1 DECEMBER 2014: Golden Peacock award goes 2 Russian Film

Ø  Toeing the UPA line, the NDA government has refused to make the files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose public, saying the revelations would “prejudicially affect” relations with foreign countries. The Prime Minister’s Office has shared only a list of 41 such files. In the run-up to the general elections, the then BJP president and present Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in January asked the UPA government to reveal the mystery behind Netaji’s death. “The entire country is impatient to know how Netaji died and under what circumstances,” he said at a book release function. However, in its response to an RTI application by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal filed about 14 months ago, the PMO has declined to share copies of the files. The PMO has shared a list of files created from 1953 to 2000, the last two “Top Secret” files being on Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry report. The other two top secret papers are on correspondences with and about Netaji’s widow and daughter (last amended in 1971) and the transfer of his ashes to India (created in 1998). In all, 21 files pertain to Netaji’s disappearance or circumstances of his death and the appointment of inquiry committees. Ten others are marked “Unclassified” but, the government has refused to reveal contents of even those files. The list includes two files on the Indian National Army’s treasure, created in 1956-57 and 1988. Among the files marked “Secret” is a 1991 document titled “Bharat Ratna Award – Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Subhas Chandra Bose, JRD Tata, Morarji Desai.” The classified files include a 2006 file on Netaji’s mortal remains kept in Rankoji temple in Japan on behalf of the Indian government. The BJP-led government had earlier declined to make public the Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report on the 1962 war with China.

Ø  The United Nations climate summit in Lima, which begins on December 1, is the last before the Paris meeting in 2015, and while there is the usual scepticism, countries have to indicate their contributions and also discuss the draft negotiating text for next year. Union Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar has been reiterating India’s stand at international forums and emphasising on common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) and operationalising the Green Climate Fund (GCF) which has been injected with 9.7 billion for four years recently. Developed countries agreed to mobilise $100 billion per year till 2020, and the crisis of funding and technology transfer continues to plague the negotiations. At Paris, countries have to agree on a deal with new goals which will take the world post the 2020 era. The Lima meeting, coming soon after the climate deal between the U.S. and China, seeks to set the tone for the “Paris Protocol” and countries will be wrangling over their “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions(INDC)s which they have to finalise by March next year.

Ø  The government-appointed High-Level Committee to review environmental laws, while proposing a near complete overhaul of the regulatory system, has sounded a note of caution on genetically modified (GM) food crops. In its report submitted recently on the review of six laws, the committee headed by the former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian, said while other Ministries naturally would aggressively push for early field trials and induction, the role of the Environment Ministry may have to be one of a Devil’s Advocate to advise due caution. It also noted that Europe does not permit field trials and that the average Indian farm is of very small size (which could lead to severe adverse impact on biodiversity through gene-flow). Since there are no independent expert agencies in the country, perhaps the Environment Ministry may ask for greater assurance in respect of potential adverse effects in the medium and long run. It has also taken this aspect of assurance and good faith further in its new proposed law, the Environment Laws (Management) Act (ELMA). Under this, the application for environmental clearances expects the applicant to be honest and truthful — the concept of “utmost good faith” is statutorily introduced, and the consequences of breach are also set out. The committee has suggested setting up of special environment courts presided over by a sessions judge and higher penalties. It proposes to create new agencies, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) at the national level and the State Environment Management Authority (SEMA) as the pivotal authorities to process applications for a one-window composite environmental clearance. The NEMA and SEMA will replace the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards. The panel also takes away the role of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which, under the proposed ELMA, will only be able to judicially review the decisions of the Appellate Boards.

Ø  The Russian film Leviathan by Andrey Zvyagintsev bagged the Golden Peacock award, with a cash component of Rs. 40 lakh, for best film at the closing ceremony of the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Israeli director Nadav Lapid bagged the award for best director for his film The Kindergarten Teacher .

Ø  The U.K.’s first bus powered entirely by human and food waste has gone into service between Bristol and Bath. Engineers believe the bus can provide a sustainable way of public transport — cutting emissions in polluted towns and cities. The 40-seater Bio-Bus, which runs on gas generated through the treatment of sewage and food waste, does not affect urban air quality as it produces less quantity of emissions than traditional diesel engines. The bus can travel up to 300 km on a full tank of gas, which is generated at the Bristol sewage treatment works run by the company GENeco.

Ø  China and Pakistan have kicked off their multi-billion dollar ‘Economic Corridor’ project that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) by laying the foundation of a fenced four-lane motorway, setting in motion a mammoth project connecting the two countries. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking of a section of the motorway in the country’s northwest, signalling the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement. The 60-km-long, 4-lane fenced Hazara Motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province will cost $297 million and will take two years to complete.  During his China visit earlier this month, Mr. Sharif signed deals worth $45.6 billion that included projects connected with the Corridor. India has expressed its reservations to China over the project as it is laid through the PoK. But, China defended the project saying it will help regional development. Sceptics in both the countries, however, point to the rising tide of extremism in Pakistan which makes its construction extremely difficult. The tenuous political and security situation in Pakistan prompted Chinese President Xi Jinping to cancel his trip to Islamabad in September during which he visited the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.