CENTRAL
INFORMATION COMMISSION RULES EVMS ARE 'INFORMATION' UNDER RTI ACT
An Electronic Voting Machine is information
under the Right to Information Act and can be demanded by an applicant from the
Election Commission of India on a payment of Rs 10, the Central Information
Commission has ruled. This implies the Election Commission has to respond to an
RTI application seeking the EVM either by providing it or refusing it under
exemption clauses in the Act. But that also can be contested before the CIC,
the highest adjudicating authority in RTI matters. Deciding a unique RTI
application, through which the applicant had sought an EVM from the Election
Commission, Chief Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava recently said the machine
was covered under the definition of information and can be demanded from the
ECI. The Election Commission had rejected the application saying the EVMs held
by it do not come under the definition of information. The applicant, Rajaak
Khan Haider, approached the CIC with a strong argument that as per Section 2(f)
and 2(i) of the RTI Act, the definition of 'information' and 'record' also
includes 'any model or any sample' held by a public authority, calling the
rejection as wrong. Section 2(f) of the RTI Act defines 'Information' as any
material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions,
advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports,
papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and
information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public
authority under any other law for the time being in force. The Election
Commission representative admitted that model and samples of the machines are
available with it but the same are only kept for training purpose, and not saleable
to the general public. Tendering unconditional apology for rejection, the
Election Commission representative agreed that it was wrong on its part but
reiterated that EVMs did not come under the definition of information, an
argument rejected by Bhargava. The EVM which is available with the Election
Commission in a material form and also as samples, as admitted by the
respondent (ECI) during the hearing, is an information under the RTI Act, the
CIC ruled. In the next sentence, however, the Commission tried to nip in the
bud any aspiration of accessing the machine underlining the second contention
of the EC that the software installed on these machines is an intellectual
property of a third party, the disclosure of which would harm its competitive
position. The CIC, however, did not give any view whether it was upholding or
rejecting the EC's position on commercial confidence leaving a grey area which
can be pursued further by any applicant. An information can be denied by a
public authority if it attracts any exemption clauses listed in the RTI Act
which also exempts information pertaining to commercial confidence or
intellectual property from disclosure. One of the clauses Section 8(1)(d)
exempts information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or
intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive
position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that
larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information. The issue
of larger public interest in the wake of allegations of EVM tampering was not
mentioned in the order. The ECI argument calling machine having propriety
software was noted by the CIC but he limited his order, saying the rejection of
application was erroneous by the ECI and a fresh reply should be sent to the
applicant as per the RTI provisions.
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RELIEF TO
E-WALLETS: RBI EXTENDS KYC COMPLIANCE NORMS BY SIX MONTHS
In a relief to e-wallet companies, the
Reserve Bank of India Monday extended by six months the deadline for compliance
with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, for prepaid payment instrument (PPI)
issuers. The earlier deadline was February 28. Based on requests received from
various stakeholders to increase the above timeline on account of difficulties
in undertaking Aadhaar e-KYC and time necessary to put in place alternative
systems for completing the KYC process it has been decided to allow PPI issuers
additional time of six months for completion of the KYC process, the RBI said in
a statement. PPIs are instruments that facilitate purchase of goods and
services, including financial services and remittance facilities, against the
value stored on such instruments.
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MANY
STATE DISCOMS BEAR LOSS OF INCOME AS THEY DEFER TARIFF HIKE
Approaching general elections along with
recent assembly polls have taken a toll on the finances of state power
distribution companies as many states are offering freebies to voters instead
of filing tariff revision petitions with regulators to recover costs. In many
cases, regulators have allowed deferred tariff hikes, which cumulatively add up
to Rs 1.35 lakh crore. Delayed tariff hikes cause loss of income and force the
discoms to borrow heavily although they are reflected in the balance sheet as
‘regulatory asset’. Regulatory assets are estimated to have increased by almost
Rs 60,000 crore between FY14 and FY18, raising questions on independent
operations of electricity regulatory commissions and power distribution firms.
Such situations in the past have led to loan restructuring of thousands of
crores The UPA government had in 2011 rescheduled Rs 1.9 lakh crore of
short-term loans of discoms. The NDA government launched Ujjwal Discom
Assurance Yojna (Uday) in 2015, under which state governments had to take over
75% of their debt and pay back lenders by selling bonds. For remaining 25%,
discoms issued bonds. Deteriorating financial health of distribution companies
impacts the entire power sector value chain. Aggregate discom dues to
electricity generating companies are expected to be around Rs 40,000 crore.
Sources said Uday states had reduced financial losses by more than 70% to Rs
15,049 crore in FY18 from Rs 51,480 crore in FY16. For lack of adequate tariff
rise, the annual losses of the discoms in FY16, FY17, and FY18, though
decreasing had to be funded through borrowings. Increase in regulatory
assets—recognised revenue shortfalls—has also been a reason for funding through
borrowings. During first half of FY19, there has been an increase in power
purchase cost to Rs 4.30 per unit against Rs 4.12 a unit in same period last
year on account of increase in fuel and freight charges, and increase in
short-term procurement due to rise in electricity demand. Establishment and
other costs during the period have increased to Rs 0.72 per unit in FY18 from
0.68 in FY16 due to implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission. In the
current financial year, 17 states have increased tariffs as compared to 22
states in FY18. Also, some states have not increased tariff in FY19 as per the
hikes envisaged in the Uday MoUs, resulting in shortage of revenue and creation
of regulatory assets.
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EPFO SAYS
EXEMPTED FIRMS, NOT STAFF, TO BEAR LOSSES OF INVESTMENTS IN IL&FS
The Employees Provident Organisation (EPFO)
is reviewing the investments made by companies, managing their own provident
fund, towards crisis-hit Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services
(IL&FS). The EPFO has written to 1,374 companies managing the employees’
provident fund (EPF) accounts of their employees on their own, known as
exempted firms, asking them about the exposure towards IL&FS a top EPFO
official said on Monday. In any case, employees will not bear any loss. The law
says that exempted firms will have to bear the loss due to its bad investments
to employees, the official added. The EPFO is expected to get an update within
the next two weeks. The EPFO’s own investment towards IL&FS stood at Rs 574
crore and it has not reported any default so far, the official said, adding it
is ready to take up any kind of legal action in case of non-payment of
interest. We can also move the NCLT [National Company Law Tribunal] in case of
default, he said. EPFO’s total corpus stands at around Rs 10 trillion, so the
investments towards IL&FS are miniscule, another EPFO official said.
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MSMES
CREATED 2.46 LAKH MORE JOBS POST-DEMONETISATION, GST: SURVEY
India's micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSME) sector not only survived demonetisation but created 246,416 more jobs
than those which existed before it was implemented, a recent survey released by
the India SME Forum shows. States where over 80 per cent of MSMEs shed their
staff were Jharkhand (94 per cent), Tamil Nadu (91 per cent), Punjab (89 per
cent), Bihar (88 per cent), Assam (87 per cent), Uttar Pradesh and Himachal
Pradesh (both with 86 per cent), Chhattisgarh (85 per cent), Kerala (84 per
cent), Haryana (83 per cent) as well as Goa (82 per cent). The survey data
shows all those who were retrenched -- including those employed on contractual,
cash, temporary or seasonal basis -- were hired back by the MSMEs. The negative
after-effects were found to be rather short-lived as seen in the survey data
about new employees. Nearly 66.6 per cent of MSMEs surveyed collectively hired
an additional 246,416 people in the 18 months from April 2017 to September 2018
at an average of 9.776 jobs per MSME unit and an overall average of 6.50 jobs
created per unit on including all the MSMEs surveyed. Data shows that 62.13 per
cent of MSMEs surveyed termed GST as the single biggest reform or that it made
running a business easier, though 9 per cent of them said that more work is
needed to implement GST. Only 28 per cent of MSMEs held the introduction of GST
responsible for MSMEs going out of business or for GST making business tougher.
The survey was conducted during October to December 2018 in 23 states across
the country with 37,680 respondents.
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UNREGULATED
DEPOSIT ORDINANCE BANS ONLY PONZI SCHEMES NOT REGULATED DEPOSITS
The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Ordinance
puts a check only on illegal deposit schemes that dupes gullible investors but
it does not prohibit those regulated by law like chit funds. The Department of
Financial Services said: Banning of Unregulated Deposit Ordinance-2019, exempts
Individual, Firm, Companies & LLP etc. for taking any loan and deposit for
their course of business as per section 2(4) e,f,l and other provisions. The
clarification comes amid rumours that deposits under chit funds and loans taken
by small businesses from unrelated parties and enterprises are also prohibited.
However, Chit fund is regulated by Chit Fund Act, 1982 and is treated as
Regulated Deposit as per Schedule 1 of Banning of Unregulated Deposit
Ordinance, 2019, it said. According to the Ordinance, the amounts received by
way of contributions towards the capital by partners of any partnership firm or
a limited liability partnership are exempt Besides, amount received by an
individual by way of loan from his relatives or amount received by any firm by
way of loans from relatives of any of its persons are exempt among other
exemptions. The legislation contains a substantive banning clause which bans
deposit takers from promoting, operating, issuing advertisements or accepting
deposits in any unregulated deposit scheme.
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12
MILLION JOBS A YEAR CREATED IN FORMAL SECTOR IN LAST 4 YEARS: PM MODI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took
on those criticising his government for reneging on the promise of creating
employment, saying the formal sector alone has generated 12 million jobs in a
year in the past four years. He admitted a lot needs to be done on the work
front. Rolling out statistics, he said 500,000 people joined the Employees’
Provident Fund (EPF) a month during September 2017-November 2018. Similarly,
Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) saw 10,000-11,000 subscribers a
month during this period. Even if one assumes there is 50 per cent overlap
between EPFO and ESIC data, 1 million people joined the formal sector in a
month. This means 12 million jobs were created in the formal sector in a year
in these four years, he said. He said figures revealed by state governments
corroborated these numbers. For instance, West Bengal government said 900,000
jobs were generated in the state last year. Karnataka said 5.3 million jobs
were created in the last five years. Is it possible jobs are being created in
West Bengal and Karnataka, but not in India? he wondered. He questioned
analysts if it is possible that jobs are not being created at a time when India
has become the fastest-growing large economy. When international reports are
saying poverty in India is reducing at the fastest rate, is it possible people
are coming out of poverty without jobs and livelihood? he asked. He cited other
statistical numbers to puncture the claims of his critics on jobless growth.
For instance, he said roads and rail tracks are being laid, houses are being
built for the poor, dams are being built, airports are being set up. Can all
this happen without creating job opportunities? he expressed surprise. In the
past four years, the number of foreign tourists rose by 40 per cent, foreign
exchange earned through them increased by 50 per cent, he said, buttressing his
points on job creation. Citing the income-tax data, he said 600,000
professionals joined the system in the last four years. They must have required
supporting staff as well. They themselves have given employment to lakhs of
people, he said. He said 150 million people were given over Rs 7 trillion of
Mudra loans. Of these, 40 million were young borrowers who took loans for their
businesses. Is it possible that loans were given to small businesses, but jobs
are nowhere? he further wondered. Hitting out at the Opposition, Modi said
nearly 80 million fake beneficiaries were getting government aid during earlier
regimes and Opposition leaders have now gathered to abuse him as he has stopped
their means of looting taxpayers’ money. Citing schemes like Jan-Dhan Yojana
and Aadhaar linking, Modi said these efforts made since his government came to
power in 2014 has led to more than Rs 1.10 trillion of exchequer’s funds being
saved from going to such fake beneficiaries.
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1.6 CR
FIRST-TIMERS AMONG 90 CR VOTERS FOR LOK SABHA POLLS
As many as 89.9 crore electors, including 1.6
crore new voters aged 18-19 years, are registered to vote in the upcoming
general election, though this number is likely to go up since additions to the
electoral rolls can be made till the last day of filing of nomination. In 2014
rolls published ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that year, there were a total
of 81.5 crore voters enrolled at the time of announcement but the final figure,
including service voters, stood higher at 83.4 crore. As per final electoral
rolls with reference to January 1, 2019, the last parts of which were published
on February 22, there are 89.7 crore voters across the country comprising 46.5
crore men, 43.2 crore women and 33,109 belonging to the 'third gender'. In
addition, nearly 16.6 lakh have enrolled as service voters. In the 2014 polls,
of the 83.4 crore eligible voters, 43.70 crore were men, 39.7 crore women and
28,527 'others'. Service voters, included in the total figure of 83.4 crore,
stood at 13.6 lakh. As per EC sources, there shall be a total 10,35,932 polling
stations spread over 4.36 lakh locations across the country in the upcoming
polls. Around 1.59 crore new voters, or 1.7% of the total electors, have been
included in the 2019 rolls by virtue of having attained the eligible age of 18
years on January 1, 2019. This figure, however, is less than the 2.3 crore
voters in the 18-19 age group who figured in the 2014 electoral rolls.
Subsequently, 1.8 crore newly eligible voters were added during summary
revision in 2016, 1.5 crore in 2017 and 1.59 crore in 2018. All such young electors
enrolled since 2015 will get to vote in a parliamentary poll for the first
time. The highest number of electors in 18-19 age group included in 2019 rolls
are in Rajasthan (20.3 lakh), followed by West Bengal (20 lakh), Uttar Pradesh
(16.76 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (13.6 lakh) and Maharashtra (11.99 lakh).
Electoral rolls published as part of summary revision since 2016 show that West
Bengal has added the largest number of newly-eligible voters (79 lakh),
followed by UP (73.8 lakh) and Rajasthan (61.2 lakh).
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INDIA
MISSES OUT ON INVESTMENT BOOM DUE TO ELECTION UNCERTAINTY
Unlike Southeast Asia, India isn’t seeing any
investment gains as global trade tensions disrupt supply chains. Foreign direct
investment in the third-largest Asian economy fell 7 per cent in the nine
months to December, signaling slowing investment before upcoming elections. FDI
inflows into India during the period was $33.5 billion, lower than the $35.9
billion in the year-ago period. The fall was more prominent in manufacturing
sectors. That should be a concern for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he seeks
a second term in office in polls due by May. He had swept to power in 2014 with
the biggest victory margin in 30 years after promising to make India a hub for
manufacturing and create jobs for 10 million people every year. India is now in
an uncertain state politically, said Indira Rajaraman. The decline in foreign
direct investment in India is in contrast to the boom seen in its southeast Asian
peers. Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia are seen poised to benefit
from the trade tension between the U.S. and China, as companies seek to re-work
supply chains threatened by tariffs.
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MARKET
FORCES, NOT TRAI, DETERMINE TARIFFS: RS SHARMA
TRAI Chief R S Sharma has said that mobile
companies are free to revise their tariffs in line with market forces and there
is no need for the regulator to interfere or respond to the business stress of
the operators. Sharma said the industry needs to find sustainable ways to cope
with financial difficulties, adding, there is not much scope for the regulator
in the determination of tariffs. Who is fixing the tariffs? It is the players
who are doing that, Sharma told. Sharma said that mobile companies need to take
decisions in line with their business requirements and plans, as well as their
financial positions. It is competition that will decide tariffs, not the
regulator. Sharma said he expects the market to gradually stabilize as business
evolves and companies respond to the current situation. The market will find
its own place. After the fresh round of consolidation that we have witnessed in
the Indian telecom sector, we are in a good position. Stability is visible.
Asked about the mounting debt levels in the industry, he said, Trai has made
recommendations to the government seeking rationalization of taxation on
telecom players. We have made recommendations that seek to reduce the tax
burden. However, he added in the same breadth that the telecom companies in
India are professionally managed, and I have no competence to challenge their
decisions. Sharma said he expects the Indian telecom industry to have a
3-plus-one model, which broadly means survival of three private operators
(Vodafone-Idea, Jio and Airtel) and the state-owned BSNL. The consolidation is
more or less completed. On the introduction of 5G in India, Sharma said that it
depends on a variety of factors. It depends on willingness of the operators and
network equipment players to invest. Trai has already given its recommendations
on 5G spectrum auction, while also coming out with the reserve price for the
high-speed spectrum. However, many companies have said that the reserve price
is too high. Sharma, however, said, it is not fair to say that prices suggested
by Trai are high. We fix these after studying a variety of factors, including
the population of the country and the potential users.
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OFFENSIVE
WHATSAPP MESSAGES: NO PLAN TO BLOCK USERS, POLICE THE RIGHT AUTHORITY, SAYS DOT
The department of telecommunications (DoT)
has said it has no plans to ask mobile operators to block customers who are
allegedly sending obscene messages through WhatsApp as law enforcement agencies
like police are the right authority to deal with the problem The DoT said that
the government is going to take action against senders of violent or vulgar
messages by asking mobile operators to block such users. This was based on a DoT
letter dated February 19 to telecom service providers by Ashish Joshi. The
letter asked the telcos to take immediate action against those customers
against whom complaints of sending obscene messages had been received along
with a screenshots as it violated the customer declaration in the customer
application form (CAF). However, DoT officials said that the officer had no
authority to issue the letter and action is likely to be taken against him
soon. There is a clause in the licence agreement which prohibits transmission
of obscene messages but the onus of identifying such messages is on enforcement
agencies, the DoT official told. The official further stated that security
conditions of licence insists on secure transmission of messages and maintaining
privacy of the communication is the prime responsibility of the licensor.
Investigation by police may lead to further action as per IT Act and the IPC.
The official said the DoT’s role is that of a facilitator and it has to ensure
that operators extend all support to the law enforcement agencies. There should
be no duplicity of responsibility leading to public inconvenience, he added.
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EC DEMAND
FOR MORE POWER IN IT LAW PANNED BY INDUSTRY, CIVIL SOCIETY
Industry and civil society organisations have
opposed the Election Commission of India's (EC's) demand for including a clause
in the proposed changes to the country's technology laws that deal with taking
down content hosted on social media, messaging services and other online
platforms. An ongoing consultation being carried out by the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed changes to Section
79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, seeking to regulate a set of
companies that qualify as intermediaries, and covers the likes of Facebook,
Twitter, WhatsApp, and Google. The proposed changes include asking companies to
notify users about their privacy policies at least once every month, assisting
a government agency in an appropriate manner within 72 hours of communication
and take down or disable access to the content specified by the draft law. In
its comments made to MeitY as part of the consultation, the EC has asked that a
clause is added to the proposed rules so they apply to violation of any of the
provisions of election law or/and directions of the Election Commission, during
the period of any election. In counter-comments submitted by different
stakeholders, several entities disagreed with the EC's demand and said the existing
laws were enough to deal with electoral processes and do not require a
modification in the IT Act. This proposal from the EC implies a desire for
(permanent) powers over 'platforms', which would result in the unintended
consequence of making the process of election restrained and unfair, said
Sivasubramanian.
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POWER
MINISTER ASKS STATES TO SUPPLY 24X7 POWER BARRING AGRICULTURAL CONSUMERS
Power minister R K Singh has asked states to supply
24x7 power to all households barring agricultural consumers starting April this
year. The minister said that distribution companies will be exempt from
supplying 24x7 electricity to agriculture customers. As per 24x7 agreements
signed with the Centre, discoms are obligated to supply round the clock
electricity while the draft tariff policy provides for penalising the firms for
load shedding. We need to ensure that we live up to the agreement which we
signed. Starting April 1, we expect discoms to supply power 24x7. Agriculture
consumers will be exempt, he said. Singh also asked the state governments to
prepare for the rising demand ahead of summers and assured sufficient coal
supply to generate power. The sector will not be sustainable unless we collect
money for each unit distributed. We also need to shift to prepaid metering
system, he said.
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RBI’S RS
28,000 DIVIDEND TO MODI GOVERNMENT IS NO WINDFALL TO BRIDGE FISCAL DEFICIT
RBI’s decision to transfer Rs 28,000 crore of
its surplus reserves to the government in early interim dividend may come as a huge
relief to the cash starved exchequer but it certainly is not a windfall to help
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tide over a wide fiscal gap. In our view, the
government has already budgeted the interim dividend of Rs 28,000 crore in its
estimated budgeted dividend receipts and hence it should not impact the revised
fiscal deficit of 3.4% any positively Anil Gupta, told. While this transfer
will put in much needed funds in the hands of the government in an election
year, helping it spend on socio-economic welfare schemes, a closer analysis of
the budget estimates show that it will not have any additional benefit in
helping bridge the fiscal deficit. The Modi government in its revised estimates
for the current financial year 2018-19 has budgeted a total dividend of Rs
74,140 crore from the RBI, national banks and other financial institutions. Out
of the total dividend, Rs 68,000 crore has been factored as dividend from the
Subhash Chandra Garg had said. Since the government had already received Rs
40,000 crore from the RBI, Anil Gupta said that this interim dividend of Rs
28,000 crore is what takes the revised estimates of the RBI dividend to Rs
68,000 crore.
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INDIA
LIKELY TO HAVE NORMAL MONSOON IN 2019: SKYMET
Monsoon rains in India are expected to be
normal in 2019, the country's only private weather forecasting agency said on
Monday, raising prospects of higher farm and economic growth in the $2 trillion
economy There is a more than 50% chance that India will get normal rainfall and
only a small probability of excessive rainfall, Skymet CEO Jatin Singh said. India
defines average, or normal, rainfall as between 96% and 104% of a 50-year
average of 89 cm for the entire four-month season beginning June. The monsoon
season delivers about 70% of India's annual rainfall and is key to the success
of the farm sector in Asia's third-biggest economy.
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SUCCESSFUL
OPERATIONALISATION OF ELECTRONIC TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO A LARGE NUMBER OF FARMER
BENEFICIARIES
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched
the PM-KISAN Scheme on 24th February 2019 at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh (UP) to
electronically transfer the First Installment of Rs 2,021 crore directly into
the bank accounts of 1,010,6,880 (One Crore One Lakh Six Thousand Eight Hundred
Eighty) Eligible Farmers of 24 States and the Union Territories. Under the
Scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given each year to eligible Small and Marginal Farmer
families having combined land holding/ownership of up to 2 hectares. The amount
will be given in three installments of Rs. 2000 each. The Direct Benefit
Transfer (DBT) under the Scheme PM-KISAN is being done through the System of
Public Finance Management System (PFMS), a web-based payment and MIS IT
application of the Government of India administered by the Controller General
of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India. DBT process
through PFMS ensures digitally authenticated payments, without any manual
intervention, directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries in a
transparent manner and without any delay. The integration of PFMS with about
273 banks enables validation of bank account details of beneficiaries before
making payments directly into their bank accounts. All DBT payments for the
Government of India Schemes are being done through PFMS. For PM-KISAN Scheme,
the PFMS team managed the process in the very short time available.
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ODISHA
GOVERNMENT HIKES DA BY 3%
Ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in
Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik government on Monday announced a hike of Dearness
Allowance (DA) by an additional three per cent for its employees. It also
announced the same hike in Dearness Relief (TI) of pension holders. The move
comes just on the heels of the Centre's decision to increase the DA by 3 per
cent for its employees and pensioners. The hiked allowance, approved by
Patnaik, would become applicable retrospectively from January 1, 2019, said a
statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
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CJI
RANJAN GOGOI BACKS NARENDRA MODI GOVERNMENT OVER APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on
Friday backed the Narendra Modi government over the appointment of judges to
the higher judiciary. Gogoi cleared the air regarding the delay in the
appointment of judges and said that if there was any delay then it was because
of the collegium and not the Union of India. This statement by the Chief
Justice of India comes after, a petition was heard that was filed by a Centre
for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) which is a non-government organization
(NGO). The bench hearing the petition included CJI Gogoi along with Justice
Sanjiv Khanna. The observed that, How can you say that? Appointment are
happening, some of the names are pending with the collegium. As the Chief
Justice, I am telling you that whatever is pending is mostly before the
collegium. There are almost 70-80 proposals pending before the Supreme Court
collegium and hardly 27 before the government.
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GOVERNMENT
DECLARES CURRENCY PRINTING PRESSES AND MINTS AS PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICE
The government in a notification on Friday
has declared printing presses and mints as public utility service under the
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The notification issued by the Ministry of
Labour and Employment is valid for six months and can be reissued after expiry.
The notification is part of a series of notifications issued earlier on January
15, and July 13, last year, announcing currency printing presses and mints as
public utility service. Following the declaration, employees will have to comply
with rules pertaining to strikes and lockouts. Also, in a separate notification
issued on February 1, the ministry had declared the services of ‘Transport
(other than railways) for the carriage of passengers or goods (by land or
water)’, covered by entry 1 in the First Schedule to the Industrial Disputes
Act, 1947, as a public utility service for six months. Most of these
notifications have been issued to renew their status of public utility service
from an earlier dated notification. Public utility service is defined as any
railway service (or any transport service for the carriage of passengers or
goods by air); any service in, or in connection with the working of, any major
port or dock; any section of an industrial establishment, on the working of
which the safety of the establishment or the workmen employed therein depends;
any postal, telegraph or telephone service; any industry which supplies power,
light or water to the public; any system of public conservancy or sanitation.
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INDIA
LACKS GOOD ECONOMIC, JOBS DATA DUE TO INFORMAL ECONOMY: BIBEK DEBROY
India lacks good data on economy and jobs as
it is majorly an informal economy, Bibek Debroy, said. We don't have very good
data on economy and jobs because India is majorly an informal economy. So,
therefore, we don't have a very good data whether it is employment, labour or
other things, quite unlike the so-called developed countries, Debroy, also a
member of the NITI Aayog, said. There is a large degree of self-employment
there is a large degree of informalisation in contracts. So, the only way I can
get satisfactory data is through employment surveys of the kinds that the NSS
undertakes, he said. According to the report released by think-tank Skoch Group
Monday, there is a big buoyancy in informal sector jobs under the Modi
government. A detailed analysis and field research on MUDRA loan scheme, SHGs
and infrastructure developments, especially rural roads and National Highways
expansion, indicate that there is big buoyancy in informal sector jobs under
Modi regime, the report said. Sameer Kochhar said that as many as 2 crore jobs
have been created in the informal sector till date under the present dispensation.
Kocchar, however, added that the job situation seems tricky in the formal
sector. Is there any increase in the formal sector jobs, we can't conclusively
say, yes or no, said Kochhar. Kochhar said that data gathering under Mudra
Yojana and Self Help Groups (SHGs) suggested around 2 crore jobs have been
created in the informal sector under the current government so far. MUDRA loans
seem to have become more of the working capital loan scheme, while
documentation states that it has to be 80 per cent of loan is an asset, he
said. Lack of data is a huge problem. We have faced a lot of constraints
because of this. However, the saving grace for us is our ongoing studies and
field research that we have been doing this for more than 20-years, he said.
The number of SHGs has increased to 87.44 lakh in 2017-18 from 76.97 lakh in
2014-15. Gross savings of SHGs with banks more than doubled to Rs 19,592.12
crore in 2017-18 from Rs 9,897.42 crore in 2013-14. Loans given to SHGs also
more than doubled to Rs 47,185.88 crore during 2017-18 from Rs 24,017.36 crore
in 2013-14. Non-performing assets (NPA) rate in bank loan to SHGs dropped by 38
bps to 6.12 per cent during 2017-18, it said. A total of 48,751 km of PMGSY
roads, connecting 11,499 eligible habitations have been constructed in 2017-18
at an average rate of 134 km per day. The government built 47,447 km of rural
roads in 2016-17, the second most in seven years. These two years compared with
the 36,449 km of roads constructed in 2015-16 under PMGSY and 36,337 km in 2014-15.
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TELANGANA
VOTER DELETION: ACTIVISTS SEEK DETAILS OF AADHAAR-VOTER ID LINKAGE
Slamming the chief electoral officer for
sharing its data with the state government in order to prepare electoral rolls
through Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage in Telangana in 2015, which led to large-scale
deletion of names from the rolls, activists asked the Election Commission of
India (EC) to undertake an investigation into the matter and disclose details
of all voters whose names were deleted. We demand that the complete details of
all pilot programmes conducted in Telangana be disclosed with regard to the
Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage. All the Aadhaar-related details must be destroyed or
deleted because the CEO then supplied voter data to the state’s Information
Technology, Electronics and Communication department. This is a clear violation
of electoral laws said Kiran Chandra. Chandra stated that the Telangana
government has collected citizens’ data, including personal details like caste
and religion, under the State Resident Data Hub (SRDH), which is an
Aadhaar-seeded repository of information consolidated from multiple government
databases. The SRDH uses an individual’s Aadhaar number as a unique identifier
to interlink these scattered databases and is also linked to the UIDAI servers
to allow for Aadhaar-enabled biometric authentication. The process, which began
in March 2015, was stalled after a Supreme Court judgment in August, but by
then, about 3 million names had already been deleted from the rolls. However,
activists and opposition parties had in 2015 alleged that many of the names
were deleted without due verification. And that claim was proven when a Right
To Information (RTI) response from the ECI showed the then CEO (of AP and
Telangana) Bhanwar Lal admitting in a communication to the ECI (on 8 August
2015) that door-to-door verification had not been conducted properly in Greater
Hyderabad specifically. The CEO in that letter had admitted that that many
people had complained that block level officers (BLOs) had not visited their
homes for verification of voter names in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation (GHMC) area during the Aadhaar linking process under the election
photo-identity card programme (EPIC).
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MODI’S
$100 BILLION FDI BLUEPRINT FACES A BIG HURDLE AS GOVERNMENT LOSES EARLY
MOMENTUM
While India works on a blueprint to increase
foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the country to $100 billion the
government data shows a slowing trend. Suresh Prabhu on Saturday said that the
government plans to raise FDI inflows to $100 billion through a targeted
approach. However, the recent data released by the Department of Promotion of
Industry and Internal trade (DPITT) shows that the FDI inflows in India
contracted by 7 per cent in the current financial year so far, indicating
India’s fading attractiveness to foreign investors. The FDI inflows in India
during April to December of 2018 fell to USD 33.5 billion as compared to USD 36
billion during the same period of 2017, showed DPITT data. Mauritius has been
ranked one among the top investing countries FDI equity inflows, followed by
Singapore. The Modi government in the past has taken various measures to attract
FDI into the country which can be seen from the growth of FDI in the initial
years of the government. However, the momentum gained earlier is again being
lost. This is evident from the RBI data which shows that India experienced a
growth rate of 54 per cent in FDI inflows during 2014-15, which has slowed down
to just 3 per cent in 2017-18.
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YOGA GURU
RAMDEV MAY HEAD COUNTRY’S FIRST GOVERNMENT RECOGNISED VEDIC EDUCATION BOARD
Yoga guru Ramdev may head the country’s first
government-recognised board of Vedic education with a proposal from his
Patanjali trust being recommended by a selection committee. The panel’s
recommendation to the HRD Ministry will be considered by the governing council
of the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Vedavidya Pratishthan (MSRVP). The MSRVP
which is an autonomous body under the HRD Ministry for promotion of Vedic
education and is headed by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. Three
proposals were received by the selection panel including one from Patanjali,
the Amity Group and Pune-based Maharashtra Institute of Technology. Patanjali
Group has also promised to provide a funding of Rs 21 crore for the development
of the board, according to a source. The selection panel headed by National
Book Trust (NBT) chairman Govind Prasad Sharma, will forward its recommendation
to the HRD Ministry, which is likely to make a decision next week.
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KIREN
RIJIJU RULES OUT PRESIDENT'S RULE IN ARUNACHAL, SAYS STATE GOVT COULDN'T
CONVINCE PEOPLE ON PRC ISSUE
Kiren Rijiju Monday ruled out the imposition
of President's rule in Arunachal Pradesh, which witnessed widespread violence
in the past four days, and said the state government could not communicate properly
to the people on the contentious PRC issue, leading to the unrest. Rijiju also
said the Pema Khandu-led BJP government in the state should take all possible
steps including initiating dialogue with the civil society, to bring normalcy
as early as possible, as there was confusion on the issue of granting Permanent
Residence Certificate (PRC) to six communities. There is no question of
imposition of President's rule. The state government should immediately work
for restoring peace and bringing back normalcy. At least three people lost
their lives during violent protests over granting the PRC to six non-Arunachal
Pradesh Scheduled Tribe (APSTs) communities.
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CONGRESS
TO PUT FORMER CHHATTISGARH GOVT'S ZERO POWER CUT STATUS UNDER LENS
Chhattisgarh’s much-publicized zero power cut
claim had come under the lens of new Congress government which says it plans to
examine the status. The previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government had
showcased the zero power cut claim as one of its biggest feats during its
15-year rule. The then Chief Minister Raman Singh had asserted that
Chhattisgarh was the first state in the country where there was no
load-shedding. The state government would examine the matter to know the
status, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced in the state legislative
assembly today. He said that during peak hour there could be a shutdown in
power supply. Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi alleged that despite the state government’s
claim of no power cut in the state there were supply interruptions in rural
areas. When government is claiming that the state is power surplus, then why
there is load-shedding going on in the interior areas, he asked. Jogi also
raised the issue of alleged shaddy deals in power trading. It had been seen
that Chhattisgarh had bought power at Rs 9 per unit but sold it for just Rs 3,
he said. Baghel clarified power tariff fluctuates according to demand. The
tariff would be higher during peak demand. He said if his government was
provided evidence, it was ready to probe the alleged irregularities.
Chhattisgarh had sold power to only Telangana in 2018-19. As on December 2018,
the state-run Chhattisgarh Power Distribution Company had sold 4,626.30 million
units of power to Telangana, which was due to pay Rs 1921.98 crore.
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BJP
TRYING TO PACIFY DEBT-RIDDEN FARMERS THROUGH PM-KISAN SCHEME: P CHIDAMBARAM
P Chidambaram Monday termed the PM-KISAN
scheme as cash for votes and said it was BJP’s desperate attempt to placate
debt-ridden farmers with crumbs of Rs 17 per day per family. The former finance
minister also said the scheme showed that the BJP was living by the truth that
desperate times require desperate measures. The Rs 75,000 crore scheme was
launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gorakhpur on Sunday by transferring
the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over 1 crore farmers. Chidambaram also
hit out at the government over the reduction in GST rates for the housing and
real estate sector, asking where was this wisdom when the Congress told the
government to reduce these rates. He alleged that the BJP government has made a
mockery of the GST. GST rates cut for construction sector. Where was this wisdom
when we had told the government that, with multiple and high rates, they were
making a mockery of GST, he said.
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MAHARASHTRA
FARM LOAN WAIVER UNPRECEDENTED IN COVERAGE: GOVERNOR
Maharashtra government's farm loan waiver
scheme is unprecedented in its beneficiary coverage, particularly among farmers
in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao said Monday. As
part of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana, Rs 24,000 crore
were sanctioned for 51 lakh farmers accounts and of this, Rs 18,036 crore have
already been transferred to over 43 lakh farmers, he said. The state government
is working on a new piped distribution network for irrigation which would cover
an area of 6.15 lakh hectare, he said. On the BJP-Shiv Sena led state
government's commitment for better farm produce prices, Rao said the government
procured 40.10 lakh quintals of pulses, 2.62 lakh quintals of soyabean and
19.47 lakh quintals of 'chana' during the Kharif season 2017-18. The state
government paid Rs 3,121 crore to over five lakh farmers as Minimum Support
Price (MSP), he said. The governor said over 1.5 lakh irrigation wells have
been built in the last four years and another 50,000 wells were under construction.
Around 1.30 lakh ponds were dug under the state government's 'farm ponds on
demand' scheme, he said, adding that 22,000 villages will be made drought-proof
by May this year under the Jalyukt Shivar water conservation programme. Under
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the state
government has been able to provide over six crore man-days of work and spent
over Rs 1,800 crore in the current fiscal, he said. Rao informed the
legislature that 46 of 102 irrigation projects have been completed in Vidarbha
to remove the development backlog of the region.
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NUMBER OF
HOSPITAL BEDS IN DELHI INCREASED FROM 48,096 IN 2014-15 TO 57,194 IN LAST
FISCAL, SAYS REPORT
The total number of hospital beds in the
national capital increased from 48,096 in 2014-15 to 57,194 in the last fiscal,
according to Delhi’s Economic Survey report. This translated in a jump in beds
per 1000 population from 2.68 to 2.99 in the corresponding periods, it said.
Besides, the strength of beds at a proposed hospital in Ambedkar Nagar has been
revised from 200 to 600. The estimated cost of the hospital is Rs 180.95 crore
and 80 per cent of the work has been completed, report said. The Delhi
government has decided to remodel around 16 existing hospitals so as to enhance
the number of existing beds as per Floor Area Ratio (FAR) norms. Around 7,000
new beds will be added as per planned remodelling of these existing 16
hospitals, it said. According to the NSSO survey (71st Round) report of State
Samples, around 2,697 persons were hospitalised per one lakh population during
the reference period of one year and the share of the government health
institution in the treatment of hospitalised cases in urban area accounted for
51.41 per cent, the report said. The total expenditure in medical and public
health sector of Delhi government has significantly increased from Rs 861.66
crore which accounts to 9.85 per cent of the total expenditure in 2007-08 to Rs
1912.42 crore which accounts to 13.28 per cent of the total outlay in 2017-18. To
provide primary health care services at the doorstep of the citizens of Delhi,
189 Aam Aadmi Mohalla clinics have already been set up, it added. Health sector
infrastructure in Delhi comprises of 1,298 dispensaries, 1160 nursing homes,
230 maternity homes, 178 polyclinics/special clinics, 88 hospitals and 17
medical colleges. Important vital indicators like Infant Mortality Rate,
Neo-Natal Mortality Rate, Under Five Mortality Rate in respect of Delhi stand
at lower levels i.e 18, 12 and 22 respectively in comparison to all-India
levels at 34, 24 and 39 respectively. The total fertility rate of Delhi is 1.6
which is lowering among all states in India. Per capita expenditure on health
in Delhi has increased from Rs 2116 in the year 2014-15 to Rs 2493 in 2017-18,
it said.
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88
PERCENT DELHI SCHOOLS HAVE PLAYGROUNDS, COMPUTER FACILITIES, SAYS ECONOMIC
SURVEY
Only 88 per cent schools in the national
capital have playgrounds and computer facilities, according to the economic
survey of Delhi for the year 2018-19. But the survey, tabled in Delhi Assembly
Saturday, said all schools in Delhi have toilets for boys and girls,
electricity connection and drinking water facilities, an improvement from
preceding years. According to the survey, the Net Enrolment Ratio in primary
education declined from 93.26 per cent in 2015-16 to 92.55 per cent in 2016-17.
The education expenditure to the Gross State Domestic Product of Delhi is the
highest at 1.70 per cent in 2018-19. In Delhi, the per student per annum
expenditure incurred by the government on education has increased to Rs 66,038
in 2018-19 from Rs 54,910 in 2016-17, the survey said. Among major highlights
with respect to school education for 2018-19, were renovation of 52 schools,
administrative approval and expenditure sanction for construction of around
12,748 additional classrooms in various existing schools, introduction of
happiness curriculum and introduction of nursery classes in over 300 government
schools. Development of higher education by way of establishing more degree
colleges and state universities has been envisaged. The budget allocation for
the higher education has been increased from Rs 352 crore in the financial year
2017-18 to Rs 402.60 crore in the financial year 2018-19. A budget provision of
Rs 20 crore under the PWD head has also been kept in the current year for
construction of college buildings, it said.
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5,60,695
HOUSES SANCTIONED UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI AWAS YOJANA (URBAN)
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
has approved the construction of another 5,60,695 more affordable houses for
the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). The
cumulative number of houses sanctioned under PMAY(U) now is 79,04,674. The
number of houses sanctioned for Uttar Pradesh is 1,79,215, Andhra Pradesh 1,10,618,
Maharashtra 1,01,220 while Karnataka has been sanctioned 48,729 houses. The
houses sanctioned for Madhya Pradesh is 26,587 houses and Gujarat 25,861. The
number of houses for Manipur is 13,715 while Tamil Nadu has been sanctioned
12,174 houses. Bihar has been sanctioned 10,084 houses while the houses
sanctioned for Odisha is 7,472. The number of houses sanctioned for Chattisgarh
is 7,067 while the sanction for Kerala is 4,194 houses. Haryana has been
sanctioned 4,019 houses, Rajasthan 3,601, Jharkhand 2,165and Assam 1,419. The
number of houses for Meghalaya is 1,397 while the houses sanctioned for
Puducherry is 1,158. A total of 1,243 projects with a project cost of Rs 33,873
crore with central assistance of Rs 8,404 crore has been approved in the
meeting held under the Chairmanship of Shri Durga Shankar Mishra.
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NO WATER
SHORTAGE IN INDIA, BUT MANAGEMENT NOT ADEQUATE: NITIN GADKARI
India does not have shortage of water but the
management of water is not adequate Nitin Gadkari said. The need to institute
national-level water awards spanning across sectors was strongly felt to
encourage people to play their respective roles in conservation of water,
Gadkari said. Listing some of the steps which have been taken for effective
management of water in the country, the minister said 400 MLD water from Okhla
barrage will be treated and used for Delhi through Wazirabad barrage. On the
Clean Ganga Mission, Gadkari said during the ongoing Kumbh Mela, the water was
both 'Nirmal' and 'Aviral' (continuous and clean flow) and the people
appreciated the cleanliness. There should be people's participation in making
the issue of water conservation a public movement. Groundwater recharge and
rejuvenation of water bodies are among the greatest challenges, he said.
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PM MODI
SUSPENDS ‘MANN KI BAAT’ FOR TWO MONTHS
Addressing the nation on Sunday on his 53rd
episode of Mann ki Baat, he said he will come back to the power and will
continue his address to the nation in the future, discussing various topics. In
the next two months, we will be busy in the hurly-burly of the general
elections. I myself will also be a candidate during this election. In
maintaining respect for healthy democratic traditions, the next episode of
‘Mann Ki Baat’ will be broadcast on the last Sunday of the month of May, he
said. This means I shall take up our thoughts and ideas accumulated over the
three months of March, April and entire May after the Elections, with
confidence anew. With the power of your blessings, once again I shall begin
this series of conversations through ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and shall keep doing ‘Mann
Ki Baat’ with you for years, Modi said. Condoling the families of the soldiers
martyred in the recent Pulwama attack, Modi said the event will keep 'inspiring
us relentlessly to uproot the very base of terrorism'. It will fortify our
resolve. We shall have to take up this challenge facing our country, forgetting
all barriers of casteism, communalism, regionalism and other difference, so
that, our steps against terror are firmer, stronger and more decisive he said. In
respect and memory of all the martyrs, a National War Memorial will also be
erected on Monday, he said. On the 25th of February, crores of we Indians will
dedicate this National Soldiers’ Memorial to our Armed Forces. On part of the
nation, this will be a small step towards repaying a great debt. Lastly, the
Prime Minister also wished the students who are going to appear for their
examinations, their parents and all the teachers as well.
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NOW
MONITOR RAILWAY PUNCTUALITY, EARNINGS WITH 'EDRISHTI'
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday launched
a dashboard for passengers to keep track of train punctuality as well as other
such information from anywhere in the country. The 'eDrishti' dashboard has
been developed by the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) and can be
accessed at www.raildrishti.cris.org.in. Launching the dashboard, Goyal said
people can now track any information related to Indian Railways in a swipe -
even while on the move. They can find out about the movement of trains across
the country, train punctuality, freight and passenger earnings, freight loading
and unloading, progress of major projects, public grievances, details of railway
stations and much more, he said. With regular complaints regarding the quality
of food served on trains, the dashboard has also been linked to the base
kitchens of the Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to allow
monitoring of the goings-on in IRCTC kitchens through live video. The dashboard
will also provide live status of reserved and unreserved passengers travelling
on trains besides providing the exact location of trains at any point of time.
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RAILWAYS
TO PROVIDE 45 ACRES OF SURPLUS LAND FOR DEVELOPMENT OF DHARAVI
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal Monday announced
45 acres of surplus land adjoining Dharavi to the Dharavi Redevelopment
Authority on a 99-year lease, helping in developing the area and bringing
facilities to slum dwellers The project will give an opening across the country
to those people who are compelled to live in slums and are deprived of
facilities for many years. The Dharavi Redevelopment Project will be a living
example of concerted efforts of Indian Railways, Indian Government and the
Maharashtra government, Goyal said. This project has opened the vistas for huge
amount of redevelopment and slum rehabilitation all over the country and I
compliment Devendra Fadnavis for his proactive approach. I also compliment the
Railway Board for its cooperation and support to make this project a reality,
he said. The railway minister said the existing facilities on the land like
railway quarters, which are 50 or 60 years old and in dilapidated condition,
will be improved under the redevelopment project.
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UPLIFTMENT
OF ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS CAN HELP INDIA GROW AT 9-10% FOR THREE DECADES:
AMITABH KANT
Upliftment of over 100 aspirational districts
can propel India to achieve a growth rate of 9-10 per cent for up to 30 years
as it is imperative to have equity for growth to sustain, Amitabh Kant said
Monday. As part of the NITI Aayog's vision, the 'Transformation of Aspirational
Districts' programme aims to quickly and effectively transform these 115
districts It is very important to focus on nutrition, learning outcomes and
health. The prime minster's focus is on the 115 aspirational districts of
India. you can't have growth without equity, Kant said. If these aspirational
districts are transformed, the Indian economy will automatically have a growth
of 9-10 per cent over the next three decades. The broad contours of the
programme are convergence of central and state government schemes, collaboration
of central, state level 'Prabhari' officers and district collectors, and
competition among districts driven by a mass movement. Kant said that India
entrepreneurship in the pharmacy sector has been truly top-class. India has
demonstrated its ability, and Ayushman Bharat is a great example of that. You
will providing health facility to 500 million people, more than the population
of USA, Europe, Mexico put together. India has demonstrated its ability to
provide medical health care at one-tenth the cost over the European and the
American nations and that's a great example, he said.
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INDIA'S
GROWTH MOMENTUM LIKELY SLOWED IN LATE 2018: REUTERS POLL
India's economy likely grew at its slowest
pace in over a year in the October-December quarter as weaker rural incomes and
softer urban demand weighed on consumption, a Reuters poll showed. The median
forecast from more than 55 economists polled on Feb. 19-25 was for growth of
6.9 percent, compared with 7.1 percent in July-September. Consumption drivers
should remain modest as tight liquidity persisted through most of the quarter
and farm distress restrained rural consumption, said Charu Chanana, emerging
Asia economist at Continuum Economics. Forecasts for the GDP number, due for
release on Feb. 28 at 1200 GMT, ranged between 6.3 percent and 7.9 percent, and
suggested a significant drop from a more than two-year high of 8.2 percent in
April-June 2018. The latest poll was conducted amid political uncertainty ahead
of a general election due by May and a weakening global economy. A slowdown in
growth momentum supported the Reserve Bank of India's sudden dovish turn in
early February when it cut rates and changed its policy stance to neutral to
boost expansion after a sharp fall in inflation. The RBI's commentary on growth
and the upcoming GDP data should support the central bank's surprise cut there
should be more dovishness in the next meeting, because of the ongoing slowdown,
said Shashank Mendiratta.
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NITI
AAYOG WORKING ON POLICY TO END CROP RESIDUE BURNING
Government think-tank Niti Aayog will soon
come out with a policy roadmap to promote alternative use of crop residue which
farmers continue to burn in the fields despite a ban in some states to curb air
pollution. The advisory body has floated an expression of interest inviting
research institutions to conduct a study on mass production of
manure/fertiliser from agricultural biomass. Based on this study, a policy
roadmap will be laid out for alternative use of crop residue, officials at Niti
Aayog told. Niti Aayog will suggest potential economic uses of this
agricultural biomass besides identifying an economically viable technology to
convert crop waste into compost. Potential solutions will be identified before
next winter, the officials said. The air in several Indian cities, including
the national capital region, is toxic, mostly due to vehicle and industrial
emissions, and dust from growthfuelled construction work. Since soot from
burning crop stubble gets blown to neighbouring cities and worsens the air
quality there, the practice has been banned in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
But farmers often violate this curb, saying they cannot afford any other means
of removal. According to a government estimate, over 500 million tonnes (MT) of
agricultural straw are produced every year in the country, and with increased
production of rice and wheat, residue generation has jumped.
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TRAI’S
DECISIONS OVER PAST TWO YEARS HAVE HURT ALL BARRING JIO: VODAFONE CEO
Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read sought a level
playing field in India, pointing out that the outcomes of the telecom
regulator’s decisions over the past two years have hurt all carriers, except
Reliance Jio Infocomm, adding to the acrimony between the country’s older
carriers on one side, and the regulator and the Mukesh Ambani-owned telco on
the other. I think it’s fair to say that for the last two years, we’ve had many
regulatory outcomes that have worked against everyone in the market, except
Jio, and we only ask for a level playing field in terms of regulation, Read
said. Vodafone’s top executive appeared to be alluding to a clutch of
contentious regulations issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(Trai) over the past two years. Trai and the new entrant though have rejected
all such allegations. Some of the controversial decisions and regulations
include a 57% cut in interconnect usage charge (IUC) to 6 paise a minute that had
hurt revenue of older incumbents, while lowering costs for Jio. Then, the
regulator’s recommendation to slap penalties of Rs 3,050 crore on Bharti
Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular for allegedly denying adequate points
of interconnect (PoIs) to Jio, has been challenged by Vodafone in court. Then,
a Trai order that changed the rules to identify predatory pricing and also
mandated reporting of all segmented offers, was decried by older telcos as one
which would stymie their competitiveness against Jio. Late last year, the
telecom tribunal junked the order. Vodafone’s Read said telecom sector pricing
in India remained artificially low and won’t be sustainable, in that, at some
point, all three (dominant) players — Vodafone Idea, Airtel and Jio — would need
to sit down and discuss the matter The pricing environment is artificial as all
three operators are haemorrhaging cash, and therefore at some point, pricing
needs to return to a more normalised level, he said. Pricing is lowest in the
world for data. Average consumer is consuming 12 GB at price points you don’t
see anywhere else. Ultimately pricing will go up, that does not mean it jumps,
it will moderate. Now heavy discounting is going on, Read said. He reiterated
that it was too early to auction 5G airwaves in India, amid continuing
financial stress in the industry.
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
IT
COMPANIES USING RETENTION BONUSES TO KEEP STAFF WITH NEW DIGITAL SKILLS
Tech companies Wipro, Tech Mahindra and
Cognizant are doling out retention bonuses to hold on to their limited pool of
talent with expertise in robotics, machine learning, cognitive tools,
artificial intelligence, block chain, augmented reality and other automation
technologies. Emerging tech talent is currently at a premium due to short
supply. We have given retention bonuses this year to this talent pool and would
continue to do so till the pool is abundant, Saurabh Govil, chief human
resources officer at Wipro, told. At the junior level, companies are ready to
give raises of as much as 70% to keep recruiters away At the top, the salaries
for such talent ranges from Rs 2 crore to Rs 4 crore per annum without
variables, according to Arun Das Mahapatra. 2018-19 has been a good year in
terms of CXO searches. Growth has been led by automation and digitisation, said
Mahapatra. At the mid level, the salaries range anywhere around `30 lakh to `50
lakh per annum. Hikes are more prominent at the junior and mid levels, said
Ashish Sanganaria, a partner at Transearch. The retention bonus is equivalent
to 1 to 3 months of annual salary, depending on experience, according to
Sanganaria. Cognizant used retention bonuses to hold on to employees with new
digital skills in 2018. We paid it to approximately 40,000 employees up to the
manager level, said Satish Jeyaraman, vice president of human resources at
Cognizant. This has helped the company make packages more competitive for
employees with niche skills while encouraging them to proactively get trained
and certified in emerging technologies, said Jeyaraman. At Cognizant, employees
working on critical projects or know/contribute in a foreign language also
receive a business allowance. One tier-1 IT services company, a client of
recruitment firm ABC Consultants, offered a 50% hike to a candidate for a
senior director role in the banking and financial vertical that required
expertise in automation and block chain. This candidate was leading a financial
account in his current company and the company didn’t want to lose him.
Senior-most stakeholders were directly involved to retain him after promising a
larger role with higher responsibilities and a salary raise, said Ratna Gupta,
a director at ABC.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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