IPv4 versus IPv6

The Internet has run out of Internet addresses… sort of. Perhaps you’ve heard the news: the last blocks of IPv4 Internet addresses have been allocated. The fundamental underlying technology that has powered Internet Protocol addresses (ever seen a number like 99.48.227.227 on the web? That’s an IP address) since the Internet’s inception will soon be exhausted.

A new technology will take its place, though. IPv4′s successor is IPv6, a system that will not only offer far more numerical addresses, but will simplify address assignments and additional network security features.

The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is likely to be rough, though. Most people are unfamiliar with IPv4 and IPv6, much less the potential impact the switch to IPv6 may have on their lives.

That’s why we’ve compiled this short guide to IPv4 and the eventual transition to IPv6. We explain the two versions of IP and why they matter. We also go into detail on what you can expect in the next few years as billions of websites, businesses and individuals make the switch to the new era of the Internet.

---

IPv4 & IPv6 Q&A

---

Q: What is IPv4?
A: IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 4. It is the underlying technology that makes it possible for us to connect our devices to the web. Whenever a device access the Internet (whether it’s a PC, Mac, smartphone or other device), it is assigned a unique, numerical IP address such as 99.48.227.227. To send data from one computer to another through the web, a data packet must be transferred across the network containing the IP addresses of both devices.

Without IP addresses, computers would not be able to communicate and send data to each other. It’s essential to the infrastructure of the web.

Q: What is IPv6?
A: IPv6 is the sixth revision to the Internet Protocol and the successor to IPv4. It functions similarly to IPv4 in that it provides the unique, numerical IP addresses necessary for Internet-enabled devices to communicate. However, it does sport one major difference: it utilizes 128-bit addresses. I’ll explain why this is important in a moment.

Q: Why are we running out of IPv4 addresses?
A: IPv4 uses 32 bits for its Internet addresses. That means it can support 2^32 IP addresses in total — around 4.29 billion. That may seem like a lot, but all 4.29 billion IP addresses have now been assigned to various institutions, leading to the crisis we face today.

Let’s be clear, though: we haven’t run out of addresses quite yet. Many of them are unused and in the hands of institutions like MIT and companies like Ford and IBM. More IPv4 addresses are available to be assigned and more will be traded or sold (since IPv4 addresses are now a scarce resource), but they will become a scarcer commodity over the next two years until it creates problem for the web.

Q: How does IPv6 solve this problem?
A: As previously stated, IPv6 utilizes 128-bit Internet addresses. Therefore, it can support 2^128 Internet addresses — 340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of them to be exact. That’s a lot of addresses, so many that it requires a hexadecimal system to display the addresses. In other words, there are more than enough IPv6 addresses to keep the Internet operational for a very, very long time.

Q: So why don’t we just switch?
A: The depletion of IPv4 addresses was predicted years ago, so the switch has been in progress for the last decade. However, progress has been slow — only a small fraction of the web has switched over to the new protocol. In addition, IPv4 and IPv6 essentially run as parallel networks — exchanging data between these protocols requires special gateways.

To make the switch, software and routers will have to be changed to support the more advanced network. This will take time and money. The first real test of the IPv6 network will come on June 8, 2011, World IPv6 Day. Google, Facebook and other prominent web companies will test drive the IPv6 network to see what it can handle and what still needs to be done to get the world switched over to the new network.

Q: How will this affect me?
A: Initially, it won’t have a major impact on your life. Most operating systems actually support IPv6, including Mac OS X 10.2 and Windows XP SP 1. However, many routers and servers don’t support it, making a connection between a device with an IPv6 address to a router or server that only supports IPv4 impossible. IPv6 is also still in its infancy; it has a lot of bugs and security issues that still need to be fixed, which could result in one giant mess.

Nobody’s sure how much the transition will cost or how long it will take, but it has to be done in order for the web to function as it does today.

Sorce: mashable.com

Indian Depository Receipts

What are Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs)?
IDRs are like American Depository Receipts or Global Depository Receipts, except that the issuer is a foreign company raising funds from the Indian market. IDRs are rupee-denominated and created by a domestic depository against the underlying equity shares of a foreign company.

Who can issue IDRs?
Any company listed in the country of incorporation can issue IDRs. Besides, the issuer needs pre-issue capital and free reserves of at least $50 million (around Rs 225 crore) and should have a market capitalisation of $100 million (Rs 450 crore) or more during the last three years. The company should have also made profits in three of the preceding five years.How will it work?

The process is similar to an initial public offering where a draft prospectus is filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

The minimum issue size is $500 million (around Rs 2,250 crore). Shares underlying IDRs will be deposited with an overseas custodian who will hold shares on behalf of a domestic depository. IDRs will be issued through a public offer in India in the demat form and will be listed on Indian exchanges. Trading and settlement will be similar to those of Indian shares.

At least half of the investors have to be qualified institutional investors with 30 per cent of the issue size reserved for small investors. Recently, the regulators allowed a single institutional investor to acquire up to 15 per cent of the issue size. In addition, banks have also been allowed to participate.

For a retail investor, the annual $200,000 ceiling (Rs 90 lakh) on overseas remittances, which can be used to buy shares, will not apply to IDRs, as the issues are rupee-denominated.

Will Indian investors get equal rights as shareholders?
Except attending annual general meetings and voting on resolutions, other rights are available.

Are there tax issues?
IDRs are not subject to securities transaction tax. Besides, dividends received by IDR holders will not be subject to dividend distribution tax. But, at present, exemption from long-term capital gains tax and concessional short-term capital gains are not available for secondary sales on the stock exchanges. However, the issue is expected to be resolved with the implementation of the Direct Tax Code.

What are the benefits for the issuing company?
The main benefit is in terms of branding, besides allowing foreign companies to access Indian capital. It is also seen as the platform for creation of acquisition currency and a management talent pool. Issuers have the option to reserve a proportion of the issue for employees.

ADRs and GDRs : Depository Receipts

ADRs and GDRs are not for investors in India – they can invest directly in the shares of various Indian companies.

But the ADRs and GDRs are an excellent means of investment for NRIs and foreign nationals wanting to invest in India. By buying these, they can invest directly in Indian companies without going through the hassle of understanding the rules and working of the Indian financial market – since ADRs and GDRs are traded like any other stock, NRIs and foreigners can buy these using their regular equity trading accounts!

This is what happens: The company deposits a large number of its shares with a bank located in the country where it wants to list indirectly. The bank issues receipts against these shares, each receipt having a fixed number of shares as an underlying (Usually 2 or 4).

These receipts are then sold to the people of this foreign country (and anyone who is allowed to buy shares in that country). These receipts are listed on the stock exchanges. They behave exactly like regular stocks – their prices fluctuate depending on their demand and supply, and depending on the fundamentals of the underlying company.

These receipts, which are traded like ordinary stocks, are calledDepository Receipts. Each receipt amounts to a claim on the predefined number of shares of that company. The issuing bank acts as a depository for these shares – that is, it stores the shares on behalf of the receipt holders.

Both ADR and GDR are depository receipts, and represent a claim on the underlying shares. The only difference is the location where they are traded.

If the depository receipt is traded in the United States of America (USA), it is called an American Depository Receipt, or an ADR.

If the depository receipt is traded in a country other than USA, it is called a Global Depository Receipt, or a GDR.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place from 1973 through 1982. The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. The Convention, concluded in 1982, replaced four 1958 treaties. UNCLOS came into force in 1994, a year after Guyana became the 60th state to sign the treaty. To date, 162 countries and the European Community have joined in the Convention. However, it is uncertain as to what extent the Convention codifies customary international law.

The convention introduced a number of provisions. The most significant issues covered were setting limits, navigation, archipelagic status and transit regimes,exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelf jurisdiction, deep seabed mining, the exploitation regime, protection of the marine environment, scientific research, and settlement of disputes.

The convention set the limit of various areas, measured from a carefully defined baseline. (Normally, a sea baseline follows the low-water line, but when the coastline is deeply indented, has fringing islands or is highly unstable, straight baselines may be used.) The areas are as follows:

Internal waters

Covers all water and waterways on the landward side of the baseline. The coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Foreign vessels have no right of passage within internal waters.

Territorial waters

Out to 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres; 14 miles) from the baseline, the coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Vessels were given the right of innocent passage through any territorial waters, with strategic straits allowing the passage of military craft as transit passage, in that naval vessels are allowed to maintain postures that would be illegal in territorial waters. "Innocent passage" is defined by the convention as passing through waters in an expeditious and continuous manner, which is not "prejudicial to the peace, good order or the security" of the coastal state. Fishing, polluting, weapons practice, and spying are not "innocent", and submarines and other underwater vehicles are required to navigate on the surface and to show their flag. Nations can also temporarily suspend innocent passage in specific areas of their territorial seas, if doing so is essential for the protection of its security.

Archipelagic waters

The convention set the definition of Archipelagic States in Part IV, which also defines how the state can draw its territorial borders. A baseline is drawn between the outermost points of the outermost islands, subject to these points being sufficiently close to one another. All waters inside this baseline are designated Archipelagic Waters. The state has full sovereignty over these waters (like internal waters), but foreign vessels have right of innocent passage through archipelagic waters (like territorial waters).

Contiguous zone

Beyond the 12 nautical mile limit, there is a further 12 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline limit, the contiguous zone, in which a state can continue to enforce laws in four specific areas: customs, taxation, immigration and pollution, if the infringement started within the state's territory or territorial waters, or if this infringement is about to occur within the state's territory or territorial waters.^[4] This makes the contiguous zone a hot pursuit area.

Exclusive economic zones (EEZs)

These extend from the edge of the territorial sea out to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres; 230 miles) from the baseline. Within this area, the coastal nation has sole exploitation rights over all natural resources. In casual use, the term may include the territorial sea and even the continental shelf. The EEZs were introduced to halt the increasingly heated clashes over fishing rights, although oil was also becoming important. The success of an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 1947 was soon repeated elsewhere in the world, and by 1970 it was technically feasible to operate in waters 4000 metres deep. Foreign nations have the freedom of navigation and overflight, subject to the regulation of the coastal states. Foreign states may also lay submarine pipes and cables.

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is defined as the natural prolongation of the land territory to the continental margin’s outer edge, or 200 nautical miles from the coastal state’s baseline, whichever is greater. A state’s continental shelf may exceed 200 nautical miles until the natural prolongation ends. However, it may never exceed 350 nautical miles (650 kilometres; 400 miles) from the baseline; or it may never exceed 100 nautical miles (190 kilometres; 120 miles) beyond the 2,500 meter isobath (the line connecting the depth of 2,500 meters). Coastal states have the right to harvest mineral and non-living material in the subsoil of its continental shelf, to the exclusion of others. Coastal states also have exclusive control over living resources "attached" to the continental shelf, but not to creatures living in the water column beyond the exclusive economic zone.

Aside from its provisions defining ocean boundaries, the convention establishes general obligations for safeguarding the marine environment and protecting freedom of scientific research on the high seas, and also creates an innovative legal regime for controlling mineral resource exploitation in deep seabed areas beyond national jurisdiction, through an International Seabed Authority and the Common heritage of mankind principle.^[5]

Landlocked states are given a right of access to and from the sea, without taxation of traffic through transit states.

[edit]Part XI and the 1994 Agreement

Part XI of the Convention provides for a regime relating to minerals on the seabed outside any state's territorial waters or EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zones). It establishes an International Seabed Authority (ISA) to authorize seabed exploration and mining and collect and distribute the seabed mining royalty.

The United States objected to the provisions of Part XI of the Convention on several grounds, arguing that the treaty was unfavorable to American economic and security interests. Due to Part XI, the United States refused to ratify the UNCLOS, although it expressed agreement with the remaining provisions of the Convention.

From 1983 to 1990, the United States accepted all but Part XI as customary international law, while attempting to establish an alternative regime for exploitation of the minerals of the deep seabed. An agreement was made with other seabed mining nations and licenses were granted to four international consortia. Concurrently, the Preparatory Commission was established to prepare for the eventual coming into force of the Convention-recognized claims by applicants, sponsored by signatories of the Convention. Overlaps between the two groups were resolved, but a decline in the demand for minerals from the seabed made the seabed regime significantly less relevant. In addition, the decline of Socialism and the fall of Communism in the late 1980s had removed much of the support for some of the more contentious Part XI provisions.

In 1990, consultations were begun between signatories and non-signatories (including the United States) over the possibility of modifying the Convention to allow the industrialized countries to join the Convention. The resulting 1994 Agreement on Implementation was adopted as a binding international Convention. It mandated that key articles, including those on limitation of seabed production and mandatory technology transfer, would not be applied, that the United States, if it became a member, would be guaranteed a seat on the Council of the International Seabed Authority, and finally, that voting would be done in groups, with each group able to block decisions on substantive matters. The 1994 Agreement also established a Finance Committee that would originate the financial decisions of the Authority, to which the largest donors would automatically be members and in which decisions would be made by consensus.

On February 1, 2011, the Seabed Disputes Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued an advisory opinion concerning the legal responsibilities and obligations of States Parties to the Convention with respect to the sponsorship of activities in the Area in accordance with Part XI of the Convention and the 1994 Agreement.^[6] The advisory opinion was issued in response to a formal request made by the International Seabed Authority following two prior applications the Authority's Legal and Technical Commission had received from the Republics of Nauru and Tonga regarding proposed activities (a plan of work to explore for polymetallic nodules) to be undertaken in the Area by two State-sponsored contractors (Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (sponsored by the Republic of Nauru) and Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd. (sponsored by the Kingdom of Tonga). The advisory opinion set forth the international legal responsibilities and obligations of Sponsoring States AND the Authority to ensure that sponsored activities do not harm the marine environment, consistent with the applicable provisions of UNCLOS Part XI, Authority regulations, ITLOS case law, other international environmental treaties, and Principle 15 of the UN Rio Declaration

Switching to Treasury Mode : Recommendations of C. Rangarajan Committee

CSSs are specific transfers from the central government (GOI) to the state government and are meant to help the latter “to plan and implement programmes that help attain national goals and objectives”¹. A case in point is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan whose aim is to achieve universal enrolment in elementary education. Other examples include the goal of livelihood security through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and of rural housing through the Indira Awaas Yojana. While the GOI is responsible for formulation and (to a considerable extent) financing, state governments are in charge of implementation. Many schemes also require a financial contribution from the state (eg. SSA funding is split between GOI and states in a 60:40 ratio).

CSSs can be classified in 2 types – Treasury mode or Society mode depending on the fund flow mechanism

What does the fund flow mechanism look like in the Treasury mode?

The treasury mode gets its name from the fact that funds to implementing agencies are are routed through respective state budgets, or the state treasuries. An example of such a CSS is the ICDS. Fund flow occurs as follows:

1. The approved amount is first sanctioned by the concerned administrative ministry (for instance, the Ministry of Human Resource Development in the case of education, or the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the case of health) or the central government’s Ministry of Finance.
2. A sanction letter is issued by the GOI and copies are sent to the State government and state Accountant General (AG).
3. The Pay and Account office of the GOI then issues an advice letter to the RBI asking it to transfer funds to the State government’s treasury.
4. RBI completes the transfer and confirms this by issuing a clearance memo to the State Government and the AG.
5. The state finance department now approves the budgetary allocation and sanctions the withdrawal of funds.
6. Finally, the concerned department/agency withdraws funds

How are funds tracked? Is there a monitoring mechanism?

Funds are tracked through a system of vouchers. Expenditures are routed through the treasury and vouchers have to be submitted to the AG for all expenditures incurred. Since computerisation of account compilation, funds can be tracked till the state government spends through state departments or transfers the fund to the Implementing Agencies (usually local bodies) for various schemes.

Interestingly, the AG’s office captures funds transferred to local bodies by the state treasury at the time of release and books it as expenditure. However the treasury system does not capture actual expenditure by local bodies.

Hence, in a nutshell there is a fairly effective monitoring system but it does not track expenditure at the last mile.

What are the pros and cons of the Treasury mode of fund transfer?

Pros

1. The system can track expenditure to the object level (the economic type of expenditure - details here) as vouchers for each transaction are available with the treasury or the AG.
2. Expenditure is compiled by the Auditor General, and is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office.
3. There is a well-defined system of cash management and bank reconciliation which provides information on cash flows at any point of time. Hence the system is amenable to monitoring and review at all stages barring the last.

Cons

1. Releases are booked as expenditure in central and state government accounts - GOI accounts treat transfer to states as Grants-in-Aid and book them as final expenditure. Similarly, releases by States to IAs are treated as final expenditure in State accounts. Since actual expenditure cannot be tracked, one does not have complete information on end use of funds in real time.
2. Money not released by the government (GOI or state) by the end of the financial year gets lapsed, i.e., does not get carried over to the next year. This often results in GOI and states pushing funds out without looking at actual utilisation.
3. The exact dates of interim stages like administrative or financial sanction in the state Government that often involve concurrence of the Finance Department are almost impossible to obtain.
4. Statements don’t match! Department accounts and expenditure statements provided to GOI by states are often not reconciled with accounting records of the AG, sometimes for years. This raises concerns about the accuracy of data and thereby of actual expenditure reported.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   Source: Accountabilityindia.in

Central Plan Monitoring System

There are over 1045 plans being implemented in the priority social sector, aimed at millions of beneficiaries across India, through the different ministries of the central government of India. Moreover, the Central Government also releases funds under Additional Central Assistance program to states to use within their region. Approximately Rs. 300,000 crores (USD 66 Billion) are released under these channels each year. Given the diversity in and number of channels through which the money is spent, the Central Government finds it necessary to ensure that the money is spent according to its intended purpose, and provide an accounting of same.

CPSMS' purpose is to provide greater transparency and accountability to social sector monitoring that has not existed until now. Financial utilization can be put in the public domain, and fund transfers to grassroots entities and utilization by them can be accessed by interested individuals and organizations. Only about 20% of these funds are routed to states through the Treasury route and 80% of funds are sent through Special Purpose Vehicles, which have weaker intrinsic internal control mechanisms available in the Treasury mechanism.

The current program-specific MISs operate with time lags and do not give a clear picture of funds remaining unutilized in each fiscal year. While funds released by the central government are immediately booked as expenditure in the Central Government accounts, utilization in the field takes time and while commercial banks enjoy the float, the Central Government must borrow to meet its fiscal deficit. This is attributable to the absence of a system that could quickly provide consolidated or granular information on utilization, advances, fund transfers or bank balances across schemes, districts, blocks or institutions. By the time utilization reports reach the State and Central level, the data is already historical, significantly limiting its utility. CPSMS will aid in better fiscal deficit management, and to ultimately move to a system of flow of authorization as against the actual flow of funds, whereby banks will first meet the expenses of the implementing agencies and then seek reimbursement from the Central Government.

MISs based on post facto data feeding suffer from drawbacks of inefficiencies, inconsistencies, gaps and perennial reconciliations, as they are not integrated with the process flow. CPSMS attempts to address this, and the associated issues of transparency and accountability related to the SPV mode of implementation, keeping all the advantages of the mode intact.

The system is now available in all the central ministries and all the state, ministry and scheme reports are available to users in these ministries. The system is being implemented in the four states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Mizoram and Punjab. The CPSMS-CBS interface is now functional and is providing real time information exchange with the banks. The Planning Commission has also decided to fast-track work on the system.

 All releases from the Government of India under Plan Schemes are now made through CPSMS, and all agencies receiving these releases are registered on the CPSMS Portal. 120,000 agencies have been registered. Ministry, Scheme, State-wise, District, NGO-, Individual data of releases from GOI is now available centrally on CPSMS in real time. The CPSMS data is fully reconciled with the accounting data of CGA.

BRICS Exchange Alliance

Exchanges in the biggest emerging economies began trading futures based on each other’s benchmark stock indexes today as rising wealth spurs demand for new investment products.

The five members of the BRICS Exchanges Alliance will cross-list futures on Brazil’s Bovespa Index, Russia’s Micex Index, the BSE India Sensitive Index,  the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and South Africa’s JSE Top40 Index. Traders engaged in arbitrage will be able to buy and sell futures based on the same index on multiple venues, boosting liquidity, according to Mumbai-based BSE Ltd.

The products may appeal to the growing number of wealthy individual investors in developing nations who want to access foreign markets. 

Global Commons

The term Global Commons refers to the earth's unowned natural resources, such as the oceans, Earth's atmosphere, and outer space.The definition does not specifically state define whether the absence of ownership is traditional or deliberate. Resources such as the Northern and Southern polar regions may be subject to disputes by some states. These resources are central to life.

According to the World Conservation Strategy, a report on conservation published in 1980 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in collaboration with UNESCO and with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF):

"A commons is a tract of land or water owned or used jointly by the members of a community. The global commons includes those parts of the Earth's surface beyond national jurisdictions - notably the open ocean and the living resources found there - or held in common - notably the atmosphere. The only landmass that may be regarded as part of the global commons is Antarctica ...".

Think: Why Arctic has not been declared as a global common when the rain forests of Amazon have been declared to be so.