S.NO. NEWS ITEM SYLLUBUS ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE 1. India says safe neighbourhood will benefit all (Page 12) a) I.R a) India said that a peaceful and secure neighbourhood would yield rich dividends for SAARC countries even as it asserted that the time had come to take stock of the past decisions of the grouping on which there had been no movement. 2. A new chapter in Myanmar (Page 10) a) International a) The election of U Htin Kyaw as Myanmars President is a watershed moment in its history. Htin Kyaws government would be its most democratic administration since 1962 when the military seized power. 3. Putin sticks to his Syria plan (Page 11) a) International a) Russias military intervention was with the limited objective of changing the balance of power in the battlefield to bring stakeholders to the negotiating table. 4. Parliament passes Aadhaar Bill amid acrimonious debates (Pages 1 and 12) a) National b) Polity a) Even as the Opposition aired its concerns over the possibility of mass surveillance, Parliament passed the controversial Aadhaar Bill 2016, after acrimonious debates in both Houses. 5. Making India GI brand conscious (Page 11) a) National b) Economy a) The current Indian legal framework for geographical indications needs to be strengthened to address quality control and consumer expectations. 6. NPS can now be technically says pension regulator (Page 15) a) National b) Economy a) Retirement savings accumulated under the New Pension Scheme can now be totally tax-free at the time of withdrawal under certain conditions and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority had only urged the government to bring some parity in the tax treatment of different pension products it competes with, such as the employees provident fund. 7. India to discuss trade curbs, projects at BRICS meeting (Page 16) a) Economy a) Official sources said the government is preparing a list of priority projects for which investments could be sought from other BRICS nations.
to collapse and result in chaos, which it thinks would be a breeding ground for terrorists. k) At the same time, Russia seems to have made a realistic evaluation of actual situation in Syria. Its extremely difficult to repair the reputation of President Assad. The rebels are well-armed and supported by regional and global powers. So a protracted war is unlikely to serve anybodys interest. l) The ceasefire in Syria is surprisingly holding for the past two weeks, which itself shows that the fighting factions were desperate for a cessation of hostilities. The opposition has virtually accepted that another Libya cannot be repeated in Syria. And Putins move has brightened the possibilities for a compromise. The rebels and their backers (including the US) should take cue from Russians and respond positively. 4. Parliament passes Aadhaar Bill amid acrimonious debates (Pages 1 and 12) a) National b) Polity a) Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill 2016 b) Lok Sabha c) Rajya Sabha d) Parliament e) Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) a) Even as the Opposition aired its concerns over the possibility of mass surveillance, Parliament passed the controversial Aadhaar Bill 2016, after acrimonious debates in both Houses. b) The amendments to the controversial Aadhaar Bill pushed through by Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and later rejected in the Lok Sabha
governance and efficient, transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services. The Opposition wanted the legislation to have safeguards to avoid sensitive private information of the individual from being disclosed or accessed on the whim of the Executive. 5. Making India GI brand conscious (Page 11) a) National b) Economy a) Make in India programme b) Indian Intellectual Property (IP) regime c) Geographical Indication (GI) d) Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act 1999 (GI Act) e) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Agreement f) World Trade Organisation a) According to the author, one of the objectives of the Make in India programme is to improve and protect the Indian IP regime. The steps envisaged to achieve this objective include increased posts in IP offices, facilities, major fee reduction for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, holding awareness programmes etc. b) A less discussed IP right in this context is geographical indications. GIs indicate goods as originating in a specific geographical region, the characteristics, qualities or reputation thereof essentially attributable to such region. c) GI-branded goods possess a recall value amongst consumers who essentially attribute these characteristics, qualities or reputation to such geographical origin. d) Europe has been protecting GIs since the 1800s. e) GIs support and protect
programme. Despite the gradual rise in GI registrations, the role and scope of GIs in the Make in India programme has perhaps remained unnoticed in discussions. j) Considering that GI-branded goods can be made 100 percent in India without need for any FDI and that they can promote socio-economic development of the respective regions, GIs are perhaps the most ideal IP rights to foster and realise a programme like Make in India. k) The European law on the protection of names relating to agricultural goods and foodstuffs (ECR 1151/2012) recognises that GIs give a competitive advantage to producers and enable consumers to make more informed choices by providing clear information on products and their characteristics. l) To preserve this consumer trust, the European law mandates: (i) effective verification and controls at multiple levels in the supply chain, ensuring compliance with product specification before placing it in the market and (ii) market monitoring of the use of the names to ensure legal compliance.
central govt employees. It has assets of over Rs.1.15 lakh crore. By contrast, the EPF organization under the Labour Ministry oversees assets over Rs. 10 lakh crore. 7. India to discuss trade curbs, projects at BRICS meeting (Page 16) a) Economy a) BRICS meeting b) Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) c) Micro, Small and Sedium Enterprises (MSME) d) Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) a) Official sources said the government is preparing a list of priority projects for which investments could be sought from other BRICS nations. b) They said the list of big projects (in addition to a proposal to set up a mechanism to expeditiously resolve barriers that are hurting goods trade between BRICS member countries) will be taken up for discussion during the next months meeting of the groupings CGETI. c) Investments would be sought for projects (mostly in infrastructure sector) from other member nations viz. Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa d) The CGETI meeting sets the agenda for the BRICS trade and economy ministers meeting e) India is chairing the influential bloc BRICS for an 11-month term till Dec 2016. Indias list of projects will be similar to what Russia brought out during its term as the chair of the BRICS Group last year. f) The Russian list had