Commission.
NIKKEI 225
The Nikkei 225, more commonly called the Nikkei, the Nikkei index, or the Nikkei Stock Average is a stock market index for the
Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been calculated daily by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) newspaper since 1950. It is a
price-weighted index (the unit is yen), and the components are reviewed once a year. Currently, the Nikkei is the most widely
quoted average of Japanese equities, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In fact, it was known as the "Nikkei Dow Jones
Stock Average" from 1975 to 1985
DEBENTURE
A debenture is a document that either creates a debt or acknowledges it, and it is a debt without collateral. In corporate finance,
the term is used for a medium- to long-term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money. In some countries the
term is used interchangeably with bond, loan stock or note. A debenture is thus like a certificate of loan or a loan bond
evidencing the fact that the company is liable to pay a specified amount with interest and although the money raised by the
debentures becomes a part of the company's capital structure, it does not become share capital. Senior debentures get paid
before subordinate debentures, and there are varying rates of risk and payoff for these categories.
Debentures are generally freely transferable by the debenture holder. Debenture holders have no rights to vote in the
company's general meetings of shareholders, but they may have separate meetings or votes e.g. on changes to the rights
attached to the debentures. The interest paid to them is a charge against profit in the company's financial statements
Sagar Mala Project
• ‘Sagar Mala’ announcement was made by the Prime Minister on 15th August 2003.
• Sagar Mala is for rapid capacity expansion and modernization of ports along India’s west and east coasts.
• Development of Inland Navigation will also be a part of ‘Sagar Mala’.
• As a first step, integrated development of Nhava Sheve (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) and Kochi (Cochin) ports, at a cost of Rs. 7500
crore is to begin.
• The Government of Kerala has submitted proposals for inclusion of projects for development of 7 minor ports in the State.
• The seven minor ports are namely, Vizhinjam, Alappuzha, Azhikkal, Beypore, Thankasserry, Ponnani and Munambam.
Definition of 'Dual Pricing'
The practice of setting prices at different levels depending on the currency used to make the purchase. Dual pricing may be used
to accomplish a variety of goals, such as to gain entry into a foreign market by offering unusually low prices to buyers using the
foreign currency, or as a method of price discrimination.
Dual pricing can also take place in different markets that use the same currency. This is closer to price discrimination than when
dual pricing is implemented in foreign markets and different currencies. Dual pricing is not necessarily an illegal pricing tactic; in
fact, it is a legitimate pricing option in some industries. However, dual pricing, if done with the intent of dumping in a foreign
market, can be considered illegal.
The Minimum Needs Programme (MNP) was introduced in the first year of the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974–78), to provide certain
basic minimum needs and improve the living standards of people. It aims at "social and economic development of the
community, particularly the underprivileged and underserved population
The programme includes the following components:
Rural health, Rural water supply, Rural electrification, Elementary education, Adult education, Nutrition, Environmental
improvement of urban slums, Houses for landless labourers.
FIRST GENERATION REFORMS
The two decades since 1980-81 have been easily the best in India's economic performance in the last century.
• After averaging about 3.6 per cent a year in GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate during the 30 years between 1950-51
and 1980-81 and less than 1 per cent a year in the half century before that, GDP growth accelerated to 5.6 per cent in the 1980s
(5.3 if 1991-92 is included) and averaged even higher at 6 per cent in the final decade up to 2000-01. Indeed, if the crisisaffected year of 1991-92 is omitted, GDP growth in the past nine years (1992-93 to 2000-01) averaged an unprecedented 6.3 per
cent. And between 1992-93 and 1995-96, the growth rate averaged even higher at over 7 per cent a year.
This vindicates the stand of this author since 1971 that economic liberalisation, de-regulation, and market principles were
essential for raising the growth rate in the economy that required eschewing the then current command economy ideology
copied from the USSR, and which failed there too. In his 1971 book Indian Economic Planning, an Alternative Approach (Vikas,
New Delhi), this author had predicted that such a transformation in policy toward market economy would raise the growth rate
to 10 per cent a year, but alas had then found little acceptance because of Indian economists: that India was bound by the
"Hindu rate of growth" of 3.5 per cent a year.
The past trend in decadal growth rates looks increasingly better, partly because of the declining population growth rate over the
years. When we look at per capita GDP growth, we find that it has accelerated from 0.8 per cent in the 1970s to 4.6 per cent in
the last nine years. Furthermore, while the growth performance in the 1980s was bedevilled by unsustainable fiscal deficits and
increasing drain in external reserves, which led to the balance of payments crisis of 1990-1991, in the last nine years, the
external sector has been manageable despite the fiscal imbalances deteriorating.
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of
the world's writing systems. Developed in conjunction with the Universal Character Set standard and published in book form as
The Unicode Standard, the latest version of Unicode contains a repertoire of more than 110,000 characters covering 100 scripts.
The standard consists of a set of code charts for visual reference, an encoding methodology and set of standard character
encodings, a set of reference data computer files, and a number of related items, such as character properties, rules for
normalization, decomposition, collation, rendering, and bidirectional display order. As of September 2012, the most recent
version is Unicode 6.2. The standard is maintained by the Unicode Consortium.
Unicode's success at unifying character sets has led to its widespread and predominant use in the internationalization and
localization of computer software. The standard has been implemented in many recent technologies, including modern
operating systems, XML, the Java programming language, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
SUNSET CLAUSE
In public policy, a sunset provision or clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law
shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law. Most laws do not have
sunset clauses and therefore remain in force indefinitely.
Benchmark Prime Lending Rate
According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks are free to fix the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) with the approval of
their respective Boards. Banks are free to decide the BPLR but their interest rates have to have a reference to the BPLR fixed.
The BPLR is the interest rate that commercial banks charge their most credit-worthy customers.
BPLR or Benchmark Prime Lending Rate is the rate charged by commercial banks to their most credit worthy customers.
According to the Reserve Bank of India, banks are free to fix their BPLRs but the interest rates charged by them have to bear
relevance to the BPLR. Banks are free to fix BPLRs for credit limit beyond Rs.2 lakhs. Lending rates for the agricultural sector was
set by the RBI.
Questions about the BPLR system being out of sync with market conditions have been arising since quite some time. Customers
were dissatisfied with this system of lending as they felt banks lent money to strong and rich corporates at sub BPLR rate.
Lending operations in a bank act as a major aid in the growth of the economy of a nation. It is through reasonable and just
lending rates that banks can direct fund flow in the economy for productive purposes. Also the variation in BPLR was so wide
amongst banks that it stretched to over 4% sometimes.
Thus in order to come over all these delinquencies, the RBI appointed a working group headed by Shri Deepak Mohanty to study
the on-going activities pertaining to BPLR and hence present a report. The report was submitted in October 2009. The working
group in its report clearly mentioned that it strongly felt that "The BPLR has tended to be out of sync with market conditions and
does not adequately respond to changes in monetary policy. In addition, the tendency of banks to lend at sub-BPLR rates on a
large scale raises concerns of transparency.....On account of competitive pressures, banks were lending at rates which did not
make much commercial sense."
Transparency International (TI) is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political
corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of
corruption worldwide. The headquarters is located in Berlin, Germany but operates through more than 70 national chapters.
Defining corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain which eventually hurts everyone who depends on the
integrity of people in a position of authority, it mainly visions for a world in which government, politics, business, civil society,
and the daily lives of people are free of corruption.
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs.
The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty. According to its Articles of Agreement (as amended effective 16
February 1989), all its decisions must be guided by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investment and international
trade and to the facilitation of capital investment.
The World Bank comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the
International Development Association (IDA).
The World Bank should not be confused with the World Bank Group, which comprises the World Bank, the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for Settlement of
Investment Disputes (ICSID).
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF or the Gates Foundation) is the largest transparently operated private
foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It is "driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family". The
primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand
educational opportunities and access to information technology. The foundation, based in Seattle, Washington, is controlled by
its three trustees: Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Other principal officers include Co-Chair William H. Gates, Sr.
and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Raikes.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva. It describes itself as an
independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic
and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The Forum is best known for its annual meeting in
Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland. The meeting brings together some 2,500 top
business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing
the world, including health and the environment.
Antrix Corporation Limited is the marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercialization of space products, technical
consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO.
Antrix Corporation was incorporated as a private limited company owned by the Indian government in September 1992. It got
the 'Miniratna' status by the government in 2008.
Antrix provides space products and services to international customers worldwide. Its clientele includes EADS Astrium, Intelsat,
Avanti Group, World Space, Inmarsat, and other space institutions in Europe, Middle East and South East Asia.
The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, is the primary space agency of the Indian government. ISRO is amongst the six
largest government space agencies in the world, along with USA's NASA, Russia's RKA, Europe's ESA, China's CNSA and Japan's
JAXA. Its primary objective is to advance space technology and use its applications for national benefit.
Established in 1969, ISRO superseded the erstwhile Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). Headquartered
in Bangalore, ISRO is under the administrative control of the Department of Space, Government of India.
ISRO has achieved numerous milestones since its establishment. India's first satellite, Aryabhatta, was built by ISRO and
launched by the Soviet Union in 1975. Rohini, the first satellite to be placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle, SLV-3,
was launched in 1980. ISRO subsequently developed two other rockets: the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for putting
satellites into polar orbits and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for placing satellites into geostationary
orbits. These rockets have launched numerous communications satellites, earth observation satellites, and, in 2008,
Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to the Moon.
Asia Pacific Regional Review, 2010. HIV and AIDS Data Hub for Asia-Pacific (2010)
The first HIV case in the Asia-Pacific region was reported from Thailand in 1984. More than two decades later, HIV continues to
spread in this region. The HIV epidemic of the Asia-Pacific is diverse, with different transmission routes predominating in
different parts of the region. The epidemics are mainly driven by the behaviour of certain key populations at higher risk —
injecting drug users (IDUs), female, male and transgender sex workers (SWs) and their clients, and men who have sex with men
(MSM).
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the
maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment
of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action. Its powers
are exercised through United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is the independent, accounting standard-setting body of the IFRS
Foundation.
The IASB was founded on April 1, 2001 as the successor to the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC). It is
responsible for developing International Financial Reporting Standards (the new name for International Accounting Standards
issued after 2001), and promoting the use and application of these standards.
The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the
initiative of the G7.
The purpose of the FATF is to develop policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The FATF Secretariat is
housed at the headquarters of the OECD in Paris.
The Task Force was given the responsibility of examining money laundering techniques and trends, reviewing the action which
had already been taken at a national or international level, and setting out the measures that still needed to be taken to combat
money laundering. In April 1990, less than one year after its creation, the FATF issued a report containing a set of Forty
Recommendations, which provide a comprehensive plan of action needed to fight against money laundering.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is an autonomous apex statutory body which regulates and develops
the insurance industry in India. It was constituted by a Parliament of India act called Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority Act, 1999 and duly passed by the Government of India.
The agency operates its headquarters at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh where it shifted from Delhi in 2001
The IRDA Act, 1999 was passed as per the major recommendation of the Malhotra Committee report (1994) which
recommended establishment of an independent regulatory authority for insurance sector in India. Later, It was incorporated as
a statutory body in April, 2000. The IRDA Act, 1999 also allows private players to enter the insurance sector in India besides a
maximum foreign equity of 26 per cent in a private insurance company having operations in India. It serves as an Authority to
protect the interests of holders of insurance policies, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry
and for matters connected therewith.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator of the telecommunications business in India.
The policy of liberalisation that was embarked by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao in the 1990s helped the Indian Telecom
sector to grow rapidly. The government gradually allowed the entry of the private sectors into telecom equipment
manufacturing, value added services, radio paging and cellular mobile services. In 1994, the government formed the National
Telecom Policy (NTP) which helped to attract Foreign direct investments and domestic investments. The entry of private and
international players resulted in need of independent regulatory body. As a result, The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
was established on 20 February 1997 by an act of parliament called "Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997".
The mission of TRAI is to create and nurture an environment which will enable the quick growth of the telecommunication
sector in the country. One of the major objectives of TRAI is to provide a transparent policy environment. TRAI has regularly
issued orders and directions on various subjects like tariff, interconnections, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number
portability.
In 2000, the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) was constituted through an amendment of the 1997 act,
through an ordinance. The primary objective of TDSAT's establishment was to release TRAI from adjudicatory and dispute
settlement functions in order to strengthen the regulatory framework. Any dispute involving parties like licensor, licensee,
service provider and consumers are resolved by TDSAT. Also, any direction, order or decision of TRAI can be challenged by
appealing in TDSAT.
Green box policies refer to domestic or trade policies that are deemed to be minimally trade-distorting and that are excluded
from reduction commitments in the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. Examples are domestic policies dealing with
research, extension, inspection and grading, environmental and conservation programs, disaster relief, crop insurance, domestic
food assistance, food security stocks, structural adjustment programs, and direct payments not linked to production. Trade
measures or policies such as export market promotion (but not export subsidies or foreign food aid) are also exempt.
The Blue Box is an exemption from the general rule that all subsidies linked to production must be reduced or kept within
defined minimal (“de minimis”) levels. It covers payments directly linked to acreage or animal numbers, but under schemes
which also limit production by imposing production quotas or requiring farmers to set aside part of their land. Countries using
these subsidies— and there are only a handful — say they distort trade less than alternative Amber Box subsidies. Currently, the
only members notifying the WTO that they are using or have used the Blue Box are: the EU, Iceland, Norway, Japan, the Slovak
Republic, Slovenia, and the US (now no longer using the box).
Immiserising growth is a theoretical situation first proposed by Jagdish Bhagwati, in 1958, where economic growth could result
in a country being worse off than before the growth. If growth is heavily export biased it might lead to a fall in the terms of trade
of the exporting country. In rare circumstances this fall in the terms of trade may be so large as to outweigh the gains from
growth. If so, this situation would cause a country to be worse off after growth than before. This result is only valid if the
growing country is able to influence world prices. Harry G. Johnson had, independently, worked out conditions for this result in
1955.
Jagdish Natwarlal Bhagwati (born July 26, 1934) is an Indian economist and professor of economics and law at Columbia
University. He is well known for his research in international trade and for his advocacy of free trade. Bhagwati was born in
1934, into a Gujarati family in Mumbai, then in the Bombay Presidency during the British Raj, and graduated from Sydenham
College, Mumbai. He then went with "senior status" to read over two years for the BA in Economics at Cambridge (as did
colleague and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen who was at Trinity College) where he was a member of St. John's College, Cambridge
and received the degree in 1956. Bhagwati's experience at St John's College joined that of other eminent Indian economists
including Sir Partha Dasgupta and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He received the Ph.D. in Economics from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967.
Paul Anthony Samuelson (May 15, 1915 – December 13, 2009) was an American economist, and the first American to win the
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The Swedish Royal Academies stated, when awarding the prize, that he "has done
more than any other contemporary economist to raise the level of scientific analysis in economic theory". Economic historian
Randall E. Parker calls him the "Father of Modern Economics", and The New York Times considered him to be the "foremost
academic economist of the 20th century"
Raúl Prebisch (April 17, 1901 – April 29, 1986) was an Argentine economist known for his contribution to structuralist
economics, in particular the Singer–Prebisch thesis that formed the basis of economic dependency theory. He is sometimes
considered to be a neo-Marxian though this label is misleading Empty citation.
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess (too
high an intake), or in the wrong proportions. A number of different nutrition disorders may arise, depending on which nutrients
are under or overabundant in the diet. In most of the world, malnutrition is present in the form of under nutrition, which is
caused by a diet lacking adequate calories and protein. While malnutrition is more common in developing countries, it is also
present in industrialized countries. In wealthier nations it is more likely to be caused by unhealthy diets with excess energy, fats,
and refined carbohydrates. A growing trend of obesity is now a major public health concern in lower socio-economic levels and
in developing countries as well
BLUE REVOLUTION
They say, India is a land of farmers. But, what about fishing? Fishing in India is a major industry in its coastal states and employs
more than 15 million people. The fish production in India has increased more than tenfold since the time of independence. Fish
output has doubled between 1990 and 2010. India has a vast marine coastline of more than 8100 km, more than 3800 fishing
villages, and about 1900 traditional fish landing centres. India's fresh water resources consist of nearly 195,000 kilometres of
rivers and canals, 3 million hectares of minor and major reservoirs, 2.3 million hectares of ponds and lakes, and about 0.75
million hectares of flood plain wetlands and water bodies. The marine fish harvested in India, consist of about 65 commercially
important species/groups. India is a major supplier of fish in the world. Marine and freshwater catch fishing combined with
aquaculture fish farming is a rapidly growing industry in India.
Definition of 'Soft Currency'
A currency with a value that fluctuates as a result of the country's political or economic uncertainty. As a result of the of this
currency's instability, foreign exchange dealers tend to avoid it.
Also known as a "weak currency".
'Soft Currency'
Currencies from most developing countries are considered to be soft currencies. Often, governments from these developing
countries will set unrealistically high exchange rates, pegging their currencies to a currency such as the U.S. dollar.