GOVERNMENT CANCELS PASSPORTS OF 33 NRIS FOR ABANDONING WIVES
The government has cancelled
passports of 33 non-resident Indians or NRIs for abandoning their wives the
women and child development ministry said Wednesday. The Integrated Nodal
Agency (INA) made to look into the matter has been issuing Look-Out Circulars
to absconding husbands in cases of NRI marriages and till now, 8 LoCs have been
issued and 33 passports have been impounded by the external affairs ministry, a
senior official said. The WCD ministry has also said that a detailed proposal,
including points like mandatory registration of NRI marriages within one week
with penal consequences for non-registration, would be placed before the
Cabinet for its approval. Another clause includes amendments in passport rules
to facilitate its cancellation for absconders, the official said. The WCD
Ministry and NCW(National Commission for Women) are taking every possible step
to protect women in NRI marriages. We serve as a nodal point of contact for
grievances received from women on the dedicated email address nricell-ncw@nic.in
and coordinate the redressal system, the WCD said in a tweet.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
FINTECH COS REMAIN WATCHFUL ON VOLUNTARY USE OF AADHAAR FOR
KYC
While the government’s
move to bring in an ordinance to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar for KYC (know
your customer) has come as a relief to the banking and telecom sectors fintech
companies are unsure if the step will benefit them. Even after multiple
representations, non-banking payment companies appear to have been excluded
from the ordinance for Aadhaar-based customer authentication, industry
executives told. Section 25 of the ordinance makes it clear that authentication
under Aadhaar or eKYC is only allowed for banking companies said Sunil
Kulkarni. The good news for fintech companies is that through the ordinance,
addition of offline Aadhaar verification use has been incorporated and is
broad-based to include financial services and not just subsidies and benefit
payments. Offline verification will be available for ‘reporting entities.’ Industry
executives said payment companies might reach out to the Reserve Bank of India
to understand the next step in the KYC process. Permission to use offline
Aadhaar could emerge as a ray of hope for fintech companies, many of which are
burdened with paper-based documentation process for customer authentication.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
INADEQUATE ATM INFRA COULD HIT INDIA'S FINANCIAL INCLUSION
PLAN
The government’s aim to
drive financial inclusion could face a major roadblock if the ATM
infrastructure continues to be inadequate, the Confederation of ATM industries
of India told a central bank committee. Himanshu Pujara, which is a collective
of about 20 ATM companies, said the industry had requested for an increase in
interchange for inter-bank ATM transactions in at least rural ATMs, so that the
cash dispensing business there becomes viable. In a presentation made to the
Reserve Bank of India’s committee on deepening of digital payments, headed by
Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani, the industry body suggested an increase in
the fee to Rs 18 from Rs 15 currently for financial transactions and to Rs 8
from Rs 5 for non-financial transactions. A look at the number reveals that
cash is back in the economy, card transactions on ATMs are also increasing, but
rural ATM infrastructure is not up to the mark, said Pujara. We need to deploy
(ATMs) in tier 3-6 locations to bridge the demand and supply gap for cash, but
fresh deployment has completely halted. Data from the RBI show that rural
areas, where more than 77 crore people live, have only 41,000 ATMs, indicating
the skewed spread of the cash machines, Pujara said. As per RBI figures, the
number of ATMs has remained around 2.2 lakh for quite some time now. The number
has reduced post the demonetisation days. Meanwhile, compliance cost has gone
up for banks and the ATM industry, with the central bank having strengthened
rules for cash transit. Also, ATMs have been updated to read chip and pin cards
so that security can be enhanced.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
SOON, ONLINE DATABASE OF DEPOSIT TAKERS
The government took
another step towards investor's protection by issuing the ordinance to ban the
Unregulated Deposit Schemes, more commonly known as Ponzi schemes. The intent
of this Ordinance is to check illicit deposit activities in the country. There
are operators who take money from small investors and lure them with higher
interest rates with an intention to defraud them. The introduction of this
ordinance will act as a roadblock for these operators. As per the ordinance,
Unregulated Deposit Schemes are schemes or arrangements under which deposits in
the form of money received by way of an advance or loan or in any other form
are accepted or solicited by any deposit taker by way of business and are not
regulated by any regulator. No deposit taker shall now be allowed to directly
or indirectly promote, operate, issue any advertisement soliciting
participation or acceptance of deposits in pursuance of an Unregulated Deposit
Scheme. Deposit takers include all possible entities (including individuals)
except banks and certain specific entities. Individuals are now prevented from
taking any deposit or loan from any person other than their relatives.
Partnership firms can now take deposits or loans only from relatives of their
partners. Issuance of this ordinance raised concerns amongst small businesses
in terms of genuine transactions. These were later clarified by the Ministry of
Finance - exempting loans/advances availed by individuals, firms, companies
& LLP, etc. in the course of business as per Section 2(4) E, F, I and other
provisions. Further, individuals taking loans or money from relatives or
friends for marriage, medical emergency, business needs or any other personal
reasons are also not covered within the ambit of the said ordinance. The
Ordinance also provides for punishment ranging from one to 10 years of
imprisonment, along with a fine ranging from Rs 2 lakh to 50 crore, to act as a
deterrent from committing any offence. Further, it also provides for attachment
of properties or assets and subsequent realisation of assets for repayment to
depositors.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
SERVICES PMI GAINS MOMENTUM, RISES TO 52.5 IN FEB FROM 52.2 IN
JAN
The country's services
sector activity gathered momentum in February, driven by a quicker expansion in
new work orders that supported a faster increase in output and job creation, a
monthly survey showed Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services
Business Activity Index rose from 52.2 in January to 52.5 in February,
indicating an upturn in output. The services PMI was in the expansion territory
for the ninth straight month. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means
expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. New business received
by services companies rose to a greater extent in February amid strengthening
underlying demand, the survey said adding that the upturn in new orders in the
services sector was domestically driven, as highlighted by a renewed
contraction in external sales. According to Pollyanna De Lima, Principal
Economist at IHS Markit, and author of the report, Faster increases in new work
and business activity supporting one of the best upturns in jobs for eight
years. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output
Index, that maps both the manufacturing and services industry, rose from 53.6
in January to 53.8, indicating acceleration in private sector activity in the
country. Meanwhile price pressures waned as almost 97 per cent of panellists
reported no change in their selling prices.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
LAND, LABOUR REFORMS NEEDED TO AID MANUFACTURING: CEA
India’s next government
will have to bring in land, labour and financial sector reforms to improve the
productivity of the manufacturing sector and boost economic growth,
Krishnamurthy Subramanian said. These are the critical areas, we need to work
on, Subramanian said. Several business leaders said a delay in land acquisition
for private factories, decades-old restrictive labour laws and higher borrowing
costs discourage many investors, who therefore prefer to build new plants in
countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh. The share of manufacturing in
the economy has grown just 1.5 percentage points in the last three years to 18
per cent, and goods exports have shown little sign of a pick up in the last
five years. India’s economic growth rate has decelerated to a five-quarter low
of 6.6 percent in the last quarter of 2018, dragged down by lower growth in
consumer demand and government spending, raising concerns among policymakers
and politicians. But brushing aside concerns about an economic slowdown,
Subramanian said the present government's economic reforms have contributed to
an average annual growth rate of 7.3 percent over the past five years. Land
costs have more than doubled over the past five years, and hiring costs have gone
up significantly, hitting labour intensive sectors like textile, leather and
gems and jewellery, business leaders said. The country faces an uphill task to
create jobs and shift millions of unemployed and underemployed youth from the
rural farm sector to urban areas. We have a population that is growing at less
than one per cent and the food is growing more than 3 per cent, he said
referring to fall in prices of food items. Because there is a surplus, the
prices will go down, said Subramanian, adding that India’s farm sector faced a
real crisis and needed government intervention. The average annual income of
farm households was just ₹30,000 he said, and the government’s plan to directly transfer
₹6,000 annually to each of about 120 million farmer households
would help them as well as the economy. Subramanian said the economy was on a
stronger footing thanks to economic reforms, higher State spending on
infrastructure and fall in inflation which has strengthened the domestic
consumer demand and private investments. We are poised for growth because some
of the requirements for a sustained growth without speed breakers have been
erected, he said adding the economy could grow at 7.2 to 7.5 per cent in the
next fiscal year beginning April 1.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
MSMES URGE NAVEEN PATNAIK TO CHANGE STATUS OF ALLOTTED LANDS
TO FREEHOLD
Micro, small & medium
enterprises (MSMEs) in Odisha represented by nine industry associations, have
urged chief minister Naveen Patnaik to change the status of allotted lands from
leasehold to freehold There are around 50,000 MSME units operating in 106
industrial estates in the state where around 4200 units have been allocated
nearly 5000 acres of land against due payment. These MSME units provide direct employment
to 150,000 workers supporting around 500,000 families. The industry bodies rued
that the growth of MSME has been substantially retarded for inadequate credit
flow, non-availability of real time co-lateral security and the need of various
NOCs (no objection certificates) due to leasehold nature of the land. It
discourages establishment of new enterprises, they said.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
UJJWALA LEADS TO 40 MN NEW LPG CONNECTIONS WITH A JUMP OF 45%
IN FY19
The push for clean energy
through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has led to a record 40.7
million new liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections being added in the
current fiscal year (2018-19, or FY19). This is a jump of 45 per cent over
2017-18 (FY18). The three oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL)
— have together set a target of adding 42.5 million customers by the end of
March 31. The rising number of Ujjwala customers is, however, increasing the
government’s subsidy burden. The LPG subsidy during the first nine months of
the current fiscal year has already crossed the last year’s mark by 23 per
cent. The government shelled out Rs 25,700-crore subsidy during April-December
2018, compared to Rs 20,880 crore during the whole of FY18. The Budget for
2019-20 had, however, provided only Rs 20,283 crore in the Revised Estimates
for FY19. The government expects the LPG subsidy to rise 62 per cent to Rs
32,989 crore next year. A part of this is expected to be rolled over from the
current year. There were around 148 million LPG consumers in India on March 31,
2015. The number has increased by about 77 per cent to 261.6 million now.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GOVERNMENT MAY ISSUE ORDINANCE TO RESTORE SC/ST FACULTY QUOTA
IN UNIVERSITIES
In a last ditch effort to
counter political opposition and a social backlash against dilution of
university faculty reservations ahead of the elections, the Modi government is
likely to issue an ordinance this week to restore the earlier system of quotas
for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. The
ordinance to impose reservation university-wise instead of by department is set
to be taken up on March 6, when the Union Cabinet meets possibly for the last
time to clear projects and schemes before the model code of conduct comes into
force with the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule. The Cabinet is
also expected to approve an additional allocation of about Rs 4,000 crore to
fund implementation of the 10% quota for economically weaker classes in higher
education institutes, officials said. The ordinance on university faculty
quotas will clearly say that a Central Educational Institution shall be
regarded as one unit for the purpose of reservation of posts.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
DELHI GOVERNMENT DRAFTS POLICY TO CHECK FOOD WASTAGE AT SOCIAL
FUNCTIONS
The Delhi government has drafted
a policy to keep a check on the wastage of food at social functions in the
national capital. All organisers and caterers will have to register themselves
with NGOs to manage the surplus and leftover food for distribution among the
underprivileged, says the draft policy. The caterer should make proper
arrangements to handover fresh surplus and leftover food to these NGOs reads
the Draft 'Policy for Holding Social Functions in Hotels, Motels and
Low-Density Residential Area (LDRA) in National Capital Territory of Delhi'.
According to the draft policy, the owner, organiser, and the caterer must have
the necessary permissions including FSSAI license from Delhi's Department of
Food Safety, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to run their kitchens or to
sell or serve prepared food for the guest and the consumer. The Commissioner
Food Safety shall ensure that the above conditions are strictly followed; any
violation thereof would invite action from the deployed officers by the
Commissioner Food Safety, the draft policy reads. The rules will be enforced by
periodical inspections, which shall be conducted by officers of various state
stakeholder agencies.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ECOURTS APP BRINGS REFORMS IN JUSTICE DELIVERY SYSTEM
eCourts services is touted
as a revolution in court management in the country and is expected to speed up
India’s quest for attaining top ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing
Business. A new digital app, available on both android and iOS, has already
seen 17 lakh downloads within few months of its launch, recording almost 5,000
downloads a day, making it so popular that it has bagged the top Digital India
award this year. This mobile application gives case status and entire case
history of almost all 3.2 crore pending cases across 21 high courts and about
18,000 district & subordinate courts in India. Barring the Supreme Court
and four high courts of Delhi, Bombay, Karnataka and MP, all 21 other HCs in
the country have been linked through the app along with subordinate courts giving
details of all pending cases. Using the app, litigants and lawyers can e-pay
court fees, have a one-point solution to view entire case history, cause list,
download judgments and can store multiple cases within the app to monitor their
progress. E-Courts Services App is useful to citizen, litigants, lawyers,
police, government agencies and other institutional litigants, said Justice
Madan B Lokur, retired Supreme Court judge who spearheaded the computerisation
and modernising of courts over the last decade which has helped in expeditious
service delivery and disposal of cases. Justice Lokur told that this new app is
one of the most significant court reforms initiated in the country so far and
would help in not only tracking court cases but would also help the higher
judiciary in monitoring performance of judges of the district and subordinate
courts—how much time each of them spend on each case and the number of times
cases are adjourned in their courts. Next big task on hand is to ensure
installation of information kiosks at all court premises, Justice Lokur said.
One of the important aspects of this eCourt app is that it provides option of
saving your case history within the app and scanning the QR code assigned to a
case to obtain case history. The setting up of Judicial Service Centres in each
court complexes with facilities of touch screen information kiosks and waiting
area for litigants will act as a single window system where a host of eServices
can be accessed, such as e-filing of cases, obtaining certified copies of
orders and judgments and case status. Maintained by NIC, the portal has
recorded 24.11 crore e-transactions so far, according to law ministry and has
been ranked among top five of the government’s eGovernance projects.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ELECTIONS 2019: POLITICAL PARTIES TO SPEND ₹400 CRORE ON OUTDOOR ADS
ALONE
Political parties are
expected to spend as much as ₹400 crore on outdoor ads ahead of Elections 2019 due by May,
according to media buyers. Outdoor has specific nuances, which is physical and
locational in nature. It cannot be switched off, skipped or blocked. It is this
physical presence that makes it the most transparent of mediums, said Sujit
Banerjee. Apart from general elections, outdoor advertising is expected to take
centre stage this year due to events such as the ICC Cricket World Cup. Overall
out-of-home (OOH) advertising is poised for disruptive growth in the next 8-12
months. Events such as general elections, big sporting events such as Indian
Premier League and ICC World Cup followed by assembly elections in a few big
states will help drive its usage, said Fabian Cowan. With an estimated size of ₹3,000-5,000
crore the outdoor medium will continue to grow at an annual average growth rate
of 10%. Another emerging advertising category propelling this growth is
over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video and Zee5, among others.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GOVT’S NEW AADHAAR CAMPAIGN TO MENTION PM KISAN NIDHI SCHEME,
EARLIER IT RETURN FILING
A new TV and radio
campaign on Aadhaar is expected to include the pitch that having an Aadhaar
number will benefit crores of farmers spread across the country as they can get
their yearly assistance of Rs 6,000 under PM Kisan Nidhi Samman Scheme directly
into their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. The campaign, with mini-films and
audio spots, will also focus on how Aadhaar is making filing Income Tax Returns
(ITR) easier to verify your ITR in a jiffy and doing away with the need to send
a physical copy to the processing centre in Bengaluru. This is the brief given
for the campaign to prospective bidders this year after Aadhaar was made
non-compulsory for a host of services after a Supreme Court order and limited
only to government subsidies and services. The government had decided to accept
Aadhaar enrolment number for giving out the first instalment under the PM Kisan
Nidhi Samman scheme while an Aadhaar number shall be compulsory for release of
2nd instalment. The Union Cabinet on February 28 relaxed conditions to made
Aadhaar seeding of the beneficiaries' data compulsory only from the third
instalment so as to not cause discontent among farmers since the seeding
required biometric authentication. The government has similarly made Aadhaar
compulsory for availing medical insurance services under the PM-JAY Ayushman
Bharat scheme to eliminate frauds or misappropriation attempts. The number of
total authentications done by people using an Aadhaar had dropped to a year’s
low last November of just 824 million following the SC order on September 26,
2018 but have since picked up again with 964 million authentications in January
this year and 868 million last month, as per the online dashboard of Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). This shows people are back to using
Aadhaar for a host of services, officials claim. This seems to have prompted
the government to come out with an ordinance on February 28 which allows the
voluntary use of Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by
authentication or offline verification with the consent of Aadhaar number
holder and for authentication on voluntary basis as acceptable KYC document
under the Telegraph Act, 1885 and the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
DELHI-NCR OVERTAKES MAHARASHTRA AS INDIA'S TOP FDI DESTINATION
The New Delhi region,
which covers the national capital and parts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Haryana,
has pipped long-standing leader Maharashtra, in attracting FDI (foreign direct
investment) equity inflows into the country. New Delhi received FDI equity
inflows to the tune of Rs 57,333 crore ($8.3 billion) in the first nine months
of 2018-19 (FY19), data released by DIPP (Department for Promotion of Industry
and Internal Trade) showed. FDI equity inflows aggregated about $33.5 billion
in first nine months of fiscal year 2018-19, a 7% decline compared to the same
corresponding period in the previous fiscal year. Though Tamil Nadu’s share in
FDI inflows declined to 14% in the first nine months of FY2018-19 from 18%
during the corresponding period in FY2017-18, it was much higher than the 3%
share in the same period in FY2016-17, data showed. Maharashtra, which had the
highest share in FDI in the first nine months of fiscal 2016-17 (49%), has
witnessed a consistent drop in its share. Its share in total FDI flows fell to
32% during the same corresponding period in fiscal 2017-18 and further to 24%
in the same period in FY2018-19. In contrast, Delhi has seen a sustained
increase in its share in total FDI equity inflows — from 14% in first nine
months in FY2016-17 to 17% in FY2017-18 and further to 25% in the same period
in FY2018-19. Maharashtra’s FDI inflows fell 30% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs
56,346 crore ($8.02 billion) in the first nine months of FY19 while that of
Tamil Nadu contracted 26% y-o-y to Rs 14,166 crore ($2.05 billion), DIPP data
showed. FDI inflows into Karnataka also slumped 26% y-o-y to Rs 33,014 crore
($4.74 billion). Gujarat, however, saw higher inflows — from $787 million in
the first nine months of FY2017-18 to about $1.7 billion in the same
corresponding period in FY2018-19. Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and
Gujarat received nearly 75% of the total FDI equity inflows into the country in
the first nine months of FY2018-19. The top-5 sectors — services, computer
hardware and software, chemicals, telecommunication and trading— accounted for
nearly 65% of total FDI equity inflows. During the first nine months of
FY2018-19, chemicals received highest FDI inflows of $6.07 billion, which was
18% of the total FDI equity inflows during this timeframe. It was much higher
than the 3% share of the sector in the comparable period last year and was five
times more than the inflows amounting to $1.1 billion in the first nine months
of FY2017-18. It was followed by services with nearly 17.7% share and by
computer software and hardware (14% share). While inflows in the services
sector grew by 28% y-o-y, it declined 8% in computer hardware and software.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
LOKPAL SEARCH PANEL RECOMMENDS FINAL NAMES TO PM
The Justice Ranjana
Desai-led search committee for appointment of Lokpal has finalised its
recommendations for the chairperson and eight members of the anti-corruption
ombudsman. The committee, sources told, has sent a list comprising five names
for Lokpal and 24 names for members of the anti-graft body — three each for
eight positions — to PM Narendra Modi, who heads the Lokpal selection
committee. The eight-member search panel, formed in September, held its first
meeting in January. It held several meetings after February 22, the last day
for receiving applications and nominations for appointment as Lokpal. Working
against the February 28 deadline fixed by the SC to recommend names, the panel
is understood to have forwarded the list to the PM on Friday. The selection
committee, which is headed by the PM and has CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and former advocate general Mukul Rohatgi as members,
may meet soon. While Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge is designated as a
special invitee on the selection panel, he to attend its meetings, saying
invitation as special invitee without the right of participation, recording of
opinion and voting is an eyewash. The senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP
also accused the government of making a concerted effort to keep an important
member of the selection committee out, which has implications on selection of
the Lokpal.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
AADHAAR CAN BE USED VOLUNTARILY AS ID PROOF, PRESIDENT SIGNS
ORDINANCE
President Ram Nath Kovind
has given his assent to an ordinance that allows voluntary use of Aadhaar as ID
proof for obtaining mobile SIM cards and opening bank accounts. The ordinance
-- necessitated because the Rajya Sabha could not approve a Bill after its passage
by the Lok Sabha -- was promulgated on Saturday. The amendments make it clear
that anyone not offering Aadhaar cannot be denied any service, be it opening of
a bank account or obtaining a mobile phone SIM card.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
NITI AAYOG TO DRAW UP LIST OF CPSES' NON-CORE ASSETS FOR
MONETISATION
Niti Aayog has been tasked
with drawing up a list of non-core assets of various CPSEs both healthy and
sick ones, as the first step towards finance ministry's plan to monetise such
assets and unlock value to shareholders. This is part of the overall plans of
the government to lay down procedure and mechanism for monetisation of non-core
assets of central public sector undertakings (CPSEs), which include mainly land
and building. Niti Aayog will draw up the list of non-core assets owned by
CPSEs which can be sold separately after discussion with a consultative group
comprising officials from administrative ministries, Department of Economic
Affairs, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), an
official told PTI. The process would take about six months' time, the official
added. The report of Niti Aayog will be taken up by the alternative mechanism
on disinvestment, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, following which the
CPSE and the respective administrative ministry will further proceed with the
monetisation process, the official added. So far the disinvestment process was
confined to a corporate level. Now, it will go one step down and monetise
non-core assets of CPSEs to unlock wealth and generate value on equity for
shareholders, the official added. It is pertinent to mention here that in 2016
Niti Aayog was also asked to draw up a list of CPSEs which could go in for a
strategic sale. It has already identified about 35 CPSEs which could go in for
outright sale. The nine CPSEs whose non-core assets have been identified for
hiving off are Pawan Hans, Scooters India, Air India, Bharat Pumps &
Compressors, Project & Development India Ltd (PDIL), Hindustan Prefab,
Hindustan Newsprint, Bridge and Roof Co and Hindustan Fluorocarbons.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
BANKS STILL NEED TO LEND RS 1 TRILLION TO MEET FY19 MUDRA
TARGET: GOVT DATA
With less than one month
left in the current financial, banks will have to work overtime to meet the
Mudra loan lending target of Rs 3 trillion, as only about Rs 2 trillion have
been disbursed till February 22. As on February 22, the total loan disbursed
under the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd (Mudra) scheme stood
at Rs 2,02,668.9 crore as against sanctioned amount of Rs 2,10,759.51 crore,
said a government data. The latest data of the finance ministry said over 3.89
crore Mudra loans have been sanctioned this fiscal so far. According to the
Budget 2018-19, the government intends to disburse loans of up to Rs 3 trillion
in the current financial year ending March 31. In 2017-18, the lending at Rs
2,46,437.40 crore had exceeded the target. In fact, lending under the scheme
has exceeded the targets in all previous fiscal.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
369 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FACING COST OVERRUNS, 366 DELAYED:
REPORT
As many as 369
infrastructure projects of the total 1,420 under implementation are facing cost
overruns while another 366 are significantly delayed, according to a report.
The report Infrastructure & Real Estate: A fulcrum for Change &
Economic Growth by Property consultant ANAROCK and Association of
Infrastructure Industry (India) said the government should accord high priority
to the infra sector. It said India's vision to enter the $ 5 trillion club
economy by 2025 depends on the development of infrastructure and real estate
that contribute 29.5 per cent to the GDP. The sheer impact of challenges faced
by the infrastructure projects is visible from these statistics - of the total 1,420
projects under implementation, 369 projects are facing time overruns to the
tune of Rs 3.38 trillion of cost overrun and an average time of 46 months for
366 delayed projects, the report said. To expedite infrastructure development
along with maintaining the ecological and political balance, the government
must give high importance to addressing the challenges, it said. If negligence
towards such factors is continued the sector which is expected to fuel the
overall economic growth of the country and generate employment opportunities
will lose its shine which will thereby hamper the economic growth of the
country, it said. The report said infrastructure and real estate sector's
contribution to India's GDP is the highest at 29.5 per cent compared to 22.6
per cent in the US and 17.6 per cent in China.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GOVERNMENT PLANS SKILL VOUCHERS TO MAKE YOUTH MORE SKILFUL
The government is
considering issuing skill vouchers or skill wallets to incentivise youths to
undertake skilling programme of their own choice. The vouchers can be used to
pay for skill training at any of the approved skill providers, a senior
government official told. The redeemable value of these vouchers/wallets will
depend on the courses opted, the official said. This is against the existing
system where trainers and employers are subsidised to impart skills training
and apprenticeship. The move is in line with the government’s plan to shift
from subsidy-based system to incentive-based Skill India mission The official
said the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship is deliberating on
ways to incentivise India’s youth to take on skilling programmes and one of the
ways of doing this is to issue vouchers/wallets that can be redeemed by
students after the skills training is imparted. It is expected to empower the
youth to opt for courses of their choices besides ensuring trainers impart
quality training. The plan is to issue 100% redeemable wallets/vouchers for
skills training in sectors like construction as the starting salary earned in
these sectors is generally not enough for the youth to bear the cost of
training. However, for courses like those of beautician or fashion designing where
the starting salary is good, the vouchers will be partly redeemable and the
remaining cost will have to be borne by the candidate. The Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is of the view that enough
consolidation and upgradation has happened in the last four years under the
Skill India Mission, but it is now time to experiment with an altogether new
model to making skilling aspirational for India’s youth. Less than 5% of
India’s workforce is formally skilled, compared to South Korea (96%), Japan
(80%), Germany (75%), United Kingdom (68%) and the United States (52%),
according to MSDE’s annual report for 2015-16.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GOVT APPROVES PENSION OPTION FOR OVER 42,000 EMPLOYEES OF PSU
INSURERS
In a big bonanza to over
42,000 employees of public sector insurance companies, the government Saturday
decided to give one more pension option as retirement benefit to these left
over officers and staff who missed the opportunity in the past. This benefit is
applicable to those who have joined any of the Public Sector Insurance
Companies (PSICs) on or before June 28, 1995. To benefit 42720 employees
including 10720 senior citizens, Arun Jaitley said in a tweet. These employees
had opted for contributory provident fund instead of pension option
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ASSETS OF SONIA, RAHUL AND MANEKA GANDHI GREW MANIFOLD IN 10
YEARS: REPORT
Assets of most
politicians, representing various Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha constituencies, have grown
manifold between 2004 and 2019, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)
said. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi's assets grew by Rs 8 crore between 2004
and 2014. While that of Maneka Gandhi's increased by Rs 30 crore, the report
revealed. Mulayam Singh Yadav's assets grew by Rs 14 crore from 2004 to 2014,
it added. In 2007, legislators who were re-elected in 2012, saw a phenomenal
growth in their assets from an average of Rs 1.2 crore in 2007 to Rs 3.87 crore
in 2012 and Rs 7.74 crore in 2017. Of the 19,971 candidates who were considered
for the analysis, 1,443 MPs and 38 per cent legislators had admitted of
criminal records against them. Of these, 328 legislators and MP's have serious
criminal charges against them, it said.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
DELHI CABINET APPROVES 1,000 ELECTRIC BUSES
In a major move to fight
air pollution, the Delhi cabinet on Saturday approved 1,000 Low Floor AC
Electric Buses for the national capital, claiming to be the first Indian city
to have such a large number of e-buses. Kailash Gahlot said the decision will
help in ensuring a cleaner and greener future for the people of Delhi. Delhi
will become the first Indian city to have such a large no of electric buses,
Kejriwal tweeted. The number of passengers carried daily by Delhi Transport
Corp (DTC) and cluster buses is some 43 lakh, according to official data. This
is more than the 25 lakh ferried every day by Delhi Metro. The cabinet also
gave its approval to allow the Transport Department to ask the prospective
bidders to bring the buses with CCTV, Automatic Vehicle Tracking System (AVTS),
Panic buttons and Panic alarms as per the specification finalized by the
government, it said. A subsidy of up to Rs 75 lakh per bus or 60 per cent of
cost of bus, whichever is lesser, shall be provided in three instalments along
with the safeguards as prescribed by the Delhi government.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
EVMS BEING TREATED LIKE ‘FOOTBALL’: CEC
Electronic voting machines
are being treated like football, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said
on Friday in the wake of political parties expressing apprehensions on the
working of EVMs EVMs are being used for the past over two decades. If we take
results of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls into account, the results of the Delhi
Assembly polls, four months after, were different. We have made EVMs football,
knowingly or unknowingly. If the result is X, then EVMs are okay, and if it is
Y, then EVMs are faulty, Arora said. He was also asked about the Election
Commission’s view on the apprehensions raised by political parties over the
functioning of EVMs. We have taken cognisance of sentiments of people and
started the use of VVPAT (voter-verifiable paper audit trail). There were some
problems initially, but arrangements have been made (for its use), Arora said. Defending
the use of EVMs, the CEC said, these (EVMs) are made by highly-secure companies
— Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited
(ECIL), which are involved in making defence equipment. He said a technical
advisory committee is there to keep an eye on EVM arrangements. It has decisive
powers, which even the EC did not have. This committee has the best of
scientists. Therefore, there are no chances of doubts, Arora said.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
DUE PROCEDURES NOT FOLLOWED IN 2017 POLLS: RETURNING OFFICER
IN HC
A deputy collector who was
Dholka constituency’s returning officer for the 2017 Assembly polls admitted to
the Gujarat High Court on Friday that he did not videograph or follow due
process of re-verification of all postal ballots, as per the provision. Dhaval
Jani is a witness in the trial on the election petition moved by Congress
leader Ashwin Rathod, who has challenged the victory of state education
minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama in the polls. Rathod lost to Chudasama by a
margin of a mere 327 votes, and said he lost because the returning officer
illegally invalidated 429 postal votes. He has also alleged that Jani was
transferred to Dholka by Chudasama’s design, despite the model code of conduct,
to win the election. On whether he breached the provision of the Handbook of
the Returning Officers, 2014. (directive 15.15.5.1), Jani said he may have
skipped a few steps, but the intention was never to be in breach of Election
Commission directives. As per the handbook, in case the victory margin is less
than the total number of postal ballots received, there should be mandatory
re-verification of all postal ballots. The Observer and RO (returning officer)
shall record the findings of re-verification and satisfy themselves before
finalising the result. The entire proceeding should be videographed without
compromising the secrecy of ballot and the video cassette/CD should be sealed
in a separate envelope for future reference. Percy Kavina, representing Rathod,
presented as evidence to the court the CCTV footage of the counting hall during
the counting process to show that Jani had not announced as mandated that the
postal ballot count had finished.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
WILL RISE IN CLAIMS BUMP UP INSURANCE PREMIUM UNDER AYUSHMAN
BHARAT?
Tamil Nadu, which has
integrated the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS)
with the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, has submitted 1.25 lakh claims so far
totalling ₹274 crore United India Insurance, the State’s insurance
partner for the earlier CMCHIS, currently charges a premium of ₹699
per cover, which is borne by the State (under Ayushman, it is split between the
Centre and the State in 60:40 ratio for 77 lakh beneficiaries). The existing
tender comes up for renewal in 2022. The fact that the State’s health scheme
has been in operation for over seven years, and claims have more or less
stabilised, lends comfort on the premium front. But integration of Ayushman
with CMCHIS is likely to increase awareness and also lead to substantial rise
in claims over the next two to three years. This could bump up premium costs
significantly when the tender comes up for renewal. Tamil Nadu’s CMCHIS offered
a coverage of ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh per year for specified procedures for those with an
annual income of less than ₹72,000. Under Ayushman (PMJAY-CMCHIS), while about 77 lakh
beneficiaries must be covered as per SECC data, the State covers close to 1.47
crore families for up to ₹5 lakh according to the income criteria. According to the
existing tender, which is up to 2022, the insurance company will take care of
specified procedures up to the sum insured of ₹1 lakh or ₹2
lakh. For uncovered procedures beyond the sum insured, reimbursement will be
done by the State. Currently, the overall utilisation has been 3-4 per cent
over the past few years – that is, of the 1.4 crore families – about six lakh
have been availing benefits under the CMCHIS every year. If utilisation moves
up to 5-6 per cent, premiums could go up substantially. However, there are some
factors that lend comfort. Ayushman covers 1,393 procedures, while CMCHIS
covered 1,027 packages About 335 packages fall under both schemes, while 635
are covered in one and not the other. All three types – totalling 970 – are
clubbed and covered under the new integrated health scheme called PMJAY-CMCHIS.
The remaining 423 packages (1,393 less 970) have been reserved only for government
hospitals. These are mainly low-end procedures. The re-jigging of the packages
in such a way ensures minimal burden on the insurer as the procedures reserved
for government hospitals are zero packages, explains Selvavinayagam.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
PUNJAB CABINET GIVES NOD TO DISBURSE RS 25 PER QTL TO CANE
GROWERS
The Punjab cabinet
Saturday gave nod to disburse Rs 25 per quintal to cane growers out of the
state agreed price (SAP) of Rs 310 for the crushing season 2018-19. The balance
amount of Rs 285 per quintal will be paid by the private sugar mills. The
ex-post facto approval to directly credit Rs 25 per quintal into the accounts
of sugarcane growers came nearly three months after the state government had
agreed to pay Rs 25 per quintal following state-wide protests by cane growers.
The move is aimed at ensuring economic viability of the mills and timely cane
payment to the farmers for the crushing season 2018-19, and is a follow-up of
the decision taken in this regard at a meeting held under the Chairmanship of
the CM on December 5, 2018, as per an official release. Mill owners at that
time had said that they would buy cane at the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)
of Rs 275 per quintal fixed by the central government. However, the state
government had issued a notification to purchase sugarcane as per SAP for
early, mid and late varieties at Rs 310, Rs 300 and Rs 295 per quintal,
respectively.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
FOUR MAJOR PORT TRUSTS TO BUY CENTRE’S STAKE IN DCI FOR RS
1,056 CR
Four major port trusts
will buy the Central government’s 73.47 per cent stake in Dredging Corporation
of India Ltd (DCI) for Rs 1,056 crore at Rs 510 per share. Central
government-owned Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru
Port Trust and Deendayal Port Trust are paying a whopping 42.26 per cent
premium a share to buy the government holding in DCI, at least two people
briefed on the deal said, asking not to be named. The share purchase agreement
will be signed by the four major port trusts and the government on 8 March, a
government official, one of the two persons mentioned earlier, said. DCI’s
public share holders who hold 26.53 per cent of the stock will not benefit from
the deal. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), exempted the deal
from the mandatory open offer under the Take Over Code. The market regulator’s
approval was holding up the finalisation of the transaction for which the price
bid was submitted on February 4.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
MINISTRY JUNKS PROPOSAL FOR MINIMUM IMPORT PRICE ON STEEL AS
PRICES FIRM UP
The Steel Ministry has junked
a proposal to levy Minimum Import Price on steel as domestic prices of the
commodity have recovered. Birender Singh, told : If you see in the last three
months there was a ₹10,000 a tonne to ₹12,000 a tonne reduction
in prices, so there is no situation of prices going up as being said. My
personal view is that the general consumer should not feel that there is any
pinch. We are very much aware of that. Singh said the steel industry has
recovered from the situation that had come about over the past three-four
years. I would say that we are on the correct path and if the industry will
need more support to be competitive, we are ready for that. The demand in the
country is also growing. I think the auto industry is struggling a little bit.
But, the other sectors are growing, the infrastructure spends continue to be
quite strong and the rural markets we see are also continuing to pick up steam.
So, demand is continuing to improve and this is probably the best time of the
year for steel production from January to June. The inventories have already
dropped in February and we expect them to drop further in March, Narendran
added.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
RAJASTHAN EDUCATION SYSTEM UNDERGOING A SEA CHANGE UNDER NEW
GOVERNMENT
Rajasthan's education
system is undergoing a sea change with the new Congress government infusing
fresh thoughts into the system From taking initiatives to motivate teachers by
felicitating them at the block, district and state levels to changing the
course curriculum to remove the politicisation and saffronisation of education
done during the former BJP regime, the state government is trying to make
education a smooth process where students don't look at the world from a
political prism, Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara told. We are looking
at things in a holistic manner and hence have decided that no student shall
stand with flowers or bouquets to welcome any politician. This will end the
torture of students who keep standing for hours under the sun (waiting for the
dignitary to arrive), wasting their time and energy which should otherwise be
used for academics. Also, this practice symbolises that a politician is more
like a God who needs to be offered flowers and bouquets, Dotasara added. He
further informed that the education department has set up a committee to review
the syllabus in government schools. While 80 per cent of the syllabus shall
remain the same, 20 per cent will undergo certain changes. The former BJP
government brought in saffronisation and politicisation of education. Hence we
are reviewing those aspects the minister added. There is a picture of Sati in
school textbooks. How can the picture be there when the practice has been long
abolished, he asked. Dotasara further said that the former government had
reduced the role of freedom fighters in textbooks and had presented the role of
Veer Savarkar far more strongly. This reflects saffronisation in textbooks and
to review this, we have formed a special committee comprising educationists who
are looking into all such aspects, Dotasara said that stories of martyrs will
be included in textbooks.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
INDIA’S MSP PROGRAMME FOR PULSES UNDER WTO LENS
India’s minimum support
price (MSP) programme for pulses has come under greater scrutiny at the World
Trade Organization (WTO) with the US, Canada and Australia serving it a formal
counter-notification, alleging that the subsidy involved was much higher than
the permitted cap. The EU, New Zealand, Ukraine and Paraguay also joined the
chorus against the country. Defending itself at the agriculture committee
meeting this week in Geneva, India said the calculations of MSP made by the US
and Canada were incorrect and stressed that its price support programme for
pulses was only to ensure nutrition supply for 195 million poor people. The
five pulses covered under MSP are chickpeas, pigeon peas, black matpe, mung
beans and lentils. Contrary to India’s reported number of 1.5 per cent of total
value of production, Canada and the US believed India’s MPS (market price
support) for pulses was actually between 31-85 per cent, vastly exceeding its
de minimis limits (cap) of 10 per cent of the total value of production, a
Geneva-based trade official said. In case it is established that India’s ‘trade
distorting support’ exceeds the cap, it would be forced to discontinue the
support programmes, failing which it may have to pay penalties. Although India
and a number of developing countries have been demanding that food procurement
subsidies should not be capped, WTO members are yet to arrive at a permanent
solution to the problem. In addition, India only provided the aggregate MPS
support for five pulses products without breaking down figures according to
each product, it added. In response, India said that the US and Canada’s
counter-notification, co-sponsored by Australia, was based on incomplete and
misleading information. India said its minimum market price support for pulses
was merely to ensure nutrition supply for 195 million poor people and is a very
small quantity. It insisted that eligible production is only the volume
actually purchased by the government, the trade official said.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
IT, START-UPS DRIVING BENGALURU HOUSING MARKET: CREDAI
The housing demand in the
country is very strong. Especially in Bengaluru, IT and start-up trend is creating
a lot of job opportunities which in turn helping the housing market, said
Ashish Puravankara. The GST rate cut will provide a much needed relief to this
sector. People who are currently unable to decide due to the price and tax
factors will be inclined to make new decisions as the new GST rates are
conducive and more affordable, he added. According to a report by CREDAI,
during the second-half of 2018, residential property sale in the city surged by
35 per cent compared to the previous year 2017. The department of Stamps and
Registration shared that the real estate market in Bengaluru recorded nearly 20
per cent rise in revenue from property registrations in the last seven months
of 2018 in comparison to 2017. This indicates that the property buyers are not
in a wait mode as the city has been offering the best residential properties at
a better price.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
UNAUTHORISED SURCHARGE IMPEDING E-PAYMENT SYSTEM, FINDS IIT
MUMBAI STUDY
Unauthorised surcharging
and high MDR charges are some of the reasons for impeding growth and sustenance
of digital payments despite all efforts to promote it, according to a study.
This is, inter alia, due to the distortionary pricing of payment products (i e
MDR) and the continued fraudulent practice of surcharging by acquirer banks and
big merchants. Small/medium merchants on the one hand and customers on the
other hand are losing out, hindering the government's intent of broad basing
digital payments, as per the study done by IIT Mumbai. It is estimated that the
merchants were burdened with nearly Rs 10,000 crore towards credit card
Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) in 2018 alone, it said, adding that this is
exorbitant in contrast with the overall cost of Rs 3,500 crore towards debit
card MDR, even though in value terms, credit and debit card transactions are
nearly the same Rs 5.7 lakh crore each in 2018. The study done by Ashish Das, a
professor of statistics, highlighted that unauthorised surcharging has also
burdened the payment system users with huge additional costs. Just for the
online payments, it has led to extortions by the acquirer banks and their
payment facilitators/aggregators to the tune of Rs 200 crore in 2018 alone.
This is a conservative estimate since we restrict only to the online credit and
debit card payments. Naive card users, oblivious of the set rules and
regulations that prohibit surcharging, are ignorant of the fact that it is the
banks that owe them this fraudulently extorted money, it said. Unfortunately, rather
than merchants, it is banks themselves who are causing fraudulent surcharging
by resorting to outsourcing of their payments' services, it said.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
JET AIRWAYS GROUNDS 2 MORE PLANES, 20% OF ITS FLEET NOW OUT OF
OPERATIONS
Beleaguered carrierJet
Airways has grounded two more of its aircraft due to non-payment of lease
rentals taking the total number of planes on ground to 23. With the grounding
of two more planes, almost 20 per cent of aircraft in the airlines fleet are
now out of operations. The company said it was making all efforts to minimise
disruption to its network due to the grounding of these planes and was
pro-actively informing and re-accommodating its affected guests.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
STAY ON FOREST DWELLERS EVICTION: HOW STATES ILLEGALLY
REJECTED LAND CLAIMS
Breaking the law isn’t
something one is usually proud of. But for Devi Lal, a resident of a forest
village in southern Rajasthan, a court summons for encroaching on forest land
in 2002 is a prized possession. Since the Forest Rights Act (FRA) was
introduced in 2006, these summons became evidence that Devi Lal had lived on
the land in question before that, and became vital evidence to support his
claim under the Act. Nearly three years after he and 60 others in the villages
of Rawatbhata block applied for land titles, the applications were rejected in
2015. They do not know why; they were never informed of the rejection, a
violation of the FRA, which says that decisions to reject or modify claims have
to be communicated to the claimant in person, so that they have the opportunity
to appeal the rejection within 60 days They could not appeal against the
rejection because they were never informed that it was rejected. They were not
even given a chance to appeal their case before the rejection order was passed,
another violation of the law, which says that no claim will be disposed of
against a claimant without giving them a reasonable opportunity to present
their case. Such government violations of the law are common not just in
Rajasthan but nationwide, as 1.9 million families of indigenous people--roughly
9.5 million people at five persons per family--are at risk of being evicted
from their homes in forests. Such violations include, as this story will
detail, allowing forest guards to illegally decide claims and demands made by
governments, and asking tribals to furnish satellite imagery and non-existent
75-year-old records. On February 13, 2019, the Supreme Court ordered that all
households whose rights claims under FRA have been rejected should be evicted
from forests by July 2019. After widespread criticism and protests from tribal
groups and conservation scientists, and a petition by the central government,
the Supreme Court temporarily stayed its own order on February 28, 2019.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
RS 9,000 CRORE GAS-GRID PROJECT FOR NORTH EAST, BENGAL:
DHARMENDRA PRADHAN
A Rs 9,000 crore gas-grid
project has been approved to transport natural gas among northeastern states
and West Bengal, Dharmendra Pradhan said. There is huge amount of natural gas
available in Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast states is
being tapped into for the Rs 9,265 crore North East Gas Grid (NEGG). The
government has okayed this project to transport gas among the northeastern
states as well as West Bengal via Siliguri, Pradhan said inaugurating the Rs
215 crore Sonamura Gas Collecting station of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC). The transportation and availability of cooking gas (liquefied petroleum
gas -- LPG) has been eased after the Centre signed a deal with the Bangladesh
to ferry LPG via Chittagong international sea port and land route. The ONGC has
been working in Tripura for the past five decades. It has drilled 225 wells and
found gas in 116.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
BANGALORE, HYDERABAD AMONG TOP 20 GLOBAL CITIES ATTRACTING FDI
IN ICT SECTORS
Bangalore and Hyderabad
have secured their place among the top 20 global cities successfully attracting
foreign direct investment (FDI) into the information and communications
technology (ICT) and electronics sectors, according to a latest analysis
released in London on Friday. London & Partners (L&P), the Mayor of
London's promotional agency, found in its evaluation of provisional 'fDi
Markets' data for 2018 that the British capital attracted more FDI projects
than any other global city last year. For the ICT and Electronics sector in
particular, Bangalore ranked sixth with 37 companies compared to London's 80. Bangalore
also held on to the sixth position in an overall analysis for the 10-year
period of 2008-2018 for the top destinations for ICT and Electronics sectors,
with a total of 410 projects compared to top-ranked London's 911 projects. Hyderabad
ranked 14th in terms of attracting FDI in the ICT and Electronics sector, with
20 companies investing over the course of 2018. Some of the other top-ranking
cities in the sector behind London include Singapore, Dubai, Paris and Tokyo. London's
business community is truly global, built on the values of diversity and
progressive thinking. We're delighted to welcome more international companies
than any other city and today's figures show that London is open to investment
and talent from all over the world, she said. The data revealed that London is
currently home to 13 unicorn businesses, more than Madrid, Stockholm and
Amsterdam combined. The increasing number of high growth businesses coming out
of London's has boosted the UK to the top of the unicorn league tables, with
the UK currently housing over a quarter (20) of the 64 total unicorn businesses
across Europe.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
JAITLEY'S DIG AT 'COMPULSIVE CONTRARIANS', SAYS THEY
DISCOVERED BALAKOTE IN POONCH AFTER IAF STRIKE IN PAKISTAN
Arun Jaitley Saturday said
compulsive contrarians discovered a new Balakote which lies within Indian
territory and without checking facts referred to it as the target of the Indian
Air Force when it struck the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camp in Balakot in
Pakistan's Khyber Paktunkhwa province. He also took a sharp dig at news
channels saying they are increasingly resorting to agenda setting instead of
reporting. When our Air Force reached Balakot in KPK, before one could gather
any information someone started saying it is very close to the LoC (Line of
Control) and some people whom I call compulsive contrarians discovered a new
Balakote without even checking that, that particular Balakote is not across the
LOC but in our own Poonch. Why will our own Air Force attack our own territory,
Jaitley said. The conventional role of the media was to report and present
views on the editorial page, but (now) we will not report the country's agenda
but set it, Jaitley said.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
VICE-PRESIDENT OF INDIA LAYS FOUNDATION STONE OF KAUSHAL
BHAWAN
M. Venkaiah Naidu laid the
foundation stone of Kaushal Bhawan, the proposed office of the Ministry of
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and several of the Government offices
which are part of the Ministry. Kaushal Bhawan will be coming up on a plot of
1.354 Acre in New Moti Bagh, New Delhi. Being built at the cost of about Rs 172
Crore, it will comprise of 3 basements and 8 floors above, consisting of modern
offices, auditorium, mini convention centre, training rooms, yoga hall, crèche,
sports facilities and Gym. It is imagined as a future ready building, with
state of the art Building Management Systems. Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, said that
India is young and aspirational as 65% of the population is below 35 years of
age. There is 48 crore workforce in the country, and 1 crore more are added
every year. He said that getting demographic dividend for India is a unique
opportunity as well challenge. Skills and knowledge are driving forces of
economic growth and development, and hence they need to be updated regularly
and effectively.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
PM ADDRESSES CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY INDIA EVENT
The Prime Minister
emphasized the commitment of the Union Government towards ensuring that every
family’s dream of a home, becomes a reality and said that the need for the
Global Housing Technology Challenge, was felt in the light of rapid
urbanization in India. The Prime Minister said a lot of emphasis has been
placed on affordable housing, real estate sector, skill development, and
housing technology. He reiterated his dream that every Indian should have a
proper house by 2022, and 1.3 crore houses have been made in his tenure. He called
upon everyone to work together to enhance capacities and help the poor. The
Prime Minister said that the Government is also making it easier for people to
buy houses, through tax and other incentives. He said the Real Estate
(Regulation and Development) Act, (RERA), has improved consumers’ confidence in
developers and brought transparency in the Real Estate Sector. He said a large
pool of skilled human resource has been created, especially in the rural areas.
He said that in the construction sector, there is now much greater focus on
disaster-resilience, energy efficiency, and local innovation. He declared that
the period from April 2019 to March 2020, will be observed as the Construction
Technology Year. Prime Minister launched the GHTC-India mobile application an
interactive platform for all the stakeholders for facilitating exchange of
knowledge on innovation and alternative housing technologies. Hardeep S Puri,
stated that Indian cities, which will contribute over 80% to GDP by 2050, need
to be receptive, innovative and productive to foster sustainable growth and
ensure a better quality of living. Providing details of the progress made in
the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(Urban), the Housing Minister stated that
Pursuing a validated housing demand of about 10 million (1 Crore), PMAY (Urban)
mission has already sanctioned 7.9 million (79 lakh) houses, grounded 4.1
million (41 lakh) and completed 1.6 million (16 lakh). Looking at the scale of
construction that needs to take place in the next 3 years it becomes absolutely
imperative that we get the technology right. Rapid urbanization as an outcome
of this sustained growth has resulted in the increase of the urban population
in the country. This will exponentially increase the demand for basic services
and housing in cities. Thereby it is important for us to adopt an integrated
approach to provide a conducive and productive environment with better living
conditions to every household in urban India.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
NARENDRA MODI-LED GOVT MADE SOME RADICAL REFORMS, BUT LARGELY
LOST OPPORTUNITY FOR DYNAMIC CHANGE
The 18th century German
writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe noted, Daring ideas are like chessmen moved
forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game. But when is a
policy idea considered to be a success? While factors such as a favourable
environment and novelty play an important role, structural change heavily
depends on when it is brought about, that is, the timing of policy
implementation is vital. The privatisation of British Telecom in 1984, former
United States President Jimmy Carter’s price controls and high Federal Reserve
interest rates aimed at curbing inflation, and Deng Xiaoping’s string of
reforms in 1978 in China are all success stories courtesy their well-timed
implementation. A tool for gauging the timeliness of an idea is the Overton
Window, attributed to the late think tank veteran, Joseph Overton. The Overton
Window depicts the realm of policy ideas in public discourse and provides a
scale to judge the tolerance/acceptability of these topics. Hence, as
discussions and debates ensue, ideas move along the spectrum of the Window,
ranging from acceptable and popular to radical and unthinkable. The Window
allows for the possibility of ideas that were once unthinkable to become
popular and vice-versa. Its up/down movement reflects the degree of government
intervention, that is, the greater the intervention, the lesser the freedom
resulting in downward movement and vice-versa. The image below illustrates the
Overton Window, giving examples from the domain of education to identify
activity in the field. Modi’s victory in the elections marks the end of a long
era in which the structures of power did not differ greatly from those through
which Britain ruled the subcontinent. Voters were frustrated with a sluggish
economy, rampant corruption, and a slew of false promises; the alternative came
in the form of Narendra Modi and his campaign promising acche din (better
days). He had the support of a majority of the country, both in terms of citizens’
trust and seats in the Lok Sabha. Thus, while the government has attempted
certain policies, it has largely lost out on an environment opportune for
dynamic change. Moreover, Modi’s winning streak in state elections was reversed
late last year, and the Overton Window started moving out of his control,
settling back in the popular policy amendment sphere. The recent 2019 interim
Union Budget is an indication of this. We hope future governments keep windows
of opportunity in mind and prioritise structural reforms, such as opening doors
for lateral entry into government, making significant labour market changes,
and an overhaul of the legal system. After all, as English chess player Gerald
Abrahams remarked, Good positions don’t win games, good moves do.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ARUN JAITLEY, RELEASED A BOOK TITLED ‘MANN KI BAAT
The book sheds light on
various aspects of Prime Minister’s outreach, the remarkable response it
continuously received from the people, the mass movement it has inspired and
the profound impact it ingrained in the minds and hearts of the youth of India.
The book also gives insight into behind the scene research work done on the
massive public feedback received through various channels after every episode
of Mann Ki Baat, which had aired first on 3rd October, 2014. The book also
gives a rare and exclusive opportunity to readers to discover several unknown
facets of Prime Minister’s thinking and beliefs related to ‘Mann Ki Baat’,
revealed by him to the authors of the book. The insights that emerge from the
transcripts of the radio address are the most important contribution of this
book. Arun Jaitley said that Mann Ki Baat program has a strong power of recall
which leaves deep footprints in the minds of listeners of the program. He
highlighted the power of radio, recalling its impact as a source of both news
and entertainment, its huge geographical reach and as a mode of learning
language. He added that radio was used extensively by Mahatma Gandhi during the
freedom movement to reach out to people directly.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
COAL IMPORTS CHECKED BY CIL’S EFFORTS: PIYUSH GOYAL
Piyush Goyal said on
Friday that the country’s coal imports would have been 1.5 times higher than
current volumes if Coal India (CIL) had not increased its production rate.
Commercial coal mining, which was approved by the Cabinet in February, 2018
will also reduce import dependency and bring energy security through assured
coal supply, the minister added. Power plants across the country had imported
5.5 MT of coal in December 2018, about 15% higher than what was imported in the
same month in 2017. State-owned power generator NTPC plans to double its coal
import target in FY20 (from 5 MT in FY19) to meet the incremental demand from
upcoming power plants of 4 GW capacity. As per earlier trend, coal imports
would have reached 380 MT in FY18, but it is maintained at about 200 MT per
year, coal ministry officials said. CIL has supplied 407 MT coal to power
sector during current fiscal till February 4, 2019, recording an increase of
7.3%. The average rake-loading of the power sector stands at 252.5 rakes/day,
13% than the same period of last year. Sumanta Chaudhuri said that coal supply
to power plants would improve after the completion of 14 critical railway
projects for evacuating coal. Out of these, the 52-kilometre Jharsuguda-Barpali
rail line in Odisha was completed in March 2018 and the 44 km Tori-Shivpur line
in Jharkhand was completed in September in the same year. Goyal said that
railway related deaths has reduced from 152 in 2013-14 to 29 till January 31,
2019. The average pace of commissioning of new lines have increased from 4.1
kms/day during 2009-14 to 6.5 kms/day in 2014-18, he added.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
SANITATION WORKERS SET GUINNESS RECORD AT KUMBH
Sanitation workers in
Uttar Pradesh on Saturday set a Guinness World Record when 10,000 of them got
together for a three-minute cleaning drive at Kumbh, officials said. The
Minister hailed the sanitation workers as the real heroes at the Kumbh, as the
cleanliness drive was the highlight at the biggest religious congregation in
the world
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
BJP WILL WIN MORE SEATS IN 2019 LOK SABHA POLLS THAN IT HAD
WON IN 2014: PRAKASH JAVADEKAR
Prakash Javadekar on
Saturday exuded confidence that the BJP will win more seats in this general
elections than it had won in 2014. The BJP had won 282 seats in the last Lok
Sabha elections and we are confident that the number of seats won by the party
will be higher than this in the upcoming elections, Javadekar told. He said it
is the Modi government that can take on terrorism and provide a strong
leadership to the country.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
NO UNCERTAINTIES IN TIE-UP WITH DMDK, GOOD NEWS SOON: AIADMK
Asserting that there were no
uncertainties regarding a tie-up with actor Vijayakanth-led DMDK for the
upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK Saturday said there would be good news
soon. The ruling AIADMK, which is in an alliance with the BJP and PMK, has been
making all-out efforts to rope in the DMDK. There are no such uncertainties. In
one or two days we will be taking a good decision and will announce a happy
news (in this regard), AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam, who is also the
deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu, told. While the AIADMK has concluded its
poll deal with the BJP and the PMK for the Lok Sabha polls by allotting five
and seven seats in the state to them respectively, talks with the DMDK and
other smaller outfits are yet to be formalised.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
US FDA FINDS CANCER-CAUSING TOXIN IN HETERO'S BLOOD PRESSURE
DRUGS
US health regulators said
on Friday a third cancer-causing toxin was found in some blood pressure pills
recalled by India's Hetero Labs Ltd, adding to a global recall of commonly used
drugs to treat hypertension. The US Food and Drug Administration is also
looking into whether these types of impurities could be found in other classes
of drugs, a spokeswoman for the regulator said. The toxin,
N-Nitroso-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid (NMBA), identified in 87 lots of
Hetero's losartan potassium pills, was not found in medicines that were
previously recalled by a number of drugmakers. Global authorities have been
clamping down on sales of some blood pressure medicines as they are suspected
to be tainted with two probable carcinogens - N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and
N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). The FDA said increased risk of cancer in
patients exposed to the new impurity, NMBA, appeared to be the same as those
exposed to NDMA, but less than the risk from NDEA.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
SIX CITIES SELECTED FOR INNOVATIVE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT
Six cities across the
country have been selected as live laboratories for a pilot project under which
1,000 houses will be built using innovative technologies that are low-cost,
sustainable and disaster-resistant, according to a senior official of the
Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. Durga Shanker Mishra told media that 54
Proven Technology Providers with 32 new technologies from 25 countries were
evaluated by the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) at the exposition. Six
cities have been identified to serve as live laboratories for the Lighthouse
project. These are Rajkot (Gujarat), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Indore (Madhya
Pradesh), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Agartala (Tripura) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh),
he said. Mishra said that technology adoption will happen in other States and
Union Territories, as well. Mishra said that he will write to all States to use
its assessment before beginning construction activities in their cities. The
Vulnerability Atlas of India is a collation of the existing hazard scenario of
the entire country. The CTI-2019 saw participation of about 2,500 delegates
from 32 countries. The conference had four plenary sessions, six technical
sessions, including a World Cafe, and three master classes.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
INDIA'S COFFEE EXPORTS RISE 13 PC IN FIRST 2-MONTHS OF 2019
Coffee shipments from
India, Asia's third-largest producer and exporter, rose 13.26 per cent to
48,330 tonnes during the first two months of this calender year, according to
the Coffee Board. The country had exported 42,670 tonnes in the year-ago
period. India ships both robusta and Arabica varieties, besides instant coffee.
As per the Board's latest data, the shipment of Robusta coffee jumped 28.42 per
cent to 34,090 tonnes during January-February 2019, from 26,545 tonnes in the
same period last year. Similarly, the export of Arabica coffee increased by
14.39 per cent to 11,156 tonnes, from 9,752 tonnes in the said period. The
volume of coffee re-exported also remained higher at 13,392 tonnes, as against
11,516 tonnes in the said period. However, the export of Instant coffee showed
a decline as volumes remained at 3,047 tonnes during January-February of 2019,
when compared with 5,704 tonnes in the year-ago period. Coffee production is
pegged higher at 3,19,500 tonnes for 2018-19 crop year (October-September), as
against the final output of 3,16,000 tonnes achieved last year.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
EC VISITS J&K TO ASSESS FEASIBILITY OF HOLDING
SIMULTANEOUS POLLS
The Election Commission of
India (ECI) Monday began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to assess the
feasibility of holding the Lok Sabha and the state assembly polls
simultaneously. The ECI team, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil
Arora, began interactions with political parties soon after their arrival in
the summer capital, officials said. They said the team will meet with officials
of the state government, including the deputy commissioners and the district
police chiefs, to get a briefing on the security situation in the state.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
WILL ACT AGAINST PERPETRATORS OF TERROR SITTING ACROSS BORDER:
PM MODI
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday warned that India would hunt down terrorists wherever they may
be hiding. The country has run out of patience with terrorism and now it is prepared
to retaliate and beat them (terrorists) in their own house, Mr. Modi said. He
said, no terrorist would be spared even if they hide in the bowels of the
earth. The bullets of terrorists have repeatedly pierced the heart of India but
those indulging in vote bank politics hardly cared to take any action. I am not
worried about chair or power. I care for my country and its people and their
security and will do anything to protect them, he said. This country will not
sit silent even if the perpetrators are sitting on the other side of the
border, the Prime Minister said.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
HOW MINIMUM WAGE COULD DOUBLE TO RS 375/DAY IF GOVT ACCEPTS
PROPOSED NORMS
Millions of informal
workers across India may see their minimum wage entitlement more than double
from Rs 176 per day at present to Rs 375 per day or Rs 9,750 per month, if the
government accepts the norms proposed by a committee set up to determine how
the national minimum wage should be calculated. Currently, the formula for
calculating the national minimum wage presumes that each wage earner supports
three persons (consumption units), and that a consumption unit needs at least
2,700 calories per day (in addition to essential non-food items such as
clothing, medicines and transport). The new formula, arrived at by using new
evidence on how and how much households consume, suggests increasing the number
of consumption units per household to 3.6. Given a reduction in the proportion
of workers engaged in heavy work and an increase in the number of workers in
moderate and sedentary occupations, the committee recommends reducing the per
head (adult) minimum calorie requirement to 2,400 calories, but also that the
monetary value for food consumption used in the formula must account for
including 50 grams of protein and 30 grams of fat in an adult diet. With the
new formula--which also ascribes enhanced values to essential non-food
items--the committee has arrived at a figure of Rs 375 per day, or Rs 9,750 per
month, as the national minimum wage. More than 80% of Indian workers are
employed in informal jobs. These workers are unable to negotiate decent wages
and working conditions, and often have no social security benefits. The
increase in minimum wage recommended by the committee--to Rs 375--looks like a
lot compared to the Rs 176 at present, but if you compare it to the central
minimum wage, it is not an increase, Sabina Dewan, told. The central minimum
wage is what is paid to workers in central government organisations or those
working on central government projects, e.g., a building in Odisha for the IT
department. It starts from Rs 333 for agricultural unskilled workers and goes
up to Rs 728 for highly skilled, industrial workers.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
7 OF TOP 10 MOST POLLUTED CITIES IN THE WORLD ARE IN INDIA; GURGAON
ON TOP
Seven of the top 10 most
polluted cities in the world are in India, according to a new study showing
South Asia’s battle with deteriorating air quality and the economic toll it’s
expected to take worldwide. Gurugram, located southwest of India’s capital New
Delhi, led all cities in pollution levels in 2018, even as its score improved
from the previous year, according to data released by IQAir AirVisual and
Greenpeace. Three other Indian cities joined Faisalabad, Pakistan, in the top
five. The index measures the presence of fine particulate matter known as
PM2.5, a pollutant that can fester deep in the lungs and bloodstream of human
beings. This has enormous impacts, on our health and on our wallets, Yeb Sano,
said in a statement released with the figures. In addition to human lives lost,
there’s an estimated cost of $225 billion in lost labor, and trillions in
medical costs. India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, makes up 22 of
the top 30 most polluted cities with five in China, two in Pakistan and one in
Bangladesh. India racks up health-care costs and productivity losses from
pollution of as much as 8.5 percent of gross domestic product, according to the
World Bank. China made marked progress in its usually dismal pollution levels,
with average concentrations falling by 12 percent in 2018 from the previous
year, according to the data. That should help the message President Xi Jinping
will share with political party leaders on progress across three so-called
critical battles during the National People’s Congress meetings that start this
week.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
AIR POLLUTION CLAIMS 7 MILLION LIVES EACH YEAR: UN EXPERT
Air pollution, both
outside and inside homes, is a silent and prolific killer responsible for the
premature death of seven million people each year, including 600,000 children,
according to a UN expert on environment and human rights. David Boyd, UN
special rapporteur on environment and human rights, said that over six billion
people, one-third of them children, are regularly inhaling air so polluted that
it puts their life, health and well-being at risk Yet, this pandemic receives
inadequate attention as these deaths are not as dramatic as those caused by
other disasters or epidemics, said Boyd. Every hour, 800 people are dying, many
after years of suffering from cancer, respiratory illnesses or heart disease
directly caused by breathing polluted air, said Boyd. Boyd said that failing to
ensure clean air constituted a violation of their fundamental right to a
healthy environment, a right that is legally recognised by 155 countries and
should be globally recognised. People cannot avoid inhaling whatever
contaminants are present in the air inside their homes or in their communities,
the expert was quoted as saying in a UN statement.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
96% USAGE OF TOILETS UNDER SWACHH BHARAT, SHOWS SURVEY BY AN
INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION AGENCY
An independent
verification of the Swachh Bharat (Grameen) programme has confirmed 96% usage of
toilets in the country. The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS)
2018-19, conducted by an Independent Verification Agency under the World Bank
support project to the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), has found that
96.5% of the households in rural India who have access to a toilet use it,
government sources told. The survey has also re-confirmed the Open Defecation
Free (ODF) status of 90.7% of villages which were previously declared and
verified as ODF by various districts and states. The survey was conducted
between November 2018 and February 2019, covering 92040 households in 6136
villages across the country. 93% households were found to have access to
toilets during the survey period while 96.5% of the people who had access to
toilets used them. While 90.7% of villages which were previously declared and
verified as ODF were confirmed to be ODF, the remaining villages also had
sanitation coverage of about 93%, the survey shows. Further, 95.4% of the
villages surveyed found to have minimal litter and minimal stagnant water, the
survey has highlighted. The government claims that since its Swachh Bharat
Mission programme started in October 2014, 500 million people have stopped
defecating in the open , down from 550 million at the beginning of the
programme to less than 50 million today. Over 9 crore toilets have been built
across rural India under the Mission. Over 5.5 lakh villages and 615 districts
have been declared ODF, along with 30 ODF States and Union Territories, as per
the government.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
AP, TELANGANA IN POLITICAL SLUGFEST OVER ‘DATA THEFT’
KV Kurmanath A war of
words erupted between the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments after the
Cyberabad police here booked a case against IT company IT Grids India Pvt Ltd
for allegedly obtaining access to private data (Aadhaar and voter ID) of
individuals residing in Andhra Pradesh through the ‘Seva Mitra’ app. The police
has served a notice on Amazon’s cloud service company, Amazon Web Services, which
hosts the data on the app that is run by IT Grids and belongs to the TDP. The
police are also approaching the Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI) and the Election Commission (EC) for more details. We have asked for
the production of the database relating to the app and other data (related to
the case), Cyberabad police said. Initial investigation found that the firm had
obtained illegal access to personal and sensitive data of individuals which can
be misused for illegal purposes, the police added. Through this app, they have
constituency-wise voters’ data and the (political) affiliations of each voter.
It also has voter ID details, caste details and addresses of voters, a senior
Cyberabad police official said. Acting on a complaint by T Lokeshwara Reddy,
the police raided the office of the firm here and seized IT storage devices and
phones. While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his son and
IT Minister Lokesh have alleged that the Telangana government is trying to get
access to the State’s data through the move, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi
(TRS) has defended the police action. KCR (Telagana Chief Minister KC
Chandrasekhar Rao) is functioning like a dictator and, in collusion with the
main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, the YSRCP, he is hatching conspiracies
to undermine the electoral prospects of the TDP in the coming elections, said
Naidu at a public meeting at Madanapalle in Chittoor district on Monday.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
STUBBLE BURNING COSTS PUNJAB, HARYANA, DELHI ₹2 LAKH CRORE ANNUALLY
The study, scheduled to be
published in the forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology,
indicated that there has been a substantial increase in acute respiratory
infections reported during the period in which stubble burning was intense. The
study, which among other things obtained data from India’s fourth round of
District Level Household Survey (DLHS-4), found that there was a three-fold
increase in respiratory ailments among those living in districts where intense
crop burning takes place. Poor air quality is a serious problem in Delhi during
the winter months with the levels of airborne particulate matter spiking to 20
times the World Health Organization’s safety threshold during certain days. The
researchers observed that as crop burning increased in Haryana, respiratory
health worsened. They also examined other factors that could contribute to poor
respiratory health such as firecracker burning during Diwali (which usually
coincides with the time of crop burning) and motor vehicle density. In fact,
economic losses owing to exposure to air pollution from firecracker burning are
estimated to be around $7 billion or nearly ₹50,000 crore a year.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ADANI GROUP’S POWER SEZ GETS CENTRE’S NOD POST NORMS TWEAK
Less than two months after
amending the power sector guidelines for special economic zones (SEZs) enabling
standalone power plants to qualify as SEZs and be eligible for tax sops the
government has approved Adani Power’s request to set up a power sector SEZ in
Jharkhand. Adani Power’s renewed request for a sector-specific SEZ for power in
Jharkhand got the approval from the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs last week
as the new power guidelines now allow such zones provided they are dedicated to
exports, a government official told. Adani Power’s request for a power SEZ in
Jharkhand made last year had to be rejected by the BoA for SEZs — the highest
inter-ministerial decision making body for the zones headed by the Commerce
Secretary — as that time it was inconsistent with the existing power
guidelines. The Board, after deliberations, approved the proposal by Adani
Power (Jharkhand) for setting up a sector-specific SEZ for power at Motia,
Mali, Gaighat and adjacent villages in Godda District, Jharkhand, over 425
hectares, the minutes of the BoA meeting held on February 25, said. Formal
approval has been given for the 222.68 hectares of land in possession, while
in-principle approval has been given for the remaining 202.32 hectares.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN TREATMENT OF AIDS: SECOND PATIENT CURED
OF HIV
Researchers say a London
man appears to be free of the AIDS virus after a stem cell transplant. It's the
second such success including Berlin patient Timothy Ray Brown. Such
transplants are dangerous and have failed in other patients The London patient
has not been identified. He was diagnosed with HIV in 2003. He developed cancer
and agreed to a stem cell transplant to treat the cancer in 2016. His doctors
found a donor with a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to HIV.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GOVT MAY OFFER SAMSUNG DUTY RELIEF TO RESTART ITS TV
PRODUCTION
The government has sought
a commitment from Samsung that the South Korean electronics company will bring
production of TVs back to India if duty on ‘open cells’ — which prompted it to
relocate manufacturing to Vietnam – was removed. The company has been
noncommittal so far, a senior government official told. He said the government
and the company are discussing the matter. Samsung’s decision to shift TV
production to Vietnam last year was seen as a severe setback for the
government’s Make India initiative. The company’s largest production hub is
located in Vietnam. We feel Samsung was already planning to shift its
production of TV panels to Vietnam and this imposition of duty on open cells
was one opportunity they got, the official said. They got an opportunity to
shift out to Vietnam from where they can use the free trade agreement route to
avoid the duty. The government doubled customs duty on imported LCD and LED TV
panels to 15% from 7.5% in the 2018 Union budget. While the duty on ‘open
cells’ used in the manufacture of LCD and LED televisions was hiked to 10%, it
was halved after the industry immediately sought a rollback since it wasn’t
ready to manufacture the component. Open cells are among the most critical
parts in a TV panel and account for 65-70% of a set’s production value. We feel
it was the hike of 15% duty on the LED panels which really hurt the company’s
India production and not the open cell duty, the official said. The government
is actively considering the removal of the 5% customs duty on open cells with
other TV makers such as LG joining the chorus and stressing that the duty was
making it more expensive to manufacture in the country.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
CHINA SLASHES GDP GROWTH TARGET TO 6-6.5% AMID SLOWDOWN, TRADE
WAR WITH US
China has slashed its
official GDP target to 6 to 6.5 per cent this year as the world's second
largest economy grapples with the ongoing trade war with the US and a continued
economic slowdown. The lowered growth rate was proposed by Chinese Premier Li
Keqiang in his work report for this year at the opening session of the annual
session of the rubber-stamp Parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC). Besides
the trade war with the US, China is also haunted by the spectre of a continued
economic slowdown. In order to rejig its economy, China is all set to pass a
new foreign investment law in a hurry, providing an equal footing to investors
abroad with that of local business with legal safeguards for IPR and technology
transfer. The draft law is aimed to meet the main demands of US President
Donald Trump to end the trade war. The draft foreign investment law will be
submitted to the NPC, which began in Beijing on Tuesday, for review on March 8
and put for vote on March 15, NPC spokesman Zhang Yesui said on Monday. The NPC
is often regarded as a rubber-stamp parliament for its routine approval of the
proposals of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). The NPC, with over
2,900 deputies and the advisory body -- the Chinese People's Political
Consultative (CPPCC) -- is holding its annual sessions in Beijing. The sessions
would go on for the next 10 days. The new investment law providing a
level-playing field to investors abroad with local investors with all rights is
being passed by China in record time to work a deal with Trump's trade war
which is badly affecting Beijing. Trump, who declared the trade war last year,
is demanding China to reduce the $375-billion trade deficit, provide legal
protection for intellectual property rights (IPR), technology transfer and more
access for American goods to Chinese markets. He has already increased the
tariffs on over $250 billion Chinese exports to the US and threatened to extend
tariffs on $200 billion Chinese imports to 25 per cent.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
CHINA TO RAISE DEFENCE SPENDING BY 7.5%, LOWER THAN 2018
China announced Tuesday a 7.5
percent increase in military spending in 2019, lower than last year as the
country faces an economic slowdown, but still likely to make Asian neighbours
nervous. it working to provide the two million-strong People's Liberation Army
(PLA) with state-of-the-art hardware, spending heavily on stealth warplanes,
aircraft carriers and other weaponry. Beijing has also stepped up its rhetoric
against any independence movements in self-ruled Taiwan and continues to assert
its vast territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea and East China Sea.
The government will spend 1.19 trillion yuan ($177.6 billion) on defence in
2019, after it increased its outlay by 8.1 percent to 1.11 trillion yuan in
2018, according to a government report presented at the start of the annual
meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC). Boasting the world's largest
army, China's military spending is second only to the United States, which
budgeted $716 billion for defence in 2019. Beijing has not posted double-digit
spending increases since 2015.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
US, CHINA 'ON THE CUSP' OF POSSIBLE END TO TRADE WAR: MIKE
POMPEO
US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said on Monday he thought the United States and China were on the cusp
of a deal to end their trade war adding to positive signs about negotiations
from both sides of the Pacific. Pompeo, in a series of interviews with Iowa
radio and television stations, said he hoped a deal could be agreed in coming
weeks to make trade between the world's two largest economies fairer and
eliminate China's retaliatory tariffs on Iowa farm commodities such as
soybeans. We're trying to get that rectified, get that fixed, make it fair and
reciprocal and I think we're on the cusp of doing that and I hope all those
tariffs will go away, all those barriers, Pompeo told KCCI television in Des
Moines, where he was attending a farmers conference. His comments echoed
positive sentiments earlier on Monday from White House economic adviser Kevin
Hassett and a spokesman for China's parliament. Hassett told Fox Business
Network a deal with China was now possible, given recent progress in talks
reported by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GLOBAL ECOMMERCE TALKS STRIKE AT ROOTS OF WTO, SAYS INDIA
India has told the World
Trade Organization (WTO) that it will not join the negotiations to develop
trade rules on ecommerce arguing that it is an idea whose time has not yet
come. New Delhi has also argued that the discussions by some countries are not
consistent with the mandate of the multilateral trading system In our view,
these negotiations strike at the roots of the multilateral system and its
mandate, India said on Wednesday at a heads of delegations meeting. Stating
that it is not persuaded to join the negotiations, India said it is working on
a national ecommerce policy which will be finalised soon. This policy will
inform our international engagements on this important subject, India said. In
its draft National E-Commerce Policy, India has proposed regulating
cross-border data flows locating computing facilities within the country to
ensure job creation and setting up a dedicated ‘data authority’ for issues
related to sharing of community data. It has asserted that the data generated
in the country is a national asset, and citizens and the government have a
sovereign right over it. Though New Delhi is opposed to the plurilateral on
ecommerce, it will pursue the existing multilateral work programme that
prohibits countries from imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions,
something that India and South Africa have questioned, citing revenue loss to
developing nations. India has in its submission also sought reforms of the
multilateral body and resolution of outstanding issues urgently. The top most
priority is to protect and preserve the system, fix the Appellate Body issue so
that the independent dispute settlement mechanism can function effectively, the
Indian trade envoy said, cautioning against debating contentious issues like
differentiation, which could be divisive and further reduce trust within the
organization.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
AIR POLLUTION FROM STUBBLE BURNING COSTING INDIA $30 BN
ANNUALLY: STUDY
Air pollution due to crop
residue burning in northern India is a leading risk factor of acute respiratory
infections and causes an estimated economic loss of $30 billion annually according
to a study unveiled Monday. Living in districts with air pollution from intense
crop residue burning (CRB) is a leading risk factor for acute respiratory
infection (ARI), especially among children less than five years. The study that
estimates -- for the first time -- the health and economic costs of CRB in
northern India also found that CRB leads to an estimated economic loss of over
$30 billion annually. Poor air quality is a recognised global public health
epidemic, with levels of airborne particulate matter in Delhi spiking to 20
times the World Health Organization's safety threshold during certain days,
said Samuel Scott. Among other factors, smoke from the burning of agricultural
crop residue by farmers in Haryana and Punjab especially contributes to Delhi's
poor air, increasing the risk of ARI three-fold for those living in districts
with intense crop burning, Scott said in a statement. The study also estimated
the economic cost of exposure to air pollution from crop residue burning at $30
billion or nearly Rs 2 trillion annually for the three north Indian states of
Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, researchers said. The study analysed health data
from more than 250,000 individuals of all ages residing in rural and urban areas
in India. Economic losses owing to exposure to air pollution from firecracker
burning are estimated to be around $7 billion or nearly Rs 50 thousand crore a
year, researchers said. In five years, the economic loss due to the burning of
crop residue and firecrackers is estimated to be $190 billion, or nearly 1.7
per cent of India's GDP, they said.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
OIL EXPLORATION WILL REMAIN A CHALLENGE FOR GOVTS
India’s hydrocarbon space
will test the patience and policy consistency of the government of the day in
the coming years as the country’s exploration policy enters a transition phase.
Life of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) regime may remain only for
the next 10-15 years, as the country’s entire oil and gas exploration as well
as production business is shifting to Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy
(HELP)-Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP). In many countries there are multiple
models — revenue sharing, production sharing or customised — but these are
places where the oil industry plays a dominant role. In India there are mainly
three different categories — nomination basis: areas given prior to auction
rounds; pre-NELP and NELP: where areas were given through auctions based on
production sharing contracts; and HELP regime — a uniform licensing regime
based on revenue sharing model and OALP. Yes, all three can co-exist, but the
challenge will be in implementation. The government of the day will be under
pressure to ensure that there is no interruption in this high risk business due
to policy issues, an oil industry tracker said. But, the moot point is whether
HELP will turn the tides for India in meeting its energy demand. HELP is just
taking baby steps and by the time it stabilises it will take, said an analyst.
Particularly when with growing consumption, India’s demand is also going to put
pressure on the import bill. According to the Petroleum Planning & Analysis
Cell estimates, the crude oil import bill is likely to increase by 27 per cent
from $88 billion in 2017-18 to $112 billion in 2018-19 considering actual upto
December 2018 and Indian basket (rate at which domestic refiners buy their
requirement) crude oil price at $57.77 a barrel and exchange rate at ₹70.73
versus dollar for January 2019-March 2019. Since NELP was introduced in the
late 1990s, 314 blocks have been offered under various auction rounds, of which
254 have been awarded. There are 60 NELP blocks that are operational today by
players such as ONGC, Reliance Industries and Oil India. From 2017 all new
contracts have been signed under the HELP regime. Although most of the
producing blocks in the country, at present, are those that have been offered
before NELP or after NELP. All these production sharing contracts have a life.
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
AMETHI ORDNANCE FACTORY WAS ALREADY PRODUCING SMALL ARMS:
RAHUL GANDHI
Narendra Modi a 'habitual
liar' Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the ordnance factory Modi
inaugurated in Amethi on Sunday had been producing small arms for a while. Prime
Minister, I laid the foundation of Amethi's ordnance factory in 2010. For the
past several years, it has been producing small arms. You went to Amethi and
being forced from the habit, you lied again, the Congress President tweeted in
Hindi. He also questioned if Modi don't feel ashamed at all.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
very good put up, i definitely love this web site, keep on it ipl news rcb
ReplyDelete