GENERAL UPDATES 02.03.2019

RS 2.87 LAKH CRORES HAVE BEEN RECOVERED BY THE PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS (PSBS): DFS SECRETARY

Arun Jaitley said the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are the lifeline of Indian economy. He said that if their health is not good, then economy at large will also suffer Talking about the reforms of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), he said that culmination of reforms was long overdue in the banking system. Shri Jaitley said that some reforms are born-out of compulsion while there are many others which are born-out of conviction. He admitted that for the Government, it was a combination of both. The growth of our economy depends on PSBs ability to flow credit to the market and maintain sufficient liquidity. If that doesn't happen, the economy as a whole will shrink. To keep economy in good health, PSBs are simply necessary. The Finance Minister said that the worst in banking system is now behind us. Our fast growing economy needs to develop into a developed society and to do that, it is imperative that we must also be an ethical society. Shri Jaitley said with conviction that in evolution of India into a more ethical society, the last five years will go down in history as a turning point. Jaitley said that everybody concedes that IBC is a success story It has brought back close to Rs. 3 lakh crore back into the banking system All institutions have played a role in the success of the IBC. He attributed the IBC success to the Government keeping an arm's length distance from the processes which various institutions and Committee of Creditors and others follow and allow their decision to be guided by merit and highest quality of professionalism. If there is one such interference, it is capable of discrediting the whole process and bringing a bad name to a wonderful reform, the Minister added. On the issue of Non-Performing Assets (NPA), Shri Jaitley said that for the last two or three quarters, the NPA curve is going down The NPA didn't go-up because banks made some strong decisions in the recent past. The NPA went-up because of truthful disclosure. There was no hiding under the carpet any more. Shri Jaitley expressed happiness over the fact that several banks were recently-out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) norms. Shri Jaitley said he is sure other PSBs will also try and improve their measures too. Shri Jaitley reiterated the Government's commitment to support PSBs in order to have emergence of a much healthier banking system in years to come. Praising the right environment for growth available with the PSBs, Shri Jaitley said that with the functional autonomy available with PSBs, the future years will see a far greater contribution by PSBs as far as the national economy is concerned. The PSB banks are now functioning under a competitive environment. From a commercial point of view, you are still bound by certain restrictions. Your public and social responsibility is much higher than what the private sector competitors have with them. And that is a responsibility naturally invested in you. PSBS don't enjoy the same level of freedom that private sectors banks enjoy. Despite these obvious restraints, these EASE norms will prove to be an important milestone as far as PSBs are concerned. Rajeev Kumar, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance said that the entire banking system has been rebooted in the last few years. A system had to be developed to measure each bank on the Reform Agenda. The parameters of Customer Responsiveness, Responsible Banking, Credit Off-take, Support to MSMEs, Deepening Financial Inclusion & Digitalisation and HR reforms were introduced in the Banking System. These 6 Reform Agendas were further divided into 140 parameters on the basis of which deep assessment has taken place. Shri Kumar said that by the way of presenting the EASE Reforms Index, the Reform Agenda is institutionalised and it will function as the Report Card for PSBs. Kumar said that Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) has already reduced to Rs 31,000 crores. This means that it has peaked. Simultaneously, close to Rs 2.87 lakh crores have been recovered by the PSBs of which Rs 98,493 crores have been recovered in First Three Quarters of FY 2018-19. IBC has changed the creditor-debtor relationship and banks position has changed from one at the receiving end to being at the delivery end. Shri Mehta said that now financial absconders want to pay after defaults rather than facing civil liabilities.

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REPORT CARD PROMISED ON PUBLIC SECTOR BANK REFORMS AGENDA RELEASED

Arun Jaitley released the first report on EASE Reforms Index that independently measures progress on the Public Sector Banks (PSB) Reforms Agenda announced last January on 140 objective, benchmarked metrics. The publishing of the independent report commissioned through Indian Banks’ Association and authored by BCG with Forrester Inc., Kantar IMRB and TransUnion CIBIL as knowledge partners, confirmed the effectiveness of Government’s 4R’s strategy in securing banking turnaround, with large 26% Index gain in Responsible Banking underpinning clean banking, and measurable progress in all six Enhance Access & Service Excellence (EASE) reform themes over the three quarters ending December 2018. Individual bank scorecards including customer feedback survey make transparent bank efforts and commit each bank to fully institutionalising reforms on a sustained basis to avoid recurrence of stress in banks in future. Subsequent to the announcement of EASE Reforms Agenda, BCG was onboarded through IBA to design methodology for objectively measuring performance of each PSB on the Reforms Agenda. A steering committee comprising select WTDs of PSBs, under the aegis of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), has monitored the design and implementation of EASE Reforms Index. The Index measures performance of each PSB on 140 objective metrics across 6 themes and provides all PSBs a comparative evaluation showing where banks stand vis-à-vis benchmarks and peers on the Reforms Agenda. The Index follows a fully transparent scoring methodology, which enables banks to identify precisely their strengths as well as areas for improvement. Through periodic updates and by providing bank-specific scorecards and inter-bank comparisons, all PSBs are enabled to keep track of their progress on key reform priorities across time. The goal is to continue driving change by spurring healthy competition among PSBs and also by encouraging them to learn from each other. The report validates government’s 4R’s strategy and its role in fundamentally rebooting Public Sector Banks. The index and report unveiled today provides insights into how public sector banks are effectively addressing NPA problem. The report shows visible progress made on each of 4 elements of Government’s 4R’s strategy including recognition, recovery, recapitalisation and reforms. EASE report shows significant improvement in PSB performance on the back of Government’s 4R’s strategy –

Stress recognition almost complete

Standard restructured advances as a percentage of gross advances reduced from 7% in Mar-15 to 0.5% in Dec-18

GNPA trend reversed

GNPA reduced by Rs 31,168 crore, GNPA ratio have started declining after peaking in Mar-18 and has declined for three successive quarters post Mar-18.

Record recovery

IBC has led to record recovery- Rs 98,493 crore recovered by PSBs in first nine months of FY19, YOY growth of 103%.

PSB balance-sheet strengthened

PSB balance sheets strengthened through infusion of Rs 3.19 lakh crore including infusion by Government and market raising. This has helped five banks to come out of PCA restrictions and improve PCR from 46% in FY15 to 69% in Dec-18 leading to reduced risk.

Stress indicators improving

Fresh slippages reduced by Rs 58,000 crore in first nine months of FY19 compared to same period previous FY, Stock of overdue account reduced by 47%, credit risk weighted assets to gross advances reduced by 11%.

Reforms

Multiple reforms implemented covering wider financial system and PSBs.

CLEAN Banking

EASE index tracks multiple steps are taken by PSBs to institutionalise CLEAN banking and avoid recurrence of NPA problem in future. This includes limiting consortiums to smaller efficient groups, special agencies for monitoring large loans, rationalisation of unviable overseas operations, strong risk appetite framework, focus on strong credit appraisals.

Smart Banking

PSB Reforms EASE Agenda lays strong emphasis on speedy and responsive customer service with an objective to drive SMART Banking. EASE Index shows that PSBs are significantly driving SMART Banking and initial results of the reforms are visible.

SMART Banking leading to usage of triangulated data and risk minimisation

Diligence across data sources, process digitilisation and analytics enabling robust underwriting, Fraud risk mitigation, Credit process compliance, and importantly customer ease.

PCA banks show 30% improvement in responsible banking theme of EASE Index

Underlying causes of weakness in PCA banks getting substantially addressed

6 banks without Stressed Asset Verticals fully operationalised SAMV

Recovery of Rs 35,405 crore in three qrtrs (72% YoY growth)

Corporate exposure reduced from 49% in Mar-18 to 40% in Dec-18 as per focus segment strategy

EASE Index: Sustainable Reform ingrained in PSBs

The Index provides all PSBs a comparative evaluation showing where banks stand vis-à-vis benchmarks and peers on the Reforms Agenda. The Index follows a fully transparent scoring methodology, which enables banks to identify precisely their strengths as well as areas for improvement. Through periodic updates and by providing bank-specific scorecards and inter-bank comparisons, all PSBs are enabled to keep track of their progress on key reform priorities across time. The goal is to continue driving change by spurring healthy competition among PSBs and also by encouraging them to learn from each other.

The number of initiatives under progress in each PSB concern different departments and are at different levels of progress. EASE Reforms Index provides a robust framework to track the progress of reforms not only across the PSBs but also within the PSBs. The methodology of EASE Reforms Index is shared transparently with PSBs. They can leverage the same and can create customised index for tracking reforms based on bank’s priorities, set up centralised teams to comprehensively drive EASE Reforms Agenda and link performance metrics of concerned employees to achievement on metrics covered in EASE Reforms Index. With this, the EASE Reforms will get ingrained further and will catalyse PSB performance on multiple dimensions.

Performance of PSB on EASE Index

PSBs have shown strong trajectory in their performance over 3 quarters post the launch of EASE Reforms Agenda. Overall score of PSBs increased by 15% between Mar-18 and Dec-18 with average score of PSBs improving from 56.3 to 64.5. Significant progress is seen across themes, with highest growth being in Responsible banking.

Some of the key areas with strong progress across themes are:

Responsible Banking

PSBs strengthened large credit appraisal, monitoring, recovery processes and improved their risk management and capital management practices.

Developing personnel for brand PSB

PSBs initiated roll out of Job-families, deployed online learning platforms, increased measurability in appraisals, etc.

Deepening FI and digitalization

PSBs ensured Bank Mitras remain active, widened their bouquet of services, focused on improving adoption digital transactions, improved Aadhaar / mobile seeding

Credit off-take and PSB as UdyamiMitra for MSMEs

PBSs reduced loan processing time in retail, focused on revival of stressed MSMEs, drove adoption of TReDS, and deployed dedicated marketing teams & relationship managers, etc.

Customer responsiveness

PSBs focused on improving customer satisfaction, identifying and reducing complaints in top-5 complaint categories, reducing complaint resolution time.

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ARUN JAITLEY TO MAKE A STATEMENT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PM - KISAN YOJANA

The Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) is celebrating March 1 every year as the Civil Accounts Day. Since its inception, the ICAS has steadily grown in stature and now plays an important role in the management of public finances of the Union Government. Apart from this, the role of PFMS in processing IGST refunds under the GST regime through its integration with the ARPIT application of the office of Pr. CCA, CBIC will also be show cased. Anthony Lianzuala, Controller General of Accounts (CGA) will launch two functionalities of PFMS aimed at strengthening, monitoring and user interface. These are:

1. The Mobile App for monitoring Banks performance

2. PFMS –Dashboard

The leveraging of Information Technology (IT) for strengthening efficiency in conduct of Risk Based Internal Audit will also be show cased through the GRIP (Gramin Internal Audit Portal of the Ministry of Rural Development) application. Arun Jaitley will be briefed by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on the following

1 - Implementation of PM -KISAN Yojana through PFMS

2 - Processing of GST refunds through the ARPIT application integrated with PFMS

Jaitley will subsequently make a Statement on the implementation of PM -KISAN Yojana and will release the Compendium on GST refunds compiled by the Office of Pr. CCA (CBIC). PFMS will now also be implementing the Government ambitious PM –KISAN Yojana which would involve an estimated additional 12 -13 crore beneficiaries This involves a massive exercise of coordination with multiple stakeholders including the Ministry of Agriculture and the Banks for achieving the objective. It is indeed a proud moment for the Indian Civil Accounts Organization that the First Tranche of Rs. 2000 was successfully credited to the Banks Accounts of the first lot of 1.01 crore beneficiaries on 24th February 2019 with the formal launch of the scheme by the Prime Minister. The ICAS has been committed to the leveraging of IT for enhancing the efficiency of the payment, accounting, internal auditing and financial reporting systems of the Government of India. The Government has positioned the PFMS as a key decision support system not only for tracking of flow of funds to the last beneficiary or implementation level but also to ensure just –in –time release of funds through an effective management of fund float. The journey of PFMS (2009 -18)

· Total number of transactions –PFMS has successfully handled 186 crore payment transactions during this entire period. Out of this, 60 crore (approximately 30%) were effected during the calendar year 2018 alone.

· E –payments – PFMS has successfully effected total e –payments of R 46.66 lakh crore during this entire period out of which R 23.05 lakh crore (approximately 50%) were successfully processed during the calendar year 2018 alone.

· Bank Integration – PFMS today is integrated with a total of 249 banks under all categories. 67 of these banks were integrated during the calendar Year 2018 alone.

DBT transactions –

· PFMS has successfully processed in excess of 179 crore DBT transactions involving total DBT payments of R 3.94 lakh crore during this entire period. Almost 40% -45% of these transactions were successfully effected in the calendar year 2018 alone. Currently the total number of DBT beneficiaries being serviced by PFMS is in excess of 18 crores.

· Agencies registered for DBT –As on date 25.36 lakh agencies are registered with PFMS for DBT payments.

With the Dashboard, the Department of Expenditure and the Senior Officers of all Civil Ministries can monitor expenditure on a near real-time basis with the expenditure data made available from PFMS (Public Financial management System) up to the previous day. The Dashboard also has a unique feature of monitoring Bank Balance of all the Agencies involved in the implementation of schemes of Government of India. This is envisaged to reduce idle/parked/unutilised funds with the Agencies and to facilitate just-in-time releases, thereby reducing the cost to the Government of India.

The following applications shall also be show cased during the event:

· ARPIT Application of Office of Principal Chief Controller General of Accounts (CBIC) & its integration with PFMS- ARPIT (Accounting and Reconciliation Portal of Indirect Taxes) is the accounting and reconciliation Portal for Central Government in respect of Goods & Services Tax which was introduced in the country w.e.f. 1.7.2017. The Portal has been designed and developed by the Office of the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, CBIC under Department of Revenue. Till date ARPIT has successfully processed more than 18 crore transactions amounting to Rs. 8.5 lakh crore with 99.99% accuracy in respect of CGST, IGST, Compensation Cess and UTGST-others. This is a multi-user Portal and provides Dashboard facility and various MIS, Accounting and other Reports. ARPIT owing to its design and system capabilities can also be adopted by all the 29 states and 7 UTs for accounting of State GST/UTGST.

· GRameen Internal Audit Portal (GRIP)- GRameen Internal Audit Portal is an end to end software solution for document management of Risk Based Internal Audit and process related to analysis of the findings. This portal has been developed and piloted in Ministry of Rural Development where Risk Based Internal Audit of MGNREGA and PMAY schemes are done through this portal. Under MGNREGA, more than Rs.60,000 crore and more than 19,000 crore under PMAY has been allocated during current financial year. Office of CGA is responsible for conducting Internal Audit of the expenses incurred out of the funds released by Government of India. Hence efforts are made to make Internal Audit automated as well as comprehensive. This attempt of automation of Internal Audit through GRIP in Ministry of Rural Development has resulted in Audit analysis of MGNREGA and PMAY expenditure and also pointed out deficiencies in the implementation so that timely action is taken by the Government.

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CABINET APPROVES PROMULGATION OF AN ORDINANCE FOR AMENDMENT TO THE SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES ACT, 2005

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved promulgation of an Ordinance to amend the definition of person, as defined in sub-section (v) of section 2 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 (28 of2005) to include a trust, to enable the setting up of a unit in a Special Economic Zone by a trust, as also to provide flexibility to the Central Government to include in this definition of a person, any entity that the Central Government may notify from time to time.

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CABINET APPROVES PROMULGATION OF AADHAAR AND OTHER LAWS (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE, 2019

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the promulgation of an Ordinance to make amendments to the Aadhaar Act 2016 Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005 & Indian Telegraph Act 1885. The amendments proposed are the same as those contained in the Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on 4th January 2019. The amendments would enable UIDAI to have a more robust mechanism to serve the public interest and restrain the misuse of Aadhaar. Subsequent to this amendment, no individual shall be compelled to provide proof of possession of Aadhaar number of undergo authentication for the purpose of establishing his identity unless it is so provided by a law made by Parliament.

Salient Features

The salient features of the amendments are as follows—

·       Provides for voluntary use of Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by authentication or offline verification with the consent of Aadhaar number holder;

·       Provides for use of twelve-digit Aadhaar number and its alternative virtual identity to conceal the actual Aadhaar number of an individual;

·       Gives an option to children who are Aadhaar number holders to cancel their Aadhaar number on attaining the age of eighteen years;

·       Permits the entities to perform authentication only when they are compliant with the standards of privacy and security specified by the Authority; and the authentication is permitted under any law made by Parliament or is prescribed to be in the interest of State by the Central Government;

·       Allows the use of Aadhaar number for authentication on voluntary basis as acceptable KYC document under the Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002.

·       Proposes deletion of section 57 of the Aadhaar Act relating to use of Aadhaar by private entities;

·       Prevents denial of services for refusing to, or being unable to, undergo authentication;

·       Provides for establishment of Unique Identification Authority of India Fund;

·       Provides for civil penalties, its adjudication, appeal thereof in regard to violations of Aadhaar Act and provisions by entities in the Aadhaar ecosystem.

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CABINET APPROVES RS. 1450 CRORE FOR THE SHARE CAPITAL OF RBI IN NATIONAL HOUSING BANK, NHB

The Cabinet approved payment of the face value of the subscribed share capital of Rs. 1450 crore in National Housing Bank (NHB) to Reserve Bank of India (RBl) consequent to amendments made to the NHB Act, 1987 in 2018. NHB is an apex agency established to operate as the principal agency to promote housing finance institutions in India. The wholesale financing role of NHB will get strengthened with the transfer of ownership to Government, thereby making possible augmented funding support to housing finance companies. The change in ownership from RBI to Gol will also segregate RBI's role as banking regulator and as owner of NHB. The expenditure of Rs.1,450 crore is to be met out of Gross Budgetary Support 2018-19. The beneficiaries are the Reserve Bank of India and the Housing Sector.

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CABINET APPROVES RELAXATION IN AADGAR RELATED CONDITIONS FOR SECOND INSTALLMENT UNDER PM - KISAN SCHEME

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved a new Central Sector Scheme namely, the Pradhan Mantri KIsanSAmmanNidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme, seeking to provide income support to all Small and Marginal landholder farmers' families with cultivable land holding upto 2 hectare across the country, by way of payment of Rs.6000/- per year, subject to certain exclusions, has been launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on the 24th February, 2019. The amount is being released in three 4-monthly installments of Rs.2000 /- each over the year, to be credited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries held in destination banks through Direct Benefit Transfer mode. A total amount of more than Rs.2000 crores has already been released to more than one crore farmers' families across the country in the first lot of 1st installment. Further releases for the 1st installment to the remaining beneficiaries are being made. The 2nd instalment under the scheme would be admissible after the 1st of April, 2019. In this connection, it is stated that the Union Cabinet, while approving the scheme on 1.2.2019, made Aadhaar seeding of the beneficiaries' data compulsory for release of 2nd installment onwards. However, it would be difficult to get 100% Aadhaar seeding for release of funds for 2nd installment, as efficient seeding of beneficiaries' details with Aadhaar requires bio-metric authentication. Demographic seeding will result in large scale rejection as the spellings of names have to be exactly the same. Non-seeding of beneficiaries' details with Aadhaar number will delay the release of 2nd installment as it is due on 1st April, 2019 and will cause discontent among the farmers. Therefore, this condition has been relaxed The condition will remain applicable for release of 3rd installment onwards. However, Aadhaar number shall be compulsory for release of 2nd installment. The Government will take adequate measures to validate the data before payment is made.

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CABINET APPROVES THE CONSTITUTION (APPLICATION TO JAMMU & KASHMIR) AMENDMENT ORDER, 2019

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Jammu &Kashmir Government regarding amendment to the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) 0rder, 1954 by way of the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019. It will serve the purpose of application of relevant provisions of the Constitution of India, as amended through the Constitution (Seventy Seventh Amendment) Act, 1995 and Constitution (One Hundred arid third Amendment) Act, 2019 for Jammu and Kashmir, by issuing the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2019 by the President under clause (1) of Article370. 10% reservation for economically weaker sections made applicable in J&K also This would pave the way for reserving State Government jobs to the youth of J&K who are from economically weaker sections belonging to any religion or caste. It may be recalled that 10% reservation to economically weaker sections was introduced in rest of the country through the 103rd Constitution Amendment in January 2019. This will be in addition to such reservation available in Govt. of India jobs also. Benefit of promotion to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which include Gujjars and Bakarwals amongst others, has also been made applicable to the State of J&K. After a long wait of 24 years, the 77thConstitution Amendment of 1995 has now been applied to the State of J&K. People living near the International Border have been brought at par with those living near the Line of Control for reservation in State Government jobs by amending the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 through an Ordinance. Earlier, the provision of 3% reservation was available only for youth living within 6 kms. Of LoC in J&K. Now, this provision will be applicable for people living near the international border also. This has been a long-pending demand of the population living near the international border, as they have been facing the brunt of cross border firing in J&K.

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CABINET APPROVES THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR RESERVATION (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE, 2019

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Jammu & Kashmir Government to issue The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019' by the President of India. It provides for amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 to bringing persons residing in the areas adjoining International Border within the ambit of reservation at par with persons living in areas adjoining Actual Line of Control (ALoC)

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CABINET APPROVES INCLUSION OF COMMON SERVICES CENTRES UNDER MEITY AS ENROLMENT AGENCY FOR PM-SYM

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved inclusion of Common Service Centres (CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd.) under MeitY as an enrolment agency, and permitting bulk deposits by other Ministries / Departments / Welfare Boards / other agencies of Central and State Governments in lieu subscriber’s share. The approval will enable workers in the Unorganized Sector, to get social security in the form of monthly pension of Rs. 3,000/- on attaining the age of 60 years.

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CABINET APPROVES NATIONAL POLICY ON SOFTWARE PRODUCTS – 2019

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the National Policy on Software Products - 2019 to develop India as a Software Product Nation. The Software product ecosystem is characterized by innovations, Intellectual Property (IP) creation and large value addition increase in productivity, which has the potential to significantly boost revenues and exports in the sector, create substantive employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging technologies and leverage opportunities available under the Digital India Programme, thus, leading to a boost in inclusive and sustainable growth. Initially, an outlay of Rs.1500 Crore is involved to implement the programmes/ schemes envisaged under this policy over the period of 7 years. Rs 1500 Crore is divided into Software Product Development Fund (SPDF) and Research & Innovation fund.

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CABINET APPROVES THE NEW DELHI INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION CENTRE ORDINANCE, 2019

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved promulgation of an Ordinance for establishing the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) for the purpose of creating an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised arbitration The benefits of institutionalized arbitration will accrue to Government and its agency and to the parties to a dispute. This shall be to the advantage of the public and the public institutions in terms of quality of expertise and costs incurred and will facilitate India becoming a hub for Institutional Arbitration. The NDAIC shall be established with an aim to:-

(a) to bring targeted reforms to develop itself as a flagship institution for conducting international and domestic arbitration

(b) provide facilities and administrative assistance for conciliation mediation and arbitral proceedings;

(c) maintain panels of accredited arbitrators, conciliators and mediators both at national and international level or specialists such as surveyors and investigators;

(d) facilitate conducting of international and domestic arbitrations and conciliation in the most professional manner;

(e) provide cost effective and timely services for the conduct of arbitrations and conciliations at Domestic and International level;

(f) promote studies in the field of alternative dispute resolution and related matters, and to promote reforms in the system of settlement of disputes; and

(g) co-operate with other societies, institutions and organisations, national or international for promoting alternative dispute resolution.

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CABINET APPROVES PRADHAN MANTRI JL-VAN YOJANA

Financial support to Integrated Bioethanol Projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feed stock. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana for providing financial support to Integrated Bioethanol Projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock. The JI-VAN Yojana will be supported with total financial outlay of Rs.1969.50 crore for the period from 2018-19 to 2023-24. Out of scheme fund of Rs.1969.50 crore, Rs.1800 crore has been allocated for supporting 12 Commercial projects, Rs.150 crore has been allocated for supporting 10 demonstration Projects and remaining Rs.9.50 crore will be provided to Centre for High Technology (CHT) as administrative charges. Under this Yojana, 12 Commercial Scale and 10 demonstration scale Second Generation (2G) ethanol Projects will be provided a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support in two phases:

a) Phase-I (2018-19 to 2022-23): wherein six commercial projects and five demonstration projects will be supported.

b) Phase-II (2020-21 to 2023-24): wherein remaining six commercial projects and five demonstration projects will be supported.

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CABINET APPROVES LAYING DOWN PROCEDURE AND MECHANISM FOR ASSET MONETIZATION OF CPSES/PSUS/OTHER GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS AND IMMOVABLE ENEMY PROPERTIES

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved laying down of institutional framework for monetization of identified non-core assets of the CPSEs under Strategic Disinvestment and assets relating to immovable enemy property under the custody of Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), MHA as per Section IV of Section 8-A of the Enemy Property Act, 1968. The institutional framework for monetization of the assets is also available for use to monetize other CPSEs, PSUs, other Government organizations and loss making/sick CPSEs. The multi-layer institutional mechanism envisages constituting of Alternative Mechanism, Core Group of Secretaries on Asset Monetization and Inter-Ministerial Group as main decision bodies. The exact model for monetization of any particular asset and model contact documents shall be approved by the competent authority based on the recommendations of the technical consultants, respective Administrative Ministry, CPSEs, NITI Ayog etc. The independent External Monitor set up for Strategic Disinvestment shall oversee the process of asset monetization as well. The approved framework shall be reviewed after a period of two years for instituting any change including delegations on financial limits, if required.

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CABINET APPROVES IMPLEMENTATION OF MASTER PLAN OF AIIMS, NEW DELHI

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ‘in principle’ approval to the Implementation of Master Plan to convert All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi into a world class Medical University.

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CABINET APPROVES SETTING UP OF NEW AIIMS AT MANETHI, HARYANA

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the following proposals

·       Establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Manethi, District Rewari, Haryana at a cost of Rs. 1299 crore; and

·       Creation of one post of Director in the basic pay of Rs. 2,25,000/- (fixed) plus NPA (however, pay + NPA would not exceed Rs. 2,37,500/-) for for the above AIIMS.

Salient features

·       New AIIMS will add 100 UG (MBBS) seats and 60 B.Sc (Nursing) seats.

·       New AIIMS will have 15-20 Super Specialty Departments.

·       New AIIMS will add around 750 hospital beds.

·       As per data of current functional AIIMS, it is expected that each new AIIMS would cater to around 1500 OPD patients per day and around 1000 IPD patients per month.

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CABINET APPROVES SCHEME FOR FAME INDIA PHASE II

The Union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for implementation of scheme titled 'Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II)' for promotion of Electric Mobility in the country. The scheme with total outlay of Rs 10000 Crores over the period of three years will be implemented with effect from 1st April 2019. This scheme is the expanded version of the present scheme titled 'FAME India1 which was launched on 1st April 2015, with total outlay of Rs. 895 crores. Total fund requirement for this scheme is Rs. 10,000 crores over three years from 2019-20 to 2021-22.

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CABINET APPROVES HOMEOPATHY CENTRAL COUNCIL (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE, 2019

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the draft Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 which seeks to extend the period for reconstitution of the Central Council from existing period of one year to two years so that the tenure of the Board of Governors may be extended for a further period of one year with affect from 17th May, 2019 for exercising the powers and performing the functions of the Central Council of Homoeopathy.

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BOOST TO URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT CONNECTIVITY IN AGRA

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Agra Metro Rail Project having two corridors. These corridors will connect major public nodes, tourist places and city cluster areas of Agra. Implementation of Metro Rail System will result in less vehicular traffic and better movement on the roads leading to reduction in congestion, travel time, cost of journey and pollution. The Metro Rail System will also promote transit oriented development which will lead to development of more residential and commercial complexes along the corridors.

Salient Features

·       Agra Metro Rail Project will have 2 corridors which will pass through heart of the city and will connect prominent tourist places including Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Sikandra as well as ISBT, Raja Ki Mandi Railway Station, Medical College, Agra Cant Railway Station, Collectorate, Sanjay Place and surrounding densely populated residential areas.

Highlights of these corridors include

1. The length of Sikandra to Taj East Gate corridor 14.00 km, which is partly elevated and partly underground comprises of 13 Stations (6-Elevated and 7-Underground).

2. The length of Agra Cantt to KalindiVihar corridor is 15.40 km comprising of 14 stations all elevated.

3. Estimated cost of the project is Rs. 8,379.62Cr. and project will be completed in 5 years

About 20 Lakh population of the city is expected to be benefited by Agra Metro Rail Project directly and indirectly ai the time of commencement of commercial operations. The proposed corridors will be having Multimodal Integration with Railway Stations &BRTS Stations and will have feeder network of Bus, Intennediate Public Transport (IPT) and Non Motorized Transport (NMT). The Project will have non-fare box revenue from rental & advertisement as well as Value Capture Financing (VCF) through mechanism of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).

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BOOST TO URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT CONNECTIVITY IN KANPUR

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Kanpur Metro Rail Project having two corridors, which will connect major public nodes and city cluster areas of Kanpur. Implementation of Metro Rail System will result in less vehicular traffic and better movement on the roads leading to reduction in congestion, travel time, cost of journey and pollution. The Metro Rail System will also promote transit oriented development which will lead to development of more residential and commercial complexes along the corridors.

Highlights of Kanpur Metro Rail Project include-

1. The length of ITT to Naubasta corridor is 23.785 km, which is partly elevated and partly underground and comprises of 22 Stations (14-Elevated and 8-Underground).

2. The length of Agriculture University to Barra-8 corridor is 8.60 km comprising of 4 Elevated & 4 Underground stations.

3. Estimated cost of the project is Rs. 11,076.48 Cr. and project will be completed in 5 years.

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CABINET APPROVES SETTING UP OF A RAILWAY ZONE AT VISHAKHAPATNAM

 The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved setting up of a Railway Zone at Vishakhapatnam and a new division with headquarter at Rayagada by reorganizing the existing South Central Railway and East Coast Railway.

·       Setting up of the new Railway Zone will bring optimality with regard to size and scale of railway operations and also to meet the persistent demand and aspirations of the people of the area.

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NATIONAL MINERAL POLICY, 2019 APPROVED BY CABINET

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved National Mineral Policy 2019

·       The New National Mineral Policy will ensure more effective regulation. It will lead to sustainable mining sector development in future while addressing the issues of project affected persons especially those residing in tribal areas

Objective

·       The aim of National Mineral Policy 2019 is to have a more effective, meaningful and implementable policy that brings in further transparency, better regulation and enforcement, balanced social and economic growth as well as sustainable mining practices.

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CABINET APPROVES CREATION OF TWO POSTS OF COMMISSIONER FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for Creation of two (2) posts of Commissioners in the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD), in terms of provisions of The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016. Out of the two posts of Commissioners, one Commissioner will be a person with disability. The above two Commissioners will assist the CCPD in discharging his statutory functions as per provisions of the said Act. This would enable the Office of CCPD to look into the complaints of persons with disabilities expeditiously, besides strengthening the monitoring mechanism overseeing the implementation of the RPwD Act, 2016.

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CABINET APPROVES SETTING UP CENTRE FOR DISABILITY SPORTS AT GWALIOR IN MADHYA PRADESH

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for setting up of a Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, to be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It will function under the name of Centre for Disability Sports, Gwalior. Setting up of the Centre shall entail an estimated cost of Rs 170.99 crore, spread over a period of 5 years.

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CABINET APPROVES CONSTRUCTION OF FOUR LANE BRIDGE

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister approved construction of four lane bridge including approaches over river Brahmaputra between Dhubri on North Bank and Phulbari on South Bank on NH-127 B in the State of Assam/Meghalaya. The total length of the bridge will be 19.282 km. The bridge will be built under the scheme of North-East Road Network Connectivity Project Phase-03’ under loan assistance with JICA at the civil construction cost of Rs.3548 crore and total capital cost of Rs.4997.04 crore including the cost of Rs.55.68 crore towards the cost of land acquisition, resettlement & rehabilitation and other pre construction activities. The completion of the project will take approximately six years’ period.

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CABINET APPROVES SOFT LOAN TO SUGAR MILLS TO FACILITATE PAYMENT OF CANE DUES OF THE FARMERS FOR THE CURRENT SUGAR SEASON

To help the sugar industry to clear its cane dues arrears, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister approved the proposal to provide soft loans to the extent of about Rs. 7900-10540 crore to the sugar industry. Government will bear the interest subvention cost @ 7 - 10% to the extent of Rs. 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year. To ensure that farmers are paid their dues expeditiously, the Government has mandated that banks will obtain from the sugar mill, the list of farmers with bank account details to the extent cane dues are to be paid, so that the same are directly paid into the accounts of the farmers on behalf of the sugar mills. Subsequent balance if any, will then be credited into the mill’s account. Furthermore, in order to incentivize the mills to clear their dues, CCEA has also decided that the approved soft loans will be provided to those units which have already cleared at least 25 percent of their outstanding dues in the sugar season 2018-19. Surplus sugar production over domestic consumption requirement during the last sugar season 2017-18 (October, 2017 to September, 2018) has adversely affected the liquidity position of the sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers which reached to an alarming level of Rs 23232 crores in May, 2018. To mitigate the situation and protect the livelihoods of cane farmers, the Government, in fact, has taken several steps in the sugar season 2017-18 viz. fixed minimum selling price of white sugar to Rs.29/kg w.e.f 7.06.2018, allocated mill wise Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ) of 20 LMT, extending assistance to sugar mills @Rs.5.50/quintal to offset the cost of cane, created buffer stock of 30 LMT, fixed Remunerative Price of ethanol derived from C-heavy and B-heavy molasses as well as from sugarcane juice, etc. As a result of these measures cane price arrears for sugar season 2017-18 which peaked to Rs 23232 crore at the end of May, 2018, has been reduced considerably to Rs 1291 crore, as on 28.02.2019.

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CABINET GIVES ‘IN PRINCIPLE’ APPROVAL FOR STRATEGIC DISINVESTMENT OF 100% GOI’S EQUITY SHARES

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has given 'in principle' approval for strategic disinvestment of 100% equity shares of Government of India in Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL) to Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) in a single stage process, by following ‘Arm’s length’ principles. Presently, the Government of India and Chennai Port Trust hold 67% and 33% of shares respectively in Kamarajar Port Limited. The methods of valuation, to be used shall include discounted cash flow, assets valuation and relative valuation as recommended by NITI Aayog. This would help to avoid duplication of capacity creation in the ports. Better human resource management in between the two ports will increase the efficiency of both Ports.

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CABINET APPROVES FOREIGN INVESTMENT OF MORE THAN RS.5000 CRORE AND UP TO RS.25,000 CRORE

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the FDI Proposal for Foreign Direct Investment of more than Rs. 5000 crore and up to Rs. 25000 crore in M/s Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) as part of a proposed equity fund raise by way of a Rights issue of equity shares and/or other equity linked securities to eligible shareholders of the company. It also approved to take on record the proposed changes in the indirect foreign investment in the subsidiaries of VIL, which will take place on account of non-residents subscribing to the equity shares in the Fund Raise.

·       M/s Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) is a public listed company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956.

·       The equity shares of the company are listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Limited and the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited.

·       The Company is engaged in the business of providing telecommunication services pursuant to various licenses granted to it by the DoT.

·       The company has existing FDI approval for up to 100% Foreign Equity participation.

·       Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) would be more than Rs.5000 crore and upto Rs. 25000 crore as part of a proposed equity fund raise by way of a rights issue of equity shares and/or other equity-linked securities (including but not limited to compulsorily convertible debentures).

·       The approval will also result in the change in the indirect foreign investment in the subsidiaries of VIL which will take place on account of non-residents subscribing to the equity shares in the Fund Raise.

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CABINET APPROVES REVISED COST FOR THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK ASSISTED NORTH EASTERN STATE ROADS INVESTMENT PROGRAMME

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the proposal from the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) for revised cost of project proposal titled ADB assisted North Eastern State Roads Investment Programme (NESRIP), a centrally sponsored scheme implemented over a period of 5 years at a Revised Cost of Rs. 2144.56 crore from the earlier approved cost of Rs. 1353.83 crore for construction/upgradation/ improvement of 433.7 Km long State roads in the North Eastern States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura along with extension of project period upto August 2022. ADB is providing loan assistance of US$ 200 Million in two tranches. The road survey was conducted by ADB in October 2005 which showed that approximately 70% roads were in poor condition. The ADB engaged SMEC International PTY Ltd. to prepare DPR which was submitted in 2008. The Scheme, NESRIP was approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 19th May, 2011 to be executed within 5 years. The MDoNER is the Executing Agency and is responsible for overall coordination with ADB and participating States and monitoring the progress of the project. A Central level steering committee and Internal Project Management Unit (IPMU) within MDONER, and a State level steering committee and Project Implementation Units (PIUs) has been established in each project State. The PIUs in each State has primary responsibility for day-to-day project implementation and coordination of both the road works programme and Institutional Development and Capacity Building (IDCB) initiatives. PIU include staff for project management functions in engineering, procurement, contract management, environmental planning and management, social analysis and management, re-settlement planning and implementation, road maintenance, road safety and accounting. PIU is assisted in the operation by construction supervision consultants.

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CABINET APPROVES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR TERTIARY CARE PROGRAMMES FOR NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AND E-HEALTH

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for continuation of implementation of the following Tertiary healthcare programmes for non-communicable diseases and E-Health upto 2020 with an outlay of Rs.2551.15 crore:

a) Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer facilities Scheme

b) National Program for Health Care of the Elderly

c) National Program for Prevention & Management of Trauma and Burn Injuries

d) National Program for Tobacco Control and Drug Addiction Treatment

e) National Mental Health Program

f) National Program for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment

g) Program for Strengthening of e-Health and Telemedicine Services

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CABINET APPROVES DEVELOPMENT OF NEW GREENFIELD AIRPORT AT HIRASAR, RAJKOT, GUJARAT

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for development of New Greenfield Airport at Hirasar, Rajkot, Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs.1405 crore. The existing airport at Rajkot is severely land constrained having only 236 acres (approx.) of land and situated in the heart of city. This Airport suffers from considerable capacity restraints due to presence of residential & commercial buildings around it. Railway line and State Highway located around the airport on eastern side also prohibits the extension of runway. Thus there is no feasibility to expand the airport on city or airside, hence possibility of operating wide bodied aircrafts at the existing airport location is ruled out. Rajkot is the fourth largest city in the state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara. The city is the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat and the 35thlargest urban agglomeration in India with a population more than 1.2 million as of 2015. It is also the 22nd fastest growing city in the world.

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CABINET APPROVES INVESTMENT PROPOSAL FOR TRANSMISSION COMPONENT OF ARUN-3 HYDRO ELECTRIC PROJECT (NEPAL PORTION) BY SUTLEJ JAL VIKAS NIGAM(SJVN) LIMITED

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved investment for Transmission Component of Arun-3 Hydro Electric Project(Nepal portion) for an estimated cost of Rs. 1236.13 crore at June 2017 Price level. The current approval is for Investment approval of 400 kV D/C Diding (In Nepal) - Bathnaha (International Border) via Dhalkebar (In Nepal) Transmission Line of approximately 217 KM falling within the territory of Nepal to evacuate power from Arun-3 HEP in Nepal. Employment generation of around 400 persons is envisaged in construction of transmission component of the project.

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CABINET APPROVES JOINING OF IEA BIOENERGY TCP BY MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS AS A MEMBER

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, was apprised about Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India joining IEA Bioenergy TCP as its 25th member on 25th January, 2019. The other members are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Commission. International Energy Agency's Technology Collaboration Programme on Bioenergy (IEA Bioenergy TCP) is an international platform for co-operation among countries with the aim of improving cooperation and information exchange between countries that have national programmes in bioenergy research, development and deployment. IEA Bioenergy TCP works under the framework of International Energy Agency (IEA) to which India has Association status since 30th March, 2017.

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CABINET APPRISED OF MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND TAJIKISTAN ON COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF RENEWABLE ENERGY

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Tajikistan on Cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy. The MoU was signed on 8th October, 2018.

·       The MoU will enable establishment of a basis for a cooperative institutional relationship between India and Tajikistan to encourage and promote bilateral technical cooperation in the field of new and renewable energy on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity. It will focus on development and deployment of new and renewable energy, and storage technologies. It will further cooperation between the two countries through exchange and training of scientific and technical personnel, exchange of scientific and technological information and data, organization of workshops, seminars and working groups, transfer of equipment, know-how and technology on non-commercial basis, development of joint research or technical projects on subjects of mutual interest; and other modalities as may be decided by the two countries.

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CABINET APPROVES TO THE MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND ARGENTINA ON COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF MEDICAL PRODUCTS REGULATION

The Union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to the MoU between India and Argentina on cooperation in the field of Medical Products Regulation. The approval would facilitate better understanding of the regulatory aspects between the two sides and help in increasing India’s export of medical products to Argentina and better coordination in the international fora.

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CABINET APPRISED OF MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND THE UK ON COOPERATION IN WEATHER AND CLIMATE SCIENCES

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and United Kingdom (UK)on on Cooperation in Weather and Climate Sciences. The MoU was signed on 28th January 2019, under which, an Implementation Agreement on Weather and climate science for service partnership will also be signed between India and the UK.

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CABINET APPROVES MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND USA TO ACCESS TIP LINE REPORTS ON MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Memorandum of Understanding between India and the USA to access tipline reports on Missing and Exploited Children. The MoU has been signed between the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), India and the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), USA.

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CABINET APPROVES MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND NORWAY FOR UNDERTAKING NON-INTRUSIVE GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS AND INVESTIGATIONS

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Norway for undertaking non-intrusive Geological Surveys and Investigations. The MoU was signed on 6th September 2018.

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JAPAN EMERGES AS NEW MARKET FOR INDIAN ART HOUSE CINEMA

Released as Ganges Ni Kaeru, the Adil Hussain-starrer that entered its fifteenth week of screening in Japan, is the second film in recent times to garner an audience in the country that is not a traditional market for Indian films. In January, Akshay Kumar’s Padman had made $56,3337 (over ₹4 crore) in six weeks in Japan. Now, Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy—the story of a young man from Indian slums breaking free through street rap—is likely to be released there. The ball, however, was set rolling by Sridevi’s English Vinglish that minted over a million dollar in the country in 2014. Mukti Bhawan and Padman have not only just run longer in Japan than most films manage to in India, but also reflects the changing market for Indian films in the country that so far only identified the industry with superstar Rajinikanth’s films: his Muthu (that was first released in 1998 and then last year), Baasha and now 2.0, were all hits in Japan. Japan is not a traditional or mainstream overseas market like the US, UK or the Middle East and though Rajinikanth is immensely popular there, it is more open to critically acclaimed Indian films right now, said Atul Mohan, editor of trade magazine Complete Cinema. In the last two years, Indian movies have seen greater success around the globe and the entire world is emerging as a market, especially for real-time stories that can resonate globally, said Utpal Acharya, founder, Indian Film Studios. A Hindi film can make $5,000-6,000 per week per screen abroad and in case of Tamil and Telugu films, the figure can go up to $8,000-9,000. In the last six months, Indian films have seen releases in countries as disparate as Poland, Russia and Turkey. While showcasing may be modest—Mukti Bhawan was only released in 30 screens initially—the films tend to have really long legs at the box office. Japan watches a really wide spectrum of film genres, from the larger-than-life, action dramas and thrillers to quiet art house cinema from the UK and France. Anything that is emotionally engaging has a chance of running in Japan, including small films, said Mukti Bhawan producer Sanjay Bhutiani. The latter, as is obvious, is a space Indian films have occupied recently, especially with Japan’s ageing population that took to Bhutiani’s film about a dying man who travels to Varanasi with his son to spend his last few days. Or Padman, about a taboo but sensitive subject like menstrual health.

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IN TN, 17% OF CLAIM PROCEEDS MUST BE PLOUGHED BACK INTO GOVT HOSPITALS

At Chengalpattu Medical College Hospital, in Kancheepuram district, a whole body cooling unit and mobile incubators are standouts in an otherwise understated neonatal ward. This is not only because they facilitate better neonatal care but also because the devices have been bought by the insurance claim proceeds under the State’s Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS). In the slightly more upscale Government Kilpauk Medical College, in Chennai, the NICU, or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, is on a par with those at private hospitals. The unit has been set up with the funds from the insurance claims under CMCHIS. Wrapped in red woollens, a six-day-old baby, with clinical sepsis and hyperbilirubinemia, is being treated at the unit under the PMJAY-CMCHIS scheme for a claims package worth ₹14,000. The payments by the insurance company (United India Insurance is the insurance partner) for this infant, and many more in the ward, will again need to be ploughed back into the hospital, as laid down in the model agreement of CMCHIS. Tamil Nadu’s CMCHIS has been dovetailed with the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana – PMJAY). With coverage having been increased to ₹5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat from CMCHIS’s ₹1 lakh per year (₹2 lakh for specified procedures), the additional funding can be used to further strengthen infrastructure. The premium burden is also shared between the Centre and the State (60:40), and the additional financial assistance from the Centre will make fund flow easier for other health needs in the State.

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LOSING RS 5 CR DAILY DUE TO STERLITE COPPER PLANT SHUTDOWN: VEDANTA TO HC

Vedanta Ltd told an Indian court it has been incurring losses of Rs 5 crore ($705,656) daily ever since the permanent closure of its copper smelter in May after violent protests against the plant led to the death of 13 people in police firing. The government of Tamil Nadu state ordered the smelter shut permanently on May 28 after bloody protests at the plant in the city of Thoothukudi culminated in police opening fire on demonstrators and shooting people in the head and the chest. Residents and environmental activists had demanded the shutdown of the copper smelter, India's second-biggest with an annual production of more than 400,000 tonnes, citing air and water pollution. The oil-to-metals conglomerate had denied the accusations of pollution. The petitioner's unit has been and is continuing to suffer a daily loss of about Rs 5 crore, Vedanta said to the Madras High Court in a petition reviewed by Reuters. That translates to a loss of about Rs 1,380 crore ($194.49 million) since the plant was sealed shut nine months ago.

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INNOVATION CAN LEAD INDIA TO FOREFRONT OF COMPETITION: CEA SUBRAMANIAN

K.V. Subramanian said that if this century has to belong to India then innovation has to be at the forefront. Therefore, competition policy in the context of innovation becomes really critical. Shri Subramanian also advocated for deterrence as a tool to make defaulting companies fall in line with set guidelines and follow pro-market behaviour. Deterrence is crucial for encouraging pro-market behaviour, he said citing an example of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The fear of defaulting companies to be brought under the IBC compelled many of them to voluntarily approach the banks and pay up he said. IBC has catalysed the recovery of around Rs 3 lakh crore from various default cases, directly or indirectly, since its inception in 2016. Explaining the link between competition and innovation, the CEA said that in a perfectly competitive industry firms will only be able to price their products to the marginal costs. If they are pricing to marginal costs then there isn't enough profit to be made. In a perfectly competitive market price has to be equal to the marginal costs. If the industry is expected to be perfectly competitive then no firm in that industry will have enough incentive to invest in innovation because the returns are not adequate. He also said that the other extreme of monopoly also doesn’t lead to innovation. Shri Subramanian said the sweet spot for more innovation is actually a moderate level of competition. If there is extreme competition, you don't get innovation. The CEA said that perfect competition doesn't lead to more innovation. The higher the competitive pressure, the greater seems to be the innovation. Pressing upon the need for competition policy to account for the specificities of the sector under consideration, Shri Subramanian said there are some sectors where perfect competition does not provide best outcomes. Competition policy, therefore, needs to be assessed sector by sector. The most important thing that the authorities need to be thinking about is the optimal industry structure for that particular sector. Shri Subramanian also pointed out that product market competition needs to be complemented by competition in factor markets, viz. market for finance and market for research. Deep financial markets are critical for funding of new ideas. When new firms challenge incumbents, they innovate to avoid being creatively destroyed. He pointed out that proportion of credit, though not the magnitude, flowing to smaller firms has shrunk over the last decade, which needs to be addressed through enabling regulatory framework. Effective competition in product markets and factor markets is important for fostering innovation in the Indian economy, he said, adding that this in turn will generate more jobs, encourage entrepreneurship and promote growth. Referring to policy making, Shri Subramanian said policies should be such that it promote moderate level of competition for promoting innovation. He added that there are no incentives for promoting innovation in perfectly competitive market and even when the competition is low. Ashok Kumar Gupta, emphasised that the necessity for an enforcing authority to frame its guiding policy in a clear and transparent manner. The discipline of economics can help in providing the much needed clarity and transparency. Further, he emphasised that competition is an economic law and most modern competition law regimes have economic goals, such as promoting economic efficiency and consumer welfare. He also stressed on the fact that economic analysis have to help in building legally robust cases in CCI’s decisions as these are subject to further judicial review. It makes it important that the economic analysis used in cases is comprehensible and that it fits well into the legal framework. Shri Gupta also informed the audience that the commission has initiated a market study in the e-commerce sector to understand the evolving competition landscape.

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NEED TO WORK ON ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR SMALLER FIRMS SAYS CEA

The proportion of credit that has flown to larger firms in Indian economy has increased from 69 per cent to 82 per cent between 2007 and 2018, a top Finance Ministry official said. On the other hand, the proportion of credit to medium sized firms has declined from 14 per cent to 4 per cent during this period. The fall in proportion — not magnitude - of flow of credit to small and medium sized firms is something that needs to be worked upon as entry happens through small and medium firms and this is important for innovation, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, said. Fostering innovation in economy has benefits in form of higher economic growth. If the country wants to encourage innovation and therefore facilitate more firms to enter, then one has to work on the factors of production—access to finance and market for researchers, he said. If access to finance is an important factor for innovation, we have not proceeded in a direction that we would want for fostering innovation during this decade or so, Krishnamurthy said.

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EPFO TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST FIRMS NOT FACTORING SPECIAL ALLOWANCE FOR EPF COMPUTATION

A day after the Supreme Court held that special allowance is part of basic wages for EPF dues computation, retirement fund body EPFO has decided to take a stringent action against those firms which will not take into account such component in PF contributions. The apex court in its judgement has ruled that special allowance is part of the basic wages for computing the employees provident fund (EPF). Following the judgement, the EPFO will take stringent action against firms which would not factor in special allowance for computation of EPF contributions. The body is studying the judgement and would soon come out with a detailed plan to implement the judgement, a source privy to the development said. The case of artificially lowering basic wages which become the basis for computation of EPF contributions, was pleaded by the EPFO in the apex court. Thus, it is imperative for the body to implement this in letter and spirit, the source said. An EPFO trustee Virjesh Upadhyay said, We welcome the apex court decision. This is a long pending issue. In fact the EPFO's apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees had constituted a committee to give a detailed report and suggestions to deal with splitting of wages by employers for reducing EPF liability. He further informed, The committee had given its recommendation to deal with the issue. But in the meantime, the matter went to court and recommendations given by the panel to include various allowance into basic wage could not be implemented.

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NOIDA: 6 BUILDERS DELAY FLAT HANDOVER, TO BE DEREGISTERED

The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-Rera) has for the first time decided to deregister six builders for failing to meet their commitments to buyers The Authority will take over the unfinished projects of these builders and give the first right of completion to the buyers, officials said on Friday. UP-Rera chairman Rajive Kumar told that notices would be sent to Primrose Infratech for Primrose Ryne project, PSA Impex for Sampada Livia, MSA Developer for Circuit Heights, Greenbay Infrastructure for Greenbay Golf Homes, Intellicity Business Park for Intellicity project and Mist Direct Sales for Festival City by March 5. If the buyers themselves are in a position to complete the projects by pulling their finances together, we will supervise that. If the buyers fail in that, we will hand over the projects to another agency and get the same completed, Kumar said. The UP-Rera chairman said they have also appealed to the Centre that even if disgruntled buyers approach the National Company Law tribunal, the suggestions of UP-Rera should be included if the project is registered with the real estate regulator. Since UP-Rera has been constituted to look into real estate issues specifically, ideally the opinion of UP-Rera should be factored in while hearing a case which is also with NCLT against a Rera registered builder. We should be included in a time-bound response process so that whatever assessment we conduct on a builder be included in the judgment before the appointment of an Interim Resolution Professional, he said. According to UP-Rera officials, the Authority has till date registered 11,759 cases. The total pending cases before the tribual are 7,076, of which 70% are from Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad areas. Total cases disposed by Greater Noida and Lucknow benches are 4,683. UP Rera officers claimed to have audited 1,04,014 flats. They said by May 2019, 23,388 flats would be due for delivery. In total, 52, 938 flats would be due by the end of 2019.

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YOGI LAUNCHES UP VERSION OF MODICARE WITH FREE MEDICAL AID TO 5.6 MN POOR

The Uttar Pradesh government launched a healthcare scheme on Friday, to provide free medical aid to poor families not covered under the flagship central government scheme of Ayushman Bharat, popularly dubbed as Modicare. The 'Mukhya Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan' will benefit nearly a million households or 5.6 million bottom of pyramid beneficiaries deprived of Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission Scheme (NHPMS). Last month, the Yogi Adityanath government had allocated Rs 111 crore for the scheme in Annual Budget 2019-20. Like Modicare, it also promises free medical cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per annum to beneficiaries. Modicare is estimated to cover 11.8 million poor households comprising 60 million people in the state against the pan India beneficiary count of almost 500 million. Together with Modicare, we would cover 65 million people in UP, Adityanath said. In the State Budget, the state government had also allocated Rs 1,298 crore for Ayushman Bharat while a provision of Rs 291 crore was made for Pradhan Mantri Matr Vandana Yojana, apart from Rs 47.50 crore for setting up of 100-bed hospitals across the state. He informed 53 districts of UP had benefited under the national mobile medical unit programme, while 750 wellness or Arogya centres had been launched, upping the total count to 2,150 in the state.

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TO FACILITATE CLEARING ARREARS OF SUGARCANE FARMERS FOR 2018-19, CABINET APPROVES SOFT LOANS WORTH 7900-10,540 CRORE TO SUGAR MILLS

In a major decision to improve liquidity position of sugar mills and to help the sugar industry clear its cane dues arrears to farmers, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal to provide soft loans to the extent of Rs. 7900-10540 crore to the sugar industry. Government will bear the interest subvention cost @ 7 - 10% to the extent of Rs. 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year. To ensure that farmers are paid their dues expeditiously, the Government has mandated that banks will obtain from the sugar mill, the list of farmers with bank account details to the extent cane dues are to be paid, so that the same are directly paid into the accounts of the farmers on behalf of the sugar mills. Subsequent balance if any, will then be credited into the mill’s account. Furthermore, in order to incentivize the mills to clear their dues CCEA has also decided that the approved soft loans will be provided to those units which have already cleared at least 25 percent of their outstanding dues in the sugar season 2018-19. Surplus sugar production over domestic consumption requirement during the last sugar season 2017-18 (October, 2017 to September, 2018) has adversely affected the liquidity position of the sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers which reached to an alarming level of Rs 23232 crores in May, 2018. To mitigate the situation and protect the livelihoods of cane farmers, the Government, in fact, has taken several steps in the sugar season 2017-18 viz. fixed minimum selling price of white sugar to Rs.29/kg w.e.f 7.06.2018, allocated mill wise Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ) of 20 LMT, extending assistance to sugar mills @Rs.5.50/quintal to offset the cost of cane, created buffer stock of 30 LMT, fixed Remunerative Price of ethanol derived from C-heavy and B-heavy molasses as well as from sugarcane juice, etc. As a result of these measures cane price arrears for sugar season 2017-18 which peaked to Rs 23232 crore at the end of May, 2018, has been reduced considerably to Rs 1291 crore, as on 28.02.2019. Surplus production is also estimated in the current sugar season 2018-19 which has affected the liquidity position of sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers which has reached to the level of Rs. 20159 crore as on 22.02.2019. In order to improve to liquidity of sugar mills to enable them to clear cane dues of farmers, the Government has increased minimum selling price of white sugar from Rs.29/kg to Rs.31/kg with effect from 14.02.2019, allocated mill wise Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ) of 50 LMT, extending assistance to sugar mills @ Rs.13.88/ quintal for sugar season and extending assistance for defraying expenditure towards internal transport, freight, handling and other charges to facilitate export of sugar. Further, with a view to liquidate cane price dues of sugarcane farmers, the Central Government has now decided to extend soft loans of about Rs 7900-10540 crore to sugar mills through banks to facilitate payment of cane dues of the farmers for the current sugar season 2018-19 for which Government would bear interest subvention of about Rs 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year.

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SUGARCANE ARREARS TO GROWERS TO COME DOWN BY RS 9,000 CRORE: ISMA

The government's decision to provide up to Rs 10,540 crore as soft loans to sugar mills will help them in clearing arrears of cane growers by about Rs 9,000 crore, a top industry official said on Friday. Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) Director General Abinash Verma said mills interest burden will reduce by Rs 800-900 crore with government providing the interest subvention. Sugar cane arrears to farmers have crossed Rs 20,000 crore in the current marketing year 2018-19 (October-September). Since the soft loans approved by CCEA for the sugar industry will be over and above the existing loans, the same will help reduce cane price arrears to the extent of around 8000-9000 crore. The interest subsidy of 7-10 % will reduce expenditure of 800-900 crore on account of interest burden of mills, Verma told PTI. To help the sugar industry clear its cane dues arrears, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal to provide soft loans to the extent of about Rs 7,900-10,540 crore to the sugar industry, an official statement said. The Centre will bear the interest subvention cost at the rate of 7-10 per cent to the extent of Rs 553 crore to Rs 1,054 crore for one year. Surplus production is also estimated in the current sugar season 2018-19 which has affected the liquidity position of sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers which has reached to the level of Rs 20,159 crore as on February 22, 2019, the statement had said.

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LOK SABHA ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD ON TIME, SAYS CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER

The general elections in the country will be held on time, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said Friday, amid tensions between India-Pakistan. The CEC is in the Uttar Pradesh capital for the past two days to review poll preparations in the state The election in the country will be held on time, Arora told when asked about the poll schedule in the wake of tensions between the two countries. He said as per a new notification of the commission, candidates will have to give details of their properties abroad, besides those in the country. The I-T department will look into it and, if any, discrepancies are found then it will be uploaded on the Election Commission (EC) website and strict action will be initiated, the CEC said. When asked about the EC's stand on inflammatory speeches, Arora said in his review meetings, he tried to find out the status of such cases lodged during previous elections. Whatever the EC has found, I have apprised about its intentions to the chief secretary and the DGP, who assured that strict action will be taken in such cases, he said. The commission is committed to holding free and fair polls, and will promptly act on any complaint regarding this, the CEC said. The C-Vigil app will be launched soon so that any citizen, whose name will be kept secret, can register his poll related complaints. Besides this, we will constitute committees to keep an eye on social media, he said. In all the 1,63,331 polling centres, VVPAT machines will be used this time, he said.

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FEBRUARY PMI INDICATES STRONG FLOW OF NEW ORDERS: SC GARG

Spurt in PMI indicates strong inflow of new orders and strengthening of manufacturing sector growth, Subhash Chandra Garg said Friday. The country’s manufacturing sector performance further strengthened in February and touched a 14-month high, driven by acceleration in sales, output and employment, a monthly survey showed. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.3 in February, from 53.9 in January, amid a robust improvement in business conditions. This is the 19th consecutive month that the manufacturing PMI remained above the 50-point mark. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. Manufacturing PMI at 54.3 in Feb is 14 month high and indicates strong inflow of new orders. Q4 2018-19 should mark further strengthening of manufacturing GVA and upward movement of GDP growth, Garg said in a tweet.

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INDIA REMAINS FASTEST GROWING DESPITE GDP RECORDING FIVE-QUARTER LOW

In signs of the Indian economy losing steam ahead of the general elections, GDP growth slowed to a five-quarter low of 6.6% in October-December on the back of lower farm and manufacturing growth and weaker consumer demand, government data showed Thursday. Also, economic growth estimate for the current fiscal year ending March 31 has been revised downwards to 7% from the earlier estimate of 7.2%. This is the lowest growth in the last five years. However, the third quarter growth rate, which was lower than the revised estimate of 7% in the previous quarter and 8% in April-June, was faster than China's 6.4% growth for the three months to December 2018. India thus retains its tag of the world's fastest-growing major economy. Data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed slower consumer spending at 8.4% as compared to 9.9% in the previous quarter. Farm sector growth slowed to 2.7% from 4.2% in Q2 and 4.6% in Q1. Parallelly, eight core infrastructure industries' growth in January declined to a 19-month low of 1.8% (December 2018: 2.7%, January 2018: 6.2%) on contraction in refinery products and electricity. Electricity sector, which last witnessed a contraction in February 2013, posted a growth of (-) 0.4% in January -- the lowest in the last 71 months. Devendra Kumar Pant, said size of the economy (nominal GDP) in FY19 is now estimated at Rs 190.54 lakh crore compared to Rs 188.41 lakh crore, which will help government to achieve fiscal deficit/GDP target for FY19 even though the fiscal deficit till January 2019 is 121.5% of FY19 (revised estimate). FY19 GDP growth at 7% indicates that the economy is losing steam, he said, adding the GDP growth in Q4 has to be 6.5% to attain overall 7% growth in FY19. This on the face of it looks plausible; however, unless exports in Q4 grow 14%, attaining 7% growth will be difficult. According to CSO, while agriculture is estimated to grow at 2.7%, manufacturing growth is expected to accelerate to 8.1% in 2018-19. However, trade, hotel and transportation sector growth is expected to decelerate to 6.8% during the year. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices (2011-12) had grown at 7.7% in the October-December quarter of the previous financial year. The growth rate was revised upwardly from 7%. GDP at Constant Prices in Q3 of 2018-19 is estimated at Rs 35 lakh crore, as against Rs 32.85 lakh crore in Q3 of 2017-18, showing a growth rate of 6.6%, the CSO said. The CSO also revised GDP growth figures for April-June and July-September quarters of this fiscal to 8% and 7% from 8.2% and 7.1%.The GDP growth rates for April-June and July-September of last fiscal were also revised to 6% and 6.8% from 5.6% and 6.3%, respectively. Declining trend in core sector growth from October 2018 suggests continued weakness in industrial activities and a weak second half economic growth. Expect a low industrial growth in the month of January 2019, Pant added. Mining and quarrying growth for the full fiscal has been estimated at 1.2% as against 5.1% in 2017-18.However, it estimated that manufacturing growth would be higher at 8.1% compared to 5.9% in the previous financial year. Meanwhile, the per capita income in real terms (at 2011-12 prices) during 2018-19 is likely to grow to Rs 92,718 as compared to Rs 87,623 for 2017-18. The growth rate in per capita income is estimated at 5.8 percent during 2018-19, as against 5.7% in the previous year.

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MAHARASHTRA ASKS BANKS NOT TO DIVERT PM-KISAN MONEY TO FARMERS’ LOAN ACCOUNTS

Noticing that some banks had diverted the first instalment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme to farmers’ loan accounts, the Maharashtra government has instructed banks to return the money to farmers Suhas Diwase, said that banks that had diverted the PM-Kisan instalment to farmers’ loan accounts have reversed the transactions after the government’s instructions: There are strict instructions from the government regarding this. We have instructed banks and a circular has been issued. Banks that had diverted money to loan accounts have returned it to farmers. Bharat Barve, said, The government has made it very clear that farmers must get first instalment of PM-Kisan scheme in hands. But the entire banking system is online and if the farmer’s saving account has court or income-tax attachment or if it is NPA, the deposited money goes to the loan account through the system which functions automatically. So there is a situation some banks might face where the government has asked to give money to farmers, but the system has diverted money to the loan account. Barve added, But nowhere bank managers are telling farmers that they cannot get PM-Kisan money. All banks have to issued circulars to branches based on PM-Kisan scheme. Each bank has different software with different command systems and banks are ready with remedial resources to override the system and pay money to farmers. He said that banks are bypassing the system so that farmers get money in hands. Keda Tanaji Aher, said, Almost all nationalised banks are facing this problem. The government has not involved cooperative banks in this process. Diwase explained that some banks have an auto mode system in place where the money deposited into a farmer’s account goes directly to his/her loan account and is adjusted against the farmer’s dues. Hence, many farmers could not get their first instalment. This will not be repeated, Diwase asserted.

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FIVE YEAR ACHIEVEMENTS & INITIATIVES OF MINISTRIES OF RAILWAYS AND COAL

Piyush Goyal addressed the media on the five-year achievements of the ministries under his charge. Both, Ministry of Railways & Coal has taken up new projects at large scale & implemented them swiftly with an honest approach.

Highlights of Achievements & Initiatives of Ministry of Railways

In the past five years, the Government has made safety the foremost priority of Indian Railways. Indian Railways has achieved its best ever safety record in 2018-19 - there has been 81% drop in number of deaths from 152 in 2013-14 to 29 this year (upto Jan 31, 2019). This is a result of holistic efforts. All Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge network have been eliminated. Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) fund of Rs. 1 lakh cr has been created for safety expenditure. Laying the foundations of infrastructure for a New India, there has been a quantum leap in capital expenditure. Total capital expenditure between 2014-19 is Rs. 5.1 lakh crore which is more than double of total expenditure during 2009-14. Railways is connecting India at a faster pace with a 59% increase in the average pace of commissioning New Line / Doubling / 3rd & 4th line projects from 4.1 Kms during 2009-14 per day to 6.53 Kms per day during 2014-18. Aspirations of the people of North East were fulfilled with completion of 4.94 Kms long Bogibeel Bridge, longest rail-cum-road bridge in India. Now, journey from Itanagar to Dibrugarh is only 180 Kms, reducing the travel time from 24 hrs to only 5 hrs. Mumbai Suburban Systems is also being modernised with ongoing projects worth more than Rs. 70,000 cr, which will benefit about 75 lakh commuters. India entered a new era of mobility with Vande Bharat Express - India's first high-tech, energy-efficient, self-propelled train. This is a prime example of the success of Make in India movement. This train will be proliferated across India and also exported globally. Railways has achieved significant milestones in moving the country’s economy faster with the highest ever freight loading in 2018-19. Freight earnings have touched their highest level and is expected to be about Rs. 1.43 lakh cr in BE 2019-20. Railways is improving passenger services including a complete makeover of Stations by installing modern facilities including escalators, lifts, free wifi etc. and using local art in the design. 4 stations are undergoing redevelopment - Habibganj, Gandhinagar, Charbagh and Gomtinagar. Beautification of 65 stations has been completed using local art. Railways has improved trains and coaches including launching the Tejas, Antyodaya and Humsafar trains and Deen Dayalu and Anubhuti coaches. Connecting passengers to the digital world, high speed WiFi service has been provided at more than 800 stations. Pan India rollout of paperless Unreserved Ticketing (UTS) has been done to make ticketing convenient and hassle free. Catering has also been a focus area with compulsory printing of MRP on all food items and use of artificial intelligence to monitor food production in base kitchens for improving quality and hygiene. Rail Drishti dashboard has been launched encompassing all the digitisation efforts in Indian Railways and promoting transparency and accountability. It brings information from various sources on a single platform and gives access to key statistics and parameters to every citizen of the country. The available information has been categorized under 15 user friendly sections on the Dashboard. India’s first National Rail & Transportation Institute has been launched with 1st academic session started with two undergraduate programmes - B.Sc. in Transportation Technology & BBA in Transportation Management with 103 students. Rs. 421 crore has been sanctioned for next 5 years. Indian Railways has also focused on digital initiatives for bringing transparency and accountability to its business practices. E- reverse auction policy has been issued. 100% e- Procurement is being done through a single web-portal. Simpler approval processes in Research Designs and Standards Organisation have reduced process time from 30 months to 6 months.

Highlights of Achievements & Initiatives of Ministry of Coal

Coal powers the million aspirations of India. To ensure energy security, reduce imports and realise the vision of 24x7 Power for All Coal India has enhanced drilling, production & offtake of coal. 105 MT increase in coal production since 2014 took almost 7 years to achieve before 2013-14. Production target of Coal India is 610 MT in 2018-19. As a result of record performance, number of coal plants with critical stock is only 4 out of 125 (as on 20th February, 2019) compared to 2/3rd coal plants with critical stock in 2014. Further, to boost the power sector, superior Coal Quality has been ensured with steps such as third party sampling procedures and 100% crushed coal to power plants. Coal India is also delivering benefits of reduced cost of electricity as now amount of coal required to generate per unit of electricity (specific coal consumption) has been reduced by 8% since 2014. Further, transparent e-auction and allocation of coal blocks has led to successfully auction of 85 coal mines. Rationalization of coal linkages has led to total rationalisation of 61 MT with annual potential savings of about Rs. 3,651 crore (till date). Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India (SHAKTI), for auction and allotment of coal linkages, will lead to affordable power and transparency in allocation of coal. 16 Fuel Supply Agreements have been signed under this scheme. Timeline for 14 critical projects for evacuating coal has been established for time bound execution to increase coal transportation.

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INDIA SHOULD START WITH RS 500 MONTHLY BASIC INCOME PER HEAD: GUY STANDING

As political parties across the spectrum evaluate various models of guaranteed basic income, Guy Standing said that India should start with a minimum Rs 500 per individual per month comprehensive basic income programme to a wider section of the population and avoid falling into the trap of any sort of targeting or exclusions. Any basic income should be provided on an individual basis and not on the basis of households. It is much cheaper to do a comprehensive scheme rather than indulging into a targeted intervention for which one has to spend funds on finding the beneficiaries, identifying them, taking the details, cross checking them that’s expensive and involves huge costs and then one makes mistake, Standing told. Standing said India could try a basic income support for tribal families, who are the most vulnerable and have one of the lowest incomes in the country. What we found in our pilots is that when we asked people to choose between ration shops and basic income, initially half of the people chose basic income and the other half PDS. But gradually we found that people who had opted for the PDS were meeting the people who were getting basic income, asking if they can change, Standing said. Standing said all the income transfer schemes currently being implemented in the country, be it Odisha’s KALIA or Ryuthu Bandhu of Telangana or the Centre’s own PM-KISAN, have some or the other problem. But, the good thing is at least the policy makers are moving towards this direction, he said.

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STATES SEEK CENTRE’S FUNDS TO MEET ENVIRONMENTAL NORMS FOR THERMAL POWER PLANTS

To meet the additional expenditure required to adhere to the environmental norms for thermal power plants, the states have sought access to the Centre-operated Power System Development Fund and the National Clean Energy Fund. According to sources, many states have demanded that the capital expenditure on this account should be passed on as grants and not considered as loans The issues were raised at the conference of power ministers of states recently held at Gurgaon. According to the ministry of environment and forests’ (MoEF) mandate, 1,61,402 mega watt (MW) power generation capacity would have to install flue gas de-sulphurisation (FGD) units and 64,525 MW capacity will have to be upgraded with electrostatic precipitators to reduce emissions. The estimated capex to install the emission reducing equipment are in the range of Rs 88 lakh to Rs 128 lakh for every MW. This is expected to raise power tariffs by Rs 0.62-0.93/unit. The average price at which power distribution companies (discoms) purchase power is about Rs 3.5/unit. The state power departments would be wary of any rise in power costs with financial losses of the discoms under the UDAY scheme increasing by 36% year-on-year to Rs 15,080 crore in H1FY19. Private power generators, already reeling under stressed assets of about Rs 2 lakh crore, had already flagged the concern in 2018 and requested the power ministry to designate REC and PFC as nodal financing institutions for pollution control equipment. With high exposure and large number of projects on watch list, no bank is willing to lend more money to developers, Ashok Khurana, had told.

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SHRIPAD NAIK LAYS FOUNDATION STONE OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF UNANI MEDICINE AT GHAZIABAD

Shripad Yesso Naik laid foundation stone for National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) at Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh in the august presence of Union Minister of State for External Affairs General V. K. Singh. Addressing the foundation stone laying ceremony, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik informed that the Ministry of AYUSH is establishing the NIUM, Ghaziabad as a part of its commitment towards provision and promotion of quality education research and healthcare services through Unani Medicine and other AYUSH systems. He further said that this institute would be developed with an approximate cost of Rs. 300.00 crore on 10 acres of land and would be one of the largest institutes of Unani Medicine in Northern India. With a 200 bedded hospital, the institute would cater to the needs of the masses and would have facilities for quality research and education at postgraduate and PhD levels, he added.

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TRIBAL AFFAIRS MINISTRY TO HOLD MEETING WITH STATES ON 6TH MARCH

The matter pertaining to eviction of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) whose claims for forest land rights have been rejected under FRA 2006, had come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on 28.02.2019 where Shri Tushar Mehta. The Solicitor General had put across that since 2014, the Ministry had been exhorting the States to carry out effective implementation of the Act. He also spoke about various letters written to this effect by Ministry of Tribal Affairs to the States and the meeting proposed by Ministry of Tribal Affairs with the State Governments on the process being followed by them in respect of claims filed, rejected as well as the exact details of the rejection cases. The Court was also apprised on the composition and functions of the State Level Monitoring Committee (SLMC). The Apex Court gave following important directions

·       The Order dated 13.02.2019 was stayed as regards evictions to be carried out. However, the order relating to the satellite survey to be carried out by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) to place on record the encroachment position was retained at the request of the counsel for Wildlife Trust of India.

·       The Court directed that the State Governments should file detailed affidavits by 10th July, 2019giving information regarding constitution of office Review Committees, details regarding the procedure having been followed on the claim applications under the Act as well as the appeals filed against the rejection cases.

·       The Court also required information to be filed as to the procedure which is to be followed after finally arriving at the rejection cases in each of the States.

·       The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is holding a meeting with these State Governments on 06.03.2019 to ensure the effective implementation of the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

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WORK ON 36 NEW WATERWAYS LIKELY TO BEGIN BY MARCH: IWAI

The government is committed to developing national waterways, and work on 36 of the 106 newly declared waterways is likely to start by March, Jalaj Shrivastava said Friday. The government declared 106 national waterways in 2016 in addition to the existing five, taking India's total navigable inland waterways to 20,000 km. The work on 36 national waterways should begin by March, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) chief said. He said about 55 million tonne of cargo was handled on national waterways in 2017-18 and given the trend the 150 MT target for 2021-22 is likely to be achieved before the deadline. He said water transport will also give a fillip to growth by reducing logistics cost in the country. Shrivastava said 2,000 tonne of cargo could be transported through inland waterways at an operating cost of about Rs 1.12 per tonne in comparison to Rs 3 per tonne through roadways.

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SHRI AJAY NARAYAN JHA JOINS AS MEMBER FINANCE COMMISSION

Shri Ajay Narayan Jha joined the Fifteenth Finance Commission as its Member. He joins in place of Shri Shaktikanta Das who had resigned as a Member of the Commission after being appointed as Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Prior to joining the Commission, Shri Jha, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre, was the Finance Secretary to the Government of India. Earlier he had also served as Secretary to the Fourteenth Finance Commission which was headed by former RBI Governor, Shri Y.V. Reddy.

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SURESH PRABHU TO MEET 15 OTHER ASIA PAC TRADE MINISTERS IN CAMBODIA ON SATURDAY

Suresh Prabhu will on Saturday meet trade ministers of 15 Asia Pacific countries including China, to take forward the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement. The 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) bloc aims to cover among the issues related to goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights. This will ensure that there is no marginalisation of request of smaller countries and there is room for policy space for developing countries in transition as it will help moderate ambitions, particularly in the goods negotiations and lead to balanced and mutually beneficial outcomes, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement. India's flexibility helped in facilitating successful conclusion of three chapters -- institutional provisions; sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment. RCEP members want India to eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties on maximum number of goods it traded with them. India's huge domestic market provides immense opportunity of exports for RCEP countries. But lower level of ambitions in services and investments, a key area of interest for India, does not augur well for the agreement that seeks to be comprehensive in nature.

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COMPANIES PLAN MEGA INVESTMENT IN CITY GAS BUSINESS; 12 LOIS ISSUED

The government on Friday issued letters of intent to 12 companies which bagged 50 Geographical Areas (GAs) that were on offer under the tenth round of city gas distribution (CGD) bidding. The major players that won new areas include Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Gujarat Gas, Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Company (AG&P) and Gail Gas. Dharmendra Pradhan highlighted the interest of foreign companies in the CGD business in India, citing participation of Philippines-based Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Company (AG&P) in the bidding round. AG&P got three geographical areas in Ramanathapuram, Kanchipuram and Jodhpur districts in the ninth round. We have plans lined up to invest about Rs 10,000 crore in CGD business. According to the commitment made by the various entities in the 50 areas approved for issuance of letters of intent in tenth CGD Bidding Round, 2,02,92,760 domestic PNG (piped natural gas) connections and 3,578 CNG (compressed natural gas) stations for transport sector will be installed.

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MUMBAI: FOUR MONORAIL STATIONS TO BE RENAMED

With the second phase of Monorail to start from Saturday, names or four Monorail stations may be changed in the coming days. The four Monorail station include GTB Nagar Monorail station, Wadala Bridge Monorail station, Antop Hill and Dadar east Monorail station for which change in name has been demanded by several political parties and resident associations. A MMRDA official said, Considering the demand in changes of names, a committee has been formed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who is also chairman of MMRDA. The committee has had two meetings but it is yet to submit its report on the demand for change in names. If the demand is accepted, names for four Monorail stations will changed.

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TEXTILE MINISTRY LAUNCHES SCHEME TO DEVELOP KNITTING AND KNITWEAR SECTOR

The Union Textile Ministry has launched a comprehensive Scheme for the development of the knitwear sector under PowerTex India. Apart from financial incentives the two key interesting elements are Yarn Bank and financial assistance for the solar energy scheme. The scheme was launched simultaneously in three major clusters, Tirupur, Ludhiana and Kolkata. The sector accounts for 27 per cent of the total cloth production and about 15 per cent of the knitted fabric is exported. The yarn bank scheme for knitting and knitwear units will provide an interest-free corpus fund of a maximum of up to Rs 2 crore per yarn bank to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The Bank would enable small knitting and knitwear units to purchase the yarn at wholesale rate and in large quanitites by avoiding middle man/ local supplier's charges. Under the Solar energy scheme for knitting and knitwear units, the government will provide financial assistance / capital subsidy to the extent of 50%, 75% and 90% of the basic cost of the solar plant to the applicants of General Category, SC, and ST respectively. Under ongrid upto 45KW a maximum of Rs 63,000 will be provided and under offgrid upto 45 KW, a maximum sum of Rs 81,000 will be provided.

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INDIA SEES DRY-EYE DISEASE AN EMERGING THREAT

Is India on the brink of an emerging dry-eye disease epidemic? If results of the analysis of a huge sample of 1.45 million patients is an indication, then the answer would be, yes! The problem is in sight. By the year 2030, a staggering 275 million people are expected to be affected by this problem. The projection is based on the current incidence rates of 45 per cent of the country’s urban population, according to the LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). Dry eye is a condition where the eyes do not produce enough tears or of the needed quality. It not only affects the patient’s vision, but also disturbs their quality of life, causing anxiety and even depression, often affecting their professional productivity said Sayan Basu. The authors said even rural India is likely to see 17 million new patients every year. This would make dry eye disease a serious health concern, even more common than diseases like diabetes or heart-disease, they warned. The study discovered novel insights such as age and gender-related risk, where men were noted to be at higher risk in their twenties or thirties, while women were more vulnerable in their forties and fifties. Other high-risk factors identified are urban residence, socio-economic affluence and professional work (including computer-based vocations).

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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND ADB SIGN $926 MILLION LOAN AGREEMENT FOR MUMBAI METRO RAIL PROJECT

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $926 Million Loan Agreement to operationalize two lines for the Mumbai Metro Rail System that will ease the distress of millions of commuters each day and help provide a cleaner, less congested city. The Single Largest Infrastructure Project Loan in ADB history approved by the ADB Board on 26 February, 2019 - will help fund lines 2A (Dahisar to D.N. Nagar), 2B (D.N. Nagar–Bandra–Mandale), and 7 (Dahisar [East] to Andheri [East]), totaling about 58 kilometers (km). The project will fund 63 six-car trains, signaling and safety systems, and help establish a new dedicated metro operations organization to manage the entire metro network in Mumbai. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will implement the project. Once operational by the end of 2022, an estimated 2 million passengers a day will use the two new lines, travelling in improved safety and comfort. It will also reduce emissions from vehicles, with carbon dioxide emissions expected to fall by about 166,000 tons a year. Mumbai, with a population of about 12 million, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra and renowned as the financial capital of India. Maharashtra accounts for about 15% of India’s gross domestic product, about 40% of which is generated from the Mumbai metropolitan region. Rail is the primary means of transport in Mumbai, where the suburban network totals almost 400 km and carries more than 7.5 million passengers a day.

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A DELEGATION OF DEPUTY SECRETARIES OF CSS CADRE CALLS ON MOS DR JITENDRA SINGH

The Under Secretaries of the Select List for the Year 2003 upto CSL No. 5700 based on the SL of Deputy Secretary for the year 2012 have already been included in the Select List of Sr. Selection Grade (Director) of CSS for the year 2017. In other words, almost 88% Under Secretaries of Select list 2003 have already been promoted as Director and only around 50 officers from SL-2003 are left out. These officers have undergone the mandatory Level F Training in November, 2018 for promotion to the post of Director. They said that DoPT has recently issued orders for promotion of 1756 officers in different graded in CSS and 2235 officers in the grade of CSSS in the month of December, 2018, which were pending for almost two years. But, about 50 officers from SL-2003 (Under Secretary) who are eligible for the post of Director are waiting for their promotion. They requested the Minister to intervene in the matter. After the meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh asked the DoPT officials to look into the matter and expedite the same. He said that the Government has taken various steps to provide cordial working environment to the employees and it is committed to clear the backlog of pending promotions in the Government.

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20 EMPLOYEES OF BEED HOSPITAL SACKED FOR FAKE CERTIFICATES

Twenty employees of Beed District Civil Hospital in Maharashtra have been dismissed from service for submitting fake certificates of being the offspring of freedom fighters in order to get jobs under the reserved category, an official said on Friday. The government’s dismissal order came after the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) gave its ruling last year, in which it confirmed that the certificates submitted by these 20 employees were bogus. Twenty employees- seventeen class IV and three class III- were dismissed from service with effect from today (March 1). The government issued their dismissal order on Thursday, district civil surgeon Dr. Ashok Thorat said.

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MADRAS HC REFUSES INTERIM ORDER FOR VEDANTA TO ACCESS STERLITE PLANT

Madras High Court refused to issue an interim order granting Vedanta access to its Sterlite Copper smelter facility for maintenance work. The facility has been shut by the Tamil Nadu government for nine months now resulting in a loss of about Rs 1,380 crore to the company. A division bench of the court, posted the matter for hearing later, and ordered notices to the state government and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). We don’t want to run the plant till the final order comes, but permit us only to do maintenance work. Who better than us can do it? We are ready to spend the money, argued Senior Counsel C Aryama Sundaram appearing for Vedanta. He argued that as the financial year end was approaching, access to the administrative office is also important. Sundaram said the five reasons listed by TNPCB for refusing consent to operate are not correct and the company was not given a chance to present its case before the orders were issued. Vedanta has challenged six orders by government authorities and five subsequent orders, such as cancellation of boiler licence and factory licence.

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CHINA TO BEAT ASIA PACK ON MSCI BOOST; CSI 300 INDEX RISES OVER 2%

Chinese shares jumped on Friday, outpacing Asian markets such as India and the Philippines, after global index provider MSCI announced it would increase the weightage of so-called A-shares in its global indices. The CSI 300 Index, a gauge for the performance of leading companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, rose more than two per cent. In comparison, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose just 0.2 per cent. India’s Sensex went up 0.6 per cent while Philippines’ PSEi Index fell nearly a per cent. MSCI’s decision to boost China stocks’ weight in global benchmark indexes is expected to impact overseas flows into other Asian and emerging markets over time. The index provider will be increasing China’s inclusion factor from 5 per cent to 20 per cent. This will lead to an increase in weightage of stocks listed in Mainland China to 3.3 per cent from the current 0.72 per cent by November. The adjustment may trim weightage of other countries, including India.

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RAJEEV KUMAR GIVEN ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF ECONOMIC OFFENCES, STF

The West Bengal government has given additional charge of the state directorate of economic offences and the special task force (STF) of Kolkata Police to former city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar. Kumar, who recently took over as the state CID chief after completing his tenure as the city police commissioner, would hold additional charge of the two departments until further orders, a home department official said Saturday. The order was issued by the state home department late Friday evening. Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer, had been embroiled in a controversy for being at loggerheads with the CBI over its investigations into the Saradha Chit fund and Rose Valley scams. A team of CBI officers was stopped from entering the residence of Kumar, the then Kolkata Police Commissioner, on February 3 when they had gone to question him in connection with chit fund scam cases.

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NO RETURN GIFT: INDIA TO REMAIN TOUGH ON PAKISTAN

India will keep up the pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terrorism infrastructure and the masterminds of terrorist attacks despite the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman following backchannel diplomacy and public messaging by global powers. The government will persist as Islamabad shows no signs of dismantling terror infrastructure and acting against operatives such as Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, well-informed sources told. The Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the February 14 terrorist attack in Kashmir that sparked the current tensions at the border. Getting the wing commander back was India’s objective, without any deal or negotiations, said one of the persons cited above. We did not want a Kandahar-type situation to arise. His return will not mean that India will go slow with its demand on Pakistan-based terror infrastructure and terror financing. He was referring to the hijacking that led to the release of three terrorists, including Azhar, in 1999. India’s tough line is evident from the fact that Pakistan PM Imran Khan tried to speak to counterpart Narendra Modi thrice to inform him about the decision to release the IAF pilot but was rebuffed, according to sources. Pakistan’s efforts to link the release with deescalation of tension has not gone down well with New Delhi. US President Donald Trump’s statement in Hanoi on Thursday was a clear indication that Washington had sought to lower temperatures even as it asked Pakistan to act against terror groups. Russia offered to mediate through public statements issued by its foreign minister and chairman of the foreign relations committee in the Senate. Subsequently, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Modi to assure India of support for counter-terror actions and lowering tensions. Earlier, Putin had written to Modi to express support for the right to self-defence. Simultaneously, the US National Security Agency (NSA) had also extended similar support to India.

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MEANING OF ABHINANDAN WILL CHANGE NOW: PM NARENDRA MODI

Abhinandan used to mean welcome, but its meaning would change now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday in an apparent reference to the IAF pilot released by Pakistan. The world takes note of what India does and the nation has the power to change dictionary meanings Modi said at a housing ministry event here. His remarks came a day after IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was handed over to India by Pakistan after being in captivity for nearly three days. He was captured on February 27 by Pakistan following a dogfight between the two air forces in which his MIG-21 was shot down. The world takes note of what India does. India has the strength to change the meaning of words in the dictionary. Abhinandan once used to mean welcome. And now the meaning of Abhinandan will change, he said. Soon after the pilot was released, Modi had tweeted, Welcome Home Wing Commander Abhinandan! The nation is proud of your exemplary courage.

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‘MUNGERI LAL KE HASEEN SAPNE’: NITIN GADKARI ON SPECULATION AROUND HIS PM CANDIDATURE

Nitin Gadkari Friday said he is not in the race for the post of Prime Minister and termed himself as a pure RSS man for whom the nation is supreme. The senior BJP leader said that BJP would get absolute majority in the upcoming elections and the country would go ahead on the path of development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi while we are standing behind him. Reacting to speculations that in case of a fractured mandate, Gadkari would be the BJP’s consensus Prime Minister candidate, the minister said it is like Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne (day dreaming). I have nothing to do with it. I am not in the race. Modi ji is the PM and will become Prime Minister again. I am from RSS (Mai RSS wala hun). Our mission is to work for the nation. Country is progressing in terms of development and growth under Modiji’s leadership. We are standing behind him. Where does the question arise of my becoming the PM, he said in reply to a related query. Asserting that I am not a calculated politician, Gadkari said BJP would return to power with absolute majority and added that this time he was going to get 5 lakh votes against 3.5 lakh in the last elections. Asked whether he believed in Congress mukta Bharat, he said the ideologies of both the parties are different and we are not enemies of each other. Difference of opinion can be there. It is our tradition. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru and even Modiji welcomes the opposition party. About works on Ganga, the Minister said that during his recent visit for kumbh snan people told him that for the first time in 50 years they found the river nirmal and aviral. On ethanol he said that the plans were to take Rs 11,000 crore ethanol economy to Rs 2 lakh crore. He said he wanted to work in the direction of public transport. Besides there is 2 lakh crore worth of possibility in biofuel economy and diversification of agriculture was needed. He said his Ministry alone has worked for projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore.

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2019 LOK SABHA POLLS IS ABOUT STABILITY VERSUS VULNERABILITY: PM MODI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the 2019 Lok Sabha election was about offering strength against vulnerability, asserting the BJP-led NDA would provide stability. Hitting out at the opposition and dynastic politics, Modi said My only family is 130 crore Indians. I will live for them. I will die for them, he said. After launching some projects in the Rail and Road sectors, Modi also took a dig at Congress leader P Chidambaram, saying the 'recounting minister' has to now apply for bail just like the party's 'first family', apparently referring to the Aircel-Maxis deal. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections have two distinct sides. Our side offers strength and stability. The other offers weakness and vulnerability. Our leaders' work culture is known across India. But the other side is in confusion. They have no name to offer as national leader and have no vision for India's growth he said. Modi has been describing the proposed opposition coalition or 'mahagathbandhan' as 'mahamilavat,' (adulterated). Recalling the 2009 polls, Modi took a dig at the DMK-Congress coalition, saying ministers were handpicked not by the prime minister but by those who had nothing to do with public service. There was telephone bargaining for minister's posts, he said. He said the NDA government took historic steps against corruption under which fake companies have been shut. The corrupt has to answer. The famous recounting minister, who took pride in treating badly, insulting the middle class, has to apply for bail just like his party's first family, he said. Modi has on more than one occasion described Chidambaram as UPA's 'recounting minister'. Confusion had prevailed then as election officials delayed the declaration of the result due to a dispute in the counting of votes in respect of the final round. Chidambaram, then Home Minister, was declared elected later after the votes were tallied again vis-a-vis the final round. The prime minister said while the NDA government came down heavily on corruption it was also rewarding the honest tax payers.

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MAD RUSH OF MUTUAL SELF-DESTRUCTION: MANMOHAN SINGH ON CURRENT INDIA-PAKISTAN STANDOFF

Manmohan Singh has said that both India and Pakistan should work to get rid of basic problems like chronic poverty and disease. Referring to the current escalation of tensions between the two neighbours, Singh said that New Delhi is grappling with another crisis of mad rush of mutual self destruction being played between India and Pakistan and hoped that saner counsel will prevail between the leadership of the two nations and situation will be normalised soon. I do hope that saner counsel will prevail between the leaderships of the two countries and we will get back to economic development, which is the basic requirement of both India and Pakistan, he added.

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WHY DID MARATHA COMMUNITY NOT AGITATE FOR QUOTA IN THE PAST: HC

The Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra government Thursday what prompted the Maratha community to agitate for reservation only in the recent past. A division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre was hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the state government's decision to grant 16 per cent reservation to the community in government jobs and educational institutions. The demand for Maratha reservation was not raised after the Mandal commission submitted its report in 1980 or when the state backward classes commissions submitted their reports, the court said. What was the sudden change in scenario in the recent past that prompted the state government to seek data on the condition of the Maratha community? Justice Dangre asked. After the Mandal commission report, there was no violence or agitation by the community demanding reservation. What happened suddenly that prompted such protests? she asked. The state government's lawyer V A Thorat said the community was realising only now that it was being neglected The previous governments, whom the Maratha community was voting for, made the community think and live under the perception that they were forward. But now as time passed by, the community has started feeling that they are backward and need protection, he said. We are only correcting the mistakes committed in the past, Thorat added. If required, the government may also include other communities in the socially and educationally backward class in the future, the government lawyer added. He also argued that under the Constitution, no court can inquire into the proceedings of a legislature Article 212 prohibits the judiciary from going into the procedure followed by the government while formulating an act. The judiciary can inquire and ensure that the act does not violate any law, Thorat said.

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CORE SECTOR GROWTH SLOWS DOWN TO 1.8% IN JANUARY

Growth of eight core sectors slowed down to 1.8 per cent in January due to fall in output of crude oil, refinery products and electricity, official data showed Thursday. Production of crude oil, refinery products and electricity contracted by 4.3 per cent, 2.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, in January. Growth rate of coal and cement sectors slowed to 1.7 per cent and 11 per cent in January as against 3.8 per cent and 19.6 per cent in January 2018, respectively. However, natural gas, fertilisers and steel output grew by 6.2 per cent, 10.5 per cent and 8.2 per cent respectively in the month under review. Sluggish infrastructure sector growth would also have impact on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as these segments account for about 41 per cent of the total factory output. According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry data, during April-January 2018-19, the eight sectors recorded a growth rate of 4.5 per cent against 4.1 per cent in the same period of the previous fiscal.

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STATE GOVERNMENTS SHOULD NOT LOOK AT AVIATION SECTOR THROUGH CENTRE VERSUS STATE PRISM: SURESH PRABHU

States across the country will be the beneficiaries of the expanding aviation sector, and should consequently not look it through a centre versus state prism Suresh Prabhu on Thursday said. States will be the biggest beneficiaries (of expanding aviation sector). So we should not look at it as you against us. Because we (centre) can say this is your problem, the Civil Aviation minister said. Noting that both the Centre and state should have a common platform for expanding aviation sector, he said every problem of the sector is our problem because when people vote for the central government or state government, the voters are the same, it is just that they choose different governments. He said, Aviation is a subject where you can not make the mission possible for letting everyone fly, unless we can make state governments part of this process. They will be partners in progress. They should be beneficiary in progress. They should be drivers of this progress. Prabhu said that the central government's regional connectivity scheme UDAN would never have taken off and would have still been grounded had there been no state participation. The regional connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying affordable. Prabhu said, State governments should not be used only as emergency landing platforms but states should regularly benefit from this. So, we really look forward to states becoming, regular, permanent, and active partners with us to make it the reality.

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FSSAI TO INCREASE TESTING, ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES TO ENSURE FOOD SAFETY

Food safety regulator FSSAI will test more samples and increase enforcement activities to ensure availability of safe food to people, Pawan Kumar Agarwal said Thursday. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has done a survey on milk recently and it would like to conduct surveillance across all the food categories, he added. Agarwal also assured food businesses not to be scared with the increased enforcement as it is meant for ensuring safe food supply in the markets. Stating that strengthening of lab system is very critical, Agarwal said FSSAI is attempting to create the foundation for a national network of well-functioning credible food laboratories. Agarwal pointed out that less samples are being tested in the country by enforcement agencies as well as food business operators. He asked corporates to double the samples for food testing conducted by them. We are monitoring to ensure that enforcement activities increase This is not to scare food businesses. This is to see that food that are available in market place is safe, Agarwal said.

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DOT SETS UP PANEL TO GIVE VIEWS ON 5G TRIAL SPECTRUM IN A MONTH

The telecom department has set up a committee to recommend on the scope of 5G trials in the country in a month's time. The Committee, which has a represention from academia, Wireless & Planning Wing, telcos and the telecom department, will also give its recommendations on the size, quantum, pricing and other aspects for offering experimental or trial spectrum for 5G trials. The committee will also give its recommendations on relevant issues as envisaged in the new telecom policy 2018, according to a notification by the DoT's policy division.

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DOT CONSIDERING SPECIALISED BANK FOR TELECOM INFRA

The Department of Telecommunications is considering a recommendation made earlier by the industry to set up a specialised bank for the telecom sector. To begin with, the bank will have a corpus of about $30 billion that will be transferred from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). At the time when DoT was formulating the National Telecom Policy 2018, we had made a recommendation that the excess amount in the USOF be put in a specialised bank that lends specifically to the telecom industry, Rajan S Mathews, told. I think DoT has taken it up, and it’s very much in support of it. Now, it should be cleared by DoT’s finance department, he added. Separately, DoT sources also confirmed the development. The plan is to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and move all infrastructure assets such as fibre, spectrum and towers to it. The bank (SPV) thus created will lend at a rate that will be comparatively lower than what is being charged by other lenders. The idea is to fund the SPV that lends money to telecom companies. The infrastructure bank will provide loans — like an infrastructure provider-1 (IP1) bank — to SPVs setting up infrastructure, said Mathews.

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REAL ESTATE PLAYERS SEE OPPORTUNITY IN THE DRAFT E-COMMERCE POLICY

More than online marketplaces and digital commerce, the draft e-commerce policy issued last week might help the real estate sector. With the insistence on data centres to be onshore, entities in real estate believe there is going to be a rise in demand for specialised Grade-A commercial spaces to set these up. Currently, data centres in India occupy around 12 million sq ft in space, growing at a compounded annual rate of 20 per cent. The tagline of the draft report is ‘India’s data for India’s development’ The policy states a time-frame would be put in place for transition to data storage within the country, with three years to allow industry to adjust to the requirement. Sector experts estimate India will become the second-largest data centre market in Asia-Pacific by 2020. According to a Gartner India study, the market doubled to $4.5 billion in 2018 from $2.2 billion in 2016, as more foreign companies sought to store data within the country. According to the government’s directive, many companies have stored payments data locally without mirroring it overseas. Currently, the data centre sector is in a nascent stage and stakeholders are strategising to best align with the ongoing trend. As the demand for these centres is rising, development of facilities are also gradually picking up, with investment from both domestic and international players, said Abhinav Joshi. He adds that Reliance Jio is will invest about Rs 1,000 crore to set up a data center in the upcoming Silicon Valley project in Kolkata. Another data centre service provider, CtrlS, plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore to develop data centres in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. As of now, Grade-A facilities for data centres are limited. However, the significant investments from various market players indicates development of such facilities in the coming years, Joshi added.

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INDIAN ECONOMY TO GROW AROUND 7.3% IN 2019, 2020: MOODY'S

Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in the calendar year 2019 and 2020, and the government spending announced ahead of elections this year which will support near-term growth, Moody's said on Friday. The US-based rating agency said that the country is less exposed to a slowdown in global manufacturing trade growth than other major Asian economies and emerging markets and is poised to grow at a relatively stable pace in the two years. We expect India's economy to grow around 7.3 per cent in both years (2019, 2020), Moody's said in its quarterly Global Macro Outlook for 2019 and 2020. Moody's said the announcement in Interim Budget 2019-20 on direct cash transfer programme for farmers and the middle-class tax relief measures will contribute a financial year stimulus of about 0.45 per cent of GDP. Non-performing assets declined to 10.8 per cent in September 2018 from a peak of 11.5 per cent in March 2018. The central bank expects this ratio to improve further to 10.3 per cent in March 2019. Moody's said, with range-bound oil prices, export growth has outpaced import growth for the last two years. Fiscal spending on infrastructure and the rural economy should continue to support domestic activity.

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FEB MANUFACTURING PMI AT 14-MONTH HIGH OF 54.3 ON SALES, EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

The country's manufacturing sector performance further strengthened in February and touched a 14-month high driven by acceleration in sales, output and employment, a monthly survey showed Friday. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 54.3 in February, from 53.9 in January, amid a robust improvement in business conditions. This is the 19th consecutive month that the manufacturing PMI remained above the 50-point mark. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. According to the survey, the February data reflected strongest improvement in business conditions since December 2017, sharpest rise in factory orders for 28 months and underpins faster increases in production and employment. The Indian manufacturing sector made further progress midway through the final quarter of FY18, building on the accelerated upturn noted in January, said Pollyanna De Lima. Lima further noted that the upturn in employment was one of the best seen for six-and-a-half years, as goods producers sought to expand output capacities to meet strengthening demand from both domestic and external sources. For FY19, IHS Markit has revised higher its GDP growth forecast, from 7.0 per cent to 7.1 per cent, amid the announcement of fiscal stimulus for the new interim budget and the policy rate cut announced in February. India's economic growth slipped to a 5-quarter low of 6.6 per cent in October-December period of 2018-19, mainly due to poor performance of farm, mining and manufacturing sectors, official data showed Thursday.

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SUBSIDISED LPG PRICE HIKED BY ₹2.08 PER CYLINDER, NON-SUBSIDISED BY ₹42.50

Domestic cooking gas (LPG) price was Thursday hiked by Rs 2.08 per cylinder and non-subsidised gas by ₹42.50 per bottle, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said. The increase comes after three straight monthly reduction in rates. The rise has been necessitated due to tax impact on increased market rate of the fuel, IOC said in a statement. A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder will now cost ₹495.61 in the national capital from March 1 as against ₹493.53 currently. Prior to this, prices had been reduced by a total of ₹13.39 per cylinder. IOC said non-subsidised or market-priced LPG rates have been hiked by ₹42.50 per cylinder mainly due to change in international price and foreign exchange fluctuations. It will now cost ₹701.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi. All LPG consumers buy the fuel at market price. The government, however, subsidises 12 cylinders of 14.2 kg each per households in a year by providing the subsidy amount directly in bank accounts of users.

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AMARTYA SEN DISSES AYUSHMAN BHARAT, SAYS MODI SHOULD FOCUS ON PRIMARY HEALTHCARE

India needs healthy and educated people to drive the economic growth for which the government needs to work on building opportunities for and capabilities of people, said Amartya Sen. Since the Ayushman Bharat Scheme neglects primary healthcare, it thus aims at wrong population, Amartya Sen said. He instead recommends the government to boost immunity and health of infants and children through better dietary supplements at the primary healthcare level. The scheme would help the people of India to get specialised care but only if they survive early dangers of life, he pointed out. What India needed was a radical change of primary healthcare, what you have in the government is great belief in magic, Amartya Sen said.

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UP PRIVATE SUGAR MILLS RECEIVE SOFT LOANS WORTH RS 2,916 CRORE

In a sweetener to the sugar sector in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has provided additional soft loans of above Rs 300 crore to cash-strapped private sugar mills for speedy payments to cane farmers. Now, disbursals stand at Rs 2,916 crore, while 53 individual units have benefited, including both stand-alone and group-owned entities, a senior cane department official told Business Standard. Currently, almost Rs 10,000 crore is outstanding by UP mills, including the unpaid component for the last crushing season. Against total dues of Rs 35,463 crore of crushing season 2017-18, Rs 35,106 crore has so far been settled, thus touching 99 per cent.

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UNION HOME MINISTER CHAIRS HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE MEETING FOR CENTRAL ASSISTANCE

Rajnath Singh, approved the additional Central assistance from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) of Rs 1604.15 crore to 4 States of Andhra Pradesh (cyclonic storm ‘Phethai’) of Rs 82.65 crore, Manipur (floods/ landslides) of Rs 42.46 crore, Jharkhand (drought) of Rs. 272.42 crore and Rajasthan (drought) of Rs. 1206.62 crore.

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SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN CANCER DRUG PRICES DUE TO TRADE MARGIN CAPPING

Cancer is one of the leading causes of adult illness and death due to chronic non-communicable diseases in India. India is witnessing a steady rise in cancer incidence The number of incident-cases has risen from 8 lakh in 2004 to an estimated 15 lakh (annually) by 2018. Even with nearly two third of patients eventually dying of this disease, an estimated 22.5 lakh patients are currently living with cancer in India In fact, some studies on India suggest that about 60 and 32 percent households resort to borrowing and contributions (from friends and relatives) respectively for cancer hospitalisation. Affordability of cancer medicines is therefore the most important determinant for equitable cancer care in the country. So far, 57 anti-cancer drugs are already under price control as scheduled formulations. 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines have now been selected for price regulation by restricting trade margin on the selling price (MRP) up to 30%. These would cover 72 formulations and 355 brands as per data available with NPPA. More data is being collected from hospitals and manufacturers to finalise the list. As per data available with NPPA, the MRP for 105 brands will be reduced up to 85%.

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IRCTC LAUNCHES PAYMENT AGGREGATOR, IRCTC IPAY

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched its own payment aggregator system IRCTC iPay, a step which will help promote Government’s Digital India initiative. A statement from the railways’ catering and ticketing arm said the exclusive digital payment gateway will provide an improved online digital payment convenience and ease of doing business to passengers availing online travel related services through the IRCTC website. With the launch of IRCTC iPay, the passengers will not need any third-party platforms as the IRCTC iPay provides payment options like credit card, debit card, UPI — Unified Payment Interface, International Card. The option of IRCTC prepaid card cum wallet, auto debit shall also be available shortly, the statement said. Under this new arrangement, IRCTC will have full control of the payment system because of its direct relationship with acquiring banks, card networks and other partners.

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TELANGANA GOVT COLLABORATES WITH GLOBALLINKER TO CONNECT MSMES WITH DIGITAL PLATFORM

With an aim to accelerate financial inclusion of MSMEs in Telangana, the state government collaborated with GlobalLinker and launched a digital networking platform called ‘Telangana State GlobalLinker’. The platform, besides offering a host of benefits to MSME members such as digitisation, an e-commerce store and access to business efficiency tools would enable Telangana’s MSMEs to connect to a global community of small and large businesses. Jayesh Ranjan said Digitisation is going to be one of the game changers for MSME businesses as it helps them cater to customers beyond local boundaries, allows their profit to grow twice as fast and substantially increases their contribution to GDP. This platform will facilitate MSMEs with a digital platform to allow them to create a digital profile for their business, connect with other global MSMEs, enable them to find buyers and suppliers, gain visibility and receive up-to-date industry trends and news.

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THE EFFORTS ICAR IN AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT HAVE HELPED IN ENHANCING THE COUNTRY'S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY

Radha Mohan Singh said that Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has achieved many notable successes during last 10 decades despite the challenges. This has helped the country in increasing production and productivity through new research and development of new production technologies and varieties. During 2010-2014, 448 varieties were released for cultivation whereas in the last four and a half years, a total of 1014 advanced varieties have been developed for cultivation. Along with this, the registration of 24 new breeds of livestock and poultry was approved taking the total registered indigenous breeds in the country to 184. Shri Singh added that problems related to climate change have been adequately addressed and 45 Integrated Farming System (IFS) models have been developed including all the 15 agro-climatic regions to benefit small and marginal farmers. The ICAR has supplemented the Government’s Soil Health Card initiative and has developed a mini Lab Mridaparikshak for soil testing. To promote organic farming and to bring it in the mainstream, 42 organic farming models have been developed. He informed that so far 60 agricultural universities have been accredited by the National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB). Ranking of 57 Agricultural Universities has been done in an effort to improve their status in the World University Rankings. The amount of National Talent scholarship for UG and PG students has been increased to Rs.3000 and Rs. 5000 per month, respectively. He informed that ICAR institutes and State Agricultural Universities have developed several Mobile Apps for the benefit of farmers some of the Apps like ‘PulsExpert’ for pulses and ‘PusaKrishi’ Mobile App are important. To promote the fishery industry, the ‘Vanami Shrimp’ Mobile App has been developed this year.

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FOODGRAINS PRODUCTION MAY FALL 1PC TO 281.37 MT: AGRI MIN

India's foodgrains production is estimated to decline by one per cent to 281.37 million tonne in 2018-19 despite record rice output, as the country is likely to harvest lower coarse cereals and pulses crops, the government said on Thursday. The country had produced 284.83 million tonne (MT) in the 2017-18 crop year (July-June). Total foodgrains production in the country is estimated at 281.37 MT, the union agriculture ministry said in a statement while releasing the second advance estimates for 2018-19. The production figures are subject to revision on account of more precise information flowing over time, it added. The cumulative rainfall in the country during the monsoon season (June to September 2018) was 9 per cent lower than long period average (LPA). As per the data, rice production is estimated to touch record 115.60 MT in 2018-19 from 112.91 MT in the previous year. Wheat output is pegged slightly lower at 99.12 MT from 99.70 MT in the previous year. The production of coarse cereals is estimated to fall at 42.64 MT from 46.99 MT in the previous year. Pulses output, too, is seen lower at 24.02 MT from record 25.23 MT during the period under review. Among non-foodgrain crops, total oilseeds production during 2018-19 is estimated at 31.50 MT as against 31.3 MT in the previous year. Sugarcane output is estimated at 380.83 MT from 376.9 MT. Production of cotton has been pegged lower at 30.09 million bales (of 170 kg each) from 34.88 million bales, while jute & mesta output is seen at 10.07 million bales (of 180 kg each) against 10.13 million bales.

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ENVIRONMENT MINISTER HARSH VARDHAN LAUNCHES ANTHEM ON 'PLASTIC-FREE INDIA' IN SEVEN LANGUAGES

Harsh Vardhan Thursday launched an anthem as a part of a campaign to make India plastic-free by 2022, and stressed on strengthening plastic waste management and recycling ecosystem in the country. The 'Plastic Waste-Free India' has been anthem, prepared and produced by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Smriti Manch (PDUSM), a non-profit organisation which claims to be working on various social and environmental issues. The anthem has been launched in seven languages -- Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telegu, Malyalam and Kannada.

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97,000 ANALYTICS AND DATA SCIENCE POSITIONS VACANT DUE TO TALENT DEARTH: STUDY

Close to 97,000 positions related to analytics and data science are currently vacant due to a dearth of qualified talent, according to a study. A majority of these job openings are for junior level roles and the number of unfilled positions has seen an increase of 45% over last year, indicating the widening talent gap in the industry. 70% of analytics openings are for candidates with less than 5 years of experience with Bengaluru being a hub for data science jobs. The top 10 organisations that have posted the highest number of job openings this year are Accenture, Amazon, KPMG, Honeywell, Wells Fargo, E&Y, Dell International, eClerx Services and Deloitte, according to findings of the study. A 45% increase in the supply gap in just one year indicates the pace at which businesses are adopting analytics and data-based decision making. In the last few years, many large players have been forced to acqui-hire talent to keep the wind in their sails, said Hari Krishnan Nair.

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AIIB AND INDIA SIGN US$ 455 MILLION LOAN TO IMPROVE RURAL CONNECTIVITY IN STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Government of India signed a USD 455 million loan in New Delhi to finance the Andhra Pradesh Rural Roads Project, which will connect some 3,300 habitations with a population of more than 250, and benefit around two Million people. The objective of the Project is to improve road transport connectivity in previously unserved communities by providing all weather rural roads in all 13 Districts of the State of Andhra Pradesh.

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INDIA SUSPENDS SAMJHAUTA EXPRESS ON ITS END, LACK OF OCCUPANCY BEHIND DECISION

The Railways has decided to suspend operations of the Indo-Pak Samjhauta Express on its side due to drastic decline in occupancy especially after the Pulwama terror attack, sources said. The Railway Board has decided to cancel all operations from the train's next scheduled run. With no passengers from Pakistan, it makes no sense to run it on our end. Hopefully we will be able to resume services once the tension de-escalates, a source said. At least 40 passengers from both countries are believed to be stranded at Attari, the sources said.

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CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR TO DELIVER THE KEY NOTE ADDRESS

Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India will be delivering the Keynote Address of the 4th National Conference on Economics of Competition Law. The one-day Conference is an endeavour to develop and sustain interest in the Economics of Competition Law and create a critical mass of antitrust economists. The Conference brings together scholars, practitioners, academicians and experts working in the area of economics of competition law and mentors future antitrust economists through this platform. Knowledge sharing and discussions at the conference go beyond case specific sessions and provide the economic milieu for the enforcement of the Act. It provides an ideal platform for understanding the economic perspectives of competition law.

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ONLY 30% OF WIND CAPACITY COMMISSIONED DUE TO UNVIABLE BIDS, POLICY DELAY

Of the around 2943 megawatt (MW) capacity of wind power that was bid out in 2017, less than 30 per cent has been commissioned so far. Industry officials point out unviable bidding and delay in formulation in Gujarat’s new land policy has contributed to the slow implementation. Of the 2943 MW capacity was bid out through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, data sourced from industry sources shows around 825 MW has been commissioned so far. The slow execution in turn has left the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) industry with 10 per cent utilization and revenue loss. The combination of unviable bidding and delays in Gujarat's land policy has led to idling of capacity for OEMs. The expected timeline for wind power projects in 18 months, but most have missed that deadline, said DV Giri. About 1049 MW capacity was auctioned under SECI-1 round in February 2017 and another 1000 MW under the second round in October 2017. In an email response, J P Chalasani, said, Suzlon is the only Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) player to have completed the entire project (250 MW) awarded in the SECI 1 auction ahead of the original schedule and 6 months ahead of SECI’s revised timelines. Capacity utilisation has fallen sharply for us too. Since we are vertically integrated are fixed costs continue to remain high, due to the low volumes. It will impact our revenues, Chalasani added. Delay in a new land policy for Gujarat until recently was another concern for wind power developers and in turn for OEM providers. With falling tariffs developers had planned to build their projects in Gujarat, which has one of the windiest sites in the country. Only last month, the Gujarat government has come out with a land policy for renewable energy projects, which is a welcome move, Chalasani added.

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INDIA WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR WORLD’S CHEAPEST WIND POWER AS DELAYS HIT PROJECTS

India has drawn global attention since it started awarding wind power projects at record-low tariffs, spurring optimism that renewable energy could supplant the nation’s abundant coal resources in electricity generation. But about half of the more than one gigawatt of capacity awarded in the country’s first auctions in 2017 are incomplete, almost five months after their commissioning deadline, according to J.N. Swain, the agency tasked with implementing the country’s renewable energy targets. The South Asian nation has awarded some of the world’s lowest green energy tariffs and became the biggest auctioneer of solar and wind capacity last year, according to Bloomberg NEF. SECI has conducted a total of six rounds of wind auctions since 2017, awarding 8.4 gigawatts of capacity. A large chunk of that capacity auctioned over the last year may take longer than expected to get off the ground, just like the first projects, Swain said in an interview in New Delhi last week. Wind projects have been delayed by problems obtaining land to build the projects and gaining access to the power grid, according to Swain. These issues have also held up other energy developments in India, such as nuclear power plants and oil refineries.

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DEPWD TO ORGANISE ‘NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DEENDAYAL DISABLED REHABILITATION SCHEME’

Shakuntala Doley Gamlin, will be highlighting the need for creation of an inclusive society that accepts and respects persons with disabilities without discrimination. Under the Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme, every year more than 600 NGOs are provided with financial assistance for running their projects for the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities such as Special school, pre-school and early intervention, Half-way Homes and Community Based Rehabilitation etc. The NGOs being funded are providing the rehabilitative services to more than 35000 to 40000 beneficiaries every year. In the implementation process of the scheme, the role of State Government is very crucial. The recommendation from the District Social Welfare Officer and State Government is important in release of grant-in-aid. The budget allocation for the year 2018-19 is Rs. 70.00 crores.

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OPPOSITION 'MAHAGATBANDHAN' WILL SEND COUNTRY TO ICU: PM NARENDRA MODI

Dismissing the 'mahagatbandhan' of opposition parties as 'mahamilavat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said it would send the country to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He suggested that a loss for the party, like in 2004, will jeopardise development works and ease of corruption will replace ease of doing business. The prime minister also said 2014 was a mandate for fulfilling people's necessities while the 2019 election will be about fulfilling people's aspirations. The grand opposition alliance, the 'mahagatbandhan', was highly adulterated, 'mahamilavat', he said.

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PM MODI HAS MISPLACED PRIORITIES, HE IS DESPERATE ONLY FOR RE-ELECTION: CONGRESS

The Congress on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has misplaced priorities and that he was desperate only for re-election It also accused the saffron party leaders of politicising the bravery of the armed forces, while referring to Karnataka BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa's comment that India's pre-emptive strikes on terror camps in Pakistan have created a wave in favour of PM Modi and will help his party win over 22 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Randeep Surjewala, in a tweet, alleged that the prime minister was hell-bent on creating a video-conference record when the entire country was praying for the return of its braveheart pilot. Glaring case of misplaced priorities! 132 Cr Indians pray for safe & immediate return of India's brave-heart Wing Comm, Abhinandan but Modiji desperate only for re-election. Congress cancelled its imp CWC & Rally. Pradhan Sevak hell-bent on creating a Video Conf. record (sic)! Surjewala wrote on Twitter. The prime minister on Thursday had direct dialogue with BJP workers and volunteers as part of the party's 'Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot' programme through, what the party claims, the world's largest video conference

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CS Meetesh Shiroya