Critical wildlife habitats
Critical Wildlife Habitat means such areas of national parks and sanctuaries that are required to be kept 'inviolate' for the purpose of wildlife conservation, as per a provision of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. In its preamble to CWH guidelines, the Ministry emphasised that it “is in no way intended to cause or force resettlement or relocation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers from National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries”, in a bid to ease the concerns of activists. The new guidelines issued in May 2011 envisage a bigger role for the gram sabha, whose free informed consent must be given before any relocation is carried out. It also seems to ensure that forest rights are settled under the FRA before a CWH can be declared in an area. At present, not a single park and sanctuary in the country is notified as critical wildlife habitat (CWH), though the FRA has been in operation for over three years. Closer home, Bhimashankar sanctuary and Sagareshwar wildlife sanctuary in Sangli district of Maharashtra are in the process of declaring their critical wildlife habitats.

Colombia is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean.  Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 "Gran Colombia" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886.

Burma is a country in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is, bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand.  The country was colonized by Britain following three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885). British rule brought social, economic, cultural and administrative changes to the once-feudal society. Since independence in 1948, the country has been in one of the longest running civil wars among the country's myriad ethnic groups that remains unresolved. From 1962 to 2011, the country was under military rule. The State Peace and Development Council was the official name of the military regime of Burma (also known as Myanmar), which seized power in 1988. It rejected the 1990 election results and kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest until her release on 13 November 2010. The council was officially dissolved on 30 March 2011, with the inauguration of the newly elected government, led by its former member and Prime Minister, President Thein Sein.

S&P downgrades India
Global rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) scaled down India's credit rating outlook from ‘stable' (BBB+) to ‘negative' (BBB-) with a warning of a downgrade if there is no improvement in the fiscal situation and political climate. Giving reasons for downgrading India's sovereign rating outlook to the lowest investment grade and just one step away from junk bond status, S&P said: “The outlook revision reflects our view of at least a one-in-three likelihood of a downgrade if the external position continues to deteriorate, growth prospects diminish, or progress on fiscal reforms remains slow in a weakened political setting.” Alongside, as a reflection of the “outlook on the sovereign credit rating on India,” the S&P also lowered the rating outlook of the country's 10 top banks which include the State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.  Other banks which would also suffer collateral damage are Axis Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, Syndicate Bank and Union Bank of India.

Next Global Economic crisis in 2014
According to Dr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor of India, 2014 is an important year because numerous European banks would have to begin to repay 1.3 trillion dollars worth of loans that they had received from the European Central Bank. This could precipitate a major global economic crisis—a third round of crisis after 2008 and 2011. I also asserted that despite India’s current slowdown (growth in 2011-12 was 6.9%), we will see Indian growth picking up slowly initially. But soon after the possible European crisis of 2014, we could see India as the world’s fastest growing economy, faster than even China.

Suu Kyi to collect 1991 Nobel in Oslo
After years of house arrest, Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi plans to make a trip to Oslo in June to accept in person the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize she won for her peaceful struggle. The 66-year-old democracy icon has not left Myanmar for more than two decades because of fears that she would not be allowed to return. Her now-deceased husband, Michael Aris, and her two sons accepted the Nobel medal, diploma and prize money on her behalf at the official ceremony held at Oslo City Hall in 1991. But she was never able to give her official Nobel lecture. Her son Alexander made an acceptance speech on her behalf.

India has one of the largest road networks in the world with a total length of 33.1 lakh km (2005). For the purpose of construction and maintenance, roads are classified as National Highways (NH), State Highways(SH), Major District Roads and Rural Roads. Around 70 per cent of freight traffic are carried by roads every year. Road transport is relatively suitable for shorter distance travel. Road transport in modern sense was very limited in India before World War-II. The first serious attempt was made in 1943 when ‘Nagpur Plan’ was drawn. This plan could not be implemented due to lack of coordination among the princely states and British India.

Industries are classified in a number of ways. On the basis of size, capital investment and labour force employed, industries are classified as large, medium, small scale, and cottage industries. On the basis of ownership, industries are categorised as : (i) public sector, (ii) private sector, and (iii) joint and cooperative sector, Public sector enterprises are government/state controlled companies or corporations funded by governments. Industries of strategic and national importance are usually in the public sector. Industries are also classified on the basis of the use of their products such as : (i) basic goods industries, (ii) capital goods industries (iii) intermediate goods industries, and (iv) consumer goods industries.

India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral resources due to its varied geological structure. Bulk of the valuable minerals are products of pre-palaezoic age and are mainly associated with metamorphic and igneous rocks of the peninsular India. The vast alluvial plain tract of north India is devoid of minerals of economic use. The mineral resources provide the country with the necessary base for industrial development. A mineral is a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties. Minerals may be grouped under two main categories of metallics and non-metallics.

Water scarcity is possibly to pose the greatest challenge on account of its increased demand coupled with shrinking supplies due to over utilisation and pollution. Water is a cyclic resource with abundant supplies on the globe. Approximately, 71 per cent of the earth’s surface is covered with it but fresh water constitutes only about 3 per cent of the total water. In fact, a very small proportion of fresh water is effectively available for human use. The availability of fresh water varies over space and time. The tensions and disputes on sharing and control of this scare resource are becoming contested issues among communities, regions, and states. The assessment, efficient use and conservation of water, therefore, become necessary to ensure development.

Land-use in a region is mainly influenced by the nature of economic activities carried out in that region. However, while economic activities change over time, land, like many other natural resources, is fixed in terms of its area. But composition of the economy would undergo a change over time. In other words, the secondary and the tertiary sectors usually grow much faster than the primary sector, specifically the agricultural sector. This type of change is common in developing countries like India. This process would result in a gradual shift of land from agricultural uses to non-agricultural uses. Though the contribution of the agricultural activities reduces over time, the pressure on land for agricultural activities does not decline. 

For India, development is a mixed bag of opportunities as well as neglect and deprivations. There are a few areas like the metropolitan centres and other developed enclaves that have all the modern facilities available to a small section of its population. At the other extreme of it, there are large rural areas and the slums in the urban areas that do not have basic amenities like potable water, education and health infrastructure available to majority of this population. It is a well established fact that majority of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, landless agricultural labourers, poor farmers and slums dwellers, etc. are the most marginalised lot. A large segment of female population is the worst sufferers among all. It is also equally true that the relative as well as absolute conditions of the majority of these marginalised sections have worsened with the development happening over the years.Consequently, vast majority of people are compelled to live under abject poverty and subhuman conditions.

India Water Week
The Ministry of Water Resources since this year has endeavoured to celebrate India Water Week annually as an international event to focus on water issues. It would provide a global platform for water related issues that will bring policy makers, industry leaders, experts, professionals and practitioners together to address the challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities, recognizing the excellence of professionals/organizations and celebrate their achievements. The first international event in the series of India Water Week on “Water, Energy and Food Security: Call for Solutions” will be organized during April 10-14.

Priyadarshini 

Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood Programme in Mid-Gangetic Plain (WELP) also called Priyadarshini is being implemented with assistance of International Fund for Agricultural Development in 13 Blocks spread over 5 Districts in Uttar Pradesh and 2 Districts in Bihar. It aims at holistic empowerment of vulnerable groups of women and adolescent girls in the project area through formation of Women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) and promotion of improved livelihood opportunities. Over 1,00,000 households are to be covered under the project and 7,200 SHGs will be formed during the project period ending 2016-17. The beneficiaries are expected to be empowered to address their political, legal and health issues through rigorous capacity building. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is the lead programme agency for implementation of the programme which became effective in December 2009. 

Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Bill was proposed in Parliament in 2001 to ensure that the government keeps its expenses in check. However, the Act came into force in July 2004, when the the UPA government, under the prime ministership of Manmohan Singh, presented the budget. It had said that the fiscal deficit should be brought down to 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and revenue deficit should drop down to nil, both by March 2009. Fiscal deficit is the excess of government’s total expenditure over its total income. The government incurs revenue and capital expenses and receives income on the revenue and capital account. Further, the excess of revenue expenses over revenue income leads to a revenue deficit. The FRBM Act wants the revenue deficit to be nil as the revenue expenditure is day-to-day expenses and does not create a capital asset. Usually, the liabilities should not be carried forward, else the government ends up borrowing to repay its current liabilities.

The Union Budget 2012-13 presented by the Finance Minister identified five objectives to be addressed effectively in the ensuing fiscal year. They include focus on domestic demand driven growth recovery; create conditions for rapid revival of high growth in private investment;  address  supply bottlenecks  in agriculture, energy and transport sectors  particularly in coal, power, national highways , railways and civil aviation; intervene decisively  to address the problem of malnutrition  especially in the 200 high-burden districts and  expedite coordinated implementation of decisions being taken to improve delivery systems, governance, and transparency;  and address the problem of black money and corruption in public life. 

Indian economy is estimated to grow by 6.9% in 2011-12 mainly due to weakening industrial growth. This indicates a slowdown compared not just to the previous two years, when the economy grew by 8.4%, but also from 2003 to 2011, except 2008-9 economic downturn, when the growth rate was 6.7 percent. The Economic Survey 2011-12, presented by the Finance Minister however predicts 7.6% GDP growth in 2012-13 and 8.6% in 2013-14. With agriculture and services continuing to perform well, the slowdown can be attributed almost entirely to weakening industrial growth. The services sector continues to be a star performer as its share in GDP has climbed from 58% in 2010-11 to 59% in 2011-12 with a growth rate of 9.4%. Similarly, agriculture and allied sectors are estimated to achieve a growth rate of 2.5% in 2011-12 with foodgrains production likely to cross 250.42 million tonnes owing to increase in the production of rice in some States. The industrial sector has performed poorly, retreating to a 27% share of the GDP.

2012 : Year of the intensification of Routine Immunization
Strengthening routine immunization is an imperative if we wish to sustain our gains in polio and guard ourselves against both distant and international importations. Thus 2012 has been declared the year of the intensification of Routine Immunization. Govt intend to accelerate routine immunization activities from 1st April itself through special immunization drives, with a special focus on 207 districts recording low routine immunization coverage”. 26 million mothers and children have already been registered under the web enabled mother and child tracking system set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The system generates weekly work plans for the Auxiliary Nurse Midwives through SMS. Alerts are also sent to the beneficiaries to remind them of the date of the due health services. In 14 States where coverage is less than 80 percent, introduction of second dose of measles has been started.

Government of India launched Virtual Labs — a collection of ninety-one virtual laboratories containing hundreds of experiments in nine disciplines of science and engineering. As part of Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD)’s National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), Virtual Labs is part of a comprehensive undertaking to provide easily accessible and high quality education throughout India. Virtual Labs’ primary focus is to provide graduate and undergraduate college and university students with the ability to perform their required laboratory experiments using only the World Wide Web, a standard computer, and an Internet connection.

Nuclear Security Summit Ends Without Clear Targets
The Seoul Nuclear Security Summit ended Tuesday with the leaders of 53 countries unanimously adopting a communiqué that encourages nations to take all possible steps and cooperate to secure vulnerable weapons-grade fissile material by 2014. President Lee Myung-bak, who chaired the summit, told reporters its main achievement was steps to reduce highly enriched uranium and plutonium, which are key to preventing nuclear terrorism. But critics said that in reality no progress has been made in terms of reducing nuclear materials and that the communiqué is no significant improvement over commitments made during the first Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in 2010, where the U.S., Russia and other participating countries agreed to reduce nuclear materials equivalent to 20,000 nuclear weapons and actually lowered materials equivalent to 3,000.