CURRENT AFFAIRS CAPSULE EDITION 26

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PM to inaugurate a slew of development projects in Sri Lanka

Global food price dip to 5-year low in February
Govt mulls subsidy cut for rooftop solar projects
Indias Daughter a hot on You Tube
Masarat release tests BJP-PDP alliance
Trans-Afghan gas pipeline may become a reality: Pradhan
Govt allocation to MSME sector highest in 3 years

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PM to inaugurate a slew of development projects in Sri Lanka
India is intent on strengthening ties with Sri Lanka, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, as he
announced a slew of projects to be inaugurated while Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Sri
Lanka on March 13th and 14th. Mr. Modi, who is the first Indian Prime Minister to make a
bilateral visit to the neighbouring island in 24 years, will be commissioning a railway line in
Talaimannar, inaugurating the cultural centre in Jaffna, and also handing over homes that have
been build by India in the Northern province. India has been a significant contributor to the
rebuilding process in Sri Lanka, Mr. Jaishankar told journalists at a press conference to discuss
the Prime Ministers 3-nation Indian Ocean foray including the Seychelles and Mauritius that
begins on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister will reach Colombo on March 13, and will have talks with President
Maithripala Sirisena. He will attend a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe who
has set off a storm with his recent remarks on shooting Indian fishermen if they trespass into
Sri Lankan waters. Seeking to downplay the controversy over those remarks, Mr. Jaishankar said
the remarks had been clarified, and that since it was an emotive issue he would not like to
comment further, but all that needed to be said had been conveyed by External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj during her meeting with Mr. Wickremsinghe on Saturday.

Speaking to The Hindu in Delhi, Sri Lankan analyst P. Saravanamuttu (Centre for Policy
Alternatives, Colombo) doubted the Sri Lankan Prime Ministers comments to overshadow Mr.
Modis visit. In Sri Lanka, Mr. Wickremsinghe is under criticism from all quarters with pressure
to prove his nationalistic credentials, and especially over a reliance on India,and his comments
may be seen in that context.

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In Colombo, the highlight of the Mr. Modis visit will possibly be his address to the Sri Lankan
parliament. He had in a similar way addressed the parliaments in Thimphu and Kathmandu
during his visits there in 2014. He will also go to Anuradhapura to see religious sites, along with
his trip to Jaffna and Talaimannar, where he will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit. He is
expected take up Indias concerns over the implementation of the 13th amendment and
rehabilitation of Tamil refugees in his bilateral talks as well as during his meeting with the
governor of the Northern Province in Jaffna.
Mr. Modi will also look to promote reconciliation during meetings with leaders of all political
parties, the FS said, including the Tamil National Alliance that rules in the Tamil-majority
Northern Provinces, the ruling SLFP and UNP, including former President Chandrika
Kumaratunga. However no meeting has been planned with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa
during Mr. Modis visit.
While ruling out any defence cooperation agreement will be signed during the Sri Lanka visit, Mr.
Jaishankar said there was a common thread to the Prime Ministers outreach to all three
countries vis a vis Indias maritime influence. In the Seychelles as well as in Mauritius, India has
been assisting with patrolling and funding economic development. In Mauritius, where the PM is
the chief guest at the National Day, Mr. Modi will also commission a Coast Ship Barracuda
offshore patrol vehicle that has been acquired with Indian assistance.
Mr. Jaishankar refused to comment on why Prime Minister Modi wasnt travelling to the
Maldives as had been earlier planned. While a Maldivian foreign ministry statement had said the
visit had been put off by mutual agreement, sources in the MEA said the trip had been
cancelled because India didnt want to get into domestic issues over the arrest of former
President Mohammad Nasheed. We are here to discuss the PMs upcoming visit, and the
Maldives was never announced as a part of his itinerary.

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Global food price dip to 5-year low in February
Global food prices fell to a nearly five-year low in February this year on increased supply of key
food items and strong US dollar, according to the United Nations food agency FAO.
Food prices averaged at 179.4 points in February, down from 181.2 points in January and 208.6
points in February 2014, the Food and Agriculture Organisations price index showed.
FAOs Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index that tracks prices of five major food commodity
groups on international markets. It aggregates price sub-indices of cereals, meat, dairy products,
vegetable oils and sugar.

Food Price Index declined to a 55-month low in February, dropping 1.0 per cent from January
and 14 per cent below its level a year earlier, FAO said in a statement.
Food Price index at its lowest level since July 2010 reflects robust supply conditions as well as
ongoing weakness in many currencies versus the US dollar, said Michael Griffin, FAOs dairy and
livestock market expert.
The first thing to flag is the favourable outlook for production of a number of crops in 2015, he
said. Stocks are also very strong for most cereals, he added.
According to FAO, international sugar prices fell by 4.9 per cent, cereal prices were down by 3.2
per cent and meat prices declined by 1.4 per cent in February from the January levels.
However, international prices of dairy products and vegetable oil increased by 4.6 per cent and
0.4 per cent in February from the January levels.

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Govt mulls subsidy cut for rooftop solar projects
With limited funds at disposal and price of solar panels going down, the government has
proposed to reduce the subsidy on rooftop projects by half, Parliament was informed on Monday.
The Ministry has proposed to reduce the subsidy on rooftop solar power plants to 15 per cent
from the present level of 30 per cent due to decline in the price of solar panels and limited
availability of funds among other things, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply in
the Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Goyal, who also holds charge of Coal and New and Renewable Energy Ministries said, the
government has set a large target for rooftop solar power plants in the country.
The Minister said that there are provisions of concessional import duty or excise duty exemption,
accelerated depreciation and tax holiday for setting up grid connected rooftop power plants.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech announced a massive renewable power
production target of 1,75,000 mw in the next seven years.
Of the total 1,75,000 mw proposed to be tapped by 2022, solar power will have a lions share of
1,00,000 mw followed by 60,000 mw from wind energy, 10,000 mw biomass energy and 5,000
mw of small hydro projects.
As for the status of clean energy projects in the country, the solar power generation capacity is at
about 2,700 MW; Wind 21,000 MW; Small Hydro 3,800 MW and biomass 4,100 MW.
At present, renewable energy contributes about 6.5 per cent to the electricity mix. It is proposed
that this would be taken to about 12 per cent in the next three years.

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Indias Daughter a hot on You Tube
The banned documentary Indias Daughter remained accessible in the country on various
online video-sharing platforms, including YouTube, for the third consecutive day on Saturday.
Reports from overseas suggested that the BBC, citing copyright issues, had asked Google to
withdraw the documentary from YouTube across the globe.
In India, the documentary continued to be viewed with considerable interest. One YouTube link
had registered 47,789 views at 4.03 p.m. Half-an-hour later, the number of views of the same link
stood at 49,956. A separate link to the same film had registered 99,187 views at 7.47 p.m.
The film will be screened again on BBC Four at 10 p.m. on Sunday, again exclusively for the U.K.
audience. Before the controversy broke out last Tuesday, the documentary was scheduled to be
released in India and some other countries on Sunday to coincide with International Womens
Day.
Court injunction
As the government swung into action on Tuesday and secured a court injunction on the screening
of the film across media platforms in India, the BBC advanced the screening to Wednesday night.
The film was available on YouTube by the following morning across the world.
Though Google India did take down YouTube links to the film that were sent to it by the
government for removal, the exercise turned into a cat-and-mouse game as people across the
world, including the Indian diaspora, shared the documentary on every video-sharing platform
available, rendering the ban ineffective in India.

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Masarat release tests BJP-PDP alliance
The tenuous nature of the partnership between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to the fore on Sunday, seven days after their coalition
assumed power in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeeds decision to release separatist leader Masarat Alam
from prison on Saturday has got the BJP crying foul, with the party describing the decision as
unilateral and unacceptable. At a meeting in Jammu on Sunday, 23 of the 25 BJP legislators
and senior officials decided to convey the partys displeasure formally to the Chief Minister.
Responding to the PDPs statement that Mr. Alams release was within the ambit of the common
agenda, Jugal Kishore Sharma, a senior BJP leader, told The Hindu, We categorically do not
agree with this decision. This is neither the BJPs decision nor the coalition governments
decision; it is a decision of the PDP alone.
While both parties have been clear from the beginning that such situations of conflicting
positions could be expected the Opposition National Conference even termed the verbal duel a
mere match-fixing the intense attack from foes and friends alike has put the BJP under
pressure, party sources in Delhi said.
Ally Shiv Sena blamed the BJPs opportunism, while the Congress said Jammu and Kashmir
exposed its double standards. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said: The BJP is responsible
for whatever is happening in Jammu and Kashmir today. The BJP is mindful of the fact that any
perceived weakness on Jammu and Kashmir can have electoral consequences elsewhere. Bihar
goes to polls later this year.
The divergence in the respective constituencies and vote banks of the two parties, which were
described by Mr. Sayeed as polar opposites, seems to have exacerbated the cracks in the BJPPDP alliance in the first week in power. While the PDP needs some bold political moves, such as
the release of Mr. Alam, in its attempt to regain the trust of the people in the Kashmir Valley who
it seems to have distanced from it by allying with the BJP, the latter has to answer to not only its
Hindu vote bank but also its right-wing organisations such as the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang
Dal.

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Trans-Afghan gas pipeline may become a reality: Pradhan
Trans-Afghanistan gas pipeline connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India may
become a reality soon as negotiation for the ambitious project is at the final stage, Petroleum
Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in Lok Sabha on Monday.
Mr. Pradhan said discussions over installing a pipeline to bring gas from Turkmenistan to India
through Afghanistan and Pakistan were at the final stage and when the project becomes a reality,
the country would be free from bring dependant on Gulf countries on natural gas.
Replying to a question, the Minister said government will also take a decision on a project to
bring natural gas from Iran through a pipeline passing through Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He said India has been procuring crude oil from 25 countries and it was not correct to say that
the country was over-dependent on the West Asia for crude supplies.
Mr. Pradhan said India has imported Rs 5,81,111 crore worth of crude oil, Rs 59,085 crore worth
of petroleum products and Rs 46,712 crore liquefied natural gas during 2014-15 (till December
2014).
In 2013-14, India had imported Rs 8,64,875 crore worth crude oil, Rs 74,605 crore petroleum
products and Rs 51,699 crore liquefied natural gas.
The Minister said in order to reduce dependence on imports of oil and gas to meet the energy
needs of the growing Indian economy, a number of steps have been taken by the government for
enhancing domestic production including improved oil recovery, enhanced oil recovery
implemented by exploration and production companies for increasing oil recovery from fields.

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Govt allocation to MSME sector highest in 3 years
Government has earmaked over Rs 3,300 crore this fiscal, the highest allocation in the last three
financial years, to develop the MSME sector and is implementing a special programme to develop
its infrastructure, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
Noting that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) accounted for over 37 per cent of
the GDP and over 42 per cent of total exports, MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra said the sector was
facing constraints in accessing credit facilities.
For implementing various schemes for the development of MSMEs, government has allocated
Rs 2,700 crore, Rs 2,835 crore, Rs 2,977 crore and Rs 3,327 crore for the 2011-12, 2012-13, 201314 and 2014-15, respectively, he said while replying to questions during Question Hour.
He said the government was implementing a special programme to promote and develop
infrastructure to improve productivity and competitiveness of micro, small and medium
enterprises in the country.
It is generally believed that a large number of micro, small and medium enterprises are using
outdated technology because of lack of sufficient finance, lack of access to modern technology,
absence of in-house research and development etc., Mr. Mishra said.
Market development assistance, interest subsidy certificate scheme and credit-linked capital
subsidy scheme, are among the programmes being implemented for MSMEs sector, he said.
The government has proposed to revise the investment limit to classify MSME, considering the
increase in the price index and cost of input, which are the indicators of inflation and have
invited comments from stakeholders in this regard, Mr. Mishra said.

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