GENERAL UPDATES 21.01.2019

FIRST TRANCHE OF PM-KISAN SCHEME LIKELY TO COVER 24 MILLION FARMERS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to kick-start the direct income support scheme for farmers (PM-KISAN) on February 24 from Gorakhpur, by transferring the first installment of Rs 2,000 to at least 24 million farmers across the country. The number can go up further, as names of 5-6 million beneficiaries are getting ad­ded to the PM-KISAN portal. Officials said details of over 26 million farmers were uploaded by states on the official PM-KISAN website, of which 2 million have been rejected in the first round of verification because of wrong land records, non-linking of bank account, among other reasons These farmers can apply afresh after correcting their inputs. Officials said about Rs 5,000 crore of the Rs 20,000 crore allocated for the scheme in 2018-19 is expected to be disbursed to farmers in the first few days itself. A majority of the 24 million farmers, whose verified details are available on the PM-KISAN website, are from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. These states have also been proactive in uploading the list of beneficiaries. Our estimate is that about 100 million farmers across the country should get the first installment of Rs 2,000 by March-end, as the number of beneficiaries is going up daily, a senior agriculture ministry official told.

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PARLIAMENTARY PANEL ASKS GOVT TO MAKE REPORTS ON BLACK MONEY PUBLIC

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday asked the central government to circulate three reports on black money by centrally-funded think tanks among its members and also make them public The three reports on the quantum of black money held by Indians, both inside the country and abroad, have been prepared by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM). The panel has told the finance ministry to circulate these reports, said a person aware of deliberations within the committee. While the government claims that the reports had already been sent to the Standing Committee, some of its members disagree. The House panel is led by former Petroleum and Corporate Affairs Minister and Congress MP Veerappa Moily. It has 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 members from the Rajya Sabha.

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CAPITAL REQUIREMENT OF PSBS TO SHRINK TO RS 25,000 CRORE IN FY20: MOODY'S

Moody's Investors Service on Thursday said the government fund requirements of public sector banks will shrink substantially to about Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000 crore in the year ending March 2020 (fiscal 2020) on improving asset quality. The government on Wednesday announced to pump in an additional Rs 48,239 crore in 12 public sector banks (PSBs) in this fiscal to help them maintain regulatory capital requirements and finance growth plans. In the current financial year, Rs 1,00,958 crore has been infused into these banks. Moody's estimates that PSBs will require a total of about Rs 20,000-25,000 crore in external capital in fiscal 2020 to maintain CET-1 (common equity Tier-1) ratios of about 8.5 per cent. This is a significant reduction from the Rs 1.96 lakh crore infused by the government in the past two years, it said in a statement. The recent capital infusion will improve solvency of banks, but not fully resolve legacy problem loans Moody's said. The latest government capital infusions will improve the solvency of the banks, and significantly boost their provisions for non-performing loans. However, large volumes of legacy problem loans have yet to be resolved, it added. Moody's Vice-President and Senior Credit Officer Alka Anbarasu said the capital infusions will help the PSBs meet regulatory capital requirements and improve provisioning coverage. In addition, the capital infusions will lead to stronger PSBs having sufficient capital to support credit growth, with some banks able to raise capital from the equity markets as their financial improve, which will reduce the need for future capital injections from the government. However, many weaker banks will continue to find it difficult to generate sufficient capital internally to meet their capital needs Anbarasu said. We believe the government remains committed to resolving the PSBs' capital needs and will provide capital for them in fiscal 2020; although the government has not included any such plan in its annual budget for the year, Moody's said.

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PSB' FULL TURNAROUND STILL TWO YEARS AWAY: MOODY'S

The fresh round recapitalisation of 12 state-run banks is positive as it will help them improve their core capital but a complete turnaround is still away due to the large quantum of legacy bad loans, says report. Rating agency Moody's Thursday said the capital support to state-run banks have been increased from the original plan as banks' capital shortfalls have grown larger than the initial projections. However, these banks are far from a complete turnaround as large volumes of problem-loans will still continue to cap improvements in profitability and capitalisation, constraining their credit profiles, Moody's said in a report. A key hindrance to a faster turnaround of these banks is the slow progress in the resolution of legacy bad loans and the need to build up provisions against those assets. Although the resolution process at bankruptcy courts (NCLTs) has been initiated for most large NPA accounts, progress has been slower than we anticipated, and a complete cleanup of legacy problem loans could take more than two years, the agency said. It said farm loan waivers, which three states have granted since November 2018, are a risk because these measures can incentives borrowers to not repay their loans, contributing to more bad loans in the agri lending books. Besides vulnerabilities linger among MSMEs as reflected in the spikes in bad loans the report said.

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WITHOUT HELMET BUT WITHIN CREASE: THE CRICKET LOGIC BEHIND RBI DEPUTY GOVERNOR VIRAL ACHARYA'S RATE CUT NO

In his maiden monetary policy two weeks ago, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das announced a quarter percentage point rate cut — the first in 18 months. He cited the need to boost the slowing economy when inflation was falling Unpredictably, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent. It also shifted its stance to neutral from calibrated tightening. Das surprised most experts who had expected only a change in the stance to and without a rate cut. However, two of the six MPC members had favoured a status quo but supported change in stance to neutral, as revealed in the minutes of the MPC meeting released today by the RBI. Viral Acharya was one of them and this is what he said in the meeting, explaining his reservations with an analogy from the game of cricket: Combining my inflation and growth assessments, and given the Monetary Policy Committee's mandate to target headline inflation at 4% on a durable basis while paying attention to growth, I prefer to take off the helmet but stay within the crease. However, he favoured the change in stance to neutral. Acharya suggested the committee waited till the next policy review when the Q3 growth numbers would be out too. In my view, a rate cut decision now would be heavily dependent on the assumption of sustained weak momentum of food prices all through the next 12 months, which, as I explained, must be viewed as coincident with significant upside risk from fiscal measures needed to address agrarian distress. It seems better to me, in times of presently healthy levels of growth, to wait till the next policy by when uncertainties I have highlighted, especially around one-off surprises in health and education inflation, oil prices, and global recessionary risks, could resolve. The growth print for Q3 would also be available by then for understanding any soft spots in the domestic real economy and their drivers, he said. Acharya had voted for a rate cut last time in August 2017. He said at that point all components of inflation had experienced downward trends, upside risks to inflation had reduced, and growth was weaker. Another member, Chetan Ghate, too argued for a status quo but favoured the change of stance to neutral Maintaining status quo on the rates would be consistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over the medium-term, he said. He argued that Inflation had softened but not in a broad-based way. He saw a robust growth picture despite the emergence of soft spots.

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RBI TOP BRASS URGES BANK CEOS TO LOWER LENDING RATES

The top brass at the Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, impressed upon top bankers the need for the recent cut in policy repo rate to translate into lower lending rates Bankers, however, emphasised that in the backdrop of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation upping the interest on PF deposits from 8.55 per cent (in FY2018) to 8.65 per cent (in FY2019) and small savings rates continuing to remain relatively higher, they may have to up deposit rates. Hence, there is little scope for cutting lending rates

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DIGITAL WALLET PLAYERS BACKED INTO A CORNER AS FEBRUARY 28 KYC DEADLINE APPROACHES

In what could hamper the Centre’s efforts to encourage digital payments, mobile wallets in the country are likely to witness a nearly 80 per cent decline in their user base post the February 28 deadline set by the RBI to meet KYC requirements. According to industry experts, the drop in user base is inevitable despite companies trying their best to get ‘full KYC’ done for all their users through push notifications urging them to visit neighbourhood partner retail outlets with documents. We want the RBI to be cognizant of the fact that wallets were instrumental in propelling digital transactions in the country, and the stricter norms will again boost the cash economy. We want to request the regulator to at least allow transactions with minimum KYC, said Vishwas Patel. The RBI, which has already given two extensions, seems to be in no mood to grant another, sources said. The banking regulator, which came out with the KYC norms in October 2017, has clearly stated that after February 28, 2019, users who have not submitted their full KYC details will not be able to use their e-wallets even for small transactions. Neither can they use the credit facility. Currently, the RBI allows users to carry out transactions up to ₹10,000 a month with minimum KYC, which is done by updating the mobile and PAN card number on the wallet’s app itself. The full KYC needs a personal verification of paper documents such as voter ID or ration card, or driving licence, along with the PAN card. However, the challenge remains with physical verification — a user has to either go to a company-certified KYC centre or the company has to send a person to collect the documents from the user.

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NOW REGISTER COMPLAINT WITH DOT AGAINST OFFENSIVE WHATSAPP MESSAGES

People can now file a complaint with the Department of Telecom (DoT) against offensive messages received on WhatsApp an official said Friday. The victim just needs to furnish a screenshot of the message along with the mobile number and e-mail it to ccaddn-dot@nic.in. We will take it up with the telecom operators and police heads for necessary action, DoT Controller Communications Ashish Joshi tweeted. The move comes following many public figures, including journalists, complaining of receiving abusive and threatening messages.

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ODISHA TO IMPLEMENT PM-KISAN; FARMERS TO BENEFIT FROM CENTRAL AND STATE SCHEMES

The Odisha government has agreed to implement the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), deciding to share the first list of beneficiaries under its own farm-intervention programme for the Centre’s cash-transfer scheme. The Centre is expected to formally launch the PM-KISAN scheme, announced in the interim budget 2019-20, at a farmers’ conclave in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on February 24. The onus on identifying beneficiaries for it has been placed with the states. Preoccupied with a state-wide rollout of its own Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme — it covers sharecroppers and landless agriculture labour as well — the state government had not decided who would qualify for the central scheme. On Thursday, the state announced it would share the list of 12.45 lakh small and marginal farmers who had received the first instalment of Rs 5,000 under the KALIA scheme. Patnaik’s said: It is very sad that the Centre’s scheme does not have anything for these neglected and deprived sections (sharecroppers and landless farmers). I have taken up the issue with the Prime Minister and demanded steps for supporting the landless farmers, sharecroppers and agricultural workers and protecting their interests. He also wanted the assistance to be enhanced from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000.

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FSSAI, AYUSH MINISTRY DISCUSSING REGULATIONS FOR AYURVEDIC FOODS

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Ayush is exploring the possibility of setting standards for Ayurvedic Ahaar, traditional Ayurvedic foods, as a separate category. Pawan Agarwal, said, We are in discussions with the Ministry of Ayush to explore various possibilities and looking at whether there can be standards for Ayurvedic Ahaar as a separate category in the food supplements regulatory framework. These standards could either be part of food supplements and nutraceutical regulations or we could look at having a separate set of regulations for Ayurvedic Ahaar. He added that this will help to grow this segment and increase international acceptability of such products.

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INSURER UNIVERSAL SOMPO, CHAIRMAN UNDER IRDAI CLOUD

Universal Sompo General Insurance has come under a cloud for lax governance practices. A recent inspection report by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) shows that business commissions worth crores were paid to certain brokerages even when premium cheques submitted by them bounced. The inspection report, to which Sompo replied last month, pertains to accounting year 2016-17, where 4,059 premium cheques bounced of which, 1,124 belonged to a single broker, Risk Care Insurance. The inspection report says the reason for the soft approach against Risk Care could be close family connections the broking company had with ON Singh. The report says that the family members of ON Singh are shareholders and board members of Risk Care, which gives rise to conflict of interest. In fact, Singh is also a director at First Advantage Finance & Investments, which holds a 4.39 per cent stake in Risk Care. Ram Nath was a common director in both Sompo and Krishi Care, which was paid ₹24 crore by the insurance company.

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JNPT TOP BIDDER FOR AIR INDIA TOWER IN MUMBAI, WITH MORE THAN RS 1,000 CR OFFER

State-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s biggest container gateway, has placed a more than Rs 1,000-crore bid to buy debt-ridden Air India’s iconic 23-storey tower located at Mumbai’s Marine Drive in Nariman Point, facing the Arabian Sea. JNPT’s bid was higher than that of state-run insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the only other bidder to participate in the auction, a top government official said, asking not to be named, because the bid results have not been made public yet. The bid, though, is yet to be finalised because JNPT’s price quotation is below the reserve price set by the cash-strapped national carrier, and the transaction needs a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the Maharashtra government, which had leased the land for the tower many years ago. There were only two bids and JNPT was the highest bidder. The state government did not bid, after showing initial interest. The land is leased by the state government. So, legally, it requires a NoC from it that’s the only thing, but they can’t bid now. Also, Air India had high expectations and had set a reserve price in the range of Rs 1,600 crore. JNPT’s bid is lower than that. Hence, Air India can take its own call or ask JNPT to raise the price, the government official said, adding that Air India has kept the whole process confidential.

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SBI, PNB READY TO PUMP IN EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR JET AIRWAYS

Government-owned State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank (PNB) have agreed to provide Rs 500 crore emergency funding for Jet Airways, subject to others in the consortium of lenders not objecting, said people with knowledge of the matter. This money will allow the airline to continue operations until the lenders determine the best way of restructuring the company’s debt of more than Rs 8,000 crore. Only SBI and PNB have agreed to step in and provide the loans, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. None of the other lenders are willing to lend more. The fresh debt is proposed to be ranked at higher seniority, which means it will be given first preference in the event of loan recovery, this person said.

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RS 3,000 CRORE PENALTY ON AIRTEL, VODAFONE, IDEA OVER RELIANCE JIO ISSUE: DECISION DEFERRED

The Digital Communications Commission (DCC), formerly known as Telecom Commission, Thursday deferred the decision on cumulative penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Airtel, Vodafone and Idea to its next meeting, according to an official source. The telecom watchdog Trai in October 2016 recommended imposing total penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea for allegedly denying interconnectivity to newcomer Reliance Jio. The regulator stopped short of recommending cancellation of their telecom licences saying it may lead to significant consumer inconvenience.

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GOVERNMENT REPROMULGATES TRIPLE TALAQ ORDINANCE FOR THIRD TIME IN LESS THAN A YEAR

The ordinance making the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence for Muslim men was issued for the third time on Thursday. The Law Ministry said President Ram Nath Kovind has signed the The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Second Ordinance, 2019. On Tuesday, the cabinet gave its nod to re-issuing of the contentious triple talaq ordinance. A bill to ban the practice of talaq-e-biddat has been passed by Lok Sabha and is pending Rajya Sabha’s nod where the government lacks numbers. The bill is set to lapse with the dissolution of the present Lok Sabha on June 3. The ordinance has been reissued for the third time in less then a year. Opposition parties and some community leaders have claimed that jail term for a man for divorcing his wife is legally untenable. The government has asserted that it provides justice and equality to Muslim women. To a question about the need for a government to clear several ordinances including the one on triple talaq, weeks ahead of the general election, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said on Tuesday that discussions on these ordinances and bills had been physically prevented in Parliament. It (discussion) has not been prevented because numbers were against it. Indian democracy cannot be helpless. Extraordinary situations do call for such steps, he had said. Under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019, divorcing through instant triple talaq will be illegal, void and would attract a jail term of three years for the husband The bill to convert the earlier ordinance, issued in September 2018, was cleared by Lok Sabha in December and is pending in Rajya Sabha. Since the bill could not get parliamentary approval, a fresh ordinance was issued. Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be misused, the government has included certain safeguards in it such as adding a provision of bail for the accused before trial. These amendments were cleared by the Cabinet on August 29, 2018. While the ordinance makes it a non-bailable offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail. In a non-bailable offence, bail cannot be granted by police at the police station itself. A provision has been added to allow the magistrate to grant bail after hearing the wife, the government had said.

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GOVT'S REFORM INITIATIVES TRANSFORMED INDIA INTO FASTEST-GROWING MAJOR ECONOMY: NITI AAYOG

The host of reforms undertaken by the government has transformed India into the fastest-growing major economy along with the macroeconomic stability not witnessed in the past, according to a note prepared by the Niti Aayog. The country's growth, the note added, has decisively increased over the last five years and is much higher than the average growth among the emerging and developing economies. India's economic performance dipped considerably during 2010-13. Over the last five years (2014-18), the India economy has recovered and now is going through one of its best-ever phases of economic growth combined with the microeconomic stability, the note said. According to the note, in 2018-19, against India's likely growth of 7.2 per cent the world GDP growth would be 3.7 per cent and median of seven emerging market economies (Brazil, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Russia, South Africa and Turkey) is 3.5 per cent. The closest to India is China, which is estimated to grow at 6.6 per cent in 2018-19, the note said. The uptick in economic growth has come from various economic reforms undertaken by the government such as improvement in ease of doing business, opening up to foreign direct investments, the push for infrastructure development and a stable and decisive policy environment, it added. India's growth in the current fiscal year is estimated to be 7.2 per cent with the growth in preceding three years being 8 per cent, 8.2 per cent and 7.2 per cent.

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SURESH PRABHU WANTED COMPULSORY IN-FLIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE, MINISTRY SAID 'NOT FEASIBLE'

Suresh Prabhu had asked his ministry officials to make it compulsory for airlines to use local languages for in-flight announcements besides Hindi and English but was told that this measure was practically not feasible. On December 26, his private secretary Rohit Yadav wrote a note to the civil aviation ministry, stating that the minister has directed that announcement on public address systems at all airports in India and also by the scheduled airlines should be in local language followed by Hindi and English. Yadav added in his note that a direction in this regard may be issued to all the airports and scheduled airlines immediately. Compliance in this regard may be submitted to this office by 1600 hours today i.e. 26.12.2018. However, the ministry officials pointed out to the minister that such a measure is practically not feasible for airlines as an aircraft goes through several states and the cabin crew may not know that language, according to the documents accessed by PTI. Consequently, the government, on December 26, directed all airports to make public announcements in local language first followed by Hindi and English. In an official note, the then civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey wrote, It is practically not feasible for airlines to make announcement in local language within the aircraft, because the aircraft touches several states and the cabin crew may not know that language. Hence, DGCA may issue an advisory for compliance as far as possible, but not make it mandatory wrote Choubey, who retired on January 31. However, Choubey agreed that airports can be asked to make public announcements in local language followed by Hindi and English, as he wrote, While Chairman AAI (Airports Authority of India) will issue the direction to airports under their control, AS (AK) to issue letter to other airports. Moreover, the DGCA advisory said that in order to enhance awareness about the cultural heritage of India, pilots can make in-flight announcements about important monuments or sites en route the flight.

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MINISTRY ASKS AIRLINES TO PROMOTE GOVT'S ACHIEVEMENTS WITH FLYERS, SNUBBED

The civil aviation ministry has asked airlines including the private players to promote the achievement of Narendra Modi government in the aviation sector. Flummoxed private sector executives have in unison said that it’s not their job. In a letter sent on 20 February to CEOs of airlines, a government official has asked to forward the achievements to the passengers in their database and also to report the number of letters dispatched to the ministry. I am directed to forward a letter from Honourable Minister of Civil Aviation and to request you to forward to all the passengers travelling in your airline. Further, it is requested to inform the number of letters dispatched on daily basis to the ministry, the letter says. The letter includes four slides of which the first slide is a message from minister Suresh Prabhu which reads- Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country has made tremendous progress in all areas of economic development We have thoroughly transformed the aviation sector due to which India has emerged as the fastest growing aviation market. The letter also includes three slides detailing out the achievement of the government like total number of operational airports being increased to 100, privatisation of six airports, unveiling of National Civil Aviation Policy, launch of Regional Connectivity Scheme and continued double-digit passenger growth. Private airline executives said that the government is using its power in an aggressive manner asking them to report the number of letters. Private airlines are not at all liable to do this. Many of our flyers may not like to see such message too. When our flyers agree to share their E-mail or phone number it is with confidence that they will not be bombarded with unwanted messages, an executive of a private airline said.

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GOVT HARNESSING BIG DATA, AI FOR POLICY PUSH, SAYS NANDAN NILEKANI

Contrary to popular perception, not just companies, even the government is harnessing big data and machine learning to push policies according to Nandan Nilekani. Nilekani, former said data and its applications were growing in unprecedented ways. Companies are accumulating data thanks to smartphone usage. Tomorrow, as every device and car has a sensor, data applications is going to be even bigger than what it is today. On the other hand, the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence are enabling companies to use this data to make all kinds of predictions and judgements, Nilekani said. He added the government may be one of the first users of some of these things. The Goods and Services Tax system has 11 million businesses and every B2B business is filing returns at an invoice level. Therefore, the government can use that database to detect fraud or to figure out how to give credit, Nilekani said.

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AIRTEL TOPS IN DOWNLOAD SPEED DURING DECEMBER-JANUARY: REPORT

Airtel ranked top among the telecom operators in the country in terms of 4G download speed with an average speed of 8.6 megabits per second (Mbps) during the December 2018-January 2019 period, according to a report. According to the report by Tutela, a mobile data and analytics company, the state-run BSNL ranked second with a download speed of 6.8 Mbps during the two months. Airtel has the fastest 4G download speeds by a considerable margin, but its 3G network is significantly slower than the competition's, it said. Vodafone, Idea and Jio recorded an average download speed of 6.4 Mbps, 6.3 Mbps and 6.2 Mbps respectively, in the 4G segment, as per the report. Although Vodafone and Idea merged last August to become Vodafone Idea, the companies are providing services separately. In terms of 4G upload speed, Idea led the race with 4.7 Mbps, followed by Vodafone (4.5 Mbps) in the second position. Airtel (4.3 Mbps), BSNL (4.2 Mbps) and Jio (3.8 Mbps) followed Idea and Vodafone in terms of upload speed. Reliance Jio, however, topped the list of best overall consistent quality. Across the entire country, Jio had the best overall consistent quality, with 95.7 per cent of all tests meeting the standards for either basic or excellent consistent quality. That means that Jio's users were able to make a VOIP call, check emails, or use most basic apps 19 times out of 20, said the report. Airtel ranked second in the list with 93.6 per cent of tests hitting one of the two thresholds.

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TELECOM DEPT TO SELL FIBRE ASSETS BUILT FOR BHARATNET

The department of telecommunications (DoT) plans to monetize fibre assets built by the government under its flagship mission BharatNet through outright sale to private players or by leasing these assets for a 20-year period after a bidding process. This comes against the backdrop of concerns over poor utilization of digital infrastructure that has been created across more than 100,000 gram panchayats in the country. The telecom commission on Thursday gave an in-principle approval to hand over these assets to private players. DoT will now work on the modalities of execution of this proposal and submit a report to the commission. We have not been able to ensure effective utilization of these assets. The commission decided that DoT must pursue this in all seriousness, as this is a costly asset that has been created. The DoT should also look at outright sale of the fibre as well as a different models of leasing, a senior DoT official present in the meeting said, requesting anonymity. The regulator’s recommendations to auction BharatNet infrastructure on an ‘as is where is’ basis came after a meeting held in December at the prime minister’s office to take stock of the mission. As of 18 February 2018, 313,793 km of fibre optic cable had been laid and 117,110 gram panchayats have been connected with fibre and equipment. As such, the target under the second phase is nowhere near completion.

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COMMERCE MINISTER ADDRESSES INDIA-RUSSIA FORUM ON SMES

Suresh Prabhu, said that Russia has been a long-standing and time-tested partner of India and relations with Russia have always been of trust, understanding, and reciprocity. Suresh Prabhu said that the partnership is titled as a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership and the two nations enjoy a multi-dimensional cooperation extending to all areas of bilateral relationship - political, security, trade and economy, defence, education, science & technology, culture and people to people. He said that the bilateral relationship has taken on a new momentum in recent times due to the relations built between President Putin and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The Commerce Minister said that India is the fastest growing economy in the world and the resolute reform process of the last few years has established a strong foundation for continued growth. By 2030 India is expected to be the third largest economy in the world with a huge section of middleclass consumers. In order to reach that position the country requires more and improved infrastructure, access to energy, quality goods and services and a modern agriculture sector. Russia is well placed to meet our needs in these areas. Russia also has some of the greatest scientific minds and therefore we must encourage collaboration between educational institutions and businesses of the two countries. India, has the right talent, friendly environment and favourable government policies required for businesses to be nurtured. It is an increasingly welcoming place for investing and doing business with a demand-based service environment. Suresh Prabhu said that the two Governments are working to address and resolve trade and investment barriers with a view to facilitating and advancing private sector cooperation. The Government of India has already announced the setting up of a fast track, single-window mechanism for Russian companies which would be chaired by Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This mechanism would be in addition to the Russia Desk that had been set up to promote Russian investment in India. Therefore, there is a need to curate a digital bridge between the two economies so that SMEs can benefit from it and to create awareness about Russia in India to promote more technology and capital transfers. It is also required that we are share our best practices to make our alliance as smooth as possible and create a vigorous market with access to capital and technology for businesses both in India and Russia. The two countries could cooperate in sectors such as energy resources, gold and diamonds, infrastructure development, digital technologies, research & development, pharma & biotechnology and agriculture among others.

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#METOO: IRDAI ANNUAL REPORTS HAVE SEXUAL HARASSMENT DISCLOSURE DISCREPANCY

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) does not consider all complaints when it comes disclosure of sexual harassment complaints. Of the three financial regulators that we reach out to, Irdai was the promptest in providing the data, without any need for subsequent appeals However, there were certain mismatches between the annual report figures, and those provided in the RTI reply. The discrepancies referred by you about the information provided under RTI and the annual reports are due to the time lag between the complaint filed with ICC (internal complaints committee), recommendations of the ICC sent to the HR department, final action taken, and the publication of the information in annual report according to timelines given by the department concerned, said Irdai in an emailed statement. The statement, however, added that Irdai treated disclosure of sexual harassment by temporary workers separately from permanent employees, although it addressed complaints by both. One complaint was received from an outsourced employee who was on a contract basis. Although processed and disposed of in the year 2015-16, the same was not mentioned in the annual report, as it was not a case of a regular employee, it said. Both are supposed to be treated equally, according to the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. The law includes all workers under its definition of employees. It includes those employed in regular or temporary basis, and even those working on a daily basis. The employee can be employed directly or through an agent or contractor, but would still be covered under the Act. This is even if the person is working without the knowledge of the principal employer. It also applies whether the work is done for remuneration or otherwise. Volunteer work also comes under the ambit of the Act. It includes probationers, trainees and apprentices, too. Amit Tandon, said that disclosures should apply to both temporary and permanent employees. Only if such disclosures were followed could it be brought to light if certain classes of employees were being subject to harassment he said. A complaint is a complaint, it doesn’t matter whether the woman is temporarily or permanently (employed), he said. He added that it could be easily fixed. All they had to do was start disclosing the data. They were already addressing complaints in their internal committees.

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JET MAY SEE TURNAROUND IN 6-9 MONTHS

The Bank-led Resolution Plan (BLRP) for troubled carrier Jet Airways, which will be taken up for shareholders’ approval at an EGM on Thursday, has projected that the airline will start turning in net profits from the October-December quarter of 2019-20. According to people familiar with the restructuring, the resolution plan states that the turnaround would happen in the next six to nine months. The company is expected to report positive EBIDTA in the second quarter (July-September) and net profit in the subsequent quarter. As per the BLRP, lenders will convert a part of their ₹8,200 crore debt into equity such that they will collectively have 51% stake initially in the company just for ₹1, as per RBI norms. It is not known how much of the debt is getting converted into equity and at what price, but according to analysts, conversion is happening closer to ₹150 a share. After conversion of debt into equity, the holding of promoters and existing shareholders would be reduced by half. Therefore, Naresh Goyal’s stake would fall from 51% to 25.5%, Etihad’s from 24% to 12% and the general public holding from 25% to 12.5%. The remaining part of the debt will be restructured with a longer tenure for repayment, providing a breather to the airline. Only the unsustainable part of the debt will be converted into equity, said a person privy to the development. With the airline estimating fresh funding requirement of ₹8,500 crore there will be a rights issue soon after a new investor comes on board. It is believed that Etihad Airways will subscribe to the rights offer such that its stake will rise to 24%, while Mr. Goyal will participate to a limited extent. Banks will, of course, stay away from the rights issue as it would force them to part with more money. After the resolution plan is implemented post the rights issue and fresh fund infusion, the shareholding of banks will fall to 30-32% from 51% while Goyal’s shareholding will be around 20%. Etihad will be at 24% and the new shareholder will have around 15%. According to the resolution plan, fresh capital infusion by the new shareholder and the funds raised via rights issue will be around ₹4,000 crore, while ₹3,000 crore will come from the sale of aircraft. Banks will extend fresh advance of ₹1,000 crore.

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JET AIRWAYS HOLDS SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING

Crisis-hit Jet Airways on Thursday convened a meeting of its shareholders where various proposals, including conversion of loans into shares, were discussed. The cash-strapped full service airline is looking for funds and restructuring of debt Jet Airways founder promoter and Chairman Naresh Goyal did not attend the extraordinary general meeting, which was chaired by whole-time director Gaurang Shetty. Jet Airways has been consistently working on cost-reduction initiatives and is also looking to rationalise its fleet to improve cost efficiency

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JET AIRWAYS RESCUE PLAN TAKES A HIT, INTERNATIONAL LESSORS PULL OUT MORE PLANES: REPORT

International lessors have grounded more Jet Airways planes prior to potentially moving them out of India as scepticism builds whether a state-led bailout of the carrier can clear their dues on time, sources familiar with the matter said. The troubles at India’s Jet, which is saddled with a billion dollars in debt, have rekindled memories of Kingfisher Airlines’ collapse in 2012 that forced lessors to write off millions of dollars Jet has defaulted on loans and has not paid pilots, leasing firms and suppliers for months. There’s some talk that the money is going to come but lessors have heard this for too long, one leasing source said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. We are not convinced with the restructuring plan This is panning out just like Kingfisher. Banks took control but they never wanted to take a majority stake and run the airline. Nine of Jet’s planes have been grounded by lessors, versus the four it reported last month, with AerCap Holdings NV and BOC Aviation Ltd among those who have pulled out planes, sources told. Cross-checks of the Jet fleet by Reuters on FlightRadar24 also show that nine of its planes have stopped flying over the last four weeks. That excludes two more that are at Singapore’s Seletar Airport for, according to sources, maintenance work. Jet, however, said on Thursday that five planes had been grounded due to non-payment of dues to lessors, as reported to regulators. The carrier added it was keeping its lessors informed about efforts to improve its financial situation. We are waiting to see what the workout plan has in terms of us getting paid. The situation is very dicey, an executive at another lessor said. We have to make sure our assets are protected. Indian government and speedy resolutions are not words we normally use in the same sentence Jet, after months of crisis-talks to plug a 85 billion rupee ($1.2 billion) funding hole, agreed a draft plan last week to sell a majority stake to a consortium led by the State Bank of India at 1 rupee, under regulations that permit banks to convert debt to equity in a defaulting firm. The stake sale will be followed by an equity raising, debt restructuring and the sale and leaseback of jets, but the plan needs approvals from several stakeholders. Jet shareholders will vote later on Thursday to provide general approvals for a debt-to-equity swap.

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MOODY’S CHANGES YES BANK OUTLOOK TO STABLE

Moody’s Investor Service, on Wednesday, affirmed YES Bank’s ratings and changed the outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ after the recent developments at the private sector lender, including the appointment of a new Managing Director and CEO and nil divergences report from the RBI. Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed YES Bank’s foreign currency issuer rating of Ba1. Moody’s has also affirmed the bank’s foreign and local currency bank deposit ratings of Ba1/NP, foreign currency senior unsecured MTN programme rating of (P)Ba1, and Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) and adjusted BCA of ba2, it said in a statement. The rating action is based on recent developments, including the results of the RBI’s risk assessment report and YES Bank’s stable financial performance, it further said, adding that the lender’s financial performance, including its asset quality, profitability, and funding and liquidity position, remain stable. Although YES Bank’s reported credit fundamentals remain stable, the bank’s aggressive growth strategy poses risks to its financial performance, it said, noting that the RBI report highlighted several other lapses and regulatory breaches in various areas of the bank’s functioning. The rating agency further said it is unlikely to upgrade the bank’s ratings during the outlook horizon of the next 12-18 months. However, it could change the ratings outlook to positive if YES Bank maintains its current asset-quality profile, strengthens its loss-absorbing buffers by bringing its capital ratios in line with similarly-rated banks and strengthens its loan-loss reserves, and also reduces concentration risk on the asset side and further improves its liability profile.

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INDIA DOES NOT NEED 5G YET: VODAFONE IDEA

Leading telecom operator Vodafone Idea said India should put off 5G spectrum auctions beyond 2020 as there aren’t specific 5G use cases available, and 4G is more than adequate for most customers and Internet of Things (IoT) services in the near term. The most appropriate time to hold auctions will be somewhere after 2020, said Vishant Vora. We need time to develop India-specific use cases and that takes time. We are working with our partners to develop them. The maturity of that (5G) technology will be there when it makes sense. Vodafone Idea has, all along, taken this stand on postponing spectrum auctions, calling on the government to fix the health of the telecom sector in the interim. The government, however, is confident about rolling out 5G in tandem with global markets in 2020, and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is expected to hold the next round of spectrum auctions after August. There’s no need to do 5G for IoT in 95% of these use cases. He said 5G will be required for select use cases like virtual reality (VR), high definition gaming or remote surgery, as these use cases require lower latency and high throughput. For these services, yes, you may need some spectrum, but they are still not the bulk of IoT services. Vora said most of the world will go for 5G services only by 2021-22. Vodafone Idea is currently in the process of merging two networks and plans to exit more than 90,000 sites to cut down on duplication and reduce capital and operational expenditure. Having finished integration in nine circles, the telco is now aiming to finish the integration by June 2020.

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5 YEARS OF ‘MAKE IN INDIA’

India is a country blessed with natural resources and abundant labour. Keeping this in view, the Modi government in 2014 launched ‘Make in India (MII)’ initiative It has been five years since then, but targets still look like distant dreams as the programme faces many hurdles. The ‘Make in India’ programme aims to convert India into a global market hub by raising the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent and creating 100 million jobs, by 2022. However, even in 2018, the share of manufacturing in GVA (gross value added) has remained at around 16.83 per cent of the total GVA, show data of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. One of the key factors holding India back in the last few years is the subdued private investment in the economy. The data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) show that during 2017-18, announcement of new investment projects declined by 38.4 per cent, and 11 million people lost their jobs in 2018. Moreover, while the total FDI in the country during 2016-17 increased to $36.32 billion, the FDI in manufacturing sector remained sluggish at $11.97 billion, noted RBI. Further, inputs for manufacture and export have been introduced, along with introduction of single point of approval, under section 65 of the Customs Act. Moreover, a stable and business-friendly GST structure is likely to help attract investments.

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START-UPS CALL FOR GOVT SUPPORT TO HELP INDIGENISE DEFENCE INDUSTRY

Drones that can be used for surveillance, rockets that can put satellites into space, 3D printing machines that can make aircraft parts and technologies that can solve the problem of connectivity by beaming high-bandwidth internet from space — these were some of the innovations on display by start-ups at Aero India 2019, the biennial air show that started on Wednesday. However, the young ventures said they face many challenges including competing with large defence companies. They urged the government to provide support in terms of funding, incentives and policies which are friendly for small firms. But there are so many foreign companies here, said Sai Pattabiram, a Chennai-based firm which has developed the first-ever unmanned traffic monitoring system. The device embedded inside the drones can be used to monitor and track flights of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). He said this was the first step in creating an indigenous drone ecosystem to counter the risks from an estimated 500,000, mostly China-made, illegal drones in India.

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N CHANDRASEKARAN PLANS TO MERGE OVER 1,000 TATA SUBSIDIARIES: REPORT

As he enters his third year as the Chairman of Tata Sons, N Chandrasekharan plans to shrink over 1,000 subsidiaries of the Tata Group, to make it easier to manage. He will also try to stabilise loss-making Jaguar Land Rover unit on priority and pave a better way for its weak aviation and infrastructure businesses, a senior official told. The Tata Group will foray into the e-commerce business, and it has applied to register at the ministry of corporate affairs. The official added that the business model will be different than that of Flipkart and Amazon. The group has over 1,000 subsidiaries. We don't need so many. A restructuring of this kind is going on in every large Tata operating company. The number of subsidiaries that are tackling runs to a dozen in some companies, the person said. The process will take 12-18 months as the company is yet to obtain the required consents. Apparently, one group company has 33 subsidiaries and 33 boards. Hence, Tata Sons will work on reducing the number of operating companies it owns. Tata Motors had to write down 3.1 billion pounds as impairment charges due to Brexit and problems in the China market, and the official dismissed talk of any further impairments. Instead of the initial narrative of just focusing on growth and deal-making the strategies are well-considered, the director added. Chandrasekaran has been pushing the company to focus on India rather than the overseas market. In India, there is a lot of demand. Once the European merger goes through for Tata Steel, we'll be completely focussed on India, the executive said.

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WORLD KEEN TO LEARN FROM INDFIA DIGITAL STORY- RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD

Ravi Shankar Prasad said digital India journey has evinced global interest and people are eager to learn from Indian experience. He said National Informatics Centre has responsibility to deploy technology for improving governance and make growth more inclusive and sustainable. He said digital India initiative should be seen beyond IT and governance. It is an initiative of Modi Government aimed at empowering ordinary people He said NIC has the responsibility to make people use digital technology with the objective of bridging rural-urban gaps and also ensuring that the national efforts to bring about transparency in governance are reached. Mr Ravi Shankar said NIC should work towards use of technology for improving Indian agriculture scene, standardise primary education by equipping Government schools with technological tools, health care with low cost technology. He said India has everything to be the hub centre of data analytics and NIC has the pivotal position to take India to a position of dominance in this sector. Another issue of immediate concern is development of low cost cyber security solutions. He said the Government’s technology custodian should not hesitate in extending supporting Hand to private sector. On the occasion, he released following

Digital India Compendium

·       Digidhan Mitra Chatbot

·       Technology incubation and development of entrepreneurs 2.0 scheme

Centre of Excellence on

·       IOT Open lab, STPI Bengaluru

·       ESDM Incubation, STPI Bhubaneswar

·       Emerging Technologies, NASSCOM, Gandhinagar

·       Emerging Technologies, NASSCOM, Vishakapatnam

Centres of Excellence

·       Centre of Excellence on IOT Open Lab at Bangalore: It intends to support 100 start-ups per year with an overall target to support 500 start-ups over a period of 5 years.

·       Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Incubator at Bhubaneswar with state-of-art facilities to promote ESDM innovation, R&D and create Indian intellectual property is the first of its kind in the Eastern Region of the country. The incubator will be implemented by STPI in collaboration with Government of Odisha, IIIT Bhubaneswar and IESA. It aims to leverage 40 start-ups over period of 5 years.

·       Centre of Excellence for IoT at Gandhinagar: Center of Excellence for IoT and AI at IIT Gandhinagar will add momentum to the deep tech innovation ecosystem and has the major focus areas of manufacturing (Industry 4.0), Biotech, Pharma and healthcare.

·       NASSCOM Centre of Excellence for IoT, Vizag: CoE for IoT at Vizag in partnership with NASSCOM and Government of Andhra Pradesh will focus on technology intervention for bringing positive change in Agriculture, Healthcare and Industry 4.0.

Digidhan Mitra Chatbot

·       Designed and developed by NIC, the AI based Digidhan Mitra enables a text & voice based conversation with the user, mining the Digidhan Portal, to give customized information in graphical, tabular and textual format. It provides bank wise transactions details as well as growth pattern of various modes of transactions like BHIM, IMPS, Cards etc. in tabular as well as graphical form.

Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) Scheme

·       The Scheme has been devised to promote the momentum into the tech entrepreneurship landscape. The Scheme provides financial and technical support to incubators engaged in supporting ICT start-ups using emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, Block-chain, Robotics etc. in seven pre-identified areas of societal relevance.

NIC TechGov Awards

·       NIC TechGov is a competitive platform that presents a unique opportunity to the NIC officers posted in states and districts offices across the nation to accelerate their knowledge and learn emerging technologies. Total 203 teams cumulatively consisting of 514 members registered for the event under two different tracks called Innovation and Collab: DEV. Across different sub-tracks of TechGov 2019, 7 teams comprising 13 members and 8 teams with 19 members in total were declared winners in Gold and Silver categories respectively.

Swachhata Awards

·       The Swachh Bharat Mission inspired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision to engage all Union Ministries/ Departments in Swachhata related activities is of pivotal importance. NIC has participated in Swachhata activities since the launch of the Swachh Bharat mission. An audit was undertaken by NIC for ranking/ awards to the field offices at the State level for their achievements and on its basis ranking of NIC State Centres was finalized.

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JITENDRA SINGH ADDRESSES AT THE LAUNCH OF ‘SHISHT BHARAT CAMPAIGN’

Jitendra Singh said that the elders should set example in their conduct before the younger generation, so that the youth can inherit these values naturally by emulating their elder generations. He was speaking at the launch of ‘Shisht Bharat Abhiyan’ organised by an NGO. The theme of the event was to discuss the importance of moral science education in schools and colleges and to include Moral Science as a subject in the educational curriculum. Dr Jitendra Singh said that the elders need to educate themselves first. He added that out ancient scriptures describe that it takes three generations for values to change, so consistent efforts are needed to inculcate good values in our coming generations. The Minister said that the younger generation gets lot of exposure to the world. They have the advantage of being more informed and aware due to the communication channels available today. We are learning to adapt to the global culture, he added. He said that India is an evolving democracy and evolution is happening at all levels and we need to learn to adapt to these changes to our best advantage.

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ADANI MAY HAVE TO WAIT FOR UP TO TWO YEARS FOR AUSTRALIA MINE APPROVAL

Adani Enterprises might have to wait up to two years to get two environmental approvals to start construction at its controversial Carmichael coal mine in Australia, a Queensland government official told. Adani said in November that it would fund the mine and rail project itself, requiring the company to cut the initial plans for the mine to around a quarter of its original size, after banks buckled to pressure from investors worried about climate change. Environmental activists have contested the project since it was first proposed eight years ago because of concerns about global warming and its potential impact of its port operations on the Great Barrier Reef. Carmichael is one of the world's biggest greenfield coal projects in recent years. Chestnutt told, she believed environmental clearance for the project could in theory be given in the next several months. I would guess, but it is an absolute mess, six months to two years, she said. They (Department of Environment) have said they (Adani) have to go back to the drawing board and draft a management plan.

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INDUS WATERS TREATY 1960 : PRESENT STATUS OF DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

The Indus system comprises of main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan. Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas ( Eastern Rivers)averaging around 33 million acre feet ( MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use. The waters of Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic , non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty. India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through run of the river (RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.

PRESENT STATUS OF DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

To utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers which have been allocated to India for exclusive use, India has constructed Bhakra Dam on Satluj, Pong and Pandoh Dam on Beas and Thein (Ranjitsagar) on Ravi. These storage works, together with other works like Beas-Sutlej Link, Madhopur-Beas Link, Indira Gandhi Nahar Project etc has helped India utilize nearly entire share (95 %) of waters of Eastern rivers. However, about 2 MAF of water annually from Ravi is reported to be still flowing unutilized to Pakistan below Madhopur. To stop the flow of these waters that belong to India for its utilization in India, following steps have been taken:

·       Resumption of Construction of Shahpurkandi project

This project will help in utilizing the waters coming out from powerhouse of Thein dam to irrigate 37000 hectares of land in J&K and Punjab and generate 206 MW of power. The project was scheduled to be completed by September 2016. However, following a dispute between the state of J&K and Punjab, the work on the project had been suspended since 30.08.2014. Consequent upon agreement reached on 8 September 2018 between J&K and Punjab . The cost of the project is . 2715.70 Crore. Government of India vide order dated 19 December 2018 has approved the Central Assistance of Rs. 485.38 crore towards balance cost of works of irrigated component of the project. The construction work has now resumed by Govt of Punjab under monitoring of Govt of India.

·       Construction of Ujh multipurpose project

This project will create a storage of about 781 million cu m of water on river Ujh , a tributary of Ravi for irrigation and power generation in India itself and provide a total irrigation benefits of 31,380 ha in Kathua, Hiranagar and Samba district of J&K apart from providing water for the district Kathua of J&K. The DPR of the project has been technically approved for the total estimated cost of Rs.5850 crore (July, 2017). This project is a National Project and the Central Assistance of Rs. 4892.47 crore on works portion of irrigation component as well as the special grant is under consideration. The implementation of the project will be 6 years from beginning of the implementation.

·       The 2nd Ravi Beas link below Ujh

This project is being planned to tap excess water flowing down to Pakistan through river Ravi, even after construction of Thein Dam, by constructing a barrage across river Ravi for diverting water through a tunnel link to Beas basin. The project is expected to utilize about 0.58 MAF of surplus waters below Ujhdam by diverting the same to Beas basin for benefits of other co-basin states. Govt. of India declared this project as National Project .

The above three projects will help India to utilize its entire share of waters given under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960.

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ACCUSED WERE PART OF ITS LARGER CONSPIRACY TO OVERTHROW THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT: PUNE POLICE

Asserting the same claims as it had made in its earlier charge sheet, the Pune Police on Thursday filed an over 1800-page supplementary charge sheet in the Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case. The police claimed that the accused were either affiliated, or were over ground members of the banned CPI (Maoists), and were part of its larger conspiracy to overthrow the Indian government. It also said that Rao and Wilson were involved in buying arms and ammunition and were in touch with comrade Basanta, politburo member and secretary of the newly formed revolutionary Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Rao was in touch with Basanta, who is a Maoist leader in Nepal for the procurement of arms and ammunition, the charge sheet said. However, it doesn’t mention anything about any procurement or possible money trail.

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NO HONORARY DOCTORATE FOR SRK: HRD MINISTRY TURNS DOWN REQUEST BY JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA

The HRD Ministry has turned down a request by Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) to confer an honorary doctorate degree on Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, saying the actor has already received one from a different university, according to an RTI response. Khan, who is a former student of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), had given his consent to the proposal of a honorary degree from the varsity following which a request for the same was sent to Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry last year by Jamia for approval. JMI wrote to HRD for conferring Honoris Causa to Shah Rukh Khan. The HRD did not agree as he has already been conferred the degree by Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANNU) in 2016, Jamia Millia Islamia said in response to a RTI.

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RENEWED US SANCTIONS ON IRAN REVIVE FORTUNE OF THIS KOLKATA-BASED BANK

Renewed US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports are giving a boost to the profits of one of India’s smaller state-owned banks, which has been struggling under the weight of a mountain of bad loans. Kolkata-based Uco Bank expects its privileged status processing refiners’ payments for Iranian oil shipments to add more than 8 billion rupees ($110 million) to annual earnings, according to Chief Executive Officer Atul Kumar Goel. Indian refiners are required to deposit any money destined for Iran without interest with Uco Bank during periods when US sanctions are in force. Being involved in the country’s oil imports from Iran gives us access to zero-interest funds, which refiners place with us, Goel said in a recent interview at his Kolkata office. It will improve our net interest income as well as operating profit. India was one of eight countries benefiting from a US waiver allowing it to import 9 million barrels of Iranian oil a month until April. Uco Bank, which was chosen by the government to pay for the imports during the waiver, said it started receiving the funds to pay for these shipments earlier this year and now has a steady float of more than 100 billion rupees.

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PREPARING FOR SUMMER RUSH: NOW UPLOAD SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ONLINE WHILE APPLYING FOR UK VISA

Britain, which is seeing a huge spurt in visitors from India, is gearing up for a further rise in their numbers this summer when it hosts the ICC Cricket world cup. VFS Global on Thursday rolled out a new system that will allow UK visa applicants in India to digitally upload their supporting documents at the time of completing all other requirements online and then go to the centre with just their passports. The visa major says it saw the biggest spurt in visa applications in India last year over 2017 for UK. Clearly Brexit or no Brexit, the lure of London remains as strong as ever for Indians. Over 6.3 lakh people applied for a UK visa from India in the last year. That included over 4.75 lakh visit visas – an increase of 43,000, the largest absolute increase for any country. In addition, almost 19,000 (Tier 4) student visas were granted to Indian nationals – a 32% increase on the previous year – along with over 55,000 skilled work visas – more than the rest of the world combined.

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SARIDON BAN LIFTED; POPULAR PAINKILLER TO BE AVAILABLE FREELY AFTER SC RELIEF

Popular painkiller Saridon will continue to be sold freely with the Supreme Court finally lifting the ban on manufacture and sale of the drug. The Supreme Court exempted Piramal Healthcare’s Saridon from a list of over 300 fixed dosage combination drugs that were banned by the Ministry of Healthcare. Notably, Piramal Healthcare did not suffer any revenue loss on account of Saridon, Nandini Piramal, Executive Director, Piramal Enterprises Limited, told, as the Supreme Court in September 2018 had stayed Drug Technical Advisory Board ban on Saridon. The stay allowed the company to continue manufacturing, distribution and sale of the fixed dosage combination Saridon, the company said. Nandini Piramal welcomed the SC order, adding that the company was confident that the law would prevail in their favour. Saridon is a heritage brand trusted by customers for the last 50 years in India. This exemption from the banned list of FDCs validates our intent to serve our customers with the highest levels of integrity, she added. Piramal also cited a study by AC Neilson and said that the analgesic market as a whole is worth Rs 6,450 crore. Of this, the analgesic tablet market is worth Rs 2,050 crore, as of December 2018.

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PARLIAMENTARY PANEL SUMMONS TOP BOSSES OF FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP, INSTAGRAM

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has asked the top bosses at Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram to appear before it on March 6 Last week, the same panel had kicked up a storm after it sent out a similar summons to microblogging platform Twitter. Refusing to meet any local representative, the panel asked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to show up or send a senior global executive from the San Francisco-based social networking firm. While questions were being raised over why Twitter was being singled out, the committee had recently said that it would call the other social media companies too for questioning. In a notification, the Committee has said the agenda of the March 6 meeting will be to hear the views of the representatives of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram on the subject of ‘’safeguarding citizens’ rights on social/online news media platforms. According to a person familiar with the matter, the companies have been asked to be represented by the CEO or a member of the global team.

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LOK SABHA ELECTION KEY PRIORITY FOR US: TWITTER

Twitter on Thursday said the 2019 Lok Sabha election is a key priority for the company and it deeply respects the integrity of the election process while being committed to provide a service that fosters and facilitates free and open democratic debate. The 2019 Lok Sabha is a priority for the company and our dedicated cross functional team is working to ensure that the health of the public conversation is enhanced and protected at this important time, Colin Crowell, Global Vice President - Public Policy, Twitter, said in a statement. Twitter has been accused by the Indian government of being slow in removing objectionable content from its platform. The Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology (IT) has summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on February 25 over measures taken to ensure the safety and security of the users and allegations that the social media site is discriminating against nationalist posts on its platform. This is a constant process of learning and we gain insights from every election around the world, which helps inform our approach to this evolving challenge, said Crowell. In this regard, Twitter on Tuesday announced to bring its Ads Transparency Centre to India on March 11 that allows everyone to view political ads with details like ad spend and targeting demographics.

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GOOGLE TO STOP FORCED ARBITRATION FOR EMPLOYEES

After months of worker protests, Alphabet Inc.’s Google will stop making its employees sign away their right to bring claims against it in court. Google stopped so-called forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment and assault last year after 20,000 workers walked out to oppose how the search giant handles internal complaints. That wasn’t enough for some of the employees who kept pressing the company to end the practice altogether. Google will do that on March 21, a spokeswoman said on Thursday. The company will also cease enforcing agreements that waived workers’ right to bring their claims as class actions. The shift is a victory for Google employees who’ve been organizing on several fronts, including workplace harassment, the treatment of contract workers and what kind of work the company does for government and military groups.

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GOVT FLOATS DRAFT ORDERS FOR QUALITY CONTROL OF DIAGNOSTIC ELECTRICAL MEDICAL DEVICES

Central government has floated draft orders to chart out quality control rules for diagnostic electrical medical equipment like automated blood pressure monitors, thermometers and like. Separate orders for electrical medical equipment, Sphygmomanometers (used to measure blood pressure), clinical electrical thermometers, blood glucose monitoring systems for self-testing diabetes, gloves and surgical blades, have been floated. Electrical medical equipment include cardiac defibrillators, infant radiant warmers, multi-functional patient monitoring equipment and pulse oximeters (used to measure level of oxygen in a patient's body). A draft order has also been floated to regulate the quality of disposable and non-disposable surgical as well as rubber and polyvinyl chloride gloves as also surgical blades. The aforesaid equipment will have to bear the standard mark under a license from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The same may not apply to products meant for export, and that they will have to conform to specifications required by the foreign buyer, the order clarifies. BIS will be the certifying and enforcing authority along with a district-level officer in the respective state's Department of Industries for making sure that the equipment manufacturers and those who market it, comply with the orders. The Department of Pharmaceuticals has invited comments from all stakeholders on how to better regulate the equipment. The Ministry has requested that comments be sent by April 15 on the proposed draft order which is called the Medical Devices – Medical Electrical Equipment (Quality Control) Order.

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INDIA WILL NOT BE COWED IN INTERNET CONSULTATIONS: RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD

India will hold wide consultations with internet companies before finalising rules to regulate content on social media but will not hold back from framing laws that safeguard national interest, the country’s technology minister said. India, one of the world’s biggest internet markets, in late December proposed rules that will compel platforms such as Facebook, its WhatsApp messenger service and Twitter to remove within 24 hours unlawful content, such as anything that affects the sovereignty and integrity of India. The draft rules have prompted intense lobbying by technology companies, which say the proposals impose burdensome obligations. New Delhi, which is in the process of finalising the so-called intermediary rules, will be fair to all stakeholders, technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told. We'll be fair, we'll be objective, but India's sovereign right to frame rules and laws will always be there, he said. As a minister, I want to assure that a social media company shall not be allowed to abuse the data of Indians to influence elections, Prasad said.

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TECHNOLOGY FISHED OUT 10 MILLION FAKE RATION CARDS, SAYS FADNAVIS

Maharashtra has found as many as 10 million fake ration cards using technology tools, Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday. He also announced the new model request for proposal (RFP) while tendering out IT contracts, developed by Nasscom and the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT. The public distribution system (PDS) has changed through technology initiatives. The Western state, having a population of over 11 crore, is using technology across all spheres to drive efficiency and for better allocation of resources, he said. Technological tools have taken down malnutrition related deaths to zero in Harisal village of Amravati district, Fadnavis said. On the industry’s long-standing demand of tender contracts structuring, Fadnavis announced that the model RFP will be adopted in two months by the state. Fadnavis said 55 million transactions have happened using the state government’s citizens portal Aaple Sarkar, which has benefitted one million citizens. He said the state is targeting to be a USD 1 trillion economy by 2025 from the present USD 400 billion. The services sector will have to grow at 15.5 per cent, industry at 13 per cent and agriculture at 6 per cent to achieve this target, he said, inviting the tech industry to set up base in the state. Debjani Ghosh said the domestic IT industry has become a USD 180 billion behemoth, employing four million people directly and serving 75 percent of the Fortune 500 companies.

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FOREST RIGHTS ACT: SC ORDERS EVICTION OF OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE FROM FOREST AREAS

In a significant development for tribals living in forests, the Supreme Court has asked 17 state governments to evict close to one million in forest areas, after their claim has been rejected In its order, the top court asked the eviction to be carried out by July 12. The top court rejected their claims on various grounds including lack of proof that tribals were in possession of land for at least three generations. As per the law, only those living in forests areas for at least three generations before December 31, 2005, are eligible for land rights. The law has been slammed by a number of wildlife activists as well as those fighting for rights of tribals. States like, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha are the biggest losers. These three states have the highest numbers with 20 per cent claiming land ownership submitted under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. It was during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, that the law was enacted to undo the injustice done to those living in forests under Indian Forest Act, 1927, that termed them encroachers on the land they were tilling for a number of generations. The Supreme Court has issued directions to chief secretaries of 17 states to ensure that cases where land ownership been rejected, the eviction is done till next date of hearing next date of hearing, which is July 12.

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MHA APPROVES ENTITLEMENT OF AIR TRAVEL TO ALL PERSONNEL OF CAPFS

In a significant decision, the Ministry of Home Affairs has approved the entitlement of air travel on Delhi-Srinagar, Srinagar-Delhi, Jammu-Srinagar and Srinagar-Jammu sectors to all the personnel of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces. The decision will immediately benefit approximately 7,80,000 personnel of the CAPFs in the ranks of Constable, Head Constable and ASI who were otherwise not eligible earlier. This includes journey on duty and journey on leave, i.e; while going on leave from Jammu and Kashmir to home and return. This facility is in addition to the existing air courier services for CAPFs that have been steadily extended in all sectors by the MHA to help the jawans cut down on travel time during their journey to and fro from home on leave. In Jammu and Kashmir Sector, it may be recalled that Air Courier Service for CAPF jawans was approved for the Jammu-Srinagar-Jammu sector. Subsequently, the Service was extended to cover 1) Delhi-Jammu, 2) Jammu-Srinagar, 3) Srinagar-Jammu and 4) Jammu-Delhi sector in Dec 2017. The number of flights were further extended in Dec 2018.

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STEEL MINISTRY CREATES LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR STEEL PRODUCERS

In order to provide a level playing field to steel manufacturers, both SMEs and large players, with different capacities and following different routes of steel production, Ministry of Steel has stopped classifying steel producers as integrated steel producers, primary steel producers, secondary steel producers. Instead, once the steel product is certified by the Bureau of Indian Standard and meets the desired specifications, no distinction shall be made on account of the basic input material and the process followed. 53 quality control orders have been issued in this regard laying down the quality standards for several steel products. Government engineering departments especially in the C.P.W.D., Military Engineering Service and N.B.C.C. have been asked to ensure adherence to the above clarification and avoid any restrictive practices in their tenders.

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SUPPLEMENTARY DEMANDS, CAG REPORT PRESENTED IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH ASSEMBLY

Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Thursday presented the vote-on-account for the year 2019-20 for four months from April 1 to July 31 this year. The Assembly also paid tribute to the martyrs of the Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14. With the Assembly elections due in later this year, Mein, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented the vote-on-account for four months to meet the state’s expenditure till a full-fledged budget is placed in the Assembly. The deputy chief minister also presented the supplementary demands for 2018-19 and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the year ended March 2017. Four government bills were also introduced on the inaugural day of the three-day Assembly session. Home Minister Kumar Waii introduced the Arunachal Pradesh Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill 2019 to amend the Arunachal Pradesh Lokayukta Act 2014. Waii, who also holds the portfolio of Town Planning and Urban Local Bodies, introduced the Arunachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation Bill 2019. The Bill is aimed at making a legal framework and constitute a municipal corporation in the state. Tax & Excise Minister Jarkar Gamlin introduced the Arunachal Pradesh Goods and Service Tax (Amendment) Bill 2019 to amend the Arunachal Pradesh Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. Education Minister Honchun Ngandam tabled the Arunachal Pradesh State Higher Education Bill 2019 in order to make the Arunachal Pradesh State Higher Education Council functional.

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GOVT PLANS RS 8,500 CRORE VRS FOR MTNL, BSNL

This could be one of the biggest voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) and early pension scheme offered in the country. The government is planning a near Rs 8,500-crore support scheme for BSNL and MTNL to reduce the large pool of their ageing manpower and infuse fresh life into these ailing telecom PSUs, which are under debt and heavy losses. Official sources said the two PSUs — despite being seen as a burden on the exchequer — are strategic assets in a sector where government presence is desirable. The VRS support for BSNL is estimated at Rs 6,365 crore, while for MTNL — which operates in Delhi and Mumbai circles — it is Rs 2,120 crore. The plan will be backed by a 10-year bond issue, for which large land holdings of these two PSUs can be kept as collateral, sources added. The support scheme, which will also help these PSUs in accessing 4G spectrum, was decided at a meeting of the Digital Communications Commission (DCC), the top decision-making body on telecom matters. BSNL, which has a debt of Rs 14,000 crore and had accumulated losses of Rs 31,287 crore at the end of 2017-18, currently has 1.76 lakh employees. The wage bill of these workers is nearly 60% of the revenue the company makes in a year. The government expects that either through VRS/early pension scheme or via natural course of retirement over the next five-six years, the manpower of BSNL can be reduced by around 75,000 people. MTNL, which has 22,000 workers and a debt of around Rs 19,000 crore, spends as much as 90% of its revenue on wages, which is a big drain on finances and limits its capacity to invest in new technologies. A source said over a period of five-to-six years, around 16,000 employees of the company will be retiring. If this process can be hastened through VRS, the health can be nurtured faster.

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EMERGING MARKETS ACCUSE US OF GIVING HIGHER SUBSIDY TO FARMERS

India, China, South Africa and Venezuela have teamed up against the US allegation that emerging economies are reaping benefits from exemptions meant for poor nations. In a joint proposal to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last week, the countries highlighted how the US violated norms to impose import restrictions sought exceptions to give higher subsidy to its corn, wheat, cotton and rice farmers, and gained from cross-border royalty flows on intellectual property rights. Accusing the US of being profoundly disingenuous, they said it is inaccurate of the US to assert that all rules have applied only to a few (developed countries) as the country itself has benefited from reversed special and differential treatment WTO allows special provisions for developing countries, called special and differential treatment (S&DT) such as longer time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase trading opportunities, provisions to safeguard their trade interests and support to build capacity to handle disputes and implement technical standards. According to the proposal, advanced countries are at an advantage due to developing countries’ capacity constraint, lack of negotiating capacity, limited government budgets, and paucity of coordinating capacity at an institutional level. In contrast, it is the developed members that have reaped substantial benefits by seeking and obtaining flexibilities in areas of interest to them; a form of reversed S&DT, said the 39-page proposal, which will be discussed at the multilateral body next week. There have been exceptions for developed nations which show that the gap between the two sets of countries has widened over time. The mother provision in WTO is to reduce this gap. Some of these exceptions are glaring, said an official aware of the details. The paper has referred to an UNCTAD assessment, which says that the developed members’ obligations to their developing peers exist only in the form of best endeavour clauses. Highlighting the need for special provisions for the developing countries, they said that in 2016, the perfarmer subsidy in the US was 70 times that in China and 45 times that in India. The average farm size in the US is 134 times that in India. We expect some other countries to join in to show how unfair the US has been, the official said. Similarly, developed countries have reserved more subsidy tools and policy space and is evident in the market access area as the average bound rate (cap on tariffs) of developed nations at 39% is 2.4 times that of the Article XII Group at 16.4%. Article XII group comprises countries which joined the WTO after 1995 but excludes the EU and the least-developed countries.

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PM MODI RECEIVES SEOUL PEACE PRIZE FOR 2018

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday received the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth. The award was presented to him by the Seoul Peace Prize Foundation at a grand ceremony. A short film on the life and achievements of Prime Minister Modi was also screened at the event. While conferring the award on Modi, the award committee recognised his contribution to the growth of Indian and global economies, crediting 'Modinomics' for reducing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor.

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SC APPOINTS DK JAIN AS BCCI OMBUDSMAN, EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER VINOD RAI AND DIAN EDULJEE

Supreme Court appointed retired judge DK Jain as the ombudsman for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday. All parties in this matter agreed and consented to this name put forth by amicus curiae PS Narasimha. DK Jain is expected to take charge at the earliest and will carry out all functions as per Article 14 of Chapter 9 of BCCI Constitution which includes resolving disputes between Board members, associations and franchisees.

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ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE FIFTEENTH FINANCE COMMISSION MEETS

The meeting of the Advisory Council of the Fifteenth Finance Commission was held in New Delhi. The meeting reviewed the chapter plan of the Fifteenth Finance Commission Report. The Members exchanged views on the macro exemptions for the Finance Commission which included GDP growth, Taxation of the Centre and the States, Expenditure Growth of the Centre and the State. Views were also exchanged on the terminal position of debt between Centre and States. Innovative ideas and fresh approaches to the classic issues of the obligation of the Finance Commission were reiterated. In addition of this, the meeting discussed how the changed circumstances could be adopted while bearing in mind the inescapable frame work of the Indian Constitution. The next meeting of the Advisory Council is expected to be held in the next month.

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WHEAT HARVEST TO CROSS 100 MILLION TONNES IN 2019: AGRI COMMISSIONER

Wheat production in the current rabi season would cross 100 million tonnes with the States reporting very good crop having was no incidence of diseases, said a top agriculture ministry official on Thursday. The recent rains have not affected the wheat crop. This year we would have the highest level of wheat production, which would more 100 tonnes production, which is higher than 99 million tonnes produced last year, SK Malhotra said. India is now looking at productivity-led growth in production, not area-led growth, he said, adding that the area under wheat cultivation is 1 lakh hectares lower than the last rabi season, but the harvest is expected to be more. As per the data available from wheat-growing states, the area sown under the wheat crop this season was 297 lakh hectares. From lesser area, we are producing more. This is the scenario that is emerging, Malhotra said. The latest rains received would prove to be a boon for getting a good plant growth and more tillering in the plant as this time we have a more prolonged winter season, the Agriculture Commissioner said. In comparison, last year’s February was warmer than this year. The intermittent snowfall in the hills in the current season helped sustain lower temperatures, which are good for the wheat crop. According to him, gram production too is expected to be good this year. This year, the total production of pulses is estimated to touch 25 million tonnes, which would be yet another year of bumper production. In the coming years, we simply need to sustain such high levels, Malhotra said. Similarly, oilseeds production would touch 32-33 million tonnes this year, up from 31 million tonnes produced last year. What we produce is enough to give give us only 10 million tonnes of edible oil, whereas the demand in the country is around 25 millions of oil, Malhotra said.

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SUGAR PRODUCTION UP 8%, NEARS 22 MILLION TONNES TILL FEBRUARY 15: ISMA

Buoyed by early crushing resorted to by Maharashtra and Karnataka mills, the sugar production in the country reached 21.93 million tonnes by February 15, nearly 8 per cent higher than 20.36 mt achieved during the corresponding period last year, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said on Wednesday. As against 494 mills involved in crushing last year in the same period, 507 mills are in operation, it said. This year the total sugar production is projected to be 30.7 mt, which is lower than 32.5 mt in the previous sugar season, which ended September last year. Last week, the Government announced a ₹2 per kg increase in the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar to ₹31 per kg to help sugar factories and enable speedy clearance of sugarcane arrears to farmers. The decision was taken keeping in the mind the fact that the ballooning arrears could become a political issue in the election year. While mills in Maharashtra produced 8.3 mt tonnes of sugar till February 15, their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh produced 6.4 mt of the sweetener during the same period. While the sugar production reported from Maharashtra was nearly 8 per cent more than the last year, the mills in UP crushed less and produced nearly 0.6 mt less year-on-year. In Maharashtra, 187 mills are in operation and in UP, 117 mills are in operation.

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LAKHS OF JOBS HAVE BEEN CREATED IN THE PETROLEUM SECTOR, SAYS THE MINISTER

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan rolled out the allotment of New Retail Outlets (RO) by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) by handing over the Letter of Intent (LOI) to a few eligible applicants. He issued the intimation online by click of button, to over 2500 successful candidates who can collect their respective LOIs from the OMC offices. At the same time, such LOIs were also issued at 12 other places in the country. Public Sector OMCs had advertised for 78,493 locations for setting up Retail Outlets across 35 States/ Union territories, for which more than 4 lakh applications were received. Network expansion has been an important activity of OMCs for increasing the reach of petroleum products across the country. The expansion will help them maintain their market leadership and expand the footprint in major geographical areas of the country. These OMCs already operate over 57,000 retail outlets presently. Dharmendra Pardhan underlined the importance of technology and transparency, with the computerized draw of Lots/bids opening for selection which was conducted with no manual interference for the first time. The hassles of manually submitting voluminous documents by the applicants, in support of eligibility and their scrutiny, was dispensed with. The software application was developed by MSTC limited, a PSU under the Ministry of Steel, keeping the OMCs at arm’s length from the selection process. With the allotment of present round of retail outlets, the pendency of over 5000 ROs, earmarked for SC quota, will also be completed. Shri Pradhan said that strike rate of over 30% in allocation of ROs is likely to be there leading to setting of thousands of ROs, and this will create lakhs of direct employment in these petrol pumps, besides opportunity for other associated and ancillary activities. The Minister said that consumption of Petroleum products in the country is likely to continue to grow at around 4%, to meet the requirements of fast-increasing GDP. He said that in initial 60 years since independence, 13 crore LPG connections were given and now the present government has given that many connections in under 5 years. He said that under the PMUY, 6.75 connections have been given to poor households. The Minister also said that allotment of so many connections has been accompanied with expansion of infrastructure like gas pipelines, setting up of bottling plants, distribution network etc, and all this has created large number of jobs Shri Pradhan said that the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of about two thousand kilometre long LPG pipeline next week in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, which will be connected to Kandla, Gujarat, and this will be one of the longest such pipeline in the world.

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EXPLORATION AND LICENSING POLICY FOR ENHANCING DOMESTIC EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION OF OIL AND GAS

Dharmendra Pradhan addressed a Press Conference on reforms in Exploration and Licensing Policy for Enhancing Domestic Exploration and Production of Oil and Gas. Addressing the Press Conference, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan gave details on the policy reforms

·       Increasing exploration activities in unexplored/unallocated areas.

·       In basins (Category II and II basins) where presently no commercial production is there, exploration blocks would be bid out exclusively on the basis of exploration work programme without any revenue or production share to Government. Royalty and statutory levies, however, will be paid by Contractor.

·       In case of windfall gain, the Contractor would be sharing revenue with the Government on a graded scale ranging from 10% to 50% on incremental revenue over US$ 2.5 billion in a financial year.

·       For unallocated/unexplored areas of producing basins (Category I basins), the bidding will continue to be based on revenue sharing basis but with more weightage to work programme (70% weightage to work programme and 30% weightage to Revenue share). An upper ceiling of 50% on biddable revenue share at Higher Revenue Point (HRP) has also been prescribed.

·       The policy also provides for shorter exploiration period: 3 years for onland/shallow water blocks and 4 years for deep water blocks

·       To incentivize early production, concession in royalty by 10% in Category I basins, 20% in Category II basins and 30% in Category III basins will be given if production is commenced within 4 years for onland and shallow water blocks (upto 400 meters of water depth), and 5 years for deep water (beyond 400 meters but upto 1500 meters of water depth) / Ultra deep water blocks (beyond 1500 meters of water depth) from the effective date of contract.

·       Contractor will have full marketing and pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas to be sold at arm’s length basis through transparent and competitive bidding process.

Marketing and Pricing Reform for Natural Gas

·       To incentivize enhanced gas production, marketing and pricing freedom has been granted for those new gas discoveries whose Field Development Plan (FDP) is yet to be approved.

·       Fiscal incentive in the form of reduced royalty rates by 10% is also provided on additional gas production from domestic fields over and above normal production under Business as usual scenario.

Production Enhancement Scheme for Nomination fields

·       To enhance production from existing large nomination fields of ONGC and OIL, enhanced production profile will be prepared by both PSUs. For production enhancement, and bringing new technology and capital, National Oil Companies (NOCs) will be allowed to induct private sector partners.

·       To increase production from marginal/ small nomination fields, two-fold actions are prescribed. Firstly, some of the fields will be allowed to be retained by NOCs based on objective laid down criteria. For rest of the fields, NOCs will be allowed to induct private sector partners including by farming out, joint venture and bidding out. These selected fields will be geographically clustered and will be offered for bidding through international competitive bidding on revenue sharing basis.

Measures will be initiated for promoting ‘ease of doing business’

·       Setting up coordination mechanism under Cabinet Secretary to expedite inter-ministerial approvals/clearances.

·       Simplification of approval processes including web based single window system and detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs).

·       Strengthening of DGH including delegating of powers for effective contract management and expediting approvals.

·       Alternate dispute resolution mechanism through a Committee of eminent persons/experts to avoid arbitration.

Expected Benefits

·       Massive boost to exploration activities with greater weightage to exploration work programme, simplified fiscal and contractual terms

·       Early monetization of discoveries also by extending fiscal incentives

·       Incentivizing production including through marketing and pricing freedom

·       Induction of latest technology and substantial capital

·       More functional freedom to NOCs for collaboration and private sector participation

·       Streamlining approval processes and promoting ease of doing business

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DIGITAL BHARAT, SAKSHAM BHARAT -A COMPENDIUM ON DIGITAL INDIA RELEASED

The objective of the document is to disseminate and propagate the success of Digital India among masses. The document is divided in two sections - Digital profile of India and Digital profile of States & UTs. Digital profile of India comprises a in-depth analysis, comparative study of implementation of Digital India Programme and transformation it has brought out in the lives of citizens. It has simplified the way citizens avail various Government services and has brought transparency and accountability. The document emphasizes Digital India initiatives that aim to transform India into a knowledge-based economy and digitally empowered society by ensuring digital access, digital inclusion, digital empowerment and bridging the digital divide.

#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.




Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya