CASH IN CIRCULATION JUMPS 19.1 PER CENT FROM
PRE-DEMONETISATION LEVEL
Currency in circulation
(CIC) has jumped by 19.14 per cent to a record high of Rs 21.41 lakh crore as
on March 15, 2019 from the pre-demonetisation level of Rs 17.97 lakh crore on
November 4, 2016, indicating that cash is back in the reckoning in the
financial system. Despite the rise in digital transactions, CIC has increased
by over Rs three lakh crore in the last one year from Rs 18.29 lakh crore in
March 2018, according to the latest data available from the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI). After Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were withdrawn from the system in
November 2016, CIC had fallen to around Rs 9 lakh crore on in January 2017.
Cash in the system has been steadily rising even though the government and the
RBI pushed for a less cash society, digitization of payments and slapped
restrictions on the use of cash in various transactions. Officials were citing
the high level of cash in the system, counterfeit notes and black money as
reasons for demonetisation. Cash in the system has been steadily rising even
though the government and the RBI pushed for a less cash society, digitisation
of payments and slapped restrictions on the use of cash in various
transactions. With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, currency in
circulation is expected to rise further. After rising close to Rs 3.50 lakh
crore from the pre-demonetisation level, it continues to rise even now. Cash
transactions through ATMs were also rising steadily From Rs 200,648 crore in
January 2017, debit card transactions through ATMs and point of sale (PoS)
terminals rose to Rs 295,783 crore in January 2018 and Rs 316,808 crore in
January 2019, according to the RBI data. Of Rs 3.16 lakh crore debit card
transactions, Rs 2.66 lakh crore was withdrawal through ATMs. The value of
monthly transactions made using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) crossed
the Rs 1-lakh crore mark for the first time in December 2018, data released by
the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) says. Significantly, banks
are now witnessing a lower deposit growth. Credit growth at 14.6 per cent has
outpaced deposit growth at 9.8 per cent. If credit growth continues to outpace
deposit growth, then scheduled commercial banks reliance on bulk deposits is
likely to increase which could lead to a higher cost of funds along with
increasing volatility in the asset-liability structure of banks, says a report
by India Ratings. The RBI says retail payments have grown by nearly 45 per cent
in volume and 30 per cent by value during 2017-18. Retail payment systems in
India are characterised by large volumes and this makes it necessary that the
systems are available whenever and wherever they are required. If these systems
are to deliver at the desired levels of expectations, then there is a need to
focus on certain key essential features of ‘excellence’, the regulator has said.
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FRAUDULENT WITHDRAWAL FROM BANKS DOUBLES IN FY2017-18
While the number of
fraudulent withdrawals from banks have declined in value terms it has more than
doubled to Rs109.56 core in FY2017-18, the Rajya Sabha was informed. Last
month, replying to a question asked by Sukhram Singh Yadav, the then finance
minister Piyush Goyal, said, As per information furnished by Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), with the proliferation of information technology (IT) and usage of
related services, there has been an increase in the absolute number of
complaints of withdrawing money illegally from bank accounts. As per RBI, the
amount of automatic teller machine (ATM) or debit card, credit card and
internet banking frauds of Rs1 Lakh and above, reported by scheduled commercial
banks and select financial institutions (FIs) during 2015-16, 2016-17 and
2017-18 are Rs40.20 crore, Rs42.29 crore and Rs109.56 crore, respectively.
Strangely, when asked whether it is also a fact that the amount withdrawn
illegally by cyber criminals from the accounts has to be borne by the account
holders only and not by the banks, the minister replied in negative.
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ELECTION FEVER? JAN DHAN ACCOUNTS SHOW STEEP, STEADY INCREASE
IN BALANCE
The balances across banks
in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts are showing a steep increase
in recent months. Up to August-September 2018, the balance in the accounts were
increasing at the rate of ₹600 crore to ₹800 crore a month For instance, in September, the total funds
went up a modest ₹782 crore compared to the previous month. From December again,
there has been a steep rise in the total balance, and it has since been
steadily increasing. For instance, from December 2018 to January 2019, the
balance went up by ₹2,438 crore followed by ₹3,207 crore and ₹3,476
crore in February and March respectively. The balance in the middle of every
month is taken into consideration to arrive at comparative figures. After a long
lull, there has also been a spurt in the number of PMJDY beneficiaries. After a
muted growth at 32 crore for many months, new accounts are now getting added
more energetically, taking the total number of accounts to 35 crore as of March
13. Asked about the likely reasons behind the growth, the executive director of
a public sector bank said the steep increase is puzzling and needs to be looked
into. It is not possible to rule out the impact of elections. There have been
instances where candidates are depositing money directly into beneficiaries’
accounts as smaller amounts are not tracked. But this can push up the overall
balance, he said on the condition of anonymity.
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INDIA ONE OF WORLD'S FASTEST GROWING LARGE ECONOMIES: IMF
India has been one of the
fastest growing large economies in the world the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) has said, asserting that the country has carried out several key reforms
in the last five years, but more needs to be done Responding to a question on
India's economic development in the last five years at a fortnightly news
conference here, IMF communications director Gerry Rice Thursday said, India
has of course been one of the world's fastest growing large economies of late, with
growth averaging about seven per cent over the past five years. Important
reforms have been implemented and we feel more reforms are needed to sustain
this high growth, including to harness the demographic dividend opportunity,
which India has, he said. Details about the Indian economy would be revealed in
the upcoming World Economic Outlook (WEO) survey report to be released by the
IMF ahead of the annual spring meeting with the World Bank next month, he said.
This report would be the first under Indian American economist Gita Gopinath,
who is now IMF's chief economist.
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FITCH CUTS INDIA GDP GROWTH FORECAST FOR FY20 TO 6.8%
Fitch Ratings on Friday cut
India’s economic growth forecast for the next financial year starting April 1,
to 6.8% from its previous estimate of 7%, on weaker than expected momentum in
the economy. While we have cut our growth forecasts for the next fiscal year
(FY20, ending in March 2020) on weaker-than-expected momentum, we still see Indian
GDP growth to hold up reasonably well, at 6.8%, followed by 7.1% in FY21, Fitch
said in its Global Economic Outlook. Fitch Ratings cut India’s FY19 GDP growth
forecast to 7.2% from 7.8% on December 6. The rating agency has also cut growth
forecasts for FY20 and FY21 to 7% from 7.3% and 7.1 per cent from 7.3%,
respectively. According to Fitch, the RBI, has adopted a more dovish monetary
policy stance and cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage at its February 2019
meeting, a move supported by steadily decelerating headline inflation. We have
changed our rate outlook and we now expect another 25 bp cut in 2019, amid
protracted below target inflation and easier global monetary conditions than
previously envisaged, it said. On the fiscal side, the budget for FY20 plans to
increase cash transfers for farmers, it added. Fitch said, it’s benign oil
price outlook and expectations of accelerating food prices in the coming months
should support rural households’ income and consumption.
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INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE (ISI) PRESENTS ITS REPORT ON
SAMPLE SIZE OF VVPAT COUNTING TO ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
Indian Statistical
Institute(ISI) presented its Report on the sample size of Voter Verifiable
Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slip counting to the Chief Election Commissioner Shri
Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Shri Ashok Lavasa and Shri Sushil
Chandra. The Report was presented by Prof. Abhay G. Bhatt, Head ISI, Delhi
Centre. It may be recalled that in view of the varying demands for enhanced
percentage of VVPAT Slip count during elections in the country, the Commission
had engaged the Indian Statistical Institute to systematically analyse and
scientifically examine the issue of VVPAT Slip verification with electronic
count of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). ISI is one of the most
prominent and reputed national institution devoted to research, teaching and
application of statistics and sampling methodology in the country. Keeping in
view their domain expertise and subject specialization, the Commission decided
to engage the Institute in arriving at mathematically sound, statistically
robust and practically cogent solutions to the issue of a number/percentage of
VVPAT slip counts to done during the elections. Before finalizing its report,
the Expert Committee had wide ranging consultations with other experts in the
field of statistics and examined suggestions received from other groups. This
Expert Committee has submitted its Report titled 'Random Sampling For Testing
of EVMs via VVPAT Slip Verification' to the Commission today i.e. 22nd March
2019. The Report submitted by the Expert Committee shall now be examined by the
Commission and necessary action initiated.
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3.2 CRORE LABOURERS LOST JOBS UNDER MODI GOVT: CONGRESS
The Congress on Thursday
alleged that 3.2 crore casual labourers lost their employment under the Modi
government and said the people of India will rise up and defeat the BJP for
this treachery. 3 Cr are farm Labourers! Congress spokesperson Randeep
Surjewala said in a tweet, tagging the media report. Also, 4.7 crore youths
became jobless! This is stark reality that PM Modi is hiding from India, he
said. agencies
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INDIA GENERATED RECORD NUMBER OF JOBS IN JANUARY 2019, SHOWS
EPFO DATA
If payroll data is to be
taken as the true barometer of job creation in the formal sector, January 2019
saw the highest number of jobs being generated since the data from September
2017. However, while the government relies heavily on payroll data, released by
the Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for gauging jobs in the
formal sector, critics don't find the data robust as the bump is seen in the
data because of the requirement that any establishment employing at least 20
people has to cut provident fund. So, if an entity is employing 19 workers in
one month and 20 workers in the next, all 20 will be counted in the headcount
against zero in the previous month. Besides, the data is revised downward for
most months after the provisional number is released. The figure for January,
2019 is the provisional figure.
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ECONOMIC AFFAIRS SECRETARY SC GARG DEFENDS DATA REVISIONS AMID
CONTROVERSY
India sought to put an end
to a controversy about political influence on government data, with a top
finance ministry official saying revisions to economic statistics are a fact
and the revisions themselves are based on facts. It might not appear to be
meeting people’s expectations, for some, Subhash Chandra Garg, the economic
affairs secretary in the finance ministry, said. But the revision is based on
real data. The results are there for everyone to see, Garg said, referring to
the downward revision in the current fiscal year’s GDP data. It’s not that any
revision that has been done has positive messages all over. In January, a yet
to be made public jobs data, showed unemployment rate at a 45-year high. The
controversy has the potential to hurt the credibility of India’s data as well
as the image of Prime Minister Modi, who came to power promising to create 10
million jobs every year, and also make investors wary of jobless economic
growth. Outside investors have higher degree of confidence in India’s
performance, Garg said, adding: The long term story of India is steady and
intact.
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DBT TRANSFERS INCREASE 47 PER CENT, BUT LITTLE GROWTH IN
SAVING
Transfers of assorted
subsidies and sops to the beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer
(DBT) route stood at Rs 2.8 lakh crore so far in FY19, 47% higher than such
transfers during the whole of the previous year. Savings to the government due
to DBT in the first 11 months of this fiscal was 30,457 crore. DBT-enabled
savings were 32,984 crore in FY18 and 20,885 crore in FY17. The savings are no
longer increasing at the same pace as the amount transferred via DBT because an
optimal level has been reached in case of schemes where the potential of
savings was initially huge. For example, savings on PDS-food stood at 15,708
crore in FY18 whereas only 595 crore was saved on this item of expenditure this
year. Between FY15 (when the DBT scheme was launched) and so far in FY19, close
to 6.54 lakh crore had been transferred to the beneficiaries, mostly as cash
paid to their bank accounts but also (increasingly) as in-kind benefits. The
government’s total DBT savings since inception of the programme till February
of FY19 was 1,20,470 crore. Out of the DBT-enabled gains of 30,457 crore till
February of FY19, removal of fake beneficiaries helped in saving 14,116 crore
(46%) under LPG-Pahal scheme, 10,000 crore (33%) in the sale of subsidised
fertiliser and 4,168 crore (14%) under the job guarantee programme (MGNREGS).
From the start till February of this fiscal year, savings of 56,391 crore was
made under LPG-Pahal scheme thanks to DBT, followed by 30,303 crore for
PDS-food, 19,765 crore under the job guarantee scheme. According to an estimate
by the Centre, the Aadhaar-enabled DBT platform helped eliminate 4.09 crore
fake liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections and 2.82 crore duplicate ration
cards. It also resulted in reduction of 121 lakh tonne of fertiliser sale to
retailers and 10% savings on wages on account of deletion of non-existent
MGNREGS beneficiaries.
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TELECOM SUBSCRIBER BASE CROSSES 120 CR: TRAI
The country’s telecom
subscriber base for the third time crossed 120-crore mark with Reliance Jio,
BSNL and Airtel adding new customers in January, according to a report released
by telecom regulator Trai. The number of telephone subscribers in India
increased from 1,197.87 million at the end of December 2018 to 1,203.77 million
at the end of January 2019, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.49 per
cent, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in monthly subscriber
report for January 2019. The mobile customer base grew to 118 crore in January
from 117 crore in December. The wireline connection in the country slid to 2.17
crore in January from 2.18 crore in December. Reliance Jio dominated growth by
adding over 93 lakh new mobile customers. State-run telecom firm BSNL followed
Jio by adding 9.82 lakh mobile subscribers. Bharti Airtel returned to growth
track, after losing mobile customer in December, by adding over 1 lakh new
customers. The net increase of telecom subscriber in January was 59 lakh,
compared to over 1 crore subscribers added by the three players. However,
Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices jointly lost close to 44 lakh mobile
customers. The country’s biggest telecom operator Vodafone Idea lost 35.8 lakh
mobile customers, Tata Teleservices 8.4 lakh and state-run MTNL 4,927 mobile
customers. The wireline connections declined mainly because of BSNL losing 90
thousand connections. Private operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone added 29,930
and 6,386 connections. Broadband connections in the country grew 4.15 per cent
to 54 crore in January from 51.8 crore in December. The mobile devices-based
broadband connections accounted for over 96 per cent of total base with over
52.1 crore subscribers while wireline connections reached 1.82 crore. Top-five
service providers constituted 98.63 per cent market share of the total broadband
subscribers at the end of January. Reliance Jio led the market with 28.94 crore
broadband subscribers. It was followed by Bharti Airtel with 11 crore
connections, Vodafone Idea 10.98 crore, BSNL 2 crore and and Tata Teleservices
Group 22.6 lakh connections. BSNL maintained lead in the wireline broadband
segment with 91.7 lakh connection. It was followed by Airtel with 23 lakh
connections, Atria Convergence 14 lakh, Hathway Cable & Datacom 7.9
connection and MTNL 7.7 lakh connections.
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SAVING JET AIRWAYS: LENDERS MAY TRY TO GET TATAS INTERESTED
AGAIN
With Etihad Airways
looking to exit the beleaguered Jet Airways lenders are set to re-initiate
talks with the Tata Group as a possible new investor in the Indian airline.
According to top sources, the lenders have already sent out feelers to the
Tatas and may make a formal offer soon All the stakeholders and the government
are keen to keep Jet Airways afloat. The lenders will reach out to multiple
players, including the Tatas, as they have shown interest in acquiring Jet
Airways in the recent past, said a source. The Tatas already own stakes in two
Indian carriers — full-service carrier Vistara (51 per cent) and budget player
AirAsia India (49 per cent). A deal with Jet could help the group emerge as a
strong player in the domestic aviation sector.
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SBI STANDS BY JET AIRWAYS BUT WANTS NARESH GOYAL TO STEP DOWN
State Bank of India (SBI),
the largest lender to cash-strapped Jet Airways (India) Ltd, has asked the
airline’s chairman Naresh Goyal, his wife and two other nominee directors to
step down immediately even as the bank said it was in the interest of lenders
to revive the distressed carrier. SBI has asked Goyal, his wife Anita, and two
nominee directors, Nasim Zaidi and Gaurang Shetty, to step down from the board
as well as executive roles, a person aware of the development said on condition
of anonymity. In New Delhi, after a meeting with finance minister Arun Jaitley,
SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar said that lenders to Jet Airways would make every
effort to keep the airline from slipping into bankruptcy as it would further
erode the company’s value.
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QATAR AIRWAYS DENIES TALKS WITH JET'S CHAIRMAN NARESH GOYAL,
SON NIVAAN
Qatar Airways, contrary to
what a media report said, has denied it is in discussion to invest in Jet
Airways. The report said Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal and his son Nivaan
gave a presentation to the Qatar Airways management this week following a
collapse of negotiations with its strategic partner Etihad Airways. Qatar
Airways has denied any such meeting has taken place What you are hearing is incorrect,
a top executive of Qatar Airways told.
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JET AIRWAYS DROPS TO FOURTH PLACE IN MARKET SHARE; PILOTS
WRITE TO PM
Jet Airways has slipped to
the fourth position in domestic market following grounding of over half of its
fleet and with no resolution in sight, its pilots union have sought Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to protect the airline. Many pilots are
also leaving the airline and around 260 of them attended interview at SpiceJet.
IndiGo continued its leadership with 43.4 per cent market share in February
while Jet Airways slipped to 11.4 per cent share below SpiceJet (13.7) and Air
India (12.8). Jet's market share fell nearly two percentage points over
January. Domestic airlines flew 11.3 million passengers in February registering
a growth of 5.62 per cent on a year on year basis. This is second consecutive
month of single digit growth after over four years continuous double digit
growth. In January the year on year traffic growth was 9.1 per cent. Industry
experts said traffic growth had slowed down due to capacity constraints and
increase in fares. Fares have been on the rise since start of the year as
airlines focused on yield growth. Last minute fares have surged now due to
massive cancellation by Jet Airways forcing the civil aviation ministry to
issue advisories to other carriers. National Aviators Guild, Jet Airways pilots
union has written to the Prime Minister to highlight their concerns. Pilots,
engineers and senior management members have not been paid since December. On
Tuesday the union members took a collective decision to stop flying if no
resolution plan is finalised by month end. Later in the night the airline's
chief executive officer Vinay Dube told the pilots the airline was looking for
a potential investor but could not give a firm deadline on payment of salaries.
We urge your good office to intervene and have the management release our
salaries. We fear that the airline is on the verge of collapse and this will
leave thousands of people unemployed, said Tejinder Sood. The pilots union has
also sought a direction that all employees are treated at par and no one is
discriminated by the management.
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JAITLEY BATS FOR GST COUNCIL TYPE OF COOPERATION IN FARM,
HEALTHCARE
Expressing dismay at some
opposition-ruled states for not cooperating in the Modi government's flagship
schemes of Ayushman Bharat and PM Kisan, finance minister Arun Jaitley on
Wednesday advocated the idea of replicating the experience of the GST Council
in agriculture, rural development and healthcare. West Bengal, Delhi, Odisha
are amongst the states which have refused to implement Ayushman Bharat where
every poor family gets up to rupees five lakh of hospitalisation support
annually. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka and West Bengal are non-cooperative
in PM Kisan scheme where small and marginal farmers get Rs 6000 income support
annually, Jaitley said. However, the finance minister said he would continue to
write when interventions in public cause are required. He wondered whether
behaviour of these states is in public or national interest. Is it necessary to
act against the poor and allow the compulsion of competitive politics to take
over?, he said. In this backdrop, he advocated for cooperative federalism in
agriculture, rural development and healthcare for the larger national interest.
He said the central and the state governments have several schemes for the
betterment of the farmer and both of them spend a large part of their budget in
the sector. Similarly, the process of developing rural infrastructure and
improving the quality of life in villages has now started, he said, adding a
lot more needs to be done in both agriculture and rural development. Should the
Centre and the states be only competing and not supplementing efforts of each
other? Should they not be pooling their resources and ensure that no overlap or
duplication takes place and that the interest of the largest number is
protected and enhanced?, he wondered. For those who cannot afford healthcare,
it is available at the cost of the Central and some State Governments. Is
overlap of expenditure necessary or should it be pooled and spent in an optimum
manner? he raised a public debate.
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FINLAND IS THE HAPPIEST NATION, INDIA SLIPS 7 SPOTS, RANKS 140TH
Indians are not as happy
in 2019 as they were in 2018 and the country figures at 140th place, seven
spots down from last year, on UN World Happiness Report- 2019, released on
Wednesday. The list is topped by Finland for the second year in a row. The
report was released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the
United Nations on March 20, which was designated as the World Happiness Day by
the UN General Assembly in 2012. According to the report, the overall world
happiness has fallen over the past few years, which has mostly been fuelled by
a sustained drop in India which came in 140th place this year compared with
133rd place a year ago. The UN’s seventh annual World Happiness Report, which
ranks the world’s 156 countries on how happy their citizens perceive themselves
to be, also noted that there has been an increase in negative emotions,
including worry, sadness and anger. Finland has been ranked as the happiest
country in the world for the second year in succession. The Nordic nation is
followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Netherlands. Pakistan is ranked
67th, Bangladesh 125th and China is place at 93rd. People in war-torn South
Sudan are the most unhappy with their lives, followed by Central African
Republic (155), Afghanistan (154), Tanzania (153) and Rwanda (152).
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ACT AGAINST SUGAR MILLS SELLING SUGAR BELOW MSP: FOOD MINISTRY
The food ministry has
asked states to ensure that sugar mills are not selling the sweetener at below
the minimum selling price (MSP), which has been increased recently to Rs 31 a
kilogram from Rs 29. In a communication to all the principal secretaries of
sugar-producing states, the ministry said mills must follow the Sugar Price
(Control) Order, 2018, which directs them to sell sugar at the MSP. All mills
have to sell sugar at Rs 31 a kg plus GST and transportation charges. Action
may be taken against mills selling sugar below floor price, said a senior
official. The official said the department had found that some mills were
selling sugar either at below MSP or at MSP inclusive of GST to liquidate their
stock. This is against the directives of the government and is in violation of
the Sugar Price (Control) Order, 2018, he said.
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INDIA POSTS HIGHEST GROWTH IN PATENT APPLICATIONS IN 2018
India filed 2,013
international patent applications in 2018 with the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO), registering the highest growth of 27% among countries but
falling way below China and the US in volume of patent filings. In the previous
year, innovators and research organizations from India filed 1,583 patent applications
with the WIPO. India has joined the race and has strengthened its participation
in the international patent system, said Francis Gurry, WIPO’s director
general. But India has a long way to catch up with China which is expected to
overtake the US as the leading hub for global innovation. Innovators from China
filed 53,345 international patent applications last year compared with 48,905
in 2017. China is expected to surpass the US in the next two years as the
world’s predominant hub for innovation. Asia is now the majority filer of
international patent applications via WIPO and underscores the historical
geographical shift of innovative activity from West to East.
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TRAI SAYS TELECOM FIRMS WERE CONSULTED ON 5G RESERVE PRICE
TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma
on Wednesday put the ball back into the operators' court after they complained
that the 5G spectrum reserve prices were higher saying the operators were
consulted over the base price and the government has not sought any further
review on it so far. If the government thinks the price is on the higher side,
they will make a reference to TRAI. Somebody says it is on the higher side or
the lower side, it is their call. How many times do I take into consideration,
did I not consult everybody when we gave the recommendations. Only after the
consultation process, TRAI gave the recommendations. We have consulted every
stakeholder and given our recommendations on the reserved price of spectrum for
5G, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman told. Sunil
Mittal had said the 5G spectrum price recommended by TRAI is not appropriate.
An operator would need to pay at least ₹9,840 crore to buy 5G
spectrum on a pan-India basis as the regulator has suggested it should be put
to auction in the block size of 20 MHz. The recommended base price is 30% of
the price of 1800 MHz band and the regulator has proposed a limit of 100 units
of spectrum per bidder to avoid monopolisation, another telco said. The
government had two failed auctions. Do they want to have five more failed
auctions? Mittal has said. Spectrum is required, spectrum will be bought, India
will get into 5G but the only thing that will stand in the way is pricing, he
added.
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RISING UNEMPLOYMENT; BURIED REPORT REVEALS SHRINKING MALE
WORKFORCE
It has been for the first
time that the working male population of the country has dwindled since
1993-94, data from NSSO’s Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017-18, which is not
yet released by the government, says. From 30.4 crore male workers in 2011-12
to 28.6 crore in 2017-18, the drop is substantial considering that the
workforce had ballooned in the last two decades by 8.5 crore. The fall in the
workforce is suggestive of fewer fresh job opportunities and rising
unemployment said quoting unidentified experts. Overall, the PLFS 2017-18
reported a 6.1 per cent unemployment rate, a sharp jump from 2.2 per cent
reported in 2011-12, it said. Rural India has witnessed a higher decline in its
workforce at 6.4% compared to the 4.7% reduction in urban Indian workforce. Regarding
unemployment status, the unreleased PLFS report highlighted that 7.1% of males
belonging to the urban areas are unemployed whereas the same stood at 5.8% for
rural populace. The actual workforce loss has been translated to 4.7 crore,
cumulative of both the rural and urban workforce, compared to the findings of
2011-12. Also, the present report suggests that the women workforce was the
worst hit in the rural segment (at 68%) while the men incurred more job losses
(at 96%) in the urban areas.
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‘HIS MASTER’S VOICE’: CHIDAMBARAM RESPONDS TO ARUN JAITLEY’S
‘COMPULSIVE CONTRARIAN’ REMARK
If a person disagreeing
with the government is a compulsive contrarian, can someone who always agrees
with it be called his master’s voice, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram
asked Wednesday, hitting back at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Chidambaram
tweeted: According to Mr Jaitley, one who disagrees with the government is a
‘compulsive contrarian’. Can we then say that anyone who always agrees with the
government is ‘His Master’s Voice’? As many as 108 economists and social
scientists, including Jean Dreze (Allahabad University), Emily Breza (Harvard
University), Satish Deshpande (Delhi University), Esther Duflo (MIT, US) and
Jayati Ghosh (JNU), had made an appeal last week, expressing their concern over
political interference in influencing statistical data in India.
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FIFTEENTH FINANCE COMMISSION HOLDS MEETING ON ISSUES OF
ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
As per the terms of
reference of the Fifteenth Finance Commission –
· The Commission may
consider proposing measurable performance-based incentives for States at the
appropriate level of government, in following areas
(i) Achievements in
implementation of flagship schemes of Government of India, disaster resilient
infrastructure, sustainable development goals, and quality of expenditure;
(ii) Progress made in
sanitation, solid waste management and bringing in behavioural change to end
open defecation.
The recommendations for
climate change under the NDC Goal 5 were also discussed in the meeting. The
Commission considered the proposed formula for climate change ( NDC Goal 5
Grant) and the possibilities of climate change grant conditionality.
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TAMIL NADU PARTIES’ MANIFESTOS PACK ISSUES FRESH ON VOTERS’
MINDS
Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian
parties sought to address issues impacting voter sentiments in the recent
months, from the ill-effects of a common entrance test for medical aspirants to
facilitating the release of convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, in
their manifestos. The result was a mix of populist offerings and fresh
commitment to enduring issues ahead of the parliamentary polls. The southern
state will have bypolls for at least 18 Assembly seats besides the Lok Sabha
elections, making the forthcoming poll season doubly significant for the ruling
AIADMK to extend its tenure. The party has stitched up a rainbow coalition chiefly
with the BJP and regional outfit PMK, hoping to parlay the collective strength
of the alliance to buck the bypoll threat to its strength in the Assembly. The
AIADMK has promised that it will urge the Centre to implement a monthly
financial support of 1,500 for families below the poverty line, a scheme it
believes can be supported by the rising goods and services tax collections
implemented the BJP government in July 2017. O Panneerselvam, coordinator of
the AIADMK, read out schemes to augment water reserves, skill development
plans, solar energy adoption, recognising the Cauvery delta as a protected
agricultural zone and other announcements.
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IT SECTOR GENERATED 8.73 LAKH JOBS IN 5 YEARS; CONGRESS
SPREADING FALSEHOODS ON JOB DATA: PRASAD
Information Technology
minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said the IT sector has created 8.73
lakh new jobs in the past five years, as he accused the Congress of spreading
blatant falsehood on the employment data. Congress is indulging in falsehoods. They
have nothing to offer from their own side. I speak based on our performance not
rhetoric, on facts not falsehoods, Prasad told. Currently provides employment
to 41.40 lakh persons directly and 1.2 crore persons indirectly. I am not using
my data, I am giving Nasscom data, he said. If the economy is 7.4 per cent
plus, if national highways are being constructed, if manufacturing is picking
up, and if India's economy is globally being recognised, it is creating more
and more jobs, Prasad said.
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DATA USAGE IN INDIA TO GROW AT 73 PER CENT CAGR BY 2022: STUDY
India's data consumption
is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 72.6 per
cent to 10,96,58,793 million MB by 2022, according to a study. With lower than
ever data tariffs and increasing number of smartphone penetration in the
country, which is around 40 per cent as of 2017, it is safe to assume that the
Video on Demand (VoD) market will be a significant beneficiary of these
developments. Internet consumption is clearly on the rise in India, according
to the Assocham-PwC study. Data consumption in India will grow from the level
of 71,67,103 million MB in 2017 to 10,96,58,793 million MB (megabytes) in 2022,
growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 72.6 per cent, it
said. While the average Indian used to spend more on voice services than on
mobile data services until 2013, the majority of an average mobile bill is now
spent on data. The average monthly spend on voice services in 2013 was Rs 214
compared to Rs 173 spent on data. In 2016, the spend on voice fell to Rs 124,
while data spend rose to Rs 225, according to the report. Video streaming
constitutes roughly 65-75 per cent of the traffic, as per the Nokia Mobile
Broadband Index 2018. While internet penetration is increasing in India, with
mobile internet penetration set to reach 56.7 per cent in 2022 from a mere 30.2
per cent in 2017, connectivity and consistency in speed issues need to be
addressed, said the study. It further said that in a country where
approximately 65-70 per cent of the population resides in rural areas, no
service meant for the masses can afford to ignore this market. Internet
connectivity and speed issues are significant in rural areas as against urban
areas. It is important for OTT (over-the-top) players to cater to the rural
market if they wish to stay relevant. Thus, apps like YouTube, which support
low Internet connectivity, will be able to penetrate faster into rural areas,
according to the study.
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ACCIDENT-PRONE TEENS DRIVE UP MORTALITY RATES
Even as Indian life
insurers have recorded improvement in Indian assured lives' mortality rates
across age-groups and genders, the 13-20 years age bracket has bucked this
trend. Mortality rates have risen by nearly 5% as per Indian Assured Lives
Mortality table 12-14 published by the Institute of Actuaries in India (IAI).
There has been an improvement in mortality rates across most of the ages except
for teens and very old ages, says Subhrajit Mukhopadhyay. Life insurance
actuaries attribute this rise primarily to accidents that youngsters are
susceptible to at this stage in their lives. The higher mortality rates are an
outcome of the rise in road accidents - the quality of infrastructure has
improved over the years, offering greater scope to people, particularly
youngsters, to drive at high speed on highways. Given that youngsters tend to
ride two-wheelers, the risk of accidents is higher in their case, said Sunil
Sharma, Chief Actuary, Kotak Life Insurance and President, IAI. Not
surprisingly, therefore, even in the younger age-band, teenagers seem more
prone to accidents. This age group is susceptible to higher mortality,
especially in the ages of 15-18 years, said Anilkumar Singh, Appointed Actuary,
Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance. While Indian insurers are seeing this trend in
the country now, it tallies with the experience of insurers globally. Globally,
insurers tend to record higher mortality rates for teenaged population, said
Sharma. According to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways statistics, India
witnesses 1.5 lakh road accident fatalities every year and nearly half of these
victims fall in the 18-35 years age bracket.
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GUJARAT HIGH COURT NOTICE TO STATE GOVT OVER RULES REGULATING
ACID SALE
The Gujarat High Court sought
a reply from the state government after a public interest litigation (PIL)
seeking effective implementation of the rules related to the sale and use of
acids came up for hearing. The petitioner—Gujarat Scientific
Association—demanded the court's intervention to put an end to acid attacks, on
Wednesday. Notably, the division bench of Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and
Justice Biren Vaishnav issued a notice to the state government directing it to file
its reply in the matter by April 16 As per the petitioner-organisation, the
Supreme Court had directed the Union government in 2013 to frame rules to
regulate the sale of acid in view of the rampant acid attacks across the
country. The Centre framed the Model Poison Possession and Sale Rules under the
Poisons Act, 1919, and directed the states to notify the said rules to the
states. In November 2014, the state government notified the rules but allegedly
gave exception to manufacturers and wholesale dealers of acids from its
applicability. It is the petitioner's claim that the exclusion of manufacturers
and wholesale dealers in the rules go against the intent of the Supreme Court
behind issuing the directions to the Centre. The petitioner-organisation has
also alleged that the retail traders are hauled up every time any acid attack
takes place despite the poison or acid having been sold by the dealers engaged
in the wholesale business. It also claimed that it has raised several
objections in the draft rules issued by the state government. However, its
objections were not entertained.
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SALES OF REFURBISHED SMARTPHONES SEE RISE IN INDIA
Worldwide second-hand
smartphone sales declined for the first time last year, but India seems to have
successfully bucked the trend While globally second-hand smartphones, or
'refurbished' phones as they are called, dropped to 14 crore sets, India saw
sales rise to almost 14 lakh phones – a growth of 14 per cent. According to the
Refurbished Smartphone Tracker from Counterpoint Research, a global telcom
industry consultant, the second-hand smartphone sales slowed due to drop in new
phone sales, as much as 11 per cent, in key countries like the US and China.
The drop in new device sales led to a decline in devices flowing into the
secondary market. The US and China markets saw lower upgrade cycles in 2018,
points out Tom Kang, In addition, China and US trade tensions held up devices
in customs much longer than normal. However, the growth of the Indian market in
second-hand phones, especially in South India, has come as the proverbial
silver lining on the cloud. India (growth) is an impressive number because the
refurbished market ecosystem remains nascent in the country and 72 per cent of
devices in India do not go into the secondary market. Therefore, there are
tremendous growth opportunities, adds Kang. Then there are users with basic
feature phones—as much as 40 crore by some estimates—who may want to graduate
into using a smartphone in the near future. The Indian market is set to grow by
27 per cent in the coming years, with the market size expected to reach $10
billion by 2022, points out Jayant Jha, CEO and co-founder of Yaantra, a
company that specialises in repairing and re-sale of branded smartphones in the
country. Unlike more evolved markets in the west, second-hand smartphones have
a bigger market in India mainly due to the affordability factor as well as
aspirational requirements. Our customers come majorly from mid-income group,
first time job-seekers and students, mostly in tier 2 and 3 cities, says Jha.
Second-hand phones most in demand in India are brands like Samsung, Xiaomi and
Apple. People in India buy refurbished smartphones of established brands
ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 35,000 through Yaantra, he adds.
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AMAZON INDIA, FLIPKART READY TO TAP RS 35,000-CRORE ONLINE
INSURANCE MARKET
After fashion, electronics
and groceries, India’s two biggest e-commerce players Amazon India and Flipkart
are ready to tap the Rs 35,000-crore online insurance market for the next level
of growth. The online insurance market is so promising that Flipkart’s
co-founder Binny Bansal and Amazon have made mega investments in the same firm
in this space. The two companies have been perfecting their game plans and
scouting for partners for tie-ups. From general, life, auto, and travel to
mobile phone safety insurance, both companies aim at getting the lion’s share
in online insurance pie. The firms are also bringing senior hands in the
insurance space to understand the sector and ready their plan. By the year-end,
this could be the biggest vertical for these firms outside of shopping.
According to sources in the know, both Amazon India and Flipkart have been
working on their insurance plans for the past four months or so. While some of
the products have already been introduced, sources said the major push to the
vertical would be given through the rest of 2019.
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MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT RECEIVES INVESTMENT PROPOSALS OF RS
11,500 CRORE
Maharashtra government has
received investment proposals worth Rs 11,500 crore in the auto, electric
vehicles and steel sectors especially after the recent announcement of its new
industrial policy for 2019-24 which envisages attracting investment of Rs 10
lakh crore with creation of 40 lakh jobs. Chinese player WanFeng Auto Holding
Group plans to invest Rs 4,500 crore for the production of aluminium alloy
wheels for automobiles, Rs 3,000 crore by the Hungary based Csepel Holding for
electric buses, Rs 3,000 crore by the Russian NLMK Group for the production of
transformer steel and Rs 1,000 crore by Mitsubishi or its expansion. These
investors are looking for suitable land parcels in Aurangabad, Raigad and
Talegaon industrial estates. State industries department officer told, Wanfeng
Auto Holding Group manufactures and sells auto parts and equipment and also
automotive aluminium wheels. The company will need 200 acre of land and it may
zero in on Shendre industrial estate near Aurangabad. Csepel Holding, which
produces and sells machine-tools primarily in Europe, is also engaged in the
production of electric buses in various countries. It will need about 200-acre
land to set up a production facility.'' Further, NLMK Group, which worldwide
caters to wide-ranging sectors including shipbuilding, automotive, energy
generation and transmission, construction, wind-mills, is keen to invest in the
state. The officer informed that Mitsubishi Electric, which manufactures and
sells electrical and electronic products and systems used in a broad range of
fields and applications, has proposed an investment of Rs 1,000 crore to expand
its business in the state. Talks are underway with all these four companies to
enter into MoUs. They will be entitled for incentives under new industrial
policy 2019-24 released on March 6, he noted. These investment proposals are in
addition to proposals worth Rs 26,000 crore received recently by the state
government from Chinese major Nine Dragon Paper (Holding) to produce and
recycle paper and by Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council with the
development of gems and jewellery park at Navi Mumbai. As reported by DNA, the
Nine Dragon Paper (Holding) in phases will invest Rs 12,000 crore while the
government expects an investment of Rs 14,000 crore with the completion of gems
and jewellery park in Navi Mumbai. Furthermore, at the recently concluded Aero
India show near Bengaluru, the government has received investment proposals of
over Rs 10,000 crore in the aviation sector from Israel's Rafael Advanced
Defense Systems Ltd and Israel Aerospace, Airbus Helicopters, Thales Group,
SAAB, Adani Group, Bharat Forge and Bharat Electronics.
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BILL PASSED TO BRING BACK TOTAL PROHIBITION OF LIQUOR IN
MIZORAM
Mizoram assembly has
passed a bill to bring back total prohibition of liquor in the northeastern
state after four years. The state government decided to prohibit manufacture,
import, sale and consumption of liquor for the common people for their general
health and help in law enforcement, Excise and Narcotics Minister Dr K Beichhua
said while introducing the bill.
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GOA FLOOR TEST: CM PRAMOD SAWANT WINS CRUCIAL TEST BY 20 VOTES
Goa Chief Minister Pramod
Sawant Wednesday proved the majority of his BJP-led government in the Assembly,
comfortably winning a floor test in the House Twenty MLAs voted for the motion
of confidence in the two-day old government, while 15 opposed it. The special
session of the House was convened by Governor Mridula Sinha to conduct the
floor test, after Sawant was sworn in as the CM during wee hours of Tuesday.
Besides 11 members from BJP, three each from Goa Forward Party, MGP and
Independents supported Sawant during the head count conducted in the House. The
Assembly session was presided over by Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo. All the 14
MLAs of Congress and one from NCP stood up against the motion.
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BLACKBOX DATA SUGGESTS MIRAGE 2000 CRASH WAS NOT DUE TO
PILOTS' ERRORS, INDICATES TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION
Black box data of the
Mirage 2000 that crashed in Bengaluru on February 1 killing two Indian Air
Force (IAF) pilots has suggested that it was not due to pilot error and
indicated towards technical malfunction related to sensors, according to
Ministry of Defence sources. The Court of Inquiry to ascertain the cause of the
accident is still underway. India had sent the black box of the ill-fated
Mirage 2000 to France to ascertain the reason for the mishap. Although one of
the two pilots managed to eject from the plane, he fell on the debris and lost
his life. The other pilot was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his
injuries.
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SOON, PASSENGERS CAN CHANGE INDIAN RAILWAYS BOARDING STATION
UP TO 4 HOURS BEFORE TRAIN DEPARTURE
Indian Railways has
planned to introduce an all-new passenger-friendly scheme Soon passengers will
be able to change and manage their boarding station even four hours before the
scheduled departure of the train, that is till the time of the chart
preparation. This facility will be implemented across the entire Indian
Railways network from May 1, according to a recent Dainik Jagran report.
According to the existing norms, passengers can change their boarding stations
till 24 hours before the departure of the train. Under the new plan, the
Railway Board has made major changes in the ticketing system for the
convenience of passengers. The special feature of this plan is that passengers
can change boarding station up to two times. Changes in these rules will prove
to be a big relief to the passengers. On changing the boarding station, the
passenger will not have to pay extra fare, but if the change has been made
within 24 hours then the refund will not be available.
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NEW HYDRO POLICY TO HELP MEET RENEWABLES TARGET
While the government’s
decision to re-classify large hydroelectric projects as renewable energy will
certainly help the sector, the move will also go a long way in meeting the
targets set by it for the sector, according to analysts. Prior to the policy,
only small hydro projects of a capacity of less than 25 MW were treated as
renewable energy. Large hydro projects were treated as a separate source of
energy. India’s renewable energy sector had an installed capacity of 75,055.92
MW as of February 2019, according to data with the Central Electricity
Authority. This made up about 21.4% of the overall energy mix, with the rest
coming from thermal, nuclear and large hydro sources. With the inclusion of
large hydro in renewable energy, the energy mix changes drastically. Renewable
energy capacity would now be 1,20,455.14 MW or 34.4% of the overall energy mix.
It must be noted that this is a purely cosmetic change. No additional resources
have been created through this policy. It is a reclassification of existing
capacity. The policy has meant a drastic change in the renewable energy mix as
well. Whereas earlier, wind energy contributed nearly 50% of all renewable
energy capacity, it will now make up only 29.3%. Similarly, solar energy’s
share will fall from 34.68% to 21.61%. The hydro sector, however, will see its
share grow from just over 6% to over 41%. The policy has been in the works for
quite some time, Sabyasachi Majumdar, said. There has to be an ideal thermal,
hydro and renewables mix. Each of the three sources has its own pluses and
minuses. Hydro is one of the few sources where you can get peaking power. As
you know, we are still pretty far from reaching the 175 GW renewable energy
target by 2022, a sector analyst said on the condition of anonymity. This has
been quite a high-profile target because the government has been trumpeting it
at every chance. It will look bad if it fails to reach it.
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NOW PETROL PUMPS WANT AN EXEMPTION ON CODE OF CONDUCT
Public-sector oil
marketing companies, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), have approached the
petroleum ministry to seek an exemption from the election commission for going
ahead with the allotment of at least 31,800 petrol pumps. The companies had
opened bids for at least 78,493 petrol stations across the country, and
advertisements for the same were issued in November. But only just over 31,000
could be finalised before the Election Commission announced the schedule for
the general elections, thus triggering the model code of conduct. OMCs are of
the view that as the decision on clearing 31,800 outlets were taken prior to
the elections and since it was a business decision by the companies, the
election commission is unlikely to have an objection on it. The three companies
put together had got over 400,000 applications for the total 74,608 or 95% of
the areas that were on offer, the report quotes an unnamed source as saying.
The central government has no direct role in issuing bids for petrol pumps. But
it does control the oil companies that issue the bid. Hence, early reports said
the oil ministry officials and company executives wanted to play it safe and
not go ahead with the process. But that has now changed. It is not that oil
marketing companies have been unbiased on election campaigning. As reported in
the March 13 newsletter, hoardings at petrol pumps have been a source of
controversy for years.
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THREE FAKE CAMPAIGNS BUSTED IN A SINGLE DAY: JAITLEY
Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley on Thursday said fake campaigns of ‘compulsive contrarians’ on three
issues — the Hindu terror theory, the Godhra incident and Nirav Modi case —
were busted in a single day In the Samjhauta Express blast case, the trial
court on Wednesday dismissed the UPA government’s theory of Hindu terror; while
in the Godhra case, the court convicted one more person. Also, the fugitive
diamantaire Nirav Modi was arrested in the UK on the same day. A fundamental
difference between truth and falsehood is that truth holds together and
falsehood falls apart. To each fake campaign of the ‘compulsive contrarians’
over a period of time, ultimately the truth has prevailed. Either it is the
electoral mandate or the judicial process which gives the final verdict,
Jaitley said. On our request, he has now been arrested and denied bail. There
is a strong unanswerable case against him and hopefully India will get him
back. The minister said there is an inherent danger in relying only on fake
issues. I hope the manufacturers of fake campaign learn some lesson. They don’t
seem to be considering their brazen attitude, he added.
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SAM PITRODA'S COMMENTS VERY UNFORTUNATE, WILL ONLY HELP
PAKISTAN: JAITLEY
Finance minister Arun
Jaitley reacting to Indian Overseas Congress Chief Sam Pitroda's comments on
IAF's airstrikes in Balakot, said that the statement was very unfortunate. He
said that such comments made by a senior leader of the Congress party will be
aired all across Pakistan and will help them spread their lies. There is no
country that has criticised the surgical strikes or the air strikes conducted
by India except for one nation, Pakistan. The fact that senior Congress leaders
are speaking the same language is unfortunate. Addressing the media while
inducting former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir to the BJP, Jaitley said that
the security doctrine of India has changed now We attack at the point of origin
of terror now. This is now an ideological battle between those who want to
defend India using all possible measures or those who want to fight for India
with their hands tied behind their back. Gambhir, the former Kolkata Knight
Riders captain, said that he endorses the statement made by the Finance
minister. Jaitley added, There is an erroneous premise in the statement by Sam
Pitroda. It is based on assumption that Pakistan state actors and non state
actors are different. Their reaction to terror attacks has showed that non
state attackers are just an extended limb to the state actors of Pakistan.
Pitroda, in an interview to news agency ANI, said attacks like Pulwama happen
all the time, and that the airstrike on Pakistan was not the correct approach
on India's part.
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CHOWKIDAR NOT BOTHERED ABOUT RAFALE BUT HIDING CRUCIAL DATA:
MAYAWATI
BSP supremo Mayawati
Friday attacked the BJP using the 'chowkidar' jibe alleging while its leaders
did not care about the Rafale files they are shielding crucial data on
unemployment and farmers' plight. They (the data) are to be hidden for
vote/image. Does the country need such a chowkidar? Mayawati wrote. Prime
Minister Modi and his partymen have launched Main bhi chowkidar (I too am a
watchman) campaign to blunt Opposition's, especially the Congress', 'chowkidar
chor hai (watchman is thief' slogan.
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PM MODI ADDRESSES CHOWKIDARS, HITS OUT AT OPPOSITION FOR
INSULTING THEM WITH ‘CHOR’ REMARK
Addressing around 25 lakh
security guards via an audio bridge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday
said some people were running a disinformation campaign against ‘chowkidars’
for their vested interests, an apparent reference to Congress’ chowkidar chor
hai slogan. As part of BJP’s Main Bhi Chowkidar campaign, Modi, during the
interaction, said that calling a ‘chowkidar’ chor repeatedly was an insult to
all chowkidars. I want to apologise as some people in last few months for their
vested interests have run a disinformation campaign against ‘chowkidars’. It is
unfortunate that the language of these people has hurt you, Modi said. On
Sunday, several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, added the
prefix ‘Chowkidar’ to their Twitter handles. The prime minister further said he
was not alone in the fight against corruption and social evils and everyone
working for the progress of India was a chowkidar. You must have noticed that
these days everywhere it is you who is being discussed, be it TV or social
media, be it in India or abroad. Everyone is talking about chowkidar. The entire
nation is taking a pledge to be a chowkidar today Calling a chowkidar chor
repeatedly is an insult to all chowkidars, he said. In an indirect dig at AAP
chief Arvind Kejriwal’s jibe on the Main Bhi Chowkidar campaign, Modi said, We
have to make our children doctor, engineer, soldiers in the army, and also the
prime minister of the country. But we have to keep the ‘samskar’ of a chowkidar
in our children.
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VALUE OF CHINA'S METAL E-WASTE TO DOUBLE TO $24 BILLION BY
2030: GREENPEACE
The potential value of
recyclable metals in discarded mobile phones, laptops and desktop computers in
China will more than double to around $24 billion by 2030, environmental group
Greenpeace forecast on Thursday. China, the world's largest mobile phone
market, is trying to promote recycling of electronic waste, or e-waste, to
improve its environment, cut costs and ease its dependence on foreign resource
imports. In a report carried out with the China Association of Electronics for
Technology Development, Greenpeace said rising consumption levels would take
the potential economic value of recyclable metals in mobile phone and computer
motherboards to 160 billion yuan ($23.96 billion) by 2030. That compares to
66.4 billion yuan in 2018 and a projected 81 billion yuan in 2020. If other
electronic waste products are taken into account, the potential value would be
higher, according to the report, which looked at a range of metals such as
gold, silver, copper and iron. In tonnage terms, China's e-waste is seen rising
from 13 million tonnes in 2018 to 15.4 million tonnes in 2020 and 27.2 million
tonnes in 2030, at an average annual growth rate of 10.4%.
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J&J TO RECORD $700-MN IMPAIRMENT CHARGE RELATED TO
ABANDONED DRUG PROGRAM
Johnson & Johnson on
Thursday said it will record a nearly $700 million impairment charge in the
first quarter of 2019 related to the abandoned development of its experimental
antiviral drug, AL-8176. The company had recorded a partial impairment charge of
about $630 million related to the treatment in the third quarter last year
after having suspended trials in August. J&J added AL-8176 to its pipeline
through its $1.75 billion buyout of Alios Biopharma Inc in 2014. The drug was
being developed to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human
metapneumovirus (hMPV) that cause respiratory tract infections in children and
adults.
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JUBILANT LIFE'S NANJANGUD FACILITY MAY FACE REGULATORY ACTION
BY USFDA
Jubilant Life Sciences on
Friday said it has been cautioned by the US health regulator that its Nanjangud
facility in Mysore, may be subject to regulatory action and that the USFDA may
withhold approval of any pending applications or supplements in which this facility
is listed. Jubilant Life Sciences in a regulatory filing said it has been
informed by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) that inspection from
December 10-18, 2018 at the Jubilant Generics Ltd API manufacturing facility,
in Nanjangud, Mysore, has been classified as 'Official Action Indicated' (OAI).
The USFDA also stated that the facility might be subject to a cGMP regulatory
or enforcement action based on this inspection, and that USFDA could withhold
approval of any pending applications or supplements in which this facility is
listed, the filing added. Jubilant said, it is in the process of sending a
further update to USFDA of its corrective actions regarding the agency's
inspectional observations from December 2018.
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GOVT LAB RETEST CONFIRMS POLIO STRAIN’S PRESENCE IN BIO-MED
SAMPLES
A government laboratory
has confirmed the presence of polio-2 virus, a strain that was believed to have
been eradicated from India in 2016, in oral vaccine samples made by Bio-Med
Pvt. Ltd, raising concerns that the contaminated samples may have put children
at risk. Samples of the contaminated batches were sent to the state-run Central
Drugs Laboratory (CDL) Kasauli for retesting, after Bio-Med challenged the
results of the initial tests by the same laboratory. The report was submitted
by CDL Kasauli to the Ghaziabad district court on 15 March. The samples that
were sent for testing following the court order were found to be positive
again, which means that the batches had type 2 virus in it, two people with
direct knowledge of the matter said, requesting anonymity. The contamination
endangers the health of those who have not been vaccinated for the polio-2
virus strain, according to public health expert Sylvia Karpagam. The bigger
problem is that the virus can mutate and no one knows into what form, mild or
virulent, Karpagam said. The contamination endangers many who have not received
inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and are exposed to strain 2. Reports about the
contamination set alarm bells in September, when traces of polio type 2 virus
were found in sewage and stool samples during routine surveillance. Bio-Med was
found to be supplying polio vaccines for the state-run immunization programme.
Vaccine makers were also asked to destroy their stocks of type 2 virus strain
by April 2016, an order that Bio-Med has allegedly violated. Drug inspectors
working to unearth the mystery behind the contamination of polio vaccines had
in October also travelled to Indonesia’s PT Bio Farma Pvt. Ltd, the company
that supplies the bulk vaccine called key starting material. However, they did
not find anything amiss there.
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GOOGLE REQUESTS MEETING WITH US GENERAL AMID CHINA ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE DEBATE
Google has requested a meeting
with a top U.S. general as political tension rises over the internet giant’s
artificial intelligence work in China. General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the
joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that Google indirectly benefits the
Chinese military and is planning to meet with the company over the matter. The
Pentagon official cited a Google AI lab that opened in Beijing in 2017 as a
cause of concern. In my judgment, us assisting the Chinese military in
advancing technology is not in U.S. national interests, Dunford said on
Thursday at an Atlantic Council event. So it’s a debate we have to have.
Dunford is tentatively scheduled to meet next week with a senior Google
official in Washington, at Google’s request, Colonel Patrick Ryder, a military
spokesman, wrote in an email. Google’s relationship with the Pentagon has been
strained since it retreated from an AI defense contract last year following
employee protests. The tech giant has faced criticism in Washington for plans to
launch a search engine in China, where Google pulled most of its commercial
services in 2010. At a Senate hearing last week, Dunford said Google was
indirectly helping China’s military. Days later, U.S. President Donald Trump
repeated the critique in a tweet. In response, Google issued a statement on
Sunday denying the claim We are not working with the Chinese military, the
Alphabet Inc. unit said. We are working with the U.S. government, including the
Department of Defense, in many areas including cybersecurity, recruiting and
healthcare.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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