Exercise TSENTR 2019 is part of the annual series of large scale exercises that form part of the Russian Armed Forces' annual training cycle. The series rotates through the four main Russian operational strategic commands. Russia holds a major military exercise every year at one of it’s four military Commands i.e Vostok (East), Zapad (West), TSENTR (Centre) and Kavkas (South).

This year the exercise is planned between 09 September to 23 September 19 at Donguz training ranges, Orenburg, Russia. These annual exercises have slowly began taking an international character, with Belarus participating in ZAPAD-2017 and China and Mongolia participating in VOSTOK-2018. This year, invitations for participation have been extended to nine other countries.

This year’s Exercise TSENTR 2019 will be conducted by Central Military Commission of Russia. Apart from host Russia, military contingents from China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan will also take part in this mega event.

The exercise aims at evolving drills of the participating armies and practicing them in the fight against the scourge of international terrorism thereby ensuring military security in the strategic central Asian region. The TSENTR-2019 strategic measures will focus on evaluating the level of troop preparedness, the acquisition of the required skills and raising the level of inter- operability and demonstrate the readiness of the participating armies.

The exercise TSENTR 2019 will comprise two modules. The first module will include counter- terror operations, repelling air strikes, reconnaissance operations and defensive measures, while the second will focus on offensive operations.

“Eat Right, Stay Fit, Tabhi India Super Fit”, Dr Harsh Vardhan said this as he launched the Eat Right India Movement of FSSAI, the new healthy eating approach which places citizens at the centre of a Health Revolution through food and fitness.

The campaign ‘Eat Right India’ with its new logo and tagline ‘Sahi Bhojan. Behtar Jeevan’ were released by the Health Minister, at an event here today on the side-lines of the 5-day ‘72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia'.Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (HFW), DrPoonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, Ms. Rita Teotia, Chairperson (FSSAI) and Shri Pawan Agarwal, CEO (FSSAI) were also present at the event.

Dr Harsh Vardhan added that this can become a country wide movement only with the active support and partnership of all sections of the society, including the media, the food producers, consumers and other stakeholders.

Highlighting the critical importance of a Jan Andolan on issues around nutrition, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that it is part of the vision of the Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, that the month of September is being celebrated all across the country as “Poshan Maah” (Nutrition Month) to sensitize the public towards healthy eating, address the twin issues of malnutrition/undernutrition and problem of obesity in some sections of the population, and also intensifying the campaign towards a ‘Malnutrition-Free India’.

This movement is aligned with the Government’s flagship public health programmes such as POSHAN Abhiyaan, Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Swachh Bharat Mission to lead us to the New India, which our Prime Minister wishes to deliver to all citizens by 2022.

Dr Harsh Vardhan emphasised that the Eat Right India movement is a crucial trigger for the much needed social and behavioural change. This campaign along with the ‘Fit India' Movement' launched by the visionary Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji will help us to fight lifestyle diseases like hypertension, obesity and diabetes effectively, he added.

“India is passing through an epidemiological shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases, and the burden of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity is rising rapidly. The new “food systems approach” judiciously combines the regulatory and capacity building measures with consumer empowerment initiatives”, he stated.

Outlining the measures taken by the Government for escalating the Eat Right movement, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that the Government has prescribed a limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) at 25% in cooking oil to avoid the harmful effects of reused cooking oil. Standards for five fortified staples -wheat flour, rice, oil, milk and salt to reduce large-scale deficiencies of vitamins and minerals have been notified, in addition to standards for health supplements, nutraceuticals, prebiotics and probiotics products. “To facilitate informed consumer choices Regulations on Advertising and Claims and mandatory menu labeling has been notified. In addition, labeling provisions have been made for appropriate use of sweeteners for children and pregnant women”,Dr Harsh Vardhan added. He further mentioned that to reach the target of Trans-fat Free India by 2022, regulations to reduce trans-fat to less than 2% in all oils, fats and food products are in place.

The Union Health Minister said that preparatory work for creating awareness around mindful eating is also in place, with pilots/prototypes for clusterisation schemes such as Clean Street food Hubs, Clean and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable markets and Eat Right Campus for schools, colleges, workplaces and other campuses being successfully tested on a pan-India basis. “Food businesses have participated in large-scale training and capacity building programs on ensuring food safety through the FoSTaC initiative, under which over 1.7 lakh food safety supervisors have been trained and certified.

Robust material in the form of a Pink Book, Yellow Book, DART Book, informative videos etc., are in place, and can be accessed through a video library on FSSAI’s website,” Dr Harsh Vardhan added. The Health Minister further said that he recently inaugurated the first ever state-of-the-art National Food Laboratory of Delhi, NCR and to strengthen the Eat Right Movement a network of food testing laboratories is being established in the country. Today such laboratories have increased to 261 from 138 during the year 2014, he elaborated.

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO SEARO stated that The Eat Right campaign is a true example of multi-sectoral collaborative approach that WHO has been advocating for to address non-communicable diseases such as heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, malnutrition, etc. The campaign brings together people, celebrities and other influencers, food industry, public health professionals, civil society and consumer organizations. It seems to address both the demand and the supply side – by making people aware of the what it means by eating right, and the benefits of it for them to make right choices.

On the supply side, it promotes food businesses to reformulate their products, provide better nutritional information to consumers and make investments in healthy food as responsible food businesses. She commended India for launching a campaign mode approach to ‘Eat Right’. This along with the Fit India campaign launched recently will go a long way in addressing non-communicable diseases. What India does and achieves will make a significant impact in arresting the NCD tsunami in the region as well as globally, she stated.

Key facts: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was India’s first Vice President and second President. His book, ‘The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore’ attracted global attention to Indian philosophy.

His philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta. He defended Hinduism against “uninformed Western criticism” and played a major role in the formation of contemporary Hindu identity.

He earned the reputation of being the bridge-builder between India and the West. He was one of the founders of Helpage India, a renowned NGO for elderly underprivileged in India.

He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1954. He was awarded several other distinguished awards as well such as a knighthood in 1931 and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.

Born in 1825 at Navsari, in present-day Gujarat. Key contributions: He was closely involved with the Indian National Congress in its early phase. He served as the first Indian member of the British parliament.

His first agitation, in 1859, concerned recruitment to the Indian Civil Service. In 1865 and 1866, Naoroji helped found the London Indian Society and the East India Association The two organisations sought to bring nationalist Indians and sympathetic Britons on one platform.

As the secretary of the East India Association, Naoroji travelled in India to gather funds and raise national awareness.

In 1885, Naoroji became a vice-president of the Bombay Presidency Association, was nominated to the Bombay legislative council by Governor Lord Reay, and helped form the Indian National Congress.

He was Congress president thrice, in 1886, 1893, and 1906. In 1893, he helped form an Indian parliamentary committee to attend to Indian interests.

In 1895, he became a member of the royal commission on Indian expenditure. Dadabhai Naoroji was among the key proponents of the ‘Drain Theory’, disseminating it in his 1901 book ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’.

What is Drain Theory? Imperial Britain was draining away India’s wealth to itself through exploitative economic policies, including India’s rule by foreigners; the heavy financial burden of the British civil and military apparatus in India; the exploitation of the country due to free trade; non-Indians taking away the money that they earned in India; and the interest that India paid on its public debt held in Britain.

The index ranks 140 global cities based on their living conditions. Significance: The liveability index quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide, and assesses which locations provide the best living conditions.

The list is topped by Vienna (Austria) for the second consecutive year.

The survey rates cities worldwide based on 30 qualitative and quantitative criteria, which fall into five general categories: Stability Health care. Culture and environment. Education Infrastructure

Performance of Indian cities: New Delhi has dropped by six places to rank 118th on the list. Mumbai also fell two places since last year to rank 119th.

Reasons for decline in liveability in Indian cities: Abuses against journalists. Rise in Crime rates. Climatic changes. Constrained liveability conditions.

The amendments have been criticised on substantial grounds, on the basis that they vest too much unchecked power in the central government, and can enable social and political persecution. The current debate also throws some light on the functioning of UAPA tribunal.

What are UAPA tribunals? How and why they are constituted? The tribunals are constituted under UAPA. The role of the tribunal is to review a ban imposed by the government.

Composition Of the tribunal: It consists of a sitting judge of the High Court. Under Section 4 of the UAPA, the UAPA Tribunal is tasked with deciding whether there exists “sufficient cause” for the association to be declared unlawful. In other words, the Tribunal must review the grounds mentioned in the notification on which the central government has formed its opinion, and examine whether those grounds are sufficient or not.

Provisions which give sweeping powers to the Centre: Section 3(1) of the UAPA authorizes the central government to declare, by notification, an association unlawful, if, in its opinion, that association is, or has become, an unlawful association.

Section 3 (1) and 3 (4) require that the notification is given wide publicity and every effort is made to serve it upon the association. Section 3(2) requires that the same notification that declares the Association unlawful set out the grounds on which the declaration was made, while exempting the government from disclosing any facts that it considers against the public interest to disclose.

The Recent issue: This is the case involving the banning of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu And Kashmir [‘JeI, J&K’, or ‘Jamaat J&K’] by the central government, acting under the powers given to it by the UAPA.

During the course of final arguments three core issues emerged. Each of these issues go to the heart of procedural equity, fair trial and – ultimately – ensuring that there exists parity between the State and individuals or groups in the context of the curtailment of core fundamental rights, such as the freedom of speech and association.

At the heart of the dispute on facts between the association and the Central government is the claim of the association that the FIRs and cases produced by the Central government before the Tribunal had no connection with it – none of the FIRs were against the association, and none of the persons named in those FIRs were its members.

Arguments by the association: The notification declaring the Association unlawful did not set out the “grounds” or the basis for the declaration.

What passed for “grounds” was vague and did not contain facts which would put the association to notice of what the case against it was.

How the Centre defends it’s move? The central government has replied that the notification’s setting out that the association was “supporting extremism and militancy”, “indulging in anti national and subversive activities” and activities “to disrupt the territorial integrity” and so on, was sufficient factual detail to constitute the “grounds” for its decision, and in any case further factual details were set out in a separate background note it had supplied to the Tribunal.

Why the recent UAPA Tribunal Order, confirming the government’s ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami, Jammu and Kashmir (“JeI, J&K”), is being contested? Key individual rights of freedom of speech and association are at stake. These rights must be given their due.

The rules of procedure and evidence are designed with the understanding that the State exercises a huge amount of power – and that, in a contest between the State and the individual (or a group), certain rules are needed to balance out this unequal power; this is the heart of the idea of a “fair trial.” The tribunal defends this argument.

A close reading of UAPA Tribunal orders makes it clear that the requirement of judicial scrutiny is little more than a parchment barrier. In allowing the government vast amounts of leeway in proving its case, tribunals depart from some of the most fundamental principles of fair procedure, and act as little more than judicial rubber stamps.

Conclusion: This is not a jurisprudence that respects constitutional democracy or fundamental freedoms such as speech and association. Rather, it is a jurisprudence of the judicial rubber stamp: courts acting to legitimise and enable governmental overreach, rather than protecting citizens and the rights of citizens against the government.

It is a situation where in the words of a famous English judge the judiciary has gone from “lions under the throne” to “mice squeaking under a chair in the Home Office” – with “consequences that the nation will one day bitterly regret”.

Out of these 26 APAs, 1 is a BAPA entered into with the United Kingdom and the remaining 25 are Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (UAPAs).

What are APAs? An APA is an agreement between a taxpayer and the tax authority determining the Transfer Pricing methodology for pricing the tax payer’s international transactions for future years.

An APA provides certainty with respect to the tax outcome of the tax payer’s international transactions.

An APA can be one of the three types – unilateral, bilateral and multilateral: Unilateral APA is an APA that involves only the taxpayer and the tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located.

Bilateral APA (BAPA) is an APA that involves the tax payer, associated enterprise (AE) of the taxpayer in the foreign country, tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located and the foreign tax authority.

Multilateral APA (MAPA) is an APA that involves the taxpayer, two or more AEs of the tax payer in different foreign countries, tax authority of the country where the taxpayer is located and the tax authorities of AEs.

Significance: The progress of the APA scheme strengthens the government’s resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. The Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.

Banks can choose from one of the four external benchmarks — repo rate, three-month treasury bill yield, six-month treasury bill yield or any other benchmark interest rate published by Financial Benchmarks India Private Ltd.

Current scenario: At present, interest rates on loans are linked to a bank’s marginal cost of fund-based interest rate, known as the Marginal Cost of Lending Rate (MCLR).

Existing loans and credit limits linked to the MCLR, base rate or Benchmark Prime Lending Rate, would continue till repayment or renewal.

What is external benchmarking of loans? When you borrow money from a bank, be it for purchasing a house, car or for business purposes, interest is levied based on certain methodologies approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). At present, banks use Marginal Cost-based Lending Rate (MCLR) to arrive at their lending rate. Prior to this, it was the Base Rate method and the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR). These were all internal benchmarks. Banks have been allowed to use RBI’s policy rate among other market-driven options to calculate lending rates.

Why the need for a new method? For faster transmission. Since February, RBI cut its policy rate by 110 basis points (100 bps=1 percentage point), including the higher-than-expected reduction of 35 bps in its August policy review. However, banks have not been so generous. Until August, they had only passed on 29 bps in rate cuts to borrowers, which the RBI thought was unfair. Hence, the regulator has now made it compulsory for banks to link their new floating rate home, auto and MSME loans to an external benchmark from October 1 so that the borrowers can enjoy a lower interest rate.

Context: A Memorandum of Intent was recently signed for the development of maritime communications between Chennai and Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East Region after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This assumes significance because it ensures there will be connectivity between the two major ports which will give impetus to the cooperation between India and the Russian Far East.

Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from Green to Red: ‘Green’ stands for ‘No warning’: no action needs to be taken by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate rain.

‘Yellow’ alert signifies “Watch”, and authorities are advised to “Be updated” on the situation.

‘Orange’ warning stands for “Alert”, and authorities are expected to “Be prepared”. The forecast during an Orange warning is of heavy to very heavy rainfall.

‘Red’ alert stands for “Warning”, and asks authorities to “Take action”.

The festival of nuakhai is a festival to celebrate newly harvested food by the farmers.

Background: The festival traces it origin to the Vedic period where the sages or Rishis used to talk about Panchyajna. One among them was Pralambana yajna which means the cutting of new crops and offering them to mother goddess as followed in Nuakhai festival.

It is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat.

According to the latest release by the World Gold Council, U.S. leads the country list with total gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes followed by Germany with 3,366.8 tonnes.

IMF is ranked third, it is followed by countries such as Italy, France, Russia, China, Switzerland and Japan before India at the 10th spot. India has pipped the Netherlands to move into the list of top ten countries in terms of total gold reserves.

According to the World Gold Council, India has gold reserves totalling 618.2 tonnes, which is marginally higher than the Netherlands’ reserves of 612.5 tonnes.

Interestingly, in terms of individual countries, India actually ranks ninth since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) occupies the third position after the U.S. and Germany.