1

ISSUES 2015
This section Issues 2015 is taken from Our :

ISBN : 9789385846335

MARCH

APRIL

Haryana Government Bans Cow

Slaughter: Haryana Government
passed the Haryana Gauvansh
Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan
Bill, 2015 which bans cow slaughter
in the state. This Bill aims to save and
develop indigenous breeds of cows
in the State. Anyone found guilty
of cow slaughter would be liable
for imprisonment for 3 to 10 years,
along with fine ranging from Rs. 30
thousand to Rs. 1 lakh. If a person
kills a cow in an accident or for
self-defence will not be considered
slaughter.
Sale of beef is completely banned
in the state. Any person found in
violation of the ban is liable to 3 to 5
years of rigorous imprisonment with
fine of up to Rs. 50 thousand. Any
person found guilty of exporting
a cow for the purpose of slaughter
either directly or indirectly will be
imprisoned for 3 to 7 years with a
fine ranging from Rs. 30 thousand to
Rs. 70 thousand.
Worlds Largest and Tallest Indian
Flag Unfurled in Haryana: Worlds
largest and tallest Indian national
flag was unfurled on 3rd March,
2015 at Town Park in Faridabad,
Haryana. The flags dimension is
96 feet by 64 feet and weighs 48
kilograms. It was hoisted at a height
of 250 feet (75 meters) which makes
it the Worlds largest and the highest
hoisted Indian flag. Another similar
flag is located at the Central Park
inConnaught Place, New Delhi.
The dimension of the flag is 60 feet
in width and 90 feet in length and is
hoisted on the top of a 207 feet high
mast.

Lowering of Age of Juveniles from

18 to 16 Years for Heinous Crimes
: On 23rd April 2015, Union Cabinet
approved lowering of age of juveniles
from eighteen to sixteen years for
heinous crimes.
This amendment proposes and adds
special provisions to tackle heinous
offences like murder and rape
committed by juveniles in the age
group of 16-18 year.
The cabinet also approved Amendment
to the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Bill, 2014.
The amendments in the bill add
provisions that in case a heinous crime
committed by a person between 16 and
18 years, the accused will be examined
by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to
assess if the crime was committed as
a child or as an adult. Then the trial
of the accused will take place either
as a juvenile or as an adult on basis
of JJBs assessment and accordingly
it will be decided whether the culprit
should be sent to an observation home
or tried in a regular court.
Amendments in the Prevention
of Corruption Act, 1988 : The
Union Cabinet headed by the Prime
Minister approved the proposal to
bring corruption under heinous crime
category. The approval was given
on 30th April, 2015. The proposed
amendment will ensure speedy trial
on corruption cases, limited to only
two years.
The Prevention of Corruption
(Amendment) Bill, 2013 was
introduced by the UPA government
in the Rajya Sabha. The committee
submitted its report on the bill to the
Rajya sabha in February,2014 but
the Bill was not passed. The latest

3
Cabinet decision further amended
the Bill based on the reports of the
Department related Parliamentary
Standing Committee and the Law
Commission of India on the earlier
Bill.
The approved bill includes penal
provisions being extended from
six months to three years and from
maximum five years to seven years.
Non-monetary gratification will also
be taken under the definition of the
word gratification in the proposed
corruption act,1988.
The proposed amendments also
give out a stricter punishment for
offences of bribery. Under this,boththe bribe giver and bribe taker would
be punished.

MAY
Governors Reshuffied: President
Pranab Mukherjee on 12th May
2015 appointed Governors for four
States, bringing down the number
of Governors who had been holding
the additional charge of more than
two States for the past few months.
These appointments and transfers
were done in accordance with Article
155 of the Constitution of India. V
Shanmuganathan, member of BJP
national executive, was appointed
as the Governor of Meghalaya.
Draupadi Murmu was appointed
as the Governor of Jharkhand. She
is from BJP and was a Member of
Legislative Assembly (MLA) from
Odishas Rairangpur constituency in
2000. Tathagata Roy was appointed
as Governor of Tripura. Roy had
unsuccessfully contested on BJP seat
from Kolkata Dakshin Lok Sabha
constituency in 2014. JP Rakkhowa
was appointed as Governor of
Arunachal Pradesh. He is a 1968-batch
IAS officer. Syed Ahmed, Governor

of Jharkhand was shifted to Manipur

and his tenure will end in September
2016. Also, Lt General (retd.) Nirbhay
Sharma, who was serving as Governor
of Arunachal Pradesh since May,
2011, was transferred and appointed
as Governor of Mizoram for the
remainder of his term, which ends
in 2018.

JUNE
Literacy Rate 71 Percent In Rural
Areas, 86 Percent In Urban Areas:
NSSO survey According to the NSSO
reports literacy rate in rural areas rose
to 71 per cent last year in comparison
to 86 per cent in urban areas. It was
also found out that among the age
group of seven years and above, male
literacy rate was higher than the female
literacy rate. In the children aged seven
year and above, the male literacy rate
was registered at 83 per cent whereas
the female literacy rate was 67 per cent.
According to the data recorded from
the rural areas, only 4.5 per cent of
males and 2.2 per cent of females are
graduates and above, while in the
urban areas 17 per cent of males and
13 per cent of females have completed
this level of education. It was also
found out that 72 per cent of the
students at primary level, 76 per cent at
upper primary level and 64 per cent at
secondary and higher secondary levels
have attended government institutions.
Whereas in urban areas, 31 per cent
at primary level, 38 per cent at upper
primary level as well as secondary
and higher secondary level attended
government institutions.
The nationwide survey was conducted
by the National Sample Survey Office
(NSSO) under the Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation.

4
Union Government hiked national
floor-level minimum wage to 160 rupees
per day: Union Labour and Employment
MinisterBandaru Dattatreya announced
that the National Floor Level
MinimumWage(NFLMW) has been
increased to Rs. 160 per day from
the current Rs. 137. The revised rate
will be effective from 1st July 2015.
The union minister has written to
the chief ministers andlieutenant
governors to take necessary steps to
fix minimum rates of wages in respect
of all scheduled employments in states
and union territories not below the
revised level.
NFLMW is a non-statutory measure
and after every revision states are
persuaded to fix minimum wages
such that in none of the scheduled
employments the minimum wage
is less than NFLMW. The list of
scheduled employment under the
Minimum Wage Act, 1948, differs
from state to state and covers a
wide spectrum of employment
creating sectors including industry,
construction,
agriculture
and
services sector.In order to have a
standardized wage structure and to
reduce the discrepancy in minimum
wages across the country, NFLMW
is fixed on the basis of the CPI-IW
(consumer price index for industrial
workers). The NFLMW was last
revised from Rs 115 to Rs 137 per
day in July 2013.

JULY
India to become most populous
nation by 2022: UN Report : The
UN has released a report on 29th
July 2015 named World Population
Prospectus: The 2015 Revision at the
UN Headquarters in New York which
stated India will soon surpass Chinas
Population in less than a decade. At
present, China is the most populous
country of the world with the
population approximately 1.38 billion

and India is second most populous

country with 1.31 billion people. India
and China cover around 18% and 19%
of the worlds population respectively.
According to this Report, by 2022,
India would become the most
populous nation of the world. It is
also stated that Indias population
will grow for several decades and it
will be around 1.5 billion by 2030 and
1.7 billion by 2050. If we see Indias
population density, it is already more
than double of that of China. Chinas
population density is 141 people per sq
km while Indias population density
is 382 people per sq km.
It is also projected in the report that
the worlds total population at present
is 7.3 billion which will increase up
to 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion
in 2050 and by the year 2100, there
will be 11.2
Socio Economic and Caste Census
2011: Union Government released the
first ever Socio-Economic and Caste
Census (SECC) after 80 years on the
lines of the 1931 census. It was released
by the Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitly and union Minister of Rural
development, Panchayati Raj, Water
supply and Sanitation, Chaudhary
Birendra Singh. The SECC findings
reflect the state of poverty and
deprivation as well as important
social trends in rural India such as
ownership of assets, marital status,
gender dynamics, educational and
employment in rural India.
Following are the indications according
to the census:
There are 24.39 crore total
number of households in the
country, of which 17.91 crore
live in villages. Of these 10.69
crore households are considered
as deprived 50 per cent or 5.37
crore households in rural areas
are landless and depend on
manual labour for livelihood.

5
Household Size: Average size of
a rural Indian household is 4.93.
Uttar Pradesh has the highest at
6.26 and Andhra Pradesh has
the lowest of 3.86. 2.37 crore
(13.25%) families live in one
room houses with kaccha walls
and roof.
Literacy: 36 per cent of 884
million people living in rural
India are illiterate. Over onethird of population living in
rural areas is illiterate. This is
higher than the 32% recorded
in 2011 census. In terms of
percentage Kerala has higher
literacy (88.62), Delhi (86.42),
Goa (84.58), Sikkim (79.88)
and Himachal Pradesh (77.95).
Rajasthan has the lowest literacy
rate (58), Madhya Pradesh
(44.9), Bihar (43.85), Telengana
(40.42) and Chattisgarh (39.59).
SC and ST Population: Large
proportion of households across
the country belongs to the SC
and ST category, i.e. about 30
per cent of rural households.
Employment: Rural India has
largely self-employed population
or people are employed mostly
in the unorganised sector.
Around 10 per cent households
are on salaried jobs of which the
majority are in government jobs.
The SECC 2011 was conducted in all
states and union territories of India
and the first findings were revealed
on 3rd July 2015 by Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitly. SECC 2011 is
also first paperless census in India
conducted on hand-held electronic
devices by the government in 640
districts. The Union Government
has taken a decision to use the SECC
data in all its programmes such as
MGNREGA, National Food Security
Act, Deen Dayal Upadhaya Grameen
Kaushalaya Yojana.

SEBI Cancelled Certificate of

Registration of Sahara Mutual
Fund : The capital market regulator
SEBI (Securities and Exchange
Board of India) has cancelled the
registration of Sahara Mutual Fund
as it had found that the fund house
and their sponsors are no longer a
fit and proper company to do mutual
fund business. The Sahara group is
a leading privately owned company.
SEBI ordered Sahara to transfer
all the operations and activities of
Sahara India Financial Corporation
Limited (Sahara Sponsor) and Sahara
Asset Management Company Private
Limited (Sahara AMC) to an another
fund house and SEBI approved Asset
Management Company in five months.
The company was also instructed to
return the Certificate of Registration
to SEBI within six months.
SEBI also passed an order that if
Sahara fails to transfer asset to another
asset manager within the given time
frame, then it will be mandatory for
Sahara to redeem the units allotted to
its investors and credit the respective
fund to the investors within 30 days,
that too without any additional cost.

SEPTEMBER
Law Commission submits report on
Death Penalty : The Law Commission
of India on 31 August submitted its
272-page draft report on the Death
penalty to the Union Government.
The report favours speedy abolition
of the death penalty from the statute
books, except in cases where the
accused is convicted of involvement in
a terror case or waging war against the
nation. The report was submitted by
Chairman of Law commission Justice
(retd) AP Shah.

6
The report further said that, the
administration of death penalty, even
within the restrictive environment of
rarest of rare doctrine was constitutionally
unsustainable. Continued administration
of death penalty raises constitutional
questions related to the miscarriage of
justice, errors, as well as the plight of
the poor in the criminal justice system.
Main highlights of the report
The commission questioned the
mercy petition system provided
for under the Constitution.
The exercise of mercy powers
under Articles 72 and 161 of
Indian Constitution have failed
in acting as the final safeguard
against miscarriage of justice
in the imposition of the death
sentence.
The report stated that from 26
January 1950 till date, successive
Presidents have accepted 306
mercy petitions and rejected 131.
In focusing on death penalty, as
the ultimate measure of justice
to victims, the restorative and
rehabilitative aspects of justice
are lost sight of.
It is essential that the state
establish effective compensation
schemes to rehabilitate victims
of crime.
The voices of victims and witnesses
are often silenced by threats
and other coercive techniques
employed by powerful accused
persons. Hence, it is essential that
a witness protection scheme shall
also be established.
FCRA registration of Greenpeace
cancelled
The Union home ministry on
September 3 cancelled the foreign
contribution
registration
of
Greenpeace India as it continued using
its Foreign Contribution Registration
Act (FCRA) accounts despite the
suspension of the same.

In an affidavit filed in court, the

ministry of home affairs claimed
that Greenpeace had violated FCRA
by mixing its foreign and domestic
contributions. The affidavit was
filed in a plea moved by the NGO
challenging the suspension of its
FCRA registration and freezing of
its foreign and domestic contribution
accounts. Greenpeace was on 27 May
allowed by the court to use two of its
accounts for the purpose of receiving
and utilizing fresh domestic donations
for its day-to-day functioning. The
ministry had on 9 April suspended
the NGOs registration under FCRA
for 180 days.
Greenpeace India was founded in
2001, and is a registered society with
offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,
Patna, Kolkata and Chennai.
Greenpeace India campaigns to
protect Indias forests, for clean air
and water, to promote solar power,
to prevent the dangerous impacts of
climate change and nuclear power, for
safe food and ecological farming and
to protect freedom of speech.
One Rank One Pension scheme
finally announced
The Union Government on 5
September 2015 announced One Rank
One Pension (OROP) scheme for exservicemen. The scheme was pending
for nearly four decades. This was
announced by the Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar. The scheme OROP
will be in effect from 1 July 2014.
OROP, (one rank, one pension) scheme
promises to pay uniform pension to
the Armed Forces Personnel retiring
in the same rank with the same
length of service irrespective of their
date of retirement and any future
enhancement in the rates of pension
to be automatically passed on to the
past pensioners.

7
Highlights of OROP
Will be in force from July 1, 2014
and the base year will be 2013
Estimated
cost
for
the
implementation of OROP is
8,000 to 10,000 Crores
Pension revision after every 5 years
Soldiers who have died naturally
during war will be a beneficiary
of the OROP scheme
Arrears will be paid in instalments
4 half yearly
All widows including war
widows will be paid arrears in
one instalment
Revised pension will be the
average of the minimum and
maximum pension in 2013
Those who were drawing above
the average will be protected,
their pension will not be reduced
A one-member judicial committee
will be constituted which will
report on equalization period in
6 months, for revision of pension
Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban
Mission
Union Cabinet headed by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on 16
September 2015 approved the Shyama
Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
(SPMRM). The Mission was approved
with an outlay of 5142.08 crore rupees
and facilitates transforming rural
areas to economically, socially and
physically sustainable spaces.
The mission aims to create 300 Rurban
growth clusters over the next 3 years,
across the country. Development of
Rurban growth clusters, which have
latent potential for growth, in all States
and Union Territories to trigger overall
development in the region. These
clusters are essentially Smart Villages.
Rural growth clusters would be
developed by provisioning of
economic activities, developing
skills and local entrepreneurship and
providing infrastructure amenities.

The funding for Rurban Clusters

will be through various schemes of
the Government converged into the
cluster. The SPMRM will provide an
additional funding support of up to 30
percent of the project cost per cluster
as Critical Gap Funding (CGF) as
Central Share to enable development
of such Rurban clusters.

OCTOBER
Article 370 cant be changed,
abrogated: J&K High Court :
Jammu and Kashmir High Court,
in their judgement, have stated that
Article 370 cannot be abrogated or
amended as it is a permanent feature
of the Constitution. The Article 370
grants special status to the State.
The Judgment Bench comprised
of justices Hasnain Massodi and
Janak Raj Kotwal. They said that
though Article 370 was a temporary
provision, it has gained permanence
in the Constitution. Under Article
370 (1), the President was given the
right to extend any provision of the
Constitution to the State subject to
consultation and agreement of the
State government; he may choose
to amend, alter, delete or omit part
or make additions to a provision
applied to the State. Some general
category government officials filed
petitions to challenge orders released
by the government to promote junior
officials under the Reservation Act and
Rules. These officials are members of
J&K Engineering (Gazetted) Service
Hydraulic Wing, J&K Law officers
(subordinate) Service, J&K Animal
Husbandry (Gazetted) Service. The
court stated that the provisions
of reservation made in terms of
Section 6 of Reservation Act and
Reservation Rules 9, 10 and 34 were
unconstitutional. The Constituent
Assembly of J&K did not recommend
any amendment of Article 370 before
its dissolution in 1957.

8
Government test shows 12.5%
food items contain unapproved
pesticides: On October 2, 2015,
traces of pesticides in significant
amount were found in a number of
vegetables, fruits, milk and other food
items by the government. The samples
were collected from wholesale outlets
and retail stores across the country.
Monitoring of Pesticide Residues was
launched in the year 2005 to ensure
that the food items do not contain
any pesticides in them. About 12.50
percent of the 20618 samples gathered
were found adulterated with pesticides
according to the report from the
Monitoring of Pesticide Residues.
1,180 vegetable samples, 225 fruit
samples, 732 spice samples, 30 rice
samples and 43 pulses samples were
tested. Apart from these, wheat, fish,
meat, egg, tea, milk and even surface
water were examined by the ministry.
The pesticides found during the 201415 collection were non-approved
ones like profenophos, metalaxyl
and hexaconazole in rice, triazofos,
metalaxyl, carbaryl and acephate in
pulses, acephate, bifenthrin, triazofos,
acetamiprid, malathion and metalaxyl
in vegetables. The samples taken from
organic outlets and Agricultural
Produce Marketing Committee
(APMC) markets were also found
contaminated with pesticides.
Mortality rate among Indian girls
below age of five higher than the
boys: UN Report : According to the
report released by United Nations
(UN), India is one of the countries
that is experiencing excess of the
male gender when compared to the
girls. More deaths of girl child under
age five, has been noted in India.
The mortality rate of girls in the

country is directly connected with

the preference of the parents for a
boy child. Vaccinations, parental
care, parental investments, special
treatment are among few benefits that
boys get over girls. Despite banning of
the sex-selective abortions, there has
been little effect on the sex ratio so far.
Eastern Asia has about 50.5 million,
Southern Asia about 49.5 million and
Western Asia has about 12.1 million
of surplus men. The high percentages
of the surplus men in these regions are
mainly due to China, India and Saudi
Arabia and the UAE respectively. The
percentage of labour among women
has decreased from 35 to 27 in India
and 72 to 64 in China. Child marriage
is yet another issue that is practiced in
South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
India holds one-third of the total child
marriages taking place in the world.
NEW BLACK MONEY LAW
Under the new law, a three
month compliance window has
been given for disclosure of all
undeclared foreign assets fill next
month, for which they would
need to pay 30% tax & 30%
penalty & escape further action.
After this window, anyone with
undisclosed foreign assets would
have to pay 30% tax & 90% penalty
& they would also be liable/labile
for jail term of upto 10 years.
The law also provides for
Punishment for abetment. This
provision would be applicable to
everyone who abets or induces
in any manner another person
to make & deliver an account
or a statement or declaration
relating to tax payable under this
Act which is false & which he

9
either knows to be false or does
not belive to be true or to commit
on offence. The abettor would
be punishable with rigorous
imprisonment for a term which
shall not be less than 6 months
but which may extend to 7 years
& with fine.

Last-Minute Rush
Nearly 300
people have
declared assets
under new black
money law

The total
amount
is close to
`3,000 cr

Fillings can
be made on
line in return
they will not
be prosecuted
under the
harsh law
The declarations will be kept secret

STEEP TAX

Those declaring
tax will have to pay
30 % tax and 30%
penalty

NOVEMBER
Ten Straight Monthly Decline in
Exports : Contracting for the 10th

month in a row Indias merchandise

exports dipped 24.33% in September
to USD 21.84 billion, mainly due to
step fall in shipments of petroleum
products, iron ore jens & jewelery, tea
,coffee & engineering goods amid tepid
global demand.
An overvalued rupee, declining imports
from china & slewer global growth
are seen as reasons for Indias export
woes. The commerce department is
pressing for more incentives such as
subsidised finance to give a boost to
Indias exports.
Exports in the first half of the year
were about $133 billion. In 2014-15,
Indias exports totaled $310.5 billion.
Tobacco, oil meals & cereal
preparations have been added to
the new list of products showing
growth, besides drugs & pharma, jute,
products including floor coverings &
handicrafts.

Trade Woes
Contraction in export and import deepens...

10
NOT MUCH TO CHEER

JAN

8.32

24 out of 30 exports sector

show contraction

FAB

6.84

Among the big items

only pharma has reported
growth
Engineering goods exports
down 22 %
Petroleum exports decline
60%

..but trade deficit

manageable levels

at

MANY ISSUES
MAR 11.79 Global trade growing at a
APR 10.99 slow pace
10.4

Comeptition tough for

India because of over
JUN 10.82 valued rupee
JUL 12.81 Chinas imports falling
12.47
AUG
Low
crude
prices
10.47 impacting both exports and
SEP
imports
MAY

Daughters cannot inherit Ancestral

Property if father died before 2005:
SC : The Supreme Court of India has
said that right to ancestral property of
a daughter does not apply if the father
died before the year 2005. According
to the amended provisions of the
Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act,
2005, it is important for the father to be
alive on September 9, 2005, to let the
daughter inherit a share in her fathers
property along with the other male
siblings. The Hindu Succession Act
of 1956 originally denied any right
of women on the inheritance of
ancestral property as her brothers
or male relatives had. However, the
amendment entails a restriction that
if the property had been alienated or
partitioned before the date the Bill
was introduced, that it, December
20, 2004, the woman or girl child
will not be given any share to the
property. The daughters will not be
able to make appeal in the court for
such properties. The restriction has
been the judgement of the apex court.
Regarding the applicability of the new
amendment, it has been said that the

new law would apply regardless of the

date of birth of the girl child.

DECEMBER
India Ranks 130th in Human
Development Index: UNDP: As
per United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) report on account
of rise in life expectancy and per capita
income, India has been ranked among
130 among 188 countries in 2014 in
Human Development Report 2015
comparing to 135 in 2014 report. The
2015 Human Development Report
(2015 HDR) was on Rethinking Work
for Human Development. Between
1980 and 2014, Indias HDI value
increased from 326 to 0.609 showing
an increase of 68.1% or an average
annual increase of about 1.54%.
Norway topped followed by Australia
and Switzerland in the list.
Union Cabinet Gives Nod to Amend
Constitution (Scheduled Castes)
Order, 1950 : The Union Cabinet,
chaired by Prime Minister, gave its
approval for introduction of a Bill
for amendments to the Constitution
(Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, in

11
order to modify the list of Scheduled
Castes in respect of the five states
Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala,
Odisha and West Bengal. The castes
and communities that were found
eligible for their inclusion in SC
category are Sais from Chhatisgarh
who are also known as Sahis,
Sarathi, Soot-Sarathi and Thanwar.
Two castes from Haryana have also
been included in the SC list. These
are Aheria, also called Aheri, Hari,
Heri, Thori and Turi, and Rai Sikh.
In Kerala, Peruvannan caste has
been included the SC list while
Malayan from certain areas will
also be entitled to the same benefits.
Castes, which have been excluded
from the OBC list consequent upon
their inclusion in SC list include
Bariki and Kummari from Odisha,
while the area restriction of the
inclusion of Chain caste in West
Bengal has been removed. The
proposal also seeks some changes in
the Central List of Other Backward
Classes of the states of Chattisgarh,
Haryana and Kerala. After the Bill
becomes an Act, members of the
communities included in the list
of Scheduled Castes will be able to
derive benefits meant for Scheduled
Castes under the existing schemes.
Nirbhaya Case Juvenile Released
: The woman was found with her
intestines pulled out of her body. She
was dubbed Nirbhaya, one without
fear, as she struggled for survival,
first in Delhi and then in a hospital
in Singapore. She died of her injuries
13 days later. One of six men convicted
of taking part in the savage 2012 gang
rape of an Indian physiotherapy

student on a moving Delhi bus was

released after completing his full
three-year sentence behind bars. He
had participated in the most heinous
of acts, but because he was just shy
of his 18th birthday on the night of
the rape, he served only three years
in custody, a sentence that many felt
amounted to a severe miscarriage of
justice.
The crime shook the country, stirred
global outrage and brought focus on
Indias attitudes and treatment of
women. The victim died of her injuries
13 days after the brutal attack.
The law states that the under-18
rapist cannot be named. Under
Indias juvenile justice laws, a
minors maximum punishment is
three years at a reform facility. The
Indian government had opposed
his release, but the New Delhi High
Court refused to grant a petition for
prolonged custody.
Indias juvenile justice laws were
drafted with the best of intentions
and aimed at reform for minors. In
the aftermath of the gang rape, a bill
introduced in Parliament sought to
amend the law to make exceptions to
the three-year sentence limit in cases
of heinous crimes. But that bill was
tabled in the upper house. Indian law
enforcement and lawmakers had asked
for continued custody of the minor,
who has been held at an institution
for juvenile reform. But the high court
could not find legal ground on which
to issue a stay. A three-year sentence
seemed vastly disproportionate given
the nature of the rape. The crime was
unimaginably brutal.

12

JANUARY
Year 2014 ranked as Earths hottest
year since 1880: The year 2014
was the worlds hottest on record.
Scientist from two federal agencies
monitoring global climate trends,
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), conducted
independent analysis based on satellite
and ground readings. It was found that
averaged temperature over land and
ocean surfaces for 2014 was 58.24
degrees Fahrenheit, 1.24F (0.69C)
above the 20th century average,
recorded in1880. This included record
heat in the western United States,
Europe, Australia, and much of the
Pacific Ocean.
The human races inability to
control global warming due to rising
concentrations of carbon dioxide,
soot and other greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere, such as methane
and nitrous oxide, and to landuse changes has resulted in rising
temperatures and will continue to
do so if a collaborative effort fails to
curb it even now.

MAY
Global Warming Will Make 1 in 6
Species Extinct: Study According
to a new analysis one in six of the
planets species will be lost forever
to extinction if world leaders fail
to take action on climate change.
The change is a result of manmade
emissions of greenhouse gases, such

as carbon dioxide leading to the

extinction risks to species large and
small. The severe warning on the
global warmings impact on animals
and plants has come just months
before nearly 200 governments
meet for UN climate talks in Paris
in an attempt toforge a global deal
on cutting carbon emissions. The
endemic plants and animals of
Australia, South America and New
Zealand are at greater risk as they
would unable to go to other place
when their only homeland becomes
uninhabitable. The study published
was titled Accelerating extinction risk
from climate change and is authored
by Mark C. Urban who further said
that it was not possible to calculate
how long the extinctions would take,
but the rare species would get extinct
for sure as it would happen due to
the changing climate like habitat
loss and environmental degradation.
The study also revealed that total 16
percent of species in the world would
face the risk of extinction because of
the climatic change.
119th Constitutional Amendment
Bill cleared : The Union Cabinet
chaired
by
Prime
Minister
Narendra Modi approved the 119th
Constitutional Amendment Bill on
Land Boundary Agreement (LBA)
between India and Bangladesh.
The parliament of India passed the
119th constitutional amendment
bill 2013 on 7th May 2015 after
the consent of the President of
India Pranab Mukherjee. The bill
aims to amend the 1st schedule of

13
the constitution for the exchange
of disputed territories occupied
by both the nations in agreement
with the 1974 bilateral LBA (Land
Boundary Agreement). This will
put a stop to the illegal immigration
and various criminal acts going on
across the border. It will solve the
border related disputes involving the
north-eastern states like Meghalaya,
Tripura, Assam and West Bengal
and improve the development works
of the region. It will also provide
relief to stateless citizens living in
the isolated lands of the countries
by granting them citizenship and
basic government services. The
bill was placed in the Rajya Sabha
in 2013 and subsequently referred
to a select committee, headed
by Shashi Tharoor of Congress,
which unanimously recommended
implementation of the deal.

JULY
Greece defaults on IMF debt : Greece
has become first developed country
to default on debt of International
Monetary Fund (IMF); an organisation
of 188 nations that tries to keep the
world economy stable. Greece became
a defaulter after it failed to pay $ 1.7
to the IMF. It is the first time in the
history of IMF that an advanced
economy has defaulted on a loan from
the worlds financial backstop, putting
Athens, which has seen its economy
contract by more than 25 per cent
since 2009, in the same bracket as
Zimbabwe, Sudan and Cuba. Greece
will now be cut off from access to IMF
resources until its payment is made.
After default, Greece shut its banks,
imposed capital controls and limited

ATM withdrawals to prevent the public

from emptying the banks.
The Eurozone finance ministers
refused to extend the bailout to
Greece after it rejected the proposal
given by the troika; International
Monetary Fund (IMF), European
Commission (EC) and European
Central Bank (ECB). According to the
proposal Greece needs to increase its
primary surplus within the next two
years, in order to receive 15.5 billion
Euros funding which in turn required
pension and tax reforms for which the
government is reluctant.
Iran, P5+1 countries reached
agreement on Irans nuclear
programme at Vienna: On 14th
July, 2015, in Vienna, Iran and P5+1
country (United States, The United
Kingdom (UK), Russia, China, France
and Germany made an agreement
on Irans nuclear programme.
The agreement is named as Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA)
or Vienna Agreement. The agreement
came into existence after 17 days f
uninterrupted negotiations involving
foreign ministers of seven countries in
Vienna. After this, agreement needed
to be approved by the Un Security
Council (UNSC) and came into force
after 90 days.
The deal reached after 12 year
standoff is a significant development
in the global politics. This deal would
probably give a psychological boost
to Iran on two fronts. Moreover, also
lead to greater mutual cooperation
and understanding on various
serious and security challenges in the
Middle East. The deal is a significant
achievement for the president of

14
Iran, Hassan Rouhani, with the help
of whom this 12 year old standoff
with western powers came to an
end and also the economy of Iran
will get a major boost in trade and
investment start to flow within and
outside Iran by this deal.
World Day Against Trafficking
in Persons observed: To raise
awareness
among
worldwide,
UN launched the Day against
Trafficking person for the first time.
The day is now observed on 30th
July worldwide. It is a day for action
and to give victims back their dignity
and enjoy their basic fundamental
human right to live freely and not in
enslavement.
Across the world, human beings
are kidnapped, tricked, blackmailed
and manipulated into slavery such
as children are forced to do labour,
men for organ removal and women
for prostitution. Most targeted
among all are children.
Every country across the world is
affected by human trafficking, so
July 30th is observed as World day
against trafficking which calls to
fight for people for profit crime.
This day is launched for joining
hands together to eliminate the
transnational threat to the roots by
supporting and protecting victims.
Till now, approx 4.5 million peoples
from 152 countries of origin and
124 countries of destination are the
victim by trafficking in person and
among these, 98% are women and
girls and children who are victims of
forced sexual exploitation and child
labour.

AUGUST
Women in Saudi Arabia to
participate in elections : Women
in Saudi Arabia were finally
awarded the right to cast their votes
and also contest in the elections.
King Abdullah made the official
announcement for the same in 2011
and the decision eventually came
to effect in 2015. The decision is
quite significant in relation with
conservative Islamic kingdom.
Dozens of women are expected to
contest Saudi Arabias municipal
elections for the first time in the
countrys history.
Saudi Arabia and Vatican City are
the countries which encouraged
participation of only men during the
electoral season. With Saudi Arabia
enabling a shift a policy shift to bring
the women in par with the men,
Vatican City is yet to make a call for
a similar change.
Women in the oil-rich Gulf state,
which applies a strict segregation of
the sexes, are banned from driving
and have to cover themselves in
public from head to toe. They also
have to obtain the consent of a male
guardian to travel, work, apply for a
passport or to marry.

SEPTEMBER
21st International Day for the
Preservation of the Ozone Layer :
The UN General Assembly in
1994 proclaimed 16th September
as the International Day for the
Preservation of the Ozone Layer
to commemorate the date of the
signing of the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone

15
Layer. The theme and the slogan
for the year 2015 are 30 Years of
Healing the Ozone Together and
Ozone: All there is between you
and UV respectively.
The countries are invited to devote
the day to promote activities in
accordance with the objectives of
the Protocol and its amendments. In
India, the day was celebrated with
organising various competitions for
school children like poster design
competition, painting competition
and slogan-writing competition.
In this regard, Union Minister of
Environment, Forest and Climate
Change,
Prakash
Javadekar
released a booklet titled Montreal
Protocol: Indias Success Story on
the occasion. The year also marks
the 30th anniversary of the Vienna
Convention for the Protection of the
Ozone Layer that was signed on 22
March 1985.
Russia rejected French proposal
to limit veto power of UNSCs
permanent members : Russia on
September 2 dismissed as populist
a French proposal to limit the use of
the veto at the UN Security Council.
France has launched an initiative
to persuade the other four Security
Council permanent members Britain, China, Russia and the United
States - to refrain from using their
veto at least in cases involving mass
atrocities that demands action. The
veto power accorded to the P5 dates
back to the UNs foundation, but calls
for re-thinking its use have mounted
as the world body celebrates its 70th
anniversary this year.

It was the first time that Russia had

come out in opposition to restricting
the use of the veto. The French
proposal gained traction after Russia
and China used their veto power
last year to block a resolution asking
the International Criminal Court
to investigate crimes committed in
Syria. Russia argued that declaring
that mass atrocities have occurred
could become a political tool,
and raised questions about who
would be empowered to make that
determination.
Frances idea has been welcomed by
some 70 non-veto wielding memberstates at the United Nations. China
and the United States however have
also expressed reservations. France
will host a meeting on September 30
on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly session to discuss its
proposal, one year after it launched
the idea. Veto power can be termed as
the de-facto control over the UNSC
by the five permanent members also
known as the Permanent Five, Big
Five, or P5 since the creation of UN
in 1945.

OCTOBER
Extreme Poverty to Fall Below
10% for First Time: World Bank
On October 4, 2015, acknowledged
that for the first time the population
living in extreme poverty is to fall
below 10% in the year 2015. Living
on or below $1.25 a day, has been
described as extreme poverty. The
poverty line has however been fixed
at $1.90 by the World Bank on the
basis of cost of living in different
countries. On the basis of the new
data and benchmark, the World

16
Bank estimates about 702 million
people of the worlds population will
be living a life under extreme poverty
in the year 2015 as compared to
the year 2012 when the population
living under extreme poverty was
902 million. A clear fall from 12.8%
to 9.6% can be observed. It has been
noted that the fall in poverty has been
due to growth in economic rates,
especially in emerging markets of
India. However, a slower economic
growth, high youth unemployment,
conflicts and the effect of climatic
changes would turn out to be hurdles
for satisfying the target set by the
United Nations to end poverty by
the year 2030.

NOVEMBER
Paris rocked by an Unprecedented
Terrorist Attack: Many Paris residents
and tourists were enjoying a soccer
match between France and Germany
when horror struck Paris. Sites
throughout French Capital including
the match stadium were attacked by
terrorists some of whom carried AK47s while some were reported to have
strapped themselves with bombs. 128
persons were reported to have been
killed and over 250 were injured in
the attacks. ISIS claimed to have taken
the responsibility of Paris attacks. The
attacks killed scores and left the nation
mourning and the globe in shock.
Bataclan Theatre was the main target
of the attack. Witnesses said that the
scene in there was a massacre. It was
reported that 87 people were killed after
gunmen barged into the concert hall.

Eagles of Death Metal, the famous

American rock band was playing the
concert with 1500 guests present.
Ambulances raced back and forth in
the area to help victims. Emergency
was declared in France by the French
President, Francois Hollande. His trip
to the G-20 summit of 2015 had to
be cancelled, too. President Obama
offered his condolences and assistance
for the investigation reported the White
House.
The Global Gender Gap Index 2015
: The Global Gender Gap Index was
first introduced by the world economic
forum in 2006 as a framework for
capturing the magnitude of genderbased disparities & tracking their
progress. This year is the 10th edition
of the Index, allowing for time-series
analysis on the changing patterns of
gender equality around the world
& comparisons between & within
countries.
The Global Gender Gap Index
examines the gap between men &
women in 4 fundamental categories
(sub indexes):1. Economic
Participation
Opportunity.

&

2. Educational Attainment.
3. Health & Survival.
4. Political Empowerment.
The Global Gender Gap Index
2015 ranks 145 economies with the
highest possible score is 1 (equality)
& the lowest possible score is 0
(inequality).

17
INDIAS POSITION
Gender Gap Index 2015
Rank
Score
108
0.664

2015 RANK
GLOBAL TOP TEN
COUNTRY
RANK
Iceland
1
Norway
2
Finland
3
Sweden
4
Ireland
5
Rwanda
6
Philippines
7
Switzerland
8
Slovenia
9
New Zealand
10

SEX RATIO IN INDIA

2011 940 Females for every 1000
Males
2014 942 Females for every 1000
Males
2015 943 Females for every 1000
Males
Global Terrorism Index 2015 (GTI)
Produced by the Institute for
economics & peace, the GTI is based
on data from the global terrorism
Database which is collected & collated
bye the National Consortium for the
study of Terrorism & Responses to
terrorism. The GTI is a comprehensive
study which accounts for the direct &
indirect impact of terrorism in 162
countries in terms of its effect on
lives lost, injuries, property damage
& the psychological after-effects of
terrorism.

GTI RANKS 2015

5GTI RANK

COUNTRY

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Iraq
Afghanistan
Nigeria
Pakistan
Syria
India
Yamen
Somalia
Libya
Thailand

President of Maldives Abdulla

Yameen
declared
state
of
emergency: Maldives declared a
state of emergency from November
4 onward for a period of 30 days. The
emergency was declared on grounds
of threat to national security. The 3.4
lakh population country has about
1,192 small coral islands. The economy
of the country largely depends on
the tourism. Such threats of national
security affect the tourism business
to a great extent leading to slowing
of the economy. The conviction of
the countrys president, Mohamed
Nasheed, has been the major reason
behind Maldives current political
chaos. Nasheed was jailed for a term of
13 years on charges of using military
to arrest of a senior judicial officer.
Nasheeds party members protested
against his arrest by organising a
rally against the government. It was
feared that the supporters in the rally
may make use of explosives and to
avoid taking any chances, the present
government took the measure of
enforcing emergency in the country.
It has also been reported that present
President Abdulla Yameens boat was
bombed leaving his wife and kids

18
injured. For planning the blast, Vice
President Ahmed Adeeb was held
responsible.

DECEMBER

Brazil Entered Longest Recession

since 1930s: The economy of Brazil
is in a shaky condition. The worlds
seventh largest economy Brazils
economy shrank 4.5 per cent yearon-year in the third quarter that is
sharper than expected recession and
its GDP shrank 1.7 per cent from the
previous quarter. There are many key
reasons for this recession the primary
reasons for recession are constant
global economic slowdown, shrinkage
in exports and unprecedented scandal
at the government-run oil company
Petrobras. All these reasons together
have had impact on economy in
the country and thus diminishing
economy. The unemployment rate is
8.9 per cent during July-September
2015 higher from 6.8 per cent in 201415. Household spending has been cut
down by 4.5 per cent during JulySeptember 2015. Brazils currency
Real is down about 31 per cent against
the dollar. The inflation is 10 per cent
which is the highest in 12 years.
Glaciers in Mount Everest Shrink
28% in 40 Years: Himalayas
stretch across six nations; Bhutan,
China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and
Afghanistan. The outer Himalayas
lie between the lease Himalayas and
the Indo Gangetic plain which is a
source of three of the worlds major
river systems: the Indus Basin, the
Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin and the
Yangtze Basin. Chinese Academy
of Sciences (CAS) has released a
report showing Glaciers on Mount

Everest have shrunk by 28% over

the past 40 years due to climate
change. Glaciers on Mount Everest
are a major source of Asian rivers
including Brahmaputra and Ganges.
Data was based on long-term remote
sensing and on-site monitoring where
glacial shrinkage area is compared to
the measurements taken in the 1970s.
The shrinking glaciers have resulted in
swelling glacial lakes and higher river
levels. Earlier a group of international
researchers had warned that the
estimated 5,500 glaciers in the Hindu
Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region site
of many of the worlds tallest peaks
including Mount Everest could reduce
their volume by 70-99% by 2100.
Arctic
Region
Hits
Record
High Temperature over Land :
Annual Arctic Report Card of
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), a federal
agency of US for monitoring condition
of the oceans and the atmosphere has
revealed that the average temperature
over Arctic land for the year ending
in September 2015 was the highest
on record indicating that the Arctic
is warming twice as fast as other
parts of the Earth. The Arctic was
3 degrees Celsius above average for
the year ending in September 2015.
The recorded temperature rise is the
warmest since observations began in
1900. Due to temperature rise the
ice in this region is growing thinner
each year. The sea ice coverage in the
Arctic has reached its peak in February
2015 and marked the lowest extent
since record-taking began in 1979.
The newly formed thin ice comprises
about 70% of the winter ice cover in
the Arctic Ocean compared to about
half that in the 1980s.