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National Water Policy By Dr Arvind Kumar The 2012 National Water Policy has been adopted despite opposition from the States to several contentious clauses in the policy. Prime Minister’s assurance that the Central government did not wish to encroach, in any manner, upon the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the States or to centralise water management, did not seem to work as State after the State opposed the move. Many states have opposed the proposal to set up an overarching national legal framework for water governance on the plea that it would impinge on their rights, water being a State subject. Undoubtedly, the official line is that the States are free to take a call on adopting the revised policy. However, there is a catch: reforms will be linked to Central funding for water projects. Tamil Nadu laments: “Incentivising States to undertake water reforms may mean tying up Central funding to so-called reforms measures like imposing water tariff on agriculture u

Merry Christmas to all of You : Dr. Arvind Kumar

Cash Transfer: Hype or Reality By Dr Arvind Kumar The UPA-II government has proposed to roll out the direct cash transfer (DCT) scheme meant for providing subsidy and other welfare schemes to the desired beneficiaries by transferring money to their Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts from 1 January 2013. The DCT scheme has been introduced to prevent leakages and corruption in implementation of social welfare related schemes. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has hailed it as a ‘revolutionary’ measure and the UPA finance minister has welcomed it as ‘pure magic.’ However, the claims of the government have been already been questioned both by people who never got the promised cash and, activists who point out to the high risks involved in such a fundamental shift. Some state leaders have voiced their concerns about the scheme. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday strongly opposed the Centre’s cash transfer scheme, saying the poor will not get the money as there is no me

India-ASEAN Ties By Dr Arvind Kumar India’s relations with member countries of Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are set to gather further impetus in the aftermath of the conclusion of the two-day ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit hosted by India at New Delhi on 20-21 December 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the dialogue-level partnership and the 10th anniversary of India’s Summit-level partnership with ASEAN. This Commemorative Summit was attended by two presidents, seven prime ministers, the Sultan of Brunei and the Vice President of the Philippines. India- ASEAN dialogue relations have grown rapidly from a sectoral dialogue partnership in 1992 to a full dialogue partnership in December 1995 and since 2002 India has regularly participated in the annual Summits. The ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit Plenary, on 20 December 2012, adopted Vision Statement which envisages vision for the future direction of ASEAN-India relations in order to enhance the leve

Sashastra Seema Bal Raising Day By Dr Arvind Kumar 20th December marks the 49th Raising Day of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which was set up in early 1963 in the wake of the Indo-China conflict to inculcate feelings of national belonging in the border population and develop their capabilities for resistance through a continuous process of motivation, training, development, welfare programmes and activities in the border areas. In the past forty-nine years of its existence, SSB has endeavoured to present a benign face of the government among border populace in the far flung and inaccessible areas subscribing to the ethos of Service, Security and Brotherhood. The local populace always found SSB standing steadfastly with them during difficult times. Pursuant to the recommendations of the Group of Ministers on reforming the National Security System, SSB was declared as a border guarding force and lead intelligence agency (LIA) for Indo-Nepal border (January, 2001) and Indo-Bh

  Patterns of mortality and morbidity are rapidly changing around the globe. We all know we are going to die, but how and when it happens depends largely on who we are and where we live. The major death causing risks are well-known - perhaps malaria or AIDS-related diseases in Africa, or stroke, cancer and heart disease in North America and Western Europe. A recent study led by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), involving 486 authors from 50 countries, reveals that people can expect to live longer - in some cases, dramatically longer. Overall life expectancy worldwide has increased by more than a decade since 1970. The Indian Ocean island nation of Maldives has shown the most striking improvement: a woman there in the 1970s lived on average to 51; now the average lifespan increased by three decades. The study further reveals a shift away from infectious diseases as a cause of death towards non-communicable diseases such as c