defence component, this is the first such visit since both countries established bilateral relations in 1991.
Relations have also considerably warmed up after the new government took over in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had met in New York in September last year on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is expected to visit Israel after the new government there is in place.
Mr. Ya’alon will head a senior delegation of Ministry of Defence officials, including Director General of Ministry of Defence Maj. Gen. (Res.) Dan Harel and CEOs of Israeli Defence companies.
Fifteen Israeli companies and hundreds of Israeli representatives will take part in the Aero India event.
“The visit of Minister of Defence Ya’alon to India is an important event and the manifestation of the growing relations between the two countries across the board, including in defence cooperation. India and Israel share many challenges and interests and I am sure this visit will strengthen the friendship and partnership we have with India,” said Daniel Carmon, the Ambassador of Israel in India, in a statement.
He said this was the second such ceasefire violation by Pakistan since Saturday. Pakistan Rangers fired two to three mortar shells in Nowapind border outpost area along the IB in the R.S. Pura sector of the district on Saturday night. The shells exploded in an isolated area and no one was injured. An infiltration bid was also foiled by the Army along the Line of Control in Poonch district on Saturday.
Defence spokesman of Northern Command, Colonel S.D. Goswami, said three to four persons tried to cross the LoC under cover of Pakistani firing but they fled back when Indian troops opened fire. — PTI
BJP, PDP propose phased withdrawal of AFSPAThe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will have a lot of explaining to do to their respective constituencies if they tie up. The task is harder for the BJP and difficult to pull off, unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi throws his weight fully behind it.
In an exclusive interview to The Hindu on Saturday, PDP patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said Mr. Modi had a “mandate to make India a great power.”
“J&K is the most difficult problem faced by all Indian prime ministers. But the opportunity provided by the hung verdict this time is historic,” the PDP leader had said.
During the talks the point came up that while the Army has in practice already diluted the impunity of troops under the AFSPA, its continuing application in the entire State is bringing a bad name to New Delhi. Both parties are working towards a scheme to roll back the law in a phased manner.
While the BJP has been open to engaging the separatists and Pakistan and to address the concerns regarding the AFSPA, the most difficult of all issues is formulating a position acceptable to both parties on the State’s special status. The proposal on the table is for the CMP to keep all contentious issues in suspension for discussion in a future mechanism, a “roundtable.”
Two other questions on the BJP agenda that are sensitive in the Valley are delimitation of constituencies in the State, and the status of those who crossed over to Jammu from what became Pakistan in 1947. These issues also will have to be suspended, for the CMP to take shape.
Malnourishment high among children of migrants: studyThe level of malnourishment is high among children whose parents migrate in search of livelihood. Inherent malnourishment in mothers, lack of food and nutrition security, feeding and dietary practices and illnesses are some of the reasons identified for high levels of malnourishment.
A study ‘Understanding hunger and malnutrition among high migrant communities’ conducted in south Rajasthan by Aajeevika Bureau and EdelGive Foundation has revealed that more than half the children were underweight in those communities where migration was high. Stunting or retarded growth was reported in 53 per cent of the children with 28 per cent of them severely so; 33 per cent are wasted (debilitated growth) with over 9 per cent of them severely so and one-fourth severely underweight. South Rajasthan — broadly Udaipur division — is a semi-arid region with a largely tribal population which owns small land holdings. Small land holdings are unable to help them sustain a livelihood which results in high levels of migration.
Land holdings smallEach panchayat, where the study was done, had 550-600 migrants. The study was done in four panchayats in one block — two had high levels of migrations and the other two low migration.
The sample of 884 households, which had less than three children, was picked up from 13 villages.
A total of 695 children under the age of three were weighed and measured as were 607 mothers. The median BMI (body mass index) of mothers was 18.1 with 58 per cent having a BMI of less than 18.5. An analysis has suggested inter-generational transfer of under-nutrition. When the mother is under-nourished, children are 1.8 times more likely to have severe malnutrition.
Other factorsAlso, less availability of food items, small land holdings resulting in low produce and caring practices caused malnutrition. Roti was the only food item eaten by children daily and more than 60 per cent had access to it. Only 58 per cent were breastfed, and less than one per cent had daliya (porridge) which is supposed to be highly nutritious.
The study further shows that children of migrating families were less likely to be enrolled at the anganwadi centres where the government provides supplementary food to pre-school children. Importantly, the anganwadi centres were less functional in areas with high migrating population.
When a mother goes for work, the primary caretakers are grandparents in 57 per cent of the cases, father in just 4 per cent and elder brother in 5 per cent.
Dredging of Ganga to begin near VaranasiUsing the river for commercial activities will degrade it, say environmentalists
As part of the plan to promote the Ganga as a waterway for commercial activities, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is set to start dredging, on a pilot basis, the 10-km stretch between Saidpur and Ghazipur, near Varanasi.
Plans are also being readied to dredge the 1,600-km stretch between Varanasi and Haldia, on the banks of the Hooghly, in West Bengal.
While the Rs. 10-crore contract for dredging the 10-km stretch has been given to a multinational company, the IWAI has prepared a Rs.4,200-crore project, to be executed with the World Bank’s assistance, to remove silt from the Ganga between Varanasi and Haldia so as to develop an “integrated river water freight corridor” with road and rail links at crucial points, official sources say.
In the first phase, the IWAI will start dredging next month between Varanasi and Patna to remove 3.25 lakh cubic metres of silt.
Around six multinational firms have carried out surveys, some pointing to technical difficulties in the work because the depth of river on this stretch is less at several places, the sources say.
However, environmental activists are worried that the Centre’s “disastrous” plan will further degrade the river.
Using the Ganga for commercial activities will deal a “death blow” to it, warns V.N. Mishra, head of the Sankat Mochan Foundation, a trust that works for the cleaning and revival of the river. The commercial exploitation, he argues, will cause the river and its eco-system an irreversible loss.
“The government should focus on cleaning the river and maintaining its natural flow... Instead, plans are being made to construct dams at every 100 km, which will kill it. The Ganga is the lifeline of 40 crore people. Make efforts to clean it. By just ensuring that not a single drop of sewage and pollutant goes into the river, we can address 90 per cent of the problems,” he says.
Possible discovery in 2015 of a new particle in physicsThe world’s largest atom-smasher could help physicists understand mysterious dark matter in the universe, and later this year it may offer a discovery even more fascinating than the Higgs-Boson, researchers say.
The Large Hadron Collider, built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), has undergone major upgrades this year will begin its second, three-year run.
CERN says that after a two-year break for upgrades, the LHC will be twice as powerful this time.
The collider is already credited with helping physicists discover the elusive Higgs boson, which helps explain how objects have mass, and which led to the award of the 2013 Nobel Prize for physics.
Higher beam energyThis year, the atom-smasher will restart at a beam energy that is substantially higher, with the goal of better understanding why nature prefers matter to antimatter.
A new discovery “could be as early as this year... if we are really lucky,” said Beate Heinemann, professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, during a talk on Saturday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting.
Prof. Heinemann is a member of the ATLAS research team at the LHC.
“Maybe we will find now supersymmetric matter,” she added. “For me it is more exciting than the Higgs.”
SupersymmetrySupersymmetry is an extension of the standard model of physics that aims to fill in some big gaps regarding how scientists understand matter.
According to the theory of supersymmetry, all particles have a counterpart that is heavier, and experts believe that if these partner particles are there, the LHC should be able to find them.
Since the standard model of physics cannot explain the existence of dark matter, which is thought to hold galaxies together and account for most of the matter in the universe, supersymmetry aims to offer “a more comprehensive picture of our world,” according to the CERN website.
The first of eight steps toward getting the LHC started again began on December 9, and is expected to take several months.
Copenhagen on alert after double attacks; suspect killedGunman was on the intelligence services’ radar; killing spree bore a striking resemblance to the Paris attacks
Danish police launched raids across Copenhagen on Sunday after killing the suspected lone gunman behind a double shooting that stoked European fears of a new wave of Islamist violence.
Police said the unnamed man who killed two people at a cultural centre and a synagogue was known to police and may have been inspired by the Paris Islamist attacks last month that claimed the lives of 17 people.
Worst attackAt the synagogue in the centre of Copenhagen, tearful Danes laid flowers and lit candles in memory of the victims of the worst such attack in the history of the small Scandinavian nation.
Expressions of sympathy and horror poured in from across the world after the weekend shootings described by Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt as a “cynical act of terror”.
Danish broadcaster TV2 identified the assailant as a 22-year-old who was born and raised in Denmark and who was known to police because of his involvement in gangs.
In a killing spree that bore a striking resemblance to the Paris attacks, the gunman first fired off a volley of bullets at a cultural centre where a panel discussion about Islam and free speech was taking place on Saturday evening.
A 55-year-old man identified by the media as documentary film maker Finn Norgaard was killed at the event, which was also attended by Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist behind a controversial caricature of the Prophet Mohammed, and the French ambassador.
In the second attack, the gunmen opened fire outside Copenhagen’s main synagogue, killing a 37-year-old Jewish man named as Dan Uzan who was guarding the building. Five police officers were also wounded in the two attacks that stoked fear in the city of about one million people. Police tracked the suspect down to a building in the working class neighbourhood of Norrebro, killing him after an exchange of fire.
Police said he was already “on the radar” of the intelligence services and that they were looking into the possibility he had travelled to conflict zones such as Syria and Iraq. He “may have been inspired by the events that took place in Paris a few weeks ago,” Jens Madsen from the Security and Intelligence Service told reporters.
Lone gunmanPolice said they believe he had acted alone, but armed officers raided a Copenhagen Internet cafe in one of a series of operations on Sunday, leading away at least two people, possibly under arrest, local media said. The attacks revived European fears about jihadist violence since the Paris attacks.
France’s ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray, who was unhurt in the attack, told AFP the shooting was an attempt to replicate the January 7 attack on Charlie Hebdo , which was targeted because it had published cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed. — AFP
Inadequate capital supportThe government has decided to infuse additional capital in nine public sector banks (PSBs) to an extent of Rs.6,990 crore. For the current fiscal, the amount budgeted (by the UPA government) for bolstering the capital of PSBs was Rs.11,000 crore. So, the actual amount that will be released is just over 50 per cent of the budgeted amount. That is a significant development for various reasons.
Obviously, it has major implications for the management of public finance. The government is cutting down on budgeted expenditure to meet the pre-set fiscal targets. The savings effected here — towards recapitalising PSBs — is not inconsiderable but who will bridge the gap in providing capital to these banks?
While such capital infusion has been common in previous years, the difference this time is that the government is injecting capital selectively. Only nine banks will get this instalment of government money. At the top of the table is State Bank of India (Rs.2,970 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs.1,260 crore) and Punjab National Bank (Rs.870 crore). Other banks, which fall in this category, are Canara Bank (Rs.570 crore), Syndicate Bank (Rs.460 crore), Allahabad Bank (Rs.320 crore), Indian Bank (Rs.280 crore), Dena Bank (Rs.140 crore) and Andhra Bank (Rs.120 crore).
There are surprising omissions. For instance, Bank of India and Corporation Bank, which one thought would make it to any list of ‘performing’ banks, have been left out. It is not clear as to when, if at all, they will receive capital support from the government. Based on the stock market performance of their shares alone, these two banks should be in the list. The reasons for not including some banks are hazy. The government has said that the selection has been made on new improved parameters such as return on assets and on equity. These are evaluated over three years. It is questionable whether the period for analysing their performance should be so brief or due allowance should be given to their potential as well as past performance.
The idea is to ensure that some of the efficient PSBs will be adequately capitalised as they move towards international norms as prescribed under Basel III and, in the process, are better equipped to face competition. Whatever be the criteria for and the purpose of capital infusion, it would be desirable, in the interests of transparency, to disclose the methodology of selection in greater detail. There is no doubt at all that PSBs require additional capital whether that is obtained from the government or any other source. The stock market route ought to be a viable option for most PSBs, and has, in fact, been recommended by the government and outside experts. However, there is one major stumbling block in selecting this route.
As of now, the political consensus is that the government’s stake should not be allowed to fall below 52 per cent. This restriction arises from the mindset that on no account the government’s stake should fall below 50 per cent of the paid-up capital — a cushion of 2-3 per cent is necessary to thwart a potential takeover by an adventurer. In most PSBs, the government stake is well above this limit — in a few banks, it is even as high as above 80 per cent. In some, it is above 70 per cent and only in a handful is the government shareholding close to the floor of 52 per cent. This suggests that by a process of disinvestment by the government or through an offer for additional shares, some PSBs can beef up their capital. However, as experiences of the broader disinvestment programme involving central government PSUs would show, it is never easy to sell shares by or on behalf of the government. The question of getting a ‘correct’ price would always weigh with the decision makers.
Reconciling public sector character of these banks with the compulsions of the capital market has engaged several expert groups over the years. The most recent of these — the Nayak Committee, which dealt with a range of issues connected with banking reform, has suggested the setting up of a Bank Investment Committee (BIC) under the Companies Act as a core investment committee to which the government’s shares will be vested. The upshot will be that all government banks will become subsidiaries of the BIC and get the important advantage of being able to manage their affairs free from government interference. This will be a big bang reform, which the government may hesitate to embrace at this juncture.
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